Coraggio Consulting
Manassas City School Board Meeting - May 13, 2025

Date: Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Place: Manassas City Public Schools / School Board meeting, Virginia
Length: 2h 46m (video)
Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPgYVQxiuiI

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.

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[00:00:04] - Good evening, everyone. The school board meeting is called to order. Would you please stand for a moment of silence, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance?

[00:00:29] - I pledge allegiance.

[00:00:50] - Mrs. Garza, would you please call the roll? - Yes, ma'am. - Chair Seberg? - Here. - Vice Chair Spock? - Present. - Mrs. Stevens? - Present. - Ms. Brescia? - Present. - Ms. Miles? - Present. - Ms. Brown? - Dr. Jones?

[00:01:07] - Here. - Ms. Glenn? - Here. - Ms. Breeden? - Here. - Thank you. Madam Chair, we have a quorum. - Thank you. Dr. Newman, are there any additions or deletions to the agenda tonight? No, ma'am. Chair? Yes. I move that the School Board of the City of Manassas approve the public meeting agenda as presented.

[00:01:27] Second. I have a motion by Vice Chair Spall, seconded by Mrs. Brescia, that the School Board of the City of Manassas approve the public meeting agenda as presented. Is there any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries 6-0.

[00:01:49] super attendance announcements and spotlights and I'll go to Mrs. Radford for this thank you so much we'll go ahead and begin our spotlights for the evening first we will begin with school board

[00:02:17] member Dr. Zella Jones will come for a special presentation and I have our school board representatives Ashley Bland and Amelia Breeden please come to the front each year the school board of the city of Manassas appoints two student representatives to serve in a non-voting as an advisory role.

[00:02:55] These students represent the interests of their peers across Monastery City Public Schools and have the unique opportunity to gain first-hand experience in city and school governance. Their service helps to ensure that the voices of students are heard in discussions that shape the learning environments for all.

[00:03:13] Ashley Bland, a senior, has served as a student represented for both 2023 and 2024 terms. I've known Ashley since she was young. She would visit Williams Elementary with her mother, and I often asked about her father, who worked as a local travel agency. From a young age, Ashley demonstrated a desire to serve others, so it's no surprise that she pursued this leadership position.

[00:03:35] Throughout her term, Ashley consistently sought our student feedback, shared valuable insight with the board, and communicated upcoming school events to the broader community. At Osmond High School, she was active in the journalism and on the tennis team.

[00:03:51] We will miss her presence, but we know she's ready for her next chapter. Amelia Breeden, currently a junior, is looking forward to her senior year. This year, Amelia found her voice and developed confidence through her role as a student representative. She clearly communicated her mission to fellow students, served as a reliable advocate, and readily updated the board on school happenings from elementary through high school.

[00:04:15] Amelia is involved in the debate team and the special ed buddies, and she has also contributed articles to our local newspaper. Both Ashley and Amelia were exemplary in their roles. They were punctual, attentive, and thoughtful, always growling their comments in conversation with peers.

[00:04:33] At the close of each meeting, they delivered remarks of reflective maturity and insight. The school board is proud of their dedication and service. We thank them for their contributions and wish them continued success in education and public service.

[00:04:49] Thank you.

[00:04:50] And you will have noticed that Miss Breeden received a special cord that

[00:06:26] she'll be able to wear at graduation that will show everyone that she was a student representative to the school board. At this time Miss Sarah Weaver, coordinator for elective instruction including fine and performing arts and library media specialists will come forward for our next three spotlights.

[00:06:47] Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to recognize our fine arts students and their amazing artwork. Our students continue to amaze us with their talent first I would like to announce that our pre-k through fourth graders participated in an Arbor Day poster contest and we collaborated with the beautification committee with the city of Manassas and created work under the

[00:07:20] theme trees yes please and so I would like to recognize the first place ribbon winners for this contest students please come up when I call your name to be recognize, we would like to take a picture with the school board. And I also have certificates.

[00:07:39] So for Round Elementary, our grand prize winner is Rahan Almi, and she has won several times for this contest. Okay, so, and she's our grand prize winner. So for first prize, I have for pre-K,

[00:08:08] Summer Harper from Round. I'm sorry, from Hayden. And then our Kindergarten winner is Rowan

[00:08:21] McLean from Round and then for first grade I have Bria Everett and then for

[00:09:01] second grade Alexa Vasquez Cristales from Hayden and then Elisio Duque Vasquez from Round and then Dulce Martinez Molina okay moving on next I

[00:09:40] would like to recognize the first place ribbon winners for our division art show oh oh sorry pictures yeah Molly's here any of the art teachers that represent

[00:10:12] these students please come I'd like to recognize the first place ribbon winners for our division art show at this event we showcase artwork from students through

[00:10:51] grades K through 12 and I have judges from our community come to place ribbons on the artwork that achieve top-level criteria based on a scoring rubric and then once again students please come up front when I call your name and then this is the artwork will be shown on the screen this is Octavia Nelson from third grade with Baldwin Elementary and then next we have Nara Martinez Perez

[00:11:31] second grade Dean Elementary and then Emily Ortiz Vasquez fourth grade

[00:11:48] Hayden Elementary. And then Kamiya Wright, 4th grade, Round Elementary. Kingston Rosner, 4th grade, Weems Elementary. Next, Noreen Lisko, 6th grade, Baldwin

[00:12:27] Intermediate. Allison Vilci, 6th grade, Mayfield Intermediate. And then the next one was a two-artist sculpture from Mets Middle School. I have Alia Kritzer,

[00:12:53] and Annabella Glaser and then from Osborne High School 11th grader Dory Lane Tabug. Isn't that one amazing? Okay those are our division art show first place ribbon winners and then I know there are several teachers. Amy Saylor is Kingston teacher Kingston's teacher at Weems so if she

[00:13:31] can come up and then Lori Gwedner for Baldwin Elementary and then Nara who's here for Dean

[00:13:50] elementary okay that's it and then lastly I would like to recognize the selections of student artwork that will represent Manassas City Public School in three categories at the Virginia School Board Association for their art

[00:14:26] contest I think at the end of this week or next week tomorrow yeah I knew it was soon okay and then students as I call up your name please come up to be recognized for the elementary category which is K through fifth grade it is Kingston Rosner from Wien. And if you can see, his artwork is the left artwork on the screen. Doesn't it look just like him? Yes, so we are so proud of you, Kingston.

[00:15:05] Okay, next, Michelle Ochoa from METS Middle School, and that is her self-portrait, so that's exactly what she looks like as well. And then lastly, Salali Rodriguez from Osborne High School. Okay, and then Amy, will you please

[00:15:35] come back up to take a picture with Kingston thank you so much let me just

[00:16:11] make sure that we get all of our art students all of our first place winners make sure nobody walked in while we were all righty congratulations to all of them okay next we have some exceptional students from Mayfield intermediate who recently competed in a regional history day event their teacher Miss Amanda Jones is here tonight to share more about their experience and the hard work

[00:16:37] that went into it please join me in welcoming Miss Jones but I want to recognize them anyway so in the picture she's in costume as Anne Frank's dad so these five girls so for several years I've been taking kids to the regional

[00:17:14] National History Day contest which is for all of Northern Virginia and in fact i've seen like maybe three of my alumni that have did it with me in the past um and this year for the first time i had a group that was brave enough to enter the performance category which means they have to do all the historical research and write their own play and perform it in front of judges and then get interviewed by judges and get feedback so they um they did that at uh at annandale high school back in march and they ended up placing third in their category and so we went to richmond on April 26th to the state competition which was at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture

[00:17:53] and they performed it there again and incorporated a lot of the feedback they got the first time and did not win but it was a really good experience I think and I'm really super proud of them they wrote the whole play they planned the entire thing themselves they found the costumes, they found the props, they did all of it and some of them I'm hoping that maybe some of them might want to do it again next year because I do occasionally have a few kids from METS that enjoy it enough that they want to do it the next year and then I go over it after school and try to make it work. So that's

[00:18:30] all and I wish they were here but I'll just call out their names. So it's Kristen Rocha LeClaire,

[00:18:34] Cassandra Thomas, Whitney Moon, Leslie Gonzalez Ayala, and Kylie O'Donnell. Thank you Ms. Jones.

[00:19:13] Okay, I'm very excited about this next spotlight as I had the pleasure of meeting with these students a few weeks ago at METS. I asked them to come and share information about a very compassionate community project they have been working on.

[00:19:34] Their teacher, Laurel Lewis, is here with them tonight to tell us all about it.

[00:20:03] Good evening, school board members, Dr. Newman. We thank you for giving us the opportunity to present our community service project, Buddy Baskets. I'm Charlotte. I'm Sophia. I'm Matthew. I'm Graysa. We are representatives from the interdisciplinary research class at Mets Middle School.

[00:20:20] Buddy baskets are care baskets for new mothers and their babies. They include wipes, diapers, and baby books for the babies, as well as some self-care items such as lotion for the new mothers. Our hope for these baskets is to help new mothers enlighten their loads as much as we possibly can. Originally, Buddy Baskets started as an idea for community service in a pitching project we did in the third quarter of the school year.

[00:20:42] year. During this project, every student in our class had a pitch and idea for the community project. There were three rounds, the elevator pitch where we were given only a maximum of 60 seconds to present, the short form pitch where we were given up to five minutes, and finally the long form pitch we were given a whopping seven to nine minutes to present. As the rounds progressed, we narrowed it down to four projects, senior visiting, a food drive project, an animal adoption Fair, and of course, Buddy Baskets. From these four projects, Buddy Baskets was chosen as the best

[00:21:17] idea for community service. We have partnered with the Virginia Women and Family Support Center to distribute our baskets, and on May 30th, once our baskets are all finished, we're going to go there on a class field trip and deliver them. We chose the Virginia Women and Family Support Center because of their lack of restrictions on items in the baskets and because of their distance relative to our community. We've been in close contact with the center, and we look forward to delivery.

[00:21:42] Here's how you and other members of the community can help. We will be accepting donations through our Amazon wish list. Donations are accepted until May 23rd. We are handing out many QR codes for you to scan to find our website. When opening the Amazon link, make sure to follow the instructions listed in the website.

[00:22:02] Even just sharing our project's website or social media with others will be helping more than you could know. Thank you for taking the time to listen to our community project tonight. The board, the poster, to turn it around this way so they can see it.

[00:22:33] I'm really proud of these students and the work that they put into this. From quarter three, I kind of was like, all right, I'm done teaching. You guys come up with something that we're going to do. And they have impressed me over and over and over again. Our original goal was 25 baskets and if we get everything -- right now we have 25 baskets.

[00:22:53] If we get the remaining items in our Amazon wish list, which is the QR code, we will end up putting up 44 baskets for these mothers. So we have nearly doubled our goal. And again, really, really proud of these kids and how hard they've worked from probably January, February to now.

[00:23:13] And we're still going. So thank you for your support and your time tonight.

[00:23:30] For some of our younger families, if you want to exit at this time, you're welcome to do so.

[00:23:55] I know it's a school night. We do have people that are still standing. So if you've already been recognized and you would like to step out at this time, you're welcome to do so. Thank you all for being here tonight.

[00:24:15] Those of you that are standing, if you'd like to find an open seat, you can do so now.

[00:24:37] Thank you for your patience.

[00:25:01] We have a student that has arrived for the Division Art Show recognition, so I'll let Ms. Weaver call him up.

[00:25:21] Thank you. We just had a student show up, Ellis Sayo. Can you come down to be recognized? He was a first place ribbon winner at Arbor Day.

[00:25:37] Sorry. And I have, okay, I found it. Thank you. Okay.

[00:26:07] Thank you all for your patience. Each year, the Virginia School Boards Association, or VSBA, gives school divisions the opportunity to recognize local businesses for their support through the VSBA Business Honor Roll Program. Businesses, large and small, corporate-owned or family-run, play a key role in supporting our community and especially our schools.

[00:26:31] Our local businesses and other organizations contribute to our schools in many ways, including helping with in-kind or financial contributions, donating to scholarship programs, supporting extracurricular activities, offering internship opportunities, volunteering in our schools, and sponsoring field trips.

[00:26:54] This type of support is invaluable. Tonight, we would like to honor three businesses for their ongoing support of Manassas City Public Schools. At the April 29th meeting, the board approved Resolution 2025-04, naming the following organizations to the 2025 VSBA Business Honor Roll.

[00:27:16] Orsman Automotive of Virginia, Virginia Council of Economic Education, and Bookworm Central. Tara Eason, CTE coordinator, will come forward to introduce our recipients and share information about their contributions to Manassas City Public Schools.

[00:27:33] And at that conclusion, I will read the resolution in your hearing. Thank you, Dr. Newman, school board members, for the opportunity to honor three businesses for the VSBA business honor roll this evening.

[00:27:52] The first one is the Virginia Council on Economic Education. Patrick DeRosa serves as the associate director of the George Mason University Center for Economic Education. They are part of the Virginia Council on Economic Education. Patrick has partnered with Osborne High School CTE for the past two years for our CTE Expo Night, where students welcome families and community to learn about topics in economics and personal finance.

[00:28:21] In the weeks leading up to the Expo, Patrick worked with teachers and student groups to create engaging and informative activities for event attendees. His valuable support before and during our Expo Night was so appreciated as we welcomed over 1,000 community members at our inaugural event.

[00:28:39] Many of our economics and personal finance teachers have also had the opportunity to take advantage of the free professional development provided by the Virginia Council on Economic Education. Thank you, Patrick DeRosa, the George Mason University Center for Economic Education, the Virginia Council on Economic Education for reinforcing the importance of financial education and your commitment to ensuring that Manassas City families have the knowledge they need to ensure financial success. Unfortunately, Mr. DeRosa couldn't be here this evening, but we extended our appreciation to him, and he knows

[00:29:17] he's being honored tonight. The second one is Orisman Automotive of Virginia. The Orisman Automotive Group has been a tremendous asset to the Manassas City Public Schools Career and Technical Education Program. Ken Gilbert is an active member of our Automotive Technology Program Advisory Committee, a committee of industry professionals and educators who provide guidance for our program. Ken's commitment to ensuring the excellence of our program helped us gain and maintain accreditation with the Automotive Service Excellence Education Foundation. Ken Gilbert and

[00:29:54] Shane Cameggies have visited Osborne High School as guest speakers to share their stories and talk about the many opportunities in the automotive industry. The Orisman Automotive Group has been a generous sponsor of WorkShirts for our automotive program, providing students with the opportunity to show their pride in their program as they work with the community.

[00:30:14] Ken also attended our CTE Professional Development SME Day, Subject Matter Expert, that's Chris's favorite term, sharing his knowledge and expertise with our automotive technology instructors as they prepared to welcome students back to school in August.

[00:30:30] you Ken, Shane, and the Arsman Automotive Group for your continued partnership, willingness to support our school community, and your help in preparing our students for success in the automotive industry. We so appreciate you. Bookworm Central is our next honoree. Radhika, owner of Bookworm Central, has been a standout supporter of Manassas City Public Schools for many years. I have

[00:31:09] personally grown to know Radhika and the Bookworm Central team over the past three years serving in my current position. Over the three years, Bookworm Central has hosted five interns from Manassas City Public Schools. We have collaborated on opportunities through the Prince William Chamber of Commerce to drive work-based learning and literacy to the forefront of a student's educational journey. We truly appreciate our partnership with Bookworm Central to maximize student success, and we are looking forward to continuing our partnership for future students in Manassas City Public Schools.

[00:31:44] Thank you, Bookworm Central and Radhika, for being a champion for our students. And before I take this photo, I'd also like to note that Bookworm Central was one of our generous donors for our Manassas Reads event over the weekend, donating books for our secondary students.

[00:32:21] So thank you for that. Ladies and gentlemen, forgive me for facing the wrong way.

[00:32:53] I personally have benefited from public school education in my life, which has allowed me to have a successful 46-year career in the automotive repair business. But my contributions to Osborne, while it's been my privilege and pleasure to work with Ms. Eason, Mr. Godwin, Mr. Riley, and Mr. Franklin, my efforts are the proverbial drop in the bucket compared to those efforts and the calling and the commitment of our educational professionals, administrators, and concerned citizens.

[00:33:32] So while I'm sensible and appreciative of the award, the real thanks goes to the pros who make this all happen. Great Virginians, from Patrick Henry through Thomas Jefferson through Booker T. Washington, have recognized that education uplifts the individual, the family, the community, and the country.

[00:34:01] And for the service that you provide for young people to help them become successful at whatever avenue of life they choose, i just like to say thank you we have amazing partners thank you all the teacher education

[00:34:34] and mentoring or team program supports all newly hired mcps teachers with mentorship and ongoing professional development each year the program recognizes outstanding new educators and mentors who go above and beyond for their students and our schools tonight we are proud to recognize the following award recipients. New Teacher of the Year, Jasmine Leposki, Jenny Dean.

[00:35:06] Ms. Leposki joined Jenny Dean several weeks into the school year, yet immediately established strong routines and engaging instruction in her kindergarten classroom. Known for her calm, organized, and motivated presence, she has helped her students make incredible academic progress.

[00:35:33] As an inclusion teacher, she has excelled in meeting diverse learning needs while contributing her creativity to projects like the yearbook. Her friendly personality has made her a beloved presence across the school. Congratulations to you. Our next new teacher of the year, Claire Hurd from Osborne High School.

[00:35:58] Ms. Hurd brings compassion and commitment to her adapted curriculum classroom, ensuring every student has the tools to succeed.

[00:36:15] She emphasizes post-secondary readiness involving families and securing real-world opportunities like internships. Her students help run the SOAR store at Osborne, gaining confidence and practical skills. All of this while completing her master's degree.

[00:36:31] Ms. Hurd truly exemplifies dedication. Congratulations to you. And our third new teacher of the year, Jennifer Masuch from Osborne High School.

[00:36:54] Ms. Masuch has quickly become a leader among her peers, serving as a ninth-grade CLT lead while pursuing her master's degree. She collaborates with mentors to refine instruction and supports both new and veteran teachers. Beyond the classroom, she's deeply involved in athletics, coaching multiple sports, and serving as an assistant athletic director.

[00:37:16] Her commitment to students extends from academics to life skills. Congratulations to you. And finally, Mentor Teacher of the Year, Kimberly Urban, Mayfield Intermediate.

[00:37:39] Ms. Urban is known for her unwavering support, practical guidance, and consistent check-ins with her mentees. She shares materials, models lessons, and encourages work-life balance to help new teachers thrive. Her mentorship is marked by creativity and compassion, showing up even when she's not scheduled, just to offer support.

[00:37:59] She's made a lasting impact, not just instructionally, but emotionally helping others navigate the challenges of their first year. Congratulations, Ms. Urban. And those are all of our new Teachers of the Year.

[00:38:15] Congratulations and thank you all.

[00:38:32] And now we have our Apple, Pear, and Super Substitute Awards.

[00:38:51] Tonight we are pleased to present Apple, Pear, and Super Substitute Award recipients from around the division. Apple Award winners represent members of our instructional staff in the division, and each person was nominated by one of their peers.

[00:39:07] Pair Award winners are employees who support the teaching and learning environment in many other ways, often behind the scenes. Like the Apple Award, they too are nominated by one of their peers. Additionally, we will recognize the super sub-recipients.

[00:39:22] This recognition celebrates the invaluable contributions of substitutes in various roles across the division, including custodians. instructional assistants, clerical staff, bus drivers, attendants, school food service personnel, teachers, counselors, and nurses.

[00:39:39] So we will begin with our Apple Awards. From Baldwin Elementary School, Anna DeMaria. Ms. DeMaria is a dedicated and highly effective teacher known for her culturally responsive teaching and strong classroom relationships.

[00:40:01] She sets high expectations while tailoring instruction to meet diverse student needs, ensuring academic growth for all. Ms. Demaria's commitment to student success and collaboration with families makes her an invaluable asset to Baldwin Elementary.

[00:40:17] Congratulations, Ms. Demaria. From Dean Elementary School, we have Kamisha Dunkley. Ms. Dunkley joined the Jenny Dean community last year and has fully embraced its culture.

[00:40:40] Ms. Dunkley consistently goes above and beyond in her teaching by supporting her students through engaging activities, building strong relationships, and collaborating effectively with her team. Known for her patience, her kindness, and dedication, she is approachable and always willing to help her students succeed, making her a deserving nominee for this award. Congratulations to you. And now from Hayden Elementary, Katie Bookwalter. Miss Bookwalter is a vital member of Hayden who supports both

[00:41:19] teachers and students through creative, impactful integration of technology into learning her calm and approachable presence encourages risk-taking and innovation whether helping students design 3d printed monuments or assisting with school broadcasts and events always ready to troubleshoot and offer guidance Miss Bookwalter goes above and beyond in her role making her an indispensable resource and a joy to work with congratulations thank you from Round Elementary School Amy Dolly she could not be here tonight but we want to

[00:41:57] congratulate her in her absence, and when you see Ms. Dolly, make sure you give her a shout out. Weems Elementary School, Marcel Glosline. Mr. Glosline exemplifies compassionate leadership and dedication through his work as a special education teacher.

[00:42:22] He advocates for every student and family by meeting students where they are, supporting their growth with patience, respect, and individualized care. His ongoing commitment including after-school support for the ZERN program leaves a lasting positive impact on the Weems community.

[00:42:41] Congratulations to you. From Baldwin Intermediate School, Stacey Williams.

[00:42:57] Ms. Williams is an exceptional leader whose dedication to fostering a supportive and collaborative school environment consistently uplifts her colleagues. She actively participates in school events with enthusiasm, notably contributing her creativity and passion to multicultural night.

[00:43:14] Her positive energy and commitment to celebrating diversity and empowering others makes her a standout teacher. Congratulations to you. And now from Mayfield Intermediate School, Kristi Holbrook.

[00:43:38] Ms. Holbrook is a dedicated and compassionate educator who consistently makes a positive impact even in the most challenging situations. She builds strong relationships, teaches essential life skills, and passionately advocates for for her students' well-being and success, always prepared and eager to support both students and colleagues.

[00:43:58] She fosters inclusion through buddy partnerships and brings warmth and excellence to the Mayfield community. Congratulations, Ms. Holbrook. From Mets Middle School, Jingyi Yang.

[00:44:22] Mr. Yang has made an exceptional impact in his new role as the adaptive teacher at Mets Middle School by going above and beyond expectations. His positive attitude and dedication have strengthened student connections and contributed to a supportive school climate.

[00:44:39] Through well-prepared, engaging instruction, he demonstrates a clear commitment to student success, making him a deserving candidate for this recognition. Congratulations.

[00:44:55] And from Osborne High School, Kayla Fulton. Ms. Fulton is a devoted and collaborative educator whose commitment to student success and peer support sets her apart.

[00:45:13] She regularly contributes to Saturday learning seminars, offering targeted remediation and assessment recovery to meet the diverse needs of her students. Known for her selfless attitude and unwavering support for colleagues, Ms. Fulton's quiet dedication makes her a truly deserving nominee of the Osborne High School Apple Award.

[00:45:34] Congratulations, Ms. Fulton. And those are all of our Apple Award recipients for tonight.

[00:45:43] So if you all can gather.

[00:46:20] he can move he can move over there right there perfect you all everybody find a window that's

[00:47:32] right okay now we have our pair award winners from baldwin elementary school olivia zilsdorf miss zilsdorf this demonstrates outstanding initiative and is always willing to support others at baldwin elementary school she generously shares her canva expertise leads the weekly broadcast and chairs the Sunshine Committee to promote a positive school culture. Her enthusiasm and dedication make her an invaluable part of Baldwin

[00:48:11] Elementary School. Congratulations to you. From Hayden Elementary School, Lucia Bazan Alfaro. From Round Elementary School, Jacob Tuz. Mr. Tuz is a reliable and dedicated team member who consistently goes above and beyond to support

[00:48:49] students and staff. He builds strong relationships, maintains a positive learning environment, and steps in wherever needed. His flexibility and commitment make a meaningful impact on the round family. Congratulations. From Williams Elementary School, Supamas Kettler. Ms. Kettler goes above and beyond to provide students with nutritious meals while promoting healthy food choices. She knows each student by name, attentively addressing on dietary

[00:49:28] needs and ensures every child feels cared for miss Kettler's kindness attentiveness and warm presence have made her a beloved and essential part of the Weems family congratulations from Mayfield intermediate Marina Dove miss Dove is Mayfield school security officer and a dedicated and vital

[00:50:08] presence within the school and the greater Manassas City community she ensures student and staff safety while also managing the cafeteria supporting discipline and sponsoring the student safety patrols her involvement in community events like the Christmas parade and black history month celebration reflects her deep commitment and her care congratulations Miss Dove from our other intermediate school Baldwin intermediate our recipient couldn't be here tonight but Amy Golden so we congratulate her in her absence

[00:50:46] from Mets Middle School Rubenia Gonzales Miss Gonzales has taken on increased responsibilities as the greeter supporting attendance phones and various office tasks Ms. Gonzalez has been especially helpful during staff shortages managing announcements student needs and general office support her reliability and willingness to assist make her an invaluable part of the Mets

[00:51:21] team congratulations to you Ms. Gonzalez from Osborne High School Karen Aguilar Ms. Aguilar is a dedicated and professional staff member who prioritizes building strong supportive relationships with students. She's deeply committed to student safety and well-being and always engages with

[00:51:59] students to understand and guide them. Her kindness, honesty, and consistent presence have made her a trusted and valued figure in the Osborne community. Congratulations to you Ms. Aguilar. And now from transportation, Ken Liebert. Mr.

[00:52:29] Liebert is a devoted and experienced bus driver whose professionalism, reliability and warm demeanor make him in a valuable part of MCPS he goes above and beyond to create a safe welcoming environment for students and staff building strong respectful relationships along the way Mr. Lieber's positive attitude deep knowledge and team spirit make his contributions truly irreplaceable congratulations to you thank you and from central office Elvira

[00:53:07] Iriarte Leyva. Ms. Leyva is a valued member of the floater team with her positive attitude and strong work ethic. She consistently steps in to fill staffing gaps. She adapts quickly to any kitchen and performs a variety of tasks, often outpacing more tenured team members. Her reliability and dedication have made a significant impact on the team's success, especially during hectic periods, and her efforts continue to be an essential part of daily operations.

[00:53:45] Congratulations to you and thank you. So these are all of our pair award winners

[00:53:54] and so if we could get everybody together. Okay, thank you pair winners. And now on

[00:54:59] to our, I always want to say, super substitutes. From Baldwin Elementary, wait a moment, at this time we'd like to recognize our super substitutes. From Baldwin Elementary and Round Elementary, Karen Kennedy. Mrs. Kennedy is an exceptional substitute who goes above and beyond, always stepping in to help

[00:55:38] where needed without being asked. She arrives with a positive attitude, follows plans with precision, and is able to easily improvise when necessary. Her willingness to assist others makes her a valued and appreciated team member.

[00:55:53] Congratulations and thanks Miss Kennedy. Baldwin Elementary, I'm sorry, Baldwin Intermediate chose Andrew Lesko. Mr. Lesko has quickly become an invaluable member of the Baldwin Intermediate team stepping in with enthusiasm and dedication. His L support has been crucial to the success of our classrooms and he has filled a critical staffing need as a long-term substitute. Baldwin Intermediate says they are grateful for Mr. Lesko's contributions to the

[00:56:32] success of their students and their school community. Thank you so much. From Osborne High School, Christine Young. Miss Young has been dedicated to Osborne high school for over 30 years first as a Spanish teacher and later as a classroom facilitator before transitioning to substituting her positive attitude professionalism and calming presence make her an invaluable asset to the school with teachers relying on her to cover their classrooms

[00:57:11] with confidence miss Young's commitment to providing stability and support for both students and staff continues to make a lasting impact at Osborne thank you and congratulations we had two other substitutes that couldn't be with us tonight Marty Sparrow from Hayden Elementary and from Mayfield Beverly

[00:57:34] Ball so congratulations to them before our business partners depart in all of

[00:58:22] the excitement I failed to read the resolution for our business honor roll so I'd like to do that at this time this is a resolution to our 2025-04 the 2025 Virginia School Boards Association business honor roll whereas public schools and local businesses are an integral part of this community and whereas many local businesses play a crucial role in supporting our schools and whereas the economic health of our community state and nation depends on a

[00:59:00] strong public school system and whereas collaboration between local public schools and local businesses strengthen schools and the business community alike by providing a well-trained and highly educated workforce and whereas an excellent public school system is vital to the quality of life in this community and fundamental to preserving a strong democratic society now and in the future therefore be it resolved the school board of the city of Manassas hereby names Orisman Automotive of Virginia Virginia Council of Economic Economic

[00:59:37] education and bookworm central to the 2025 virginia school boards association business honor roll showing appreciation for their ongoing support of this community's public schools your work has aided this community in focusing on the goal of providing the best public schools we can for our

[00:59:58] every child who attends them thank you all so very much it wasn't me i forgot

[01:00:40] Yes, at this time, Mr. Kurt Emel, who is the director of our federal programs, is going to share some information about an exciting project that some of his students were able to participate in. Thank you, Kurt. Good evening. Good evening, Chair Seberg, Vice Chair Spall, members of the board, Dr. Newman.

[01:01:01] As you know, my name is Kurt Emel, your director of federal programs and family engagement. This evening, I have the honor to spotlight Voices from the Heart. This highly engaging writing project emphasizes that all students are capable of great achievements with sound instruction and the support of high-quality teachers.

[01:01:24] Voices provides our students with an avenue to express their unique purpose, passion, and talent through personal narrative. This year, in this publication, we have 38 of our students that have been published. They are published authors. So at this point, I'd like to turn the presentation over to our 712 ESOL specialist, Mrs. Adriana Cernucan, so that she can relate the power of this project.

[01:01:59] Good evening, Chair Seabird and Vice Chair Spall, members of the school board, Dr. Newman. My name is Adriana Cernucan, and I am the 712 ESOL specialist.

[01:02:14] It is an honor to present the voice of the heart coming from Osborne High School. Three years ago, our high school embarked on a literacy journey with a bold vision to center student voices and empower English learners through the art of storytelling.

[01:02:32] Inspired by the national writing project Voces del Corazon, Voices of the Heart, we launched a personal narrative writing project grounded in the teaching and learning cycle. The goals were simple yet profound, to support the writing development of our English learners, to validate their lived experiences, and to give students a voice in their learning and their community.

[01:02:58] The teaching and learning cycle was foundational to our approach. This scaffolded model, through deep and critical thinking tasks, academic discussions, interactive reading, and language development provided the support our multilingual learners needed to build confidence and develop their voices as academic writers.

[01:03:18] What began as a writing assignment became a transformative experience, not just for our students, but for families, educators, and the wider school community. It reminded us that when students are given the tools, the structure, and most importantly, the permission to share their truth, they rise.

[01:03:39] They become authors, they become leaders, and they help us all understand the rich tapestry of our school community. Throughout the process, students explore their personal journeys, memories of home, moments of transition, and dreams for the future, and share their stories in a culminating family engagement event.

[01:04:00] At this celebration, students read aloud their narratives to peers, families, and community members. Teachers, too, shared their stories, creating a powerful space of mutual respect and connection. Together, we were building a community through storytelling.

[01:04:19] An unexpected but extraordinary outcome followed. In the first year, six of our English learners' narratives were selected and published by The Origin Project, a Virginia-based initiative co-founded by author Adriano Trigiani. The Origin Project, which celebrates Appalachian heritage and empowers students to write about their roots, saw the universal power of our students' voices.

[01:04:45] Their words now live in a published anthology available in schools and public libraries across the state. And this year, 38 of our English learners became published authors. This project embodies culturally sustaining pedagogy in action.

[01:05:06] It empowered our English learners through writing and storytelling while building bridges between students, families, and educators. We saw firsthand the academic, emotional, and cultural value of this work. Looking ahead, we plan to continue and expand this project by integrating it into our curriculum and seeking additional partnerships and support.

[01:05:32] The journey continues and our students' voices will keep leading the way. These are the Osborne ESOL teachers who worked with our students. mr casey buce mr dylan cunningham miss habiana parker dr katie munivi and mr ronald nino they

[01:05:52] chose min to be the student representative so he can share his work with you good evening school school board members my name is min bao ho i'm ninth grade and i'm from vietnam and arizona

[01:06:25] students of Miss Pew's class today. I'm very honored to read to you a poem that I wrote

[01:06:42] it in the beginning of the year at school. I read it at the literacy night, and I was surprised that my poem is published into the book that's name or the origin project. I

[01:07:16] surprised about it because i don't think uh i think that that i've done what is recognized by so many people i was so i'm so appreciative now i'll read it to you home's name is wake up after a coma i closed my eyes and i saw i returned to my home with the home meal with my dad my mom

[01:07:49] everything was fine oh what a warm feeling i closed my eyes and i met my younger sister again She was sitting beside my parents with a naive sight, like a deer, and a beautiful smile, like a sun.

[01:08:07] But everything disappeared. I was scared, cried, running in hopelessness. Everything became nowhere. If this was a dream, I wished I could wake up instantly. It opened my eyes.

[01:08:23] I saw my family. They're still here, psyching. What relief? If this was a dream, I wished I could stay here forever and ever. Now, that's my story. Thank you for supporting this project and for believing in the power of our students' stories.

[01:08:55] We are proud of what we've built together and excited for what's still to come. At this time, we would like to give each one of you a copy of the Origin Project for 24-25.

[01:09:09] Board members, if you would be so kind to come down with your books and then we'll take a picture with them.

[01:10:04] The students are very excited to be here tonight.

[01:10:36] I'd just like to say thank you for the opportunity to be your director.

[01:11:09] I'd also like to say thank you for the support that's provided to our department.

[01:11:13] I couldn't tell her that we were going to honor her tonight, or she wouldn't have showed up.

[01:12:00] Tonight, during consent, you'll be approving the retirement of one Miss Billie Kay Wingfield. And we just want to take this time to say thank you. Being a superintendent is tough, but being the executive director of HR and the things that you have to do is a very tough job.

[01:12:21] and you always did it with class, even when you had to make tough decisions. And we just wanna say thank you, enjoy retirement, enjoy time with your family in Dinwiddie, and just know that we'll miss you.

[01:12:37] - And we'd like to present Ms. Wingfield with this clock. And so she knows she's not running out of time. And it says the City of Manassas School Board recognizes Billy Kay Wingfield with gratitude and appreciation from 2014 to 2025.

[01:12:57] And I would like to thank you on behalf of the school board. You give us the information that we need. You give it to us straight. It's not always easy, but you have, you improved our procedures and we have excelled with your leadership.

[01:13:15] Thank you.

[01:13:23] - This is deja vu.

[01:14:03] - Mrs. Radford, does that conclude our spotlights? - That concludes our spotlights, thank you. - Thank you very much. Next on our agenda is board committee reports. We haven't had any committee meetings since our last meeting, our last business meeting, but I believe that Ms. Miles would like to present something on behalf of the policy committee.

[01:14:21] - Yes, so Lisa Stevens is not here, so I'm going to read our statement for this. On this meeting's consent agenda are the proposed policy updates originally presented on the discussion agenda from the regular board meeting on April 29th.

[01:14:37] Two of the proposed policies are not on today's consent agenda, Policies FB and policies JFCC. These two proposed policies will be discussed at an upcoming policy committee meeting as there were questions related to both.

[01:14:52] So that's all I have. - Thank you, Ms. Miles. At this time, I'd like to recognize our Commissioner of the Revenue who's in the audience tonight, Mr. Tim DeMaria. Thank you for being here. Earlier, our mayor, Michelle Davis Younger, was also here, but I'm sure she had another meeting she had to go to.

[01:15:11] All right, now we go to citizens' comments. At 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.

[01:15:27] 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.

[01:15:42] Please be respectful when presenting your comments. And at first, I have David Keller. Good evening.

[01:16:01] My name is David Keller, and I teach at Osborne High School, and I'm a proud member of MEA. And I'm going to be talking about collective bargaining again tonight. In the winter of 2023, I wanted to begin a conversation in regards to artificial intelligence prevention and education in the classroom. I prepared a statement for the December school board meeting that year, but when I went to sign up for citizen comments, there was just a snafu and I wasn't able to sign up.

[01:16:21] But Chair Seberg, you told me to come find you after the meeting. You told me that it was important that my voice as a teacher is heard. As an English teacher, this is called foreshadowing. After this conversation, I was asked to join the committees drafting Manassas AI guidelines, led brief CLT presentations on AI detection, sampled products MCPS might purchase and participated in district-level training provided by VAS with other divisions.

[01:16:43] And it should be noted that Manassas was the only division amongst us, Paige, Alexandria, to bring a teacher. I was terrified, but you, Dr. Newman, Mr. Stevenson, Chris Taylor, and others assured me my voice as a teacher was not only important but needed. I would not be the teacher I am today had you not pulled me back on that cold December day and said my voice matters. This is why I just feel so baffling and asinine that you would look at a teacher one day and say things like we not only need to hear from you but then flat-out ignore teachers the next. And personally my trust in y'all has shaken with some and is gone with others. Ms. Seberg I heard

[01:17:21] with my own two years with an interview for your endorsement from MEA that you would support the union's goal for collective bargaining. I wasn't able to attend Ms. Jones's interview, and I wasn't here for Ms. Spall's endorsement, but I don't get how you can say you have the voice of teachers one day, then flat-out ignores the next. That betrayal hurts. You made me feel like a kid whose parents just want me to shut up while you had your grown-up conversations, and I'm just not smart enough to understand. You have never talked to anyone in the MEA's board about this, and you only spread fear and misinformation before your vote, and then had the audacity to be surprised by a response after. Because of your silence, your betrayal, and your flat-out rudeness, I found myself questioning my long-term goals within this division. As much as I

[01:17:57] love this community my teachers and my students and my co-workers and by the way I interviewed here in 2020 accepted another job in Campbell County and I came back in 2022 and you were the top of my list I felt compelled to explore if other districts might offer and as of two weeks ago I formally accepted a position at Poe Middle School in Fairfax County I will add I was not alone in looking I'm not alone in leaving this is the new reality you face because of your decision to ignore your teachers which by the way also ignores security staff custodians paraprofessionals and those in food services because it's not just about teachers as some of your comments were saying teachers, teachers, teachers, but they are not the only people in MCPS public schools.

[01:18:33] And if you have any questions, because you say you have time to me, my planning period is 3B and 4G. You said that you wanted to hear from teachers, and I want to stand to talk, because I think alternative school is important. I think grading policies and manassas are important, and I think there's things that matter to me, because you still got me for a month. And I'm going to keep doing what my job is as a teacher, because you say you want to hear my voice. Those are my times available. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Keller. Anna DeMaria. Good evening. I am Anna DeMaria,

[01:19:11] the very proud president of the Mass Education Association I just want to summarize and reiterate my comments from last the last regular board meeting so on February 4th the MEA's campaign for collective bargaining was launched since we were told by five school board members that they supported it however after notifying chair Seberg and dr. Newman on February 5th things became much clearer for us on February 27th an offensive infographic at a school board meeting implied collective bargaining would harm student programs in March the The MEA held a single training session to understand the process.

[01:19:48] And then on April 8th, the board passed a resolution banning collective bargaining for MCS employees. It was a preemptive move to silence your employees. And what I want to emphasize is that we, the MEA, your employees, we asked you for nothing.

[01:20:04] We didn't even know what we wanted. That is what stage we were in. We were trying to learn and talk to our members about what they would like to see in a contract and what concerns were pervasive throughout the division. All we were doing. The school board claims that there was a conversation about collective bargaining, but it was not a public discussion.

[01:20:24] It was added to the agenda as an action item. It was never on the discussion agenda, and I would like to know who put it on the agenda. There was also no discussion with rank-and-file staff, nor with the MEA. Chair Seberg and I, as an individual, had a very informal conversation, at which point I said I did not know what our staff wanted yet because we had not had the chance to ask him.

[01:20:48] Vice Chair Spall texted me a few days before the insulting infographic was publicized and I once again stated that I did not know what our members wanted as we were in the process of planning how to figure out that information. As a replacement for collective bargaining, you are starting meet and confer.

[01:21:06] But how is that any different than the multiple committees MCPS has that you claim give your employees a voice? This is just another attempt by employers to appear to listen to their staff without any guarantee. You are the employers.

[01:21:22] And your employees are tired. We are frustrated. People are leaving and will continue to leave. Is that what is best for the children of Manassas? There's a lot of discussion about how we can't keep up with Prince William's pay.

[01:21:38] But people are not leaving only for the pay. They are leaving for working conditions that you are in control of. But instead of giving us a chance to make real change, to improve the working environment for MCPS staff and the learning environment for MCPS students, we're getting another committee with no real guarantee of action.

[01:21:57] or change. And personally, as a lifelong citizen of Manassas, I'm hurt. Thank you, Ms. DeMaria. Shaniqua Williams. Good evening, members of the board. My name is Shaniqua Williams, and I stand here tonight, not just as a school counselor, but as someone deeply invested in the well-being, dignity, and progress of this school community. At the last meeting, I spoke about racial undertones

[01:22:33] embedded in some of the comments made by school board member Brescia. Unfortunately, that concern still remains relevant. When the silence of others on this board now follows that harmful rhetoric, it becomes complicity. If we are to be a district that champions inclusion, equity, and growth, we must also be one that refuses to normalize microaggressions or any form of racial bias no matter who it comes from. Accountability is not just an individual action, it's a collective

[01:23:09] action that means the board members must hold each other responsible when lines are crossed equally troubling is the recent vote to ban collective bargaining for a board that claims to value as teachers and staff to make such a decision especially when teacher appreciation week was coming up it under undermines that claim and it sends a message that your appreciation is

[01:23:37] performative and is not backed by policy or action. Our educators deserve more than an applause and bags and certificates. They deserve a seat at the table and a voice in the decisions that impact their work, their students and their futures. These things are more and these things are more valuable than you can understand. And they will be remembered by those that leave this district and those that look to work in this district. So as we approach the summer, I ask each of

[01:24:11] you to reflect deeply on your role this year. Did your actions build trust with your employees? Did you listen when it was difficult? Did you prioritize progress over politics? Because these are not rhetorical questions. They're essential if we're supposed to move forward with integrity.

[01:24:34] Because this district speaks often of its commitment to community, to unity, to being a family, to a shared vision. But that unity, that family must be forged in truth and upheld through accountability. You can't claim to be a board of progress if you're unwilling to confront the harm that you've caused within your own ranks and amongst your employees. You can't claim to value equity when you silence the voices that advocate for it. Your educators, your staff, your students,

[01:25:10] the families of this community they're watching in history will remember your actions. Thank you Miss Williams. Jordan Herbert. Good evening. My name is Jordan Herbert. I've spent a decade now being a teacher at Manassas City Public Schools. I began as a general educator in second grade and I'm thrilled to be able to see those second graders graduate this year as they are now

[01:25:47] seniors at Osborne. I'm one of the only remaining teachers that taught those particular second graders that are still working here as a teacher. All the other teachers that were on my first year team have left general education. Most have moved on to work at other school districts that are still in the state. They just chose to no longer work for this school district. I almost did the same too. My third year as a teacher was going to be my last, but I was fortunate enough to make a switch away from general education. As a third grade teacher, my third year of teaching, I had

[01:26:24] no support with multiple students that had very demanding emotional challenges. One particular student would get upset to the point that he would begin throwing everything out of his desk, tip his desk over, and when he ran out of any items around him, would then take his shoes off to throw those too. To quote the assistant principal at the time, luckily he wasn't aiming at the other students. No, he would just aim for me. He would do this routine, get sent home for the rest of the day, stay home for one day, and then return to school the next to repeat

[01:27:02] the routine. Nothing was done about the student. I was given no additional support and was told to just wait him out because he was supposed to be moving soon. Fortunately for my mental health, not his, he did move on to another school before the school year was over, and I almost left the school too. That is the reality of our school district. We are a revolving door. That phrase has been used my entire teaching career to describe this district.

[01:27:36] Students come here, they don't get the support they need, they leave. We get great teachers that come here, but they do not stay for long either. Honestly, I don't blame them. They can get the same class sizes that we have here at other districts, but with that comes better hours, more support, and yeah, better pay too. Yet we still have a handful of teachers that stay here like myself because we do truly connect with the community and we find a sense of belonging at this district.

[01:28:07] It's why I'm staying. I decided to stay and fight for the changes I wanted to see for myself and other teachers. That's why collective bargaining is so important for all teachers of this district. It's the only way for teachers to be heard.

[01:28:22] Collective bargaining is how teachers will get the actual support they need and not the misconstrued ideas from higher ups that don't know the reality of what happens in a classroom day to day. - Thank you. - Thank you, Ms. Herbert. Tammy Potts.

[01:28:53] - Tammy Potts, Monassau City resident and educator in the division. You probably think I'm here to talk about collective bargaining again. Kind of. I just have a few poignant things to say. Satisfied teachers are good teachers.

[01:29:10] I didn't just get that out of the air. That's an article I just read. Peer reviewed. When you say, "I love teachers and educators, "but I don't like the union or collective bargaining," et cetera, what you're actually saying is, "I love teachers who are quietly compliant, are denied the ability to organize. Teachers and educators are the union. I'm also going to reiterate my request from last meeting. I'm publicly requesting from the school board that school board work session recordings are posted publicly so that the public can hear them without needing to FOIA them or wait for them. The projected cost is zero since you already record them.

[01:29:48] And I'm going to reiterate what I said last time. We asked for nothing. You were under no timeline, yet you spent over $6,000 to draft a resolution against what was literally a non-threat for at least a year. The public should know that, and I will say it as many times as I need to until they hear it. The public should also know that the data presented against collective bargaining was from one source, the legal group on retainer who was known for union busting and benefiting financially off of pitting school boards against its staff. If the public has been attending and paying

[01:30:25] attention, there is a lot of talk about mediators, but what will that cost? Why can't you work together with us to do what you were elected to do. Why are you so afraid to sit down with us and hear what we actually have to say? You don't need a mediator to do that. You never did. We don't need to pay somebody to do that. I challenge you to do what's right and to do the brave thing and hear us

[01:30:53] out. Thank you, Ms. Potts. Jenny Higginbotham. Good evening, Chair Seberg, Dr. Newman, School Board.

[01:31:17] I'm going to try and stand up straight because last time when I saw myself on camera, I thought, I want to touch on a couple of things this evening going back to the last school board meeting I asked for someone to make sense about the union knowledgeable lawyer telling you that mcps would need a budget Analyst payroll position which was incorrect because nothing new would be happening with how the budget and payroll are already done This time can someone please make sense of why mcps would have to hire a labor relations Specialist as well as a labor relations coordinator as well for collective bargaining. Falls Church City Public Schools, similar in size to us,

[01:31:54] only needed to hire a part-time labor management consultant, and the entirety spent on legal was under $10,000 per quarter, with collective bargaining being only a small part of that. I'd also like to speak about the chair's response to an email from an MEA member, where Chair Seberg responded to the question about the decision to ban collective bargaining with, Before making the decision, I spoke with several VA school board members who have entered into collective bargaining agreements.

[01:32:27] Not one of them felt that collective bargaining provided greater benefits to their employees than what they were able to offer without it. To me, that response sounds a little bit like someone asking the prison guards how the inmates like the food. Asking superiors about the livelihood of their inferiors doesn't work, ever.

[01:32:48] Thank you. We're going on to consent agenda. Can I have a motion, please? Chair, I move that the School Board of City of Manassas approve the consent agenda as presented.

[01:33:05] Second. I have a motion by Vice Chair Spall, 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? Any opposed? The motion carries 6-0. Okay, on tonight's discussion agenda, first up we have Professional Learning and the Leadership Institute.

[01:33:29] And to present are Ms. Katie Fisher, Director of Professional Learning, and Ms. Erica Loesch, Coordinator of Professional Learning. Thank you. Yes, good evening, Chair Seberg, Vice Chair Spall, members of the board, Dr. Newman. It is an honor to be here tonight to share about a program that we will be adding to the Office of Professional Learning during the 25-26 school year.

[01:33:51] As you know, one of the pillars of the strategic plan focuses on quality workforce with a priority on a coherent system of professional learning. One of the components of that coherent system focuses on leadership development. Joining me this evening is our professional learning coordinator, Ms. Erica Loesch, who has taken the lead on planning for the Leadership Institute, which provides three different pathways for our aspiring leaders here in Manassas City.

[01:34:20] these different pathways will provide opportunities for staff to align their different phases of their leadership journey so that they can pick which one reflects their next steps we're excited to grow our own leaders here in Manassas City and I'm going to turn it over to Ms. Lo so she can share with you more about that program and then we'll be happy to answer any questions you might have good evening Chair Seberg Vice Chair Spall members of the school board Dr. Newman thank you for having us here tonight to share about the leadership

[01:34:53] The Leadership Institute is a cohort-based program designed to support growth in strategic thinking, leadership, management, communication, team building, and collaboration skills. Beginning the 25-26 school year, MCPS Leadership Institute will offer three pathways to elevate our staff's leadership skills.

[01:35:16] These pathways will be of no cost to the participants, and the cost will be minimal to the school division, division as we will only need general supplies and copies of required readings such as books. The Leadership Institute pathway will be facilitated by the professional learning coordinator or myself and each session will include our own division leaders who will dig deeper into the sessions topics. In short, participants are going to learn from our division leaders. The ultimate goal for these pathways is to develop the leadership skills of our educators so that we can have a greater or they can have a greater impact on Vanessa City

[01:35:54] public schools. The three pathways that we will offer is a teacher leadership, aspiring administrators, and aspiring principals. The Teacher Leadership Institute will explore teacher leadership competencies to empower teachers and cultivate leadership skills. This pathway is designed for teachers who have completed at least two years of successful teaching. Leadership learning will focus on teacher leadership competencies such as purposeful collaboration, collaborative relationships, reflective practices, interpersonal effectiveness, communication, group processes,

[01:36:34] adult learning, and leading with vision and skill. Participants will explore how teacher leaders are a part of the leadership framework and deepen their understanding of teacher leader indicators within the framework. This cohort will meet once every month after school, as we know that most, if not all of these participants will be tied to schools and classrooms the cohort will run from september through may and a culminating event will occur in early june to allow participants

[01:37:07] to demonstrate their growth from this professional learning opportunity the next pathway is aspiring administrators and this program will develop the skills of aspiring leaders seeking to serve in a school-based administrator position the program components will focus on deepening understanding of the role and responsibilities of a school-based administrator, specifically that of an assistant principal or school-based director. This pathway is designed for staff seeking administrative endorsement or who hold a current administrative endorsement but not yet a school-based administrator

[01:37:43] position, and they are required to have three years of successful teaching experience. This This cohort will also meet one time every month after school because, again, we know that many of these participants will also be tied to classrooms throughout the day.

[01:38:03] The cohort will run from August through May, and a culminating event will also occur for these participants in early June to allow them to demonstrate their growth from this professional learning opportunity. Our third pathway is our Aspiring Principals, and this program is designed for school-based assistant principals and school-based directors interested in seeking a principalship.

[01:38:26] Two years of successful administrative experience is required. This program will develop the skills of current school-based leaders seeking to serve as a principal and the components will focus on deepening understanding of the roles and responsibilities of a school principal.

[01:38:43] Participants will engage in learning activities that push their thinking from that assistant principal or school-based director role to being the principal of a school. And this cohort will meet every other month, offsetting our currently scheduled assistant principal and school-based director meetings.

[01:39:01] And so this cohort will run from August through April. Participants selected for these programs are expected to prepare for and actively engage in each session. Participants will be asked to prepare questions for guest presenters, read selections prior to class, complete assignments and reflections that align with their learning, and to complete the culminating projects.

[01:39:29] All interested in any of these three Leadership Institute pathways must apply. We've shared information division-wide about the Teacher Leadership and Aspiring Administrators programs. We have also asked our school-based administrators to include the information in their communications and have provided them with resources to share.

[01:39:48] For the Aspiring Principals program, we have shared this information directly with our target audience. application includes statement of motivation and purpose, experience and resume, leadership examples and aspirations as well as recommendations. All of our applications are due this Friday, May 16th at 4 o'clock and those applications will be reviewed using a rubric and all applicants will be notified of their acceptance status by May 30th. We are planning on 20 participants for the leadership, teacher leadership and aspiring administrator pathways and for

[01:40:24] the aspiring principal pathway we currently have 19 assistant principal and school-based directors we encourage all who meet the requirement of two years of successful administrative experience to consider participating thank you thank you mrs. Loesch any questions from the boards or comments dr. Jones I think it's an excellent program I want to ask you do you have any data on how many people who've completed the leadership program how many are actually in leadership in the system right now? So we'll be kicking the leadership program off with the

[01:41:00] start of the 25-26 school year so we look forward to being able to provide that data to you in the future. Mrs. Miles? I'm also really excited about this program. I think it's just awesome that we're developing within. It's also a great way to prevent you know teachers from leaving because they're you know being growing inside our school district. I think it's also great for them building their success because that means the success of our students too thank you thank you miss miles miss Brown did you have a comment yes um I am excited about

[01:41:40] the program I'm familiar with the program from other districts but I just want for clarification this program is only for staff who already has the leadership endorsement of the administrative endorsement for the principals and assistant principals aspiring so for the aspiring principals yes that is going to be people who are already serving in an assistant principal or school-based director position the aspiring administrators that is for somebody who is either currently holds an endorsement or is seeking an endorsement the only one that does not require anything with

[01:42:19] an administrative endorsement is the teacher leadership program yes so there is no efforts to support our staff who are in the process of securing their endorsement or through this program to create a cohort to encourage or make it more affordable for staff who do not currently have that endorsement?

[01:42:44] So actually, I'm glad you asked that question. So we have partnered with James Madison University. We are trying to get a cohort together to start our own cohort here in Minnesota City for Educational Leadership. so we're trying to get 12 applicants so we have held some information sessions we've been sending information out to our principals as well to try to recruit so if anyone is interested in that we are happy to connect more about that but we are exploring other options if we're not able to get 12 we are looking into partnering with some neighboring school divisions who also have partnered with james madison to try to support our teachers in working towards that master's degree

[01:43:21] and they can utilize there is discount pricing through james madison and they can utilize our tuition reimbursement thank you I do have a couple more questions is that okay okay so how many of I'm not sure if you've done any recruitment yet for the aspiring principals but how many of the current assistant principals on staff who will be aspiring principals are Hispanic or come from underrepresented

[01:43:53] backgrounds? Our current administrators? Yes, who will be willing or people who are applying for this cohort for this program. Have you run any data yet on who's applying and how many of them will be from underrepresented backgrounds? So application window closes on Friday so we have until Friday for applications to be submitted and then we will analyze that data. Okay, I just want to make sure sure that we are actively trying to recruit minority principals or assistant

[01:44:31] principals representation matters we have to strive to recruit these leaders who reflect the diversity of our students 70% of our students and more come from diverse backgrounds and that needs to be reflected in our leadership so any program that we are creating needs to have that vision in mind as well any other questions miss Brown so the two years for successful teaching is

[01:45:04] that for aspiring assistant principals yes it's a sorry two years of a successful for aspiring administrators administer aspiring assistant principals or principals as well well principals would have had two years of successful administrator administrative experience versus teaching experience OK. Would they not be required to have the teaching experience under the background?

[01:45:33] Yes? Yes. Because they have to have two years as an administrator on top of their teaching experience. Awesome. Correct. OK. Awesome. Just wanted to clarify that for people. Right. And I misspoke. It would be three years for the school-based administrator position.

[01:45:51] So three years of successful teaching experience for aspiring administrators and two years of successful administrator experience for aspiring principals thank you for that clarification I just wanted to make sure thank you miss pressure thank you very much I'm also excited for this so this is the first time in recent memory as far as anyone knows that we're doing something like this good kind of the point that was made under dr. Jones's question I think I do think it'd be interesting to see at the end how this goes so I wanted to underscore that you

[01:46:28] sort of answered this question but I'm going to ask it kind of again to get more details on it. How are these opportunities being advertised? So we sent out a division-wide email a few weeks ago and then actually a reminder email just went out today to the entire staff. Ms. Loesch has also built a full Google site that has all the information about all three pathways, all the links where they can apply, get their recommendation forms. We have also put it in our weekly communication to our principals so that they can include it in their communication to their staff as well gotcha so at the end of this how do we

[01:47:04] plan to judge whether this has been a successful program so ultimately we're gonna look to track the next steps of our participants and see where they head in their leadership journeys and but also miss Loesch has the for the culminating project will showcase some of the work that they do throughout the within the program they're a culminating project if you want that okay all right you know I think that that is everything for me thank you so much mrs. ball hi chair um yes I just wanted to ask I think you mentioned that you're close to cut off for the aspiring principles how close are you to the

[01:47:43] teacher to the other two categories so we I went at the information I shared was what we're planning for, so we're planning for 20 participants for the teacher leadership and for the aspiring administrators. Once applications close then we'll be able to determine how many participants we would actually have and so right now we're not close to any cutoff because we haven't closed the application or reviewed those. Okay okay I guess I'll ask the million dollar question is there any financial incentive to do this? So we will be offering professional learning points which will help towards renewal of their

[01:48:23] licensure that will be and then the experience is invaluable absolutely yeah okay I appreciate that I mean helping these the new teachers you know is obviously a big plus growing future leaders is amazing so thank you thank you for your hard work miss miles I had a question just kind of the background of how this all came together like was it like a survey that you sent out or administrators were saying like how did you start this idea well this has always been in the vision for the professional learning team so when we think about a coherent system of professional

[01:48:58] learning that's really for all staff and so you know we've we had identified that this was a need in regards of growing our own leaders we several years ago we had an aspiring leaders program but it wasn't nearly as structured and it was really open to to any staff member and so but we really were looking to, and that was several years ago, really make it more structured and provide different pathways because everybody's in different places in regards to their leadership journey, right? We have teachers that are looking to just build their leadership skills, but they're not quite sure what those next steps might be. We have those that know they want to get into administration, but they don't quite know what the avenue they want

[01:49:35] to go yet. And then we have those that are already in their current position that are ready to take the next step. And so really we wanted to provide opportunities for all. And that really, I think, goes into our goal of developing this coherent system of professional learning. It was a piece that we identified we really needed to enhance.

[01:49:54] Thank you for sharing that. The other thing is, are using some sort of curriculum, I know Ms. Brown mentioned that other school districts have done this, are you like patterning after another district? or so the identified areas of focus for each of the different cohorts is has been done through like researching what other divisions around really the country have offered additionally it has been from feedback from our administrators so in thinking about our aspiring administrators and even our aspiring principal programs as people have stepped into those roles what is it that

[01:50:30] they wish that they knew and had more of and how can we provide that to them so that they're ready to step into a Manasseh City school school based administrator role that's awesome yes so it's not just that you're building teachers you're building administrators and making them better administrators which is awesome thank you so much and Miss Brown has one more question I just want a clarification so that for those who are listening this is not going to be a requirement for being considered for a leadership position so if anyone chooses not to participate it does not have the opportunity to participate they

[01:51:08] can still apply to any position that they wish this will not be a requirement that is correct thank you and I'll wrap it up with one more question if we are approached by a teacher that might be interested in this or an administrator that might be interested where should we direct them to your web page or so - So you can direct them to Katie or I, and we can share that information directly with them.

[01:51:36] - Wonderful, thank you. - Okay, our next presentations, facilities and maintenance. Mr. Gefeller, Deputy Superintendent, will provide an update on the construction of the new Jenny Dean Elementary School.

[01:51:55] - Good evening, Chair Seberg, Vice Chair Spall, members of the board, and Dr. Newman. Tonight, I will provide an update on the construction of the new Jenny Dean Elementary School. And so I wanna provide a few highlights what happened last month i would normally present this in the second meeting but of course we don't have a second meeting this month so this is hot off the press of what just happened in april so to share and i'll share a few pictures as well but the foundation is almost finished for the new school where the masonry walls for the building perimeter are now visible so if you drive by you

[01:52:29] will see and you can see a picture here the the foundation walls are up and the installation of of the mechanical and electrical conduits through the masonry walls and the underground as well are also in progress. The crews are preparing to build the pad, to pour the pad, the concrete pad inside of the walls.

[01:52:51] And this will include our first level corridors in the classrooms. The utility connections are being established at the hard surface courts that the old Jenny Dean or the soon to be old Jenny Dean behind the existing school for provide the controlled access and they've been the shocky our general contractor has been a great partner for us in being very flexible and making sure that nothing is interrupted at the the school current operations in terms of the budget and procurement the product remains on budget it's important for everyone to know our procurement office continues to support the project

[01:53:31] by ensuring timely ordering of materials and the coordination with our general contractor. The completed milestones that we've had, the exterior foundation and the structural footers are now been completed and the upcoming milestone as I mentioned is the pouring of the concrete slab inside of those footers and so just to provide some pictures of what you will see if you drive by there. These are just pictures of the some of the walls that are being put up, some of the conduit and some of the infrastructure, the drainage lines that are being

[01:54:05] installed. So if you walk over there, I had the opportunity to go over to the site in April. You will see a lot of these things sticking up and Mr. Helton shared what they were. I did not know what they were. So I got a little construction lesson as that was over there. So again, here's our part of our walls and the inside of those walls are what they will be pouring very soon, the concrete slab. Today I saw a picture they've actually already started with putting the gravel in between the walls, which they will pour the concrete on very soon, weather permitting.

[01:54:37] Another picture of some of the drainage lines that are being installed, the infrastructure that's being put into the ground that is happening over at the site. And so with that, I'm happy to answer any questions. Any questions or comments from the board? Ms. Bragia.

[01:54:55] Thank you. I love hearing on budget and on time for as long as we can continue to stay until the building is built. So the presentation there mentioned the owner direct purchase program. can you just talk a little bit about what that is sure so as a school division we're able to purchase materials directly as opposed to the general contractor purchasing them and so by us being able to purchase them directly for the school we're able to save money so far we've been able to save about five hundred and thirty seven thousand dollars in savings through that

[01:55:28] program on time we are still we are still with a July finish date and so we have to move in and start school on time in the new building thank you mr.

[01:55:53] Gefeller thank you see you next month are we getting them every month now okay very good okay our next item on the discussion agenda is regarding the FY 2025 bonus payments dr. Cassata you have some information for us yes good Good evening, Chair Seabrook, Vice Chair Spall, School Board members, and Dr. Newman.

[01:56:18] Recently, Governor Yunkin signed budget amendments, and we were informed late last week that we should be receiving by June 1st the money earmarked specifically for the $1,000 bonus from the state. We've also been asked, divisions have been asked, to certify a plan for when those bonuses would be distributed by the end of May.

[01:56:38] And so we're going to have you take action in June. since this is our only meeting in May, we wanted to sneak it on here to give you a heads up. The action will be to approve the use of those funds plus funds from our operating budget to pay the $1,000 bonus to all of our full-time staff who've been with us the whole year and then prorated accordingly.

[01:57:01] So by the next meeting, you'll have exact figures of how all of that will work. We will be getting $781,119 from the state based on the positions the way they calculate positions and we will supplement that here we will certify that we would be paying those out for folks who are interested by the second June paycheck we need to confirm that the money is there and then it will take some time to process everything and so we will be asking you at the next meeting to approve that plan and that's that's the update great questions or comments from the board board members

[01:57:38] - All right, no questions, we'll see. We look forward to approving that next month. - Thank you. - Thank you. - Okay, tonight on the action agenda, for finance and operations, we have our FY2526 student fees and charges, building use fees and charges, and fee waiver policy.

[01:58:00] We saw this last month, and unless there are any questions or we can make a motion and discuss it if needed. Ms. Brown? did have a question on one of the fees if you just give me a minute it was about the parking the students get charged a fee the first time is there I'm not

[01:58:34] sure yeah I'm trying to look I'm trying to like line four so is there a way to to give a warning first or are we just gonna charge the students parking it's for a parking permit right to park at the school yes so they get warnings they just they get warnings go ahead miss Braden I did not receive a warning when

[01:59:11] I borrowed my mom's car for one day and forgot to supplement my permit into her car I got charged I think it was 25 I have also been at fault for someone else getting a ticket because I reported them because they were parked in my spot how late into the school year how late into the school year did this um it was like three weeks ago okay I was wondering if that that could be something that we can consider given a first-time warning and then or issuing a warning and then

[01:59:51] charging the fees the the reality is is that parents are paying for this tickets and if we just give them a warning perhaps we can get some collaboration on that end and relieve financial burden to families question from a spree to miss bland did you ask did you explain the situation to the principal or go ahead tell us what my situation was resolved so okay I think if you just communicate with the right people that it could have just been like a warning with a dollar

[02:00:29] sign on it that's what it could have been no I did not I just wanted to I guess miss Brown under the fee it does pretty well spell out what your are you're asking for a zero first occurrence and then 20 and then 25 correct

[02:01:03] warning it is financial burden for families families who are already I also have something to add in contradiction to that statement it also inconveniences the person whose parking spot it was that's my personal opinion because I feel like those people should be getting a ticket the first time because that's

[02:01:36] inconveniencing whose parking spot it was and it makes you late to class because personally it's happened to me multiple times i had to go to the office and report them it made me late because i don't believe in taking someone else's parking spot so and it could happen every day yes it's happened to very many people many days in a row wow why will that be that's a compelling why will that interest so you must have a really great spot i do it is taylor swift themed okay

[02:02:15] i love it then i guess i retract i think probably we have it experience is speaking here i think it's well laid out there's a reason and it seems like if you have a good reason why you messed up they're not holding you to that actual fine i guess in order to make things equitable people should just know that they can actually argue it if they have a good reason I

[02:02:48] don't know how you do that some people might not want to argue yeah some people might not feel comfortable arguing or not know where to go that's right that's like the difference between me and some other person was to consider for us to

[02:03:23] consider given the students a warning prior to the first occurrence. Dr. Jones?

[02:03:46] Having worked at the high school, students don't have to drive to school. The bus is free transportation, so they can always get on the bus. So, and then also, if you do drive, I've known students that come to the principal or whoever is security and say, I'm driving today for a one-day pass or something.

[02:04:04] So I would prefer them getting a one-day pass over saying you don't have to pay because they don't have to drive. And if they are gonna drive, they can make arrangements ahead of time. I will be okay with asking for a one-day pass if that's an amendment to my request.

[02:04:23] I will be okay with that. Vice Chair Spall? Is that possible? Do you know if one-day passes are handed out? I'm sure they'd be flexible with that. I think we need to get an administrator's opinion on this because one thing that we change could make it worse for everybody.

[02:04:47] I guess also we should think about how many people are doing this. So if it's a lot, you know, that's going to be different from a few, you know. Is this a huge problem or is it a small problem? It is a very large problem.

[02:05:04] Okay. It appears to be a huge problem and we're charging all of these families. Again, it's not the students, right, for the most part, it's families. So I think it is worth looking into. And so I'm okay getting more information about that and table and this.

[02:05:24] Mr. Grafeller? - Yeah, I could have a conversation with Dr. Chapman to get more information if you would like. I think part of this could be considered through a student handbook and a school policy, and so you could keep this as is, and we could handle it through a school-based policy and through the student handbook, if that's your preference.

[02:05:50] - All right, so should we table the approval of this for next time when we have more information, or? - Will anything bad happen if we delay this? Like, do we need to do this by June 1st or anything?

[02:06:09] - Will anything bad happen? - Well, does it need-- - The only things, the only fee that, we'll be keeping our fees level anyway in everything else, and by the time you happen, school will be done, so it won't be impacting the student piece and the rest of it, no.

[02:06:27] The short answer is no. If you decide to approve this at your next meeting, you can approve it at your next meeting. - All right, so is the board okay with tabling this till we get more information to the next meeting?

[02:06:47] - Yes? - We're all over the motion. - Listen, we're ready, okay, if we want to. - I mean, you can, by Robert's Rules for Small Groups, by general consent, you can dispense with all of the formalities.

[02:07:07] If the general consent is wait until next time, that's totally fine, but if somebody objects to that, then we can go through the motion to defer to the next meeting. no objection you also don't get a vote and I I would like to hear or find out what dr. Chapman has to say but also the maybe who's ever in charge of security because they'll know more about all the parking stuff okay great all right shall we move along also their finance and operations resolution our 20-25-05

[02:07:47] request for the NASA City Council for use of funds for property acquisition I'll And I'll go to Mrs. Spall to... Okay, I want to preface this by saying that applause could be appropriate once this is done. This is resolution number 202505, a request to Manassas City Council for use of funds for property acquisition.

[02:08:10] Whereas the Manassas City Public Schools continues to seek strategic opportunities to enhance educational services, improve operational efficiency, and support the long-term infrastructure needs of the school division, And whereas the property located at 8700 Center Bowl Road, Manassas, Virginia 20110 map number 111 - 1 5 0 0 e 11 has become available for purchase and represents a strategic opportunity to Manassas City Public Schools to address current and future facility needs and whereas the school board of

[02:08:45] Manassas City Public Schools has identified the acquisition of this property as beneficial for the educational mission and Operational effectiveness of the school division and whereas the purchase of the property is ten million seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars and whereas MCPS currently holds sufficient funds in its fund balance which may be allocated for capital and strategic initiatives upon approval by the Masses City Council now therefore be it resolved that the school board of Manassas City Public Schools formally requests the Manassas City Council to authorize the appropriation and

[02:09:22] expenditure of ten million seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars from the Manassas City Public Schools fund balance for the purpose of purchasing the property located at 8700 Centerville Road Manassas, Virginia 20110 and be it further resolved that the superintendent or their designee be authorized to take all necessary steps to finalize this purchase upon approval of the City Council in accordance with applicable legal and financial procedures so I chair move that the

[02:09:59] School Board of the City of Manassas approve resolution R2025-05 request to the Manassas City Council for use of funds for property acquisition second I have a motion by Vice Chair Spall seconded by Mrs. Brescia that the School Board of the City of Manassas approve resolution R-2025-05, request to the Manassas City Council for use of funds for property acquisition. Is there any discussion? I will say as a... Sarah had her hand up. Go ahead, Ms. Brescia. Sorry. I do have one

[02:10:35] quick question since we always have to assume there are new viewers coming, you know, who are watching us for the first time. So we are currently leasing space from 8700 Centerville Road yes how much is the rent that we pay so about a million so assuming the building purchase goes through that money then

[02:11:13] becomes available to us to use for other purposes right correct and the building currently has tenants whose leases we're planning to continue yes okay and how much do those leases bring in three hundred and fifty five thousand three $336 so 1.2 million savings total to us about okay I do have a want to share my thoughts about how I'm going to vote if that's okay if that's appropriate at this time if anyone else has any other questions okay well I didn't know if

[02:11:49] anyone else had questions but so property acquisition is a hot topic here in the city of Manassas recently but whatever your thoughts are on those purchases we are here now talking about the schools and our need to boost our student achievement and I want to say that we do have a need for this building we have a plan for this building and it directly connects to our goal to boost our student achievement this building will be the site for our alternative pilot program which we're going to hear about in our next item it will help us address some concerns people have about our student behaviors and delivering proper student support so it is a plan to benefit students the board have discussed this budget cycle a longer-range plan to eventually launch a

[02:12:28] central registration for students and families that newly arrived from other countries and who speak languages other than English. Registering newly arrived families is actually a very paperwork heavy process and right now our ESOL teachers are the ones who have to do it. This is an administrative burden that takes away their instructional time with their students and so eventually creating a central registration housing it at our new space at central office will both improve our ESOL teachers quality of life and will also increase the amount of instruction that students are able to receive from those teachers so a plan to benefit students and also of course 8700 Centerville currently houses our central office administrative personnel and it will

[02:13:07] continue to do that of course central office personnel are also very closely tied to our student achievement want to make sure to say that but I also want to point out that we have been discussing what to do with our central offices for almost a decade now and I'm sitting here timekeeping we learned in our governance training that we want to be very careful about how we use our time to focus on our student achievement and I look forward to no longer talking about the permanent home for central office so we can use our time on something else so for all those reasons I plan to vote yes on this resolution. Thank you Ms. Brescia

[02:13:41] you covered my points. I'll read the motion again Vice Chair Spall moved and seconded by Ms. Brescia that the school board of the city Manassas approve resolution R-2025-05 request to the Manassas City Council for use of the funds and property acquisition. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries 6-0.

[02:14:12] All right, moving on to item C under finance and operations. Resolution 2025-06 requests the city of council authorize the use of $2 million from the fund balance for pilot alternative education program. And I will ask Ms. Bredgett to read this resolution and make a motion. Happy to do so, Chair, thank you. Whereas approximately 20% of Manassas City Public School student dropouts had been suspended or expelled and over 25% had participated in an alternative placement program outside of MCPS and whereas MCPS students currently lack access to a comprehensive local structured alternative program

[02:14:50] designed to support students in grades 5 through 12 who face barriers to success in traditional educational settings and whereas a locally based Alternative Education Program will enhance academic outcomes, improve attendance, support behavioral development, reduce chronic absenteeism, and facilitate successful reintegration into the general education environment. And, whereas, the proposed program will include integrated services and collaboration with external agencies to address student needs holistically. And, whereas, the school board intends to implement a pilot Alternative Education Program beginning

[02:15:25] in fiscal year 2026 and requires an initial appropriation to support startup costs and whereas the estimated cost to operate the pilot program in fiscal year 2026 is two million dollars now therefore be it resolved that the school board of the city of manassas formally request the city council of the city of manassas to authorize the appropriation of two million dollars from the school board fund balance to support the implementation and operation of the pilot alternative education program for fiscal year 26. and i will make the motion i move that the school board of the city of manassas approve resolution r2025-06 resolution to request the

[02:16:02] city council authorize the use of two million dollars from fund balance for a pilot alternative education program second i have a motion by mrs breja seconded by vice chair spall that the school board of the city of manassas approve resolution r2025-06 resolution to request the city council authorize the use of two million dollars from fund balance for a pilot alternative education program is there any discussion okay um so i want to just ask some questions to lay the groundwork here we have to always assume we have new viewers even though i would like to just note for the record

[02:16:39] that as far as i know uh the first time i was aware of this conversation starting was in june of 2023 so it has been a while that this has been uh discussed here on the school board um mcps currently has a relationship with independence non-traditional school in prince william county and I just want to be clear that this is not intended to replace that program that's correct correct we are going to continue that relationship this is to augment our offerings so anybody who is worried about that that is going to continue so assuming this resolution passes tonight I just want to ask and I

[02:17:17] don't know if I'm looking over here if I'm looking down here what are the next steps for getting this off the ground so there are several things that would need be done obviously number one will need the City Council to approve the resolution and so that is we would wait wait for that but we're we would now also need to have an SUP a special use permit and we've already been in conversation dr. Newman was in conversation with the city with that and we are going to preemptively start that process and I've talked to mr. Helton

[02:17:56] about that and we've also talked to mr. Makley about helping to facilitate that process as well and the city stands ready to help with that process beyond that there are some things that would need to be done in terms of some minor renovations in the in the space that will be used for the pilot program paint some carpet some of those things will need to provide some renovations to that I had an opportunity last week to be proactive in walking that space with mr.

[02:18:29] Makely and who has then set up a meeting with a designer to because we're gonna need to furnish that space so we'll need to order furniture the furniture to have right now it's just an empty space and so we want to make it as a conducive to learning as we possibly can for our students and so we met with a designer Mr. Makely met with designer last week to start looking at that because we know there's a lead time for furniture 12 to 16 weeks for furniture and so it's important that we know that we can't order anything obviously until we get

[02:19:08] the appropriation beyond that we've also got a higher staff we have a significant number of staff that we'll need to hire we will need to identify students but we can't just identify students and move them to an alternative education program without significant conversations with our families they need to be partners in this and so as we look to what students we feel would be successful in the pilot program we want to make sure that we're bringing families along and being able to work with our families to make sure this is a good fit for our students. After we identify students we obviously need to work out transportation because

[02:19:48] there's some logistical things that we would need to do in terms of having a successful program which we all want. So we need to look at transportation. The other thing logistically that we need to look at is food services. How are we going to get food there for our students and so we'll need to be working out those things and so those are some of the the big ticket items that we need to look at in terms of next steps so there's quite a bit of for us to do in terms of getting this off the ground. We want to make sure that it is successful and we want to do it in a very thoughtful and deliberate way an intentional way to make sure that is going to be successful for our students.

[02:20:25] right and a lot of these processes are interlocked right you said with the furniture we can't do it until there's the appropriation but we can't do much of anything until there's the appropriation no you can't advertise for staff you can't you know there's a lot not to mention what happens within the SUP and what happens within all of these other that was eight steps by the way that you listed and each of them probably have at least eight steps so are we going to get updates along the way as you guys are doing this yes my plan would be that we would be providing updates to the staff to to our staff but also to the school board on a regular basis during work sessions or however

[02:21:03] would be the best mode to do that but we would provide along the way so that we know the progress we're making towards launching the pilot program got to thank awesome any further discussion mrs. Paul vice chair I just want to say that these two resolutions tonight represent a lot of work but they represent a lot of work that's coming up to but there is an established need you know for our students that are unable to learn for whatever reason in traditional setting and I wish that we could just magic a lot of money to address all of these problems but this is a pilot you know and it's going to the pressure is going

[02:21:43] to be on the whole time to not only make it work but prove that it worked but we do have head nods from council that I'm more than reasonably sure, you know, intend to help us when we prove that what we say we need to do is happening. So this is a little bit of a leap of faith, you know, but it's what our kids need. And I do believe that it speaks directly to student outcomes for both the kids that stay in the traditional setting and the kids that go here.

[02:22:16] And, you know, my colleague leaves up pillars of trust for every meeting that we're in. But, you know, even though it is not a sure outcome, I believe that it addresses very, you know, clarity, compassion, character, competency, commitment, connection, contribution, and consistency.

[02:22:36] You know, you can't nail it any better than what we've done. We just need the world to see that we're on the right track, you know. and that's going to be not easy work but i know we can do it so thank you there's no further discussion i'll ask for the vote all in favor oh my gosh i did forget to read one thing um to buttress what you were saying i'm satisfied the data we have justifies this program i know the conversations that i have had with constituents and our school community supports doing more to address student behavior and student discipline a program like this is a way to do that this program

[02:23:15] will deliver on the one hand support to students who need it most so they can be productive members of our school community and on the other hand orderly classrooms to our general education students and teachers so i'm excited to vote yes today is there any further discussion looking to my left seeing none to my right seeing none all in favor aye aye any opposed the motion carries 6-0 all right next up board member comments and i will go first to miss bland good evening

[02:23:55] firstly i would like to inform everyone that osborne will be having a scholarship award night in the auditorium on may 20th at 6 p.m myself and many others will be receiving scholarships and various awards and we would appreciate your support if you're able to come i would like to thank all the school board members past and present for their unwavering support and encouragement over the last two years of me being a student representative being a representative has taught me patience flexibility and helped me continue my journey in public service this opportunity opened many doors for me and i will always appreciate the mentorship from the board

[02:24:33] members but especially the membership from vice chair spall my brother andrew grew up with vice chair spall's son jack so i've known her for a while she has been very influential to me in the last two years and i hope amelia and the next student representatives to come appreciate her the other board members as well as dr newman as much as i do i think i've shared this already but in case anyone missed it i will be attending the university of mary washington in the fall majoring in psychology while i move on to my next adventure i will always be thinking of the opportunities and the amazing people i have had the privilege of crossing paths with

[02:25:11] in my 13 years attending mass city public schools lastly i would like to say that teachers deserve more respect. They go home and they spend their own time, resources, and money to help students excel inside and outside the classroom. Teachers deserve to be heard, not just seen. My mom was a teacher of Manassas City Public Schools for 32 years and she also did her student teaching all at the same school. I had a first-hand look at what goes into making lesson plans, countless meetings, and professional development days. Teachers don't need a free breakfast once

[02:25:50] or twice during teacher appreciation week what teachers need is the respect and the support that they deserve thank you thank you miss plan miss breeden good evening um firstly i would like to congratulate all the amazing staff who received awards tonight um i can attest that there were some superstars in there that i had the pleasure of having in the past and then additionally yesterday osborne special education department hosted a field day for their students and this

[02:26:25] Friday, the annual unified prom will be held at Osborne from 11:30 to 1:00 p.m., and this will ensure that the high school tradition of prom is extended to all students, no matter their accessibility needs. And as I stated, this event is annual, so if you are interested in supporting and making this prom the best it can be for our students in the future, I suggest reaching out to Osborne's special education department or to the SCA/leadership sponsors, who are Paul Whitley and Emily Nelson. And on another note I want to remind everybody as the testing season comes to an end to

[02:27:01] give yourself some grace. Teachers and staff have worked endlessly to ensure that this whole process from elementary first ever SRLs to high school AP tests have gone smoothly and accordingly. The students of Manassas City Public Schools have shown utter dedication through their studying and testing skills. We should be proud of our students. If you happen to see one struggling or any in the hallways please remind them that despite their score they are not defined by that number our students are so much more than that and i encourage you to remind those who put overwhelming amounts of stress on themselves that fact and lastly i would like to congratulate my

[02:27:40] partner ashley bland for finishing her role as student representative for two years she was a great role model for me as i learned the ins and outs of being a school board student rep and i'll miss her greatly but look forward to continue her legacy for the next for the next web to come in as a role model thank you Ashley for everything and congrats and best of luck on your future accomplishments good night thank you lovely comments mrs. Brescia miss Bland I'm also going to congratulate you and thank you for your service here on the school board and for bringing that

[02:28:17] student voice forward especially tonight as it turns out we really we really needed you guys both of you and miss Bland you in particular had a very powerful anecdotes there are a few anecdotes so thank you for that Miss Wingfield congratulations on your retire your upcoming retirement and really congratulations to all of our spotlights I would be here for half the meeting if I went through one by one and congratulated everybody but it's a busy time of year I can't believe that this is our last school year school board meeting before the end of the school year the last school board meeting before graduation so congratulations to all of our graduating seniors some events that

[02:28:53] attended I wanted to spotlight SEAC had it's the Special Education Advisory Committee had its last meeting of the school year they are working hard and are on track to launch some new programs of the fall of the next school year I've mentioned these before but there's going to be a sib shop to support siblings of children the siblings of children with disabilities and also a and I don't have a title yet a special ed 101 type program for families to learn about the bed process and it's really been very inspiring to see the the families are doing this like our parents are doing this and putting these all together so that's amazing to see I also wanted to highlight the first grade store at round

[02:29:32] elementary where you were I was able to bring my small daughter and we went we bought small trinkets for 25 cents and one of the one of the students thanked me for being a consumer and so I loved I love seeing our economics in action and And I do want to point out that I was in the company of Ms. Dolly, who was one of our Apple Award winners.

[02:29:53] It was one of her stores that I was able to visit that day. So, special congratulations to Ms. Dolly. Coming up, we have the Governor's School graduation on Saturday. Many award ceremonies, which some of you guys covered down there, so I'm going to skip over that.

[02:30:09] But because we are turning the corner into summer, I'm going to encourage everybody to get out in our wonderful community and make some plans to attend some fun events. My family will be attending the showing of Moana at the Marsteller Community Center on Saturday, May 24th at 3:00 p.m., of course, first Friday on June 6th, and the Bee Movie on Main Street on Saturday, June 7th at sunset.

[02:30:31] So, and that will be right now. That's the first Saturday after the last day of school, so I hope to see a lot of people there enjoying the kickoff of summer. Thank you all so much. - Thank you, Ms. Brescia. Ms. Brown. - Okay, I will be very brief today. I would like to begin my comments by congratulating all the spotlight recipients.

[02:30:51] Thank you for all your contributions and investments in our students. Ms. Winfield, thank you for your service. Enjoy your retirement. And a big congratulations to all graduating seniors. I'm excited for you and I look forward to seeing you at Eagle Bank on May 29th.

[02:31:11] I wanna extend a special welcome to Yanis Sernugan. He's sitting here, a rising senior at Osborne High School. He has joined the Diana Brown team as an intern. He's passionate about leadership and innovation, and Yanis has served on advisory education boards and has supported teams in the NASA Tech Rights Challenge.

[02:31:29] You'll see him around the city with us as part of our team, so give him a warm welcome when you do see him. Thank you, Yanis, for your service and for wanting to learn everything about the city and politics.

[02:31:45] - Ms. Miles. - Okay, so I tell you, I always have so much to say, and I apologize, but I have to definitely give a shout-out to those who did the Buddy Baskets. I'm proud of those students who presented their project. I saw it for the first time at the meeting that they had, and I was blown away, so I'm just so glad that they were able to come and present it.

[02:32:07] And I hope in the future we can highlight more projects for our students, you know, what they're working on, just to show, you know, what our kids are doing, especially when it directly impacts the community. I want to thank our representatives for being willing to serve in our community as this voice, you know, for your peers.

[02:32:26] I know that's hard because you have a responsibility and then when you're out in the community, you have to act a certain way. So I really appreciate you being here and I wish you well at your school in the fall. So congratulations to you on that. Congratulations to all those who were acknowledged today.

[02:32:43] As Ms. Brescia said, if we sat and congratulated everyone, it would take such a long time. But I will say, some of the events that I was able to go to the past week, I want to give a shout out to all those who put together a night on Broadway.

[02:32:59] It was phenomenal. I'm a Broadway aficionado. I will tell you, I love Broadway. I sing it. Excuse me. I sing it. I go to it. I've been to so many shows. So seeing all these kids do Hamilton was just, it was so crazy. It was so wonderful. And I hope everyone got a chance to go see it.

[02:33:17] I get a little excited about it just because seeing high school students being so proud to be able to do solos and have confidence, it takes a lot. So shout out to all those who put that together because I know that took a lot of time. I also was able to go to Manassas Reads, which was awesome to talk to some of our reading specialists and learn a little bit more about Benchmark, our reading curriculum.

[02:33:41] I was able to go to the senior night for our softball and baseball teams and just wish them well. and the Health and Wellness Expo. I wanna congratulate all our graduates and their families 'cause we know it's not just the graduates, it's the families that are supporting them as well.

[02:33:59] You did it, you should be proud. It is just an honor to be able to walk across that stage and know that you, all the hard work that you did with whether it was an SOL that you passed or passing a class or waking up every morning, you just need to be proud of yourself.

[02:34:15] But I also wanna thank all our students for their hard work on their SOLs. When I got my son's SOL scores back and he passed both of them, I just look at that and I say, the teachers did their job, of course, but the students, they had to do a part two.

[02:34:30] So coming to school consistently is so important because if you're not doing that, you're not able to have the knowledge that you need so you can pass those, so I think it's awesome. But to Ms. Frieden's thing, it's not just a number. You're not a number. So I know you worked hard, And if you didn't pass it, it's okay, it's okay.

[02:34:48] You still did your best. But I wanna give a shout out to our families for your participation and your student success. This is a joint effort. It takes the teachers, the parents, the students, all together working together. I know we didn't get a chance to say anything about the presentation you guys did about the Voices of the Heart Project.

[02:35:10] But just listening to that, I have to talk about it because as an ESOL teacher myself, and working with ELLs all day. Seeing them write like that and being able to publish. I mean, I can't wait to read this. So all the things that you guys are doing and how you're gonna integrate it into the curriculum, I'm excited about seeing how that's gonna happen and maybe even having this for my students that I teach.

[02:35:33] So kudos to you guys on that. The ladies are, kudos to the ladies back there too who put the presentation together. I appreciate it. And we said that we were excited about it, but thank you for putting it together and having that heart to grow our staff, because that's important.

[02:35:50] We can't just think about growing our students without growing our staff too. But I have quite a speech that I need to say, because when we hear comments from our MEA representatives, a lot of times we are silent. We don't say anything.

[02:36:06] And a lot of us are hesitant to say anything, but I am going to say something tonight. feel led to do this so bear with me I want to respond to our MEA representatives who seem very angry at the fact that we decided as a board as a board to vote no to collective bargaining for now we're always willing to talk about concerns I attend events all of us attend events we talk to parents we're talking to teachers we're talking to staff and I know I do and I know everyone here does shares our contact information so if there's ever an issue they can reach out to us but I have never ever since I've been on this

[02:36:45] board been approached once not one time by any of the MEA members with concerns not one time physically in person so and since coming to the board to my knowledge what I've seen all concerns via email have been seen have been responded to in a quick time frame I worked in a school district even smaller than Manassas City and my relationship with school board members was non

[02:37:10] non-existent. I never knew their names, never talked to them. But I believe we, as all, a governance team remain active and present in the community. And if you have a concern, our superintendent is always, always consistently available and present. We are as well. And I believe at the time we become hidden, say that happens, and you're not free to communicate or present to us in our small community, by all means, collective bargaining may have a place. It may have a place that, but until until then until then we and we believe we have more important places to spend

[02:37:48] our school districts funds and that is raises for our teachers funding a much needed alternative ed program among other top priorities on our unfunded list and again I say unfunded lists because we don't have the money to fund those things that's why it's called an unfunded list so I had to say that I know this controversial I know someone's gonna say something about it but it need to be said I'm done I appreciate your comments dr. Jones for her comments

[02:38:24] please well I also want to congratulate everyone who's recognized tonight during the recognitions I just want to highlight the Arbor Day winners on the med students with the community project the bunny baskets are a great idea and I definitely want to highlight the apple and pear winners our teachers and our support staff who do such a great job every day I also can't wait to read the origin project that will be on my nightstand and Ashley and Amelia I want to thank you for your service the school year and just keep doing what you're doing but thank you for your school work and mrs. wing miss Winfield I work with

[02:39:00] you for many years I know you're a great you are a great asset to Manassas City they are going to have a hard time replacing you but thank you for all of your work that you do on a regular basis I had the pleasure of attending a few events since our last meeting the governor's school symposium I was proud to see our manassas city public schools students so equally share their research and i definitely saw our future scientists engineers chemists inventors innovators uh they will definitely make a few a difference you know future as we work in our world they'll make a difference i attended the night on broadway once again was not happy to see that performance

[02:39:37] and then manassas read on saturday it is so important that we have our students read uh that they read to us and that we read to them so it was great and it was great to have an opportunity for them to have free books to take home to put in their personal libraries i just want to make sure someone already mentioned the governor's school ceremonies on saturday the 17th at 10. also this thursday the gt elementary showcase is on thursday the 15th from 6 to 7 at weems once again i definitely think it's important that we support ashley and all of our seniors at the senior night on the 20th and then the osborne household graduation on the 29th

[02:40:15] is always a great event to attend that we can see our seniors graduating and moving on to the next steps in their life. I also want to encourage all staff members that are interested in any leadership positions to consider signing up for the Leadership Institute. This gives us a chance to grow from within, and also just know that that coursework will be beneficial to you, no matter whether you wanna be a school leader or an administrator in the building someone in central office but definitely take advantage of these opportunities they come in front of you and i also want to

[02:40:53] encourage the support of the property acquisition and our turn to bed program so as you're in the community go out and speak about that speak that that is something that we need to do and encourage city council members to vote for that and let me see okay i think that's all i have okay thank you dr jones vice chair spall Yeah, I want to thank Ashley for that shout-out.

[02:41:18] I want to reiterate or respond in kind how much I care about you and the program, and it was a little hard to lose school board reps this year, but I know that they went to, you know, worthy and good people, and so, but I'm always here for you guys, and I mean that sincerely.

[02:41:39] I think as we close tonight, you know, I just want to talk for a minute about us being more than the sum of our SOL scores I want to highlight a few powerful examples of collaboration with Massa City Public Schools whether it's the upcoming tri-county Aviation Academy partnership or our cutting-edge CTE program the educational opportunities our new academic buildings that are either under construction or soon to begin we're actively shaping the workforce of tomorrow at MCPS our legacy of success is reflected not only in academic achievement but also in the strength of our alumni and corporate

[02:42:16] partnerships these accomplishments demonstrate the true value of our work and it's that is an impact that goes far beyond what any SOL tests can measure I too value the origin project and the stories that are contained in this book and I also want to commend everyone who was honored tonight thank you thank you Vice chair all right I'm gonna echo all the compliments and congratulations to

[02:42:52] the students and the staff that were recognized here tonight including miss Billy Kay Wingfield I'm excited for you to go to retirement and you always took care of us I mean beyond what is required in the role of school board the loot that you gave us like the backpacks and extra things like that I mean that was just very thoughtful you know and to our student reps I know you're both going to go on to do great things Ashley at going to college and adulting and

[02:43:32] all that I know you're so excited and Amelia thank you also for representing and bringing your voice forward this month May is crazy but I love that there's lots of performances I think the band their concerts probably over tonight But the night on Broadway was excellent.

[02:43:57] And I think, Ms. Miles, you should be in the next performance. I think you should join the teacher staff crew and be a part of that. I think that'd be wonderful. I look forward to that. Lots of performances, lots of celebrations, but we have lots to celebrate.

[02:44:12] So let's celebrate. Let's celebrate our students. The biggest thing will be graduation on May 29th. And that is, you know, some kids have been with us from pre-K all the way through 12th grade. Some of them came in between, here and there, but it's something that all our teachers can celebrate.

[02:44:31] And I would like to, you know, it's still a school day for most of the kids in Manassas City Public Schools, but I would hope that teachers and staff do take advantage of the students that are doing the senior walk on the 28th. They will go through their elementary school, if they attended the elementary school in Manassas City Public Schools.

[02:44:52] They will go through the intermediate school. They will walk the halls of Mets Middle School before returning to Osborne. So please catch your special students in the hallways. Give them a high five. You know, share with them how proud we are of them for reaching this point.

[02:45:10] And just a reminder about the city and approving their budget. So they still have to approve their budget, have a first reading and a second reading. So those dates are June 2nd and June 9th.

[02:45:28] And then also we'll need to appropriate the funds for the two resolutions that we passed here tonight. So we still have a ways to go, but we feel good with what we've presented and we feel good about support from city council and they're gonna show us. So that's all the comments I have for tonight.

[02:45:48] Thank you for participating in whatever way you have and have a good night. Let's have a motion to adjourn, please. - Chair, I move that the school board meeting adjourn. - Second. - Was that Brescia?

[02:46:03] - Yes. - I have a motion by Vice Chair Spall, second by Mrs. Brescia, that the school board meeting adjourn. Is there any discussion? All in favor? - Aye. - Any opposed? Motion carries six zero. We are adjourned. Thank you everybody.

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