Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County School Board, Legislative and Policy Committee Meeting, Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2026
Place: Loudoun County Public Schools / School Board meeting (see BoardDocs / LCPS-TV)
Length: 53m (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/1204379797?rel=0
BoardDocs (School Board): https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/loudoun/Board.nsf/Public

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-11. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:00] - Good afternoon, called to order the June 24th, 2026 legislative and policy committee meeting. My name is Ross Venson, I'm chair of the committee and welcome everybody here today. Sign up to make in-person public comments occurred prior to the start of the committee meeting. The meeting will be audio recorded and posted on board docs.

[00:00:18] I'm not aware of any sign ups today, is that right? For public comment, seeing none. We will move to the next item on our agenda. I have been notified that Dr. Samara Rasheed would like to remotely participate in tonight's meeting.

[00:00:36] Dr. Rasheed, could you please state your location and whether this is a medical or personal matter? - Yes, thank you, Chair Swenson. I am located in Birmingham, Alabama, and this is a personal matter. - Thank you, Dr. Rasheed.

[00:00:52] And this will be your first remote participation for this calendar year in a legislative and policy committee meeting using a personal exemption, is that right? - That is correct, thank you. And is there anyone at your location with you?

[00:01:07] - No, not in this room, I'm completely alone. - All right, thank you. I will now entertain a motion that Dr. Rasheed's request to participate remotely be granted. - Second. - Are you moving, making the motion? - Oh, I apologize.

[00:01:23] I move that Ms. Samara Rasheed can participate remotely. Thank you. - Thank you, I'll second that motion. Now we'll move to the vote. all in favor of granting Dr. Rasheed's request to participate remotely, say aye.

[00:01:40] - Aye. - Aye. All opposed? So seeing that ayes are voted two to zero to approve this request to participate remotely and no school board members opposing, we will welcome Dr. Rasheed to the meeting.

[00:01:59] Welcome, Dr. Rasheed. - Thank you, thank you. - All right, now we will move on to item 3.01, the draft minutes for the May 13th, 2026 Legislative and Policy Committee meeting.

[00:02:16] Have the board members had time to look over the minutes? Are any changes to the minutes? - All right, I'll now entertain a motion to approve the minutes from the May 13th, 2026 committee meeting. - I'd like to make a motion to adopt the minutes of the May 13th, 2026 Legislative Policy Committee meeting as written. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Griffiths. Is there a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded to approve the meeting minutes. All those in favor of approving the minutes say

[00:02:50] aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. The motion passes three to zero with all school board members present voting in favor. With that, we will now move on to item 4.01, policy 2420, meeting procedures, which I believe will be presented by Mr. Allen, Division Counsel.

[00:03:12] No, Mr. Sutton. Thank you, Mr. Sutton. I'll turn it over to you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Members of the committee, colleagues, guests, thank you. The proposed changes to Policy 2420 are returning to the committee today for action, having been previously shared with the committee as information at your last meeting on May 13th, 2026.

[00:03:35] As was shared at the previous meeting, while the changes in the redline version appear to be extensive, the updates to this policy are almost entirely structural to match the VSBA model policy and to ensure consistency with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

[00:03:52] The proposed changes to the policy were shared with the advisory committees of the school board and the general public, And I'll be reviewing a comment received from members of the Equity Council as well as feedback received from the MSAC committee, both of which have been uploaded to board docs.

[00:04:12] The comment from a member of the Equity Council was there should be a medical provision for virtual participation when quorum is not physically assembled as long as it is not abused with parameters. While the administration certainly appreciates the sentiments of this feedback, it would be a violation of Virginia Code for the school board to meet virtually except during a state of emergency.

[00:04:35] The MSAC committee has suggested just one minor revision on page six of the red line version and paragraph F concerning public participation. The suggested revision is to replace the word citizens with community members to align with the language found in policy 2520 participation by the public.

[00:04:59] With this minor edit, the policy would now say community members are encouraged to attend meetings of the school board and to communicate their views to the board at times provided for public comment. Spontaneous discussion from community members during other times shall not be permitted.

[00:05:18] I mean, that's the rub right there. This concludes the administration's review for this action item. unless there are any questions or any other suggested revisions. The administration would like to recommend that the committee consider the proposed changes as suggested by MSAC to replace citizens with community members at line 225 and line 227.

[00:05:43] And with that, if you have any other comments or you want to add something to that, that's fine. Thank you, Mr. Sutton. In looking at policy 2520, alternative considerations for this committee could include in accordance with public policy 2520 members of the public or subject to the language in policy 2520 members of the public rather than community members but I offer that for consideration. Thank you Mr. Sutton thank you Mr. Allen I'll open

[00:06:21] up to questions from my colleagues. Yes, Mrs. Griffiths. So, from what I see from the MSAC comments, can you clarify, we're removing U.S. citizens and just making it citizens and community members? We're taking out U.S. citizens. Is that what you're saying? Thank you, Mrs. Griffiths.

[00:06:44] I believe in looking at the MSAC comments, their concern was that the use of, quote, citizens, end quote was not clear. It doesn't currently specify whether it's U.S. citizens or Loudoun County citizens or residents, but the current policy as we're in just says citizens broadly.

[00:07:03] Well, in the comments I have here, it says the use of citizens is not clear. Is this referring to U.S. citizens, Loudoun County residents, or something else? So correct. U.S. citizens is not listed here, but I'm not sure why we would not have it listed here, why we wouldn't have U.S.

[00:07:22] citizens, and why we would just have citizens and community members. Can you clarify that for me? Thank you, Mrs. Griffiths. I don't believe I was here when the prior iteration of this policy was reviewed, or at least with respect to the language and with respect to the word citizens, so I can't offer clarity in response to your inquiry in that regard.

[00:07:54] I have more questions, but go ahead. Yeah, so I'll offer this. I agree with MSAC that the word citizens here is a little unclear because I think Mr. Allen referenced the other policy that governs who has the eligibility to make public comments, which maybe, Mr. Allen, if you could specify who under that policy is able to make public comments at school board meetings.

[00:08:17] So it might be helpful just to, as you suggested, Mr. Allen, make an amendment that references that policy so that it's consistent across the policies yes thank you chair spinson and policy 2520 a5 that provides for the eligibility of members of the community sorry a4 of members of the public who are eligible to address the school board and public comments so that includes residents of loudon county including incorporated towns within i.e leesburg

[00:08:53] Businesses located in Hull are in part in Loudoun County, Loudoun County taxpayers, current or former LCPS students, parents, and guardians of LCPS students that live outside of Loudoun County, LCPS employees and retirees, or representatives of organizations serving LCPS employees and students.

[00:09:13] Thank you. Yes, Mrs. Griffiths. When do, I mean, it was just a comment in MSAC. I'm not sure that it's in the policy that it said U.S. citizens. I'm not even sure about that. I'd have to, I don't recall seeing it.

[00:09:29] But just a question, when would we ever check citizenship? Why would it be in here? Why was that even a comment? Do we check citizenship for people to come and speak at our meetings? Thank you, Mrs. Griffiths.

[00:09:48] To the latter question you raised, my understanding or perspective is that they were using the school board who adopted this policy previously was using the word citizens and the generic kind of broader like members of the public or citizens. I don't recall at least when it was looked at in 2023 loss that there was any specific discussion as to that specific use of word or connotation. With the former question, do we check citizenship? I'm unaware that we check

[00:10:23] citizenship um in in terms of any uh kind of national demographics or that purpose um there was also a question as to people that live in loudon county coming to speak we had years ago the previous school board decided we were not going to have people outside loudon county speaking as well and there was a question on somebody recently that put maryland uh did not live here. So that person ended up being a former student from Loudoun County. But I guess my

[00:11:02] questions are, how is this enforced and how are we checking where people are coming from or if they even, they're related to Loudoun County in any way? You can answer that, but I will have further questions. I don't know if Ms. Rashid does. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Griffiths. It's my for public comment purposes for school board meetings, that's run through the school board clerk, so who's not with us today, but that staff can certainly follow up with her to see what her process is.

[00:11:41] - Thank you, Mr. Allen, and thank you, Mrs. Griffiths. Yes, that'd be helpful. I know in the public comment document we receive, usually says what district someone resides in. So I imagine they are getting address information related to public comment. Yes, Mr. Sutton.

[00:11:57] - Mr. Chair, I'd be more than happy to talk to, have that discussion with the board. I know the conversation recently has come up, it's related to the, I'm gonna call it a resident of Loudoun County, the Maryland individual specifically.

[00:12:16] So if you will allow me to look into that for you, I'd be more than happy to look into that for you. - Thank you, Mr. Sutton. Mr. Allen, could you repeat the language you suggested that you might recommend we edit lines 224 to 226 referencing policy 2520?

[00:12:38] - Certainly, Chair Svensson. For this committee's consideration, one option is in accordance with policy 2520, members of the public. Alternatively, in accordance with the eligibility requirements set forth in policy 2520, members of the public, dot, dot, dot, or some permutations subject to the eligibility requirements set forth in policy 2520, members of the public, dot, dot, dot.

[00:13:12] - Thank you, Mr. Allen, that's helpful. So at this time, I will introduce an amendment. I move that in the red line version, we replace the existing language at 224 through 226 with the following, quote, In accordance with policy 2520 members of the public are encouraged to attend meetings of the school board and to communicate their views to the board at times provided for public comments, spontaneous discussion from members of the public during other times shall not be permitted.

[00:13:47] Do we have a second for that motion? - I'm sorry, Mr. Chair Svensson, if you don't mind, can you just repeat that again? - Certainly. So we will, in the red line version, strike the existing language at lines 224 to 226 and replace it with the following language.

[00:14:10] Quote, in accordance with policy 2520, members of the public are encouraged to attend meetings of the school board and to communicate their views to the board at times provided for public comments. Spontaneous discussion from members of the public during other times shall not be permitted. And Chair Svensson, if I may have another question about your amendment.

[00:14:31] Yes. Is this, has this gone through, I'm assuming it has, but has this gone through our legal department? Because I just want to make sure. Yes, I think this is closely tracked from what Mr. Allen just proposed.

[00:14:47] And I know that staff is recommending that we make this conforming change along the lines that MSAC is suggesting. So this just ensures that we're being a bit clearer on who, that we're just tracking the other policy that governs participation for public meetings.

[00:15:04] and putting that here in this policy. - Thank you, Chair Svensson, for that clarification. And I didn't mean to disrupt your motion on the floor. And I second the motion. - Thank you, Dr. Ashid. Is there any discussion of the motion?

[00:15:21] Yes, Mrs. Griffiths. - Thank you, Chair Svensson. You said spontaneous discussion. Can you go through that again? - Yes, the current language in our draft meeting procedures policy at 226 references spontaneous discussion, which I take to mean that members of the public are invited to participate during the public comment period, but they would not be permitted, for instance, to interrupt what we're doing right now.

[00:15:50] They wouldn't be able to speak during the information or action item portion of the meeting. - I think that is the case right now, isn't it? - That's right. So not changing that portion of it. This amendment's merely changing the reference to citizens, which is vague at the moment, and bringing in that language from policy 2520 and just saying that if you're eligible to participate under 2520, you're encouraged to attend meetings here and communicate your views during public comment.

[00:16:25] Any further discussion on the motion? All right, at this time, we will take a vote on the motion. - Oh, your motion. - Yes, on my motion. So this is the amendment that we've been discussing. So all those in favor, say aye. - Aye.

[00:16:43] - Right, so the motion passes three to zero with all school board members present. We'll return to the base motion now, or to the discussion of the meeting procedures action item.

[00:16:59] Is there further discussion about policy 2420, meeting procedures? Yes, Mrs. Griffiths. - Thank you, Chair Spenson. on the red line, uh, at C, um, I, I'm just wondering, this is all brand new. Okay. So I remember bringing up, um, when I first started as a school board member to be able to have access to, um, be online for committee meetings. And I was specifically told that could not be done

[00:17:34] because of equipment issues. Um, depending on the room you're in, we can't possibly do virtual. It's too difficult. I got a couple no's out of that. So basically, as of today, we are putting in there that we can have committee members be online virtually and we are able to accommodate.

[00:17:57] I had asked about that several times and I was told that was not possible. So I have no problem with it, but I'm just curious to know why I happened to mention it. And forgive me, it was Dr. Bergen's predecessor, Dr. Bergen is not here today, Mr. Smith, that I used to talk to about this. So can you speak to the fact that we were not doing this before for committee meetings?

[00:18:25] And I think one time we did it for a previous chair of the finance and operations, and I was surprised because I was told it wasn't possible. So what changed? I'm curious to know what changed as to why we can have committee members online all of a sudden when I was told no.

[00:18:44] Can you elaborate on that? Thank you, Mrs. Griffiths. I am without institutional knowledge specifically as to that. What I could theorize potentially if the opportunity was not provided to certain committee members in the past is if there's two committee meetings at the same time, one in this room and one in 102 A&B.

[00:19:11] 102 A and B does not offer the opportunity for virtual participation due to technological issues. So that's all I can theorize. But I'm aware in the boardroom as we are right now in 100 B that there have been previous committee meetings where committee meeting members have appeared virtually.

[00:19:34] I'm only familiar with one that happened to be mine and it was one time. So are you saying the other room, is it possible? I mean, to put it in a policy, is it possible every time to have a committee member be virtual?

[00:19:51] Or is it going to be a technological issue if we don't have this room? Thank you, Mrs. Griffiths. That's a very fair point. I don't, and I think it's well taken in terms of if there are constraints that there have been in the past and if 102 A and B does not provide for virtual participation due to technological limitations, then perhaps there should be a carve-out in the policy for that subject to technological limitations, comma, virtual committee meetings may or may not afford the opportunity for virtual participation.

[00:20:31] That's certainly a consideration before the committee. So with that, I would make an amendment to add that in there if technology is not available. I do want to mention that I know that we are getting new technology this summer.

[00:20:48] So, again, I'm curious to know, is that why we're putting this in here? Because no matter what room you're in, you'll be able to be virtual. Can you answer that? Thank you, Mrs. Griffiths. I cannot currently answer that. I think staff can check with our chief technology officer to see if those upgrades will provide that technology for virtual participation in 102 A and B, and we can get back to you.

[00:21:15] Yes, if you can make note to get back to me on that. I'm very curious about this because I had to miss a couple of committee meetings because I didn't believe we had a virtual option. So I'm surprised to see this. I was surprised that we can't do virtual now with committee.

[00:21:32] Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Griffiths. Any further discussion on this policy? All right. With that, I'll entertain a motion to move this policy forward.

[00:21:52] So moved. Thank you, Dr. Rasheed. And just, I guess, for belt and suspenders, I'll make a motion just to read it fully, and then I'll ask for a second. So I move that the Legislative and Policy Committee consider proposed changes to policy 2420 as amended and forward it to the full school board as an information item is there a second second thank you um mrs griffiths um so with that uh i just want to double check no further

[00:22:27] discussion on this item all right at this time we'll take oh mr griffiths um per the amendment of adding the technology i think that will go in here for the information item to the board correct Would you like to make a formal motion?

[00:22:44] A formal motion to add where technology allows, even regardless of the fact that we may have updated technology over the summer. We don't know for sure. There may be some meeting room where we might have a committee meeting, and there might not be.

[00:23:01] So it needs to be in there. Thank you. A formal amendment to add where technology is available. Thank you. Do you have particular language, and perhaps Mr. Allen, I know you referenced something. Do you have particular language you'd like to make a motion in terms of- I would like to make a motion to add it.

[00:23:19] Mr. Allen, I ask that you provide the language per this discussion today. Thank you. So I think we'll need something specific to put in the policy if we are going to amend it before sending it on as an information item.

[00:23:40] So I'm happy to give folks a few minutes to identify where in the policy we would want to put the language. and then we can fully go through it. If I may, Chair Svensson. Yes, thank you, Mrs. Griffiths. In line C, I'm sure it can be put in there, and it could be something simple.

[00:24:01] You have transacted through telephonic video or electronic communication means you could put it there as far as when available. Thank you, Mrs. Griffiths. I think that works right. Particularly, would you be amenable to on line 24 and the red lines under C1 general conditions to start that provision with where technology permits, comma, a school board or committee member may participate in a meeting through electronic communication.

[00:24:31] I think that might address what you're... I believe so. Thank you, Mr. Allen. All right. So with that, I'll turn it over to you, Mrs. Griffiths, to make that formal motion, then I'll ask for a second. I hope I remember now, right?

[00:24:50] Okay, so we're going to go to C, line one, under general conditions. I'd like to make an amendment to add, and you said technology when available. Yes, Mrs. Griffiths.

[00:25:06] It was C1. And line 24. And line 24. After general conditions, to start that provision with the following language, where technology allows, comma. Where technology allows, okay. And we'll just add it in there.

[00:25:23] Hopefully that's sufficient. for today. Thank you. Is there a second for that motion? Second. Thank you, Dr. Rashid. In terms of further discussion on this amendment, I wanted to ask Mr. Allen if there's anything in the Virginia code that's referenced in section C1 that would require remote participation such that, you know, technology availability or the inability to conduct the meeting remotely via

[00:26:01] technology um would be something we'd have to overcome because people have to be able to participate i don't know whether that the code is permissive or or requires um us to provide this opportunity just want to make sure that this is consistent with code thank you mr swenson i'll i'll take a look and the virginia code that would provide for this is virginia code 2.2 that dash 37 0 8.2 um if you give me a minute i can look that over i did want to also update i have heard

[00:26:36] back from our chief technology officer and he has confirmed that 102 will permit um after the technological upgrades will permit for virtual participation for committee members going forward and the 102 and all rooms and 102 a and b and this boardroom yes that's correct with that understanding mrs griffiths would you like to proceed with the amendment i would

[00:27:09] All right, we will take a five-minute recess to give Mr. Allen a moment to take a look at that code. Thank you.

[00:29:04] All right, we'll come out of our recess now. I will turn it over to you, Mr. Allen, to share information after reviewing the code. Thank you, Chair Svensson. And in my review of Virginia Code 2.2-3708.2, I think I misspoke earlier, that section provides for meetings held through electronic communications and declared states of emergency.

[00:29:28] It's 2.2-3708.3 that provides for meetings held through electronic communication means situations other than declared states of emergency. And I do not think that Mrs. Griffiths' proposed amendment would create any tension with respect to Virginia Code.

[00:29:50] Thank you, Mr. Allen. I just, in terms of this amendment, now that we've confirmed that the technology requirements are there, will be there during the summer, after the summer for each of the rooms we actually meet in the four committee meetings, I would prefer not to add this language in because I don't want it to be limiting our ability to participate remotely based on technical availability.

[00:30:18] I think we should be able to get it done. We have sufficient rooms to do it, and I don't really want that to be kind of a way to deny remote participation by saying there's not technology available. I think that we're capable of providing the technology to enable that.

[00:30:36] Yes, Mrs. Griffin. Thank you, Chair Svensson. You bring up an interesting point, and I also felt when I brought this up originally under Dr. Smith that we should have been able to accommodate years ago with technology so I see your point we should have been able to accommodate then we should be able to accommodate now if it really means that much to you to take that out fine but you know we don't want to limit anybody that wants

[00:31:10] to be remote and the policy I don't I guess I don't want the policy to go against oh well that particular room doesn't have it or whatever maybe change the meeting change the date change the time so it can be met but that that's your call as long as the point is there that with the new technology we're going to have you should be able to do remote in committee meetings thank you thank you mrs griffiths would you like to move forward with a vote on the amendment or would you like to withdraw your amendment if that's proper mr allen under parliamentary procedure well we're

[00:31:49] still going to mention some of it right part of it or we're just going to take it out completely my proposal is to take it out completely please read it again mr allen certainly mrs griffiths um i believe when i heard the motion uh on the floor is at line 24 of the red lined version of policy 2420 meeting procedures um at section c1 to start that provision with the following language where technology allows, comma.

[00:32:30] Yes, that's right. I think that, as I said before, I think it makes participation subject to technology availability, which I would prefer not to do.

[00:32:55] You're welcome to make the comment, Ms. Griffin. Thank you, Chair Svensson. If we do remove that amendment, I think it should be noted that if there is an issue with room bookings, and we are not able to get the accommodation of technology that the meetings should be changed the time the date whatever needs to be done to accommodate school board members to be able to

[00:33:28] come in virtually now will we need an amendment for that are you able to come up with something thank you mrs griffiths i i wonder if it would be more helpful when this comes out of a committee and to the full board as an information item where our chief technology officer, Aaron Smith, is available.

[00:33:50] If he could ask some of these as a subject matter expert on technology and technological capabilities, if he could provide some insight. Because in full candor, I'm unable to discern from how he responded if 102A currently has that technology or will.

[00:34:09] He's confirmed that it will after, but it could. And so I think it would just be helpful to inform a potential amendment for the board's consideration to maybe ask those questions and think about it in the interim between it coming out of this committee and going to the full board.

[00:34:28] Thank you, Mr. Allen. I'll work with you on possible amendments for this policy then. I'll come back to you and work with you on that. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Griffiths. And are you, I guess, do I take it that you're formally withdrawing the amendment? I'm formally withdrawing now, but I will have conversations with Mr. Allen about other potential amendments to make sure that the wording is correct per policy, per code.

[00:34:57] Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Griffiths. And I also note that it may not be this particular policy where some of these things come into play, because I know that the time and date of the committee meetings is often subject to the committee chair, and I don't actually know what policy home that lives in, but hopefully that's something you all can discuss ahead of the full school board meeting where we discuss this as an information item, assuming we pass it out of committee now.

[00:35:27] So with that, I believe we are now on the base motion because we had a motion that was seconded to move this policy 2420 as amended to the full school board as an information item.

[00:35:46] So unless there's further discussion, I'll move forward with the vote here. All in favor of legislative and policy committee, considering proposed changes to policy 2420 and forwarding as amended and forwarding it to the full school board members and information item say aye.

[00:36:05] - Aye. - Aye. - The motion passes three to zero with all school board members present. Thank you everyone for the discussion. With that, we will move to the next item on the agenda, which is our legislative update item 5.01 presented by Mr. Sutton.

[00:36:26] Thank you, Mr. Sutton. - Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If the committee will indulge me for a bit, I'm gonna talk a little bit very broadly at the beginning and then we'll get into some specific numbers that I think are important.

[00:36:43] When we last spoke, there was a bit of uncertainty about what this process was going to look like and where we were going to end. But I think those dark clouds have moved on, and I think we have a pretty good idea of what we're looking at.

[00:37:06] During the Great Compromise, as we call it, the Virginia budget was a result of, I think, extensive and probably exhaustive negotiations amongst the various stakeholders, including obviously our legislators, our education advocates, the governor's office, and other interested, what I would consider to be interested parties. Given the scope and scale of the proposed investments, particularly the $2 billion in new spending, there were inevitably differing

[00:37:37] priorities, which caused the sort of the chasm to happen. And those concerns needed to be worked out and balanced, and I think they have. So the key factors in reaching the compromise included prioritization of core education needs. I think both sides recognize the importance of investing in teacher salaries, school infrastructure, special education. I think this led to agreements on funding salary increases, increased grants for school construction and infrastructure and

[00:38:11] ensuring I think just fundamental that fundamental needs were addressed. Funding sources and revenue considerations, discussions centered around how to fund these initiatives sustainably. For instance, the proposals authorized one percent local option sales tax for school construction.

[00:38:31] That was a compromise that allowed local communities to contribute to their school needs. and balancing statewide investments with local control. New spending with fiscal responsibility was important. They negotiated to ensure that new initiatives, such as expanded early childhood programs, child care subsidies, were fiscally responsible and aligned with the Commonwealth's revenue projections.

[00:38:59] This involved adjusting allocations and included provisions and sort of carry forward funds and phased implementations. The stakeholder concerns, we have teacher groups, education advocates, parent groups, they all push for significant salary increases and better early childhood access, while fiscally-centered folks emphasize budget discipline.

[00:39:26] Negotiations work to find a middle ground that delivered what I think Richmond agrees is a meaningful improvement without overextending their financial limits. The legislative and policy dynamics, the negotiations within the General Assembly, including bipartisan discussions and amendments, definitely played a crucial role, especially in the last week and a half.

[00:39:51] Consensus building by offering targeted increases such as at-risk add-ons and special education funding while still making concession in other areas to gain sort of a broader support across the board.

[00:40:09] Inclusion of flexibility measures, the budget includes provisions allowing participating divisions to provide slightly smaller, if needed, salary increases and to carry forward funds, offering localities and districts a little bit more flexibility.

[00:40:26] This helped garner support from all different kinds of people who had differences in the House and the Senate. So overall, this year, the compromise was reached through a combination of prioritization, revenue and funding negotiations, stakeholder engagement, and basic political consensus building.

[00:40:49] The result is what our friends in Richmond think is a balanced approach that aims to expand educational opportunities and support students and educators while maintaining that need for fiscal responsibility. I want to go through the number salad, so bear with me because it's a lot of numbers, and I'm not an economics guy, but I'll do my best.

[00:41:16] So we're going to focus specifically on some allocations here. The budget proposes about $720 million in general fund dollars above the House Bill 30 introduced level. Key policy actions include adding approximately $137 million for additional child care subsidy slots to serve families, earning up to 85% of the median income, and $25 million for public-private child care initiatives.

[00:41:45] Other policy actions feature a total of $960 million from the biennium, with $602 million from non-general funds, bringing the total to nearly $1.5 billion in policy-related investments.

[00:42:02] Now, these investments support salary increases, school construction grants, special education enhancements, infrastructure and operational funding, and various other initiatives, such as school breakfast reimbursements, which was a huge, turned out to be a huge deal this year, and funding for at-risk student programs.

[00:42:24] Let's look at compensation. Regarding compensation, the budget proposes a 4% salary increase for instructional support positions recognized under the SOQ, standards of quality, effective July 1st, 2026, and then July 1st, 2027.

[00:42:44] The total state share of this salary increase is projected at $254 million for fiscal year 27 and $516 million for fiscal year 28. Participating school divisions may choose to provide, again, a slightly small increase and receive prorated amounts of funds accordingly.

[00:43:03] In addition to the salary adjustments, significant investments are planned in school construction with a total of $519 million allocated over the biennium, an increase of $159 million compared to the current biennium.

[00:43:20] Legislation will also authorize a 1% local option sales tax contingent upon a referendum to support school construction projects. For special education, the budget proposes $148 million over the biennium to increase special education add-on rate from 4.75% to 9.25% and from 5.25% to 17.5% for students with more severe disabilities.

[00:43:48] An additional $10 million will expand funds for the students with intense needs, aiming to reduce reliance on private day placements, which can be costly by funding more categories of students with disabilities. Some of the other notable initiatives include $28 million increase over the biennium to raise the maximum at-risk add-on rate from 48% to 48.

[00:44:06] 85 and a $60 million increase in flexible funds for infrastructure and operations per pupil in 2017.

[00:44:24] Reimbursements for school breakfast programs will increase with a $17.8 million boost to raise meal reimbursement rates. Additionally, $1.3 million allocation will support a joint committee task force for reviewing K-12 funding formulas, which will likely hit us again in the next legislative session, so we'll hear about that.

[00:44:45] Early child care and education, the budget includes $137 million increase over the biennium for child care subsidy programs, expanding access to families earning up to 85% of the median income. This funding can carry forward into FY28.

[00:45:03] So again, that's probably something we're going to hear about as well. And this addresses potential wait lists without increasing overall program costs. There's also a one-time allocation of $25 million for employee child care assistance program, which establishes a cost-sharing initiative amongst families, the state, and employees.

[00:45:25] employers through FY 2030. The budget reflects a comprehensive approach to support Virginia's K-12 and early childhood systems through what they deem this year as targeted investments and salaries, infrastructure, again, special ed, childhood care, and policy reforms. It's all aimed at, in their mind, fostering a stronger, more equitable education environment across the Commonwealth. I gave you a lot of numbers. I'm sure that the good folks in our budget and finance office will probably at some point go through all of those. Again, I'm not an expert,

[00:46:04] but it was a very, very comprehensive approach. It just took us a little while to get there. I'm sorry. It's kind of boring to go through all those numbers, but I think they're important. No, thank you, Mr. Sutton. They are very important. And I, for one, was very interested.

[00:46:20] So thank you. I appreciate you providing us an update, and it's exciting that a budget compromise was reached so we can move forward with the business. So with that, I'll open it up to questions from my colleagues about the legislative update. Yes, Dr. Rashid.

[00:46:39] Thank you, Chair Svensson, and thank you, Mr. Sutton, for a loaded presentation with quite a lot of detail. I, too, you know, am intrigued with all the data that you present, or rather the numbers that you presented, everywhere from balancing the statewide investments to the special education funding. It was a lot. But it looks like we're on a good path. And with that being said, I was just curious after hearing all that, what do you think the next steps are and what could we expect, especially after hearing all this? Sure. I think where we're at now,

[00:47:19] quite simply, is the governor is now going to send down or come forward with any potential amendments probably later this week, which is Thursday or Friday. But from what I understand and from what we're tracking, I would expect that we will see, I think from a K-12 perspective, that this is pretty much where we're at. I don't think it's going to fluctuate whether up or down, sideways, long ways, slant ways, whatever.

[00:47:58] We're looking at probably a potential vote on Monday, possibly on Monday, maybe Tuesday, but Monday seems to be the target date. So barring any amendments from the governor, barring any additional action, the vote comes next week, boom, we move on, and in three weeks we start the process all over again, we go August 1st into, yeah, late July, August 1st into preparations for the next session, which is going to include a couple of these things anyway that are pushed out to 28, 29, 30.

[00:48:37] So that's where we're at. Thank you. I appreciate you. Additional questions from my colleagues? Yes, Mrs. Griffiths. Thank you, Mr. Svensson. Obviously, I'm only concerned, I'll be concerned when we have this vote to see how it will affect us here uh at lcps as far as with our budget um so if you could keep us up to i assume you'll keep us up at the next meeting and let us know how it will affect our budget and um what kind of money we will get how would how would if i i like to say that i go from a to b and i got

[00:49:15] nothing to do with c which is see the money so uh the again the budget uh the budget folks and the people upstairs will I'm sure Miss Willoughby will gladly break it down and show you exactly how much is going to cost what and what we're getting and what we got to what we got to give and and all that so I'm just happy that the process is over for this this year. Thank you Mr. Griffiths. Yes I'm very curious to hear from Miss Willoughby how for instance the school breakfast reimbursements affect our nutrition fund if at all. I was curious Mr. Sutton I know

[00:49:54] that the budget team has to break this down further, but from your perspective, what the biggest impacts of the budget will be on LCPS specifically? Which items are most impactful for us? I think the biggest, again, this is me. Now, I don't like generally asking these questions because I'm a process guy, meaning you and I have done this. We try to balance the what goes on in Richmond, the day-to-day with the expectation, what it all means.

[00:50:28] I'm not a soothsayer, so I don't know what it all means. I just know that there's a, I'm not going to give you a specific as to what I think is the most important thing, but what I can do is tell you that some of the things that we've dealt with in the 26, in 25-26, whether it's, again, that prioritization of sort of these, what we consider these core education needs, whether it's health care, mental health, I'll throw in health care with mental health, funding

[00:51:00] sources, you know, the revenue impacts, all of that stuff is going to be back because a lot of the things that we discussed or that were discussed over the last, how many months, five months, six months, they're resolved, but they're really not resolved because a lot of them are going to be pushed, a lot of them are going to be pushed forward. So I think that's why I'm, that's why this sort of prep work for the next legislative session is going to be the most important

[00:51:34] to determine based on, you know, balancing new spending and how does that impact our fiscal responsibility, you know, addressing these concerns from parents and educators and all these other stakeholder groups. How is that going to play into what our priorities are for next year?

[00:51:57] What is our delegation going to work? What is their viewpoint? Where are they coming from? What is the overall general assembly, our folks in the western part of the state and who are in smaller districts, representing smaller districts, that maybe their impacts and their needs are different, but they're gaining much more of a voice. You know, what is all of that going to look like? I just don't know. I know I didn't answer your question, but I hate to say what is, you know, it doesn't really matter what I think. It just matters that all these key priorities

[00:52:34] that we've sort of reached compromises on, we're going to still be, they're going to push, they're going to be pushed out and they're going to be discussed again. Fair enough. Thank you, Mr. Sutton. I appreciate it. Any further questions from my colleagues? No? All right. With that, we'll move on from the information item to new business. Is there any new business? Okay. No new business. With that, I will adjourn the meeting. Our next meeting will be, Give me a second.

[00:53:11] I wrote it down earlier. Our next meeting will be August 12th. So look forward to seeing everyone at 5:00 p.m. August 12th.

[00:53:28] Thank you so much.

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