Coraggio Consulting Manassas City School Board Meeting - March 11, 2025 Date: Tuesday, March 11, 2025 Place: Manassas City Public Schools / School Board meeting, Virginia Length: 1h 44m (video) Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAblPmHhhbk 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 2026-10-17. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [00:00:06] School board meeting is called to order. Would you please stand for a moment of silence, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. [00:00:42] - Mrs. Garza, would you please call the roll? - Yes, ma'am. Chair Seabourk? - Here. - Vice Chair Spall? - Here. - Mrs. Stevens? - Here. - Mrs. Brescia? - Here. - Ms. Miles? - Here. [00:00:58] - Ms. Brown? Dr. Jones? - Here. - Ms. Blen? - Here. - Ms. Brevin? - Here. - Thank you. Madam Chair, we have a quorum. - Mrs. Garza. - Mr. Gefeller, do we have any additions or deletions to the agenda this evening? [00:01:15] - No, ma'am. - Thank you. Can I get a motion to approve our public meeting agenda for this evening? - Chair, I move that the School Board of the City of Manassas approve the public meeting agenda as modified. - I have a motion by Mrs. Stevens, second by Vice Chair Spall, that the School Board of the City of Manassas approve the public meeting agenda as modified. [00:01:43] Is there any discussion? - All in favor? - Aye. - Any opposed? Motion carries 7-0. - Chair. I move that the School Board of the City of Manassas center a closed session pursuant to exemptions from open meetings allowed by section 2.2-3711, Part A, Paragraph 8 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, is amended for the following purpose. [00:02:09] Consultation with legal counsel employed or retained by a public body regarding specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by such counsel. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to permit the closure of a meeting merely because an attorney representing the public body is in attendance or is consulted on a matter. [00:02:27] And 2.2-3711, Part A, Paragraph 1 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, is amended for the following purpose. Discussion of personnel matter, PERS 2425-0396. I have a motion by Vice Chair Spall, seconded by Mrs. Brescia, that the school board of the city of Manassas enter a closed session pursuant to exemptions from open meetings allowed by section 2.2-3711 part a paragraph 8 of the code of virginia 1950 is amended for the following purpose consultation with legal counsel employed or retained by a public body regarding specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal [00:03:05] advice by such counsel nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to permit the closure of a meeting merely because an attorney representing the public body in attendance or is consulted on matter and 2.2-3711 part a paragraph one of the code of virginia 1950 is amended for the following purpose discussion of personnel matter per s 24-25-03-96 is there any discussion all in favor any opposed the motion carries 7-0 we will go into closed session and when we come out we will [00:03:41] continue the meeting hi mrs stevens second by vice chair spall that the school will return to open [00:04:38] session is there any discussion all in favor aye any opposed the motion carries 7-0 certification chair yes i move that the school board certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements by virginia law were discussed and only such business matters as were identified in the motion by which the closed meeting was convened were heard discussed or considered second i have a motion by vice Vice Chair Spall, seconded by Mrs. Brescia, that the school board certifies that. [00:05:13] To the best of each member's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements by Virginia law were discussed, and only such public business matter as were identified in the motion by which the closed meeting was convened were heard, discussed, or considered. Is there any discussion? All in favor? [00:05:30] Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries 7-0. Chair. Yes. I move that the School Board of the City of Manassas accepts the resignation of PERS 2425-0396 from Jenny Dean Elementary School with prejudice, effective March 21, 2025. [00:05:50] Second. I have a motion by Vice Chair Spall, seconded by Mrs. Brescia, that the School Board of the City of Manassas accepts the resignation of PERS 2425-0396 from Jenny Dean Elementary School with prejudice, effective March 21, 2025. [00:06:06] Is there any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Aye. Motion carries 4-3. Opposed is Miles, Jones, and Brown. Thank you. Next up on our agenda tonight is Superintendent's Announcements and Spotlights. Mrs. Radford. [00:06:36] Thank you, Mrs. Radford. [00:10:22] Before we go into board committee, we don't have any board committee reports tonight, do we? No. Okay, before we go into citizen's comment, I did want to recognize the MEA officers that are in the audience tonight. [00:10:38] Anna Demaria, Tammy Potts, Shaniqua Williams. Did I miss anyone? No, I did not. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Great. [00:10:55] Next up is citizen's comments. We have two different hearings tonight. First, we'll do citizens' comments, and then we'll do the public hearing on the proposed budget. So up first, I have Sarah Cook. And I will say, sorry, I'm getting down on my agenda here. [00:11:20] This time, we welcome citizens who wish to speak about services, policies, and affairs of the City of Manassas Public Schools. Because we have an agenda we need to complete, we ask that comments be limited to three minutes. We appreciate the time you have taken to be here, and we treat citizens' comments as a public hearing. [00:11:36] We do not engage in conversation with speakers. The lack of immediate response to your comments should not be taken as a lack of interest or concern. Please be respectful when presenting your comments, and Sarah, you have the podium. I am here this evening to speak about collective bargaining based on both what the research states and briefly regarding my own personal experience growing up in a union household in Philadelphia. [00:12:04] My household growing up was comprised of six people, my father, stepmother, brother, two sisters, and myself. My father was a union sheet metal worker and my stepmother was a homemaker, generating no financial revenue for our household. We were not living large by any means, but we owned our modest twin home, two used vehicles, went on one vacation a year, had clothes that fit, bills that were paid, and three meals a day. [00:12:24] All of this with no college education and one income. The first Monday of every month, my father would travel downtown to attend his union meeting, and as a brotherhood, they would voice their concerns and demand livable wages, benefits, and decent working conditions, resulting in a high-quality workforce, high quality work around the city of Philadelphia and union members who could take care of their families. [00:12:45] My husband and I as two college educated, experienced educators would not be able to replicate the same. Overwhelmingly, the data show that collective bargaining strengthens schools. Here are just a few of the benefits in education for the 44 states in this country who negotiate with their educators. [00:13:03] Collective bargaining prevents teacher burnout, which is one of the main reasons why 44% of teachers leave the field within five years. Highly unionized divisions dismiss more low-quality teachers and retain high-quality ones collective bargaining leads to adequate wages improved working conditions and dignified terms of employment for all school staff including food service workers counselors libraries librarians office staff and custodians it improves staff retention and student achievement and improves student test scores across all income levels collective bargaining leads to more school programs not a cut to them allowing more students to spend time in enriching environments it leads to more [00:13:40] critical support staff enables the democratic process in the forms of problem-solving and decision-making with the staff who are closest to the ground and know best what students need to succeed currently low pay challenging working conditions and inadequate support are driving teacher and staff turnover and harming our students in just the last month at Dean alone we have lost a second grade teacher a third grade teacher and a sped teacher collapsed a first and second grade class dispersing those students among other classes three-fourths of the way into the year and have been pulling our instructional assistants daily from their kindergarten classrooms to cover other assignments and shortages throughout the building our children are [00:14:19] suffering the consequences if teachers and support staff could have a seat at the table we can speak with a more powerful voice to raise teacher and staff pay increase retention improve working conditions and boost teacher morale we would be able to retain experienced highly high-quality teachers and staff who can make the most difference in the lives of the children we serve. After all, our working conditions are our students' learning conditions. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Cook. Heather DiNardo. Heather DiNardo. Good evening. My name is [00:14:58] Heather DiNardo. I'm a 10th year teacher at Jenny Dean slash Manassas City. I have 17 years teaching experience, and I'm here in a unique position as both a teacher for Manassas City and a proud parent of a Jenny Dean Dolphin. One very important personal goal for myself was that I teach and live in the same community and I have found that with Manassas City. I love that my children can begin their school careers at my school with me. I am proud to serve my community but that love and that pride are not going to help me pay my bills or feed my children when my salary is [00:15:35] being rapidly outpaced by the cost of living today. When I can drive a few miles down the road and make a significant amount more. As a teacher at my children's school, I am also privy to a lot more information than most parents, which is both a blessing and a curse. In the last month alone, we have lost several teachers, and I know that this situation is not unique to Jenny Dean, but our children's education is being continuously disrupted as classes are disbanded and reformed, including my own daughter's class. Our teachers are drowning in larger class sizes and special education caseloads that well surpass the state [00:16:10] recommendations. And this is no judgment on the administration. I know that they are doing their very best with an impossible situation, but we need to know what is the plan. How are we going to retain our teachers past five years when their salaries no longer compete with the surrounding school districts? How are we providing training to brand new educators with limited experience before they enter the classroom so that they don't quit mid-year, so that our very best teachers aren't leaving in droves to go to surrounding school districts our children need and deserve the very best education possible and they don't get [00:16:45] that without the very best teachers we elected you we chose you we have put our faith and our trust in you and that we want you to support both our educators and our students that are our pride and joy we deserve to know that salary and staffing issues are priorities and that there is a plan for our futures and for children's futures thank you thank you mr. Nardo can I have Shaniqua Williams [00:17:17] good evening chairman Seberg and school board members my name is Shaniqua Williams and I serve the students at Metz middle school as one of the school counselors I also reside in the Brentsville district in Prince William County when leadership pushes out misinformation it creates an environment of mistrust and uncertainty people begin to question not only the the accuracy of what's being told, [00:17:54] but the integrity of those that are in charge. Trust is the foundation of any successful organization, and once it's been broken, it's incredibly difficult to rebuild. When employees feel disconnected from leadership or believe their leaders are not being honest, morale suffers, frustration builds, engagement declines, and the workplace culture shifts to one where people feel unheard and undervalued. [00:18:23] A loss in trust leads to a loss of motivation and commitment, making it harder for everyone to work towards our common goal. I may not know you personally, but I want to believe your heart is in the right place and that you're committed to speaking from a place of truth, knowledge, and not your opinions. [00:18:42] Leadership carries the responsibility of ensuring that information is accurate and transparent because your words have power. When misinformation is spread, it does more than mislead. It creates division, frustration, and a sense of betrayal, and we see those consequences in our world every single day. [00:19:02] I urge you to always choose integrity, to value truth over convenience, because that is what builds a strong, united, respected leadership team. When employees can trust their leaders, they feel supported, engaged, and motivated to give their best. [00:19:19] But when that trust is broken, morale crumbles, and the entire organization suffers. Leadership is not just about making decisions, it's about fostering trust, and that starts with honesty. Thank you very much. - Thank you, Ms. Williams. [00:19:37] Anna Demeria. - Hi, good evening. I'm Anna Demeria, I am a fourth grade teacher at Baldwin Elementary School, but I am also the proud president of the Manasseh Education Association. [00:19:58] Collective bargaining is the cornerstone that drives the success of our schools, students, and the committed educators who shape its future. It's about more than negotiating wages or contract terms. It's about fostering an environment where everyone in the school community, from teachers to food service workers, from counselors to custodians can thrive. [00:20:18] When our school staff succeed, our students succeed. It is that simple. Research consistently shows that collective bargaining strengthens our schools when educators have a voice in shaping their working conditions and has a direct, positive impact on student learning. [00:20:35] Educators who work in safe, well-resourced environments are better able to focus on what matters most. providing the best education possible for their students. Stronger educators lead to stronger students. But let's be clear, collective bargaining isn't just about improving conditions for teachers, it's about improving the learning environment for all students. [00:20:56] Teachers, as we know, are the heart of the classroom. They want the same things every family wants. Smaller class sizes, better technology, more programs, and more support staff. These are the essentials that create richer, more meaningful educational experiences for every student. [00:21:14] Moreover, collective bargaining is not just for teachers, it's for support staff too, who play an integral role in the functioning of our schools. Each member of the school community, whether they teach, support, or maintain the building, is essential for our students' success. [00:21:33] Collective bargaining ensures that everyone has a seat at the table to advocate for their needs. When all parts of the school community come together, we all benefit. We must stand in support of collective bargaining, because when we invest in the people dedicate their lives to our children's education education we are investing in a brighter future for everyone I also would like to thank miss Diana Brown for speaking positively about collective bargaining in the past during school board meetings and since I got a couple of minutes left we are legally allowed to have collective bargaining in Virginia our surrounding districts have [00:22:13] it Falls Church has it Prince William has it Fairfax has it loud and on their way to getting it. Arlington and Alexandria are on their way to getting it. It's not because they have the taxing authority to do so. It's because their school boards vote for that resolution and they make it happen. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Demiria. And now I will go to the public hearing on the proposed. Well, first let me ask, is there anybody else that wishes to speak for citizens [00:22:44] time? Can you please sign in? Maybe after you talk, sign in. Retired teacher here in Manassas from from round elementary yeah please introduce yourself oh I'm Karen I'm Karen Huff I say that every time I come here I do the same thing I'm Karen Huff retired teacher from round and Hayden here's some things I was thinking I don't have a set opinion on collective bargaining but as a citizen of Manassas [00:23:19] I do have an opinion about what services will be affected if we do this because I I don't know much, but I think it's going to cost a lot of money, or at least more than we have put into it so far. So I want to know as a citizen what services will be affected. [00:23:37] I just got my assessment bill today, and I'm going to be paying more for that house than I could ever imagine. So the other thing is this. I realize that lots of teachers belong to associations. I belong to a different association. [00:23:53] It's not a big one, but there are voices in the schools that may not be supported or heard just by one association. And I want you to know, I left Manassas City Schools. [00:24:11] I retired. I want you to look at all the variables for what's going on in your schools. It's not just teachers. I left, and I know other people who left because of your administrators, flat out. And I've wanted to say this to you for so long. [00:24:27] you need to check them out you need to walk in the schools the atmosphere at Round Elementary has changed dramatically from when I was when I started there in 2011 I started at Hayden in 1985 so I've been around here a long time and I've seen so many changes I don't have an opinion right now about collective bargaining I will look into it more but I'm telling you what's going on in our schools is not just affected by people, certain people who belong to an organization. [00:25:02] Because like I said, I didn't. Only reason people, the reason I was told to join in 1985 is to get insurance. I was told that all the time. I never joined because I personally, I didn't think my voice was being heard in that organization. [00:25:21] You know why I joined another organization? because my principal uh slightly threatened my job after 30 years of being a very good teacher and i said and i called this association and i said what do i do first of all you join that's why i did it i joined another organization because i felt that my job was threatened and i decided i would retire before i was fired and you can ask anybody in this city any family that i have taught Anyone and you're not you're not going to hear that I was lazy You're not going to hear that. I didn't do my best. Thank you miss Huff, but check them out [00:26:00] Is there anyone else that wishes to speak? All right moving along to the public hearing on the budget at this time We welcome citizens who wish to speak about the city of Manassas public schools for the fiscal year 2526 school board proposed budget because we have an agenda we need to complete we ask that comments be limited to three minutes We appreciate the time you have taken to be here. We treat citizens comments as a public hearing and we do not engage in conversation with speakers The lack of an immediate response to your comments should not be taken as a lack of interest or concern [00:26:40] Please note that matters which are properly the subject of closed meetings such as those related to the performance of school personnel Or individual student concerns may not be discussed during this time and I have Sarah Cook. Hello again in 2023 Manassas City Public Schools spent thousand five hundred thirty dollars on a compensation study conducted by Korn Ferry. The findings of this study were that our administrative salaries are [00:27:17] within market and our support salaries were eight percent below market. Korn Ferry stated that beginning salaries are competitive but that as experience and expertise increase the competitiveness of our salary scales decrease. The study also found that our IA's clerical support and custodians receive wages below the living wage. I've done extensive research on our salary scales and the majority of our support positions, even after 30 years of service, would still be considered low-income. [00:27:43] In fact, many teachers on our scales, even teachers with 10 years or more of teaching, are considered low-income. On the heels of the Corn Ferry study, Manasseh City conducted their own compensation study regarding teacher salaries as they relate to Prince William. What was found in fiscal year 2023 was that the majority of our teachers make about 15 to 16 percent less than teachers with the same degree credentials and years of experience in Prince William. [00:28:06] Do you know which category of staff isn't lacking monetarily? Administration. Last school year, there was a joint compensation committee tasked with making MCPS salaries more competitive. During one of these meetings, the chasm between Prince William teacher salaries and Manassas City teacher salaries was brought up. [00:28:25] At this time, Dr. Newman mentioned a point in time within the last few years where admin salaries were lagging, and he said that they addressed that in an equitable way by giving them a steeper percentage raise than other employee groups so that the salaries we offer to those on the admin scale were regionally competitive. Now our admin scales are nearly the best around from year one to the end of a principal's career. I have the data for anyone who'd like to see it. I've sent it to all of you already. In the fiscal years since the Corn Ferry study, all proposed budgets have allocated a blanket percentage raise for all staff because all staff are educators. There have been meager attempts here and there [00:29:04] at increasing rates for school bus drivers and a one or two percent raise here or there for those furthest behind on the teacher salary scale but nothing that has made teacher and support staff salaries truly more comprehensively regionally competitive within our market when you look at our admin salaries you will see that we outperform our market competitors almost across the board if we went through the process of catching up our admin why are we not doing the same for our educators and support staff are we not as valuable as i stated previously as our governing body your actions concerning the budget speak directly and loudly of your priorities while it is true that city hall funds our budget it is also true that you are the ones who allocate [00:29:44] it as of now percentage raises for next year are the same across the board i implore you to revisit this and see if for the benefit of our children you can learn to differentiate as we do and devise a plan that is more equitable for your teachers and support staff thank you thank you miss cook [00:30:05] Kristen Watley good evening. My name is Kristen Watley, and I am the lead speech-language pathologist for Manassas City Public Schools I'm speaking to you tonight regarding the proposed budget and staffing of SLPs for the for the upcoming school year Approximately 10% of MCPS students from preschool through high school qualify for special education services of those 788 students [00:30:44] Approximately 44% of them receive speech-language therapy services that are provided by only seven SLPs. For the past several years, the SLPs have needed to work in other buildings besides our base schools due to insufficient staffing. [00:31:01] Often we need to make adjustments to our caseloads and school assignments in order to keep from exceeding the maximum allowable caseload for SLPs. Being split between buildings limits our ability to effectively collaborate with our colleagues. We also lose critical instructional time while traveling between buildings. [00:31:19] Our students deserve continuity and consistency in therapy services so they can make progress with their communication skills. The duties of the SLPs extend far beyond providing speech language therapy services. We are required to complete screenings and evaluations, attend eligibility and IEP meetings, and complete special education paperwork within legally required compliance deadlines. [00:31:44] We spend nearly all of our time working directly with students, so we do not have sufficient time during the school day to complete required paperwork. Therefore, we are constantly working on paperwork outside of our contract hours. MCPS currently has six full-time SLPs and one contracted SLP. [00:32:05] For many years, we have been unsuccessful in attempts to fill vacant SLP positions. We've only had a few applicants, and we've lost new hires to other school divisions due to our lower salary scale and higher caseloads. SLPs have left MCPS to work in private practice or in other school districts, where they now receive higher compensation with smaller caseloads and more manageable workloads. [00:32:33] We have resorted to hiring contracted SLPs to cover staffing shortages for the last several years. This short-term solution is not sustainable or fiscally responsible since contracted SLP salaries are significantly higher than the average salary of our full-time SLPs. [00:32:51] All of our SLPs have master's degrees, are nationally certified through ASHA, and are licensed through the Virginia Board of Audiology and Speech Pathology. I ask you to ensure that the proposed salary scale for the SLPs is reflective of the highly specialized nature of our jobs. [00:33:09] We need to have a competitive salary and benefits package along with a reasonable workload so we can recoup and retain our highly qualified speech pass. Thank you. - Thank you, Ms. Watley. [00:33:28] Tammy DeHaven. - Good evening, I'm Tammy DeHaven. I'm special ed instructional coach, serving round Dean and Weems. [00:33:43] I'm also secretary of the MEA. Good evening. This past week, MEA requested that the distribution of the state approved bonus be placed on a formal school board meeting agenda. may have happened we're not sure yet but we believe that doing so will allow for a transparent public discussion where the distribution plan can be clearly explained this ensures that all employees have equal access to accurate information and the reasoning behind the decision rather than relying on hearsay we recognize and appreciate your long-standing commitment to prioritizing all staff however this is a one-time bonus not a permanent salary increase which is an important [00:34:21] distinction especially if flexibility exists in its distribution the budget amendment from the state states school divisions shall have discretion to determine the amount of bonuses per employee to maximize the use of these funds to promote retention among instructional and support positions in this act it's to promote retention while it is distributed based on SOQ positions it is not limited to SOQ positions the impact of a $1,000 bonus varies depending on an employee's base salary while this amount may be very meaningful for those on the lower end of the mcps pay scale it's less significant for those earning [00:34:58] higher salaries if there is any flexibility in how these funds are allocated we urge the board to explore all options and engage in a public discussion to ensure we are making the best use of these funds finally we must acknowledge that promising new positions we struggle to fill does not address the core issue we can't even get our speech pathologists in here we're contracting out special ed teachers. This does not help kids at all. Instead, we should focus on improving the working conditions of our current staff. Retaining our employees will ultimately save the district [00:35:33] the significant costs associated with attrition. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Haven. Shaniqua Williams. Hello again. Shaniqua Williams. I am a counselor at Metz Middle School, and I live in Princeville in Prince William County I have a few things I wanted to talk about the budget [00:36:09] the first thing is things are not quite easy to find when you go to the budget 2026 there's only two links there it would be great if the PowerPoint that was presented at the last meeting was loaded onto that page as well as anything else that is in board docs loaded to that page and maybe even including the documents from your work session I just happen to be familiar enough with board docs to know how to access it but if I didn't know the public hearing happened on the day it happened I wouldn't know which agenda to look at [00:36:46] to find the budget presentation so that's point number one point number two is I wanted to just add that if we make things easier to find than the public not just educators, would feel that things are more transparent. [00:37:04] So my biggest concern that I want to talk about is the health insurance increase. I know that maybe you guys have already decided, discussed, I saw on the agenda, you're going to hear a presentation for it, but as educators, we dedicate our time and energy and passion to shaping the future, but too often we face challenges that make our work even harder. [00:37:33] And one of the biggest things is the rising cost of insurance. Every year when premiums go up, it feels like we're taking a pay cut. It adds distress, uncertainty, and frustration, and not just for us, but for our families. When we have to have that financial pressure, morale will take a hit. [00:37:49] As a staff member, I've utilized every aspect of my insurance, and the idea that my premiums could increase by 9.3% is terrifying. At that point, it won't even matter what type of salary enhancement this board approves in the future Because the proposed insurance rate hike, the rising housing costs, potential cost of living increases, I could potentially be taking home less now than I am currently. [00:38:15] This situation does not help with the morale. We know that our schools thrive when their staff feels valued and secured. Stability in our health care should not just be about dollars and cents. It's about the respect for the people who show up every day to do the job. [00:38:32] we mentor we teach and we love our students but we also don't want to have to scrape the bottom of the barrel to pay for our health concerns I'm urging you to please consider what the bottom line is going to be in the mental toll that it's going to take on your employees if we start to bring home less than we currently bring home you're gonna have a huge battle on your hands if you have to readjust rich recruiting and retaining because we don't provide quality health insurance. Thank you. Is there anybody else that would like to [00:39:10] speak on the budget? Seeing and hearing none, we will continue with our agenda. Can I get a motion for the consent agenda, please? Chair, I move that the School Board of the City of Manassas approve the consent agenda. Second. I have a motion by Mrs. Stevens, seconded by Mrs. Brescia, that the School Board of the City of Manassas approve the consent agenda as presented. Is there any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries 7-0. Up tonight on our discussion agenda, [00:39:46] first we have curriculum and instruction, our 2025 summer programs overview. Dr. Stevenson, Director of Instruction, and Brian Maciak, Director of Special Education, will provide information about 2025 summer programs. Thank you. Good evening, Chair Seberg, Vice Chair Spall, members of the board, and Mr. Gefeller. I am pleased to be joined this evening by Mr. Brian Macyak director of special education to provide an overview of the educational opportunities and programs we will be offering to students in Manassas City [00:40:23] Public Schools this summer we will be expanding programs for students at the elementary intermediate and middle levels to kindergarten through eighth grade at multiple locations the elementary students will be served at Baldwin Elementary and the intermediate and middle school students will be served at Mayfield intermediate school these programs will be held from June 23rd to July 10th and will run Monday through Thursday hours will be 8:30 a.m. [00:40:53] to noon at both Baldwin and at Mayfield we will be targeting an enrollment range of 60 to 90 total students per grade level in these programs which will give us a student to teacher ratio of between 15 and 20 to 1 this will result in the staffing and materials cost of about three hundred and ten dollars per classroom per day the structure of this year's K through 8 summer school will be similar to the 2024 program, which provided a combination of direct literacy instruction and support with opportunities to apply skills through cross-disciplinary learning exploration. [00:41:34] The program's goal will be to extend and strengthen the phonological, comprehension, oral language, and writing skills that students built during the school year. The program will utilize the new core and intervention literacy resources established in our school division under the Virginia Literacy Act this year. [00:41:55] These resources provide tools for measuring student growth that can be used to inform instructional decisions around individual student support needs during summer school and help evaluate the program's effectiveness in meeting the overall goal of extending and strengthening student foundational literacy skills. [00:42:13] Because these tools exist inside of our core and intervention programs, the data will also be available to schools and teachers in the fall. In addition to direct literacy instruction, students will also spend time applying their literacy skills in different content areas through learning exploration activities of varying lengths and varieties. [00:42:36] And an informal learning showcase will be held on the last day of summer school to give the students and community members an opportunity to share and celebrate the sessions learning. Osborne High School will host our summer programs for students in grades 9 through 12. [00:42:53] These programs will run from June 16th to July 24th from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. They will also target a 15 to 20 student class size with an overall anticipated participation rate of between 200 and 250 students. The high school program will utilize faculty members from different content areas and will be focused on providing credit recovery assessment remediation testing support and where there are clearly demonstrated needs acceleration. [00:43:26] Graduation is still in the process of being scheduled and will occur during the last week of July. In addition to core summer school programs, our division will be offering enrichment camps in a variety of areas with the first opportunities beginning in June and the final ones running until late July. [00:43:45] Our arts symposium, sports, leadership, language enrichment and marching band camps all have set dates and times. We have also finalized dates in the location for our gifted enrichment camp, which will be at Baldwin Elementary on June 16th, 17th, and 18th. [00:44:01] Dates and times for the high school sports camps are in the process of being scheduled due to the gym resurfacing at Osborne. We are about to move into high gear for summer program planning. We are beginning recruiting earlier this year to put us in the best possible position to fully staff all planned grades. [00:44:23] We will be working with our schools to ensure invitations to our core programs are sent out to our highest needs students based on literacy and language data in the coming month. Schools will follow up with the parents of those who do not respond to invitations and those who turn them down to make sure they are fully aware of the benefits of this program before extending additional invitations to families as needed. [00:44:47] In May, we will be finalizing program logistics to include transportation and student information system set up ahead of sending pre-programmed communications to parents of participating families. We have planned multiple days the week before the first day of school for teacher training and for setup. I am now pleased to turn things over to Brian Maciak, our Director of Special Education, for details on our extended school year programming. Good evening, Chair Seberg, Vice Chair Spall, [00:45:24] School Board members, and Mr. Gefeller. It is my pleasure to present information to you about our extended school year programming. I would like to start this evening's presentation with an overview of the qualification criteria for ESY services. [00:45:42] This determination is made by an IEP team in an IEP meeting. Most often, there is sufficient data to make this determination at the annual IEP meeting. At times, the IEP team may choose to make the determination at a later date after more data has been collected. [00:46:03] The overarching question that determines qualification for ESY is, would the gains a student made during the regular school year be significantly jeopardized if the student does not receive ESY? [00:46:19] As teams consider this question, they look at several factors in supporting data, and these factors include regression and recoupment, the degree of progress, emerging skills in breakthrough opportunities, interfering behaviors, the nature and severity of the disability, or special circumstances or other factors. [00:46:48] Our traditional ESY program is a classroom-based program that's very much like the regular school year. Typically, our students on an adapted curriculum qualify for traditional ESY services. [00:47:04] Our traditional ESY program will run from June 23rd through July 10th, Monday through Thursday, Teacher hours, or student hours, excuse me, are from 8:30 to 11:30, while staff hours are from 8:00 to 12:00. [00:47:19] Just to give you a picture of what it looked like last year, our numbers in 23-24 break down like this. In early childhood special education, we had 11 students who qualified across two classrooms, and that was held at Dean Elementary. [00:47:36] Our school-aged children in grades K through five, we had 23 students who qualified, and they were spread among three classrooms, also housed at Dean Elementary. Our school-aged children in grades five through 12, there were 20 students who qualified, and they were spreading across two classrooms. [00:47:55] You may notice fifth grade was listed more than once. We use that as a buffer grade, so we can balance our loads at the schools. We can either put them with the elementary, or the secondary, or sometimes even split them just to balance our loads at the schools a little bit. [00:48:12] Our locations for 24, 25 don't look a whole lot different. The only thing we will be doing at Dean this year is our early childhood programs. My early childhood teachers, I love them. They got lots of stuff and I don't wanna move it. There's lots of stuff and we, so we're gonna limit what we do at Dean this year because of all the wonderful construction and good things that are going on over there. [00:48:33] So our school-aged children's grades K through five will be housed on the Baldwin campus and our school-aged children grades five through 12 will be housed on the Mayfield campus, which is the same as it was last year. We anticipate the numbers of students qualifying being somewhere between 50 and 60. [00:48:52] Last year, there were 54 students who qualified for traditional ESY programming. So in our classroom-based traditional ESY programming, it's similar to our regular summer school. Students do receive breakfast and lunch. [00:49:09] The curriculum is based on goals that were identified for work during the extended school year through the IEP process. are specific goals that are checked off within the IEP that will be addressed during this period and we do seek help from our case managers that serve the students during the year because typically all the teachers will not necessarily have their students they will have some of their students but we ask that the case managers from the year provide us critical items that will be necessary for the student to be successful such as safety equipment [00:49:46] sensory items, communication devices, data sheets, picture schedules, reinforcers, curriculum materials, and probably most important parent contact information because we don't have our regular school year kids. Now I want to switch gears just a little bit and talk about non-traditional ESY programming. Non traditional and traditional ESY programming are similar in the fact that the students still meet the criteria we discussed earlier in the presentation. [00:50:20] They're meeting that criteria for ESY services. These particular students typically have something that's very targeted. There's a particular area that they need remediation or services in, but don't necessarily need a full classroom program. So the things that may encompass this are breakthrough opportunities in a particular specialized program or with particular specialized instruction, [00:50:49] a specialized or unique service, and I put an example here of orientation and mobility services for a transitioning student, or a special circumstance. These numbers are typically lower than our standard program, typically 5 to 10 students, and these cases are handled individually, typically with one-on-one instruction at a mutually agreed-upon place in a number of sessions. [00:51:17] and the way it looks can be it can vary that everything in special ed is is about student needs so it could be a teacher and a parent and a student working together on materials that are sent home it could be a learning packet or an online program that's supported by staff or it could be the traditional one-to-one specialized instruction taking place in sessions somewhere within a division I would be remiss if I didn't discuss the opportunity to attend regular summer school students who do not meet the eligibility criteria for [00:51:53] extended school year but meet the metrics for summer school are welcome and encouraged to participate some numbers from last year we had 67 students with IEPs and 12 students with 504 plans participate in regular summer school staff and administrators are provided with copies of an IEP at a glance or the 504 plan to ensure that our students are provided the accommodations and modifications they require to access the program. I think it's really important for everyone to know and to note that anyone can deliver an accommodation. It [00:52:30] does not have to be a special educator. Any specialized equipment or unique accommodations, that's going to be collaboration between my office and that student at their location and we will ensure that student has what they need to be successful in regular summer school. So our targets, you've heard me say typically a lot in this presentation tonight and so special ed is always flexible we shoot for targets we do our best but in all honesty we're not it's never a hundred percent it's the nature of the business so we ask our teachers [00:53:09] to have ESY projections to us by the end of March around the March 22nd and all we're asking for here is if you have a suspicion that a student is going to qualify let us know because what this does for us is allow us to plan on the number of staff we may need we ask if at all possible for our case managers to hold their IEP meetings to determine ESY qualification by April 12th again or flexible if there's a meeting scheduled a couple weeks later it would not make sense to meet twice within a two-week period and we ask for our ESY materials [00:53:46] from our case managers we collect all of those by May 24th we hold those in my office and then we distribute those during the preparation period for our ESY programming and with that that is concludes our presentation and dr. [00:54:05] Stevenson or I are happy to address any questions that you may have thank you comments or questions from the board mrs. Stevens I just have a quick one for dr. Stevenson you discussed literacy in summer school but not a mention of math so literacy is the main focus okay but there will be opportunities for math through the learning exploration component in particular okay and will the students in summer school be using the same curriculum they use during the school year or will it be a different curriculum we were going to extend the [00:54:42] same the same core literacy curriculum and the intervention program so so the students who are in summer school will they be working on the grade level curriculum for the grade level they are in right now or the grade level that they'll be in next year? That they're in right now. Thank you. That's all I had. [00:55:01] Ms. Miles? Okay this question is for you Dr. Stevenson. Will there be a cost to parents for the enrichment camps or the specialty camps? So for most of them there will be no cost and transportation will be provided but the exception to that are the sports camps at Osborne which are fee-based. Okay they're fee based and will that be that information be online for parents to see yes and how do we intend on getting the word out to parents for those opportunities because I know as a parent sometimes it's hard to find things about those specialty camps unless you've been given a flyer or so we do plan on using all of the [00:55:38] available tools to us social media website emails texts thrill share our platforms okay and then this question is for you I noticed that there is quite a a bit of us students that we have IEPs for summer school. I know teaching summer school myself, usually that's not something that happens. So do you hire more SPED teachers so that they can get minutes during the summer school time? We have staff that are 12-month employees and we support the best we can with those students. Typically those students are on a high level of service or they would be typically qualifying on another end. So a lot with most of those kids, it's [00:56:18] accommodations, modifications, and maybe some, a little bit of support from some of our staff going in, but it's not a high minutes of service. - Okay, thank you. - Mrs. Brescia. [00:56:35] - Thank you for the presentation. So tell me more about the measurements of academic growth during summer school. - So both the core program and the intervention tool, Benchmark and Lexia respectively have components within them that allow us to measure student growth. [00:56:57] And so because we've now firmly and very well established those systems during the school year, we'll be able to use them during summer school to, over that very short period, see how the students do. [00:57:13] And that can also be used by teachers in the fall to inform their work as well. And what goals do we have? How much progress do we hope to see every summer? [00:57:23] It's a little bit difficult to quantify that over a 12-day, 12-half-day stretch, but to give you kind of an idea of where we see our baseline, last year our Lexio tool indicated that the average student made progress of about 3% of a year's worth of growth, which is a small amount of growth, but it's also over a very short period of time. [00:57:55] And so when you look at the period of time versus the growth, it is a steady and a consistent level of growth. And we would hope to get at least that or better when we move into the program for this coming summer. And I think I hear it from time to time repeated just in conversation that people hope for always more summer offerings or a longer summer school or maybe longer hour or maybe a full day program, all that kind of good stuff. [00:58:25] What is the limiter for why we're not able to do that? By far the biggest limiter for summer school is staffing, availability of staff. We, you know, in a perfect world, that would be the place where we would just have as much as we absolutely need. And so that's really what drives a lot of our decision making. [00:58:45] Right now, we're focusing more on expanding the number of grade levels. We feel like that's the best route we can take to expand offerings at this time. And how much does it cost with its current configuration approximately for us to put for the total or for the per classroom but if you have both numbers it's the 310 is is per classroom per day is is the figure that when you take everything and you you know put it together and then you divide it by the appropriate amounts the total cost usually again it can vary depending on exactly how many [00:59:23] classrooms but the total cost usually is somewhere in the ballpark of I think last year was about 270,000 we usually budget about 330,000 total for the program to make sure that we're where we need to be in terms of the costs the does the Virginia Department of Education require summer school no there's not a requirement or a mandate for summer school but the State Department does encourage it and support it and they talk a lot about things like intercession which summer school would be an example of what we call or what [01:00:02] they call intercession that's not it's not something that we get specifically funded though from from a budgetary perspective we have to use our local funds we do have to use our local funds for it yes yes and in terms of who's invited to the program I'm there are some divisions that have and maybe this is the language in Richmond camp maybe that's where this factors in but does our students ESOL status or progress on their WIDA access test does that factor in at all to who's invited to summer school yes it does yes it does we look first and foremost at the literacy data but because the language development is [01:00:41] a very important piece of that that is also a factor that we look at thank you no more questions mrs. Paul most of my questions did get answered through the course of going last but how many case managers do we have for summer school I I saw that you said that you're condensing, which makes sense. [01:01:04] But, I mean, what's your target for case managers? Typically, we have one case manager per classroom that was mentioned on that slide. Okay. And then we at least have one IA. It's a very difficult question to answer because a student could have a one-to-one or a private duty nurse that factors in. [01:01:24] But typically, we try to staff at minimum with a teacher at least one IA, sometimes two, and we try to get floaters as well. because it's really we don't have a sub pool in the summer so if we can have a couple extra people available it's helpful when you run into this situation because people still get ill in the summer but so across those classes that were on that slide I could look back and give you an exact number here so we had seven teachers seven case managers okay last year okay and then so I'm just [01:02:03] doing quick math for the actual summer school it's about 315 kids If I'm understanding correctly, 67 of those could be with IEPs and around 10 to 12 could have 504s. [01:02:19] Is that in the general summer school? We provided last year in the regular summer school, a regular summer school offering. We had 67 students that had IEPs that we provided, IEPs at a glance for, and 12 students with 504s that participated. [01:02:35] And I think that's a beautiful thing. I mean, that's our goal is inclusive practices. one of our pillars on the strategic plan. So that's where those kids need to be with that supports they need to be successful. - Okay, yeah, I just wanted to make sure I understand the ratio. Thank you. - Any other questions or comments? [01:02:51] Ms. Miles, Mr. Rockefeller, I'm gonna let you go first. - I just wanted to respond to, just in part, to add to Dr. Stevenson's response regarding the budget and cost of summer school. So because we're adding kindergarten and first grade back, we expect the cost this year to go up. [01:03:10] So it will be, because we have not had those last, at least since I've been in Manassas City. These are just a couple questions that I came up with when we were talking. Do we have any kind of PE curriculum that we integrate with reading or is it just reading that we focus on? A physical education curriculum? Yeah, so that the students actually are being active because sometimes when they go to summer school this might be the only time they get to have school and if they're not going to those other camps is there anything else we're doing with them besides reading? So our, actually our physical education coordinator has developed as part of what we provide to [01:03:50] the teachers some suggested brain break activities that get them physically active yes okay that's great and then the other thing is what about a counselor if there's behavior problems are there people there besides the admin who will deal with issues that may arise and yes yeah we do we do employ counselors at the sites okay and then the last one I know one thing that our kids loved was field trips do you do any kind of field trips during the summer time yes yes that's we don't we're not really directive about that with the sites but we leave that option open for them and I believe we had two [01:04:27] field trips last year at the Mayfield site and one at the elementary so that is an option okay that's good because I think you know when these students have to go a lot of times they don't get to do the enrichment camp so it's nice to have a well-rounded summer school program thank you thank you gentlemen a a lot of fun stuff happening this summer next up our agenda is uh regarding personnel health [01:04:59] insurance and miss megan mills is here to present that for us hello everyone um good evening deputy superintendent gafowler school board members and vice chair it's nice to see everyone tonight our presentation tonight is going to discuss the proposed health insurance premiums for the 25-26 school year in order to ensure that employees have the most competitive health insurance rates as well as the most robust health insurance plans a health insurance request for proposal was issued [01:05:34] in november of 2024 our benefits consultant usi worked with us on the development of the rfp and the evaluation of the responses we had four health insurance carriers respond to the rfp our rfp committee evaluated each response and determined that our current carrier which is the local choice or known as tlc was the best plan for active employees and our retirees as well as the most competitively priced. This year both Anthem and Kaiser monthly premiums did increase. Anthem premiums were by 9.3% and the Kaiser premiums increased by 5.4. [01:06:12] To provide more flexibility employers offering multiple plans like we do can choose to determine one premium contribution requirement for all plans by using premium averaging. Premium averaging is based on the average premium for key advantage comprehensive plans excluding the high deductible health plan and kaiser within that tier level our tiers are for employee only employee plus one and then family once we calculate that average premium we're able to determine the employer contribution [01:06:46] for all of those tiers this year the division provided 83 of the average for the employee only tier 73 the average for the employee plus one tier and 73 of the average for the family plan and this slide identifies the premiums for all of our tiers and health insurance plans the first chart that you'll see is the full monthly premium the second chart is the employer monthly contribution and then the bottom one is the employee monthly contribution we offer [01:07:23] standalone plans which are with delta dental and then virginia our vision services plan known as vsp and the monthly premium of each plan the employer share and the employee share are identified delta dental did see a three percent increase and vsp did not have an increase they remain the same are the benefit changes so the high deductible health plan the deductible mandate is done by irs and the irs mandates that the hdhp deductible be at least 1650 for individual coverage and three [01:08:00] 3300 for family however the commonwealth of virginia determines the final deductible limits based on the mandate for the family plan which is allowed by the code of virginia so for fy26 tlc increased the deductible to 3300 from 3200 for individual coverage which made the deductible for family increase to 6600 from 6400 there were no changes to co-insurances for the plans and there were no changes to any of the kaiser services that concludes the presentation on the proposed health insurance premiums for the upcoming school year anyone have questions [01:08:38] questions or comments Thank you for that presentation We did talk about this previously, but there are some points that I think are valuable for people to hear We do not set the health insurance rates. We go shopping for health insurance Rates and we can basically pick the cheapest we did in this instance pick the cheapest one So we don't determine how much Kaiser charges or how much you know It's given to us, and then we go shopping and pick the one that is most competitive. [01:09:17] And unfortunately, it's a 9% increase, which I don't like that. You don't like it either. No. But, of course, we want to offer a comprehensive health plan, and we want to pick it most competitively. [01:09:33] So I just want to underscore that. And thank you for your competitive shopping process. And I hope the next time we go shopping, we will see flatter rates. Anyone else? I have a question. I'm not, oh, I'm so sorry. Mrs. Stevens, I saw her first. [01:09:49] No, you're good. It's okay. Forgive me. My water went down the wrong tube. Can you explain what makes TLC the most competitive? When you looked at the problem. [01:10:10] Okay. And then just a question. This is a question I've always pondered in my head. [01:10:27] Why do health insurance premiums go up every year? Because 9.3% feels like a lot. Is that a lot? But why do they? A lot of times. [01:10:47] And because that makes, for lack of a better term, more volatile, as in, like, if you're buying car insurance. [01:11:08] Okay. All right. Thank you. Ms. Miles. Sorry, I did not ask these questions beforehand, but I was just thinking, looking at the amounts that we contribute as the employer, is there any way to increase what we contribute to offset that 9.3% or are we maxed out at the amount that we're allowed to? [01:11:48] Yes. I only say that because 9.3% is almost 10, right? That's a lot. And have we adjusted it, though? Like, is there any adjustment? 80, 70, 70. And so last year when we had an increase to Anthem but a decrease in Kaiser, we moved up to that 83, 73, 73. [01:12:11] And because, again, we had another increase, we kept it at the 83, 73, 73. Yeah, I only say that because I know we've talked about this before. when you're looking for a position you look at health insurance especially if you have a family so we don't want to lose you know our teachers because we're not offsetting that so that's just something i i would think about thank you miss mills thank you appreciate it have a good night all the information okay we have some unfinished business statement of ethical standards and good [01:12:45] governance and i'm going to go to our board development chair sarah brezha thank you chair So the Board Development Committee has been hard at work. One of the things we've been hard at work on is taking a look at our Statement of Ethical Standards and Good Governance. [01:13:02] One of the edits we are suggesting is changing that kind of mouthful into just Code of Ethics. So these are internal board documents that just govern our own conduct and how we agree to behave and how we agree to the and has us you know outlines what our power and authority is and has us agree to those parameters previous versions of this code of ethics you know just when documents have been written over many years and revised over many years it gets a little clunky it had a lot of subjective statements into it that were unambiguous and or were too ambiguous I [01:13:41] should say for for comfort for the committee so the whole thing was rewritten and I want to credit Miss Brown for taking the lead on this rewrite and so that's what you see before you today is a rewritten code of ethics it's a much simpler format it we limited the previous version of this it really meandered and touched on lots of different things a lot of those things we took out and will be addressing later in our operating procedure operating protocols so that will be addressed later it's not like we were taking those things away forever we're just going [01:14:17] to address it later in a different document and this is limited this document is now limited to the matters of power and authority of the individual members and the indica in appropriate conduct of us as individual members so all any mechanical questions about how business is conducted and how meetings are run is going in that second document the protocol document which will come up later so I am very happy to support this document I think we had a good process going through this but of course the entire committee is here to discuss our reasoning and if necessary we do have another work session coming up that we can put this on depending on the feedback that we get here from our [01:14:55] fellow members today thank you I'd like to add also that it does mirror the the SBA code of conduct in that it has a much simpler form of statements and the only difference between the VSBA and ours is that we are proposing instead of I will statements to I understand statements I understand statements when it comes to a code of ethics of a code of conduct it will emphasize the [01:15:30] individual responsibility for understanding and internalizing the ethical principles and that in itself fosters a culture of proactive compliance and engagement rather than just passive agreement I understand also means built of capacity and therefore come not compliance but carrying out the duties and behaving in this form will be accomplished so anyone else I do do want to note we do have the word I the words I will in number four but that [01:16:07] applies to attending all regular all school board meetings and I want to take important note on the first standard which is I understand that my first and greatest duty is the educational welfare and academic performance of all students attending Manassas City Public Schools and I will make decision in terms of the educational welfare of all children in the school division regardless ability, race, religion, national origin, sex, or social standing. That being the first in the statement of ethical standards restates the importance of [01:16:46] what our role as a school board is. The role of our school board is for the successful outcome of our students. When we make decisions we need to remember that our decisions need to be for our students to provide them with the best opportunities for the best outcomes anyone else I have a question about six and maybe I I don't know if this is an addition or change but it says that I have a the authority to request a change or revision to any local rule policy or regulation adopted by the board does that happen can you just expound on that [01:17:25] for me please thank you so that is a statement of what your authority is as a board member in terms of how to do that which I think is what you're asking about that's in the operating protocols which is still a work in progress and will be coming up before us later okay so it is something that we can do but we're still waiting to see how that is in you know that is one of the one of our be a powers that were given once we assume the selected office but you are correct to identify that the how to do that is still needs to be determined and that is something that the next Board Development Committee meeting will be on [01:18:03] February not February it's not February anymore March 19th and you know that's a that's an open public meeting it'll be advertised so you are free to come as a silent observer anybody else is also free to watch that meeting just if anyone is very interested in governance documents thank you thank you miss Brescia and thank you to members of the Board Development Committee its new name and we look forward to making this official and seeing what else you bring [01:18:31] us okay board member comments and I'll go first to miss Bland and it's almost at [01:18:43] nine o'clock you get evicted so thank you miss planned miss Breeden thank you [01:22:23] miss Breeden very insightful appreciate your opinion and miss Bland could you clarify for me what time that tennis match is? 4:00 p.m. Ms. Miles, you're next. Okay first before I start my comments I want to congratulate you Ashley on your making captain. That's awesome. So I have a lot of thank yous before I start like real comments but I want to make make sure that we thank the social workers for all their hard work and dedication to the success of our students. I, as a teacher, I've used social workers. They have been such a [01:23:03] help especially with students you don't know their background you know what's going on in their own life and so that's a personal thing for me but making sure our students have what they need to succeed and continuing they partner you know with our front office staff administrators our parent liaisons and these particular social workers are not at just one school so I know they have a tough job because they're having to bounce back to different schools so I just want to commend them on a job well done I want to also thank our presenters tonight thank you for their presentations on the summer programs for health insurance it was great to just have that information and hopefully people are listening so that they have all those questions [01:23:41] answered if they're going to be putting their their students in the summer programming some events that i was able to attend this week the past few weeks i want to give a shout out to all the organizers of the black history program at mayfield intermediate and our very own al she Oh, my goodness, has a beautiful voice, and it was so wonderful to hear it. [01:24:00] So it was just nice to be there. My son attends that school, so just being able to see the teachers put that together and the information that they shared about the contributions that black Americans have had on fashion and music and sports was really great. I actually this week went to, or last week, went to my first historic resources committee meeting as a school board representative. [01:24:21] I was kind of sitting in the back, but it was really cool to be a part of that or just to listen in. And this past Friday, I attended the Artistic Expressions at the museum. It was so nice to see our high school students' art displayed at the Manassas Museum. And I was able to meet some of them. [01:24:38] They're just so talented. And I highly recommend anyone to just go and check it out. You will be so happy that you did. Their display is going to be there until April 6th. The museum also is going to be hosting two of our high school students. I don't know their names that they're going to be speaking, but they're going to get to choose or actually discuss their art in detail, and that's going to be on April 5th. [01:25:01] I know the museum has more details on their website. I want to make sure also to give a congratulations to our Spelling Bee winners. I was able to attend the Spelling Bee a few weeks ago, and let me tell you, we have some great spellers. And young, oh my goodness, the elementary students, the words that they were able to spell, they hung in there to the end. [01:25:22] And, of course, our winner was a middle school student, but it was great to see some of our second graders and just being able to spell so many words. I know I would have had a hard time spelling those. So great job to all our contestants. Before I end my comments, I want to speak on something that I know that has been kind of a talk is on attendance. [01:25:44] And I just want to kind of speak to parents and students. I know that we always talk about the schools, the teachers, but I want to speak on attendance and how parents and students can work together to fix this. As a parent myself, I'm adamant about making sure my children attend school. [01:26:02] I always tell my kids, if I'm going to work, you're going to school. And why do I tell my children this? Because I want them to be productive citizens of our community. Teaching our students to make school a priority is key to building work ethic for their future jobs. [01:26:18] And if we allow our students to stay home for anything other than sickness, we are teaching our children to not take life and school seriously. We will not call out for work for several days a week or miss crucial meetings at work. We need to make sure our students understand that when they miss school, they are missing crucial moments in their education. [01:26:38] Our teachers prepare lessons and expect their students to show up so they can teach them and prepare them for assessments and for mastery of the material. Chronic absenteeism is a problem at our high school, and we all know this, but we as a school board and governance team are determined to combat against it. [01:26:57] But make no mistake about it, absenteeism starts at home. And I say this because I'm a parent, so I say this with you. We need to help our parents, we need your help, parents, to make sure your student is in school. Please partner with us to make coming to school consistently a priority. [01:27:18] Thank you, Ms. Miles. I'll go to Dr. Jones next. So first I want to thank the social workers for all the hard work you do. I attended several programs in the past two weeks. [01:27:33] I first attended the Black History Month program at Jenny Dean Elementary. I actually learned some additional facts regarding the contributions of African Americans to the Black History Bingo Game. And students also learned the hip-hop dance, which I did not take part in. I was honored to attend the Black History program at Mayfield Intermediate, then and now. [01:27:53] I read the purpose for the celebration. The students and adults' talent showcased the many contributions of African-Americans. Special thanks to administration, teachers, students, and the Dubb and Portner families for all their hard work. After the program, I had the opportunity to visit the schools with Dr. Newman. [01:28:09] I saw students learning at Metz, Osborne Round, Baldwin Elementary, and Baldwin Intermediate. I observed the university tutors working with students at Metz. The tutors work with small groups of students to assist them to increase their skills in math and or reading. [01:28:24] we hope to see student achievement increase as a result of the students work with the university tutors and i did want to note that the university tutors are not well it is currently unfunded in the proposed budget so i think it's very interesting for us to see what the results are after students test but this would be something that would continue to benefit our students academically the spelling was a great success i was impressed with the spelling abilities of our students and i also had the opportunity to read the book what mary joe shared to a second grade class at Hayden Elementary for Read Across America. So mark your calendars for [01:29:00] evening under the stars at Metz Middle School on March 27 from 6 to 8 p.m. for students in grade 5 through 8. Students will have the opportunity to explore the universe through interactive activities and powerful telescopes. I also suggest that you take time to read the gifted newsletter to see what our schools and students are doing in the program. It is very informative. Now we see a while two our student representatives have left but we had ms bland and ms breeden and so our interview the students interested in being a student representative applications will be available in the coming days for school board student representatives if you're interested in being a voice for the student body [01:29:40] please complete the application and ms bland and ms breeden will be happy to share their experiences with you and lastly happy women's history month to all the women in the audience at home and those who walk the road before us. Thank you. Thank you Dr. Jones. Mrs. Brescia. Thank you. So first a shout out to the social workers. There are only three of them in this division but they are mighty and they do so much and I personally am very grateful to them and sticking with our division and sticking with our kids. Since our last meeting, our last regular meeting, we did have a well-attended [01:30:15] budget work session. Budgeting is, we call it a season for a reason and we are still in the middle of it so i encourage anyone with continued interest to this to reach out to us share your budget continue to share your budgeting thoughts as we continue to refine our next budget work session is a week from now tuesday march 18th 5 30 p.m on the fourth floor of central office also since our last regular meeting i was honored to join the rest of this board for governance training down in charlottesville with the vsba governance is extremely important goes directly to the heart of how we conduct business, and I am happy that we all agreed to do it and all agreed [01:30:52] to commit ourselves to continuous improvement in this area. I'm really looking forward to further future sessions, and thank you to everybody for committing to that. I also participated in Hayden Read Across America, which was really fun and delightful, and it was a fourth grade class that I was with, and they had some really, really funny and charming kids in there who I know will have great futures just by the sheer force of their personalities, how wonderful it was to get to know them. Now on a completely different and sad note, I regret to report that I also attended the visitation of Judy Parrish Ratcliffe last week, who was lost after a sudden illness. She was an [01:31:31] Osborne alum, a supporter of our public schools, and personally funded several scholarships for Osborne students over the years. So this sudden loss is devastating for the school community. I I hope everyone joins me in expressing condolences to her family. Moving forward, upcoming events, the Special Education Advisory Committee is meeting tomorrow, 7 p.m., on the fourth floor conference room, central office, or via Zoom. [01:31:54] And if you want the Zoom link, it's a little secret. You have to email Mr. Maciak, I guess, is the way to get him. Call 606-9. 606-9. They'll get shared. Okay. Or they can email. Or they can email. All right. And that was because there was an incident, not because we're trying to hide advisory committees. [01:32:12] There was a previous incident with the Zoom link, so that's why. The Dean Park ribbon cutting is this Friday, March 14th at 3.30 p.m., which will be interesting from a traffic perspective since Jenny Dean, the school, that's out around that time. So everyone plan accordingly if you're hoping to go. [01:32:29] Of course, St. Patrick's Day is Monday, so I'm representing people with Irish heritage here in the city. And so I hope everyone celebrates responsibly. We have two other events coming up. There's a pancake dinner fundraiser for the Education Foundation on March 22nd at Mets from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. [01:32:50] This is double booked with the baseball and softball interest dinner at Osborne High School the same day from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. So you'll have to pick one, but either way, you're getting delicious food. And finally, as a final note, I want to thank everyone who's come out and participated in our budget process so far, including the public hearing and the comments and any emails we've been receiving. [01:33:11] I am personally committed to a collaborative approach to this decision-making, and everyone who advocates before us is part of that, so thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Bregia. Mrs. Stevens. Thank you. I'm trying to decide which I want to talk about first. [01:33:27] I didn't plan this in advance because I just learned of this on my way here this evening. As some of you may be aware, the current administration is planning on cutting funding for school meals. The current administration is already attempting to get rid of CEP funding, which is the community the eligibility provision and has said it will cut $660 million in funding this year for local food for schools programs, which is active in 40 states, of which one of those states is Virginia. [01:34:00] We participate in both programs. If you're familiar with our school division, since the pandemic, we have offered free breakfast and lunch to every student in the school division, regardless of financial ability to pay for a school lunch. this year we've had more students participate in the breakfast and lunch program than ever before if we lose these two pieces of funding and we want to continue to give our students free breakfast and lunch we are going to have to make some hard decisions the state is not going to pick up that [01:34:37] funding for us we will have to find that money in our current budget to continue to feed our kids and we all know that when kids are hungry they cannot learn we all know that we have many students who come to school because that's where they're going to get the healthiest meals they get all day without being able to provide free breakfast and lunch to our students our students will suffer and so we're our school division i encourage you strongly to do three things email [01:35:13] Senator Tim Kaine, email Senator Mark Warner, and email Representative Suhas, and I hope I don't butcher his last name, Subramanyam, to let them know we need funding for school meals for our kids. [01:35:29] Our kids cannot be successful if they are hungry. Then on a lighter note, Easter is coming up. The Osborne Athletic Boosters have a fundraising incentive called Egg My Yard. You can have the Osborne boosters come out and do your Easter egg hunting for you. 30 eggs is $30, 60 eggs is $50, 90 eggs is $80, and 120 eggs is $110. Come support our high school athletes by letting someone else [01:36:04] do your Easter egg hiding, filling and hiding, to make your Easter day just a little bit easier. You can get the information from the Osborne Athletic Spirit Squad Facebook page, and there is an app that you can use to pay for it and to enter your information so make your Easter a little bit easier and let somebody else do the Easter egg hiding thank you thank you mr. Stevens miss Brown all right good evening everyone I will be brief as I know that we all have had a long day I want to again start my [01:36:38] comments by thanking our our social workers thank you for always guarding the well-being and the dignity of our students I want to thank mr. Maciak it's my first time saying your name and Mr. Stevenson for all your school and ESY planning having work as a teacher during summer sessions and then later on having having to plan for these services as an administrator I know it takes a great deal of careful planning in alignment of resources many of them so thank you for your hard work it's been a pleasure for me to continue to attend [01:37:15] committee meetings and events for the past few weeks but I would just highlight a couple last Wednesday evening after attending the governance training with my colleagues I did attend the pre-assessment choral concert at Osborne the pre-assessment is always filled as you can imagine with nerves and joys as it as it is an opportunity to impress our families as supporters and sometimes there are worse judges right so but Osborne students wow the audience with their talent needless to say um so i would like to send another heartfelt appreciation to [01:37:52] mrs glum and mrs lee for their support of our students musical talents we appreciate you um i have a couple of announcements for the manassas city public schools education foundation we do offer several scholarships to graduate in osborne high school seniors And the applications are due March 21st, so please encourage high school seniors to apply so that they don't miss the due date. [01:38:23] And also, I know it was mentioned, but we are also having a pancake supper fundraiser on March 22nd from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. The tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students 10 and under. [01:38:39] And if you buy a ticket or if you go there, tell them Diana Brown sent you to get those tickets because they give me points for that they don't so I'm attending a career fair Hayden Elementary on Friday so wish me luck as I talk to students about running for office and serve in their community as elected officials and on that note I will end my comments by recognizing each of my colleagues on the board during this month which is women's month it takes a lot of courage to serve in public office there are many sacrifices that must be made when serving and and although no one fully [01:39:16] really understand the scope of these sacrifices except your family they do know people do know that these are warriors fighting for every student to be afforded an excellent education here in our city so thank you chair Seberg vice chairs Paul board members Brescia Jones miles and Stevens for being champions of opportunity and advocacy advocates of excellence. So thank you. Thank you, Miss Brown. [01:39:44] Vice Chair Spall. Good evening. I want to thank everyone who recognized us for Women's History Month and also say one more time that we appreciate the social workers. I wanted to recognize, I think, Miss Breeden also won an award for SkillsUSA in a category that's something like debate. I don't have the exact name. [01:40:09] Also attended several sporting events and some fine arts events, but what's really keeping me up at night This time of year is our budget I'm trying to organize my thoughts in a way that could be kind of meaningful So I'm hoping for a budget season. I can use these little cards one says I'm hopeful for I'm hopeful for our residents to see our efforts to produce amazing citizens in spite of our vast challenges and funding I'm frustrated by a city council whose most vocal representatives seem to care about tax rate more than the needs of our schools. [01:40:43] I'm concerned for the students in our schools who need so much more care and attention than the upcoming budget seems to allow for. I keep pushing forward because I believe our community will stand up for what they believe in with regards to our neediest learners. And I support teachers, therapists, staff who give their all to our students in an attempt to meet them where they are. [01:41:04] They are our modern-day heroes, and I wish we had the opportunity to compensate them to their fullest potential Please do speak out about what your values are as not only the school board, but also the City Council Finalizes their budget because I've said this before We do not have a taxing authority in the state of Virginia And it makes it very difficult for us to make some of these decisions. We want to do everything for everyone And, you know, we've kind of, we do have some budgeting struggles. [01:41:41] I'll just leave it at that. Thank you. - Thank you, Vice Chair. In an effort to build board development that drives academic success, Mrs. Ball and I have been participating in a series called the Empowering Your Board for Student Success. [01:42:00] So we've, I've reported before on the first session. We've now attended the second session was on monitoring progress. Again, I thank central office for keeping us informed on those measures. I'll remind you that we do receive strategic plan updates regularly and at retreats. [01:42:21] And the last session of this series is going to be offered on March 27th. It's still open for any school board members that would like to participate. And this will be on bonding as a board and bridging with your community. We did a little bit of that this last week in governance training. Mrs. Spall and I also visited North Hampton County Schools to visit their alternative education program and we spoke with the school board chair the superintendent and the person that is running their alternative education program. It was very good to see and I did want to acknowledge that we are gonna [01:42:58] have our spelling bee winners come before us at the next school board meeting. It was originally going to be this tonight, but we just knew that it would run really long and with the closed session at the beginning of the meeting we just didn't think that they'd want to sit around for that long so lots of meetings up ahead we have special meeting on thursday we have a budget meeting next week we need to approve our budget on march 25th and we have our joint meeting with city council on the 26th where we're going to be presenting our budget and so i'm giving my fellow school board members a heads [01:43:34] up we might need to put an extra meeting in there somewhere because there's so many things to consider on this budget and before we meet with council so I'll work with Mrs. Garza on getting and Dr. Newman on getting a date and we're going to need to communicate that out soon so we'll post it publicly of course so thank you all for those that spoke tonight on budget and on regular citizens comments we appreciate you and can I get a motion to adjourn chair I move that the school - School board meeting adjourn. [01:44:11] - Second. - I have a motion by Mrs. Stephens, second by Vice Chair Spall, that the school board meeting adjourn. Is there any discussion? All in favor? - Aye. - Any opposed? Motion carries seven zero. Mrs. Huff, can I get an email address for you? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Coraggio Consulting ยท aguyonx.com