Coraggio Consulting
Manassas City School Board Meeting - April 28, 2026

Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Place: Manassas City Public Schools / School Board meeting, Virginia
Length: 1h 27m (video)
Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o17QQtfgIUM

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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[00:00:37] Madam Clerk, could you please call the roll? Yes, ma'am. Chair Spall. Present. Vice Chair Dr. Jones. Here. Mrs. Seabourk. Here. Mrs. Stevens. Present. Mrs. Brescia.

[00:00:53] Present. Ms. Brown. Ms. Miles. Present. Ms. Breeden. Present. Mr. Emun. Here. Thank you. Madam Chair, we have a quorum. Thank you. Dr. Quesada, are there any additions or deletions to the agenda?

[00:01:10] No, ma'am. Is there a motion to approve the public meeting agenda as presented? chair I move that the school board of the city of Manassas approved the public meeting agenda as presented second okay I have a motion by Miss Stevens seconded by Miss Brescia to approve the public meeting agenda is there any discussion all in favor aye any opposed that motion carries 7-0 okay we will now hear the superintendent's announcements and spotlights miss Radford you have the

[00:01:47] floor thank you chair Spall good evening to other members of the board and to everyone that has joined us tonight we do have a couple of spotlights so those that want to join us we can do that now our first spotlight is all about history so GT teacher Amanda Jones is coming to share wonderful news with us about some

[00:02:21] extraordinary students there are about five or six here should I bring them up now or um okay why don't you guys so if you're one of my students can you come up and stand over here so everybody can see you and can you come with them too please so um i've been doing national

[00:02:56] history day for i guess like about five years or so now um why don't you guys stand over there so everybody can see you with the school board members they're not scary i promise they're nice and this has been our biggest year ever for the first time i have another teacher helping me which is miss kurtz she's another teacher at mayfield she's wonderful and so we have um this year i think we had like 55 kids um that that went to national history day to the regional competition um in fairfax on may uh no sorry it was march 7th and we had um let's see we

[00:03:33] had a group win for group or for group performance for fifth grade we had um two we had first and and second place for individual group performance for fifth grade. And then for sixth grade we had two students who won third place in group documentary, which is the first time that we've ever had that.

[00:03:53] And then I had a group of five seventh grade girls who placed third in group performance. And so I'm really proud of all of them. And then we all, we went to state this past weekend and they all performed there, which was amazing and really brave. We went to Richmond and they performed in front of judges and answered questions, and one of them, Rosemary, won first place for the state for elementary, individual elementary performance for like a play that she, a one-person play that she wrote herself about the Radium Girls and stood up and read.

[00:04:25] And so that was amazing. And if she were in sixth grade, she would get to go on to nationals, but fifth grade just stops at state. So she has gone as high as she can go with this, but it will be very exciting to see what all of them will do next year.

[00:04:44] So, and this is Kimberly and Karen, who are two of my fifth grade group performance members. They did a play about the printing press, history of the printing press. And this is Kaylin, who is one of my seventh graders, and they did a play about the Japanese internment camps that, again, they wrote themselves, directed props, everything 100% by themselves.

[00:05:05] So I just wanted to give them a chance to get recognized, and we can't wait to see what they'll do next year. And that's it.

[00:06:07] - That is amazing. I love when our students are able to have those type of experiences and outcomes. So for some of you, as you approach City Hall, you saw some exciting and innovative activity happening in the parking lot. Mr. Leonard Newman, who serves as the advisor for the Osborne High School Robotics Team is here to tell us about the program and some of their accomplishments for this season.

[00:06:41] - Good evening Chair Spall, Dr. Quesada and school board. I'm pleased to speak with you this evening about the Osborne High School Robotics Team. At competitions, I'm not allowed to speak with the judges to tell them about the amazing work that they do all year. So tonight is my opportunity to talk about them and everything that they've accomplished this year.

[00:06:59] We are proud of the fact that this is a student-led program with the students making many of the major decisions. The Osmond Robotics team participates in two different robotics platforms, the VEX V5 Robotics Competition and FIRST Robotics Competition. They each have separate challenges and run on separate calendars.

[00:07:17] We work year-round, and I hear rumors of summer work that they're already trying to figure out what to do over the summer. And I'm proud to announce that throughout the year across both platforms, we've had over 50 students participate with Osmond Robotics. For the past three years, Osborn has submitted a portfolio to the VHSL as part of their robotics evaluation program.

[00:07:37] There are three ratings that schools can earn: trophy class, first class, and second class. We have received a rating of first class for the past two school years, and we will be submitting this year's portfolio before the end of this school year. Thank you to Osborn.

[00:07:57] Thank you to Osborn's activities director, Mr. Ellenberger, and his staff for including us and the other academic activities in this year's winter sports picture schedule. We are also grateful for their assistance in arranging bus transportation for all of the first team's competitions. Many of the other high schools in Virginia do not get the level of support from their activities and athletics department as we do here at Osborne.

[00:08:19] Before continuing, I would also like to thank our sponsors. We have a business team that assists with making contact with past and potential sponsors. These sponsors, along with financial support from Monasca City Public Schools, allow both robotics programs to continue competing at a high level, providing funding for everything from competitions to purchasing supplies.

[00:08:41] Last summer, the robotics team hosted a summer camp for 10 students in grades two through five. We used the VEXGO robotics platform that was donated to us several years ago from Lockheed Martin. The students built robots and completed challenges modeled after the Mars mission.

[00:08:57] We are still working on potential summer camp plans for this year and we will notify everyone as soon as the details have been set. We also used those VEXGO robots as part of a robotics demo at this past year's Fall Jubilee in downtown Manassas, and last week at Hayden Elementary's Innovation Night.

[00:09:15] Once the school year began, the team began training new team members on the processes that we used throughout the season. Student leaders taught how to safely use various shop tools and machines, learned how to CAD robot parts, learned the Python programming language, and continue to expand our fundraising and outreach efforts.

[00:09:33] Adult mentors worked alongside students throughout the process. In September, members of the team participated in the one-day off-season Chesapeake Robotics Icebreaker Competition at Hayfield Secondary School. This was an important off-season competition because almost our entire drive team graduated last school year, and this year's group had never experienced a first robotics competition from behind the drive station.

[00:09:57] The team finished the qualification round in ninth place and was the captain of the six-seeded alliance in the tournament. Also during the off-season, the team began the process of converting to a swerve drive system. Most of the rest of the veteran-first robotics world had already converted over, but we were a little behind the curve.

[00:10:17] Thanks to Manassas City Public Schools, we were able to purchase it for this year and spent the fall off-season assembling, wiring, programming, and testing the swerve drive in preparation for this season's competition. Also during the off-season, I gave the team what they thought was a crazy idea of putting a Christmas tree on a robot.

[00:10:37] For those that have known me through the years, know that I've done this robot Christmas tree in various forms during my time at Mets and Osborne. I wanted them to teach each other the various skills needed for the upcoming season, but in a fun way. The plan was to take the tree up to the Santa Lights Manassas event in December, but due to weather conditions, it could not make the trip.

[00:10:57] However, the robot did take a trip around the commons area during Osborne's annual Holiday Fest concert. By the way, I don't know if the kids know this, but I did name the robot. The robot's name is C-Tree Pio. But there's more to come about this tree in just a moment.

[00:11:15] While all the off-season work was happening with FIRST, we also had another program that was in the middle of their season. The VEX Robotics teams were designing, building, programming, and testing their robots in preparation for the competition Pushback, where teams scored balls in scoring troughs and tried to possess those troughs based on ball placement.

[00:11:35] The VEX teams competed locally at the Seton School, Gainesville High School, Potomac Middle School, and the Knights of Columbus Hall. We saw incredible growth with the teams over the course of the season, including the use of sensors and other more complex building methods. Remember earlier when I said that robotics is a year-round activity?

[00:11:54] The new VEX season has just begun, and the announcement of the new game was this past weekend. This year's game is called Override and involves stacking pens and cups with several other challenges that could change the score in an instant by toggling a cylinder that's on the field.

[00:12:11] So back to first. On January 10th, the first robotics competition season officially began with kickoff, we learned about this year's challenge, which was titled Rebuilt. In Rebuilt, robots needed to shoot balls, which are called fuel, into the large hubs in the middle of the field, but they could only be scored during certain periods of time. After the reveal, this team spent the remainder of the afternoon diving into the game manual and brainstorming ideas. They spent the next eight weeks prototyping, building, testing, rebuilding, testing, rebuilding, testing, wiring, programming, and more testing to prepare for this season's challenge.

[00:12:51] After the first few weeks of, sorry, after the first few weeks as decisions are made, you really start to see the robot coming together until we get to the final design. And at this point, I would like to invite them to bring the robot in and up to the front.

[00:13:08] It's not going to fire off in here because if you saw it outside, these, this robot shoots the fuel about ten feet into the air and i don't want to ruin the tiles in here it actually surprised me one time it shot over our

[00:13:25] hvac system in um the makerspace slowly coming in yeah go ahead right so this is the final robot

[00:13:59] design it's it's taken a few um hits over the course of the season but once the build season is complete we move on to competitions osborne is a member of the first chesapeake district and and competes against other teams from across Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia.

[00:14:17] This season, we competed at Hayfield Secondary School in Alexandria, Hickory High School in Chesapeake, and the first Chesapeake District Championship at Virginia State University in Petersburg, marking the fifth straight season that we attended the District Championship.

[00:14:34] Now I'm gonna invite the rest of the team to go ahead and come on up. Earlier, I thanked the sponsors in our activities and athletics office, but there are a lot more people that need to also be thanked.

[00:14:53] Thank you to Manassas City Public Schools, to our central office, Osborne High School for assisting with the financial side of the program. Thank you to Osborne's administration and staff for their continued interest and support of the team. Thank you to Osborne's custodial staff for their support and understanding, especially on those late evenings.

[00:15:11] Thank you to the Manassas City Transportation staff, especially for those long trips that we take. And a huge thank you to our robotics parents and families. One of our mentors, Mr. Ortega, mentioned to the team last week that we've had the greatest parent support this year than we've ever had.

[00:15:26] And in 15 years of working between Mets and Osborne, I can second that. They've provided meals and snacks at the Makerspace and at competitions, assisted with transportation, made last minute runs to the store to pick up supplies, cheered in the stands when things were going well and when things weren't going so well, and have always been there when we need it.

[00:15:46] Their support does not go unnoticed, and we hope to continue increasing the parent and community support in future years. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to visit this evening.

[00:16:02] Hopefully you were able to see the robot this evening before coming into City Hall. We also plan to have the robot on display at our final Texas Roadhouse fundraiser on May 7th and at the GT Symposium on May 20th.

[00:16:19] Oh, wait, I did forget something. Remember I mentioned that Christmas tree robot? So that Christmas tree robot won us an award at the Chesapeake Competition, the Judge's Award for Community Spirit for that Christmas tree.

[00:16:36] yes this is wonderful chair Spall due to a scheduling conflict our SCA and

[00:18:09] speech and debate Club couldn't be here tonight so we'll hope to get them on at a future meeting okay thank you this concludes our spotlights for tonight

[00:18:19] thank you and we will now move to board committee reports are there chair this policy committee meet the policy committee met on Monday April 27th to

[00:18:55] discuss a total of 43 policy update recommendations from the VSBA of the 43 updates reviewed six require additional discussion to clarify questions or concerns raised during the meeting the new Recess policy policy IAC was discussed and will be placed on the discussion agenda in May in May Along with 36 other policy updates committee agreed did not require further discussion The policy committee will work to identify a mutually agreed upon date to further discuss the six policies requiring

[00:19:27] Additional review the policies that do not require a review will be a part of the discussion agenda at our next regular school board meeting Thank you very much. That was a robust discussion last night. We appreciate your work I don't think there are any other committees that are reporting out tonight. The board development committee is meeting tomorrow Okay, so next next session. Thank you. At this time We welcome members of the public who wish to speak about services policies and affairs of the city of Manassas public schools because we have an agenda to complete we ask that the comments be limited to three minutes we appreciate the time you've taken to be here we treat public

[00:20:06] comments as a public hearing and 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 please do be respectful when presenting your comments and the person that I have signed up right now is Shaniqua Williams greetings school board of Manassas my name is Shaniqua Williams and tonight I would like to discuss how words are defined in the dictionary. The first word I would like to define

[00:20:42] is fact. A fact is defined as a statement, occurrence, or piece of information that's known to be true, has been proven, or can be verified through objective evidence. For example, it is a fact that I had a conversation with Chairwoman Spall via Facebook on March 30th. The second word I would like to define is collaboration. Collaboration is defined as the process of two or more individuals or organizations working together.

[00:21:13] So I would like to pause here to identify how these two words intersect. On March 30th, Chairwoman Spall and I interacted on Facebook, where she referenced that she values collaboration. I asked her a question, how does she define collaboration, especially when perspectives differ?

[00:21:31] Her response was, true collaboration means engaging in good faith dialogue, where listening and compromise are part of the process. Sounds good, but let's look at the facts. Chairwoman's Ball was one of the votes who chose not to move the calendar conversation out of the school board work session and into a meeting like this, where a larger conversation could take place and where community members and employees could provide meaningful public comment on record.

[00:22:01] This is particularly important as employees and community members have expressed concerns that next year's spring break does not align with surrounding Northern Virginia districts. Ms. Ball has often stated that she values collaboration and on several occasions has emphasized the importance of hearing from members of the community.

[00:22:22] But when given the opportunity to create a space for that collaboration and to hear directly from the community, she voted to not allow it to happen. So the final word I would like for you guys to consider is hypocrisy.

[00:22:38] And in this case, it's when actions do not align with your stated values. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Williams. We will the next item on is the consent agenda these items are considered routine and may be approved by a single motion Unless a board member requests an item be removed for separate discussion. Do I have a motion?

[00:23:03] Chair, I move that the school board of the City of Manassas approve the consent agenda as presented Okay, I have a motion by Miss Stevens and seconded by my smiles that the school board of the City of Manassas approve the consent agenda as Presented is there any discussion all in favor any opposed? That is a 7-0 vote. Thank you So we will now move to the discussion and agenda and the first item is facilities and maintenance with Mr. Russ Helton director facilities and maintenance who will provide a update on the construction of the new Jenny Dean elementary school

[00:23:43] Good evening chair Spall vice chair dr. Jones. Oh liquor Roger then I got there you go oh well chair Spall vice chair dr. Jones members of the board dr. Cassata my name is Russ Helton I'm the director of facilities and maintenance tonight I would like to present the March Dean update report for you tonight during the much March you guys visited the school actually and it was raining so you know how important it was for them to start

[00:24:20] closing in the roof that was the major milestone that they were focused on not only in March but the beginning of April so that's the big news that we were We're closing in the schools so we could finish up starting the walls on the first and second floor as well as closing in the classrooms on the second floor of third and fourth grade levels.

[00:24:38] My apologies. The flooring has started, trazzle flooring in the kindergarten wing. And as you can see, the building is starting to come together. So the big construction report, they were talking about the clear story windows that are noticeable from the front of the school. Those are all starting to get sealed in. The mechanical equipment has arrived.

[00:24:54] That's starting to get closed in. We're starting to make way. We have a few pictures. pictures remember this is the back of the school thank you very much any

[00:25:33] questions from the board I will just ask when are we due to be completed on time yes ma'am we are on time and how much money have we spent the right amount okay thank you so much for coming out tonight next I believe under student achievement we will be hearing from miss Erica Loesch director of special education and related services who will provide an overview of the 2627 professional learning plan thank you for being here so good evening

[00:26:10] chair Spall vice chair Jones members of the board and dr. Cassata I'm actually coming to you in the director of professional learning hat for this one But the purpose of this presentation tonight is to provide an overview of the 2026-27 professional learning plan and to highlight changes based on feedback.

[00:26:32] So tonight I'm going to provide an overview of the August professional week, early release days, as well as professional days. Professional learning truly touches all four pillars of our strategic plan and it is a strategic priority for pillar three quality workforce.

[00:26:51] is best practice for us to reflect and refine throughout the 25-26 school year we received feedback on the professional learning schedule from multiple stakeholders including teachers principals instructional facilitators curriculum and instruction team members and we also made division commitments through the meet and confer process during the 25-26 school year so this current school year schools were provided with flexibility to build their professional week schedules around shared expectations while this flexibility supported school level planning it

[00:27:29] also led to some inconsistencies across schools for the upcoming school year we have an we have intentionally structured and allocated time for each day to ensure greater coherence and balance this structure also provides teachers with longer uninterrupted blocks of time to prepare effectively for the start of the school year. For the 2026-27 school year, three distinct time allocations will be used. First is school-directed time. This time is determined by each school and

[00:28:03] may be used at the school's discretion. Schools have developed professional learning plans aligned to the MCPS strategic plan and their identified areas of focus for the 26-27 school year. teacher directed time is time that will allow students to teachers to engage in planning self-directed collaboration grading and other professional responsibilities and then our third will be division directed time and this is time dedicated to targeted professional learning aligned to the monasas city public school strategic plan priorities as well as our

[00:28:41] division-wide initiatives and so here you can see how this time is allocated for the professional week in august here is a comparison of the time allocations from this year to next year as you can see the amount of time designated as teacher directed has more than doubled which will help them to prepare effectively for the start of the school year with the professional week schedule this year there is a consistent expectation for clt meetings and school directed time across schools

[00:29:17] next year early release days will be designated as 100 teacher directed time these days align with with the end of each quarter and provide teachers with dedicated time to focus on the end of quarter responsibilities and need teachers have requested we address.

[00:29:39] For the 26-27 school year, we will structure our professional learning days differently. School-directed, division-directed, and teacher-directed time will be provided. The structure will provide clarity, predictability, and intentional use of time while balancing division priorities, school needs, and teacher-directed opportunities.

[00:30:03] Here, you can see a comparison between the 25-26 and 26-27 school years. School-directed time has increased by 10 hours, providing additional opportunities for targeted school-specific professional learning, aligned to identified school needs, the MCPS strategic plan, and each school's improvement plan.

[00:30:24] Teacher-directed time has increased by 20 hours, giving teachers more dedicated time for planning, preparation, collaboration, and reflection. The key takeaways from our presentation tonight are that during the 26-27 school year, there is an increased independent planning time, there is an increase in school-directed time, and there is dedicated teacher-directed work time at the end of each quarter.

[00:30:59] As we move into the 26-27 school year, this professional learning plan reflects our collective commitment to intentional growth, coherence, and impact. By balancing division priorities, school-based needs, and protected teacher-directed time, we are creating conditions for meaningful professional learning that directly supports high-quality instruction and student success.

[00:31:22] This plan is not just about how time is allocated, it's about how we invest in our people and strengthen our schools together. Thank you. - Thank you, Ms. Loesch. And to my left.

[00:31:40] - Sorry, that was really quick, so I'm still trying to process. I looked it over beforehand, but I had major questions about the fact that teachers are getting more time, which is great for them to be in the classroom and plan and prepare and everything. But does that mean that the PD has to be very specific because now you're losing as a division time to conduct PDs for them? So our professional learning is always specific and targeted. What we're not doing this year is we are not adding any new initiatives.

[00:32:17] So we are still focused on cooperative learning. We're still focused on behavior support systems inclusive and collaborative learning environments and many more things and a lot of that foundational work has already occurred and so now we are continuing to deepen those practices but also giving that opportunity to schools where there was minimal time previously really allocated to the school level to be able to take that in partnership with others across the division such as curriculum and instruction team members and they can really target and hone in

[00:32:53] using their school directed time in those areas as well okay great and the other question I had was about CLTs I see I guess this past year is built into the school schedule and is inconsistent and now it's saying 2.75 hours is that two or three days a week that they will have see that's just for the professional learning week so sorry no it's okay so that is the August time here and so what that's saying is that 45 minutes each of our instructional facilitators lead the teams in a foundational CLT where that is really

[00:33:32] talking about reminding everybody the purpose establishing roles and just more of the logistical components of like a CLT and then it is also expected that each CLT is meeting for at least two hours during that time so that they can do the work of the CLT and prepare for the start of the school year I say at least because a school may choose to allocate some of their school directed time to additional CLT meetings great I'd like to see also the school year how

[00:34:07] now teachers have more time and the teacher directed is specifically those half days at that they're getting more time to work on report cards or things like that okay and yes and okay the teacher directed time 100% of early release there's also on the professional week you can see that there's teacher directed time specifically allocated as well as on professional days there will be some teacher directed time embedded in those as well okay that's great I think that the changes look really really good the other question I had was

[00:34:42] about the school directed for the school year you have 18 hours for the school year right now and before it was seven plus for K through six eight plus for seven through twelve can you explain why just everyone's getting 18 every school just everyone is okay yes and that is really so I started with there were some inconsistencies across schools this year just with the way that we had shared out expectations and so what this is doing is clearly dedicating

[00:35:15] school-directed time which then we can account for that to be the 18 hours this year one of the challenges with our schedule is that every professional day there was some slight adjustments made depending on the day so if it was closer to the end of the quarter of a professional day we allocated three hours of time to teacher directed time and then on those days we had two hours of division-wide time sometimes school directed time was built into that other times it was all division directed and then in the afternoon we always had

[00:35:53] division-wide which is where our content coordinators would meet and others would meet with specific groups of teachers what we're doing next year is really streamlining that and so on every professional day schools will have two hours of school directed time in which they can implement their school specific professional learning plan that they've developed that's great thank you so much for the answering the questions that's it miss pressure thank you for the presentation it's very clear so my and told a very cohesive story so my questions

[00:36:28] are minimal it was noted that the only early release day that is not going to be 100% teacher directed it's February. What happens in February? That has already been on the school calendar dedicated to parent-teacher conferences. Okay, sounds good. And do we have a sense of how we compare to other divisions in terms of how this breakdown of teacher-directed, school-directed, division-directed time shakes out? I have not done that comparison. I'm happy to get that information to the board. Okay, that's all. That's the only questions I had. Thank you.

[00:37:00] Thank you, Ms. Breschel. Ms. Stevens. Thank you, Ms. Lerch. I appreciate it. One thing I have to I think that teachers will be happy to hear about is no new new initiatives because they know that sometimes that can be frustrating to have to learn something new that you're expected to implement right at the start of the school year and in speaking to teachers and educational staff in the past there was a definite interest for deeper learning of initiatives that were already in place so whereas you know not another year one but moving into a

[00:37:34] year two a year three so I think that is going to be appreciated just two quick questions the early so the early release days February is parent-teacher conferences in the past I have heard teachers speak to a concern that sometimes parent-teacher conferences outside of that February conference date there was an expectation that they do them in early release days will that no longer be an expectation will that be totally teacher time for teachers to determine I guess I want to do a parent-teacher conference that day no I don't want to do a parent-teacher conference that day as far as the

[00:38:13] February 11th aside from the February 11th outside of the February 11th annual teacher parent-teacher conferences let's say parent-teacher conferences need to come up and for whatever reason is there going to be an expectation or there will there be directive as to whether or not that has to occur on one of those other early release days so the way that the professional learning plan has been written is that that would be a hundred percent teacher directed now a teacher may choose to utilize that time to meet

[00:38:46] with parents and then I would also need to kind of defer to other leadership members just as far as communicating that expectation with okay principals okay because I know that was something that was important that occasionally in the past teacher director time there was sometimes an expectation that's that's when parent-teacher meetings that come up during the year were expected to be held and then CLTs that occur throughout the school year do those fall under teacher to direct teacher directed or school directed those are outside of the

[00:39:23] this overall okay so they're completely outside of that okay thank you because I I didn't want you know that to be included in that teacher directed time because I do know in the past we all know that there have been concerns about cutting into teacher planning time where teachers can do whatever it is they need to do so I appreciate that as well and I do like the increase to 63.5 hours of teacher directed time because that's what we need we need time in our classrooms to do the things we need to do to be fully prepared to support our students so thank you I think it's greatly appreciated.

[00:39:55] it thank you miss Stevens Miss Seberg thank you chair and thank you mrs. Loesch for the excellent presentation you had mentioned that these suggestions came from feedback can you tell me how that feedback was collected sure so you're familiar with the I know there was a presentation on the meet and confer process also we directly asked different stakeholders as well as individuals reached out directly to me to share their feedback and all of that feedback

[00:40:30] was considered I thank you for that and that's just another fact about us collaborating isn't it we appreciate the collaboration and we're acting upon it thank you very much thank you miss Loesch we appreciate you and it was a very good I like the simplified schedule and I do also like the way that you describe you know how you came to this decision and we thank you for that thank

[00:41:01] you have a good night next we have miss Wynnum interim director of instruction and I already said good night but miss Erica Lowe director of special education related services will provide an overview of summer learning and enrichment opportunities and discuss how they support student learning engagement and the diverse needs of our students thank you ladies have special power she can just go back from one person that's right yeah so good evening chairs fall vice chair Jones dr. Cassata and all the other board members I'm Betty Jo Wynnum I'll be providing this presentation tonight through my role as

[00:41:40] interim director of instruction and then I will also be joined by Erica Loesch director of special education and related services so you guys seem to remind me Ross reminded so this presentation showcases the summer learning enrichment opportunities available in Manassas City public schools including summer school programming summer enrichment opportunities and extended school year services all designed to enhance student learning engagement and address diverse needs this initiative aligns with the strategic pillars of manassas city which emphasize an inclusive and collaborative learning environment as well as strong family and community partnerships

[00:42:19] so this summer for grades k through eight we will be operating at three locations for our summer school program rounds elementary will serve our youngest learners in grades k through four mayfield intermediate will accommodate students in grades five through seven and osborne high school will host our eighth graders the program will take place from june 22nd to july 9th with classes held daily from 8 30 to 12 p.m and our target per grade is to enroll 75 students with class sizes ranging from 18 to 19 students each class will be supported by a dedicated team of teachers and instructional assistants along with additional staffing that includes school counselors

[00:42:59] school administrators, school nurses, all of whom are committed to providing a comprehensive and enriching educational experience for every student during this 12-day window. In regard to scheduling, students will have a whole group ELA block, they will have a whole group math block, they will have a rotation time for small group and learning stations that cover both like interdisciplinary math and ELA, recess and lunch. There will be four classrooms of students in each grade level with two ELA teachers and two math teachers so we are departmentalizing that who teach the whole group ELA and math lesson and then they do small

[00:43:35] groups or their content there is also a co-teacher for each grade level who will support this rotation time with additional small group lessons more strategic targeted instruction to like weave into those whole groups so we were intentional with that design more about the instructional design is the k8 summer schools instructional design and programming is aimed to build upon the foundational literacy and mathematics skills students have developed during the school year I do want to note that this is a change from last year and the previous years as we really have only focused on literacy but this year we incorporated literacy and math the curriculum highlights developmentally

[00:44:14] appropriate applications of these skills across various content areas engaging students through dynamic dynamic learning explorations to accommodate diverse learning needs the program offers flexible student grouping ensuring that each child receives personalized support. For ELA, teachers will be using our approved Supplemental and Intervention HQIM Lexia to support foundational skills for students in the K-8 classroom.

[00:44:38] Classroom teachers will use data from My Lexia dashboard to determine class needs, deliver in-person instruction, whole group lessons for the day. They will then be able to dive deep into the daily reports to show which students have flagged for small group lessons.

[00:44:54] For math, whole group and small group lesson content will utilize print lesson materials from Zern, which the state has provided as a supplemental resource for the last several years. Teachers and students will also have access to ST Math, which is a continuum, so they still have that access, and that can be used as a learning station or to provide small group lessons to meet individual student needs.

[00:45:16] In addition, this year we have added a cumulative student agency experience, which will encourage learners from all grade levels to take ownership of their own educational journey appropriate design uniquely for each grade level that is age appropriate but there is a lot of research and just support with kids taking ownership seeing where they are and then setting goals for the next year so we really want to connect the summer learning experience to how that's going to help them be successful and to give them more self-awareness of where they are this is also new and i'm really excited to share this

[00:45:52] for eighth graders you may notice that they are not housed at mayfield intermediate school where they would be last year instead we think it makes sense and we hope this is going to be something that grows but in a couple months the eighth graders are going to be walking the high schools of osborne high school not an intermediate elementary school so while it is important that they have been identified and we serve them academically just as we're serving everyone else through this instructional design it's even more important that they feel ready and that we feel like we are addressing their transition needs to high school so we're calling this a rising Eagle Academy it is a pilot for this year and how we did that

[00:46:29] is Mets Middle School they served as the identifying for the students and then Dr. Fincham at Osborne High School along with Dr. Chapman they are planning the OHS Eagle Academy so they're getting the same instructional design but it's to be overlaid with transitional supports to be ready for high school. So in regard to 9 through 12 summer school, Osborne High School is set to welcome an estimated enrollment of 500 students or more for the upcoming school year session with a projected increase from last year's enrollment

[00:47:08] of 509 students. I will share in my other role as director of school leadership where I directly evaluate and work with principals and in my touch base last week with Dr. Chapman she said they're at like almost 700 so that is you get the enrollment you figure the scheduling out but we already are anticipating more than where we were last year so it's awesome I think to say that we provide education in a way year-round to our students and it takes a lot to make that happen but I think it does prioritize our student academic success initiative this program will also run

[00:47:43] July June 15th to July 23rd with classes held daily from 8:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. focused on supporting students' academic success. The summer school will offer various instructional opportunities, as you can see up there. High school instructional learning does look different.

[00:47:58] There's different modalities, there's different needs. It really is a menu of options for our students. This can include SOL boot camp, assessment remediation, even course advancement. The staff will include a dedicated team, seen above, of teachers, counseling personnel, a school nurse, and administrative support, including an on-time graduation coach and assistant principals.

[00:48:22] I didn't hit on this, but starting last year, we did add a school counselor for our summer school program and that was very helpful and successful and we continued to build that in this year as well. The on-time graduation coach and assistant principals will really man the administrative side of summer school there.

[00:48:41] Additionally, mark your calendars. The summer school graduation ceremony is scheduled for July 30th at 7:00 p.m. This is really marking a significant achievement for students who have committed their time to meet graduation requirements over the summer.

[00:48:58] We are also excited to offer a variety of summer enrichment opportunities for students in grades ranging from elementary to high school. These programs include activities such as arts symposiums, sports camps, basketball camps for both boys and girls, field hockey, gifted, enrichment, cheer, marching band, and more.

[00:49:15] As additional opportunities become available, details will be communicated through the schools and post it on the Manassas City Summer School website. That is active today. And Ms. Rafford is gonna be sending a social media, following this message, a social media post just of the site, but you can access it, families can access it through the main site.

[00:49:37] We have revamped that so that we have done our best to put a point of contact for everything that we're offering so that while this information is going out through schools and multiple modalities, things are coming on our radar we will also add them but they do have contacts for the academic side of summer school and the enrichment opportunity so we are putting a great effort there to have that contact all-in-one information you can access it on the Manassas City website through the main page and that's where you can really find if you have specific questions finally I would really

[00:50:13] like to take a moment and putting this presentation together and in planning summer school for my first time as interim director of instruction it has while I've been involved in summer school in many other divisions we really do have a comprehensive support here and I think it's something to be proud of so I really would like to take a moment to express my appreciation for the multitude of individuals and departments involved in making summer learning a reality for our students summer school carries the fingerprints of many hands from the dedicated school-based teams to the division level departments every person plays a crucial role in ensuring that this experience is not only accessible

[00:50:51] but it's meaningful transportation teams ensure that our students can reach programs safely while maintenance staff keep up our facilities safe and accessible for the program while also keeping up with summer maintenance schedules for regular building routine maintenance the technology department provides the necessary tools for engaging learning experiences and food services ensure that every student has nutritious meals to fuel their days it's truly a collaborative effort and and it's inspiring to witness how everyone's contributions come together to serve our students.

[00:51:20] And I could name everyone from data and accountability, there's a separate master schedule, there's a separate student like platform, class rostering, safety, we've had multiple meetings. Like we run this operationally just like a school because that is our priority to keep kids safe, to keep them learning.

[00:51:38] But while it may be a smaller population, the same expectations have to be in place. So it's everyone working and I have been, really enjoyed the process but I also like just want to make sure everyone is truly recognized because it's not just effort through curriculum instruction so together that proves that when we unite we create an enriching environment that embodies our commitment to student academic success now Erica Loesch director of special education related service will finish off the presentation to talk about extended school year thank you miss Wynnum should we wait till the end to do

[00:52:12] questions and what miss when I'm just said about the many finger many hands many fingerprints that it is echoed for this next part when we're talking about extended school year as well and so extended school year services are special education and related services provided to students with disabilities beyond the normal school year and that's at no cost to parents and it is mandated by IDEA. ESY is tailored to prevent significant regression of

[00:52:50] critical skills during breaks such as summer to ensure free appropriate public education or FAPE. The overarching question that determines if a student requires ESY is would the gains a student made during the regular school year be significantly jeopardized if the student did not receive ESY. The IEP team determines if a student requires ESY and that is they use data to consider the following factors to determine qualification and that's regression and recoupment degree of progress

[00:53:25] emerging skills or breakthrough opportunities interfering behaviors nature or severity of the disability and special circumstances during ESY the student will work on goals that are determined by the IEP team. And this is the instructional focus during ESY. Current case managers are responsible for gathering the required materials for students, such as safety equipment, sensory items, communication devices, data sheets, picture schedules, and etc. etc. And they provide those

[00:54:00] for the ESY session. That helps to provide continuity of instruction as well. For this summer we will be hosting ESY at Round Elementary for early childhood special education through grade 4 students and Mayfield Intermediate for grades 5 and up. It will run concurrently with the MCPS summer school and the Monday through Thursday schedule for students will be from 8:30 to 11:30. We anticipate 50 to 60 students for ESY and our staffing consists of seven teachers, 14 instructional assistants, and special education leadership. Because we share

[00:54:38] the building with MCPS Summer School, we also do share some staffing, such as the school nurse. We also have a very small number of students who may qualify for ESY, but not through our traditional programming. And those students would still need to meet the qualification criteria that was previously discussed. And in most cases, there's a very specific area that the qualification criteria is met for, such as a breakthrough opportunity through a specialized program or instruction, specialized or unique services, or other special circumstances. And those services

[00:55:17] are also determined by the IEP team based on that specific need. We also have students who do not qualify for ESY but may participate in our MCPS summer school experience. And in those cases, IEP or 504 information is shared with summer school staff and administrators. Also, if there's any specialized equipment or unique accommodations that are needed to be provided.

[00:55:43] Those are provided through the Department of Special Education. Also, if a student signs up for one of those many enrichment opportunities that Ms. Wynnum highlighted, then the, for example, sports camp, then the Department of Special Education would partner with that contact of that program to make sure that those students are set up for success.

[00:56:09] That's ESY. - Thank you to you both. Look to my right, Ms. Seberg. I just had a quick question regarding Slide 6 and the summer enrichment opportunities. Both the marching band tech week and the marching band camp, traditionally we've had those open to rising eighth graders.

[00:56:32] So when they've – okay, just checking. It was a little – so when we were collecting, some people wrote rising, some people didn't. So I'm pretty sure it was rising eighth graders because they're going to be joining the marching band at Osborne.

[00:56:48] So they would go with – they would do the field, the show, practice, and everything. think it's rising we're not rising eighth grade or rising eight so current I'm talking about rising going into eighth okay they are permitted to I'll get clarity on that I don't want to speak incorrect okay I hope it continues thank you thank you to my left expression thank you for the presentation I do have more questions on this one but my standard way of prepping was disrupted by the board docs outage so this might be a little disorganized so I apologize in advance if it's

[00:57:26] a little disorganized so the so the ours for our regular summer school k-8 summer school we're meeting from 8 30 a.m to 12 p.m and every day is el ela and math and a rotation and recess and lunch that's a pretty uh compressed kind of time it's like an hour and i don't have the specific numbers but it is it's mapped out it's a 30 minute lunch and 30 minute um recess and then

[00:58:01] the rest time is instructional time okay I mean it just seemed yeah the regular school day it's so such a long period of time so that compression feels like it's a lot of transition and you do lose something in transition so I wondered whether why we made that decision and not something like you know Monday's ELA day and Tuesday is math day and Wednesday's ELA day and Thursday is so that feedback can still be used from you so we just met last week with all to look at we have like five different options of schedules and met with APs to get feedback that is something we can still consider i mean it's up you know you guys are you you guys are the experts and so i'll let you design it and it just adds more thought for dynamic of our schedule so we're following back

[00:58:39] up with solidifying the schedule and where to place recess where do you play station so we're having um productive discourse around that right now so i'll take that back uh so we provide the the lunch is provided yes ma'am and breakfast and breakfast is also still available okay do we but breakfast is going to be a grab so they come in grab and go it's a brown bag situation uh buses are available for summer school how are the do our our high schoolers are not getting recess are they just just wanted to clarify I told you we were

[00:59:17] going to be disorganized today how are what's our selection criteria for our students so we send that out to all the schools specifically we send it to k8 and what they do is they look at their student achievement data throughout the year and they look for readiness and who was going to mostly benefit from summer school so you can't serve like everyone but what we don't want is students who have maybe like chronic attendance are really low like who are the students that are within the area that summer school because it's not long 12 days can

[00:59:51] help get them some momentum with the progress that they have been experiencing so far this year with the data so we do create data packets for like every kid that the teacher who gets them will get but um students who are having your most significant struggle are not necessarily the ones that would be recommended it's um almost like your tier students requiring more tier two support the um but each school is different like they have their own meeting process they go through look at their kids i'm sorry to cut you off but like it's just it's a lot of factors too like um like working with the parents like are they able to

[01:00:30] come and then we have we actually asked for like a list that's almost like 20 students beyond the recommendation so that as students respond that they can't come we go down on the list so we we take recommendations for more kids than we have slots for just because some people's schedule doesn't fit yeah the because I'm struck by the growth in students for Osborne which is I you know more the merrier I've got no problem at all with that the fact that we're serving more students I'm happy that we have the staffing apparently to support that that's great but that did give me the kind of a question mark about okay so who is who's signing up for summer school in high school and what's the

[01:01:08] purpose so we so it's interesting I think that would be great data for us even to look at because one popular choice is course advancement so I think that is something that we offer at the high school that you don't necessarily offer to like fourth graders you can now become take a fifth grade math class right so course advancement is a very popular option at Osborne and so it will interesting right now they are collecting signups so to see the purpose of that will be interesting and yields good data for us to respond to right or is it because primarily SOL boot camps assessment radiation for CTE credit

[01:01:46] like like credential like what is it but I do know course advancement is very popular so for there so our selection criteria that sounds like it's a little bit different at the high school students can self refer themselves at high school so it's it's noted in the presentation that this has all been designed to extend our literacy and mathematics skills how do we assess the progress of the students so through the data platforms like the data dashboard you should be able to see growth and the kids what were they in the year their

[01:02:26] continued growth for the summer that provides us great analytics so that That's the beauty of those platforms is they automatically are continuously taking our students' learning data and growing so we can pull and see whether they're making progress or not. They can continue to also access some of the programs at home as well.

[01:02:44] So that's the student agency part that we hope to build in and help them create goals for themselves to monitor and track their own progress as well. Gotcha. Do we have a goal for, does the division have a goal for the amount of growth we want to see? i can't speak to that necessarily right now just because we're finalizing rosters so it would be hard of course i would want every kid on grade level for reading that's a great goal but and i would have to know the population but that we're creating the goal for first so right now we are we haven't finalized rosters to know the profile of the students we're serving to create that goal right i mean goal setting is an important i mean we're creating a student agency thing for

[01:03:23] because goal setting is an important exercise so i would be curious once you guys have that all sorted out what the student achievement goals end up being the speaking of student agency let's go let's go right there then let's ask about that so how are we encouraging student agency you did say goal-setting was one of the exercises but what else is happening that we're working developing right now so that's in development it's a process that we're adding to that each will be different like a kindergartner first graders goal sheet is gonna look

[01:04:00] different than maybe a seventh grader so they have to be age appropriate it has to be meaningful but it incorporates tons of stuff like this is where you started this is where I would like you to be what can even just go what could you do what would be helpful for you to achieve this goal what are some things do you have books at home can we provide you what are so it's really helping students just take ownership and see where they are with their own learning and to understand the why behind it so often we're delivering a lot to these kids and it's important to me and it would be important to my own kids that they understand the purpose of it because if not they're just receiving and it's hard for them to connect the meaning of the why so i think that's

[01:04:37] the point of student agency for us and how we developed it was to really help students connect the why behind everything that they're receiving yeah the um is that the counselors then who are kind of coordinating that or is that expected to be their classroom teacher i'm actually working to to coordinate it with the with the curriculum coordinators and it will be part of the like class the teacher just having conversations one-to-one student check-in the counselor could be a very integral into it as well so we're just in the developmental part of that the other question I had was the transitional

[01:05:14] support that our eighth graders in the Rising Eagle Academy so aside from I think it is helpful to have them physically located in the at Osborne because that is a very different it's a very different physical environment from that's what other what does transitional support look like so just knowing the building knowing meeting staff that are there free exposure to trusted adults that if something goes haywire on the first day they have familiarity with the building with the staff just routines and protocols that may make any high schooler nervous but specifically students who are already struggling and

[01:05:50] not finding a lot of success or haven't found success it just really provides more of just exposing them to the atmosphere where they're learning but also some other routines that are at Osborne for them to be a student like this is where you'll go from cafeteria this is what a schedule looks like this all of that just stuff to help pre-expose them to make it feel a little more normal hopefully when their focus then can be more on the academic and they feel like they're being set up so flipping over to the extended school

[01:06:26] year for a second the do we have a goal for that you know I know the students each have goals but do we have a division goal for you know the percent of students who meet them or anything like that what goals do we have so I'm gonna say a hundred percent of our students because our extended school year goals are written for extended school year right so it is about maintaining that growth that they've made and keeping it ESY isn't about necessarily moving students past where they have been it's about maintaining and so with the ESY goals are appropriately written based on where a student ends the school

[01:07:03] year then we would hope that that data collection is showing that maintenance and meeting that ESY goal that that was my only question for you you both did great thank you thank you both for being here there could be oh miss Breeden thank you for your presentation I just had a question about the staffing i was wondering if all the teachers and staffing a part of summer school are considered like 12 month staff or are they are some of them considered like nine months staffing and they get

[01:07:41] the appropriate bonuses for their work they are all going to be compensated for any uh time outside of their contract so typically there could be a varied amount of contracts like but um for your the teachers they're typically 10 month contracts and so they will be given pay for the extra assignment thank you and we have an instructional rate that's coming across the division that they're paid for excellent question miss Braden any other

[01:08:12] questions okay yes in relation to summer school do you ever incorporate having some high schoolers help with summer school I know in Prince William they have hired high schoolers to help with the summer school just because I know you're staffing I mean you have so many students there is that something that you've ever looked into I'm not this is the first time I've ever done anything with summer school but I can inquire if they have and then definitely like share I would have just have to know more about what they are doing and it was

[01:08:50] actually I had a student and they would help with like recess and it also gave them experience too so I don't know if something we can kind of check into yeah

[01:09:00] Thank you. Sorry I can't speak further. No and it was a great presentation. Thank you. You both did a wonderful job. Thank you very much. Okay I think it's time to move to board member comments. We'll begin with Ms. Breeden. Good evening everyone. I would first like to congratulate Osborne's robotics team for their dedication and the fact that they've created such a special community. I think that's a really important aspect of clubs and different things that our schools offer. So I wish them the best of luck on the rest of their season.

[01:09:43] And then additionally, I would like to highlight last Friday's very successful Special Olympics. Not only was it a very energetic and lively event and environment, it brought together special education students, teachers, and student volunteers from all grade levels at every Manasseh City public school in our division.

[01:10:04] So I think it was a very special day, and I hope that in the future we can make more events like these possible to happen on, you know, more often in our community because they're so, you know, special to everybody in Manasseh City and beyond. And then another exciting event that is upcoming is Osborne High School's Decision Day, which is this Friday, May 1st, in the Osborne Library.

[01:10:27] I want to say it's around like 2 or 2.30 p.m., so if you want to come out and celebrate our seniors' higher education decisions, I would all welcome you guys to come. It'll be very exciting. And that's all I have for tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Breeden. Mr. Emun.

[01:10:44] Good evening, everyone. I want to start by congratulating again the robotics team and the History Day participants. We're all so proud of you. Keep up the good work. I would like to just inform you guys that April 30th and May 1st, so this Thursday and this Friday, there's going to be a choir concert, How That Was Born.

[01:11:04] It'll be at 7 p.m., and it'll be $10 general admissions and $5 for students. So if you can, come support our choir department. To any students watching, exams are coming up for a lot of people.

[01:11:22] So please make sure to study, but also give time to yourself. Get good sleep, eat well, and drink plenty of water. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Eman. Great, great reminders. Ms. Seberg. Thank you, Chair. Good evening, everyone. Congratulations again to the students and the teams that were honored here this evening.

[01:11:41] School board members have had the opportunity to attend many of the same events over the past couple of weeks so tonight I'd like to share just a few different experiences I've had the chance to participate in and some moments that especially stood out to me. I had the opportunity to visit Dr. Chowdhury's oceanography class at Osborne High School. Dr.

[01:12:01] Chowdhury was here. She helps mentor the robotics team and she also teaches the oceanography class. This is where students presented their oceanography projects as websites. It was wonderful to see of these students sharing their learning in presentation format, some of them for the first time doing a presentation. They applied their research skills and engaged in meaningful discussion. I also had the chance to return to Pathways and participate in their community time. This part of the day is intentionally designed to help alternative education students build relationships, strengthen

[01:12:36] connections, and develop important social-emotional learning skills. It was meaningful to witness the intentional support being provided to our students in that environment tomorrow I'm looking forward to participating in Osborne School Counseling Advisory Committee as both a school board member and a parent who has had three children attend Osborne through graduation I feel I bring a seasoned perspective to these conversations and the continued efforts to best serve our high school students I find our counseling department and the many stakeholders involved in this work to be thoughtful collaborative and truly

[01:13:15] committed to student success. I appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this important work. And as we head into next week, I'm especially excited for Teacher Appreciation Week. I encourage all schools, students, parents, and community members to help recognize and celebrate the incredible educators who pour so much into our students every single day. Their impact reaches far beyond the classroom and this is a wonderful opportunity to show our gratitude. So I I hope that everyone will be able to do that in some way.

[01:13:47] - Thank you, Chair. - Thank you, Ms. Sieberg. - Dr. Jones. - Congratulations to all that were recognized tonight for your hard work, the History Day recognition, and the Osmond High School robotics team.

[01:14:05] Your work does not go unnoticed. So it's almost time for testing. So for all students who are preparing for SOL tests and all those other tests, AP tests, and any tests you're taking, I have a short form for you. You are ready. A year of learning, a year of growth.

[01:14:21] You've reached the end. Let's show them both, the hard work done, the lessons learned, the confidence you've rightly earned. Take a breath and read with care, show the knowledge that is there. Your brain is strong, your mind is bright, you're ready now with all your might.

[01:14:38] Don't rush too fast, don't feel the fear, you've got the skills to make it clear. Think through the problems, large and small, you're prepared to pass them all. So sit up tall and show your best and make some magic on this test. You're more than just a number or a score.

[01:14:55] You're destined to do so much more. And some quick tips for testing is, trust your gut. Your first answer is often right. Show your work, write down your steps, take your time. It's not a race to finish. And believe in you, you worked hard all year long.

[01:15:14] - Thank you, Dr. Jones. - Ms. Miles. - Good evening, everyone. I wanna first congratulate all our students who participated in the History Day competition. I think it's such a great event our school is a part of and i'm glad to see the progress each year and how many more students each year are participating i also want to congratulate the robotics team i love that it's a student-like competition and that students are really activate activating um their collaboration and uh just their um out thinking outside of the box um and i i think it's wonderful that we keep receiving the

[01:15:50] first class ratings so keep up the great work um the teachers and the staff that are working with them. I also love the robotic Christmas tree and congratulations on your award for that. Today is school bus driver appreciation day and I just want to appreciate our dedicated team of drivers and attendants that safely transport not only our students to and from school each day but also after school programs, athletics, field trips, and weekend activities. I thank you for your commitment. I know my son uses the bus every day and I appreciate his bus driver getting him to school safely every day um last week just a couple things that i was able to attend last week i was

[01:16:27] able to attend the evening of excellence where the district celebrated our rise award award nominees and our washington post teacher of the year and principal of the year i want to congratulate congratulate all our nominees and our winners i'm thankful that our school district takes the time to celebrate the commitment professionalism and care of all our nominees and what they bring to their roles from those who keep our schools clean assist our staff in the front office to our teachers, our administrators, that provide quality education opportunities to our students.

[01:16:56] We appreciate you. I also was able to attend the last show of Mamma Mia at Osborne High School, and it was such a great show. I want to say kudos to all the students and teachers who made it a spectacular show. I was able to meet some of the cast members afterwards, and I was surprised to learn it was some of their first time in one of our musicals.

[01:17:17] But you would never know with just the talent. So I always look forward to attending those. And as we head into Teacher Appreciation Week, I encourage you to tell a teacher who has inspired you how you feel about them. I know that it goes without saying that thank you, that card, it just really means a lot.

[01:17:40] And sometimes as a teacher myself, you don't know the impact that you have on your students until many years later when you see them cross and get their diploma or if you see them in the grocery store and they say, hey, and they know you by name and they remember you from five or six years ago.

[01:17:56] So make sure you take the time to tell a teacher how you feel about them. That's all I have, thank you. Thank you, Ms. Miles. Ms. Brown. Okay, thank you, Ms. Brown. Ms. Braggia.

[01:18:12] Thank you very much. So today my objective with my school board comment time is to update the board and the community on the Governor's School Joint Board Meeting, which occurred on Thursday, April 16th, and wish our students and staff well as we wind down the school year i'm providing these comments in alignment with the role with my role as a school board member who operates within the strong family and community partnerships pillar of our strategic plan in which we all support student academic success so for governor school i chaired the joint board for the governor school at innovation park we discussed the site evaluation that the vdoe recently completed basically the virginia department of education's

[01:18:48] quote-unquote audit of the governor school program this is routine all academic year governor schools have to go through this and it came back with extremely positive results showing the governor's school was in compliance with all state requirements and that is performing at a high level of course we all already knew that but it was good to have that outside evaluation and to have that documented the governor's school also underwent a routine audit from the pwcs finance department which also had good results there were some minor corrections noted related to some paperwork but nothing uh nothing major so to remind everybody the research symposium which

[01:19:25] is when our gov school kids get to showcase their research projects they've been working on throughout the year is coming up on may 1st it is at the freedom center so note the location it is between the hours of 8 a.m to 11 a.m so make sure to check it out because what these kids do is truly impressive and you will read about them all in the future when they win nobel prizes and do other great things so in terms of well wishes i want to congratulate our spotlights who are here today the history day and the incredible um the way they those kids put themselves out there and especially at such a i mean they seem so young to me at such a young age

[01:20:05] is so impressive i commend them so much for that and i truly cannot wait miss jones kept saying i can't wait to see what they do next i mean i can't wait to see what they do next i'm so glad to see i'm looking forward to see their interest develop and congratulations to all oh and also of course the robotics team can't forget to mention them it's always such a treat when they come to visit and they bring their robot the judges award for their community spirit definitely award i can give them this sarah award for community spirit i love when they come through they do really create a special community around them and they're a huge asset to our system so i want to congratulate all

[01:20:42] nominees and winners at our evening of excellence previously mentioned which celebrates our hard-working staff members teacher appreciation week is coming up so everybody think of things that you can do to make our teachers feel appreciated for all the work that they've put in this is a very fun time of year where we get to celebrate each other and celebrate our students accomplishments there are a lot of events coming up so I'm not gonna name them all but I will be at as many of them as I can and I hope to see you all there thank you mr. president miss Stevens thank you chair why do we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week. We celebrate because teachers are the

[01:21:18] creators and builders of our future. They shape young minds, inspire curiosity, and guide students becoming thoughtful, capable adults. Without teachers, how would our children learn, grow, and flourish? Their dedication, patience, and passion make a lasting difference not only in classrooms but in this society as a whole. And I also want to speak about Arab American Heritage Month. This month we recognized arab american heritage month and honored rich history culture and contributions of arab americans to our schools and broader community their diverse perspectives and traditions

[01:21:53] strengthen our learning environment and remind us of the importance of inclusion respect and understanding we also recognized and celebrated autism acceptance month a time to move beyond awareness and focus on acceptance understanding and meaningful support we celebrate the strengths talents and individualities of autistic people and people with autism and reaffirm our commitment to creating inclusive schools where every student is valued and supported and finally may is mental mental health awareness month a time to pause reflect and prioritize our well-being mental

[01:22:31] health matters just as much as physical health treat your mind with the same care and kindness you give your body it's essential powerful and uniquely yours thank you thank you miss Stevens I love how we're all so different and the things that we you know choose to promote in our moments of speaking I am thrilled that we got to you know meet the history day achieve achievers and definitely that robotics got to be highlighted tonight I did want to take a moment to celebrate something that continues to make our division special which is also our

[01:23:08] student-athletes across all of our spring sports what stands out isn't just wins and losses it's commitment growth and pride and representing our schools in our city and we have some incredible highlights our boys soccer team remains undefeated at 10-0 a testament to discipline teamwork and leadership e sports made it all the way to the state semifinals showing that competition and excellence come in many forms in today's schools girls lacrosse is having strong season at six and three and continuing to build momentum and just as important our baseball softball boys lacrosse with five wins over last year girls soccer and tennis teams are showing resilience every day competing

[01:23:46] improving and representing us with pride regardless of record track athletes continue to push themselves often without the spotlight of a scoreboard but that with just as much determination and this is what makes school athletes so valuable it's not just about the scoreboard it's about perseverance teamwork and belonging this is where our community comes in if you haven't been to a game recently I encourage you to come out bring your family fill the stands our students notice and it matters and whether it's a packed soccer match or a close softball game a lacrosse matchup or even an e-sports competition there these are moments where our community connects and

[01:24:23] so let's continue to show up for our students in the way that they show up for us it's just for me small sports is such a big deal and then things kind of start to wane a little bit and our spring athletes are out there trying their best every single day and the last couple days the weather's been like really kind of terrible and iffy and I just thought maybe a shout out would be nice to you guys but I do have one more thing that I want to speak plainly about something that matters deeply to our students our staff and our entire community which is our unfunded needs these are not extras they're not wish list items they're real identified

[01:25:00] gaps that impact how well we serve children every single day. So let me be specific. First, we have a need for increased staffing to support students with disabilities. Six additional positions. These roles would ensure that every student receives the coordinated services they are legally entitled to and morally deserve.

[01:25:16] They also provide critical support to families navigating complex systems. Right now, we are asking our existing staff to stretch beyond sustainable limits and that has consequences. Second, we have a $200,000 need in information technology to strengthen security. In a time when schools across the country face growing cybersecurity threats, this is about protecting student data, maintaining operational stability, and preventing disruptions to learning that is not optional in today's world.

[01:25:44] And third, we're seeking staffing for central registration. This is about equity and efficiency for our multilingual families, especially having one centralized place for enrollment and assessment reduces confusion improves access and allows students our schools to focus on teaching not paperwork it's a smart investment that benefits the entire system altogether these needs total just over 1.37 million dollars and here's the reality when these needs go unfunded the cost doesn't disappear it just shifts and it shows up in overburdened teachers delayed services frustrated families and missed opportunities for students we've heard a lot of passion in our community about

[01:26:22] various issues and that engagement matters but I would encourage all of us to keep our focus on what has the greatest impact ensuring our schools are properly resourced to meet the needs of every child because at the end of the day this is not about numbers on a page it's about whether a student gets the support they need to succeed it's about whether his family feels welcome and understood and it's about whether we're truly living up to our responsibility as a community but there's still time the city's budget process the city's budget process is not yet complete emails and phone calls may be received by City Council until 5:30 tomorrow evening and tomorrow evening is the final work

[01:26:58] session to finalize the budget before the May 11th first reading before June 8th which is the adoption day I remain hopeful that we can come together to address these gaps in a thoughtful and responsible way our students are counting on us to get this right so thank you everyone chair I move that the school board meeting adjourned second I have a motion by miss Stevens and seconded by Miss Seberg that we adjourn is there any discussion seeing and hearing none

[01:27:34] all those in favor say aye and all those opposed say nay the motion carries 7-0 thanks for everyone

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