Coraggio Consulting
Loudoun County School Board, Student Services Committee Meeting, Thursday, October 15, 2026

Date: Thursday, October 15, 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/1236436303?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 2026-10-20. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:00] - Good afternoon, everyone. It is 4:34 p.m. on Thursday, October 15th, 2026. And I call tonight's Student Services Committee meeting to order. I am John Pepper of the Dulles District.

[00:00:17] I am the chair of the Student Services Committee. And alongside me, I have Ms. Carrie LaBelle of the Catoctin District and School Board Chair Ms. April Chandler of the Algonquian District. We will begin this meeting with public comment.

[00:00:34] We currently have three speakers for public comment. I wanna thank you all for engaging with this committee through the public comment process. The school board and the student services committee welcome comments from Loudoun County residents, employees and others with connections to our school system and believe that strong community engagement and outreach are important components of a successful school system.

[00:00:56] Speakers must limit comments to the time allotted Because we only offer 10 minutes for public comment in our committee meetings, each speaker will be allotted two minutes this afternoon. Please be advised that speakers who miss being called up will not be called at a later time.

[00:01:13] All audience members shall maintain civility, decorum, and respect for the function and dignity of this school board committee at all times. Please remain seated unless arriving, departing, or speaking. Violations of civility, decorum, and respect include shouting, heckling, jeering, applause, or other noise which disrupts or delays the meeting, obstructing speakers from being able to see the committee or vice versa, interrupting speakers, attempting to speak when not called to do so by the chair, and or approaching a speaker or otherwise attempting to intimidate, disparage, or distract a speaker, staff member, or other meeting attendees.

[00:01:49] Speakers should refrain from vulgarity, obscenities, defamation, profanity, or other like breaches of respect. Nor may speakers target, criticize, or attack individual students and or individual division employees during public comment. Speakers should communicate those concerns to their school principal or other appropriate school official.

[00:02:08] 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. Speakers should face the committee and direct their comments to the committee. Per LCPS Policy 2520, members of the committee will not answer questions or respond directly to the public during the public comment period.

[00:02:31] Violations of decorum or civility of any meeting attendee may result in myself directing staff to remove the attendee from the remainder of the meeting. Copies of materials for school board members shall be given. They've already been given out to Mr. Dolson, who is the liaison to the committee.

[00:02:49] Under no circumstances may a speaker approach the committee. All right. With that, we'll begin. And our first speaker this afternoon or evening is Carla Berman. Please forgive me one second.

[00:03:07] I am going to start a timer because we don't have the big timer for you. So I'll let you know when you're ready to start and you're free to begin whenever you would like. We're going to stop and let you start over.

[00:03:28] I'm just going to have you turn on your microphone. Thank you. Okay. Good afternoon. My name is Carla Berman. I'm the registrar at Willard Middle School. A group of registrars from across the county have worked on this document. You've been given this document. Several of us were formed a group and have signed up to speak today.

[00:03:45] and we ask other registrars to join us to show support we're here to ask the board to review the classification of the position of registrar on the universal pay scale we strongly believe that relative to other jobs in the county the position of registrar is improperly classified over the past several years responsibilities and technical demands of the registrar position have continued to expand yet its placement on the pay scale has remained unchanged during that same period other positions within the division have received classification and compensation adjustments we believe that this has created an inequity in which the compensation for registrars no longer accurately reflects the significant level of responsibility, accountability, and specialized knowledge and technical expertise required of the position.

[00:04:24] The issue has negatively affected morale and, we believe, contributed to an ongoing turnover rate among registrars. Despite raising these concerns with HRTD on multiple occasions, the issue remains unresolved. We're therefore asking the school board to formally review the classification and compensation of the registrar position and determine whether an adjustment is warranted.

[00:04:43] As registrars, our primary objective is to promptly and accurately register our eligible students residing in our zone, ensuring seamless enrollment and attendance. Navigating this process requires strict adherence to federal, state, local, and county-specific laws and regulations.

[00:04:59] There is detailed notes for all of those in what you've been provided. The responsibilities require registrars to exercise careful judgment, maintain a high degree of accuracy while navigating situations that can have significant implications for students, families, schools, and the division.

[00:05:18] Unlike many administrative support roles across the division, registrars do not operate out of a quiet, dedicated office. We work directly from main offices and counseling suites and are fully integrated into daily building coverage. As a result, our time is continuously interrupted by general operational tasks that fall outside registration or record keeping.

[00:05:36] Thank you. Our next speaker this afternoon is Martha Martinez. Good afternoon. My name is Martha Martinez and I'm the registrar of Parkview High School.

[00:05:51] Belown is a co-registration and routine building operation that Ms. Vernon discussed. Our rule requires ongoing management and especially academy record division program. Depending on the grade level, these critical responsibilities include attendant tracking, class scheduling, record transfers, alumni transcript processing, NCAL eligibility, and formal audit, attendance, enrollment letters, graduation process, legal name change, and adoptions.

[00:06:24] Facilitated specialized registration of HESTSAR, ECSE, STED, IB, CAS, TNSS, Rice Academy, Academy of Loudoun, Virginia Virtual Distance Learning, BDLTJ, TAEP, ROTC, and HIMCI, as well as Supportered Dual Enrollment and IP Coursework, Escuting a Complex Legal Requirement, including FERPA, Compliance, Suppling, Fulfillment, Social Security Background Verification,

[00:07:00] transcript records, man and mens, BHSL, athletic eligibility, uni guardianship, and kinji arrangement, foster care placement, and advanced technical operation infinites. Registrar more continually balance those technical and regulation responsibility with the immediately often in on the unpredictable needs and a busy school office. Taking together the registration position required a exceptional degree on multitasking, accuracy, decreation, technical and knowledge, regulation awareness, attention to details.

[00:07:38] We believe that the brick complicity and level accountability associated with those responsibilities are not adequated. Reflecting the opposition currently classified as compensation especially in its comparison with the other position in the county.

[00:07:54] Thank you. Our final speaker this morning is Shaquella Slaughter. Good afternoon. My name is Shaquilla Slaughter. I'm the Registrar at Madison Trust Elementary School.

[00:08:10] Continuing with Ms. Martinez' discussion of the comparison of our role to some others in the county, we want to highlight that unlike other administrative support positions, the Registrar role uniquely requires a strong emphasis on compliance and funding. Our data accuracy directly impacts state funding.

[00:08:26] Other support roles do not carry regulatory or fiscal stakes. Far more student and family contact. We handle continuous face-to-face interactions in crisis situations, whereas other roles work with minimal interruptions. The management of complex technical systems, sensitive records, and unpredictable duties as assigned across multiple departments to reinforce the scope of our position and the adaptability needed in the role.

[00:08:46] Another factor that is significant is the essential nature of the position as evidenced by the fact that we're 12 month year round staff who report on snow days and routinely work without administrative oversight on site. In summary, we respectfully ask the school board to consider the following facts. The unaddressed historical stagnation over the years surrounding support positions have been systematically reclassified while the registrar position has remained unchanged despite continuous formal requests for alignment the direct impact on district funding the timeliness precision and audit compliance of our daily data management directly safeguards state funding for our schools our role as essential frontline representatives as the primary liaison for our schools registrars

[00:09:24] interact daily with new and current family school staff central office personnel and members of the public frequently navigating sensitive family dynamics and most importantly supporting students during immediate mental health crisis. The alarming turnover and associated financial costs, the turnover rate registrars is astonishing and far exceeds the division's goals.

[00:09:41] Over the last three years, the turnover rate for this position reached 51%, averaging approximately 20% per year, replacing and constantly restraining staff during this valuable time, administrative resources, and district dollars. Many incoming staff are unprepared for the heavy technical demands of our job and expectations, leading them to leave the county or transition to higher paying, less demanding roles.

[00:10:00] The morale we are experiencing, those who have dedicated years to this role have repeatedly presented research, drafted revised job descriptions, submitted formal letters, met with school and central office administrators, and completed reclassification surveys where requested follow-ups just never occur. Watching colleagues leave school.

[00:10:16] Thank you. Thank you all for coming out and sharing your public comment and also sharing this letter with us. Appreciate the opportunity to engage with the public. With that, we will now, let me go back to my agenda, please.

[00:10:33] We will now move into the item 3.01, which is the approval of the minutes from the September 17th, 2026 Student Services Committee meeting. May I have a motion? Ms. Chandler.

[00:10:50] I move that we approve the September minutes for the Student Services Committee. Is there a second? I second. Thank you, Ms. LaBelle. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion or changes to the minutes of the September 17, 2026 meeting?

[00:11:06] Seeing none, all of those in favor of approving the minutes from the September 17, 2026 Student Services Committee meeting, please say aye. Aye. Aye. That motion passes unanimously. Item four on our agenda, as always, is the presentation.

[00:11:22] Tonight's presentation is put together by our Director of Student Services, Mr. Kirk Dolson, and we will then move to our action item. Our first action item is item 5.01, revised policy 8140 on student attendance requirements and procedures.

[00:11:40] May I have a motion? Ms. Chandler. I move that the Student Services Committee approve the student attendance requirements and procedures policy and move it forward to the full school board.

[00:11:59] Is there a second? I second. Thank you, Ms. LaBelle. It has been properly moved by Ms. Chandler and seconded by Ms. LaBelle. Is there any presentation, Mr. Dolson? Actually, yes, we do have Ms. Jennifer Evans here to provide you just an update.

[00:12:18] Thank you. Ms. Evans, the floor is yours. Good afternoon. I just wanted to walk you through the changes because last time we were here, we talked about additional recommendations from Division Council. One was just to restructure the policy to align with all of our other policies, so to have definitions so you'll see on lines 45 through 62 we've just moved the definitions of an unexcused absence and a suspension absence and then as we discussed previously I'm adding in the active duty member of the uniformed

[00:12:54] services and attendance concerns related to that allowing students to have time away with their families who are experiencing deployment and then we also expanded lines 104 where it talks about the absences for civic engagement civic activities so that just we expanded that to be more than one day these often there are additional days that students will take now just open it

[00:13:32] up for questions committee members miss LaBelle yes just for clarification for students they may want to know this what qualifies as a civic event participation I don't have the answer to that because they're not often requested but we'll look into that and get you that information I think that might need

[00:14:09] to be part of the definition section just to clarify things yeah and we do know that it's not supervised by LCPS staff so what would require is documentation that the student did successfully complete the civic engagement in order for that to be an excused absence but we can definitely get that information thank you miss Chandler I'm not sure that this is perfectly accurate but for example my daughter was just selected to go to the government like students in government day so that may be an example of a civic

[00:14:47] engagement that would be appropriate since she is going to represent her school. I'm going to ask a few questions actually about the civic engagement as I read lines 108 to 110 in the red line version I understand that it says prior advance notice of intended absence and documentation of participation in a civic event it seems as if that is fragmented it does not there

[00:15:19] is no requirement on there so it says if you read it in its entirety backing up to lines 87 and 88 It says, in addition, principals may excuse students who are absent for any of the following reasons.

[00:15:35] And then I'm going to scroll ahead. And it says, participation, middle and high school students who engage in an optional civic activity or event not supervised by LCPS staff. LCPS shall excuse one school day long excused absence per school year and may permit additional excused absences for such students who are absent for such purposes.

[00:15:56] prior advanced notice of intended absence and documentation participation a civic event the phrase are required appears to be missing from this yes yes we can add that okay appreciate that my question is what would be considered prior advanced notice so for example i'm going to give example a student might find out that a political candidate is coming at the last minute for an event or rally and wish to attend and that i would consider that a civic event they may not have time

[00:16:29] to let the school know that they are in attendance and might perhaps not necessarily have they might get pictures from the family but they might not have documentation I would assume this would fall under that category yes my question is what is meant by I guess we'll take this in two parts what is meant by prior advance notice is that defined in the policy it is not and one of the comments was about that's not always possible and so there is flexibility around that that is ideal to have prior advanced knowledge but we didn't want to open that up so it's ever taken advantage of but if a student and a parent is allowing

[00:17:09] their child to go to an event that is a civic engagement and they let us know that we would just want that documentation after the fact so sometimes things do come up like you described and it's tomorrow so we would have the parent put in the absence in parent view say the rationale and then we would just follow up with the documentation request so I'm going to make an and amendment and i would like to add after the words civic event is can we put the words is i i don't want to use the word required i feel like required might be the important legal

[00:17:44] question here but um i'm going to say is required when possible for the documentation for the documentation for both the prior advance notice upon request is is required maybe requested yes may be requested is actually the better way to do it may be requested because we'll do that with absences related to medical illness so we will say medical documentation may be requested so let me make this in the right way i move that after the word civic event we put the phrase may be

[00:18:21] requested do i have a second for my motion that's right just adding right second thank you miss chandler it has been properly moved and seconded committee members is there any discussion on this Ms. Chandler. Mr. Pepper, would you speak further to your motion? I would like to, yes. Okay, so I'm adding this, noting that when we're talking about attendance requirements, just in general, the proper recourse for an excused absence is to have it documented in some form. And sometimes we

[00:18:59] ask questions, right, if a student is absent for several days in a row for illness, we might ask for a doctor's note. If a student, likewise, if a student is going to a civic event, we might ask for documentation now it's obviously not always possible but this is just letting parents know you can't just say civic event and hope that students are excused um even if you're saying you know oh they went to uh you know see a political candidate i'm not going to give one off the top of my head here but a political candidate speak or they went to a you know

[00:19:35] forum or symposium just knowing that lcps has the capability to reach out and ask for further clarification i think is something that parents should be expecting you require further clarification miss chandler miss labelle thank you mr pepper i think that it might be better said prior advance

[00:20:08] notice of an intended absence should be given because we're not asking for it every time if if it's last minute as you say should be given and documentation of participation in a civic event is required does that do it for you i do want to there are two different things i was trying to get it in one fell swoop um it should be given i always want to say should be given where

[00:20:44] possible in other words if they wake up in the morning realize that nobody called if they forgot it slipped through the cracks and they call and leave a message on the um absences line that would be as soon as possible if they can do it sooner than that that's wonderful but if that's the last

[00:21:14] resort they have then that's as soon as possible okay so are you do you want to we have to wait to make another motion so we're on the first motion do you want to um so we can play with the word we can play with the wording however it's going to require another motion so i am okay with this but i don't know if that's necessarily a friendly amendment because it's really changing a couple different things. Well, I'm not growling at you yet. No, no, you're not. I'm trying to think of the

[00:21:54] logistical way in parliamentary procedure to get through this. So what I'm going to do is I'm okay with your motion. What I would like to do, if that's okay with the emergency committee, is withdraw my motion. Okay, so I'm going to withdraw my motion and Ms. LaBelle, I'm going to ask you to make a new motion that clarifies both pieces of this, if possible. One for the advanced notice of the intended absence and one for the documentation.

[00:22:20] And if you need a minute, I am totally okay with that. I'm good with it. All right, Ms. LaBelle, please proceed. Did you withdraw your motion? I have withdrawn my motion. Okay, thank you. I would like to move that we make the change on lines 108, 109, and 110 that prior advance notice of intended absence should be given as soon as possible and documentation of participation in a civic event must be documented.

[00:23:01] Second. Ms. LaBelle, can I make a friendly amendment instead of must be documented, can we just change it to the words is required? Is that friendly? Yes, that's very friendly. You're not growling either. That's okay. Okay, I second that.

[00:23:17] Okay. Mr. Pepper, Ms. LaBelle, could you just repeat that so we make sure that we have all of... Can I read, you want me to read it for them, Ms. LaBelle? I'm happy to do it. Go for it, Ms. LaBelle. starting where it says prior advance notice of an intended absence should be given as soon as possible and documentation of participation in a civic event is required thank you committee members any further discussion

[00:23:51] on Miss LaBelle's amendment seeing none I seconded it all those in favor of the changes proposed by Miss LaBelle please say aye aye that motion passes unanimously we are now back to the original motion on the action item is there any further discussion on policy 8140 miss Chandler thank you in looking at the see a comments and concerns I I noticed that SIAC has raised a concern

[00:24:29] twice related to the 15-day absences could you give me a little bit of context about why I mean I guess if the this is raised in 23 and again that they still remain concerned about whether or not the language federal and state disability laws would be appropriate could you just give us some context is are there legal limitations that prevent us from including this after 15 days of absences we're required to withdraw a student so their concerns which I will

[00:25:05] share did not come in until 10-12, so we didn't have an opportunity to really look at those, but we handle every situation with care. So if a student who has an IEP is withdrawn, we're doing everything in our power to re-engage that family, get them re-enrolled, but we handle it by the code, which is at 15 days, it's a mandatory withdrawal. So we don't have that flexibility to do anything different with a student who has an IEP. So it is really a limitation of code and it any of this clarifying language would not change our obligation under law correct okay

[00:25:42] thank you committee members anything else all seeing no further discussion all of those in favor of moving this to the full school board as an information item at the next school board meeting please say aye aye that motion passes unanimously we will now move to our second action item which is revised policy 5170 on substance abuse education may have a motion miss

[00:26:21] LaBelle I move that the committee consider the motion 81 for I'm sorry 5170 substance use education and move it forward in the process to our different committees miss LaBelle do you want a motion to the full school board to the school board. We've done the committee work. I'm sorry. It's okay. To the school to the full school board. Is there a second? Second. Okay is it properly moved by Ms. LaBelle to move this to

[00:26:58] the full school board as an information item and seconded by Ms. Chandler. Committee members is there just actually I'm going to let Ms. Evans do this one as well and do a quick presentation on 5170 before we get into discussion. This is like the simplest change we could have. We just wanted to incorporate the addictive potential of electronic devices.

[00:27:19] And I did want to let you all know that we do have a crosswalk in place with Health and PE and our substance use education program to make sure that we're both touching on this. So we did have feedback from one student, which I truly appreciated. He said, you can't just add an additional piece to a presentation, and that's not what we're doing.

[00:27:39] But I did appreciate his honesty and his feedback about our presentations. And, again, we're touching on it in multiple ways through a collaboration with teaching and learning. Committee members, is there any further discussion?

[00:27:56] Ms. Chandler. The student's comment is fascinating and always so pleased to hear from students. And I guess it resonates with me how much, I mean, this is an important policy and an important change.

[00:28:14] When it comes to the curriculum, ultimately, most of these things are outlined at the state level. But how does a program like D.A.R.E. come into play? So D.A.R.E. is separate from our curriculum.

[00:28:33] So our curriculum really is updated every year when we're looking at trends and what's happening. and we've included technology and social media as well. DARE has been in place for long before me, but it is something that we have developed in SOP to have consistency with how it's implemented.

[00:28:51] We're making sure that parents have that opt-out information, making sure they have the outline of what will be presented to their fifth graders. But it is something that we are collaborating with Loudoun County Sheriff's Office on and we're hoping to have an agreement moving forward.

[00:29:07] but right now it's not something we vet as LCPS it's law enforcement and an agreement that's in place for them to come into our elementary schools thank you for that clarification do we anticipate that the change that's made to the policy will implicate I mean how could it impact students on a day-to-day level I don't see it really having an impact because we've already updated our presentations and our lessons to touch on technology gaming gambling all of the

[00:29:43] things that have been coming because of social media that's great all right thank you committee members anything else all right seeing no further discussion all of those in favor of moving this to the full school board as an information item please say aye aye that motion passes unanimously we will now move into our information items there is one information item tonight it is on revised policy 8420 on student medical medication well and presenting that will be our director of the office of student services mr. Kirk Dolson thank you mr.

[00:30:22] pepper with me this afternoon I have of this evening I should say I have our supervisor of student health services miss Jeannie Kloman I'm going to ask her to walk you through just some of the updates with policy 884 20 I will turn it over to Ms. Kloman. So the code, this change is just to align our policy with code. Ms. Kloman, can you just move the microphone a little closer to it?

[00:30:48] No, it's okay. I just want to make sure that the people that are listening on the recording can hear you. How's that? Perfect. Okay, good. The purpose of this addition to the policy is to just align the policy with Virginia code. There was a change to code that includes now allowing students to with a documented or with a diagnosed seizure disorder to carry their own rescue medication.

[00:31:25] And so we wanted to add that to our policy. It's for secondary students only, according to the code. And it gives them some flexibility moving around as they do from place to place, especially they're running from school to work and they need to have that medicine with them.

[00:31:46] it makes life easier for them and preps them for grown-up world so as we look at what this actually looks like in practice we would require obviously that the students have a seizure action plan in place and then the possession permission would be something that we would also ask them to sign off on whether that be from a parent or if a student was 18 we would just need a a doctor's order. And so in this case, any student enrolled in a secondary, this is what we would

[00:32:25] add to the current policy, any student enrolled in a secondary school who is diagnosed with a condition causing seizures may possess seizure rescue medications. Obviously, in the real world, having a son with epilepsy, they would not be able to administer the medication. It would be there for an emergency purpose. We will certainly answer any questions you might have.

[00:32:53] Any discussion or questions? I will say in talking to Ms. Richardson about this policy, because of the change in state law but the not updating of our current policy, we're in this kind of weird limbo situation where students who have seizure, any sort of seizure disorder, are currently probably carrying their own medicine but technically in violation of LCPS policy.

[00:33:16] And so we're in this weird kind of gray period where I don't want any students who are in this situation to get in trouble for carrying their own medication. But I just want to make the committee aware that this is one of those things that we got to have to push through relatively quickly because of this so with that and seeing very little discussion and limited changes are we going to put this on consent at our next meeting or miss chandler i move to suspend the rules uh okay i second all those in favor of suspending the rules please say aye aye aye okay and he's a two-thirds majority but three for three

[00:33:54] means it's unanimous miss chandler would you like to make a motion um i move that we um move policy 8420 student medication forward to the full board for consideration I second that has been moved and seconded moved by Miss Chandler seconded by miss LaBelle this channel you want to speak to that motion well given your previous statement it seems like it would be judicious to go ahead and move this through as quickly as possible so that we are compliant I completely agree any further discussion okay with that all those in favor moving this directly to

[00:34:32] the full school board please say aye aye aye that motion passes unanimously okay that is the end of our information items this evening we are now moving into new business committee members does anybody have any new business this evening seeing none I am now going to adjourn the October 15th 2026 Student Services Committee meeting our next meeting will be on the third Thursday in November please get home safely.

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