Coraggio Consulting
Manassas City School Board Meeting - July 8, 2025

Date: Tuesday, July 8, 2025
Place: Manassas City Public Schools / School Board meeting, Virginia
Length: 1h 36m (video)
Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y99XMWUD6lo

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] followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

[00:00:21] - Pledge of Allegiance to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all.

[00:00:41] - Mrs. Garza, would you please call the roll? - Yes, ma'am. - Here. - Vice Chair Spall.

[00:00:56] - Here. - Stevens, Gracia, Ms. Miles. - Here. - Ms. Brown. - Present. Dr. Jones. - Here. - Thank you, Madam Chair, we have a quorum. - Thank you. Dr. Gimmie, do we have any additions or deletions to the agenda this evening?

[00:01:13] - No, ma'am. - Great. - Can I get a motion to approve the public meeting agenda? - Chair, I move that the school board of the city of Manassas approve the public meeting agenda as presented. - Second. - I have a motion by Mrs. Stevens, seconded by Mrs. Brescia, that the school board of the city of Manassas approve the public meeting agenda as presented.

[00:01:33] Is there any discussion? - All in favor? - Aye. - Any opposed? The motion carries 7-0. - All right. Moving on to board committee reports. and I'd like to hear from the Board Development Committee first.

[00:01:50] - Yes, the Board Development Committee met on June 25th where we further refined our protocols, including the remedies section. The committee prepared, see this is, I'm getting really loud again.

[00:02:06] The committee prepared two options for remedies for the group to consider on July 14th. - Thank you. And our policy committee. - The policy committee met on the 3rd to discuss VSBA policy updates, committee discussion and specific policies and legislative priorities.

[00:02:28] We'll be discussing those further on the discussion agenda. - Very good. And next we have citizens comments. Is there anyone here that would wish to address the board? Seeing and hearing none, we will move on to consent agenda.

[00:02:44] We have a motion. - Chair, I move that the school board of the city of Manassas approve the consent agenda as presented. - Second. - I have a motion by Mrs. Stevens, second by Mrs. Brescia, that the school board and city of Manassas approve the consent agenda as presented. Is there any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries 7-0. The consent agenda is approved. All right, tonight on the discussion agenda, first up we have policies, and I'll go back to Mrs. Stevens. Yes, thank you, Chair. We had a policy committee meeting on the

[00:03:18] 3rd of July and it was 100 and some odd pages of policy updates this go around several policies the VSBA model policies had significant updates and there are also several new VSBA policies I'm going to try to get through the new ones and the ones that had major updates those ones I am going to email to Ms. Garza to put on the action agenda as opposed to the consent agenda so that have additional opportunity to discuss them so the policy updates from vsba the first one was eb which is a copy of school crisis emergency management management and medical emergency

[00:03:58] response plan the vsba added additional language and now includes an athletic emergency action plan bleeding control program and cardiac arrest plan in addition the division mcps is modifying the policy to designate the supervisor of security services as the emergency manager and has added language to allow principals to designate additional staff to add to the emergency response teams the next policy is ebb and it is an additional explanation of how when and what to include in communication with

[00:04:35] parents or guardians in the event a threat assessment is completed and a student is determined to be a threat then policy ebba was a modified policy for us we modified it back in 2024 but the changes that were made at the vsba level have now allowed will now allow us to adopt it as a no longer modified policy but as the vsba's policy um this one is about a copy of

[00:05:04] emergency first aid cpr and aed certified personnel and um sorry i got lost my track on my paper then we have ebbc we already this is opioid antagonists and what this talks about is that school employees have a right to administer an opioid antagonist if they feel that someone is suffering from an overdose we have already addressed this as a regulation so a policy is not

[00:05:38] needed at this time to address it then we have policy ebcb which adds sudden cardiac arrest drills drills and requires that a bleeding control kit be present when emergency drills are conducted the next one that has significant or substantial changes is gbeb it adds languages to say that weapons are prohibited at any school sponsored events that was not originally in the language the next one we get to and this is one which i believe we're going to discuss a little bit

[00:06:13] further probably when we have it on the action agenda if not earlier i would like to hear input on this one gcda-m the m signifies that it's modified virginia legislation now allows felons who've had their rights restored to be employed by public schools certainly those only those that were not considered barrier crimes our current policy is modified as we do not have higher individuals with felonies. The division reached out to our legal counsel to ask if we are now required to hire qualified employees with previous convictions for non-barrier crimes.

[00:06:52] The model policy says that we may employ them. We need to discuss whether we would like to keep the language that says we may employ individuals who have committed felonies but have had their rights restored or whether we want to keep the language as it is today. Then we have GCE-M. Like I said, there's a whole lot of these. This one is a copy of substitute teachers. Our policy is modified because we require substitutes to be 21 years old, not 18. Then we have GCL. Sorry,

[00:07:32] I've got them marked and I'm turning them over as I go through them. GCL is a copy of professional staff development the new legis new policy adds language concerning professional development specific training on working with students with autism spectrum disorder our special education department mr macy act is currently working on that training however the training is optional it's not required at this time in addition the new model policy spells out the total number of hours and total frequency and duration of required non-academic training cannot exceed 25 hours

[00:08:10] every five years so any required training that doesn't relate to academics you can only have up to 25 hours over a five-year span however if it's optional training that you as the employee choose to engage in that doesn't count towards the 25 hours every five years the next one we have like i said there's a lot is gcpd copy of professional staff discipline this one language was added to explain that employees will not be subject to disciplinary action made in connection

[00:08:45] with the administration administration of an opioid antagonist provided it was administered in good faith that was not originally in the policy then we have policy igag which requires now for us to provide instruction on opioid overdose prevention and reversal in secondary schools and spells out a little bit of what that should look like then we have policy igba for students with disabilities the iep is required to include language to address accommodations

[00:09:21] and supports that the student may need during an emergency if it is the student's initial iep the the team is required to discuss whether the student needs accommodations or supports an emergency with situations. It also requires that the IE team, when a student is set to enter 11th or 12th grade, the IEP team needs to inform the student and their family on the rights and obligations relating to dual enrollment courses.

[00:09:50] Then we have IGBJ, this is a new policy. this policy is called get there advanced or accelerated mathematics this is a new policy schools are now required to automatically enroll students in grades five through eighth in accelerated math classes when their sol math scores are up in are in the upper 25th percentile statewide guardians must now opt out their children if they do not want their children to

[00:10:26] participate in accelerated math classes then we have jfccm let me get to it jfccm is student cell phone and smart device possession and use this is the vsba's version of the policy we adopted earlier back at the start of um 2025 vsba's model is going to if we adopt the vsba model policy that will move our current policy into a regulation correct Dr. Newman thank you

[00:11:05] and then we have KGB this is a new policy and directs the division to notify ah the new policy directs the division on notification of school connected overdoses how and how quickly parents and family members need to be notified and it only requires it if it is a suspected overdose in addition if If any accuracies were made in the initial notification or subsequently discovered, the principal or principal's designee provides an updated notification

[00:11:44] to the parent of each student in the relevant school to correct any such inaccuracies. Then we have KBA. This was a modified policy that we had. Copy of requests for public records.

[00:12:04] This was a modified policy, but the new VSBA policy is now in line with ours. Copies of requests for records. Then we have policy DJF. Virginia now allows convicted felons whose rights have been restored to be awarded contracts for the provision of services.

[00:12:23] And this is another one that I think the board needs to further discuss. Then we have policy JEC-R. This is a VSBA regulation that is recommended we do not adopt.

[00:12:40] Our regulation covers this and more. This is on school admission. Then we have policy J-O. J-O is copy of student records. This allows for the redaction of a foster parent, the updated language allows for the redaction of a foster parent's address prior to providing any records to the student's biological parents or non-custodial parents.

[00:13:07] Then we have policy JRCA. It now includes language to spell out how and when a school division can or cannot access information from a student's school-issued device. Then we have KQ. KQ talks about a copy of commercial promotional corporate sponsorship and partnerships.

[00:13:29] The language now added says that sponsors and partners are required to establish that their employees having direct conflict contact with students are legally allowed to do so then last but not least we have policy lc which is for charter schools the language was updated to spell out specifics on charter schools and the division's requirements in addition there were a few policies that were not part of the vsba bundle that we as a committee chose to discuss the first one was fb fb was a policy concerning renovation and

[00:14:08] construction at our school at our various schools and the poli the model policy said that the superintendent may seek input from the community we discussed whether or not we needed the word may in there or whether we not or whether or not we needed the policy at all the committee determined that we recommend that we keep the policy and we do not remove the term may the next two policies JFC and JFCC are both related to student code of conduct the VSBA is currently changing verbiage from student code of conduct to standards of student conduct we looked into it and this is

[00:14:48] not a required change it's simply language that the VSBA is updating the division the division is not required to change the language the language in the policies however a quick check of all of our other policies indicated that only one policy jfce would need to be modified an exhaustive search has not yet been completed the question of the language being changed can be further addressed by the academic committee because the biggest document that would need to be changed on is the physical student code of conduct so that we will leave up to the academic committee

[00:15:25] then we had another policy bca school board organizational meetings and i would like to share the updates that we came up with i just have to pull it out this will be bca is a copy of school board organizational meetings we are looking to modify it to be bca-m and what we would be adding to the policy is that the terms of the chair clerk vice chair and deputy clerk are one year with the chair serving no more than two years out of a four-year term the vice chair

[00:16:02] position will rotate through the seven elected board members until either each member has had the opportunity to serve one year or all the members who wish to serve have already had a chance to do so that's our recommended update for bca which would turn it into bca-m and finally under policies there were questions and concerns brought up by various employees as to how administrators in different buildings communicate with staff in regard to leave being taken the actual policy itself which is gcbd allows only contains verbiage that allows the superintendent

[00:16:40] to create regulations concerning leave the regulation in question was gcbd-r in our committee meeting we spoke with miss fisher and she's agreed to look over that regulation to determine if any verbiage needs to be changed or updated and if instruction to administrators concerning conversations with staff about leave needs to be updated that's everything for policies we next go into legislative priorities anybody have any questions on just policies right now yes all

[00:17:20] right thank you for that exhaustive uh list uh i am thankful for you putting these on the action agenda the kind of the history of this or people who don't realize is that the division red line was not added until yesterday, late morning, afternoon, something like that, so, and it was 115 pages, so it wasn't really a lot of time. It was, I know, I did not see that document until after I had finished reading a different one, so, you know, so that's part of the reason why this is going on to action instead of consent agenda, because by the virtue of having the meeting on

[00:17:55] July 3rd, you know, some of the documents were added kind of late, so I just wanted to get some clarification on the G-C-D-A and the D-G-F. Okay, so G-C...

[00:18:12] Those are the felon ones. Okay. To make that simple. If I am recalling correctly, there were only applying to crimes of moral turpitude and not to all felonies. And it was not all felonies excluding barrier felonies.

[00:18:30] It was only felonies of moral turpitude who... were 20 years in the past, your rights have been stored, voting rights restored, yes, by the governor, right? So it's not, I wanted to clarify that, that it's not all felons. Exactly. And the policy specifies it has to be 20 years previous from your date of becoming a contractor or becoming an employee. So I do think that that, and does everybody know what a crime of moral turpitude

[00:19:03] is it is um things like fraud or perjury the lie you know lying um right lying crimes so for our future discussion or consideration of that wanted right there are certain felonies that are not of moral turpitude which constitute a barrier to employment and working with children so the legislation updated that certain people with felony conviction convictions that are more than 20 years

[00:19:37] old that have had their rights restored may be eligible for employment so i think that's something we need to discuss because our policies said basically in a nutshell no they are not eligible anyone with felony conviction is not eligible for employment within mcps but we have to recognize that sometimes there are things that people do when they're 18 19 years old because they're 18 19 years old and their brains aren't fully developed that they learn from and that they grow from and become better people so we really have to sit down and think about those and if we were to say

[00:20:16] add the word may how would we spell that out so that it's clear because i think a number of people i think miss brown and you have both said the word may is a very subjective term and it's open to a wide level of interpretation yeah I just didn't want the public out there thinking that no any felon convicted of any crime that we're not considering that like these are specific crimes within a specific faraway window with a full restoration yeah there's actually quite a bit of there's a process and it's

[00:20:50] a lot of work to get your rights restored yes but we're not proposing at this time to do that I just want to make sure that you're not mistaken are you saying that we're proposing that right now i guess i'm not clear on what's being proposed or not so i want it to be a discussion because i think the full board needs to have input we as a committee we recommended not changing our policy and not putting in the word may but we are three members

[00:21:28] and the will of the board is seven individuals so if that's something that the board does want to discuss we need to be open to that we as a committee recommended keeping it the same i don't I don't have a problem with that.

[00:21:46] So my next question is on the cell phone policy, JFCM. Why doesn't it, shouldn't that have a dash M? Because we are taking out the form language about, you know, we're taking out a whole chunk saying CR, and adding CR regulation.

[00:22:03] Hold on just a second. Let me actually get to it. All right, student cell phone, smart device possession and use. Now, what were you saying that we... Because in the VSBA language, they have like a section, this applies to grades K through 5, this applies to grades 6, 7, 8, this applies to blah, blah, blah.

[00:22:22] But we have our own policy that's now becoming a regulation. So we took out that model language and we are putting in our own. So it's not, you know, it doesn't have a dash M. So I'm just wondering why it doesn't have a dash M. What it would be is we have the option to adopt the VSBA's model policy.

[00:22:45] And then everything is spelled out in more detail if our policy becomes a regulation. So we'd be adopting the VSBA model policy as a whole and then our regulation. Albert, the M on the end, that's not a modification M.

[00:23:04] That's just an M from the VSBA. Oh, I'm sorry, which one? jfcm because if it was modification if it was a modified policy it would be a dash m there's a lot of papers to look through here and what we would do in the line that's that's green where it says the school board of the city of manassas establishes the following procedures in regulation

[00:23:41] and then we would just put in that regulation the vsba does allow that in policies in vsba model policies for you for the school division to put in like the regulation name or the regulation number without the policy being a modified policy okay okay okay my misunderstanding that's okay and I would just like to speak in support of if we are referring to standards of student conduct in our policy handbook I really do think that we should call our code of conduct the standards of student

[00:24:19] conduct that these things should match that's all for me thank you anybody else anybody else policy questions I mean I have questions on policies yes on KGD that's the student overdose notification yes and it says school connected how are we defining school connected is it could it be just a student of ours or does it

[00:24:53] have to be on school property or so a school connected overdose means an overdose of a student enrolled in the school in the division that occurs on the premises of the school during regular hours or during school sanctioned activities whether on or off the premises of such school so that's what would make it a school connected overdose yeah like a field trip or a sports event or or something where we're in another building or you know it could be orchestra concert it could be anything like that but not at home not even though they're a student

[00:25:31] not at home okay yeah it just says suspected and the thing is is it this policy would require the school to notify um the student parent of each student in the relevant school even if it is just suspected at that time but then if it's determined that it that there were an inaccuracies in the initial notification then we are required as a division to follow up with the public and all of the individuals we informed of the suspected overdose okay and then are we

[00:26:05] gonna talk about BCA - M BCA - M yes I know I know miss miles wanted to talk about it and you want to talk about it if anyone else has questions on it as well okay so regarding the proposed changes to school board policy BCA which is our organizational meeting the current policy overview is that at the organizational meeting each January board members nominate and elect a chair and a vice chair for a one-year term any school board member is eligible for

[00:26:43] nomination leadership positions are determined by majority vote and the proposed changes are to limit the chair to two years within a four-year term and to rotate the vice chair position among the members I do have some concerns about this and I'll be interested in hearing anybody's thoughts on how this benefits the school board but imposing imposing restrictions on future boards is both short-sighted and deeply concerning the strength of our governance lies in the ability of the full board to determine its leadership

[00:27:22] based on who is best suited to serve at that time without limits let's be clear the issue here is not with the current policy the issue arises when members struggle to accept the principle of majority rule just because an outcome doesn't align with individual preferences does not mean a change in policy or position is needed what is best for this school board and our future school boards is to preserve flexibility trust the collective judgment of the members and keep options open change can be good and we should

[00:28:01] make changes that move us forward to attaining our goals changing this policy is not one of them and frankly takes away from the focus with what we should be working on student outcomes more importantly we must remember that the power is not in the leadership of the board the power is in the whole board working together to do what is best for our students our staff our families and our community I'm actually glad that we're seeking to make this change to ensure all our members will have the opportunity to serve as vice

[00:28:39] chair I think it's a much-needed change and it's actually very similar to our neighbors Prince William has a vice chair rotating and while we're very grateful for our current leadership over the years I believe putting guardrails in place to ensure all members are given the opportunity to serve as chair will ensure the continued freshness of our board and I'll say that you know even though Prince William they do alter their vice chair but they have a seated chairperson they know it's elected by the people their chair is there for a

[00:29:16] solid four years and so that makes sense to rotate a vice chair. I do not see the need for imposing term limits on the chair position. Our board already hosts annual elections for both chair and vice chair roles and every member has an equal vote in the process. Under the current system a member may serve more than two terms if re-elected which allows flexibility while still maintaining a democratic process. Consistency and leadership is valuable. Frequent changes in the chair role may disrupt board cohesiveness and slow progress on

[00:29:53] long-term initiatives. The vice-chair position in particular is too critical to be subject to simple rotation. Experience and stability in the role helps ensure effective support and continuity in leadership. The existing election process already provides ample opportunity for all members to serve in leadership roles. There is no need to restrict future boards by implementing term limits that may reduce leadership opinions options, especially if qualified and willing leaders are limited we should preserve flexibility to meet the evolving needs

[00:30:27] of the board while prioritizing stability and performance thank you dr. Jones anyone else mr. small I guess I'll just weigh in I'm already you know I do believe that this is a skill set that needs to be developed over time I think that a two-year limit is just kind of needlessly come complicating things because every year you get a chance to vote in a new chair I'm as a vice chair

[00:31:06] I can say that it it is a considerable amount of work so I'm kind of betwixt in between as to how to vote for you know I don't know how you develop the skill set without giving people a chance to to serve the office but I will say that you know shadowing takes time and so I don't know that the way that the system is working right now seems to limit the least number of people but you know I can hear that there's a need for a change and so I guess I would believe

[00:31:43] if I had to make the change that changing the vice chair option is probably the better one to be done thank you thank you anyone else mrs. Brescia so I support the recommendation coming out of the committee I think that it is a good one I I hear what everybody's saying about the majority rules obviously obviously that's true anybody who doesn't like that it doesn't matter you can feel however you want about it because what's legally binding is what at least four members do what I think that this policy does and what we

[00:32:22] have been reminded to do through our governance training is to not think of this board as a majority minority board to not think of this board as four to three or five to two or six to one, or not to think of ourselves in this way.

[00:32:37] We are seven equal members, and I would like to see a set of norms develop where there is some flexibility and deference to that so that we are not in a position where we are having highly contested chair elections.

[00:32:58] It's true the board can make a change at any time, but if we are a staff, I think it will help our team functioning and is in alignment with how we've been encouraged to think of ourselves and how we've been encouraged to interact with ourselves through our VSBA governance training if we adopt this and give it a shot. We can always retire it, you know, if we find that it's not working out. You know, the majority can do whatever it wants with respect to its policies.

[00:33:28] The board controls the policies. That's one of our, we've only got three jobs and policies are one of them. But I do think that we should give it a shot. We've made all these trips down to Charlottesville. I think we should make them count. That's my opinion. Thank you. Anyone else? Yes. Ms. Brown. I'm new on the board. And yes, although ideally it should be this board who decides who they want to lead them for the year. That doesn't always turn out

[00:34:05] to be the same because we are seven board members so this year we had three and three and the only deciding vote was the chair who voted for herself so we got a 4-7 vote so it's not the majority it's not the collective we would like like Ms. Brescia said to be the collective because that would be ideal however because we are human beings and we're still growing in grace we don't always put the best version of ourselves here. And there are monopolies. There are minorities

[00:34:43] and majorities. There are favorites. And I think that this term limit offers us an opportunity to have that ideal collective decision-making, that shared responsibility and leadership that does not exist currently. I hear that experience is important, yet there were members here who had the experience and stated that they are not ready to serve so experience is not the end all it's

[00:35:18] experience and willingness and recognizing that experience so I think we need to have a growth mindset we need to get away from this monopolies for the past 20 years Manasseh City Public Schools has had a monopoly on chair positions it's something that has been transferred from one person to another and it needs to end we really need to be focused on that growth mindset we really need to make changes in Manassas City Public Schools and the only way that we grow is through shared leadership which at this point we do not have have one more thing to say I just want to give kind of like a

[00:35:56] background of how we came to this because it was not something that was just put down on paper and they were like guests we both went back and forth kind of on the data behind different chairs and how you know they how long their terms are what is the desired term for different types of chair or type of boards and we did some extensive research on it and this is what we came to because of that research and you know not everyone's ideas were taken we came to a compromise because there were some things that Miss Brown had mentioned

[00:36:31] something I mentioned and then also Lisa and we kind of or Miss Stevens and we kind of came to this as a compromise kind of putting forth all of our our ideas I don't want anyone to think that it was like you know one thing and we were ready and we were set but I do believe in change and I believe that change will only occur if we allow it to change is not going to occur if we stay stuck in the same way we always do things.

[00:37:01] And it has been something that has happened here, like Ms. Brown has mentioned, that chairs have just passed on from year to year, and there hasn't been any change. And it's also because maybe we aren't comfortable in taking that leadership role for whatever the reason.

[00:37:17] Maybe we don't have time, but I think allowing vice chair to change from year to year is helpful, and also giving the chair position to other people who might want to say, hey, I need to step up to also do more than just what I'm doing.

[00:37:36] Any other thoughts? Well, I can go ahead and give my final statement, but I, well, I support the term limits.

[00:37:52] The board chair position should be a shared responsibility, not a yearly permanent position voted by favorites or whomever the majority of the favored people are.

[00:38:11] Term limits create a space for new ideas. It prevents the consolidation of power and encourages all of our participation, not just the ones who are in a favor.

[00:38:27] Rotating leadership roles promotes accountability. It reflects our democratic values and strengthens stress within the board and our community. No one person should be leading indefinitely for term after term without giving others an opportunity and without looking for perspectives for growth for Manassas City Public Schools.

[00:38:53] We have got to do what is best for Manasseh City Public Schools, not what one person wants to do or believes is the purpose in this board. Thank you. Yes. Can you explain to me how the rotation works?

[00:39:10] You're saying you're going to rotate vice chairs. Tell me how that works. That is something that does need to be worked out. Looking at the Prince William County policy, they don't actually spell out how they do it either. So that's something we could ask them about, or we could just establish a process it could be added into the policy it could be a process that we all just agree on that's one of the reasons that this is not going to be on the consent agenda at our next meeting why it will be on the action agenda for more discussion as there already is quite a bit of discussion concerning it right now and Miss Stevens I think we also mentioned

[00:39:48] that we we would give opportunities to board members to put in their name just Like we typically do right now, if you're interested in serving, you put up your name and then you will, if it's, if you haven't served, then you can put your name through and then you will still get voted because there might be, there might be three or four members who are willing to serve as chair or vice chair.

[00:40:14] So that was there was still be a vote. It would still be a democratic process so we're just asking for the growth mindset to Allow this position what is meant to do focus and on the growth of the whole school districts and the board members One of the things with the vice chair position on rotating it is it gives School board members who may be good leaders but are not willing to speak up because they don't want the limelight

[00:40:49] It may give them a greater opportunity to have that leadership position and to grow from that leader Pitsip leadership position that they may not previously have had an opportunity to do And I just like to say one more thing I want all of us to remember that you don't have to be chair or vice chair to lead and to do And to focus on the school system and to do what you need to do for the school system You don't need a title to lead.

[00:41:15] We've been elected. We all desire to be on the school board, so we don't need a title to do the work that we're here to do. We don't need a title for that at all. And that's very true as well. I think everyone sitting on the dais has some strong, valid points. This is not a discussion or a decision that was come too lightly, and I think we all benefit from having the opportunity to think through it, think through the pros and cons, and when we come back in two weeks, If we have additional questions, if we have additional concerns or statements we would like to make, we'll have the opportunity to do so at that time as well.

[00:41:50] And you don't need a title, but it doesn't have to be a monopoly either or a political game. And that's what this policy modification is aiming to get rid of because we do have a monopoly and we do have a political game going on.

[00:42:09] And I will urge anyone who's interested in the history of Manasseh City Public Schools, just look in the last 20 years, who has been chair. It has been passed on as if it was something that no one else had a right to unless you've been chosen by the person that believes you have that experience.

[00:42:31] So this needs to be a democratic process, and it has not been. Oh, yes, it has. And if the seated chair is performing effectively and it reflects the will of the board, their peers will choose to nominate and re-elect them.

[00:42:50] Conversely, if the chair's performance is not meeting expectations, the board has the opportunity to select new leadership through the nomination and election process at the organizational meeting. And every member gets to vote. I will say it's definitely not about performance, and I want to make that clear.

[00:43:10] It's not about – it's just about giving more minds the ability to lead because it is a different leadership position. It's a different way for the community to see you as well. And I think we also mentioned, I know when we were talking, we were also talking about the fact that we wanted to also have stipulations on to when you can be chair.

[00:43:38] And then we decided that that wasn't right because there are some people who have the ability to do it right when they get elected, whereas others may want to kind of see, kind of feel their way through. But depending on their experience level, they may want to run for chair in their first year.

[00:43:55] So we decided against that, I know, when we were talking. But I want to make that 100% clear that it has nothing to do with performance, why we decided on this. It was just to give opportunities for other people to lead. Mrs. Bresher, last comment.

[00:44:21] And learning to think of ourselves, you know, as a group of seven and not as a group of, you know, a five and a group of two or a group of four and a group of three, right?

[00:44:39] I think that that has been good for us. I think it has been good for kids. I think it will pay dividends if we can continue to build on that momentum. And, you know, the past is informative.

[00:44:56] The present is informative. But this policy is for the future. You know, it is not, you know, it doesn't impact 2025. This is for January 2026 that this would go into effect. And so I encourage everybody to think about what are our aspirations for our governance team functioning.

[00:45:18] Do we want to hold on to this concept of, you know, how tightly do we want to hold on to this concept of majority, majority, majority? and do we want to try something new different and uncomfortable past and present aside that will i think push us more in the in a positive and productive direction mrs stevens could you please proceed with the legislative priorities so to discuss the legislative priorities um up until

[00:45:54] last year we only shared our legislative priorities with our legislators at the november joint legislative breakfast breakfast this past summer summer 2024 was the first time we had a mid-year legislative breakfast joint breakfast with city council and our legislators michelle maldonado and dana carone last year being the first time we did it we didn't present legislative priorities we presented our strategic plan this year however the decision was made quite recently based on

[00:46:29] action by the city council they'll be presenting their legislative priorities for us to present our legislative priorities as well instead of the strategic plan the current legislative priorities which are shown up on the screens were approved on october 22nd of 2024 and were presented at our joint breakfast in november of 2024. a little background on why we're now having this mid-year breakfast we realized that waiting to share the important things about our school division until november was really too late because our legislators are required to have all bills submitted by the

[00:47:09] end of november it does not give them or us enough time to discuss and really come to a meeting of the minds on potential legislation so that's why last year we decided to have that mid-year legislative breakfast um our legislature current legislative priorities were discussed in the policy committee meeting because they'll be presented on july 15th last week after much discussion the committee chose to recommend no changes to this document you see on the board prior to next week's breakfast the issue that was there were issues that were discussed the issue discussed in depth

[00:47:47] was whether to include collective bargaining as a priority if you'll recall the board chose to adopt by a vote of five to five to two margin this past spring on a resolution indicating that the division will not at this time engage in the collective bargaining process we discussed whether to add language to our priorities indicating that we either do not support legislation establishing or expanding collective bargaining that we support legislation that allocates dedicated funding to collective bargaining support legislation that maintains local control for

[00:48:20] public school divisions or to leave the legislative priorities as is an update or modify them for the November joint breakfast we came together as the committee and felt that the resolution just passed concerning collective bargaining adequately explains the division's current thinking on collective bargaining and we did not feel it needed to be addressed in the document at this time in addition we struggled to identify which foundational pillar of the strategic plan collective bargaining would fall under and how to add it without making major adjustments to the

[00:48:59] document itself and to explain in a little bit more detail our legislative breakfast is in a week if we were to make changes to this document we would need to make those changes agree as a board on those changes and vote on them before we could present them at the legislative breakfast there really isn't enough time for us to do an adequate job of modifying editing or updating the document in a little bit more than a week we would do a great disservice to our school division

[00:49:37] to the city council and to our legislators if we cobbled something together very very quickly but moving forward it is recommended that we address legislative priorities at our summer retreat thank you to Ms Brescia for bringing that up when we spoke I don't know when we spoke about it but we did speak about it that we really should start thinking about this at our summer retreat I'd like to further expand on that idea by suggesting we begin the discussion on legislative legislative priorities at a spring work session with the goal of finalizing them at the retreat

[00:50:14] so we are not facing a need to make changes at the last possible minute. Any questions on that?

[00:50:32] I guess mine's not a question either, but I think we've made a lot of progress. And just to fill in some details, last year when we met in the summer for legislative priorities, I believe the agenda was that we would hear from our legislators what their priorities were, and then we would give them our priorities in November.

[00:50:53] You know, we've come a long way. We understand if we want to have our voices be heard, we really do need to have our legislative priorities ready in the summer. So, you know, I guess my only request is I'd like to move to a twice-a-year update so that we will be ready next year.

[00:51:15] But, you know, I would have liked, and I know there wasn't enough time. I come up with these ideas at the last minute. But to see some kind of a rework on this, just so we're not handing people that are watching the same exact document. I mean, I wasn't asking necessarily for content to be changed, but, you know, we go from one format to another, something that just looks a little bit fresh.

[00:51:38] So I like our idea. I like our timing. We're getting there. We're making a lot of progress. We're, you know, we've moved a long way in a short amount of time. But that would be my only request is just that one time a year would be maybe a brochure, a foldable brochure, same content or an opportunity to update just the slightest amount in November then would be an updated legislative priority pamphlet, something like that.

[00:52:05] Yeah, and I think if we're presenting our legislative priorities in the summer, we can talk about how we can further that discussion in November, because in November, we're getting close to sending our legislators to Richmond. All of the bills need to be submitted by the end of November, and that's when they start having their conversations with each other in the different committees.

[00:52:28] And I haven't figured out exactly how that's going to look, but how we can take that November meeting to really further and really drive home what our priorities are because when we just had that November legislative breakfast we were missing a golden opportunity and we were just paying lip service to what our school division needs to be successful that's right so I think that this is an evolving plan it's an evolving idea and I look forward to hearing from what everyone has to say and I also believe very firmly that on legislative priorities this is something

[00:53:03] that should not just be developed by committee of three it needs the input from all seven board members to have enough perspectives to properly identify what we need from our legislators in Richmond and I feel we would do a disservice if we as a committee of three came up with legislator priorities put it all together and then presented it to the rest of you and it didn't reflect what you feel is important it needs to reflect what we all feel is important so that's

[00:53:38] why i think it would be best to start it off at a work session and then finalize at the retreat and it's something that we don't want to rush to get done it's something we want to be thoughtful and we want to be intentional to make it the strongest document we can to drive home who we are and what we need just one last thing i would also like to um strongly suggest that we use um Especially because we are in a joint session, but that we take advantage of any opportunity we can manufacture to speak with the shared lobbyists that we have.

[00:54:14] Yes. Because he is out there, and he does show up to these events. And so I think that we should make our voices heard that way as well. I didn't hear. We have a shared lobbyist with the city. And we need to utilize him to our benefit.

[00:54:36] Thank you. I didn't hear anyone smiles I would just say I agree with Miss Stevens I think that we should take a work session just to focus on it not do anything else and just make sure we're all on the same page and and definitely refreshing it I'm like miss Paul said as well so anything else on policies or policy work of the committee believe it or not that's it well you guys have been working on very hard and we appreciate the work that you have done and the committee and I want to say that we got this all done in two and a half hours so we can get us on

[00:55:10] good talking there all right all right moving along in our agenda next up under student achievement we have virtual Virginia Academy Virginia Virtual Academy pardon me and miss Suzanne Sloan is here with us this evening thank you madam chair dr. Newman staff other board members it's a pleasure to be back in front of you again thank you very much I appreciate the questions I did receive some questions and responded to each i don't think i missed any um but i i responded to those

[00:55:44] and when i said when when we have an agreement together i can give you um digital copies of all of our student handbook our high school handbook our teacher handbook all of that but nobody said i couldn't bring hard copies so i checked with my people here so i have some if anybody wants to see them later just our handbook and policies it's a public school it's an online public school so So clearly we have to follow the same policies that you do as the Virginia Department of Education puts forward.

[00:56:12] Two and a half hours, by the way, on policy, I am impressed. As Vice Chair, I served as Vice Chair two of my four years in the first term and two in the second term, and that takes significant time to look at those policies.

[00:56:27] So I appreciate all of your hard work on that. I am happy to open the deck again to look at what I shared with you last time. I'm happy to respond to individual questions. anything that you have and that would be something that would be helpful towards getting an agreement we look forward to working with Manassas City Schools and as you know I'd love to be here so thank you for inviting me back questions or comments from Miss Sloan Miss Stevens thank you for answering our questions I read through your answers today I didn't have a chance to click on all the links students who are out of district to apply to VAVA can be from

[00:57:03] anywhere in the state that's good my question for you is you know we're a 10 square mile division so we're very close to our Prince William County and our Manassas Park and even our Fairfax County neighbors what if we have students in one of the surrounding divisions who are homeschooled who want to do VAVA but only want to do it through MCPS is there a way they can guarantee which school division they'll be linked with so the Virginia Virtual Academy students don't necessarily associate with an individual division as I mentioned Judy

[00:57:41] we have nine school divisions that take out of division students and we work with 21 so let me give you an example of one like Bristol City for example they just have their own Bristol City students who attend the school division they don't take any students out of division the reason why they do not is because they don't have the state funding can't remember which one of you asked me that question how does the school division how are you able to do this it's based on funding formula and LCI but they don't have the capacity and they don't have the state funding to be able to support the the partnership so your your basic question is asking if a Prince William County student a parent

[00:58:20] decides I really want to do full-time online school and they want to join the Virginia Virtual Academy they're a member of the they're a student in the Virginia Virtual Academy they may be on the power school roster of Manasseh City they may be on Radford City they may be on Patrick County they may be right because Virginia Virtual Academy encompasses all students.

[00:58:39] In your brick-and-mortar buildings, if a Prince William County student wanted to come and attend school at Weems Elementary, you would have to go through superintendent approval, and you may, I don't know if you do this, but we did in Fauquier, you may charge a fee for out-of-division students.

[00:58:56] That's what we did in Fauquier County. I think we only had about 25 students who wanted to come. Fauquier is an enormous county compared to Monassah City in terms of geography right 10 miles across when I was teaching at Weems I think I think pretty much every student in my class was a walker I had maybe two that rode the bus so very everybody lived just right there within the school division but any student can apply as long as they have completed all the enrollment documents required same enrollment documents that would be for a traditional school and if they meet your eligibility requirements we have suggested eligibility requirements I did send a link to that and it is on the

[00:59:34] website for you to see we talked about no not every student succeeds in an online setting so we put some eligibility requirements together you know some of the school division superintendent said oh I'm not sure I'm going to do that then they looked at and said no that actually makes perfect sense this seems like a group of students that maybe would we would want to have some requirements around so as long as they met those requirements miss Stevens they could be a member of the Virginia Virtual Academy and could be a a student with us. So, and I'm trying to picture this in my head, so a VAVA student who's part,

[01:00:14] who becomes an MCPS VAVA student, when they're in synchronous learning, can they be with VAVA students from all around the state, or will it just, so it could be any of them? All students together. Okay. Yes, we don't put, you know, all eighth grade students who live in, you know, Manassas or surrounding counties in one particular class. Yep, the whole Commonwealth. So how do you determine which students who are out of district come to NCPS for VAVA? So as you might know enrollment started March 15th so students started to come in and apply we also have students who are returning who are saying I want to come back I'm a seventh grader I'd like to be in eighth

[01:00:53] grade next year so we started filling those seats with current student partners VAVA partners right so if there were students in third grade let's say in Patrick County in good standing they wanted to come back and they're in fourth grade they're now in Patrick County fourth grade so we filled those seats for those school divisions that we already have partnerships with we have now begun what I refer to last time as a wait list we have more student applicants than we have seats for hence why I'm here so yes that's that's how we would do that so that they've started to come in July 1st kind of is our what we call change over time we take our seniors out who've

[01:01:30] graduated we take families maybe who have moved families who are no longer longer interested in having their students attend the online academy those students are we call it a mass withdrawal so we take all of those students out leaving the seats open for the next group of students who are trying to apply so we've had a heavy application process and students are awaiting a seat right now those students would come to you mrs. Paul we do not we

[01:02:07] do not have that many right now that's your capacity that's how many I would not recommend that. If you said let's take 3,300 in year one, I might caution you to start a little bit slower. Exactly. Yes, I think we're at almost 1250, 1280 maybe. It was like ticking up as I was asking the question today. So yeah, this is high time for students making their decision in middle

[01:02:45] of July. It's a really good time for parents to start enrolling. Plus it gives them the time to come in and do our learning coach training, because we want the adults to be really involved in what we're doing as well, which is kind of a strength of the program. If you're interested in taking as many students as we have on the wait list, we would love to start enrolling them as soon as you would allow us to.

[01:03:11] So we would enroll them right in. You are in complete control. You can say which grade levels you would like. You can say the eligibility requirements. You can say I'd like stricter requirements than that. You can say I'd like more lenient requirements than that.

[01:03:28] Yes, it's your program, and you're completely in charge of enrollment. Ms. Miles. So as far as calendar, what calendar do you guys follow? Do you follow our calendar? Yep, and we have the calendar, and it's actually in here, and I think you are the lucky people. Yours is almost identical, like first day of school, last day of school is nearly identical.

[01:03:47] As you may know, some of the Southwest schools start earlier than you start in Manassas, and some of them finish a little earlier. We try to take something in between, but the students have, you know, they can work 24-7. So once school starts, they can be working on the weekend. They can be working on holidays.

[01:04:04] They can work, you know, days that you have a school holiday. They can be working. And I know you answered this question for me, but I would like for you to reiterate this again. We know that we can take over 3,000 students, correct?

[01:04:19] How is that possible, and why are we, out of all the northern Virginia districts, the one that you came to? Yes, and hopefully my explanation made sense, but it follows the funding formula. We have a consultant from the Virginia Department of Education who's worked in the finance field there for 23 years.

[01:04:40] She is smarter than I aim to ever understand about the funding formula. We'll be on conversations with people, sometimes in other states, who are saying, oh my gosh, this Virginia funding formula is wildly complicated. I don't know if anybody remembers Kent Dickey who just stepped down.

[01:04:57] She trained Kent Dickey. So this is a very, very wise consultant. She takes your LCI and she uses the funding formula and does a match as she adds 100 students, 200 students, 300 students. What she's trying to do is never get to a point where your local funding would have to kick in because you would never want to be sitting here as a board member telling people in Manassas City that they're paying for students in another locality, right?

[01:05:25] So it's the state funding that's following wherever the student is coming to Manassas city and she gives us the names of those schools and counties and it changes every year you know a little bit this one's in now this one's out none of our current partners are able to take more students they're at their capacity that's why we have so many seats open you are one of only two in northern virginia that has the capacity and the state funding that fits into what we call kind of sweet spot right can't really pay for the program if your state funding is under about 7500 you

[01:06:01] might want to be a partner with us but if you could only take 50 students that might not be worth doing taking you know 50 students at a time so we try to look at localities that can take at least 400 students and then are above 7500 in state funding so you're right right at that level so we have a list of 25 i think i told you last time i have you know my list from my boss telling me. These are the ones we should be going to, and, you know, Manassas City is my favorite, so that I can say that out loud, and that's okay. Anyone else to my right? To my left, Mrs. Brescia.

[01:06:38] So I have a question that is maybe more for us, or maybe also for you. When I was going through, I went to School Quality Profile and was looking at some of the divisions that you're partnering with, and most of them seem to, the ones that seem to take out of district students, it's kind of funny when you look at their enrollment, because, you know, there will be 100 kids in seventh grade in 2022 and then in 2023 there's 450 kids in seventh grade in you know at a specific but it's like the school it's like you know buchanan middle school or something i don't know i'm just pulling buchanan out of the air i don't remember which one it was but that is not what how

[01:07:14] we are going to be structuring it when we when in the future you know if we have this go through and the school year goes comes to pass someone will look at school quality profile and they will see 10 schools instead of nine. And so I wanted to get it on the record as to why we're doing it that way. That's the recommended best practice, but that's certainly up to you. So there are two options. One is to make a separate school, which is the one that we are recommending as staff. The other would be to take those students and funnel them into our current nine schools. When I look

[01:07:49] at how we look at our data, how we prepare for our students that are in person, I think mixing the would interfere with that process so I want Virginia virtual of Manassas to be over here by themselves so we can look at that data by itself and then have our nine schools that we currently have in person to focus on that data I mean that makes perfect sense to me it does occur to me that part of what we are hoping for with Vava is to help staff already get instructional services for our

[01:08:24] alternative program so those students are will no longer be affiliated with their base school they will be moved on to they will count as Manassas Virtual Academy students and if it's part way through the year you're just wherever you spend more than 50% of your time is where you know different than when kids transfer in and out yeah if you are placed out if you are placed from you know Baldwin intermediate into our alternative program you are no longer a

[01:09:02] Baldwin intermediate student you are a Manassas virtual Academy student I'm under in the understanding that great so sure we are asking what would be willing to wave second reading for the reason from talking to miss Sloan and her staff if we want those students to start on time we would need to start making the adjustments into our power school and getting those kids enrolled so we would like for

[01:09:36] you to wave second reading so we can move forward if that is the board's wishes yes um so dr newman what do we need on our end as far as staffing is concerned to begin vava what do we need for on our end do we need any staffing changes or additions well that's yes and no yes when we

[01:10:09] start doing the alternative if approved by the council then through us yes that's going to cost a lift for us okay as far as the agreement we would work with virginia virtual academy on how we would start the enrollment process for those students and so i i'm i'm assuming but you know we know we shouldn't make assumptions we would start vava general ed academy and then start alternative yes we would not be able to just because we don't have an alternative

[01:10:47] program currently right um so our focus would be with the students um i think it's 48 now i think it was 57 before but there'll be 48 that are current manassas residents that we would have to get into our system and then the out of district we would have to get in through the virginia virtual academy of manassas and our team is at the ready So moving them in, it would be a matter of just allowing us to work with your power school.

[01:11:19] Whoever has power school access, who is your person that enrolls students. If a student walked into a reception area tomorrow and wanted to enroll in Manassas City schools, it's the same, putting them into the power school. It's a very quick process.

[01:11:38] This might be a Dr. Neiman question also, but will we be, like, logoing and launching this school? I don't know. you know is the newspaper gonna say Manasseh City is happy to host its 10th school the Virginia Virtual Academy we can go as far as you want with advertising it is not it was not our goal to advertise this as a 10th school okay but it is an option okay I mean maybe we can discuss the merits of that

[01:12:16] offline um chair I move I wanted to say something before we sure yeah and a couple other so I know we have like say a student doesn't qualify for a homebound instruction is probably a question for you dr. Newman doesn't qualify for homebound because they don't have a 504 an IEP but the traditional school setting is not working for them it would this be an option that we would offer to them or would this this is another pathway that we could use okay great

[01:12:52] and then the other question what would prevent current students and families once they do find this out from them pulling their children out of their brick-and-border school and saying oh we're enrolling right like this has been the option we've been looking for like students and parents who choose to do that and we hope certainly that some parents do that Vanessa City residents who want to join you this program need to have superintendent approval I pulled numbers this morning just to check and I had been saying about 1% and I was so proud of myself that it was almost to the decimal point just to use as an

[01:13:29] example for the last five years we've been partnered with all schools in region 7 if you totaled all school-aged children who are attending and who are homeschooling attending I took out the homeschool because I made sure I did that anyone attending the region 7 schools there are 49,514 students who are attend all of region 7 schools all totaled they have 483 total students so I was almost like to the decimal you know 15 years of data less than 1% of students it really we have not seen the mass exodus but I do hope some students

[01:14:07] find this to be a great opportunity and some of the students who are in Manasseh City would make the decision to enroll choose to put my child in VAVA. Will my child be guaranteed to be in the same in VAVA through the same division every year or is it possible that every year it will change? There may be a change there are certain school divisions that only take certain grade levels there's we as for example we put all of our high school students in one it's it's just easier at this point we now don't have

[01:14:47] enough seats so we need more seats for high school so hopefully we can talk about grade levels some divisions like to start K through 8 some like to start K through 10 some like to you know maybe not just put juniors and seniors in yet you may have some different decisions because you're going to be putting some alternative ed students in but it it is entirely possible that you would stay the whole time with the same school division if they were a K through 12 for example I had a student who walked the stage I think I was telling you last time in May who had been with Baba from kindergarten graduated in 12th grade and moved up each time. So they graduated with a Radford City public school diploma with a transcript from the

[01:15:23] Virginia Virtual Academy and been in the same division the whole time. So it's possible for a child because my concern would be you know as a parent my child being in VAVA but technically being in different school divisions year over year over year because it does tend to get a little bit confusing and and I would imagine although it's virtual that may be kind of stressful. The transcript is the same, whichever division you are. It's the Virginia Virtual Academy transcript, which is approved by the Virginia Department of Education. Where it, you know, stands out to you, which division you're in, is when you're graduating. Right. And there's your

[01:16:01] diploma. For clarification though, if a student lives in Manassas City, they are Manassas City. Absolutely. 100%. All of those students, when the agreement is signed or when you all agree the first thing we would do is move the students who are currently residing in Manassas City who are on different rosters back to you and I think we talked through I think there was even a slide on that the revenue comes back the state funding returns to you any other questions seeing and hearing none Ms. Spall do you have a chair I move that we waive second

[01:16:40] reading and execute and enter into the contract for the 2025 2026 school year with the virtual Virginia Academy powered by K-12. Second. I have a motion by Mrs. Spall, seconded by Mrs. Brescia, that the school board waive second reading and execute and enter into an agreement with K-12 Virtual Schools, LLC, for educational products and services.

[01:17:14] Is it for the 25-26 year? Oh, 26. Wait, 25-26. Yes. Where am I? So it's year by year. Okay. is there any discussion quick question for dr newman what grade levels would be will we be offering that has not been decided we have to do that as a group i can give you numbers too that might be helpful too miss miles um i just have a statement um i want to first i want to first off thank dr newman and mr kefeller for bringing this idea to the board i'm excited about a few things

[01:17:52] about vava and what it will do for our school district first it will give parents another school option than our brick-and-mortar school without having to move it may give a student who's struggling in a traditional setting a chance at an on-time graduation it will bring in a significant amount of revenue that we can hopefully use to take care of some of our school board priorities that are currently not in our budget like ensuring students continue to receive free breakfast and lunch no matter our political climate hiring more of our critical needs staff and among other things listed on our unfunded priority list. So I definitely agree with doing this. Thank you. Well said Ms. Miles. Any further

[01:18:30] discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries 7-0. We look forward to working with you. Very nice. I look forward to working with you as well. Would you like me to leave these with Rick? Thank you. Okay. Moving along to our next item on the discussion agenda is facilities and maintenance. And we will get an update from Mr. Gefeller on

[01:18:54] the Osborne connector. Good evening Chair Seberg, Vice Chair Spall, Dr. Newman and members of the board. Tonight I want to give an update on the Osborne connector and so before I do that I want to just give a brief history of kind of where we got or where we came from and to where we are now.

[01:19:27] Back in 2022 Dr. Newman initiated conversations about adding the connector at Osborne High School to provide another layer of safety for our students and staff as a transition between the main building and the Johnson Learning Center. The school board included that and budgeted $3.2 million on our capital improvement plan.

[01:19:51] And then after recently, this year, our final bids that we received, including a tendency allowance and a modification add-on for the construction, the approved budget is $3,032,000. So that came in under our initial allocation, so we are happy about that.

[01:20:11] Our architect is RRMM, and the general contractor is R.J. Crowley. So I want to share just kind of a timeline of we got started. You all approved, the board approved the notice to proceed in April of 2025.

[01:20:31] We gave the contract mobilization, began in May, and you will see that if you are over to Osborne that we have already begun construction, we began construction as soon as we gave the notice to proceed.

[01:20:49] In November is when the product is to be substantially completed, and then with the final completion in December of 2025. Just to show you some, currently this is no longer there, this is what it looked like prior to uh the demolition this is the covered walkway that connects the main building to the johnson learning center and this is what happened shortly after our notice to proceed the site work began demolitioning the uh the covered walkway at the end of the school year we had some significant

[01:21:27] utility work that needs to be done with the parking lot and so there's that has already been taking place they've already began to pour the footers for the new foundation for the new connector the addition and the final rendering is this is what it will look like it will match and blend in beautifully with the main building and will connect so for the first time we will have a fully connected campus of the main building to the johnson learning center and just in closing just want to say that this project you know reflects our long-standing commitment to student safety responsible budget management and campus improvement and as i always get asked this

[01:22:07] product is on time and is on budget so i'm happy to answer any questions questions for mr confeller mrs stevens quick question um the project is scheduled to be complete in december 2025. if i recall correctly there will be instructional spaces within that area when will osborne start using that space once construction is done i wouldn't say they're instructional spaces per say they're they're more office size spaces or small conference rooms um and if you look inside

[01:22:40] you will see um they will be uh varying sizes i think there are four of them but they in december they will be fully functional and operational and then i did just want to say i remember when the johnson learning center was our alt ed building and i remember when it was our freshman academy me and I remember when we didn't know what to do with it so I not just for safety sake but for that continuity I don't even know what the word is right now I'm so tired continuity thank you connecting the two I think is a great idea and it's going to provide a level of security we

[01:23:20] haven't always had when our students go back and forth between the buildings anyone else mrs. pressure I would just like one correction you said on time and on budget it's technically on time and under under budget yes anyone else yep I just want to say this is a really big step for us a lot of us campaigned on safety for our students you know I also remember when this building was built when it wasn't built out on the second floor when we didn't have a covered walkway and you know it's it's been unsafe for a long time and this is a really really big deal

[01:23:59] and you know for us to have appropriated money in 2022 and it's finally happening maybe by 2026 um is it should be a point of pride for all of us we've done a good thing here mrs presha i just like to correct ms ball it will happen by 2026 he just said on time - December of 2025, for dramatic purposes.

[01:24:25] - Anyone else? All right, well, thank you very much. You also have a update for us on summer projects. - I do. Good evening. I'm pleased to provide an update on the 2025 summer capital improvement and safety projects that are taking place across the school division.

[01:24:44] These projects reflect our ongoing commitment to providing a safe, modern, and supportive learning environment for our students and staff. The work is being managed to minimize disruption and to maximize efficiency while our schools are on summer break. And so I wanna share a few of the products that we are currently undertaking across the division.

[01:25:05] So specific projects, we have Osborne High School is our phase two of our roof replacement. And if you drive by, you will see that taking place. This is a continuation of our multi-phase roof replacement project at Osborne High School.

[01:25:21] Phase two addresses the ongoing issue with our aging roof to prevent future maintenance issues and provide the integrity of our facility. At Mets Middle School, we have our multi-phase, phase one of our restroom refresh.

[01:25:40] We're beginning in the CTE wing. We are updating the restrooms in the CTE wing to ensure accessibility, cleanliness, and to modernize those for our students. At Hayden Elementary School, we have a hallway flooring replacement.

[01:25:58] The replacing of the hallway flooring is going to be with durable and easier to maintain materials that are currently there. We're also leveraging, we have a security camera update that's happening and that is leveraging grant funding that we received from the Virginia Department of Education in the amount of $250,000 that we had to put a 25% match to.

[01:26:22] And so that is upgrading the cameras at Hayden Elementary School. And then at Round, the window product, the window replacements were not a summer product. They were done in winter break, but we had to do some things with them with the roller shade installation.

[01:26:38] And so we said we'd throw them on this and show that as an update. And those new windows provide with more energy efficient windows to improve insulation, reduce utility costs, and enhance our classroom. And so just some pictures that you see here.

[01:26:56] This is our roof replacement. Front-facing windows around. Did everyone get window shades? Yes. The roller shades are on all of the windows. This is our roof at the high school.

[01:27:15] And so you can see some before and after pictures that are happening. Our Mets middle school bathrooms that we are looks very different today than it was a week ago. But you can see the need for a refresh in that bathroom.

[01:27:32] Our Hayden Elementary School, the flooring. We did, over winter break last year, we did the cafeteria, and now work continuation through, due to some supply issues, went into the summer. And you can see the flooring there will now match, when it's installed, will match the cafeteria.

[01:27:51] And the security cameras, we've upgraded the security cameras there. We now have coverage in the outside area for the parking lot, which did not previously exist, so we're excited about that. And then Round, just some pictures of our new windows.

[01:28:10] And also, Round also got the same camera system that is going to be installed at Hayden and also the new system that we did last summer at Weems Elementary School. And with that, I just want to say a huge thank you to our maintenance and facilities team led by Mr. Helton.

[01:28:29] They manage these projects in addition to the other things that they do in just regular maintenance and upkeep of our facilities, and so they've done a tremendous job. just thank you for the board for continuing to support these projects so that we can provide the best for our students and our staff absolutely any questions or comments from the board I just want to say I'm so glad to see the window treatments I know the teachers will be happy to see that when school starts we appreciate the progress and please give our regards to mr. Helton and or we will next time we see him and we're doing great things here thank you

[01:29:08] thank you okay rolling right along we're down to school board member comments And I'll go first to Ms. Miles. So I'm going to keep it short and sweet. I hope everyone had a great 4th of July holiday with their friends and family.

[01:29:24] My heart and prayers go out to the families who've been affected by the loss of life in Texas during the flash floods. I can only imagine what these families are going through as they mourn the loss of their children and their family members. Summer is flying fast.

[01:29:41] I know summer school actually ends this week. Can't believe that. but i look forward to visiting the summer school showcase at baldwin and mayfield on thursday morning so i'm excited to to meet some of the students and the teachers that's all i have thank you thank you miss miles dr jones um school reopens in about a month so it's now time to start preparing for the upcoming school year parents i suggest you start to think about establishing routines like earlier bedtimes think about school supplies review materials from the previous school year and look at the curriculum for the upcoming year students it's a perfect time to increase your reading time and start to think about new goals

[01:30:19] for the grade level that you will be starting on August 12th and set some goals for the upcoming year the board voted to enter into partnership with Virginia Virtual Academy tonight and this partnership will provide an additional will provide additional resources to our students and also serve other students in the state so continue to enjoy your summer and take advantage of all activities available in our community thank you dr. Jones we'll go to Thank you, not much to report.

[01:30:51] I look forward to attending the summer showcase with, I suspect, many of you. I did appreciate the opportunity to do my own separate walkthrough of summer school earlier. Thank you for that opportunity. And the only thing I would like to observe is that summer break is ten weeks long.

[01:31:07] And as of tomorrow, we are five weeks in, as Dr. Jones was saying, which means there's five weeks left. Tomorrow is the exact halfway point of summer. point of summer so if there's a if there's something you haven't done yet a memory you haven't made get that in and I'm definitely recommend to start thinking obviously seriously about the school year but we are halfway through and it's incredible we are already here Thank You Mrs. Brescia Miss Brown yes thank you good evening I want to begin my comments by sending a big thank you to the teachers who committed to teaching our students during the summer months I

[01:31:43] appreciate your continued dedication I also want to take a moment to invite Osborne students to Amit, Mengele, Muncha, Sandra, Staqueria, Councilmember Ashley Hudson and I will be there on August 3rd from 2 to 4 to talk to you. So please RSVP by texting 571-364-4067.

[01:32:06] I also want to take a moment this evening to send my heartfelt condolences to the family of former Manassas City student, Edwin Escobar. I'm so deeply sorry for your loss. There are no words that can ease this kind of pain, but please know that you are in my prayers. May your son's memory always be a blessing, and may you find moments of peace, even in the pain.

[01:32:46] Thank you.

[01:33:02] Thank you, Ms. Brown. Mrs. Stevens? Leadership retreat.

[01:34:35] Thank you, Mrs. Stevens, and I appreciate that quote, be happy to share your quote with the leadership team um later this month um and thank you to the

[01:35:10] rest of you that have shared your quotes i appreciate them all and i know some are coming i hope um vice chair spall i really don't have prepared comments for tonight in the spirit of what miss stevens just said i want to thank our entire group for covering so many topics you know prayers for loss, excitement for a new school year, appreciation for staff and volunteers, you know. We've got five weeks left. Everybody make the most of it. Thanks. And for my comments, I'd like to thank Ms. Sloan for your presentation and for answering all our questions so promptly

[01:35:47] and for the other presentations that updated us and for getting through all the policy work, or part of it anyway, discussion of it. And Manassas City Public Schools has had a very productive summer and for those that are on break I really hope I really hope that you're enjoying every moment of relaxation joy and replenishment thank you and good night I have a motion chair yes chair I move the school board meeting adjourn I have a motion by mrs. Stevens second by dr. Jones that the

[01:36:25] school board meeting adjourn is there any discussion all in favor any opposed the motion carries 7-0 we are adjourned thank you

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