Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County School Board, 4th Tuesday School Board Meeting, Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2026
Place: Loudoun County Public Schools / School Board meeting (see BoardDocs / LCPS-TV)
Length: 7h (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/1203915618?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 2026-10-09. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:36] Good afternoon. I call to order this June 23rd, 2026 Loudoun County School Board meeting. I have been notified that Dr. Rasheed would like to participate remotely in tonight's meeting. Dr. Rasheed, please state your location and whether this is a medical or personal matter.

[00:00:55] Thank you, Chair Chandler. I'm in a remote area. I'm in the state of Alabama at my brother-in-law's house, and this is a personal matter. All right. And Dr. Rasheed, is anyone else present with you at your location? I mean, there are family members, but they're present in the other rooms or on the far end of the other side of the home. I'm alone in this room. All right. Thank you for that information. Therefore, I'll entertain a motion that Dr. Rasheed's request to participate remotely be granted. Vice Chair Donahue. Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the Loudoun County

[00:01:31] School Board approve Dr. Rasheed's request for remote participation. Thank you. Vice Chair Donahue, is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Pepper. Board members, let's move forward with the vote. All those in favor of allowing Dr. Rasheed to participate remotely, please record your vote.

[00:01:53] All right. Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes unanimously with all six board members present. Welcome to the meeting, Dr. Rasheed. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. With that, we will move on to disclosures. I will start. As a member of the Loudoun County School Board, 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

[00:02:30] 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 public interest. This disclosure will be reflected in the public records of the clerk of the school board for five years. Next up will be Vice Chair Donohue.

[00:02:51] 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 employee salaries the budget and or health insurance and any other discussion that may include or affect salary and benefits for LCPS employees specifically my spouse my minor children and I are enrolled in LCPS health insurance that may be affected by any potential changes to employee salaries the budget and/or health insurance additionally my sister-in-law is an LCPS employee who does not reside with me and is not dependent on me these subjects include thousands of employees well in excess of the statutory three employees whose interests

[00:03:29] may be affected of which my spouse my minor children my sister-in-law and 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 miss LaBelle 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 the benefits for LCPS employees. Specifically, as a school board member, I am eligible to

[00:04:06] receive health insurance and related benefits as an LCPS employee. In addition, as a former LCPS employee, I, as well as my spouse, receive Medicare Advantage insurance benefits through LCPS. These benefits, however, affect thousands of employees while in excess of the statutory three employees whose interests may also be affected, of which my spouse and I are included.

[00:04:30] 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. 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.

[00:05:01] 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 interest.

[00:05:20] This disclosure will be reflected in the public records of the clerk of the school board for five years. Thank you. We'll now move on to the approval of the consent agenda. Board members, are there any changes to be made to the consent agenda? Seeing none, before we take a vote, we'll need to read our two proclamations.

[00:05:40] The first is Disability Pride Month proclamation, which will be read by Vice Chair Donohue. Thank you, Madam Chair. Whereas Loudoun County Public Schools acknowledges and celebrates the contributions of individuals with disabilities and recognizes that disability pride is an important aspect of disability rights and inclusion, And whereas the month of July is recognized as Disability Pride Month, and Loudoun County Public Schools is committed to fostering a community where individuals with disabilities feel empowered, respected, and valued.

[00:06:10] And whereas the month of July also acknowledges the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which protects the disability community from discrimination, particularly as it relates to voting, employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications, and access to state and local government programs and services.

[00:06:29] And whereas it is essential to recognize the strength, resilience, and diversity of the disability community and to continue working towards a more inclusive and accessible society. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Loudoun County School Board recognizes July 2026 as Disability Pride Month in Loudoun County Public Schools, and encourages all residents to participate in activities and events that promote disability awareness, inclusion, and pride, and commits to ensuring that Loudoun County Public Schools remains a welcoming and accessible place for all.

[00:07:01] Thank you, Vice Chair Donahue. We'll now move on to our second proclamation, which is the America 250 Proclamation, which will be read tonight by Mr. Svensson. Thank you, Madam Chair. Whereas on July 4, 2026, the United States of America celebrates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

[00:07:20] And whereas Loudoun County Public Schools recognizes this historic milestone as a unique opportunity to educate, engage, and inspire students to reflect on our nation's shared history and the enduring founding principles that have guided generations of Americans striving to realize our nation's promise.

[00:07:36] And whereas LCPS is committed to fostering civic literacy by engaging students in the study of democratic principles, constitutional governance, and the diverse experiences of individuals and groups who have shaped and continue to shape the United States.

[00:07:51] And whereas LCPS strengthens civic and historical understanding by supporting age-appropriate instruction that examines the nation's founding documents, historical developments, and interpretations of freedom, equality, and citizenship. And whereas LCPS encourages inquiry and community connection by promoting authentic learning opportunities that engage students and educators with local history, primary sources, and community partners to better understand the nation's past and its relevance today.

[00:08:20] And whereas LCPS recognizes service and civic contribution by creating opportunities for students to learn from veterans, historians, civic leaders, and community members, while also examining broader social and historical contexts. And whereas United States Semi-Quincentennial Commission encourages educational and commemorative activities that promote historical understanding, reflection, and civic engagement.

[00:08:44] Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Loudoun County School Board recognizes the 250th anniversary of the United States of America as an opportunity to support inclusive, educational, and reflective learning experiences that deepen students' understanding of the nation's history and their role in its future.

[00:09:01] Thank you. I'll now entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda. So moved, Madam Chair. - Thank you, Vice Chair Donohue. Is there a second? - Second. - Thank you, Mr. Pepper. It has been properly moved and seconded that we approve the consent agenda.

[00:09:20] At this time, we'll take a vote. Clerk, please open the vote. Board members, please record your vote. Dr. Rasheed, please state your vote. - Yes. - Thank you. Clerk, please close and display the vote.

[00:09:39] That motion passes with all seven board members present voting yes. With that, we will move on to our work session. First up, item 4.01, the Department of Academic Strategic Plan Update, which will be presented tonight by Dr. Ellis and Dr. Singel.

[00:10:04] Good afternoon, Chair Chandler, Vice Chair Donohue, members of the board.

[00:10:24] This afternoon, we are pleased to share an update on the development process for the 2027 through 2032 Strategic Plan. Joining me in this presentation is Dr. Anna Singel, Supervisor of Strategic Planning and Continuous Improvement.

[00:10:43] Our goals this afternoon are twofold. First, we'd like to share progress we've made in developing the next strategic plan, highlighting how stakeholder input and ongoing analysis of all that input have shaped the work to date.

[00:10:59] Second, we are seeking your feedback on the draft goals and strategies developed by the strategic planning team, which as a reminder includes various stakeholders including central office school-based staff parents community members and two school board representatives your insight is critical this evening as we refine and strengthen this plan before moving forward with the strategic planning team as you'll recall from our previous discussions a clear and consistent theme emerged from our engagement with students family staff and community members across all groups there was strong

[00:11:36] alignment around the need to ensure our students are truly life-ready, prepared not just academically but also with the skills, experiences, and dispositions needed to succeed in our complex and evolving world. At the same time, stakeholders emphasized that this preparation does not happen in isolation. They recognized that it requires intentional partnership and shared responsibility.

[00:12:02] Our schools cannot do this work alone, and the success of our plan depends on meaningful collaboration among families, authentic engagement with students, alignment across all staff, and strong connections with our community. So that's what led us to pair the concept of life-ready with community-strong.

[00:12:23] You'll see the tagline in the image on the screen. These ideas reflect both our aspiration for every student and our collective commitment as a community to make that vision a reality. So I will turn it over to Dr. Singel to continue with the presentation.

[00:12:40] And we are going to pause after each goal to get your feedback before moving on to the next goal. Over the last two sessions, the strategic planning team engaged in deep, thoughtful conversations about what it truly means to prepare our students to be life-ready. To ground that work, the team examined key data sets and guiding documents reflecting on our vision for instruction through both the instructional framework and the AASA public education promise.

[00:13:06] The central message from the public education promise is that across the country and across perspectives, we share common aspiration for our students. We want every child to receive an education that prepares them to contribute meaningfully to society and to pursue success along a path of their own choosing. We have included a video link on the slide as a hyperlink for those of you who would like to watch it, but in brief, the public education promise outlines five principles that define our commitment to students. First, prioritizing student learning, equipping students with real-world skills, and supporting students with exceptional educators.

[00:13:43] It also highlights the importance of strong partnerships and measuring what truly matters, ensuring students are prepared not just for school but for life. As you will see in our draft goals, we are committed to ensuring every student maximizes their one K-12 opportunity, gaining the real-world skills they need, supported by exceptional educators, strengthened through meaningful partnerships and measured by their readiness to thrive as engaged, capable citizens.

[00:14:10] There are five draft goals, each with aligned strategies, and as Dr. Ellis mentioned, we'll pause after each one to invite you for your feedback. You have a handout in front of you as well as in board docs that includes the goals, strategies, and a space for your notes. The first goal states that we will deliver rigorous, engaging, responsive, and inclusive instruction with targeted supports to improve student outcomes. These strategies focus on ensuring consistent, high-quality instruction by aligning teacher practices, student actions, and supports across curriculum, instruction, and professional learning through the instructional

[00:14:46] framework. They emphasize using data to provide both rigorous and responsive supports so all students experience engaging, appropriately challenging learning. And additionally, they prioritize closing achievement gaps through targeted evidence-based interventions for students and groups needing additional support. I'll pause here and turn it back to you for a discussion around Goal 1. Thank you so much. Board members, any questions or comments on Goal 1? Okay. I guess

[00:15:22] we're ready to go. Our second goal is centered on cultivating student well-being. We aim to equip all students in partnership with their families with the resources to develop the skills and resilience to deepen a sense of belonging needed to navigate life successfully. These strategies focus on strengthening student well-being, engagement, and readiness by creating student-centered environments where all students feel valued, respected, and a strong sense of belonging.

[00:15:52] They also emphasize providing evidence-based mental health supports and building strong family and community partnerships to foster a positive, trusting school climate. I will now pause again for discussion of goal two, and I will turn it back to you. Thank you, board members.

[00:16:11] Goal two? Yes, Mr. Pepper. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you guys both for presenting this. I just need like 30 seconds to read through them. So I appreciate it. So one of the things that I really like this goal, the one piece of feedback that I would possibly have in there, this actually comes right off the heels of the proclamation that we just read, is when we're talking about student-centered environments that recognize cultural understanding and diverse perspectives, I'm ensuring that all students feel a sense of belonging.

[00:16:40] We should also possibly mention something about, I know we talk about disability status, I don't know the right way to put it or the right way to frame it here, but it talks a lot about culture, but we also need to consider those who have different challenges in their learning as well.

[00:16:59] And I think that's something that we should make sure we focus on is in their well-being. The other thing that I would say is just in the overall goal on this, I love the idea of a sense of belonging. I love that that's in there. For me, it feels like it's in a weird place in there.

[00:17:18] I know that it's important to get that in. And I do like the idea of developing skills and resilience needed to navigate life successfully. I don't know how much the sense of belonging fits into that overarching goal. That's just kind of how I feel.

[00:17:34] That being said, sense of belonging, excruciatingly important, definitely needs to stay in the goal. I just don't know if it's the right spot for it. So perhaps just working on revising the sentence structure a little bit. Yes. I can see that. Thanks for that. Thank you.

[00:17:57] Any other comments? All right, let's move ahead. Sounds good. Our third goal states that we aim to ensure all students develop real-world skills for all their future pathways. The strategies are centered around equipping students with strong executive functioning, digital citizenship, and adaptable learning experiences to build organization, planning, and responsible use of technology, as well as expanding career-connected pathways through real-world experiences, credentials, and partnerships to ensure every student graduates prepared for enrollment, employment, or enlistment. I will now pause and turn it back to you for discussion around goal three.

[00:18:35] Okay, board members, it looks like we're ready for the next one. The fourth goal states that we aim to position LCPS as an employer of choice by investing in the growth, success, and support of highly effective employees.

[00:19:01] The strategies under this goal focus on strengthening our workforce by investing in responsive professional learning, building a strong talent pipeline, and ensuring every staff member feels valued, supported, and connected. Additionally, we aim to enhance onboarding and retention efforts so high-performing employees grow with us and thrive in a culture of belonging.

[00:19:24] And again, we'll pause for any feedback on goal four.

[00:19:36] All right. Everybody's had a... We'll just pause for a moment to make sure everybody can read. Yeah, we're good? Okay. I think we're ready to move forward.

[00:19:54] The last goal, goal five, states that we aim to strengthen alignment and responsiveness across LCPS through efficient systems, modern resources, and clear communication. These strategies focus on strong stewardship of resources, so financial, environmental, and operational, to ensure sustainable, efficient, and future-ready systems.

[00:20:17] They emphasize modernizing facilities and technology to support safe environments, effective decision-making, and continuous improvement. They prioritize clear, consistent communication to build trust and shared understanding across the division. We will now pause and turn it back to you for feedback on Goal 5.

[00:20:35] Thank you. Mr. Pepper. Thank you, Madam Chair. This really isn't about goal five, but I know this is the last one of the sequence. This is about the sequence as a whole. I just want to commend you guys and the team who built this.

[00:20:55] These are really well-crafted goals. And I think that the minimum amount of feedback you're receiving from this board shows just kind of how well thought and how collaborative this process has been to this point just to develop these goals and these strategies.

[00:21:11] As I read through, I'm like, well, what about that? And then it's literally the next bullet point. So I really like that. really appreciate that. So I want to commend you guys on how far you've done in this process. So thank you. Thank you. Mr. Svinson. Thank you, Madam Chair. This is also not about not about goal 5, but I did want to reiterate Mr. Pepper's point that I think that this is what so well organized and lays out in a succinct way the goals that we have at LCPS and kind of puts it forward in a framework I think will be readily usable for for our staff going forward and really appreciate the work that's gone into it. I also wanted to build off of

[00:21:49] of what Mr. Pepper raised on the second goal of cultivating student well-being. I agree it would be important to add reference to supporting student well-being for students with disabilities. But also, I was thinking about different identities and statuses that may not be accounted for by, obviously, recognizing cultural understanding and respecting diverse perspectives should stay in there.

[00:22:16] But I'm wondering if there are some additional points we can add in there and thinking about, you know, making sure that we have a welcoming student environment for students of different economic statuses, for instance. So I'm just thinking about how we can succinctly cover different ways in which we are supporting student well-being for different kinds of students.

[00:22:40] - Thank you. - That feedback's really helpful. So before we close this afternoon, just a couple of other comments and then any other feedback that you all have or questions that you have. So I know this is a lot of words to process very quickly, so please know that we are happy to sit down one-on-one with you or receive emails from you.

[00:23:07] If you have feedback, if you sleep on it and come up with another idea, if you have that perfect phrasing for goal three, please let us know. We are definitely open to all of that feedback and we will take that feedback with us as we refine the goals and strategies and engage with the broader community, we plan to do that through a thought exchange in the fall to get their feedback on the, and as many additional perspectives as we can.

[00:23:35] So following that process, we will bring the revised recommendations back to you for your consideration, and as you all know, this is really our, your strategic plan, so we want you to feel really confident in it as well. And then I do really appreciate your comments and want to give a huge thanks to Dr. Single for her work in leading these strategic planning efforts over the past several months.

[00:23:58] And we both wanted to recognize and thank the strategic planning team for their time, their dedication. There's some long evening meetings right at the dinner hour. So we really appreciate folks engaging with us. And the group has just been so thoughtful in providing their feedback and asking hard questions and really leaning in.

[00:24:19] And so a huge shout out to them as well. And Ms. Chandler and Ms. Chernoff as the board representatives, thank you all for that. So we're really excited about the planning and how it's coming along. And we're excited to see the final product this time next year.

[00:24:38] So Ms. Chandler, back to you. And we're happy to answer any other questions you might have. Well, thank you so much for that encapsulation. And I am reflecting on, you know, I think this is really truly a beginning of the conversation for the board as a whole.

[00:24:55] But as a representative who's been in the strategic planning meetings throughout the year, I am happy to report that we have analyzed each word and really thoughtfully considered. I mean, it's an important message that we're sharing and sending to our community, and we want to make sure we get it right.

[00:25:14] And I do just want to share with the board that the process has been incredibly thoughtful and productive and has given us the opportunity, all of the members on the committee, to really have a voice in the process.

[00:25:31] And it's been a very productive experience. And I'm sure as we move along, we'll have more to say. Thank you so much. Oh, sure. Ms. Riccardi? Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a really quick question for you guys. Again, I love what you guys have done.

[00:25:50] This is really a lot of very thoughtful work, and it's very obvious that you guys have done that. I'm always curious to know, as you guys are sorting out the order for each one of these goals, obviously our students are our number one priority, so I understand why that one is the first one.

[00:26:10] I was just curious while we put the staff one, if these were in specific orders and kind of what the thought process was for designing them in that order only because I would love to see the staff one a little bit earlier in the five but I'm curious to know how you guys got there. Sure that's an excellent question so we're really excited that from the feedback that emerged the first three goals are centered on students so that's why those goals are first and then what matters most in a student's education is the staff and the teachers that support them so that goals come next. Last but not least is the organizational supports that go into building technology all of

[00:26:49] the other resources that students need to thrive so some thought did go into the order of them and that's how we group them in terms of the first three student goals the strategic planning team decided on the order of that so academics well-being and then college and career readiness is the third one yeah I mean it makes sense and I and I figured that's kind of where you're going with that i think under the staff one too and you might hit hit it with the third bullet um you know it's

[00:27:21] really just creating that um that high performing culture which i think you get to it in the third bullet here in this one but um because it talks about the environment but i wonder if there isn't something a little bit more nuanced in that or maybe if that came up in a conversation and you've decided to fold that kind of into what you've got here and that's more just kind of me thinking out by the way so you could just say yeah no and certainly take a look and see how

[00:27:58] we can incorporate or include high-performing culture but my first thought is that behind high-performing teams and high-performing staff that is what builds a high-performing culture so we can take a look and see if we can do some wordsmithing there thank you all right thank you mr. Svinson thank you madam chair I'm just returning a bit to the point I was speaking to at the student well-being I'm wondering this if this maybe also fits in the fifth goal with organizational excellence because I was just thinking about our commitment and strategy for supporting students across the county ensuring there is

[00:28:34] parity and resources and supports provided for different communities in the county some of that goes to ensuring that students of all backgrounds are are supported and you have we're supporting their well-being at school but part of this also goes to you know the physical task of constructing our buildings and creating the spaces for for classroom instruction and the like so just food for thought in terms of how we might incorporate and and and perhaps that is incorporated implicitly throughout but thinking about where and how we can incorporate that point of ensuring that resources are distributed

[00:29:11] to students across the county that's a great point I think there is a way we could explicitly include that in one of the bullets in goal five I think that might make the most sense but appreciate that feedback thank you thank you all right seeing no further questions or comments thank you so much for the presentation and now we'll move on to our second work session from human resources and talent development the school challenger school calendar options for 28 29 school year which will be presented this evening by miss Bolin

[00:30:08] Good evening. Tonight's work session is intended to provide the board with a comprehensive overview of the school calendar development process, including the laws, policies, stakeholder feedback, survey results, and guiding principles that have informed our work over the past several years.

[00:30:25] As you know, the development of school calendar is a complex process that requires balancing instructional priorities, operational needs, contractual obligations, state requirements, and the diverse perspectives of our students, staff, families, and community.

[00:30:45] As you know, this evening, we will review the historical information, stakeholder feedback, and survey data that inform the five calendar options previously presented to the board for the 28-29 school year. Our goal is to provide context, answer questions, and support board discussion as you consider future iterations. First, I'd like to spend a few minutes reviewing the school calendar development process. LCPS is committed to supporting every student in pursuing

[00:31:24] and reaching their full potential and empowering them to make meaningful contributions to the the world. Establishing a thoughtfully designed school calendar is one important way we support that mission, and it is work that HRTD has supported over time. One important consideration in this process is that the student calendar serves as the foundation for the teacher work calendar. Together, these calendars establish the framework that guides all other staff calendars across the division. The development of the school calendar is guided by Virginia Code,

[00:32:04] School Board Policy, and Regulation 7040 and other applicable laws and regulations. Together, these requirements provide direction on key areas such as instructional days, teacher work days, school holidays, professional development, and inclement weather procedures. One of the most important requirements is that school divisions provide either 180 instructional days or 990 instructional hours each year. While Virginia establishes the minimum standard, LCPS has

[00:32:39] historically exceeded those requirements and currently provides students with six hours and 15 minutes of instruction each day. Another consideration in calendar development is House Bill 1148, which moved Virginia's June primary election to the third Tuesday in June. This change can impact the timing of the last day of school and other end-of-the-year activities. Finally, I would like to briefly address a topic that often generates discussion, inclement weather

[00:33:11] and snow days. For more than 30 years, LCPS has operated under what we call a fixed calendar model. Rather than building calendars to the minimum instructional requirements and adjusting them when closures occur, LCPS utilizes a banked time approach.

[00:33:31] Because our students receive instructional hours beyond the state minimum, the division is able to absorb weather-related closures while maintaining a stable and predictable calendar for students, staff, and families. This approach is reflected in School Board Policy 7040 and continues to guide the development of the calendars today.

[00:33:58] Another important consideration in calendar development is the relationship between the school year start date and Labor Day. As reflected on this slide, LCPS was granted a waiver by the Virginia Department of Education that remains in effect today.

[00:34:14] As a result, LCPS may begin school more than 14 days before Labor Day without seeking an additional waiver. We have also confirmed with VDOE that this waiver does not require LCPS to close schools on the Friday preceding Labor Day.

[00:34:33] This waiver provides the school board with additional flexibility when considering potential start and end dates of the school year. In addition to the laws, regulations, and policies that guide calendar development, stakeholder feedback has been an important part of this process.

[00:34:53] Over the years, HRTD has intentionally sought input from a variety of stakeholder groups, including the school board, students, teachers, principals, staff, families, and the broader community. In 2021, the school board engaged with community and religious organizations to identify a holiday of significant value for observance on the school calendar.

[00:35:17] Since that time, we have continued to receive feedback regarding religious and cultural observances, which reflects the diversity of our community and the challenges associated with balancing competing interests and perspectives. To further support this work, HRTD established a calendar committee in 2024 comprised of representatives from across the school division.

[00:35:42] The committee viewed survey data, discussed operational and instructional considerations, and provided feedback on future calendar options. We also developed a dedicated calendar webpage and have conducted multiple staff and family surveys over the past several years to gather additional input.

[00:36:01] We will review some of those survey results in the next section of this presentation. This slide provides a snapshot of historical calendar data that was reviewed as part of the calendar development process. While individual calendars have varied somewhat from year to year, LCPS has historically maintained approximately 180 instructional days for students and approximately 194 scheduled work days for teachers.

[00:36:32] Some of the variation reflected on this chart is the result of unique circumstances, including the impacts of COVID-19, changes associated with election days, and adjustments made to accommodate state professional development requirements.

[00:36:49] Despite those variations, the overall structure of the LCPS calendar has remained relatively consistent and served as an important point of reference as we developed future calendar options. As part of the calendar development process, we also reviewed survey data collected over multiple years.

[00:37:11] Before reviewing the survey results, I'd like to briefly highlight a few important considerations regarding the data. Over the past several years, LCPS has conducted multiple surveys to gather feedback related to school calendar development. This slide summarizes the surveys conducted in 2022, 2023, and 2024 that were used for this analysis.

[00:37:35] As you review the results on the upcoming slides, it's important to note that this comparison is based on staff survey data only. In addition, the 2022 survey was distributed to licensed staff only, while the later surveys included all full-time employees.

[00:37:55] Because the surveys were not identical from year to year, not every question or response option was included in each survey. As a result, some comparisons are limited to the years in which comparable data was available. Despite those differences, the data provides valuable insight into stakeholder preferences and allows us to identify trends that have remained relatively consistent over time.

[00:38:23] These next several slides provide a snapshot of survey results across key calendar topics, including school start dates, alignment with neighboring divisions, break schedules, and alternate calendar models. One theme that emerges consistently throughout the survey data is that there is rarely a single option that receives overwhelming support.

[00:38:46] Instead, the results reflect the diverse perspectives and priorities of staff. With regard to start dates, respondents have historically shown a preference for beginning school approximately two weeks before Labor Day. When asked about alignment with neighboring school divisions, responses have been more mixed.

[00:39:07] However, more recent survey results suggest a growing interest in alignment. It is important to note that respondents were not asked to identify a specific neighboring division, making it difficult to determine whether there is a preference for alignment with any one school system in particular.

[00:39:25] To provide additional context, approximately 70% of our employees both live and work in Loudoun County. For those who live outside of Loudoun, the largest concentrations reside in Fairfax, Jefferson County in West Virginia, Frederick County, and Prince William Counties.

[00:39:46] This highlights the challenge of identifying a single neighboring division for alignment purposes as employee and family connections extend across multiple jurisdictions. Next, let's take a look at stakeholder preferences regarding school breaks.

[00:40:07] Across all three surveys, respondents consistently expressed a strong preference for maintaining a two-week winter break. I would note that when respondents selected increase, they were expressing support for a longer winter break, which would generally require the school year to extend later into June.

[00:40:29] For spring break, responses generally favored maintaining a one-week break. These preferences are important because they directly influence the amount of flexibility available when developing calendar options. Maintaining a two-week winter break, a one-week spring break, and approximately 180 instructional days limits the ability to either start school later or end the school year earlier without making adjustments elsewhere in the calendar.

[00:41:00] This slide reflects stakeholder interest in alternative calendar models that LCPS could consider in the future. One important point to note is that respondents who expressed interest in a year-round calendar were not asked at that time to identify a specific model.

[00:41:22] As a result, the percentage shown reflects general interest in a year-round approach rather than support for a particular structure. The survey results also indicate interest in a four-day student instructional week. When we reviewed the survey comments, that interest was often associated with the concept of maintaining a five-day work week for staff with one day dedicated to planning, collaboration, meeting, and other professional responsibilities.

[00:41:52] We also found a significant difference between staff and family responses, with staff expressing considerably greater interest in exploring that concept than families. These results were previously shared with the school board in 2023, and at that time, the board did not direct administration to further explore a specific alternative calendar model, but did express interest in revisiting the topic in the future. Thus, why we continue to speak about year-round calendars. The next several slides highlight additional survey questions that were included

[00:42:31] in the 23-24 and 24-25 surveys. These questions focused on topics such as spring break timing, holidays, and the importance of maintaining equal length quarters throughout the school year. When asked about the timing of spring break, responses were fairly divided between aligning spring break with Easter and maintaining a consistent week each year with approximately 15 to 20 percent of respondents indicating they had no preference. The survey results suggest there is no clear consensus on this issue and both approaches received meaningful support from

[00:43:11] stakeholders. I would also note that several comments indicated that if spring break were aligned with Easter, respondents would also like the board to consider adding Good Friday and or the Monday following Easter as a holiday.

[00:43:30] When asked whether LCPS should adjust the number of holidays observed throughout the school year, a slight majority of respondents preferred to maintain the current number of holidays. While there were differing views regarding whether additional holidays should be added or existing holidays reduced, the survey results generally support maintaining the current approach.

[00:43:52] Regarding equal length quarters, most respondents indicated that this was either important or somewhat important. While equal quarters are one consideration during calendar development, they must be balanced with other priorities, including instructional days, holidays, breaks, and state requirements. In addition to the structured survey questions, respondents were given the opportunity to provide open-ended feedback. We reviewed those comments and identified several reoccurring themes. This slide summarizes the feedback received as part of the 2325 survey.

[00:44:30] Many of the themes align with the survey results we have already reviewed, including strong support for a two-week winter break, a one-week spring break, and continued interest in flexibility around spring break timing and the number of holidays.

[00:44:46] Respondents also expressed a desire to end the school year earlier, reduce the number of built-in snow days, and maintain greater flexibility with the calendar. Another reoccurring theme was interest in a four-day student instructional week, paired with a dedicated staff workday, as well as a preference for additional unencumbered planning time for teachers.

[00:45:11] While individual opinions varied, these themes provided valuable insight into the priorities and concerns that stakeholders considered most important during the calendar development process. This slide summarizes the themes identified from the 24-25 survey comments.

[00:45:32] As you will notice, many of the themes are consistent with those identified in the prior survey, which suggests a fairly stable set of priorities and concerns among stakeholders. Respondents expressed differing views regarding year-round school. Some saw potential benefits, including reducing learning loss, providing more frequent breaks, and better aligning with modern work schedules.

[00:45:57] Others raised concerns regarding the impact on family schedules, childcare, extracurricular activities, and the value of maintaining a traditional summer break. Similar to prior years, respondents also shared concerns regarding early school start dates, the number of holidays observed, the use of built-in snow days, and the overall balance of breaks throughout the school year.

[00:46:22] Another reoccurring theme was the importance of consistency and predictability in the calendar along with continued emphasis on supporting student and staff well-being through the opportunities for rest and recharging throughout the year. The survey results, stakeholder feedback, historical practices, and legal requirements have all helped inform the guiding principles used in the development of the school calendars. In addition to the laws and policies that guide the development, these guidelines have

[00:46:57] been established based on reoccurring themes identified through stakeholder feedback. That feedback has come, again, from a variety of resources. As a result, the guiding principles used in developing calendar options have generally included a school year that begins before Labor day and ends no later than the second week of June, a two-week winter break and a one-week spring break, a target of approximately 180 instructional days, and recognition of one holiday for significant religious observances.

[00:47:33] We have also worked to address concerns regarding what has been identified as gap days by reducing or eliminating school days that fall between existing holidays and breaks whenever possible. While these guiding principles have provided a consistent framework for calendar development, they are intended to guide, not dictate, the process.

[00:47:58] As stakeholder needs evolve, there may be circumstances where alternative calendar options warrant further consideration. Having reviewed the historical information and stakeholder feedback, survey results, and guiding principles, I'd now like to revisit the five draft calendar options presented to the board in April 2026.

[00:48:22] These options reflect different approaches to balancing the priorities and preferences that emerge throughout the calendar development process. Options one through four are traditional calendar options for the 28-29 school year and include both student and teacher calendars.

[00:48:42] As you see, each of these options 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 2028-29 school calendar and a 2930 school calendar as part of a phased approach toward a year-round calendar model. I'll begin with option one, which includes 180 instructional days, a start date of August 24th, aligned with the guiding principle of beginning approximately two weeks prior to Labor Day, a two-week winter break, a one-week spring break,

[00:49:19] fairly balanced quarters, a last day of school on Friday, June 22nd, and a total of 25 full five-day weeks of instruction. This calendar has a spring break that aligns with Easter. The only difference in option one and two is the alignment of spring break. Option one, spring break aligns with Easter. Option two would align with third quarter. Options three and four share several common features. Both options reflect a start date one week earlier than options one and

[00:49:58] two, which results in a last day of school in mid-June rather than late June. They both have 179 instructional days, which avoids the school year beginning on a Monday. A start date of Thursday, August 17th, a two-week winter break, a one-week spring break, fairly balanced quarters, a last day of school on Friday, June 15th, and a total of 24 full five-day weeks. The difference here, again, is the alignment of Easter. Option five represents a different approach than the previous

[00:50:38] options. 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. If adopted, this option could include calendars for both the 28-29 and 29-30 school years, allowing families and staff time to adjust and plan in advance as the division transitions to a more balanced calendar model. Following the board's review of the draft calendar options in

[00:51:14] April, a survey was distributed to staff and families asking them to rank their top three calendar options. Similar to prior surveys, results were calculated using a weighted ranking methodology. Respondents received three points for a first place ranking, two points for a second place ranking, and one point for a third place ranking. This approach allows us to consider not only respondents' first choice selections, but also their second and third preferences. The results were analyzed separately for staff and families, as well as collectively across all respondents.

[00:51:51] Overall, option three emerged as the most preferred calendar option, with option four ranking second among the combined survey results. The detailed survey results are included in your materials should you wish to review the methodology and scoring in greater detail. This slide summarizes the themes identified from the comments received as part of the 28-29 calendar survey.

[00:52:19] Similar to the survey results and comment themes we reviewed from prior years, many of the same priorities and concerns continue to emerge. Respondents expressed differing views regarding year-round school. While some viewed it as a potential solution to learning loss, burnout, and student engagement, others raise concern regarding child care, family schedules, extracurricular activities, and the value of maintaining a traditional summer break. We also receive significant feedback regarding holidays. Some of the respondents expressed a desire to reduce the

[00:52:56] number of holidays in order to create a shorter and more consistent school year, while others emphasize the importance of maintaining or expanding the recognition of religious and cultural observances. As in previous years, these perspectives highlight the challenge of balancing the instructional continuity with the diverse needs of our community. Start and end dates also generated considerable discussion. Many respondents expressed a preference for a later start and an earlier end to the school year, while others supported maintaining the current structure in

[00:53:33] order to preserve breaks and holidays. Overall, the survey comments reinforced many of the same themes that have emerged throughout this presentation and again demonstrate the complexity of developing a calendar that balances the varied interests and priorities of our students staff families and community I would also note that the survey results were analyzed separately for staff and families and further reviewed by school level we also reviewed comments from respondents who chose not to rank a calendar option across the groups the themes remained remarkably consistent

[00:54:13] thank you for your time and thoughtful consideration this evening we do appreciate the board's continued engagement throughout this process and hope this overview has provided helpful context happy to answer any questions that help support the board's discussion thank you miss boland i will kick off by saying first and foremost i appreciate the fact that we've had the opportunity today to sort of analyze not just the survey results but the historical conversation and context you know that's always a favorite of mine but I think

[00:54:49] it's so helpful to understand really how we got here and with that for the board members I wanted to let you know that in having a conversation about the best way to use this time given the fact that some members had already let us know that they weren't going to be here for this work session I opted not to include the drafts the drafts are considered amendments and so it would be most appropriate to talk about them when they're on for information action but also just out of respect for the fact that people had put forward ideas and and aren't able to be here tonight to talk about them it didn't seem fair so

[00:55:28] that's how we got started and now I'll open the floor to questions and comments Mr. Pepper. Thank you, Madam Chair. First of all, thank you, Ms. Boland. I know it's an incredibly cumbersome task to analyze a survey, particularly one that's got ranked options and all sorts of miscellaneous commentary that's coming from all sorts of different stakeholders. So thank you for trying to synthesize this as best you can. My question actually might not be for you. My question actually might be for Dr. Ellis. So one of the considerations that you have brought is about

[00:56:03] equal quarters my question really is do we really truly need quarters in the school year as we get into thinking about what a grade means because truthfully right now our grading system and this is a larger discussion perhaps beyond the idea of calendars but a grading system that gives roughly equal weighting to all four quarters might not be the best method for measuring student achievement knowing that both the length of quarters are not necessarily equal

[00:56:37] the difficulty of content in different quarters is not necessarily equal and might not be a true measure of what we really are looking for in a gray which is content understanding and student growth over time so if we took out and I see you playing the nose game but but my question would be if we took out quarters what advantages might that give us in the development of a school calendar so i can take that piece a little bit i can't i can't take the whether or not we can get rid of

[00:57:13] quarters i will say not it and and pass that to dr ellis but um you know i think it would give us some additional flexibility because again it is another limiting guiding principle as we try to check all of the boxes it makes it very difficult to to identify or meet the needs of everyone and if we are trying to truly preserve a longer summer start later end earlier or either or

[00:57:47] there has to be gives somewhere and in trying to identify equal quarters and maintain a two-week winter break and a one-week spring break and the holidays that have been identified within regulation, that does create complexity. Can I just throw that out? This is just kind of food for thought here on the follow-up on that. If we did eliminate quarters, and once again, we're looking at a 28-29 calendar, so obviously the quarter grading system is something that Curriculum Instruction Committee and the school district will really have to consider what it

[00:58:25] means in terms of grading but there it gives us my opinion is it gives us an opportunity to do things like stack a teacher work day on a Monday when one of our holidays perhaps falls on a Tuesday thus making our weeks less choppy so I really think that this is an opportunity to consider one how we grade and what's in the best interest of students and what grades mean but it also gives an opportunity to kind of be able to I don't want to use the word fudge but like smooth the calendar over a little bit better and undo some of the choppiness so just a thought and that's where i'm going to start start today and dr ellis i'm going to let you if you want anything you want to say

[00:59:03] about grading so i don't know that you're asking me for my opinion but i i will say i don't disagree with anything that you've said and i don't think that it would be impossible i do think that we would need to like you mentioned consider the assessment and grading policy because that currently doesn't allow for that the way it's currently written. We would also have to consider we do have semester classes which allows us to offer more options to students and flexibility and so we would need to consider how to address that. Again, I think it's an interesting conversation

[00:59:39] and I don't disagree with the concept at all. Can I add one additional thing? I would want to caution us because while i think it does it could potentially give us days back in regards to staff i'm not sure it adds any additional days for students i'll follow up i don't i don't think and i appreciate that thought i don't think that it's necessarily allowing for student days um i think that what it allows us to do is normally we have these work days that are at the end of quarters it allows us to put them in places that kind of make the jigsaw puzzle fit better is is my

[01:00:18] of thought. Now, I do have a separate concern on that, that I know that it's nice to have regular breaks. As an educator, I know it's nice to have regular breaks to kind of catch up on your grading, catch up on your planning, catch up on your colleagues, which is kind of a nice quarter system for that. But even just being able to, like, you know, it would really fit better two weeks here or two weeks there is something that would allow us some flexibility. Thank you, Madam. Thank you.

[01:00:43] Mr. Spenson? Thank you, Madam Chair. Along these lines of changes, I guess, I'll ask maybe Dr. Spencer Dr. Ellis if you could provide some clarity or information for us about there's been discussion about SOL testing being have schools divisions having flexibility on when SOL testing is within the school year and how you could shift that towards the end of the school year so that a lot of folks talk about like dead time after testing before the actual end of the school year and I understand there's the possibility that there may be changes on that front. So I'm just wondering, Dr. Spencer, Dr. Ellis, if you could shed light on that for our

[01:01:22] awareness as we can work on the calendar. So I'll let Dr. Ellis fill in anything I missed, but the legislation that's gone through, it's currently delayed, but it's still being considered is to shift all the SOL testing to the last two weeks of the school year. A little bit of the concern we have with that is the retakes, which are a part of the SOL testing model and the compressed time frame for that. And that's something that we've been talking a bit about with the Department of Education and members of the General Assembly.

[01:01:51] But for the time being, that's what's in the legislation, and I think the delay is to allow school divisions to work to try to figure out how that'll work. Did you want to add anything further? No. Nailed it. Thank you. Ms. Riccardi?

[01:02:08] Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you so much for this survey information, Ms. Boland. I appreciate it very much. So we also have some survey data from LEA from teachers, So I'm trying to kind of overlay all of this and kind of make heads or tails.

[01:02:27] Because, of course, whenever you look at two different data sets, they don't ask the same questions, nor do they calculate them the same way. So I'm trying to just figure out and make heads or tails of the two. Because I think both data sets are really important for us to look at. Have you had a chance to connect with LEA on their survey?

[01:02:45] And I'm trying to understand kind of head count and compare things a little bit more apples to apples, which is going to require, I'm not going to say creativity because that's not what you want to do in a data set, but it's going to require some real analysis, and I wanted to know if you just had a chance to talk to them about theirs. So we have not. I did receive a copy. We do have a labor management committee meeting tomorrow. It does have a rather full agenda, but what I will say is we work, from a staff perspective, we work very closely with the research team to ensure that we

[01:03:22] can account for response rates, make sure that we're identifying whose staff, whose family, make sure the analysis is correct. And so we do that on purpose to make sure that we have the best way to analyze the data and share it as possible. So it does make it difficult. I'm not sure it will be a good apples to apples comparison. It may be rather difficult.

[01:03:51] Yeah, I mean, it's fascinating data, and I'm not at all judging the quality or inequality of the two, right? Because I think there's just two different data sets with two different sets of questions. But I find the responses on both really fascinating as far as tools to use to kind of inform us on whatever choices we decide to make down the road.

[01:04:13] And I just didn't know if there was an opportunity to collaborate on that. And then I guess it also kind of speaks to in the future, And as we're kind of formalizing and getting our kind of jumping in the pool in the collective bargaining piece going forward, what this might look like from a data collection perspective as well, not only just on the calendar stuff, but any other things that they're putting out and we're looking at too.

[01:04:37] So we're either not duplicating efforts, perhaps, but also that we're getting something that's a little bit more apples to apples. So I'm not the expert yet on navigating the union world. I would foresee that as we move forward post-July 1, more of these things would be discussed through the Labor Management Committee.

[01:05:02] That is its role. So in the future, and we've had some of these conversations in the future, we would discuss potential the calendar development process before we brought it here at the Labor Management Committee. We would be able to work in that timeline.

[01:05:19] That is where I see a lot of that happening. Yeah, that'd be great. Because, I mean, they've got some really interesting insights on, you know, holidays and work requirements and just all kinds of really interesting stuff in here. So I think it's just good data for us to fold in as we're thinking about all this stuff.

[01:05:35] So thank you for that. I appreciate it. Thank you. Dr. Rashid. Thank you, Chair. And thank you, Ms. Bolin. This is quite a loaded topic. It's very well organized. I love how you put it together.

[01:05:51] It was quite a lot of information. And I was just out of curiosity, I was just curious how LCPS kind of accounts for the differences or rather like the disparity of like in the minority responses as it relates to representation, because obviously there's a lot of representation that comes into this.

[01:06:13] I know you mentioned the different, you know, the major religions, but how do we account for the disparity or the differences in the other religions? Just out of my curiosity. Thanks. I'm not sure I understand the question.

[01:06:29] When you say, how do we account for, do you mean in the survey results or do you mean in the holidays? Just in general, every year, like just even every year, how do we account for that? Like there are different religions out there.

[01:06:44] Is it that we are in communication with, I think you had mentioned you are in communication with the entities that represent those major religions. But I was just curious about the minority, you know, the minorities. So the calendar team works with the organizations that support the world-recognized or national-recognized religious organizations.

[01:07:12] So they work closely with those organizations within Loudoun County to ensure, you know, getting the right date isn't always easy just because of the way it's based, especially in the event that we are trying to plan for these calendars so far in advance.

[01:07:33] So we have to recognize that we may have to shift a day here or there, depending later on. We do work very closely with those organizations. As far as the more minor religious groups or cultural observances, we do hear regularly from individuals advocating for either additional holidays or more holidays involving their particular culture or religion.

[01:08:07] Most of the time that comes through email, via Let's Talk. We hear it through Facebook, you know, posted on the LCPS Facebook posts. So they do reach out, but they don't always have organizations for us to partner with or work with.

[01:08:28] It's more individuals who reach out directly. Thank you. I appreciate you. Thank you.

[01:08:42] Well, I'll step up. So I was heartened to hear that the majority of the survey respondents highlighted a preference to maintain the current approach, especially when it comes to inclusive holidays.

[01:09:00] I understand that there are always requests for more, but I feel like this is a solid compromise. And when I think about it in terms of developing my own perspective and my own commitment to these days, I find that I'm thinking about a couple of different issues, and I'll start with the practical ones, right?

[01:09:21] So we know, as of right now, 61.1% of our students identify as a culture other than white. That doesn't necessarily mean that we are tracking their religious preferences, but we serve an incredibly diverse school division, and it's practical.

[01:09:50] When you think about how populations have concentrated across Loudoun County, it's possible that on certain dates you could see an incredibly high number of absences if we were to go away from the inclusive holidays model.

[01:10:08] I would also reflect on the fact that as a parent, an LCPS for many, many years now, and only for one more to go, I can remember what it was like before we recognized the inclusive holidays.

[01:10:25] And I think it's quite a lot. I would be concerned about going back to that model because I remember that compliance was not perfect. and I think it would continue to be hard to ensure that compliance was perfect in terms of thinking around workarounds if we had school on those days.

[01:10:47] I have an example from one of my district schools where on Eid al-Udha, which just occurred, there were even field trips that were scheduled. So there's a level of awareness we'd have to address.

[01:11:03] But to be honest, I find myself being very, it's very easy for me to commit to a firm desire to preserve these holidays. And I could see areas where we could try to reduce days in different ways.

[01:11:22] I will throw one out just for consideration from the perspective of the board. I don't believe that people earnestly celebrate President's Day. Veterans Day is also a day where we've had school. That's, for the record, been because there's been a heavy preference from a past board member to continue to have school on that day because of the meaningfulness of the celebrations that occur within our schools.

[01:11:49] There are also days where, because of the past administration in the governor's office that had a prioritization around attendance where we built in days that would be high absence days, Disney days, where families might be choosing to take a holiday. Those would be days that I would be willing to have school. But when it comes down to it for me, the bottom line is always remembering who we serve. And as I noted, we are very diverse school division. It is not lost

[01:12:28] on me that hate crimes are up, nearly doubled. This is FBI-related data and also citing additional groups. Hate crimes roughly doubled over the past decade. Targeted groups include faith communities, Latinos, African Americans, and since the pandemic, Asian Americans. And I think it's very important for us to consider as we have this conversation what message it sends to our neighbors if we

[01:13:00] deprioritize the days that are culturally important to them and I think we should also consider how it would impact our work around belonging which has been such a huge priority for this year and I would hate to muddle that message and with that of board members Miss LaBelle yes I just wanted to share that I have several individuals have shared with me that the cultural holidays

[01:13:35] don't get off work. They only get off for federal holidays and it means that they often have to find somebody to care for their children those days. They reiterated that their religious observances were usually held in the evening so I just want to throw that out there because that is a concern for them about the care of their children they don't get the day off like they do for federal holidays so when we give the children time off it is a trial for some of them so that's just

[01:14:09] something to keep in mind. Thank you. Board members any further comments? Mr. Pepper. Thank you. Thank you Madam Chair and I know that based on the results you shared Ms. Bolton this wasn't the highest of priorities of things. But what I would love to see, and I've said this in past before, I would love to see the school divisions, at least the chairs, particularly here in Northern Virginia, come together with some sort of common calendar. And I know that each division has its own priorities. It's made up of different demographic groups. We are not the same as Fairfax, who's not the same as Arlington, who's not the same as Prince William County. And I get

[01:14:46] that every district has its own needs and its own responsibilities. But if we were truly, and I go back even to the strategic plan that we just talked about where we talked about investing in LCPS staff if we want to become an employer of choice we've got to make it so that we're we're competing in a way that's equivalent to other divisions and one of the things is having a calendar that's as similar as possible so I would love if we could find a way to even take the lead on this and work with some of the school boards maybe the leaders of those school boards and other divisions to come up with some sort of regional calendar model I

[01:15:21] I think that it would make life a lot easier for those all across Northern Virginia, everything from employers to educators who work in different divisions, those children in different divisions, and I'm just going to leave it at that. Thank you. I'm glad you mentioned that. That was on my list as well.

[01:15:39] I do appreciate that idea, and I think it would be beneficial for all of us if we, I mean, especially given the fact that our workforce, I mean, up to 40% don't live here. It would be useful if we had a conversation with other school boards and work towards getting an alignment as a benefit to our staff and families.

[01:16:01] Any other comments? Ms. Riccardi? Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess one of the things I would love to see is potentially an option that really kind of thinks out of the box as much as we possibly can get.

[01:16:17] we've had a lot of alternative calendars proposed and I'm not suggesting that any one of them is meets all the needs we have either so I think that you know that's a conversation for another day whenever we get to that but I'm wondering if I know we had one option that was a year-round calendar that obviously wasn't favored and I get and I get that I have my own views on on year-round schooling that I'll save for another time but what I'll say is it would be interesting to see if we could figure out a calendar that as best we

[01:16:54] can can start after Labor Day and end as early as possible in June I know we can't I know that it's not I don't I don't believe it's possible for us actually completely start after Labor Day and end by Memorial Day in the way that we've got our requirements that we need to meet I've got that but what are the other options to get us the shortest possible calendar and I don't know if that's reflected in the options here or not, because it doesn't, I think it all starts in August and ends in June for the most part. But is there a way for us to look at, like, what is the,

[01:17:30] I guess the question is, what is the tightest calendar that we could possibly craft, and what would have to go, what would have to happen in order for that to be realistic? And I'm not asking you to come up with that decision now, but it'd be really interesting to see what that might look like? So if I may, I think there would be some questions that would need to be asked in order to do that. The last go-round when we brought 27-28 school year calendar options, we had heard similar

[01:18:07] concerns in regard to school continuing after SOLs for so many weeks, and essentially usually staff feeling like babysitters, so to speak, after SOL and AP exams, at least at the secondary level. And so we did put together calendars that started much earlier in August and ended by Memorial Day weekend. Those were obviously not selected. The questions that would have to be formed and the give and take that would have to occur is if we're looking for a tighter

[01:18:46] option, that means potentially returning to only federal holidays. It would also mean reducing either winter break or spring break or both. So it would require us to give somewhere else. Or it would require this board to make a decision about reducing the number of instructional days that we would like to see on the student calendar. And then the discussion would be had in regards to the number of staff assigned work days and whether a reduction

[01:19:24] in a teacher contract would be required. So there it could be done there is just obviously some type of additional questions that would that would have to occur. Yeah because I'm not thinking I mean I would just be real interested in seeing what that looks like. I'm not suggesting that that would be the option that would be chosen or anything but I we've heard all the different moving parts that would be involved in that but I would be really fascinated to see like what that actually looks like on paper just as a response to that and trust me this is not my wheelhouse I've already made this very clear like I am I

[01:20:02] have a great appreciation for all of the creation of these calendars and the calendar options not my wheelhouse at all but it'd be really interesting to kind of see what that looks like just from a from a perspective because obviously then we could we could wind up saying no we want it this isn't going to work because of these other reasons that we decide as a you know collaboratively so it'd be interesting though to have that to work from i do think it was in the april presentation it might have been the one before that we did put up um for illustration purposes only big letters and not options uh two

[01:20:38] calendar kind of diagrams that started post-labor day and ended by memorial day and what the implications of that might look like one of them was only federal holidays i believe and one still had the cultural holidays but neither met or one of them did not meet state requirements and i think the other one only gave us five hours for any type of inclement weather or any any changes I can go back and pull those so well I mean I don't want the one that we can't do so that's

[01:21:15] that's a no so I don't need to see that one but I'd like to see like what what is the like I'm going to say minimal viable product on this one so what's a minimal viable calendar that we could actually do I think it'd be just interesting for the public to see that too because I think there's a lot of stuff swirling around right now and a lot of interesting conversations but the reality of it is we've got to know what's real, what meets the legal requirements, and our collective bargaining agreement requirements in order to actually make this work. So I'd just be curious to see it at some point. Thanks. Thank you. Mr. Pepper? I want to briefly piggyback off of what

[01:21:53] Ms. Riccardi said, and I appreciate your using what's the minimum calendar. I love that because I think that's a lot of the feedback we're getting from the community. I really struggle though with the word viable from an instruction perspective. Because at some point, even though we are legally within the confines of days and give us a little buffer because of weather, what we are robbing our educators of is the ability to get through the curriculum we need to get through. And as I've said before, days matter. I mean, and I know that we can extend days and make them longer, but truthfully, curriculum is sequenced. Curriculum is designed in a way to learn things in chunks.

[01:22:29] And so as we get as close to 180 as possible, that's how our curriculum is designed. So I appreciate your thoughts and I appreciate that's what the community wants. But there's also that kind of both sides of the coin here when we talk about viability. Dr. Rasheed?

[01:22:47] Thank you. Just wanted to piggyback off Mr. Pepper, what Mr. Pepper mentioned. I totally understand how features do matter, you know, the curriculum matters. But I also want everybody to not forget that students matter and where, you know, diversity matters and where their belonging, a sense of belonging has come so far as an entity as LCPS, that where they belong.

[01:23:14] And so belonging matters overall. So, you know, like I said, I just want to make sure that everybody is aware that these celebrations that many cultures celebrate or any religious holidays that are celebrated, whether it's in the day or at night, I still think that it's important to be observed. Thank you.

[01:23:37] Thank you. And I appreciate the contextualization. I'm sure that I've also heard that from constituents, but I would reflect on the fact that spring break is also a time that workers don't get or are not guaranteed to have off. Winter break with the Christmas holiday is also a time when workers are not guaranteed the entire time off. Families have to plan. I just would hate for, I mean, I just, I think it's a respectfulness that we offer to our neighbors. But again, that's just my two cents. Board members, Mr. Svensson. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted

[01:24:13] to pick up on what Ms. Riccardi previously said and what Mr. Pepper were talking about. And I think that the feedback we're hearing from constituents, the way I read it is that families are feeling squeezed by the fact that it feels like the calendar is extending at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year and you know understanding we have constraints and many that are very valuable and important constraints I think that we can put together a calendar that addresses one side of that calendar I think based on feedback from our educators it makes the most sense to end earlier perhaps than we have been and work on developing a calendar that ends

[01:24:49] earlier and but maybe starts in in mid to late August so that we have time to build into a high school level AP testing and across the board for SOL testing and I think that would help families feel a little bit of a sense of relief that their their summer is not being taken over by the school calendar you know I I think what Miss Bolan was saying we are working with a lot of moving pieces and it might not be possible to address both sides of that calendar and make everyone happy but I think there is something that we can do

[01:25:22] to make people feel less of that strain by, in my view, the preferable option would be to end the school year earlier, even if it means starting in August. Thank you. Board members? Okay, it's 5.55.

[01:25:43] So let's do one information item, please. Dr. Bergen, could I ask you to move forward with 12.03 the office of superintendent third quarter forecast because i i'm almost positive we can get this done on time yes madam chair board members as uploaded to this item in board docs we are happy to share with you tonight a forecast for the third quarter which covers the months of july august and september since the board recesses in july you'll notice the only board meetings

[01:26:18] listed are the loan meeting in August and the two meetings in September as I always mention when I present the forecast this is a fluid document it can and will change so this is just early thinking particularly on work sessions we look forward to speaking with the board more about the results of the stakeholder survey that was completed recently in work session on August 11th as well as hearing from our school business partnership executive council both spotlighting them on the 11th and having them come during the work session time. On September 8th, we have penciled in at work

[01:26:55] session the FY28-33 capital budget, and for the 22nd of September, as we've shared with you, we are looking at doing a pilot on less tech or low tech in schools, and we want to share an update with you about that work on September 22nd with an instructional technology update for the school division the info items will fill in as we get closer to the dates of those meetings and you'll notice we are short on advisories at the beginning of the year because advisors are just starting up at the beginning of the school year and they typically come in the fourth and first and second quarters be happy to answer any questions you may have about this draft of a

[01:27:35] quarterly forecast thank you dr bergen board members any questions or comments all right Lovely. Thank you so much. That's one item that we were able to get through before. And with that, we will recess this meeting for dinner and reconvene at 6.30.

[01:27:53] The board is now in recess.

[02:01:34] Good evening, everyone. The board is coming out of recess at this time. We'll continue with item number seven, the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem. Tonight, the National Anthem will be performed by Sathvik Abhinaini.

[02:01:53] Sathvik is a rising eighth grade tenor from Stonehill Middle School who loves singing and being involved in chorus. He has been selected for District Chorus, ACDA National Honor Choir, ACDA Southern Region Honor Choir, Loudoun County All-District Chorus, and All-Virginia Chorus.

[02:02:14] He is proud of his accomplishments and looks forward to continuing his musical journey. Welcome, and thank you for being here tonight. Please stand for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, invisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[02:02:43] Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming

[02:03:22] And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air but our flag was still there oh say does the star-spangled banner yet wave

[02:04:08] so much that was incredible all right uh with that we'll now move on to item number eight recognitions um tonight we'll be doing the department of school leadership middle school intramural sports and vhsl state champion recognition this will be presented this evening by Mr. Derek Ferry, the director of athletics and extracurricular activities. Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the school board, Dr. Spence, and members of Loudoun County Public Schools community. It is my honor this evening to recognize an extraordinary group of student

[02:04:44] athletes, academic competitors, coaches, sponsors, whose dedication, talent, and perseverance have brought great honor and statewide distinction to Loudoun County Public Schools. We start off the evening by recognizing our middle school intramural champions. First up, we recognize the first ever individual and teams from our successful middle school cross-country running pilot activity. The individual boy champion is Oliver Worthington from Belmont Ridge Middle

[02:05:17] School. Next up is our boys team champion who are the Thunderbolts from Seneca Ridge.

[02:05:53] Thank you. The girls' individual champion is Anna Ruth LaVorne of Blue Ridge Middle School.

[02:06:09] And the girls' team champions are once again the Thunderbolts of Seneca Ridge.

[02:06:27] We also played 7-on-7 soccer in the fourth quarter.

[02:06:47] Your middle school intramural 7-on-7 soccer champions are the Hurricanes of Harper Park.

[02:07:27] Thank you. Every year, our high schools are some of the strongest across the Commonwealth of Virginia as spring sports competitors.

[02:07:59] This year, as the host school division for the Virginia High School League's Spring Jubilee, Loudoun was showcased in more than one way. Our student-athletes and our schools did not disappoint. Loudoun garnered a total of nine team state titles as well as a slew of individual gold medals to close the school year and an exciting spring season out.

[02:08:24] All these students have demonstrated what is possible when talent is matched by preparation, when goals are pursued with discipline, and when young people are supported by outstanding coaches, teachers, families, and school communities. state championships are never accidental. They're earned through countless hours of training, study, sacrifice, and commitment to excellence. These students have represented their schools, their teammates, and Loudoun County Public Schools with tremendous pride. Tonight, we are proud to

[02:08:56] celebrate our 2026 VHL Spring State Champions students and teams who not only earned championships, but who also exemplified the values of discipline, commitment, leadership, teamwork, and excellence.

[02:09:12] Let's start with our individual state champions. First, we honor Freedom High School Josh Johnson for his two individual state track and field titles in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash. Congratulations to Josh on adding two more state titles to his already impressive track and field resume.

[02:09:33] Next, we honor a four-by-100-meter relay championship team from Freedom High School. The relay champions were Nathan Danberg, Josh Johnson, Hudson Stupik, and Rafael Zanga.

[02:09:51] Congratulations. Please help us congratulate Loudoun Valley's Sammy Gaylord on her state title and the girls' shot put.

[02:10:06] Congratulations, Sammy. side's Thomas Ray is once again a state champion after he secured the gold medal in the 1600 meter run. Congratulations Thomas. Rock Ridge High School, tennis duo Akash Vengala and Christian Bide were the top doubles team in the class four state championship as they brought home the gold.

[02:10:57] Congratulations. Next we have Tuscarora's Sebastian Pla flew to another state title as he bested the field in the class four long jump competition congratulations sebastian and rounding out our individuals ellen nagunga of woodgrove high school also bounded his way to a state title in the class

[02:11:36] four boys triple jump congratulations ellen now please join me in recognizing the following lcps teams for capturing the virginia high school league state championship in their respective sports. The VHL Class 5 state champion in boys outdoor track and field are the Eagles of Freedom

[02:12:20] High School. The VHL Class 5 state champions in boys tennis are also the Eagles of Freedom High

[02:12:37] School.

[02:13:07] Thank you. Class 6, the Virginia High School League state champions in boys lacrosse are the Independence High School Tigers. This is the team's second consecutive state title.

[02:13:57] So in Class 6, the Lady Tigers of Independence brought home another Girls State Championship.

[02:14:58] In Class 5, the Riverside Boys Lacrosse team brought home again another DHL State title. Six? Seven. That's seven state titles, sorry.

[02:15:27] Lacrosse at Riverside had a great year as the Girls Squad also finished the season as the Class 5 State Champions.

[02:15:43] Stockridge High School got it done on the court as their boys' tennis team are also the new Class 4 state team champions.

[02:16:15] And we move to our diamond sports, and I will preface this.

[02:16:33] The Washington Nationals are recognizing all the state champions from Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. tonight at their Nats Park. So, unfortunately, these two teams won't be here because for the second year in a row, the Huskies of Tuscarora High School dominated competition emerged as the class four softball state champions and Woodgrove High School bested the field to bring home their first ever state

[02:17:06] title in class four baseball on behalf of Loudoun County Public Schools we congratulate all of our spring VHL champions their coaches sponsors families and school communities these champions these champions demonstrate remarkable preparation, resiliency, and a commitment to stand above the rest in Virginia. We congratulate them all for their amazing achievements, and we are incredibly proud of you. We'd also like to extend a sincere thank you to the athletic departments and staff

[02:17:45] at Woodgrove High School, Heritage, Freedom, John Champ, Briarwoods, and Independence for their amazing work to host and support the VHL Spring Jubilee. Thanks to everyone that was involved,

[02:17:57] and we look forward to hosting again in 2027.

[02:18:34] Thank you, everyone. That was such a lovely way to recognize our students as we prepare for summer recess. And with that, we will move on to item number nine, the superintendent's report, which will be presented, of course, by Dr. Aaron Spence.

[02:18:51] Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board. It's always my pleasure to share good news from around our school division. This evening, we will begin with a few appointments. If I could ask Danielle Culligan to please stand. Ms. Culligan has been named this evening with your vote the next principal of Stuart Weller Elementary School.

[02:19:07] Congratulations. Ms. Culligan currently serves as assistant principal at Belmont Station Elementary, previously having served as the dean at Little River Elementary School. She began her career here in LCPS as a teacher at Guilford Elementary.

[02:19:24] We welcome you to your new role, and congratulations again. If I could ask Jennifer Miller to please stand, please to announce that this evening, based on your vote, Jennifer Miller will serve as LCPS's next ombuds.

[02:19:40] Ms. Miller currently leads LCPS's Office of Professional Learning and School Support and has previously served as the Supervisor of Community Connections and as an instructional facilitator. She began her LCPS career as a teacher in 2025. Congratulations again on this position. I'd also like to welcome Lindsay Trout to LCPS.

[02:20:04] Ms. Trout will be serving as an elementary executive principal. Ms. Trout joins us from Fairfax County Public Schools where she also served as an executive principal following roles as an elementary principal and assistant principal. She began her career in education as a special education teacher with FCPS and we're glad you're here in Loudoun County.

[02:20:22] Congratulations. Moving on earlier this month, as you heard, several LCPS high schools hosted and the LCPS Athletics and Activities Office supported this year's Virginia High School League spring jubilee this event is a pathway to the state championships bringing together varsity baseball across soccer and softball teams from across virginia together to compete many thanks to all of our staff including the athletic directors and trainers coaches volunteers and event staff whose hard work made this celebration of student athletics possible next i'm pleased to announce that the department of communications and community engagement recently earned four

[02:21:02] national school public relations association awards recognizing excellence in strategic high Impact Communication. NSPRA, who's a national leader in school communication, honors work that strengthens communications and connections with student staff in the community. The award-winning communication campaigns focused on topics including LCPS's research-driven hiring, successes in elevating student voice through superintendent town halls, and the launch of the LCPS Innovation and Achievement Report. Today, the LCPS Division of Family and Community Engagement teamed up with the Loudoun First Responders Foundation, the Loudoun Education Foundation, and the School of Business Partnership Executive Council

[02:21:42] to celebrate the heroes who keep our community safe. At this year's first responder cookout at Heritage High School, staff and volunteers served more than 600 hot dogs and hamburgers to 225 first responders from agencies across the county, including the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, the Leesburg, Middleburg, and Purcellville Police Departments, Loudoun County Fire and Rescue, and the Metro Washington Airports Authority.

[02:22:06] Special thanks to the Heritage High School administrative team for manning the grill. This annual tradition is a heartfelt reminder of the courage of our first responders and the strength of the community partnerships that support our students and families. As students ended another great year of learning on June the 12th, teachers cheered and waved as school buses rolled away for their final run this year. We sincerely hope everyone has a relaxing and restorative summer, but to be honest, we can't wait to welcome everyone back on Monday, August the 17th. Over the summer, our parents, particularly parents of our kindergarten in seventh grade and twelfth grade students are reminded to make sure your students have the

[02:22:43] required immunizations and we're hoping our families will bookmark the LCPS calendar as you start making plans for our next school year. And finally this evening I want to take just a moment to celebrate our graduates. More than 7,000 seniors graduated from LCPS this month. Of those 75% received an advanced diploma, 23% a standard diploma, and just over 1% an applied studies diploma. Our graduates report they will be taking a gap year entering the workforce and entering into military service as well as two and four year universities and institutes of higher education

[02:23:19] and we want to take just this moment to congratulate the class of 2026. And Madam Chair that concludes my report. Thank you Dr. Spence and with that we'll move on to the next item on our agenda public comment. This is item 10.01 and these are the procedures for public comment. Thank you for engaging with the school board through 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

[02:23:57] the time allotted. Based on the number of speakers and the agenda this evening, all speakers have been allotted one minute 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. 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, and other noise which disrupts or delays the meeting, obstructing speakers from being able to see the

[02:24:35] 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 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

[02:25:13] students during public comment speakers should communicate those concerns to their school principal or an appropriate school official the school board requests that comments on an individual student or employee related matter not be shared at public meetings where the disclosure could violate applicable confidentiality requirements i do want to take a moment to clarify a few things As has been explained previously, speakers can personally identify a student or employee without stating a student's or employee's names.

[02:25:47] That is, personally identifiable information is any information that a reasonable person can link together to pinpoint an individual student or employee and where the individual or student employee is known to others in their school or surrounding community based on the context that is shared.

[02:26:04] The school board welcomes you to share your concerns, but asks that to the extent you have prepared remarks that target, criticize, or attack 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.

[02:26:42] 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. Accordingly, when reasonable, I will warn of breaches of decorum, civility, and respect and ask speakers to redirect their comments prior to possibly discontinuing individual speaking privileges or taking other actions to preserve the civility, decorum, and orderly conduct of the meeting.

[02:27:20] 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.

[02:27:35] Should you fail to redirect or generalize your comments after that warning, you may be asked to yield the microphone, at which time you should yield the microphone as well as the floor and take your seat, and I will then call the next speaker. To the extent necessary, I will also warn of breaches of decorum, civility, and respect from attendees prior to taking other actions to preserve the orderly conduct of the meeting. Speakers should face 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

[02:28:12] decorum or civility by any meeting attendee may result in the chair directing staff to remove the attendee from the remainder of the meeting repeated or persistent violations of decorum or civility by the audience may result in on the decision of the chair public comment being tabled until a later point in the meeting's agenda limiting the number of attendees in the meeting room during public comment for safety reasons or the public comment period ending for the evening distribution materials to school board members copies of materials for school board members should be given to the public information officer in the media box at the back of the boardroom before the start of the meeting

[02:28:51] please provide 12 copies of the materials under no circumstances may a speaker approach the dais the public is reminded that access to school board meetings is available through lcps tv On 1070 HD and Verizon Fios Channel 43.

[02:29:07] The live stream of the meeting may be viewed on the website. We look forward to hearing your comments. We will now start with our virtual public comment. Our first virtual speaker is Vikas Nair, and our second speaker is Robin Reeves-Burke. We do not have a virtual public speaker by that name.

[02:29:27] All right, our next speaker is Robin Reeves-Burke, followed by Stephen Burr. I'm here. Can you hear me? Yes, ma'am. Okay, thank you. Good evening. My name is Robin Reeves-Burke. I serve as the first vice president of the NAACP Loudoun branch and chair the education committee. I'm also happy to be a family liaison at Watson Mountain Middle School, where the new high school will stand. I'm here to urge you to name high

[02:29:59] school 14 Thornton Summit High School. Policy 6510 calls for us to name that reflects geographic meaning historical depth and community residence and reminds us that the board is not bound by the committee recommendations thornton summit does all three geographic meeting summit connects the school to watson mountain and symbolize students reaching their highest point in k-12 historical depth thornton honors a black family whose roots at the watson community run deep community

[02:30:35] residents. As someone who works daily with families, I know of the importance. Please support Thornton Summit High School. Thank you. Our next speaker is Stephen Burr. We do not have a virtual public speaker by that name. All right, we'll move on with our in-person speakers. The first speaker is Albany Brown, followed by Anita Helm. Good evening. Thank you for the work you do. I'm a former Cool Spring elementary student. I know it's been a while. Loudon didn't fully integrate until

[02:31:14] 1968. My mom, wave mom, was born the year before that, so this history is not so distant. But through faith, the Thornton family broke through those barriers and has championed education ever since. I know there's hesitation around using family names, but the Thornton legacy is defined by post-emancipation perseverance, community building, and education. And policy 6510 gives you the security to do mandatory background checks to secure that. We don't need to fear our local history, we have the tools to verify it. Beacon Heights is a sterile placeholder name. It is a name without context, without history, and without connection to the land or its people. Fun fact,

[02:31:51] Beacon Heights is actually the high school and college from Pretty Little Liars. So there's that. This name selection isn't about political correctness. It is about honoring real-life Loudoun County success stories. The name Thornton Summit represents a choice to unite Loudoun's past, present, and bright future. That's the choice we need to make. Thank you. Thank you. Anita Helm, followed by Taylor Satie Sir.

[02:32:15] I'm Anita Helm. A fun fact for you all to learn is that last week, the Virginia Board announced that the First Baptist Church of Watson will be on the Virginia Landmark and the National Registry as of August of 2026. For the last few months, the Loudoun County Public School has been interviewing the Thornton family and finding out the history in the family tree.

[02:32:35] Another fun fact, there's a documentary by the Board of Supervisors that's going to talk about the countywide league. This lady, 96 years old, Rosetta Bush, is the only living member of the countywide league that was formulated to work with the NAACP to create the Frederick Douglass High School. I encourage you that Thornton is not one name, individual name.

[02:32:52] We are families of hundreds. I've met 15 or 20 people I've never known and found out that we're all relatives and went to school together. So I do encourage you to vote yes. I agree with board member Pepper that the Watson Mountain Middle School and the Thornton Summit are beacons. I'll use that word not for the fact of a school.

[02:33:07] But we are honorary in that area because we have the roots and the history, and they should be together. Thank you very much. Thank you. Taylor Satisur, followed by Maya Rooney.

[02:33:46] For over nine months, I've been advocating for access to evidence-based weight loss treatment that has already been available for employees in neighboring school divisions on average for $25 to $50, while LCPS employees are often left to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket or go without treatment entirely. This issue is impersonal to me and I've been diagnosed with multiple conditions that would qualify for treatment under many insurance plans. There's currently no pathway for coverage under LCPS plan. Just yesterday and today I met with two neurologists to discuss my spine condition and chronic nerve pain, both independently recommended GLP-1 medications,

[02:34:26] medical weight loss procedures as part of a comprehensive plan to reduce pressure on my spine and improve my health. I explained that it's excluded and their reactions were similar and they described the situation as unfortunate and unfair because the treatment could significantly improve my spine health and reduce the pain that I experience every day. My goal is clear LCPS investing in employee medical weight loss health options before conditions become worse.

[02:34:51] Thank you. Maya Rooney followed by Caden Rooney. Good evening, school board members. My name is Maya Roni. I'm a rising eighth grader at Willard.

[02:35:11] In 2023, the school board chose the name Watson Mountain Middle School to honor an important part of Loudoun County's black history and the community that once thrived there today. Students are learning about the history and the people who shaped it, who helped shape it. Tonight, I ask you to continue that commitment by choosing the name Thornton Summit. Names are more than words on a building. They tell stories. They help students understand the history of the land where they can learn and the people who came before them I hope you will think about how a school name becomes part of what students learn every day and how it connects them to the history of this community please vote Thornton Summit a name that honors the past and helps future students learn its history in a

[02:35:50] real way thank you thank you Caden Rooney followed by Kristen Washington good evening school board members my name is Caden Rooney and I am a rising eighth grader at Willard as my sister mentioned names help tell the stories of the people and communities that came before us. The Thornton family and the Watson community are part of the history of this land where Watson Mountain stands and where the new high school is being built. I am proud to be part of the

[02:36:27] Thornton family. My family has called this area home since the 1700s and has helped shape this community through generations of hard work, service, and a commitment to education. Learning about their perseverance and the sacrifices they made so future generations like myself could have opportunities inspires me and makes me proud of where I come from. Naming the new high school Thornton Summit would create a meaningful connection with Watson Mountain while honoring the legacy of the Thornton family and their work in this community. Thank you. Thank you. Kristen Washington followed by LaToya Neal White.

[02:37:23] Dr. Spence in your opening remarks to Congress you said we work so hard to ensure that every student, regardless of background or circumstance, has a supportive and high-quality learning environment, one that prepares them to thrive in life and contribute meaningfully to society. Unfortunately, that has not been my experience in this school system between my four children. My oldest is dyslexic. She had reading difficulties documented by the school in first grade, threatening retention. In second grade, she was homeschooled due to COVID. In third grade, I re-enrolled her thinking we would get the help that we needed instead she was denied even an

[02:37:59] evaluation she finally got formally diagnosed with dyslexia and four years later I'm still fighting for an IEP for her when she left third grade her reading map score was in the 35th percentile after two years of homeschooling with a private tutor it's the 63rd percentile when I re-enrolled her in the fall of sixth grade now it's the 47th in the school for two years

[02:38:22] thank you Latoya Neal White followed by Dorothy Rooney good evening my name is Latoya Neal White thank you for the opportunity to speak today I am here in the support of naming high school 14 Thornton Summit High School you all have heard about my grandfather my great-grandfather Edgar Thornton and today I would like to speak about my grandmother Yvonne Thornton Neal my grandmother

[02:38:57] attended the one-room schoolhouse in Ashburn until she was 13 years old she then attended and graduated from Douglas High School. After high school, she went on to study nursing at Hampton Institute, which is now known as Hampton University. Years later, she was honored to provide important historical information that helped with the restoration of the one-room schoolhouse in Ashburn, Virginia. Education has always been a cornerstone for our family's values, and my grandmother carried that belief throughout her life. She understood the power of learning and the opportunities it creates for future generations. Her story, along with the legacy of the Thornton

[02:39:34] family, reflects perseverance, achievement, and a deep commitment to the education and community. Thank you. Dorothy Rooney, followed by Heather Gottlieb. Good evening. My name is Dorothy Rooney. I'm the proud parent of five LCPS students. I am here tonight to ask you to vote for Thornton Summit. This name complements Watson Mountain and connects students to the rich history of the land which they learn each and every day.

[02:40:10] Watson Mountain students are taught about the Thornton family, an anchor family of the Watson community. They learned that during segregation, when black children were denied access to public schools, the Thornton family created a school inside their church. Education has always been at the cornerstone center of the Thornton family's legacy.

[02:40:28] When opportunities were denied them, they created them. That commitment to learning has continued through generations, with many descendants graduating from or currently attending Loudoun County Public Schools, including my two children you heard from tonight, Caden and Maya. The Thornton family and the Watson community are connected to the land where this new high school is being built. Naming the school Thornton Summit would honor this legacy because when students know the story of the land they learn on, they don't just attend school, they become part of its living history. Thank you. Heather Gottlieb followed by

[02:41:00] Meredith Ray. Names matter. They tell students whose stories we value and what history we choose to preserve. LCPS currently has 10 schools named after white individuals and five named after black individuals. While progress has been made, including the renaming of Loving Elementary School last year, opportunities to recognize underrepresented stories remain limited.

[02:41:27] Thornton Summit High School would do exactly that. It would connect students to an important part of Loudoun County's history while reflecting on the values of achievement, perseverance, and excellence. Summit represents striving for one's highest potential and Thornton honors a family whose contributions to our community deserve recognition. Choosing Thornton Summit High School would give students not just a name, but a story worth learning and a legacy worth remembering. I also asked the board to reconsider the proposed dress code policy. The current policy was intentionally designed to reduce subjective enforcement and minimize the impact of adult bias. Any policy that relies heavily on personal judgment creates the potential for inconsistent enforcement.

[02:42:02] Historically, dress code policies have disproportionately affected girls, students of LGBTQ plus students and students with disabilities. Before making significant... Thank you. Meredith Ray followed by Lynn Davis. Good evening. I want to start by acknowledging what the language in policy 8270 gets right. The coverage requirements are now written in gender neutral body positive language which is better. However policy language cannot on its own neutralize the biases and

[02:42:38] prejudices that individuals bring into enforcement. Language without structured accountability gives those biases room to run. We need more than words on a page. I'm asking the board to return policy 8270 for work sessions that include MSAC, SEAC, and LEAF before any final vote. These advisory groups represent students and families most likely to be affected by uneven enforcement. Their voices belong in the room before this is finalized, not after. I'd also like to say that given that the Thornton family's history is rooted in black community resilience and a legacy of donating land specifically for black education. The name Thornton Summit High School is an opportunity with

[02:43:16] genuine equity significance, which is the kind of history LCPS's own policy language says it wants to honor. Thank you. Lynn Davis, followed by Yoko Jolly. Good evening. I'm here to speak in support of creating a school calendar that reflects the diversity of our students, families, and staff in the community. Our schools serve children from many different cultures, religions, and ethnic backgrounds. While no calendar can perfectly accommodate every tradition or observance,

[02:43:52] you should strive to be thoughtful, inclusive, and respectful in how you recognize important holidays throughout the year. An inclusive school calendar is not about favoring one group over another. It's about acknowledging that our community is made up of people with different beliefs, traditions, and celebrations. When schools are mindful of major religious and cultural holidays, they help ensure that students are not forced to choose between their education and their faith or family traditions. Inclusivity also sends an important message to our student. It tells them that they belong, that their identities are valued, and that their traditions are matterful. When

[02:44:31] children see themselves reflected in traditions, they see themselves in school. Thank you. Yoko Jolly followed by Courtney Smith. Good evening. My name is Yoko Jolly and I am a mother of two children at Rockridge High School. I'm here to urge you to stand firm and vote against granting Dominion Energy an easement for the Route 4 of the Golden to Mars transmission line project.

[02:45:01] This board has already voted once to protect our students and tonight I ask that you hold that line because the July 2nd deadline is a pressure tactic not a reason to surrender our children's safety. If passed, nearly 2,400 students and 295 staff members would spend their days in the shadow of 185-foot steel transmission towers taller than the Statue of Liberty, placed as close as 50 feet from school property.

[02:45:25] Children walking to Rosalie Carter, marching band practicing at Rockridge, and student athletes in the fields, all of them every day directly beneath high-voltage transmission lines. This infrastructure is built to power data centers, not homes, not hospitals. The private companies profiting from the data center alley should bear the cost of underground alternatives, not our school children.

[02:45:45] You have the power to say no. Our students are counting on you to say it again. Thank you. Courtney Smith, followed by Shadju Balan. Thank you for the opportunity to serve on the naming committee for the new high school.

[02:46:06] I support one of the three names that we gave to you guys for consideration. A flagship school needs a flagship name. Beacon Heights has been used as a fictional high school name. And as someone else from the naming committee said, it sounds like a neighborhood and then one that would be northwest of Leesburg proper, nowhere near the geographic center of the school, which is near Thornton Acres Road.

[02:46:28] There were at least six summit high schools in a quick search. We have more creativity and originality than that. The Thornton family represents greater longevity than that. The Thornton family has been in Loudoun since the 1700s. We heard several members of the family speak about dedication to a good education and how they were forced to go to D.C. because of segregation in Loudoun County public schools.

[02:46:53] We heard stories of resilience in helping to build the Frederick Douglass School. We heard about how their children have gone off to adventures and come back to the community that they built here. Thank you. Thank you. Shadju Balan, followed by Chris Countryman.

[02:47:11] Good evening, all. First, I want to sincerely thank you for your continued commitment to putting student safety first by supporting undergrounding of transmission lines near school properties. We recognize the tremendous pressure you are facing from different directions, including Dominion, Board of Supervisors, and other stakeholders.

[02:47:32] But I respectfully ask you to continue standing firm and reject Route 4, any other route, including Route 3A, that places massive transmission infrastructure near the schools. Dominion has options. Don't trust them. They can go back to the drawing board and evaluate alternatives.

[02:47:47] The concern from parents is that the cheapest option should not come at the expense of the safety and well-being of more than 2,400 students and 300 staff at Rosalie Carter and Rockridge High School. This is also about the precedence we set. Once a transmission corridor is approved near a school, it becomes much easier to justify additional infrastructure in the future.

[02:48:04] With dozens of additional data centers planned across northern Virginia, the demand for more power infrastructure will only increase. Today it may impact only Stirling District, but tomorrow it could have every school district. Thank you for your leadership and for standing with the Lord. Thank you. Chris Countryman, followed by Barika Porter.

[02:48:29] Sorry, mom's glucose sensor went off. There we go. Good evening. As we close out another school year, I want to take a moment to recognize the dedication, resilience, and professionalism of the educators and staff who have supported our students every day.

[02:48:50] This year brought challenges, opportunities, and important accomplishments, and we met each one with a commitment to student success. I also want to thank the board and district leadership for the work we have done together throughout the year. While we definitely do not agree on every issue, we share a common goal, providing the best possible education and learning environment for our students.

[02:49:12] As we head into summer, and I reflect on what we have achieved and continue to build a culture of respect, collaboration, and trust. In less than seven days, four hours, and 41 minutes, the collective bargaining agreements go into effect.

[02:49:27] We will be ready to continue serving our students while also strengthening our schools. On behalf of LEA, I wish everyone a safe, restful, and well-deserved summer. Thank you. Thank you. Barika Porter, followed by Emily Morford. Good evening.

[02:49:47] My name is Barika Porter, and I am a parent and resident of Loudoun County, Virginia. And I'm here to submit my in-person request that you all would consider the naming of the new high school, Thornton Summit High School. I've already submitted written requests, but the things that I really want to highlight here is, as a parent, it is critical for me, for my girls, to see themselves reflected in the world.

[02:50:14] And what is interesting about the Thornton family, what we can take away from their story is that they faced adversity over many, many years and generations, and they committed to stay, they committed to work, they committed to invest, and they were committed to education.

[02:50:33] which is why we're all here tonight and I think it would be a really phenomenal thing if this school board would really think long and hard about what messages are we sending to our students that you can always achieve in spite of adversity. Thank you. Emily Morford will be our last speaker this evening. Good evening chair and school board members. My name is Emily Morford and I served on the naming committee for the new high school. Throughout our meetings we focused on the values the school's name should reflect. Community, inclusion, opportunity, lifelong learning,

[02:51:09] unity, history, and forward thinking. As you consider the finalists, I encourage you to weigh those values heavily in your decision. Regarding Beacon Heights, some voting occurred before the committee had the benefit of information later shared and discussed. As a result, not all votes reflected the same understanding. For that reason, I encourage the board to look beyond the early vote total for Beacon Heights and focus on the name that best reflects the committee's shared principles. Of the finalist names, Thornton Summit High School aligns with those values. We emphasize honoring history, not for its own sake, but to recognize the people and stories that helped shape this community. The Thornton name reflects local roots, generations of community leadership, and a legacy of

[02:51:47] expanding opportunity. Combined with Summit, it conveys aspiration, achievement, and the potential of every student. Most importantly, it reflects the values we identified and can unite the community for generations to come. Thank you. Thank you all for coming out today and providing us with your public comment.

[02:52:05] Board members, at this time, we will take a short recess and reconvene at 7.30.

[03:02:47] Before we start with our action items, Mrs. Griffiths, could you please read your disclosure? 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 our 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 lcs lcps employee these benefits however affect thousands of employees while in the excess of statutory three employees whose interests may be

[03:03:23] also affected of which i am included i can and will participate fairly objectively in the public's interest this disclosure will be reflected in the public records of the clerk of the school board for five years yes thank you um we'll move on with item 11.01 the department of business and financial services fiscal year 26 year-end budget alignment this item will be presented by miss

[03:03:50] willoughby and mr jones maybe we're actually on the action item right on the action i oh i apologize we will start with mrs griffiths mrs griffiths um do you have a motion are you um you're talking about 11.01 or 11.02 11.01 the department of business and financial services fiscal year 26

[03:04:23] year in budget alignment okay well um i was only prepared for 11.02 but yes i will say i will thank you i moved to approve um the uh fy 26 i moved that the school board approve a budget transfer to realign the $2,300,000 within the school operating fund that the school board will approve a supplemental increase of $900,000 for the VLDP fund,

[03:04:57] $200,000 for the WC fund, and the $50,000 for the STD fund, funded by transfers from the school operating fund to maintain two months of claims reserve And a supplemental increase of $33 million to the Health Self-Insurance Fund, recognizing the FY25 county year-end support and above-budget revenues and rebates and employer premium contributions.

[03:05:28] Thank you. Thank you. Mrs. Griffiths has made a motion. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you. Mr. Svinson? Mrs. Griffiths, would you like to speak further to the motion? I'll just refer to Ms. Willoughby at this time. Thanks. thank you just a quick recap of what was presented at the last school board meeting this is just a combination of two items that mrs. Griffiths really encapsulated in the recommended action it's part of our year-end cleanup of closing out the fiscal year end requiring some budget transfers for our

[03:06:05] school operating fund and supplemental actions related to ours for self-insured funds thank you board members is there any discussion all right seeing no discussion let's move forward with the vote clerk please open the vote board members please record your vote Dr. Rasheed please state your vote yes clerk please close and display the vote that motion passes unanimously with all eight

[03:06:42] school board members present voting yes and Ms. Chernoff absent for the vote with that we will move on to item 11.02 finance and operations committee revision of policy 4310 purchasing authority this will be presented by Mrs. Griffiths mrs. Griffiths do you have a motion yes thank you madam chair I move to approve policy 4310 purchasing authority to align with the Virginia Public Procurement Act VPPA and define processes for for the threshold monitoring notifications and quarterly reporting thank you thank you let's see

[03:07:20] so is the recommendation that the Loudoun County School Board adopt the revised policy 4310 purchasing authority mrs. Griffiths has made a motion is there a second second I thank you mr. Svensson mrs. Griffiths would you like to speak to your motion once again I will hand that off to miss Willoughby to see if she'd like to say a few words on it thank you thank you in addition to providing a summary of the last presentation of this when it was an information item policy 4310 purchasing authority is part of the school board's procurement framework

[03:07:59] Through the procurement and financial policies, the board establishes spending authority, sets procurement requirements, and approves contracts as required by policy, while staff, in turn, administers and monitors procurement activities. The proposed redline version does not change purchasing authority, procurement processes, or internal controls.

[03:08:19] It does formalize current administrative practices and adds informational reporting to the school board. I will also share that I do have some concerns about the proposed reporting timeline, which currently requires information to be provided within five days, specifically referenced in section C.4, line 67 through 70 of the red line.

[03:08:44] Because this reporting is informational and does not require board action, it could be provided more efficiently on a quarterly basis. This would reduce administrative burden while maintaining the distinction between board governance and day-to-day administrative procurement and still provide the school board with appropriate visibility into procurement activity thank you thank you board members is there any discussion um yes vice chair Donohue thank you madam chair I noticed in some of the comments from the public there were suggestions about adding language related to potential conflicts

[03:09:22] of interest and I was wondering if that if those suggestions had been considered or discussed and what staff's view of that was yes we did discuss this um when it was at the finance and operations committee and in the red line version what we did on line 119 we added a cross-reference to the conflict of interest policy 2160 thank you miss willoughby all right i i have some questions um i'd like to start with um how often do we exceed procurement threshold amounts

[03:09:59] It is actually, I checked with our procurement director, it is a fairly rare occurrence, primarily because the budget that the school board adopts really sets forth the spending that is anticipated during the year.

[03:10:17] So based off of that, the procurement team working with the departments already has a pretty thorough framework of what the expected spending would be during the year to then align that spending with the appropriate procurement thresholds that determine is it just a simple quote, is it an informal quote, do we need to do a formal solicitation based on that information.

[03:10:40] In addition to that, the team does a lot of very proactive training with our account managers and financial technicians to ensure compliance with those procurement policies set forth for the division so that departments are aware about those thresholds.

[03:11:00] So if perhaps there is something that is not captured distinctly in the budget, that we also have that as guidance. Specifically for this current fiscal year, which is ending next week, we have not had an instance where we have exceeded the threshold.

[03:11:20] When I was brainstorming with our procurement director, Ms. Villiak, we identified one instance where, as an example, that during the year related to promotional materials that schools may purchase. and it was not so much that there was an issue with the policy or the spending it was just that as the division has grown that was a procurement that routinely was handled a certain way it didn't require formal solicitation because we weren't spending as much because we didn't have the same number of schools as we have grown over the years the spending for school promotional

[03:11:56] items like spirit wear as an example has increased because now we have more schools to buy for And that was an example that as that spending crept up, it wasn't captured in the budget to really call that out separately.

[03:12:13] And that was an example where once identified, then the procurement team worked with the schools to then put out a solicitation to establish a number of vendors that now schools could purchase through. So really, again, going back to the budget being the driver and identifying the spend proactively as well as our proactive training and work with the schools and departments, it is a fairly rare occurrence that this is happening related to spending.

[03:12:42] Thank you. I do appreciate the idea of improving reporting to the school board and through the F&O committee, but one of the concerns I have with the policy as it's written now is that it creates expediency where no action is intended, and therefore I would find it more appropriate also if the reporting occurred quarterly. And to that end, I'd like to make an amendment. I move to strike section C4 on line 67 through 70 and then renumber the rest of

[03:13:16] section C. And then I would strike D3B on lines 105 and 106 and renumber the rest of section 3. I've made a motion. Is there a second? Second. Second. Thank you. Vice Chair Donohue. Is there any discussion or I will speak more to my motion in the I appreciate the responsibility that we have as a school board and I want to be clear that I'm not opposed to having more visibility into the procurement process and having

[03:13:53] a better opportunity to understand how things are being spent and to be able to see and analyze the cycles and and to but I feel that the responsibility for identifying those patterns lies with the school board and to that end I just think it would be better for us to have these reports quarterly and again not create expediency when there's no action intended I think it would be a great place to start and I might be open to this discussion further as we get some

[03:14:30] of our new financial systems that will be more efficient in order to do efficient reporting. Is there any further discussion? Mr. Pepper? Thank you, Madam Chair. I actually have a question about your amendment. So I do know that, and I agree with what you're having, what you say.

[03:14:46] I'm curious if you could expand a little more on the omission of Section D3B. Is it just because of the vagueness of what D3B is? It's the idea of it being retrospect.

[03:15:03] Okay. So, I mean, in the original language implied identifying patterns. Yes, and I understand that. For me, it seemed, what's a pattern? Yeah. So, I mean, I think it's a great place to start with a quarterly report. And then if it becomes clear that there's something else that's needed, then that's a conversation to have after we start this process. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[03:15:29] Thank you. Ms. Riccardi. Thank you, Madam Chair. So, you know, one of the reasons why I brought this up, I think, back in January when we first started doing this is that our budget process right now allows for the purchasing threshold is $250,000. And so what this policy was trying to protect were people purchasing $249,000 for this item and then another $249,000 for the same item, and then $249,000 for another item, and us not having any budget authority over that.

[03:16:07] And this intention was to flag those purchases quickly so that it would come up at the Finance and Operations Committee meeting so we could actually see those and say, hey, maybe this is a normal thing. Maybe we have to deal, you know, there's a marketing piece that we're trying to get out and we need more money to spend on it. That stuff is fine. But I think from a fiduciary responsibility I think having the five-day and having these check marks and these these flags in there for us allows us to have some transparency if this has happened it has happened in the past it's been a while but the problem is we don't know if it's happened or not because there's no reporting that's being

[03:16:46] done and it's our job as a board to be financially responsible with with the spend and to be perfectly honest with you having gone through the budget process this last year, we have a $2 billion budget and nobody really has a lot of understanding of what's actually in it. I want us to be much more financially responsible and have a lot more closer-knit oversight into all these different things. And to be honest with you, this is a basic governance policy. The changes that we're making are very minor in the big scheme of things.

[03:17:20] We are going to have the state-of-the-art ERP system and finance system in place here in a matter of months. So I don't think asking for this kind of stuff right now is a big ask. I was kind of thinking this is going to be a no-brainer 9-0 kind of vote because it's that that basic. So I'm just I'm a little concerned about us completely getting rid of this. I would rather work the opposite direction. If we have a trend where we're just not seeing it then we go back and change the policy later and just eliminate it. But I would rather have the data and the information versus having to guess in addition this quarterly reporting doesn't ensure that

[03:17:59] we get what we're actually looking for it's not there's not enough teeth to it without the other safeguards in place so if we eliminate those two safeguards and only have quarterly reporting we may never get the information that we're looking for thank you thank you yes mr. Svinson thank you madam chair I had a question for miss Willoughby before the ERP system is implemented what kind of resources and time you know what does it look like to generate the report that's

[03:18:31] asked for within five days from your office's perspective the activity is activity that occurs on a regular basis because it's the basic function of procurement and the examples that mrs. Riccardi have provided about trying to split purchases or be directly under the threshold are very common in the procurement world and the experts that we have on our team are very attuned to those practices so it's something that they look for regularly the data and the

[03:19:08] the information though that they are using to do their work is very internal based it's not to be necessarily consumable in a public forum or even to be consumable and understood perhaps even for school board members you know respectfully so having to prepare extract this data and provide it in a manner that is you know that would make sense to the board would be a very manual process have we actually quantified it we have not yet because we this would be

[03:19:43] a brand new process but just to give as an example one of the items you know is talking about wanting to you know produce a report by commodity category Well, there's over 1,800 commodity categories. And so we can produce that report, but is it really going to be very meaningful for the school board?

[03:20:03] That's the challenge that I'm trying to balance of really meeting the needs of the school board with the governance, but also drawing a distinction with the administrative daily operations of the procurement team. Thank you. That's helpful.

[03:20:20] Mr. Pepper. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just to address some of what my colleague, Mr. Carty, is saying, I don't necessarily see your concern with these amendments if they were to go forward.

[03:20:37] I don't see that the amendments adding to the concern, right? All the amendments we're doing, we're still reporting if we have these cumulative purchases. And once again, the cumulative purchases have to add to a certain amount. It's really just the time-bound nature of reporting that we're taking out.

[03:20:52] and we're still seeing these on a quarterly basis and since there's no action to the report yes we can discuss it but there's no related action to it I don't see the need to put this additional strain on our system when we are still doing what's what's needed to track these cumulative reports and we're not if we do get the report which as we've discussed is incredibly rare could be we don't know right but it could be incredibly rare I don't I don't see the the urgency of having to do these right away so that's where I stand

[03:21:29] thank you any further discussion all right seeing no further discussion we'll move forward with the vote on the Chandler amendment I'll restate it I move to strike section C4 on line 67 to 70 and renumber the rest of section C and strike d3b on lines 105 through 106 and renumber the rest of section three board members please

[03:22:00] record your vote dr rasheed please state your vote yes clerk please close and display the vote that motion passes with five school board members voting yes including mr svensson myself vice chair donahue mr pepper and dr rasheed and three school board members voting no miss ricardi mrs griffiths and Ms. LaBelle. With that, we'll return to the base motion. Is there any discussion on the base motion as amended? All right, seeing none, let's, clerk, please open the vote. Board members,

[03:22:39] please record your vote. Dr. Rasheed, please state your vote. Yes. Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes with six school board members voting yes, including Mr. Svensson, myself, Vice Chair Donahue, Mr. Pepper, Dr. Rasheed, and Ms. LaBelle, and two school board members voting no Miss Riccardi and Mrs. Griffiths with that we'll move on to our next item item 11.03

[03:23:13] Department of Teaching and Learnings pre-k and LCPS LCPS Head Start preschool grant continuation application year three of five annual governing body overview and approvals and potential step expansion Mr. Pepper given that Ms. Chernoff is absent this evening would you do you have a motion Yes, Madam Chair. I move that the Loudoun County School Board approve the LCPS Head Start Preschool Grant Continuation Application, Year 3 of 5, and the Annual Governing Body Overview and Approvals.

[03:23:46] Furthermore, I move the Loudoun County School Board direct staff to consider the expansion of STEP classrooms in the development of staff plans for the upcoming Eastern Loudoun Elementary boundary process. Thank you. Mr. Pepper has made a motion. Is there a second? Second.

[03:24:02] Thank you, Mr. Svensson. Mr. Pemper, would you like to speak further to your motion? Yes, Madam Chair. So this was presented as an information item at our last school board meeting, and it really consists of two things. One of them is relatively routine. It's a continuation of our preschool grant continuation to receive Head Start funds to continue the program. But the second part of this is an expansion of our STEP program, and as we saw from the presentation of Mr. Slevin and Dr. Ellis last time some of our schools particularly those in Eastern Loudoun have a much higher number of students who have not completed preschool and

[03:24:39] therefore in an attempt to expand this program as we get into the redrawing of district boundaries in Eastern Loudoun to try to look for places where we can fit in more pre-k classrooms to increase the number of students who have access to this pre-k curriculum and if I haven't done that all I'll also defer to Dr. Ellis or Mr. Slevin all right thank you um school board members is there any discussion all right clerk please open the vote board members

[03:25:13] please record your vote dr rasheed please state your vote yes clerk please close and display the vote on that motion passes with seven school board members voting yes including miss ricardy mr svensson myself vice chair donahue mr pepper dr rasheed and miss labelle one school board member abstaining Mrs. Griffiths and Ms. Chernoff absent for the vote. With that we will move on to

[03:25:46] our next item which is the Department of Support Services name recognition for new high school high school 14 presented by Ms. Beverly Tate. Do you want to kick us off or Mr. Lewis? Sure thank you. So we we were presenting here tonight the as we did in the information I the item the other week is the recommendations from the committee which was was appointed by the school board has come back with the recommendation for Beacon Heights High

[03:26:21] School with the first alternate being Summit High School and then the third alternate being Thornton Summit High School and I remind the board that the committee the board is not bound by the committee recommendations so it's at the boards will to name the school and so we present those here for you tonight for your conversation and your recommendation right thank you so much um dr rachid um thank you chair chandler um goes faster than i thought okay uh chair chandler um i i'd like to make a motion if

[03:26:54] that's okay uh certainly and then it's an honor to do this because this school is in my district i move that the loudon county school board named the new school located at 41634 steeplechase Luke Drive, Leesburg, Thornton Summit High School. Second. Thank you. Dr. Rashid has made a motion seconded by Vice Chair Donahue. Dr. Rashid, would you like to speak further to your motion? I mean, it speaks for itself, but we've seen time and time again, so many of the supporters

[03:27:34] for the Thornton family and the Thornton family themselves have come out and spoken very strongly about supporting this name, and it has such a huge historical context to it. I can't speak any further. Thank you. Thank you. Board members, is there any discussion? Ms. LaBelle. Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to offer a compromise and move to name the school the Red Hill High School. That is a name that was originally given to a school on that property by the families,

[03:28:14] Thornton's among them and among others in the Watson community, they chose for their school when they built it before we even had public schools. So I know there's a lot of disagreement from letters that I've gotten saying that, well, you can't possibly know all the people in the Thornton family.

[03:28:37] And as I know, when we look at ancestry, it gets exponential after a bit. And we're supposed to research all of them. The other thing that I'm hearing is, well, we just redid all the regulations last year, and we're not supposed to be naming it after a person.

[03:28:57] The person has to be dead at least five years. There's a whole bunch of things. And I thought this might be a compromise because the Thornton's families, part of that community of Watson that actually valued education so much that they went out and raised the funds to buy the land, to build the school for their children.

[03:29:24] And when I looked in my history books to see what else we could offer as a compromise that is absolutely unique to the Watson community, I found a map showing where that school actually stood.

[03:29:41] And believe it or not, it is actually in our school complex owned by Loudoun County Public Schools where we've already built two elementary schools, one middle school and a state-of-the-art high school that brings the name Red Hill full circle from when it was just a little one-room schoolhouse built by your community, and is now a state-of-the-art high school.

[03:30:14] So I would like to propose that we also consider the name Red Hill High School. Thank you, Ms. LaBelle. I just wanted to state for the record, I'm a little bit unclear on our process here. Are you offering a substitute motion?

[03:30:31] Yes. Okay, so then... Or one where we do a motion here and then go down again, whichever way you'd like to do it. Okay, so I'm gonna ask our parliamentarian to clarify our procedure. - Thank you, Chair Chandler. Yes, for a motion, a substitute motion, it's treated like a motion to amend the base motion, so it would need a second, which I haven't heard yet, but Ms. LaBelle may wanna kind of restate that as a substitute motion so the record's clear and then a second would be taken up in that discussion.

[03:31:04] - From this procedural standpoint, Before we could vote on Dr. Rasheed's motion, we would clear up the status of Ms. LaBelle's motion. So, Ms. LaBelle, if you would please restate your substitute motion. Yes, Madam Chair.

[03:31:21] I would like to offer the name Red Hill High School as a name for HS14. Okay. Second. Thank you. Would you like to speak further to your motion, Ms. LaBelle?

[03:31:36] I think that it is something that goes back. I found maps with the names of it on it. I found the names of teachers. I found the names of the people that lived in the community. There was the Thornton family for sure.

[03:31:53] They were one of the first. But then other people came and moved into their community with them. This would recognize all of the Watson community. And it would avoid any of the pitfalls that we're looking at if we pick just one name.

[03:32:09] So I thought, you know, I love the name Watson Summit, but I don't want it at some point down the line to get the criticism, oh, they went back on this, and that family shouldn't. That family had this and so person in it. I don't want any of that to happen.

[03:32:26] So by looking for something else that was historic and applied to the entire community of Watson, this is what I came up with. And I'm just offering it as an alternative, because I believe that your family does need that recognition and that you really did have a big part in building that very first school.

[03:32:50] - Thank you, Ms. LaBelle. So the substitute motion was made by Ms. LaBelle and seconded by Mrs. Griffiths. Board members, is there any further discussion? Mrs. Griffiths. - Thank you, Madam Chair. Just to piggyback a little bit on Ms. LaBelle, what she had said.

[03:33:10] This is not about opposing the family or their desire to have HS14 named in their honor. For me, this is about policy 6510. The policy should have already been revised to eliminate inconsistent interpretations.

[03:33:28] And we still had time to do that before the school opens in 2028. If we don't, it appears to me that we are taking a little bit of a risk, and I didn't want to see that happen. I had specifically asked to have the naming of the school move back to August or September so more research could be done.

[03:33:49] A family is made up of individuals, as Ms. LaBelle had said. This is a large extended family. It is entirely possible that new information could surface in the coming years that would force the board to revisit, potentially rename the school again within the next five to ten years.

[03:34:06] That is not responsible governance. I also believe it's important for the people of Allen County to reflect on recent events we have just gone through in the renaming of two schools. for instance hazel reed elementary where a woman who served this county for over 75 years was taken off of a building off of a school she was given the honor of having the school and based on concerns that were definitely not proven the mercer middle school which is not clearly named for a specific individual but rather a place and possibly a family name was still renamed due to

[03:34:44] the belief that it could be tied to a slave owner, despite no formal designation or documentation indicating it was named for a person. In both cases, the end result and the removal of the names tied directly or indirectly to individuals, and that's why I have an issue and why the policy should have been revised. Yet now we find ourselves disregarding the intent of the policy, which cautions against naming schools after people and individuals and instead hearing multiple interpretations shaped to fit a preferred outcome.

[03:35:20] At one point, it became, let's just name after the family instead, which appears to be another way of working around the policy rather than adhering to it. It also is important to note that the naming committee voted during its second meeting not to name the school after a family.

[03:35:37] That decision reflected a reasonable concern. When there are still questions about living family members, it is not a prudent or sustainable choice. Future revelations could once again force us to go through the renaming process.

[03:35:53] For these reasons, I am not convinced, and I was hoping to push this back a little bit for more research, that it has been a fair and transparent process. It appears that the committee may have been pressured despite earlier opposition. We have time to do this right.

[03:36:10] We should revisit policy 6510 and ensure it is clear and consistently applied and conduct thorough research before making a permanent decision that affects our community for decades to come. In the recordings, no one said their name.

[03:36:26] You don't know who was speaking. So if you were to listen to the recordings, it's very hard to decipher. I'm not sure that we did this correctly. So, again, I'd like to go back to 6510, make revisions, and do more research before we go and we just name a school without a lot of research.

[03:36:49] Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Riccardi? Thank you, Madam Chair. So, I'm actually really intrigued by our choices of school names. And I guess one of the questions I would have is, because I know we do a lot of the research on the names that are proposed.

[03:37:11] And since we have a family here, have we done the depth of research on the family names so that we, I don't know where we are in that. I know the History Matters, I know it does some research, but do they do like an in-depth research? How does that work? I don't, have we ever named a school after a family before?

[03:37:28] I don't have any, Mr. Lewis, I'm so glad you're here, by the way. Thank you, Mr. Riccardi. So we have, the History Matters firm did do a research and it's attached to board docs and you'll see there. And one of the comments that I don't have right open in front of me, but essentially they said that they were, you know, reviewing the family name and not an individual.

[03:37:52] So it's nearly impossible to go through and investigate or do a deep dive on every single member of the family because you're not really sure if you get them all. So right now it's just there's that statement at the beginning of that. And so there was nothing found in their report that there was any issues or concerns with the name.

[03:38:12] OK, I appreciate that because, again, I don't know if we're in unchartered territory here or not, but I think that would be great. I would be really interested in postponing this until our August meeting because I would like for all of us-- I think, number one, I'd like all of us to be present.

[03:38:30] And I also like to make sure that we've gone through and done the depth of research on all the names to make sure that we've got a really well-validated name set. Not to suggest that anybody hasn't done a thorough name, But I think we've got a really interesting opportunity here with a Thornton family.

[03:38:47] And I just want to make sure that we've done all the due diligence on the whole suite of names. And then, you know, even to include Ms. LaBelle's option as well. Because I'd just like to understand that a little bit more, too. The great thing about this is I don't think we're in a rush.

[03:39:02] If we postpone until August, is there any issue with that? I know the school's not opening for another year, correct? Yes, the school opens in the fall of 2028. but the staff and the principal and all their staff will be hired a year and a half or so ahead of that and then so they begin all the planning for opening and and names and mascots and all those types of things so it's quite a process to get all those things together for a high school which is why we do it now on the timeline we are waiting till August I don't think would be an issue but much farther than that I think we would run into concerns that would be able to get

[03:39:39] all that together typically what the principal will do is gather up students are going to be feeding that possibly coming into the area and get student voice and also it takes quite a while to to bring all that effort together to get the planning done for the school to open on time in the fall of 28. But it would give us the next five to six weeks to be able to do a little bit more deeper dive and do a little more research before we make the decision is that so we can certainly look into that I think that from what we've heard from history matters there's not much more they can do because it's a family name and not an individual name so I'm not sure we're we're going to be able to come back to you in August and have any different report than we have right now.

[03:40:17] All right, thank you so much. All right, so technically we have two levels of motions on the floor, and before we could move on, if there were a desire to make a motion to postpone to a certain time, we would have to clarify and clear up Ms. LaBelle's motion first.

[03:40:43] I understand. Thank you, Chair Chandler. - I believe that's correct. There's the base motion and the amendment, and actually it might not be correct. If it's the fact that there's a base motion and an amendment or substitute motion to the base motion, I believe then the substitute motion, I do think that's correct.

[03:41:08] The substitute motion needs to be resolved, then it would go back to the base motion for discussion, in which case the motion to postpone, if that's the intent, could be put out for a second and then taken up for a vote. - Thank you for that clarification.

[03:41:24] Is there any further discussion on Ms. LaBelle's substitute motion? - Do I have a point of order? - Yes. - So just to make sure I understand, so if we want to postpone to August and just have the whole conversation done then, you're saying we still would need to vote on her amendment now?

[03:41:46] And then what would that do? Could she bring that back up again in August? - Thank you, Ms. McCarty. - Yes, I believe that's correct, that we would need to take, it's up two levels currently with the motion and the substitute motion.

[03:42:08] And then to your second question, it would be appropriate for Ms. LaBelle to raise that again. - Thank you. Yes, Mrs. Griffiths. - Thank you, Madam Chair. As far as Red Hill goes, I do think we should push this back So Red Hill can be researched by History Matters.

[03:42:33] And again, I do want to point out 6510, we are going around what the policy is. And I'm seeing that a lot, that we're not going to be able to enforce policies. Or I'm saying to myself, what's the purpose of having a policy if you're going to go around it?

[03:42:54] So I'd at least like to push this back to August because I think doing more research on Red Hill would be good in addition to any other names that were chosen by the committee. Thank you. Vice Chair Donahue. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[03:43:11] I wanted to briefly respond to a couple of points that have been made. First of all, the current version of policy 2610 naming of new school facilities does not in any way discourage naming schools after individuals or prohibit naming schools after individuals.

[03:43:30] The only restriction is that facilities to be named after individuals can only be named after an individual if the person has been deceased for at least five years. That's the only specification in the policy, and it is not implicated in this case because the school is not being proposed to be named after a specific individual.

[03:43:49] As to Mrs. Griffith's comments about wanting to make changes to the policy, my understanding is that this policy is an F&O policy. So if you desire to make changes, that it could... Pardon me, please don't interrupt. That if you desired changes, you could bring them before your committee.

[03:44:07] And that hasn't happened. So what we are dealing with right now is the current 6510. In addition, this proposal to wholesale consider a new recommendation that was not considered by the committee, in my opinion, in fact circumvents the entire purpose of 6510 which is to set up a committee appointed by the board to have public meetings and public discussion about names if there was a desire to propose this name it could have been proposed four months ago at the first meeting this process has been going on for a long time there were four committee meetings that were open to the public

[03:44:43] there was ample opportunity for everyone to provide input into what they thought should happen with this process and I view particularly the suggestion to delay until August a delay tactic and nothing more. So I will not be supporting Mrs. LaBelle's substitute motion and I will not be supporting any efforts to delay the vote on this until August. Thank you. Thank you. I would like to clarify since a point of information was made I will make a ruling that that point of information was well taken thank you for um giving us the opportunity to learn more

[03:45:19] procedurally um and then i'm going to uh circle back to someone who hasn't had a chance um to speak yet dr rasheed did i see your hand up yes dr rasheed chair chandler thank you chair chandler um you know i i had a question um and i'd like to piggyback what vice chair donnie who has said that we had plenty of opportunities to go through this motion.

[03:45:43] We had a whole committee that met about this. We had the family come out. I mean, it's just revisiting this over and over again. Another thing is for the History Matters, did we have History Matters for, and I think we did, for all the other schools that were renamed in the last two years?

[03:46:02] I believe it was for John Champ. It was for the school named after Mercer. So I just needed that clarification before I moved on in my comment. Thank you, Dr. Rasheed. Mr. Lewis, would you like to speak to that?

[03:46:19] Yes, ma'am. I appreciate the opportunity. The History Matters has been researching individual names for recommendations for a number of years now. And so any of that had been done in the recent past have been researched for individual names of folks that were being considered by the committees.

[03:46:38] Okay. So when we were coming up with the names for John Champ and all the, and I understand John Champ, we kept that name, but all the other names, when we were coming up for those names, did we have History Matters when we were coming up with those names back many years ago? Dr. Rashid, we have utilized History Matters since the naming of Brambleton Middle School.

[03:47:02] All right. Thank you so much. And then also, I just wanted to reiterate that it's important to note that this is Thornton as not an individual. It would be named as an entire family, but it's the Thornton family. So it's not an individual. So I just wanted to really point that out.

[03:47:19] It's really important to know that. Thank you. Thank you. And Ms. Tate, what year did Brambleton Middle get named? Did you say Brambleton? I did say Brambleton, and I don't know quite off the top of my head.

[03:47:40] Okay, this is even more embarrassing. I don't even remember off the top of my head when Brambleton opened, so let me look. I'm sorry. I put you on the spot. All right. Ms. LaBelle. I just wanted to make a comment about history matters. Sometimes history misses.

[03:48:04] When they put up the name John Champ as a slave owner, they were totally incorrect. And we have lots of evidence proving that. There's all sorts of documentation on what John Champ did in the American Revolution. So sometimes they don't go as far as they need to go. They don't look at as many things as they could. And obviously, they have decided that they were not going to go much further on the Thornton family. And that was the reason I was offering an alternative that still

[03:48:41] included the Thornton family, as well as other members in the Watson family. Because I was afraid that this might, as Ms. Griffith was saying, at some point in time, be overturned. And I don't want that to happen to you. Thank you. Thank you. Mrs. Griffiths. Thank you, Madam Chair. I do want to call on Mr. Lewis and Ms. Tate. I came to you several times asking you when this policy was

[03:49:16] going to come to F&O. So I do want to correct for Ms. Donahue that I did ask to have this come to F&O. And please share with everybody what the reason is as to why it didn't, number one. Number two as far as the committee goes I'm going to say it again they originally on the second meeting decided not to go with Thornton so I wanted to mention that again and we are not held to name a school after after a family so I wanted to point that as well in case that got lost in translation

[03:49:51] different interpretations of this policy is going around the policy and that's what I have a problem with but go ahead and please explain why the policy didn't come back to F&O thank you thank you mr. griffiths staff has recommended not to revisit the policy 6510 until the challenges for the renaming of the two schools that the school board named were complete so we we understand and agree that we have needed changes to the policy in the renaming section the schools that we

[03:50:26] have used this same policy to name for years has not been an issue with the board I know there are some board members that would rather have no names schools by individuals at all and that's something that may or may not be changed but at this point the board is not the the policy does not preclude you from naming it as an individual as Miss Donahue pointed out so the board has has their options to name the schools after an individual as long as they've been deceased for five years or they can name it after a family or geographical location. So the

[03:51:01] policy that's in place right now is what we're working with. And so that's the reason why the staff did not recommend to come back. Thank you. Mr. Svinson. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to note that based on my reading of the meeting minutes from the naming committee, the motion that Ms. Griffiths referenced in the second meeting was related to not naming a school after

[03:51:37] a particular individual and I would note that this is not naming the school after the particular individual and ultimately the committee came up with three recommendations for us to consider and I appreciate you know speaking to my colleagues and folks in the community that we want to respect the process that we set up for this and I think that we should choose from among the three options that the naming committee put forward for us we have a a motion before us related to Thornton Summit. I do appreciate Ms. LaBelle's research with respect to Red Hill, but I think it would behoove us to choose from the recommendations that were sent to

[03:52:16] us by the committee that we put together to work on this, and thank you. Thank you. Mr. Pepper. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm going to agree with my colleague Mr. Svensson here as well. We have a committee for a purpose. The committee gave us three names. I actually don't hate the name Red Hill I was joking with earlier that Red Hill Red Devil sounds like a really cool high school name but that being said we have three names out here I've gone through policy 6510 there's nothing in there against naming it after a person or there's nothing in there about a family and the person

[03:52:52] only deceased five years but this does not apply to that situation what I will also say is that 6510 talks about naming a policy after a place name there's a place name in there Thornton Acres Lane that's another place name right there on Watson Mountain right by where this school is going to be named after the Thornton family, a family that values education. I personally don't have anything against the name Red Hill, but it's not what was offered to us. I also would like to recall one of our public comments tonight was about the process in the naming committee and that perhaps the naming committee didn't have their full information when they voted the first time

[03:53:28] on the original suggestions. And that's why Red Hill, or sorry, that's why, excuse me, Thornton Summit didn't finish at the top of the list. But when that re-vote happened, if you look at the minutes it was a very very popular choice of the committee that this school board put together so what i'm going to say is it's within policy and let's respect the process that we set out thank you mrs griffiths uh thank you madam chair um as i said earlier different interpretations the policy says nothing about naming it after a family either also i do want to point out the

[03:54:05] minutes uh do not uh talk about an individual or a family as well they get away from that throughout their committee discussions so I wanted to point that as well I again I the policy didn't come through FNO and it should have but per mr. Lewis he gave the reasons why it did not come through FNO and I did request it twice so at this time I think that we are we should give other options in research to Red Hill but

[03:54:39] also research um the family further um and i do feel like i do feel like i this is a contentious issue because of what happened with renaming um but again the minutes did not go over naming after an individual or a family i feel like um the committee could have been pressured a little bit to go ahead and change their minds thank you vice chair donahue thank you madam chair i call the

[03:55:11] question all right so we have a call the questions that is not debatable and we need to have two-thirds in order to move forward with the vote so board members please our clerk please open the vote this is a oh and do we have a do we need a second to call the question we need a second to call the question is there a second second thank you mr. Svensson has seconded let's move forward on the

[03:55:49] vote to call the question um board members please record your vote okay two-thirds dr rasheed please state your vote yes thank you uh clerk please close and display the vote okay uh that motion fails um with five school board members voting yes including mr svinson myself vice chair donahue

[03:56:27] mr pepper and dr rasheed and three school board members voting no um miss ricardi mrs griffiths and Ms. Labelle and Ms. Chernoff absent for the vote. So we return to the substitute motion, Ms. Labelle's substitute motion on introducing the name Red Hill.

[03:56:47] Ms. Labelle. Just before we start, I'd like you to take a look at policy, I believe it's 85, I haven't got my glasses on, 10. Yeah, 85, 10. It would be Section A, line 8. The last statement in that paragraph says the school board will not be bound by the naming committee's recommendations.

[03:57:10] So if you choose to vote for Red Hill, this does not prevent you from doing so. Thank you. Mr. Pepper. Just very briefly, as we were having our discussion, a little bit more research came my way. Patrick Henry had a slave plantation named Red Hill, so I will not be supporting that.

[03:57:29] Thank you. Vice Chair Donohue. Thank you, Madam Chair. I was also presented with some information from an aide indicating that the name Red Hill was in fact proposed to the HS-14 Naming Committee, and the committee rejected it.

[03:57:46] Thank you. Thank you. Any further discussion on Ms. LaBelle's substitute motion? Seeing none, let's move forward with the vote. This is Ms. LaBelle's substitute motion to consider the name Red Hill High School.

[03:58:08] Dr. Rasheed, please state your vote. No. Now, clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion failed with Ms. Riccardi, Mr. Svensson, myself, Vice Chair Donahue, Mr. Pember, and Dr. Rasheed voting no, and two board members voting yes, Mrs. Griffiths and Ms. LaBelle, and Ms. Chernoff absent for the vote.

[03:58:42] With that, we return to the base motion made by Dr. Rasheed to consider the name Thornton Summit. With that, is there any further discussion? right seeing no further discussion let's move forward with the vote clerk please open the vote board members please record your vote Dr. Rasheed please state your vote yes clerk please close and

[03:59:18] display the vote that motion passes with six school board please don't clap thank you for respecting the civility of the boardroom that motion passes with six school board members voting yes including Mr. Svensson myself Vice Chair Donahue Mr. Pepper Dr. Rasheed and Ms. LaBelle and two board members voting no, Ms. Riccardi and Mrs. Griffiths, and Ms. Chernoff absent for the vote.

[03:59:46] With that, we will move on to our next, oh, actually, I'm going to take a point of privilege and say I believe that this concludes the final item in Mr. Lewis's career.

[04:00:00] This is the last time, well, if there's actually one more, we can do that again.

[04:00:28] Let me just say, as a point of privilege, I am so delighted to have had the opportunity to work together with you, Mr. Lewis, in this space. And I know that the many in the I will let the board speak for itself.

[04:00:45] But I believe, as you can see from the crowd, and as I said at your retirement party, few people have had as much influence on LCPS and the growth and have had as large an impact on guiding LCPS as you have.

[04:01:03] And your legacy will remain here as long as LCPS stands. And I just want to say it's the kindness and dignity and grace that you bring to the community that will be the true testament to your work here.

[04:01:21] So thank you. Thank you very much. All right. Thank you, everyone. All right. Please respect the dignity of the boardroom.

[04:01:41] All right. We may have an encore. That'll be fun. Okay, our next item is 11.05, Student Behavior and Accountability Committee, Revisions to Policy 8210, Introduction to Student Discipline.

[04:01:58] Ms. LaBelle, do you have a motion? Yes, Madam Chair, I do. I move that the board approve the revisions to Policy 8210, I'm sorry, 8210, Introduction to Student Discipline.

[04:02:23] Thank you. Ms. LaBelle has made a motion. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Svensson. Oh, Mr. Pepper, I saw you at the same time. All right, we will give that one to Mr. Pepper.

[04:02:40] Thank you so much for that clarification. Okay. Ms. LaBelle, would you like to speak further to your motion? Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. This policy revisions that we have done to 8210 have been presented to MSAC, SEAC, LEAF, all the various committees, opportunities for public comment and public discussion.

[04:03:08] And I think that the copy that we have now is very comprehensive and no changes have been made since the policy was presented at our last meeting. thank you Ms. LaBelle board members is there any discussion all right seeing no discussion we can move forward with the vote a clerk please open the vote board members please record your vote

[04:03:37] Dr. Rasheed please state your vote yes clerk please close and display the vote that motion passes with seven board members voting yes including Ms. Riccardi Mr. Svensson myself Mrs. Griffiths Mr. Pepper Dr. Rasheed and Ms. LaBelle vice chair Donahue abstains and Ms. Chernoff absent for the vote. Thank you very much. Now we'll move on to item 11.06, Student Behavior and Accountability Committee,

[04:04:13] Revisions to Policy 8270, Student Dress Code. Ms. LaBelle, do you have a motion? Yes, Madam Chair. I'm asking the board to pass the revisions to Policy 8270, Student Dress Code, as we amended it at the last meeting.

[04:04:36] All right. So actually, I may have made a mistake. We are coming back to this vote because the vote split the last time. So technically, we don't need to make the base motion again, but I asked you to.

[04:04:54] So thank you for doing that. It's not necessary. What we are going to do at this time, pursuant to policy 2440, Section D2, given the tie vote on June 9th, We will take up Ms. Chernoff's motion to amend again at this time.

[04:05:10] And to that end, Ms. Riccardi, given that you seconded Ms. Chernoff's motion, could you please make Ms. Chernoff's motion? I sure will. So Ms. Chernoff made the following amendment. On line 109, strike the entire line and reassign the letters with A, now being hooded sweatshirts.

[04:05:32] And line 133, strike pajama tops and bottoms. And insert, students may wear casual attire, including loungewear and-- I can't even say the word athleisure wear is really what I want to say. Provided the clothing meets the coverage requirements for tops and bottoms as outlined above.

[04:05:52] And then at line 225, strike the word or. And between 225 and 226, add subparagraph D and adding the word hats. E, sleepwear or pajamas, including nightgowns, pajama sets, and bedroom slippers, or robes worn as outerwear, is removed because robes are already prohibited at line 225.

[04:06:18] At line 227, change D to F so that F becomes any other garment. All right. Thank you, Ms. Riccardi. With that, we can return to discussion on Ms. Chernoff's amendment. Board members, is there any discussion?

[04:06:39] All right. Seeing none, let's move forward with the vote on Ms. Chernoff's amendment. Dr. Rasheed, please state your vote. No. Clerk, please close and display the vote.

[04:06:57] That motion fails with five board members voting no, including Mr. Svensson, myself, Vice Chair Donahue, Mr. Pepper, and Dr. Rasheed, and three school board members voting yes, including Ms. Riccardi, Mrs. Griffiths, and Ms. LaBelle, and Ms. Chernoff absent for the vote.

[04:07:18] With that, we return to the base motion as previously amended. Is there any discussion? Yes, Mr. Svinson. Yes, Madam Chair, I have an amendment. I move that at line 106 of the red line version, we replace, quote, provided all general coverage requirements outlined above are met, end quote, with, quote, provided all general coverage requirements outlined in this policy are met,

[04:07:43] And, quote, and at line 221 of the red line version, replace, quote, headgear, end quote, with, quote, headwear, end quote, which is consistent with the, quote, hats and other headwear, end quote, on line 109.

[04:08:00] Thank you. Mr. Svensson has made an amendment. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Vice Chair Donahue. Mr. Svensson, would you like to speak further to your amendment? Yes, Madam Chair, thank you. Taking into account Ms. Chernoff's concern that she raised about hats potentially concealing an individual's face in a way that would, you know, cause a security concern, I just took a look at the policy, and there is headgear or headwear that covers a person's face is not allowed under the policy subject to certain medical, cultural, religious, and ethnic exceptions.

[04:08:40] But the current language in the policy didn't make clear that that would apply to the manner in which someone would wear a hat. So I just am proposing some conforming edits to make sure that we read the policy as a whole and that the section permitting the wearing of hats should be read in line with the other sections of the policy.

[04:09:02] So really, and changing headgear and headwear is to make sure that the references to that type of clothing is consistent through the policy so this was just taking a look at the previous amendment we just voted on and recognizing that that was a concern and making sure that we can address that with language that's already in the policy with this tweak. Thank you Mr. Svensson. Board members is there any discussion? All right seeing no discussion let's move forward with the vote on Mr. Svensson's amendment which was seconded by Vice Chair Donahue.

[04:09:40] Dr. Rasheed, please state your vote. Yes. Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes with seven school board members voting yes, including Ms. Riccardi, Mr. Svensson, myself, Vice Chair Donahue, Mr. Pepper, Dr. Rasheed, and Ms. LaBelle, and one school board member voting no, Mrs. Griffiths, and Ms. Chernoff absent for the vote.

[04:10:13] With that, we return to the base motion as amended. Yes, Vice Chair Donahue. Thank you, Madam Chair. I have a couple of proposed amendments, but I also have some questions that I was hoping to ask staff.

[04:10:30] So my first question is there are references in the in this policy in the policy revisions to the definitions of lewd and profane speech. And I was wondering if you could tell me if we are I don't see where we've defined those terms in this policy.

[04:10:50] So I was wondering if you could tell me where those what that's supposed to be referring to Thank you for the question. Mrs. Donahue. So lewd speech when we have students that wear a tire that is against policy other policy in terms of negative connotations or could be Statements that would be deemed as racial remarks things of that nature that could be Determined to be disruptive to a school environment if a student were to wear those things

[04:11:28] If it has like weapons like students if they have a t-shirt that has a gun on it or a t-shirt that has a proclamation Or a statement that could be determined to be disruptive because of the wording of that statement or inappropriate language on a shirt Thank you, Ms. Mitchell And I was also curious and I saw some of these Questions also noted in the public comments regarding how if students or their families lodge complaints alleging improper or biased enforcement of dress code violations,

[04:12:08] how is review of such complaints going to happen and is the administration going to keep track of those complaints? So that language was in the previous policy that we discussed.

[04:12:25] And so if a parent has a concern and they use our OnFlow slash Let's Talk platform to submit complaints, and then those are reviewed like we do any other concerns. And that was part of previous language that was in the policy. Thank you, Ms. Mitchell.

[04:12:41] That's very helpful. And, okay, I think that's all the questions I had. I do want to acknowledge the public commenter that advocated for Oxford commas. I'm a big fan of the Oxford commas also. and I'm a nerd so I enjoy that that someone addressed that and but I have three proposed amendments my first proposed amendment is I'm looking at the red line the proposed red line at line 246 I propose that we delete from

[04:13:17] starting with visibility through the so delete visibility of bra straps or the such that the remaining sentence would read the unintentional exposure of undergarments will not result in disciplinary action. Second. Vice Chair Donahue, would you like to speak further to your motion? Yes, thank you Madam Chair. I just I don't think that that phrase is necessary because I I believe intentional exposure of undergarments incorporates visibility of bra straps

[04:13:55] and in the interest of making this policy as gender-neutral as we can I I I don't see a reason to include a specific reference to an item of clothing that is generally associated only with females and female-presenting individuals. Thank you, board members. Is there any discussion?

[04:14:17] Nope. Seeing no discussion, let's move forward with the vote. Vice Chair Donahue, could you please restate your amendment since we don't have it in writing? Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I propose that on line 246 of the red line, we delete the following words, Visibility of bra straps or the?

[04:14:40] Thank you. Board members, let's move forward with the vote. Please record your vote. Dr. Rasheed, please state your vote. Yes.

[04:14:58] Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes with seven school board members voting yes, including Mr. Svensson, myself, Vice Chair Donahue, Mrs. Griffiths, Mr. Pepper, Dr. Rasheed and Ms. LaBelle, and one board member voting no, Ms. Riccardi.

[04:15:19] Vice Chair Donahue, would you like to state your second amendment? Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. My second proposed amendment is at line 287 of the red line. I propose adding a new subsection D in that location that would state, quote, a student's hairstyle shall not constitute a violation of this policy unless the hairstyle depicts words or images that would violate the prohibitions listed under section B1 above.

[04:15:54] Vice Chair Donohue, would you please restate your motion? Certainly, Madam Chair. My proposal is at line 287 of the red line. We insert a new subsection D that would read as follows, quote, a student's hairstyle shall not constitute a violation of this policy unless the hairstyle depicts words or images that would violate the prohibitions listed under section B1 above.

[04:16:29] Thank you, Vice Chair Donohue. Vice Chair Donohue has made a motion. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Svensson. Vice Chair Donohue, would you like to speak further to your motion?

[04:16:44] Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. When I was reading through these red lines, I noticed on lines 136 to 138, there's a provision. This is in the section that says students may wear the following while attending school or participating in LCPS sponsored activities and subsection D of that section at lines 136 to 138 of the red line states attire of religious cultural or ethnic significance including but not limited to clothing head coverings e.g. hijabs yarmulkes or head wraps

[04:17:17] and hairstyles e.g. braids locks or cornrows when I read that language it made me wonder why we were including any references to hairstyles in a dress code policy, and I was concerned that by the inclusion of certain hairstyles, it might suggest that other hairstyles could constitute violations under the dress code.

[04:17:41] My understanding is that the language here at Lines 136 to 138 is taken directly from Virginia Code 22.1-279.6 Board of Education Guidelines and Model Policies for Codes of Student Conduct School Board Regulations, subsection I, which states any school board may include in its code of student conduct a dress or grooming code. Any dress or grooming code included in a school board's code of student conduct or otherwise adopted by a school board, shall permit any student to wear any religiously and ethnically specific or significant

[04:18:19] head covering or hairstyle, including hijabs, yarmulkes, head wraps, braids, locks, and cornrows. So I understand why we included that language in the policy, because we are tracking the code. However, I felt that it's important to make clear that other hairstyles cannot be considered violations of the policy unless they include lewd profane looter profane language or images or images related to drug paraphernalia weapons or other categories that would be prohibited on clothing under section B B point one of

[04:18:57] this policy thank you thank you board members any discussion mr. pepper thank you madam chair and Ms. Donahue I do vice-chair Donahue I do agree with your sentiments on hairstyles. I my only concern with this is it's not in the right place and so I agree with with your sentiment. I do not know you wanted the amendment on line 287 which is under really the role of school-based administrators being responsible for the enforcement of dress code and dress code

[04:19:36] standards. I might really it's more of a question is there another place of this policy that that Fits better. May I respond, Madam Chair? Yes. If Mr. Pepper is proposing a friendly amendment, I would welcome one.

[04:19:52] I would just need a couple minutes to find a better place for this to sit. Knowing that it's absolutely a wonderful amendment, I'm all for it. I just don't know if the jigsaw fits in the right piece of the puzzle. So I'd love a second to look and see where it might fit better, or if I could get some assistance perhaps from one of the members of Cabinet to find a more appropriate place for this to fit, that would be much welcomed.

[04:20:22] How about we take a five-minute recess? Okay, the board is now in recess. We will reconvene at 8.55.

[04:28:54] The board is coming out of recess, and we will reconvene at the point of discussion. Mr. Pepper, would you like to clarify for the record? Yes, Madam Chair. I would like to make a friendly amendment to Vice Chair Donahue's amendment, if possible. I would like to leave Vice Chair Donahue's amendment written as is, also leaving it at line 287 as is, however, numbering it as a number four under section C.

[04:29:29] Second. And then that would also cause the current number four on line 288 to become number five. So it's kind of a cascade.

[04:29:49] So, to our parliamentarian, the amendment becomes its own standing. So we have to actually take a vote on Mr. Pepper's amendment and then Vice Chair Donohue's amendment.

[04:30:11] Thank you for giving me the opportunity to clarify, Chair Chandler. My understanding of Robert's rules is so long as Ms. Donohue, who made the amendment, accepts the friendly amendment, then that subsumes and becomes a controlling amendment on the floor. All right, what say you, Vice Chair Donahue? I accept that as a friendly amendment. Thank you. Okay, so we have for consideration an amendment at line 287,

[04:30:46] but it will be number four under C. Is there any discussion, board members? Vice Chair Donahue, would you like to read it for us again certainly madam chair a student's hairstyle shall not constitute a violation of this policy unless the hairstyle depicts words or images that would violate the prohibitions listed under section b.1 above okay thank you um with that and seeing no

[04:31:24] discussion we'll move forward with the vote um board members please record your vote dr rasheed please state your vote? Yes. Please close and display the vote. That motion passes with seven school board members voting yes, including Ms. Riccardi, Ms. Dursvenson, myself, Vice Chair Donohue, Mr. Pepper, Dr. Rashid, and Ms. LaBelle, and one board member voting no, Mrs. Griffiths, and Ms. Chernoff absent for the vote. With that, Vice Chair Donohue, do you have a remaining

[04:32:03] amendment yes thank you madam chair um i move to amend the base motion as previously amended by deleting the sternum amendment language that this board approved at the last meeting and replacing it with uh with the following um neckline that does not extend below the imaginary horizontal line

[04:32:40] connecting the armpits. Second. Thank you. Vice Chair Donahue has made an amendment that was seconded by Mr. Svensson. Board members is there any discussion? Ms. LaBelle. Yes I will remind the board that we had this discussion at the last meeting and part of the problem was that when you talk about imaginary lines they tend to imagine them all over the place. So we kind of

[04:33:15] came up with something physical, biological, that was a decent measurement. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Pepper. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I, at the last meeting, I was in support of Ms. LaBelle's amendment because of the clarity of exactly what the middle of the sternum is. And the reason that I didn't like the original language was it was the underarm. And for me, that underarm could be anywhere, right? It could be the armpit. It could be the middle of the upper arm in the center of humerus so there was some vagueness as to where that horizontal line is the

[04:33:50] horizontal line however armpit is not a vague location armpit is an actual location and so for me I am also okay with this event thank you vice-chair Donohue thank you madam chair if I may briefly speak to my proposal thank you I I was not present at the previous meeting so I did not have an opportunity at that time to weigh in on Mrs. LaBelle's proposed sternum amendment.

[04:34:23] My concern, I am appreciative of the effort to amend this policy to be more gender-neutral and to have objective criteria that will make for easier enforcement. I think that is an excellent goal and I share it completely. My concern with the sternum language was because people have different, people's bodies have different sizes right people are taller people are shorter not everyone has exactly the same size sternum I think if someone is looking at another person and trying to figure out where

[04:34:58] the middle of their sternum is it invites staring directly at an individual's chest and on contrary to that I in my opinion if you are saying a horizontal line connecting your armpits well it's right there you can see my armpits there's no question where does my sternum start where does it end? Where is the middle? To me that I it's just my proposal for trying to achieve the goal of clear objectivity and neutral objective enforcement. Thank

[04:35:33] you. Thank you. Ms. LaBelle. To Ms. Donahue's comment about body size, sternums tend to be proportional to the rest of the body so if you're looking at a small person their sternum is basically going to be in the same place as your sternum proportionally so you're taller than I am your sternum is going to be where it is if you run your hand from your throat down you feel the bone right where it is I'm not going to run my hands down anybody's bone but the expectation is

[04:36:10] that the student will be able to do that themselves and know if they're in compliance. So thank you. Any further discussion? Right. So Vice Chair Donohue, could I ask you please to reread your amendment? Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. Looking at the red line at lines

[04:36:47] 82 to 83, I propose deleting the previously approved sternum amendment and replacing it with the following feature a neckline that does not extend below the imaginary horizontal line connecting the armpits period thank you let's move forward with the vote board members please record your vote dr rasheed please state your vote yes clerk please close and display the vote

[04:37:26] that motion passes with five school board members voting yes including mr spenson myself vice chair donahue mr pepper and dr rasheed and one board member or excuse me three board members voting no Ms. Riccardi, Mrs. Griffiths, and Ms. LaBelle, and Ms. Chernoff absent for the vote.

[04:37:51] With that, we return to the base motion as amended. Is there any further discussion? Mr. Pepper. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I want to thank the committee for working on this policy and making it as gender neutral and as specific as possible. I still have concerns that we haven't truly incorporated all of the feedback from some of our community groups and would love still to see the

[04:38:28] opportunity to just go back and maybe do some work sessions on it. So that's kind of where I sit right now. But like I said, I do appreciate the work of the community and all the amendments that has been made here. Thank you. Dr. Rasheed. Thank you, Chair. I will be voting no to the base motion as amended because, you know, and I appreciate the committee working on this. I know was a lot of time and effort that went into this. However, I still stand by what I said at the last meeting that I think students should be allowed to wear whatever they would like. Thank you.

[04:39:05] Thank you. Yes, Mr. Spinson. Thank you, Madam Chair. I wanted to thank my fellow committee members, Ms. LaBelle and Vice Chair Donahue for working on this, both in committee and today via the amendments. It's not an easy task, and I appreciate Ms. Scanlon and staff's work on this as well, and appreciate that there was a lot of work done to speak to community members and our administrators who expressed that there are difficulties

[04:39:42] with the current policy, and we took the time to do the survey focus group with the principals and arrived at this policy, which I think is improved, even still, from the amendments, and I will be supporting it, And I also want to say, I recognize and hear the feedback from community members that enforcement is a really important piece of this.

[04:40:09] I think that we've worked really hard to develop a policy that is gender neutral and the intent is not to body shame. And I know that our staff is going to be working very carefully to develop education and training for administrators in the enforcement of this policy.

[04:40:35] And I think as school board members, that's an important piece of oversight that we will need to exercise to make sure that this is being implemented in an appropriate manner. But I think as written, the policy represents an improvement on the existing one.

[04:40:53] And for that reason, I'll be supporting it. Thank you. Mr. Pepper. Hi. Thank you. I did want to hear what my colleague, Mr. Schwentz, because I know he worked very diligently along with his colleagues on committee to craft this. But that being said, although this may seem to be an improvement upon current policy, I still think, and just based on the amount of time we spent discussing all these little nuances here I really do feel like this policy would benefit from a more in-depth look perhaps in a working group situation so I'm going to make a motion to move this policy back to committee

[04:41:26] I believe this came out of SBAC so I'm going to make them I move to move policy 8270 back to committee for further discussion and refinement right Mr. Pepper has made a motion is there a Second? Second. Thank you. Mrs. Griffiths has seconded. Mr. Pepper, would you like to speak any further to your motion? Just, I believe that there's still more work that needs to be done and

[04:41:59] would love more. I know we had an input from our school principals, but I really do feel like this policy impacts so many unique segments of our community that I would love to almost do what we have done in some of our other committees and provide a much larger focus group for feedback and we saw how good it was in student services and so I'm hoping that the same thing can come from ESPAC. Thank you board members is there any discussion? Ms.

[04:42:25] LaBelle? I would like to say that we did have feedback from SEAC, MSAC, LEAF and the community on our policies as we get all our policies have that just to confirm that there was input not just us. Thank you. Ms. Riccardi? Thank you Madam Chair I'd also like to add that besides the fact that it's gone through a review process we're now in going to be in July here in no time flat we need to let parents know what's going on we need to do that sooner than later

[04:43:01] especially well in all of our communities but especially our some of our more challenged communities and so I think we need to we've got all the information we're gonna get this is one of those policies I think that we could we could be making edits for years to come and maybe we should and revisit it at some point in time but i think for now we've got it at a really good place need to go ahead and launch it and then if we need to come back and make edits like we did with the cell phone policy and other things where we've brought it back and made quick changes i think we can do that but i think we've got enough feedback now to get moving on this and we really do need to let parents and families know what what what our decision is now so that they have you know a couple months to get

[04:43:39] themselves prepared thanks thank you um yes mrs griffiths thank you madam chair um i just wanted to mention this policy, along with others, I'm going to point out, not enforceable. And if you feel like it's enforceable, you are calling on teachers to be the police, basically. So with this policy, with all the changes that you've made, and so on and so forth, I don't know that we should be putting stress on our teachers to enforce these policies, just period. A lot of these policies

[04:44:16] are not enforceable and they're not being enforced. Thank you. Thank you. Any further discussion? All right. Oh yes, Mr. Svensson. Just to briefly respond to Ms. Griffith's point, I would just note that the policy recognizes that teachers should remain focused on instruction. So the responsibility for enforcing the dress code goes to the school-based administrators and that is not the primary responsibility of the teachers because as you know, we do not want to be distracting teachers from their focus. Okay and board members the policy on the floor or the

[04:44:51] amendment on the floor currently is to send the policy back to committee. Is there any further discussion on that? All right let's move forward with the vote. To move the policy back to SBAC.

[04:45:13] Thank you. Dr. Rasheed could you please state your vote? No. Clerk please close and display the vote. Right that motion fails with five board members voting no including Ms. Riccardi, Mr. Svensson, Vice Chair Donahue, Dr. Rasheed, and Ms. LaBelle, and three board members voting yes, including myself, Mrs. Griffiths, and Mr. Pepper. With that, we return to the base motion as amended

[04:45:44] today. Board members, is there any further discussion? All right, let's move forward with the vote on the base motion as amended. Please record your vote. Dr. Rasheed, please state your vote. No. Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes with five board members voting yes, including Ms. Riccardi, Mr. Svensson, myself, Vice Chair Donahue, and Ms. LaBelle.

[04:46:22] Two board members voting no, including Mrs. Griffiths and Dr. Rasheed, and one board member abstaining, Mr. Pepper. Thank you for the robust debate, and we will move on to our final action item for this evening, 11.07, Student Services Committee, Revised Policy 8250, Bullying Prevention and education. Mr. Pepper, do you have a motion? Yes, Madam Chair, I do. Three seconds. I move that the school board approve and adopt revised policy 8250, Bullying Prevention and Education. Thank

[04:47:02] you. Mr. Pepper has made a motion. Is there a second? Second. Vice Chair Donahue seconds the motion. Mr. Pepper, would you like to speak to your motion? Certainly. As presented in information last time, this was some changes to the Bullying Prevention Education Policy, most notably an update to the definition of cyberbullying and the requirements for reporting and mitigation.

[04:47:27] Thank you. School board members, is there any discussion? Yes, Mr. Svensson. Thank you, Madam Chair. I have a motion to amend policy 8250. I move that at lines 57, 59, 68, 70, 120, and 123 of the red line version, we replace quote bullying slash cyberbullying end quote, with, quote, bullying, end quote. And at line 61 to 65 of the red line version, replace, quote, when allegations of bullying are reported to the principal or designee, such incident should be investigated as soon as possible. Incidents of cyberbullying that occur outside of school property

[04:48:05] between LCPS students are to be reported and addressed as soon as possible, end quote, with, quote, when allegations of bullying between LCPS students are reported to the principal or designee, Such incidents should be addressed as soon as possible, including by investigating any allegation that could result in disciplinary action in accordance with school board policy 8205.

[04:48:29] Thank you. Mr. Svensson has made a motion. Is there a second? Second. Thank you. Vice Chair Donohue has seconded the motion. Board members, is there any discussion on Mr. Svensson's amendment? Yes, Mrs. Griffiths. Thank you, Madam Chair. I heard the second one, but can you repeat the first part of it?

[04:48:46] Yes, Madam Chair, if I may. I, at lines 57, 59, 68, 70, 120, and 123 of the red line version, replace bullying slash cyberbullying with bullying. And Madam Chair, may I speak to my motion?

[04:49:03] So the policy, when we were revising the policy, we included cyberbullying under the definition of bullying. So now when we refer to bullying, that encompasses cyberbullying as well as other forms of bullying. So the first part of the amendment is meant to make sure that, just to simplify the language and when we say bullying we mean all forms of bullying which I think will make it easier as we update over time to ensure that we're being consistent with the language and then similarly I that part of the change to line 6165 addresses that and it also adds a reference to

[04:49:37] school board policy 8205 because there are incidents of bullying that are addressed in accordance with that policy but there are other instances that wouldn't necessarily fall under that policy. So revise the language to make sure we're encompassing the different incidents in cases of alleged bullying.

[04:49:59] Thank you. Ms. LaBelle? Just briefly, I haven't had a time to look up everything you said. But is the word bullying defined, and does it include cyber bullying in there?

[04:50:17] Yes, it is defined, and it includes cyber bullying. Great. Thank you. That's what I needed to know. Yes, Ms. Riccardi. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just have a quick question for you on this. So when you were talking about the timing of this and using the phrase as soon as possible and changing it to as soon as-- is it practicable?

[04:50:42] Are you trying to-- tell me a little more about what you're trying to do with that language. So the existing language that we're revising is as soon as possible. So I've kept as soon as possible in this updated amendment. And because I think as soon as possible connotes a sense of urgency and you know I understand there may be practicalities that affect how soon possible is but I think as soon as possible is the language that we're looking to imply that sense of urgency yeah and I'll just say this you know and it's been thinking as it's been a really long time but my daughter dealt with this in in her freshman year of high school

[04:51:18] it's it can be very brutal and I and I really want to make sure that we're dealing with this stuff like as literally as soon as possible because it can spin out of control really really fast so I appreciate that yeah this is really good language thank you thank you any further discussion all right let's move forward with the vote on Mr. Svensson's amendment at lines 57 59 68 70 120 and 123 of the red line version replace bullying with cyber bullying bullying slash cyber

[04:51:55] bullying with bullying and at line 61 of 65 of the red line version replace when allegations of bullying are reported to the principal or designee such incidents should be investigated as soon as possible incidents of cyberbullying that occur outside school property between LCPS students are to be reported and addressed as soon as possible with when allegations of bullying between LCPS students are reported to the principal or designee such incidents should be addressed as soon as possible included including by investigating any allegation that could result in disciplinary action in accordance with school board policy 8205 and thank you for proceeding with the vote oh it's pop

[04:52:34] I'm sorry policy 8205 8205 and so that at the end it's 8250 I see it it looks like it just a transcription error in the edit so just to be clear the last sentence refers to 8250. Would you like to clarify? It's 8205. 8205. It's referring to a separate policy. Thank you for that clarification. But in the version that was uploaded online the 5 was cut off so I just wanted to make sure that

[04:53:09] 8205 is that the language that I read but it's not reflected on that online version. I deeply appreciate that and I know that people have moved forward with the vote so I will vote and let's see Ms. LaBelle and Dr. Rasheed could you please state your vote yes all right clerk please close and display the vote she said yes yes Dr. Rasheed to confirm you said yes yes correct thank you that motion passes or that amendment passes with all eight school

[04:53:48] board members present voting yes and Ms. Chernoff absent for the vote with that we return to the base motion is there any further discussion oh yes vice chair Donahue thank you madam chair I also have an amendment to propose on line 32 of the red line I propose removing the word educational right vice chair Donahue can I ask you to please repeat that yes madam chair on looking at the red line version of the proposed policy changes for 82 50 at line 32 which currently

[04:54:28] reads offensive educational environment. I propose deleting the word educational. Thank you. Vice Chair Donohue has made an amendment. Is there a second? Second. Thank you. That is seconded by Mr. Svinson. Vice Chair Donohue, would you like to speak to your amendment? Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. As I noted that MSAC, one of MSAC's proposed comments and requested changes was to make this edit because the phrase offensive educational environment might be interpreted as excluding

[04:55:07] certain environments such as on a bus or in a football stadium and so to make clear that this definition of bullying applies to more than just our classrooms that's why I'm proposing this change to remove the word educational. Thank you. Board members is there any discussion?

[04:55:28] All right, let's move forward with the, it has been properly moved and seconded. Let's move forward with Vice Chair Donahue's amendment. Please record your vote.

[04:55:53] Dr. Rasheed, please state your vote. Yes. Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes unanimously with all eight school board members present voting yes.

[04:56:11] And we will return to the base motion as amended. Is there any further discussion? Yes, Mr. Svensson. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I apologize. I just had a question for Ms. Richardson and Mr. Allen as well. Would you all have any objection at lines 2 and 24 of the red line version to changing those references to bullying and cyberbullying to just bullying to kind of conform with what we've done?

[04:56:39] Or is there a reason with what we've done elsewhere in the policy? Or is there a reason we would want to separate those out at lines 2 and 24? Mr. Svensson, thank you for your question.

[04:57:03] I was conferring with Mr. Allen. For Lines 2 and Lines 24, we would recommend them staying separate since they say bullying and cyberbullying, especially since the state code just updated the definition for cyberbullying. Thank you.

[04:57:20] All right. Thank you. Any further discussion? All right. Seeing none, let's move forward with the vote on the base motion as amended. Board members, please record your vote. Dr. Rasheed, please state your vote.

[04:57:40] Yes. Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes with seven school board members voting yes, including Ms. Riccardi, Mr. Svensson, myself, Vice Chair Donahue, Mrs. Griffiths, Mr. Pepper, Dr. Rasheed, and one school board member voting no, Ms. LaBelle, and Ms. Chernoff absent for the vote.

[04:58:03] Thank you. We have completed the action items for this evening, and we will continue on with our information items. We will start with information item 12.01, Department of Business and Financial Services community feedback on the fiscal year 28 budget this evening this will be presented by Miss Willoughby and Mr. Jones thank you you may recall back in May we had our first work session regarding the development of the FY 28 budget and at that time we stated that

[04:58:42] we would return at this meeting the last school board meeting before the summer break to bring back an information only item regarding our plan to obtain community feedback on that development of the FY28 budget. And so with me I do have Mr. Casey Jones, Director of Budget and Financial Analytics, that will present to you our plan. Thank you. Good evening Chair Chandler and members of the school board and thank you for having us back to talk about FY28 budget development. This evening we will be reviewing our intended purpose and outcomes,

[04:59:17] a draft of the thought exchange activity on our timeline and next steps. As mentioned in May, LCPS intends to use thought exchange instead of a traditional survey. This approach supports the collection of more substantive feedback where community members can interact with others and ideally provide LCPS with a richer and more contextualized conversation to inform the FY28 budget. I'll also note briefly that this is in addition to already existing communication channels that will continue this year, such as public comment, let's talk, public hearings, and other mechanisms through which our community can engage in the budget process.

[04:59:56] ThoughtExchange offers several benefits. First, it is a tool that LCPS has already used extensively and successfully to collect feedback on a number of topics ranging from policy updates to blue-ribbon safety panel recommendations. Second, it encourages broad and diverse input on the selected topics as all participants share their thoughts and ideas.

[05:00:16] Third, participants can see all submitted ideas without attribution so that all voices can be heard. And finally, it fosters engagement and dialogue as participants also have the opportunity to rank the ideas submitted by others, indicating the degree to which they agree or disagree.

[05:00:34] In terms of how this will be rolled out, this thought exchange is centered around a single topic, in this case, the FY28 operating budget, that participants can share their thoughts about. The survey will be available to all members of the LCPS community, including our students, staff, parents and guardians, and community members.

[05:00:53] It will be open for approximately three weeks, during which time users can continue to submit their ideas as well as view and rank those of others. And at the end of the response window, the feedback will be provided to the school board and subsequently go through a more in-depth review. If you're unfamiliar with the Thought Exchange tool as a mechanism to collect feedback and foster engagement, It is intentionally simple and straightforward, as you'll see as we review the draft.

[05:01:22] Participants will engage in just five short steps. Upon accessing Thought Exchange, they will be provided a one-to-two paragraph introduction that provides context for this specific conversation. Next, they are asked a single question on their affiliation with LCPS.

[05:01:38] They are then given the prompt and asked to share their thought or thoughts. And after submitting their own ideas, participants can see and rate the thoughts from other participants. And finally, they can see how all submitted ideas have been rated so far. On the following slides, I'll share drafts of what users can expect for three of these steps.

[05:01:58] Regarding the answerer question step, we do have a single demographic question on the participants' affiliation with LCPS. As you can see, participants must select whether they are a parent or guardian, a staff member, a student, a community member, or a combination thereof.

[05:02:14] This is the only demographic question, and it helps with analysis of the feedback as we think about our stakeholder groups. We will not be collecting personally identifiable information or any additional data that is more granular about our participants other than what you see here.

[05:02:29] The single prompt that we are asking participants to respond to is this. In developing the FY28 budget, what should the school board consider to provide the best educational experience for our students?

[05:02:46] That's it. From here, participants have the opportunity to share a thought and to explain why it is important. Both fields are limited to 150 characters each, and participants may submit as many unique thoughts as they wish. And finally, participants have the ability to view and rate the responses of others.

[05:03:06] All survey responses are visible, and participants use a five-star scale to show the level to which they agree or disagree with submitted ideas. Star ratings and peer voting are a hallmark of the thought exchange system, which are designed to amplify patterns, not just loud voices.

[05:03:24] Further, participants can come back to the thought exchange at any time before the submission window closes in order to review and assess any new thoughts that have been shared. And when can our community expect to participate? The current plan is that this thought exchange will open on August 24th, 2026, one week after the first day of school.

[05:03:46] The last day to submit and rate responses will be September 11th or three weeks later. Preliminary results would be provided at the school board's budget retreat in September, with a deeper analysis available at subsequent school board budget work sessions later in the fall.

[05:04:04] The more active and robust the engagement is, the more informed our FY28 operating budget will be. And to that end, we are partnering with the Department of Communications and Community Engagement to widely promote participation. This includes LCPS newsletters and the superintendent's updates, outreach to our families, and potentially announcements during back-to-school events, among others.

[05:04:25] We would also ask the school board to consider how they can help get the word out, potentially through member newsletters or distribution through the board's advisory committees. Regardless, actively communicating and encouraging participation will remain our focus. Thank you for reviewing our plan to collect community feedback in support of the FY28 budget, and we welcome any questions you may have.

[05:04:48] Thank you so much for the presentation. Board members, are there any questions? Mr. Carty. Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, I think one of the things that, and I think I'm probably going to start asking this a lot when we're talking about putting out surveys is we've had a real challenge lately of high open rate and low completion rate on surveys in general and participation in general across the board and a wide range of surveys so I guess my question is what what are we trying to get what's the outcome what are

[05:05:23] we trying to really get out of the question and is it I just want to make sure it's worth everybody's time because this is sending out the survey is one thing but analyzing on the back end and really digging into that it's a whole another time crunch and we're also prepping you know for the board process so I'm not suggesting we don't do this I just I think whenever and this is kind of broadly for everybody I think I'm going to just kind of keep testing and pushing back on the surveys because I think the community has survey fatigue and I'm concerned about that so I just wanted to get your thoughts on how this fits into that as we have shared information about how we're about to

[05:06:02] enter this new era of budgeting that I will keep repeating I think it's really important because of this new environment that we're entering that we get some some type of feedback from the community we have not deliberately or intentionally done anything like this related to the budget we've just obtained other feedback through the public comment or through board you know the school board members directly and so this seemed like the appropriate and right time to to start engaging with the community more directly i agree that it is a challenge with

[05:06:41] with surveys and we have lengthy discussions about the timing and the rollout to make sure that the timing works so that we could try to target as many you know families and community members and then really you know working with our communications team to try to drive up engagement um i do believe that I think this would be a great opportunity for staff in the school board to continue to review what or explore other ways that we can try to push this out so we can get greater participation because developing the budget and identifying what those themes are

[05:07:21] is critical for staff in developing the budget and for Dr. Spence and presenting what his superintendent's assessment needs would be. and then ultimately for the school board to adopt what would be the driving budget for that following school year.

[05:07:42] We will also, as you know, be really looking at a five-year plan. And so identifying those themes, while the question is broad, it is centered on the FY28 budget, but those themes, I think, would be very important for the long-range discussion as well.

[05:07:58] That's great. And then on the demographic questions, could we also just ask about what district people are in? Because I think it'd be really good for us to be able to see if we've got a lot of feedback from one district over another or no feedback from some or very limited. I think it will just help us, too, as we're prioritizing things to kind of understand where everybody's coming from.

[05:08:22] We'll take that down and see if we're able to incorporate that. Thank you. Any further questions? All right. Seeing none, thank you very much for the presentation. And we will move on to the Student Services Committee revised policy 8160, exceptions to school assignment due to attendance zone change.

[05:08:48] And Mr. Pepper, you'll be presenting this evening. Thank you, Madam Chair. So the Student Services Committee has accepted some provisions to policy 8160, which is the policy on exceptions to school assignment due to attendance zone change, which is the change usually that we would refer to as based on rezoning.

[05:09:13] The biggest change in this policy, there were actually very minimal changes made because a lot of what kind of goes into the exceptions sits in 8155. But the biggest change in this policy was the timeline. What we are adding is a 60-day timeline to appeal decisions made.

[05:09:34] based on school assignment changes due to attendance zone change. There was also some discussion in the committee about ensuring that if we were as a board to give our community members who were affected by these changes a survey to ensure that they had ample opportunity to respond to the survey or indicate their desire either way to either go to the school that they have been rezoned to or to remain at their current school if afforded that opportunity.

[05:10:06] So some robust discussion was had about this. But like I said, the biggest change is now a timeline for the appeals process of 60 days. Ms. Tate, is there anything you think I need to add? Nope, got a thumbs up. Thank you. Board members, do you have any questions?

[05:10:27] Board members, is there an appetite to send this to consent? Dr. Rasheed?

[05:10:46] Yes. Okay, thank you so much. That item will come back as consent at the next school board meeting. That brings us to our discussion item, which was brought to the board's attention by Mrs. Griffiths.

[05:11:02] Dr. Bergen, did you want to kick us off as a follow-up? I'd be happy to offer some comments, Chair Chandler. I've also worked closely with Mrs. Mitchell, and so I'm going to defer to her first to make some comments, and then I can certainly help address any questions.

[05:11:20] Thank you. Ms. Mitchell. Thank you, Mrs. Chandler. So, as a result of the discussion point from the prior board meeting, we have asked that in the introduction part of the SRNR that there be language added that says, and I'll give just the sentence that it contains, these policies and rules shall apply to students during the school day while going to or returning from school, whether the student is walking, and then we inserted this language, using a personal mobility device, such as an e-bike

[05:11:58] or scooter, walking for or riding in the school bus or private vehicle, and while the student is participating in or attending any school-sponsored activity, whether at school or elsewhere. And that section in the introduction talks about the adopted policies that govern student behavior in part of the SR&R.

[05:12:19] And I work with the Department of Student Services to get that language at it. Thank you. Board members, do you have any questions or comments? Mrs. Griffiths? Thank you, Ms. Mitchell. I had asked to see the whole thing emailed that would go in the registration packet.

[05:12:39] I just heard a couple sentences. Is everybody going to receive the whole thing? Yes, the SR&R, that is part of the language in that. And that goes to all parents that they must sign off on prior to the start of each school year.

[05:12:56] I was hoping to see it ahead of time, but that was the point I was trying to make. But if you can get it to everybody so we can look at the whole thing, that would be fantastic. Thank you. Yes. So it is also public-facing, and we update it every year.

[05:13:16] So it is in the process of being updated for this school year. so once that is done we can provide you with a copy of that SR&R thank you miss Mitchell is there any further any further comments or questions all right thank you that we will now move on to board member comments and committee reports and I believe miss LaBelle will kick us off this time thank you madam

[05:13:47] chair I will tell you that this month has moved so quickly and on June 10th I I attended the last SEAC meeting for the school year. We had a lengthy discussion about Policies 5340, which is Safe and Supportive Removal of Students from the Educational Setting, Policy 8265, Searches Involving Students and Seizure of Contraband, and Policy 8160, Exemptions to School Assignment Due to Attendance Zone Change.

[05:14:20] It was also my honor to take part in the commencement celebrations at Tuscarora, Loudoun Valley, and Woodgrove High School last week. And I want to wish a heartfelt congratulations to all our graduates. It meant so much to me to see our students off as they began the next steps on their journey.

[05:14:37] And I wish them all the best wherever life takes them. We had our last student behavior and accountability meeting the other day. And we had no public comment.

[05:14:53] Mr. Svensson had read the minutes from the last meeting. We had no action items. We had no information items. And the only thing we discussed under new business was whether we were going to have a July meeting, which we promptly voted down.

[05:15:10] So that takes care of my committee actions for this past month. Our next Student Behavior Accountability Committee meeting will not be in July, but on Monday, August 24. So as we wrap up school board work for the school year head out into our july breaks i want to thank all of our teachers and staff for their hard work and their dedication and to thank lcps parents for advocating for their children and sharing their feedback throughout the year so that i can best serve our schools and families thank you thank you mr pepper oh no excuse me um dr rasheed thank you chair chandler uh first i'd like to

[05:15:50] take a moment to thank mr kevin lewis uh for all the years of service he has committed to lcps i wish him the best, uh, in his retirement. I'm jealous of him. And, uh, also he put up with me for, you know, for so long. And I, I appreciate that. Um, it's been quite a pleasure working under him, especially when, you know, dealing with a lot of pressure. Um, so, you know, I, I really appreciate, you know, everything that he's done. I, you know, enjoy some well-deserved rest. And, uh, like you had mentioned before, you love golf. So, you know, enjoy the many rounds of golf and think of me every time you say four so also i always want i always consider it a

[05:16:27] privilege to join in lcps celebrations and you know and the briarwoods and independence high school commencement exercises that were last week they were definitely not an exception congratulations to all the lcps graduates you have a lot to be proud of and to those students who will be returning in the fall or or coming to kindergarten for the first time i hope that you have a restful safe and fun summer ahead. And please remember that summer meals are available at several locations and that Loudon feeds can help those who need additional assistance. Check the LCPS website and social media for those details. And you can also search for community resources at the LCPS website

[05:17:05] for community organizations and partners offering support for mental health, substance abuse, substance use, stress, and other situations should you need it over the summer. And thank you Little River and Loudoun for allowing me to represent you for yet another school year. I wish you all the best over the summer and as the next school year approaches. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. And now, Mr. Pepper. Thank you, Madam Chair. So we last week had our June meeting, the final meeting of the school year for the Student Services Committee. We sent two policies out, one that we just mentioned, AD 160, which is the exception to school assignment due to attendance zone change,

[05:17:45] And the other was our revised policy 5340 on the safe and supportive removal students. That was the one that went through several work groups and really had a robust discussion to come out. We also discussed revised policy 8155 on out-of-zone school transfers.

[05:18:00] That's a rename of what had previously been called special permissions. So that will come for action when we return in August. but there is a pretty deep discussion about the purpose of the policy and any changes that we might make to the policy.

[05:18:16] So keep an eye out for that one. That being said, I did have the opportunity to attend several graduations over the past few weeks, starting with the academies and then taking John Champ, Light Ridge, and Freedom High Schools.

[05:18:31] All of them were really wonderful ceremonies. And what I find so interesting is they were all so unique in their own way. Every school does something a little bit different and a little bit special, and I really liked it, and each one had something really interesting to offer. And so congratulations to all of those who graduated this year in 2026, and I know that you'll go on to do great things.

[05:18:54] We are also just leaning really hard into the fact that it is almost summertime, and so I am excited to take a little recess from our board activities. It has been a very full six months here on the school board, and looking forward to rest and relax and connect with my family, as I hope everyone in Loudoun County gets the opportunity to do.

[05:19:22] Thank you. Mrs. Griffiths. Thank you, Madam Chair. I had my first health advisory meeting. I had to miss a previous one because we had an unscheduled meeting here. We discussed items to be added to the registration information packet for parents.

[05:19:41] everybody has seen and heard much of the finance and operations discussions that have come to the board. There's too many to mention, but I try and post them on Facebook or get the information out to my constituents. I attended graduations for Stonebridge, Loudoun Valley, and Light Ridge.

[05:19:59] They were beautiful graduations with fantastic weather. I couldn't believe the temperature was not 100 degrees. I also attended Belmont Ridge Middle School, their eighth grade graduation, Sanders Corner, and Selden's Lanning had their fifth grade promotion ceremonies. So that was nice.

[05:20:19] And they're all very different events. So those were really cool to attend. And I just want to say congratulations to all. Have a great summer and happy 250th. Thanks. Thank you. Vice Chair Donahue thank you madam chair the audit committee met last Wednesday rescheduled from June 3rd at that meeting mr. Woods our auditor general presented us with his quarterly update he also presented his memo of conclusions following up on

[05:20:53] his audit of the school board LCPS communications framework that his update and his memo are posted on board docs. Also posted on board docs is the administration's response to Mr. Woods memo with his conclusions. In addition Mr. Woods presented us with his audit universe and that is the list of 38 potential topics to from which he will select a smaller number to put in the audit plan for the coming school year. He will be presenting his specific audit

[05:21:28] plan to the audit committee at our next meeting on August 5th, and we anticipate voting on that plan, after which it will be presented to the full board. So the list of the audit universe is posted on board docs, and so I encourage my colleagues and the community to take a look at that list and reach out with feedback about which audits do you think are the most important for us to tackle because Mr. Woods's office cannot do 38 audits in a year, so we have to pick a much

[05:22:01] smaller subset of that. So our next audit meeting will be on August 5th. The next Equity Council meeting will be on August 6th. It is my favorite time of year, except sadly I was not able to go to any graduation ceremonies this year, which was very sad for me because it is one of the things I look forward to the most every year and is one of my favorite parts of getting to serve the public in this way.

[05:22:33] And I was disappointed not to be able to attend because of my health, but I do want to wish all of our LCPS graduates congratulations and the best of luck as they move forward in the next chapters of their lives and congratulations to their families. I hope everyone in the Loudoun community has a wonderful summer, and we will get back to work in August.

[05:22:56] Thank you. Thank you. Well, I will concur with my colleagues. Graduation season is absolutely the most joyous time of service on the school board. I was very pleased to be able to attend the Academy's graduation, Dominion, Robey, Riverside, Potomac Falls, and Heritage.

[05:23:18] I did a rough calculation, not taking into account the SEAC award ceremony, because technically that's not a graduation. I believe that I shook 2,368 hands. I don't know why that entertains me so much, but it does.

[05:23:37] I do feel very honored to be able to serve in that capacity and stand up for students as they reach this milestone accomplishment. And I'm happy to honor their achievement and wish them well as they continue on to the next step in their life's journey.

[05:23:59] And I will say, Mr. Pepper and I had the opportunity to visit the new Parkview, and that was an incredible opportunity and so exciting to see exactly how these buildings come into being. and it was lovely to be with the team and I hope that they were able to process my enthusiasm which is often a lot I will admit it and of course we did appreciate Mr. Lewis's retirement party I will say I know that there was the second item but I'm really glad that I called it first because we

[05:24:34] definitely got a better reaction from the crowd but thank you so much for your service to LCPS and I want to say to all of my colleagues on the board thank you for your work this year I know that we don't always agree but I do appreciate the effort and time that you each commit to this work it is not a small commitment and I'm glad that we come together and present different perspectives for our

[05:25:07] community, and it has been a joy working with you this year, and I'll be excited to see you after recess. I hope you have a lovely break, although of course we still have some work to do tonight, but with that I'll pass it over to Mr. Svensson. Thank you, Madam Chair. It was really a joy to be at the graduations last week for Briarwoods, Broad Run, Riverside, and Rockridge. As Mr. Pepper said it is really a unique experience for each school and it's fun to see the school's character show in that moment I really appreciated the musical

[05:25:42] performances and the students really choose songs that are going to pull at the heartstrings of the parents including some of the parents up here on the dais and it was just really a pleasure to meet each of the students graduating and to wish them well as as they go off on to their next adventure venture and I hope they all have a restful summer before school work, military service, gap year, whatever is ahead for them. And in terms of committee work, as Miss LaBelle said, we have been busy in SBAC and we'll

[05:26:18] appreciate the break in July and we have our last legislative and policy committee meeting ahead of the recess tomorrow where we'll be discussing the meeting procedures item that for action and then also receiving a legislative update which I'm looking forward to now that there's a budget agreement in Richmond we can dive into some of those details and finally I just I'll use this time for a point of personal privilege I just wanted to correct I misspoke earlier and when we were discussing the naming committee that I I apologize to

[05:26:54] mrs. Griffiths for this there at the second committee meeting the motion did reference a name and family and choosing not to name a school after name or family at that point in time and then later on in the committee they decided to move forward in that direction so I misspoke in reference to that that second committee meeting which as as the committee had the right to do and then they chose to move in a different direction as they had a right to do then so just wanted to issue my mea culpa and with that I'll turn over to mrs.

[05:27:26] recording. I feel like we should just like keep tossing it around so. All right well thanks you guys I really appreciate this is um this is really exciting it's been this six months has been um I feel like kind of a whirlwind and I don't know about you Mr. Pepper or you Mr. Spenson but I feel like we're finally kind of settling in getting there almost yeah I'm getting there um really excited to have attended the Parkview the Rockridge and the Loudoun County High School graduations um I agree. I don't know. I think it brings back my inner team captain. I get super rah-rah and excited when I'm up there on the stage with these kids because it's a great mix of kids with equal

[05:28:06] excitement and other kids with sheer terror in being up on a stage, right? Everybody's excited about getting their diploma, but just the fact of being on the stage has been, it's really fun to watch that and just the incredible futures that all of these students have. It's just a really fun thing to see. So it was a real blessing to be able to do that. I'm really excited for boys volleyball season in the fall and our new sport, right? Because it's coming up along with girls wrestling and flag football, which is all coming up, which I'm excited to be able to see some of that stuff going on. I want to also reiterate what Dr. Rasheed mentioned about the food drives.

[05:28:42] We have all of our Sterling schools have food drives going on and food opportunities for our students in the Sterling Park community. So I want to make sure everybody's aware of that. That information, I believe, was in my newsletter that went out this week. We're also, over the summer, I'm not taking a break really that much, except for maybe a quick vacation, but we're going to jump right back into it in a couple of different areas.

[05:29:04] One is we're in the middle of trying to coordinate backpacks and school supplies for our Sterling Park schools. So we've been working and discussing that with LEF and several other entities to make sure that our kids in the Sterling Park community have what they need to get back to school in August.

[05:29:22] So kind of seen a need, there's a lot of different organizations doing that, but nobody really kind of spearheading it. So we're going to work really hard to make sure that all of our students in our Title I schools have their supplies that they need. So that's a summer project for us. Another one on the Rockridge side is we have a lot of, we have a town hall in mid, or actually the first week in July.

[05:29:46] And the data center open houses for those who are concerned and interested in the transmission line and power line issues going on. A lot of that stuff's happening over the summer. So we're going to be definitely sticking, keeping an eye on all of that.

[05:30:02] And really want to say that I'm really excited. I welcomed on yesterday our intern for the summer, Nadia Echevria, who you guys probably remember as the Parkview High School class president. came up was was here on the dais with us is going to be working with us over the summer on some community outreach work so i'm really excited to have her here with us before she goes off to brigham young in the in august and i think last but not least oh that's it good thank you

[05:30:35] um board members uh we are on to new business is there any new business seeing none uh we will move on to our closed session. Vice Chair Donahue, do you have a motion? Yes, thank you, Madam Chair.

[05:30:56] Bear with me because it's long. I move that the Loudoun County School Board recess this public meeting and enter into a closed meeting pursuant to section 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 in open meeting would adversely affect the negotiating or litigating posture of the public body as authorized by section 2.2-3711 sub-A sub-7 of the Code of Virginia in consultation with legal counsel employed or retained by a public body regarding a specific

[05:31:31] legal matter related to a former public employee as authorized by section 2.2-3711 sub-A sub-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 2.2-3711 sub-A sub-3 of the Code of Virginia.

[05:31:58] Consultation with legal counsel employed or retained by a public body and briefings by staff members pertaining to actual litigation where such consultation or briefing in open meeting would adversely affect the negotiating or litigating posture of the public body and requiring the provision of legal advice by such counsel as authorized by Sections 2.2-3711 sub-A sub-7 and 2.2-3711 sub-A sub-8 of the Code of Virginia and 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

[05:32:33] as authorized by Section 2.2-3711 sub-A sub-3 of the Code of Virginia. Consultation with legal counsel pertaining to actual litigation where such consultation or briefing an open meeting would adversely affect the negotiating or litigating posture of the public body as authorized by Section 2.2-3711 sub-A sub-7 of the Code of Virginia.

[05:32:53] 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 2.2-3711 sub-A sub-8 of the Code of Virginia. The end. Vice Chair Donahue has made a motion.

[05:33:11] Second. thank you um uh it has been properly moved and seconded that the loudon county school board go into closed session is there any discussion um seeing none clerk please open the vote board members please record your vote um mrs or excuse me dr rasheed please state your vote yes um clerk

[05:33:50] please close and display the vote um that motion passes unanimously with all seven board members President voting yes, including Ms. Riccardi, Mr. Svensson, myself, Vice Chair Donahue, Mr. Pepper, Dr. Rasheed, and Ms. Labelle. Ms. Chernoff is absent for the vote, and Ms. Griffiths will soon

[05:34:26] be absent for the vote. With that, we are now in closed session.

[06:53:32] Coming out of closed, Vice Chair Donahue, do you have a motion? Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the closed meeting be adjourned, 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.

[06:54:00] Thank you, Vice Chair Donohue has made a motion. Do I have a second? Thank you, Ms. LaBelle. It has been properly moved and seconded that the Loudoun County School Board adjourn the closed session. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, Clerk, please open the vote. Board members, please record your vote.

[06:54:18] Dr. Rasheed, please state your vote. Yes. Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes unanimously with all seven school board members voting yes, who are present, and Ms. Chernoff and Mrs. Griffiths absent for the vote.

[06:54:38] Vice Chair Donahue, do you have another motion? - Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the following resolution certifying the closed meeting be adopted and reflected in the minutes of this public meeting. Resolution number 51-25/26, whereas the Loudoun County School Board has convened a closed meeting on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, and whereas section 2.2-3712 sub D of the Code of Virginia requires a certification 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, one, only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements

[06:55:17] by Virginia law were discussed in the closed meeting to which this certification applies, and two, 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. Vice Chair Donahue has made a motion. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you Mr. Pepper. It has been properly moved and seconded that the loud and county school board certify the closed meeting is there any discussion seeing none let's move forward with the vote clerk please open the vote board members please record your vote dr rasheed please state your vote yes thank you uh clerk

[06:55:55] please close and display the vote that motion passes unanimously with all seven school board members voting yes who are present and ms chernoff and mrs griffiths absent for the vote um vice chair donahue do you have another motion yes thank you madam chair i move that the loud and county school board authorized counsel for the school board to take the action discussed in a closed session to include filing an appeal in a specific legal matter related to a former public employee according to the terms and conditions discussed in the closed meeting. Thank you, Vice Chair Donahue

[06:56:26] has made a motion. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Svensson. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, let's move forward with the vote.

[06:56:42] please record your vote. Dr. Rasheed, please state your vote. Yes. Clerk, please close and display the vote. A motion passes unanimously with all seven school board members voting yes who are present and Ms. Chernoff and Mrs. Griffiths absent for the vote. Vice Chair Donahue, do you have a second or another motion? Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the Loudoun County School Board authorize the school board chair and counsel for the school board to take the actions as discussed in closed session regarding a specific legal matter in order to resolve such matter related

[06:57:16] to a former employee thank you vice chair donahue has made a motion is there a second second oh thank you miss labelle um it has been properly moved and seconded is there any discussion seeing none let's move forward with the vote please record your vote dr rasheed please state your vote yes clerk please close and display the vote that motion passes unanimously with all seven board members present and ms shirnoff and mrs griffiths absent for the vote vice chair donahue do you have

[06:57:52] another motion. Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the Loudoun County School Board authorize LCPS staff and counsel for the school board to take the actions as discussed in closed session pertaining to Loudoun County Circuit Court Matter CL 22-2964. Vice Chair Donohue has made a motion. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Pepper. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, let's move forward with the vote. Please record your vote. Dr. Rasheed, please state your vote? Yes. Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes unanimously with all

[06:58:32] seven board members present voting yes. Ms. Chernoff and Mrs. Griffiths absent for the vote. And finally, Vice Chair Donahue, is there a motion? Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the Loudoun County School Board authorize the school board chair, counsel for the school board, and LCPS staff to take the actions as discussed in the closed session pertaining to the acquisition of real property for a public purpose and pertaining to the PUR-2025-00056 matter pending before the Virginia State Corporation Commission.

[06:59:05] Thank you. Vice Chair Donahue has made a motion. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Ms. Riccardi. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, let's move forward with the vote. Please record your vote.

[06:59:23] Dr. Rasheed, please state your vote. Yes. Clerk, please close and display the vote. That motion passes unanimously with all seven school board members present voting yes and Ms. Chernoff and Mrs. Griffiths absent for the vote.

[06:59:40] With that, we have concluded our business for the evening. Seeing that there is no more business, the June 23, 2026 Loudoun County School Board meeting is now adjourned. We will see you on the other side of the July recess at our next school board meeting on Tuesday, August 11.

[06:59:58] Hope you have a lovely recess and please travel safely and drive home safely. Have a nice summer.

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