Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County School Board, Legislative and Policy Committee Meeting, Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Date: Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Place: Loudoun County Public Schools / School Board meeting (see BoardDocs / LCPS-TV)
Length: 35m (video)
Official meeting video (Vimeo / LCPS-TV): https://player.vimeo.com/video/1216243361?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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[00:00:02] Good afternoon. Apologies. We're starting a few minutes after the hour of a sick kiddo at home and delayed leaving the house. I call the August 12, 2026 Legislative and Policy Committee meeting to order. I don't believe we have any public comment signups. Is that correct? Okay. We will move on then from item number two. Go to number three. The draft minutes for the June 24, 2026 meeting have the board members had time to look over the minutes and are there any changes I will now entertain a motion to approve the minutes from the

[00:00:39] June 24th 2026 legislative and policy committee meeting I would like to make a motion to go ahead with the minutes from the last meeting thank you miss Griffiths has moved to approve the minutes from the last meeting do we have a second second dr. she does second but properly moved and seconded to approve the minutes. All those in favor of approving the minutes say aye. Aye. The motion passes 3-0 with

[00:01:10] all school board members voting yes. And we'll now move on to our information items starting with item 4.01, school division legal status. And I will turn over to Dr. Bergen and Mr. Allen to present on that. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair, board members. This policy 1010 school division legal status is up for its five-year review. The red line changes that are in front of you

[00:01:44] are to align this policy with the verbiage in the VSBA model policy. To my knowledge, there is not any major shift with any practice related to this policy, but I will pause there defer to legal counsel if there is anything of significance that we should bring to the attention of the committee thank you dr bergen no as you indicated this was really the proposed red lines

[00:02:15] are to conform to vsba model policy in line 16 through 18 the language of the model policy is a little generalized so we would recommend personalizing it to the loudon county school board since this is a school board policy and then with respect to the red proposed red lines on lines 20 to 21 we would recommend striking this it calls out the duty of policy making that the laudan county school board has but there are several duties and responsibilities that the laudan county school board has so um so it's not to confuse that as being the primary or only

[00:02:56] responsibility we've struck that but rest assured the cross-referenced policy 2010 legal status authority powers and duties sets forth all of the school board uh duties responsibilities under virginia code thank you board members do we have any questions on this policy no i don't have any questions either um i guess we'll do do we feel comfortable moving this to action next time i think we'll just well yeah we'll move it to action for this one yeah um all

[00:03:34] All right, we'll move into action for the next meeting, and then I think we'll now move to item 4.02, policy 1035, school board norms, protocols, and violations, presented by Dr. Bergen. Dr. Bergen, all you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[00:03:49] So this policy 1035, school board norms, protocols, and violations, has been at the committee level for quite some time. I want to take just a minute and remind board members when this has previously been reviewed over the last, let's say, year.

[00:04:09] The revisions that are being presented to you here today are the exact same revisions that were presented to the previous committee, the LANP, in October of 2025, and then returned to that committee in November of 2025. And it was at that time in November that that previous committee decided to keep it for another month into December and gave direction to staff to add a section into the policy listing out all of the responsibilities of the chair and the vice chair so the committee could review those duties and responsibilities.

[00:04:44] Then at that December 9 L. A. and P committee meeting it was discussed and decided that it would be forwarded to the full school board's consideration with the recommendation that that be taken up in a retreat setting because there were election had occurred and there'd be new board members being seated and given the significance of the policy of being the policy for the norms protocols and violations of the board that all the board members should take an opportunity to see it in a retreat setting.

[00:05:13] So that did occur on February 18th of 2026, and at that school board retreat, it was discussed that the policy should return back to this committee, to the L&P committee.

[00:05:29] And so it's been sitting in the queue, waiting for its turn to come up to this committee. In preparation for this meeting and in consultation with chair Svensson staff has removed the section That listed out the duties of the chair and the vice chair Taking this policy back to as it had originally been presented in October of 2025 And so I'd like to spend just a minute just talking about the revisions that are in front of you That have been proposed now for you know better than a year so first of all looking at the red line if you go down to lines 77 to 87

[00:06:06] There is a new paragraph B, and that new paragraph B, let me just catch up with my own notes, is the exact same verbiage that existed in policy 2140 previously, and it was a decision of the previous L.A. and P. Committee to remove the language out of 2140 with the intent of sticking it in here.

[00:06:32] So it's just been waiting in the queue. You, of course, are familiar that board members do participate in professional development, And this just spells out that requirement. It is not new language. It has always been in school board policy in Loudoun County.

[00:06:50] It's just being moved into this policy. Then the only other proposed change in this policy 1035 occurs at lines 166 and 167. And that is that in keeping with our standing practice, that when board members are going to be visiting in schools, that they notify in advance the principal of the school and as a courtesy and for awareness purposes only the office of the chief of staff.

[00:07:19] Since that has been our practice prior to my coming to Loudoun County, that was the established practice. We have codified that, and that was reviewed, again, with the previous L.A. and P. Committee, and no other changes are being proposed today, and I will stop there and see if there are any questions or comments from the committee.

[00:07:37] Thank you, Dr. Bergen. I appreciate that. Board members, any questions? Dr. Rashid. Thank you, Chair Spence, and thank you, Dr. Bergen. My question was for in the red line version of line 133, where it says that minimum school board members shall remain impartial in the event that the situation may be brought before the school board, particularly personnel and student matters.

[00:08:02] I just find that there's a little bit of a lack of definition or context of what really constitutes an active or rather an impartiality violation.

[00:08:17] How do we determine that? So is there any specific standard that determines if a member's response to a parent crosses from when you do active listening to impartiality on potential personnel?

[00:08:34] So in other words, how do we know if a member is partial on personnel matters or not? So that was the only question that came up to me in this paragraph. Okay. There's a cross-reference to policy 1030, Code of Conduct for School Board Members, which does speak to board members being impartial and how they conduct themselves to assure that they're being impartial.

[00:08:58] If I could defer to legal counsel for a deeper explanation of the cross-reference into 1030 to your question, Dr. Rasheed. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Bergen. Thank you, Dr. Rashid, for the question. Specifically in Policy 1035B, Sections 5 through 8 give additional gloss on impartiality with respect to particular personnel and student matters.

[00:09:25] I'll read those just for the record here and for your awareness. Section 5 is that school boards have a duty and an endeavor to base their personal decision upon all available facts in each situation and to vote in their honest conviction in every case unswayed by bias of any kind.

[00:09:44] As you know, oftentimes board members will get outreach from either employees or families around student matters. And so in order to avoid any potential bias of hearing facts outside of the record for

[00:10:05] For matters that may come to the school board through either the SBAC committee for disciplinary decisions or personnel matters that may come before them after a hearing or before the board and a hearing if it elects to do that, they would be privy to information maybe outside of the record, in which case they could themselves become witnesses in those matters or otherwise have bias.

[00:10:31] And so to that extent and to avoid a situation where board members might need to recuse themselves because of that bias, that would speak to impartiality. And then I'll just read again for the record, 1035B, 6 through 8, which also speak to your question, Dr. Rasheed.

[00:10:50] Board members have a duty to remember at all times that they as individuals have no legal authority outside the meetings of the board and to conduct their relationships with school staff, local residents, and all media or communication on the basis of that fact.

[00:11:05] They also have a duty to resist every temptation and outside pressure to use their position as a school board member to benefit either themselves or any other individual or agency apart from the total interest of the school division. And 1035B8 speaks to bear in mind under all circumstances that the primary function of the board is to establish the policies by which the schools are to be administered, but that the administration of the educational program and conduct of school businesses shall be left to the employed superintendent of schools and their staff so that means um not um getting

[00:11:41] involved in in the weeds for lack of a better phrasing thank you i appreciate that thank you chair thank you dr rashid thank you mr allen mrs griffiths thank you chair um on uh the red line on 1035 at line 166 um i know i've gone through at 166a excuse me i know i've gone through this before as far as visiting schools and notifying the chief of staff that's not always the case

[00:12:13] I know for the most part my principals and so on and sometimes I'll arrange to just come and meet with them so I'm wondering if I should make an amendment to make a motion to make an amendment that if necessary involve the chief of staff like for example if I'm not able to reach a principal that I wanted or a school for a school that I want to visit maybe notify the chief of staff if necessary rather than is that a requirement we went through this I think before as far as it being is it a requirement that I have to do

[00:12:52] that or am I able to just stop in at a school if I would like to matters before you so I'll just repeat when I joined Loudoun County it was brought to my attention that has been the practice in Loudoun County with previous board members as a courtesy to the superintendent through the office of the chief of staff to keep the administration just a prize to when board members are going to be in schools you all know each of you individually and I think all the board members know I really value time to be in schools not always with our board members but when board members notify my office that they're going to be

[00:13:31] in a school if my schedule allows I will check with the board member about joining on that learning walk but sometimes a board member would prefer I not attend and I don't and other times I'm initiating and I'm encouraging and inviting board members to join me in learning walks and being in schools but it is just to keep the office of the superintendent informed through the chief of staff when board members are in schools just for awareness it's not that you need permission board members should be in schools and are in schools and we encourage them to be in schools this is just for notification purposes only thank you for clearing that up

[00:14:05] Because I think you and I had that conversation previously, but seeing it here, I just wanted to bring it up again. Thank you. Thank you. Board members, any further questions? No? All right. Temperature check on moving this to action for our next meeting?

[00:14:24] All right. We'll revisit it at the next meeting as an action item. Let's move on to item 4.03, which is policy 7712, sick leave, presented by Ms. Kimberly Brown of the Human Resources and Talent Development Office.

[00:14:44] Ms. Brown. Thank you. Good evening. It is my pleasure to present revisions, recommended revisions to policy 7712, which is our sick leave policy. I just want to start out by acknowledging that it appears to have quite a lot of red lines on these pages.

[00:15:00] Most of them are just sentence structure and grammatical changes, but there are three major changes that I would like to review with you this evening. The first is lines 1 through 3 changes the eligibility for this policy, and the language specifically states that anyone covered under a CBA or part of a bargaining unit are excluded from this policy.

[00:15:31] And that is because our union-covered employees are now following what is written in the CBA. So now our sick leave policy will only cover our confidential employees. And so then the two other substantive changes of this policy are to bring this sick leave policy in line with the benefit that is offered in our collective bargaining agreements.

[00:15:51] The second major change is on line 119. Any full-time employee, 10 or 11 a month, they are allowed to use up to 10 days of their sick leave now for personal leave in these recommended changes.

[00:16:16] So it's just moving from 5 to 10 days, and then line 125 just adds another stipulation that they may use up to 5 days consecutively for personal leave. And then finally, the last major change is the removal of any mention of bereavement leave or the use of sick leave for the death of a relative.

[00:16:38] And that is because in our next information item, we will be presenting a standalone policy establishing bereavement leave for confidential employees. Thank you very much. Board members, any questions? And just to confirm the change from five to ten days of personal leave that can be used for sick leave.

[00:17:01] sick leave that's consistent with what the sick leave policy is under the CBA that is correct thank you board members are we comfortable moving this to action next great we'll move this to the action item for our next meeting all right we'll move now to policy to information item 4.04 policy 7713 bereavement leave I'll turn it over to you Ms. Brown thank you again this is a new

[00:17:38] policy we are proposing it be numbered 7713 to follow immediately after the sick leave policy you do have a redlined copy and those red lines are really from our internal review process we did borrow language from both the sick leave policy as well as the collective bargaining agreement just as a basis for this policy but this policy recommendation establishes three paid work days of bereavement leave and also lists the family members that would be covered it also allows for an employee to use up to 20 work days at the approval

[00:18:17] of their supervisor excuse me the up to 20 sick days of their accruals to extend bereavement leave should it be needed and again that is the from with the approval of their immediate supervisor thank you board members questions dr. issues yes it is 50 line 53 and should they need more than the three days that will be paid by the school system where they do not have to use their accruals.

[00:18:54] They can then dip into their accruals should they need extended time up to 20 days with the approval of their supervisor. Board members, any other questions? Ms. Brown, I was wondering for the respect to both of these policies, is there, I guess I don't know if there's a cross-reference policy where we kind of just explain to the public who's maybe reading the policy that

[00:19:27] the sick leave and bereavement leave policies for bargaining units are governed by the CBA. I guess there's kind of the assumption baked into there, and we're all familiar with it. I just was wondering if there's somewhere in policy that explains, hey, there's this separate set of procedures that governs sick leave and bereavement leave for other employees.

[00:19:50] To my knowledge, there has been no changes or updates to policies since the collective bargaining agreements have been put in place. So I don't know that there is anything that specifically states that. Thank you.

[00:20:05] And I'm trying to jog my memory from a prior policy we worked on where we made reference to it when we were updating it because there are so many moving pieces now with policies as we get used to the collective bargaining agreement. So that's something I'll think about between now and if board members are comfortable moving it to action item.

[00:20:26] We'll move it to action item, and I'll think about that. Dr. Bergen. Just one suggestion just to eliminate any confusion. Because this is a new policy and is not currently on the books, the entire thing should be redlined. And I do appreciate and understand for this committee's purpose, we've put some strike through to sort of show the development of the policy.

[00:20:51] But if this is leaving this committee as presented, then I would like your permission to change it all over to red line before we put it out for feedback. Yep, that works for us. All right.

[00:21:12] Thank you, everybody, for an efficient meeting here. All right, we'll move to new business. Do we have any new business? Yes, Dr. Rashid. Thank you so much, Chair Spenson. I appreciate that. There's been a lot of mention on the news, and I know that you and I discussed it during legislative session, and this is for Mr. John Sutton.

[00:21:39] But what can we expect from the General Assembly regarding e-bikes this season? I know that we spoke about it. Mr. Sutton. Say that again.

[00:21:54] I'm sorry. I apologize. I thought I heard that, too. I should have said Mr. Sutton. I appreciate that. I appreciate the correction. But there's been a lot of stuff on the news regarding e-bikes, and I know that you and I discussed it during legislative session. So I just wanted to know, in terms of the General Assembly, what could we expect from them regarding e-bikes?

[00:22:16] Well, thank you very much for the question. I mean, honestly, very straightforward. They worked heavily on what they call mobility safety issues during the last session.

[00:22:30] They sort of tried to close the gap a little bit vis-a-vis some House bills, House Bill 1120, for example, sort of directed, which took the first major step was to direct the Department of Motor Vehicles to create a work group in order to study, you know, what these mobility, micromobility units, as they call them, do and how they interact and how they interface with current Traffic law because they're new and we have all these young people that are running all over the place doing it

[00:23:09] Basically, they're looking at scooters mopeds anything over a certain size They're trying to work with the Senate Transportation Committee. They're trying to work for the with the Department of Motor Vehicles they're trying to work with like the Virginia Bicycle Federation of the United whatever it's it's a big Bicycle Lobby and what they're doing is they're going to take those findings that I believe if I'm not if I'm not mistaken or do November this November, which is really really really quick

[00:23:46] I don't expect that that's going to change anything. What I expect is that they're going to come up with findings We're going to move into the twenty twenty seven session. They're going to create all kinds of different variations of new bills to talk about how each member, I know we have our own concerns here, each member's going to come up with something that's more local, and then we're going to be in the same position that we're in with other things, which means in 2027, they're going to come out with new stuff, they're going to have to probably go back and do more guidelines,

[00:24:22] so maybe by July 2027, we'll actually have something, or maybe by July 2027, we'll end up having another committee that discusses it even further i don't know how we're we're dealing with it locally um i don't know um i knew obviously when the the general assembly reconvenes are going to take it up it's a big issue what they're doing locally i know that and i'll hand this off to dr bergen because i know that he's good you just talk about what you're going to talk about related to e-bikes because you know i've had that conversation we've talked about this uh in board

[00:25:01] meeting going into the summer break that's uh mr sutton was referring to house bill 1120 which was sponsored by senator suin avasin delegate reid and delegate singh and it's a work group through the dmv john clark our director of safety and security is participating in that work group their work is starting up and that work group will come out with some recommendations at the state level but this is a local issue for all localities to be honest with you the sheriff has very good information on the website for parents about what what should they consider when they're looking to purchase one of these devices for the

[00:25:41] student what is legal what can a student what should they be purchasing and the requirements for helmets piggybacking off of that we've been talking with our principal safety task force who had raised this as a concern because we've seen a big influx with these in certain campuses particularly middle schools and those that are close to bike paths so we're going to be messaging in the next several weeks some new requirements for our families so I'm previewing for you what all families will learn through our Department of Communications and Community Engagement and through our principals that if a student is arriving

[00:26:19] onto a campus on any vehicle other than a car a bicycle whether it has a motor or doesn't have a motor a scooter a moped a skateboard whatever it is once they hit school board property they get off that vehicle and they need to walk it because we have lots of cars going in out of parking lots we have buses pulling in and out we have lots of people walking and it's just adding to the confusion and the potential danger so that will be a new requirement that once the device comes to school board property has to be walked and we'll be

[00:26:51] looking for helmets on students. Students who can't follow simple instructions of safety from their school administrators will instruct our principals to give verbal warnings, to make contact with parents, to have conversations with the SO officer as appropriate about whatever the behavior may be. And if it continues to escalate and we have students who are not just being safe, then they can lose the privilege of being able to bring that device onto school board property.

[00:27:20] In order to signal that to our parents, as we shared with the board, we did add language in the SR&R. So as parents are reading the SR&R coming back to school this year, in the introductory paragraphs, there is now a mention that the school division reserves the right to provide for student and staff and pedestrian safety to include e-bikes, scooters, and other motorized personal devices.

[00:27:43] So that language is now in the SR&R, so parents are aware that we are paying greater attention to this as a local issue. We're in that same communication, referring parents back to the sheriff's very good information online so parents can educate themselves about what they should be considering when they're purchasing a vehicle.

[00:28:06] And then we're going to be, as John alluded to, that work group is going to be doing its work in the coming months. there may be additional requirements at the state level to be determined through that work group, which would then apply not only to Loudoun County, but everywhere else. So more to come, but it's top of mind for lots of localities, not just us, but everybody around us and across the state.

[00:28:29] Is that fully responsive to your question? Yes, yes. We brought it up in curriculum and instruction as new business as well. So it's just a growing concern, and it feels like it's not going anywhere. Right, and I saw that reference in curriculum and instruction, and so we're having follow-up conversation as to if it's in our curriculum in health and PE and if we need to have it in our curriculum in health and PE to talk about safety, riding a personal mobility device such as an e-bike or an e-scooter.

[00:28:58] That's fantastic. Thank you so much. Yes, Mrs. Griffiths. Thank you, Chair Svensson. Also, and I'm sure you have that information or you're working on it, discipline for repeat offenders. needs to be considered. Discipline or, you know, taking the bike, the scooter, and holding on to it. I don't know. It appears to me police officers do not have permission to say anything or do anything at this time. And I think that's another issue that needs to, hopefully it's

[00:29:38] being approached but i think discipline is a big thing because um giving a warning doesn't always work and a second warning doesn't always work so fines um you know taking the the um scooter away or this e-bike whatever but i'm hoping that's those are considerations thank you well we wouldn't disagree with you at all on progressive discipline so we we start with verbal warning and conversation and redirection and reminders, and then we increase that to parent-teacher conference or administrator-parent conference, review those same expectations.

[00:30:19] If we have repeat offenders after and as it continues to escalate, with any offense, whether that's an e-bike or any other offense, we follow progressive discipline, which could lead to losing the loss of privilege. It's a privilege to be able to bring a vehicle like that on a school board property, and if you can't do it in a safe way, then you lose the privilege.

[00:30:39] Yes, Dr. Rasheed. I would love to, I mean, I'm not part of the SBAC committee, but I think it is important. I don't know if there is any type of policy, but I'll defer to SBAC later on, I think the chair, to talk about what policies include such inclusive language that could include e-bike as part of that, or maybe it's already in place.

[00:31:04] Thank you all, and thanks for the information on the work being done on this. I really appreciate it. Is there any further new business? All right, we'll move to adjournment. So as you all know, our next meeting is currently scheduled for September 9th.

[00:31:20] But after speaking with Mr. Sutton yesterday, I think we'll need to move it back at least a week to accommodate our legislative planning or planning for our legislative program. So I think staff will be in touch about a potential different date in September for that meeting.

[00:31:40] Can you clarify? Yeah. So currently the first week of September, we're targeting the focus group roundtable to get feedback on the legislative program. And if we have and that would be the same week as our meeting.

[00:31:56] So there wouldn't be enough time to kind of turn around the feedback and recommendations from that roundtable. And our plan is for the September meeting to really focus on the legislative program because we're currently slated to put that before the full board by September 22nd.

[00:32:14] So we need to have that roundtable, then our LNP meeting, then the full school board meeting, which means we'll likely need to be that week of September 14th, 15th, somewhere in that window for the committee meeting.

[00:32:30] Yes, Dr. Rasheed. Thank you, Chair. I was just wondering about our future meetings for the rest of this year for 2026. I was wondering if we are still keeping them at bay or will we be changing them?

[00:32:51] So my hope is to change the day of the week and to hopefully work with you all on your schedules with October through December. Because as we take up more of our HR-related, HRTD-related policies, I know that this time conflicts exactly with LEA's board meeting.

[00:33:15] And so they have a difficult time getting a representative to come. And I know that they will, I'm certain at some points, have feedback on some of these policies and want to make sure they have the opportunity to do that at the committee level. So to the extent it's possible, working to align our schedule so we can make that possible for any feedback.

[00:33:38] Yes, Dr. Bergen. I'm just listening and thinking with you on the next meeting date. The committee just approved four policies to come back for action. Of course, our process is to put those out for community feedback, and I'm just concerned about timelines.

[00:33:55] We hear a lot about, you know, giving our community enough time to respond and react. to propose changes in policy, and if we're pinching, I haven't looked at a calendar to know. Marie, maybe you could help me think out loud. If we got those out this Friday, would we realistically be able to get feedback in time for the committee on a meeting that we're moving up by a week for reasons expected?

[00:34:17] I think we'll be moving the meeting back a week. Forget everything I just said. No, we have a lot of moving pieces. Although that could affect the next round then. Yes. But anyway, we'll deal with that when we get to it. Thank you. Yes, Dr. Rasheed.

[00:34:35] I'm not sure if I can commit to that. I know we could have a side conversation about that. I'm not sure if I could commit to it because my schedule is pretty packed. In any event, I was just curious, is it a requirement, not that I'm opposed to it, is it a requirement to have a representative from the LEA, I don't know, our collective bargaining agreement, if it's written in some sort of contract, I'm not sure to have them there.

[00:34:59] Out of just curiosity, I'm asking. It's not my understanding it's a requirement, but merely a courtesy given the importance of the policy system. All right. Thank you. We'll be in touch about the new date for the September meeting.

[00:35:15] Thank you all very much. Meeting is adjourned.

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