Coraggio Consulting
Prince William County School Board Meeting, Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Date: Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Place: Prince William County School Board, Virginia
Length: 1h 33m (video)
Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE2AIcwvvK4
Official School Board page (PWCS): https://www.pwcs.edu/about/school_board/

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 2026-10-30. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:01] - Prince William County School Board is now called to order. We have the approval of the agenda. Action item, Mr. Blake. - I move that the Prince William County School Board approve the meeting agenda as recommended. - Do I have a second? - Mr. Chairman.

[00:00:16] - Ms. Williams. - I second. - Any discussion? Please vote. All in favor, aye, hands up in the air. Any opposition? No opposition noted, motion passes seven zero. Moving on, motion to enter the closed session.

[00:00:32] Motion's in order, Mr. Blake. - Thank you, Mr. Chairman. that pursuant to Virginia code 2.2-3711 and 2.2-3712, the Prince William County School Board enter closed session for the following reasons.

[00:00:48] One, to discuss with staff the assignment appointment, promotion, performance demotion, salaries, disciplining, and resignation of specific public officers, appointees, or employees of any public body pursuant to Virginia code 2.2-3711A and 1.

[00:01:10] Two, consultation with division counsel and staff pertaining to actual and probable litigation involving staff, students, and the school division, and specific legal matters regarding the disclosure of students' information under Virginia code 2.2-3711A, 7 and 8.

[00:01:33] And three, to discuss the award of public contracts to employees' exclusive representatives, which involve the expenditures of public funds and the terms or scope of such contracts, where discussion in an open session would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategies of the public body pursuant to Virginia Code 2.2-3711A29N.

[00:02:02] Four, to discuss and receive briefings by staff members related to the security of school facilities, the safety of persons using such facilities, and the actions taken to respond to such matters, where discussion and open meetings would jeopardize the security of such facilities pursuant to Virginia Code 2.2-3711A19.

[00:02:25] Do I have a second? Mr. Chairman. Ms. Williams. I second. Any discussion? Please vote. All in favor? in the air. Any opposition? None. Motion passes unanimously. At this time, the Prince William

[00:02:38] County School Board will now enter closed session and return in one hour. Okay, welcome. The Prince

[00:03:43] William County School Board will return to open session. At this time, we have closed session certification. Mr. Blake. I move that pursuant to section 2.2-3712 of the Code of Virginia, the co-session of the Prince William County School Board meeting of January 22nd, 2025, be certified by adopting the following resolution.

[00:04:09] Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Prince William County School Board hereby certify that to the best of each member's knowledge, one, only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meetings requirements were discussed in the closed meeting to which their certification resolution applies, and two, only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard and discussed or considered by the school board.

[00:04:39] Do you have a second? Mr. Chairman. Ms. Williams. Second. Any discussion? Please vote. Vote is seven yes, one not present at vote.

[00:05:02] Motion passed. Moving on to closed session action items, approval and appointments and releases. A motion is in order. Mr. Blake. I move that the Prince William County School Board approve the appointments and releases of specific employees as presented in closed session. Do you have a second? Mr. Chairman. Ms. Williams.

[00:05:17] Second. Any discussion? Please vote.

[00:05:31] Vote a seven yes, one absent. Okay, thank you. At this time, we'll have the Pledge of Allegiance.

[00:05:48] We have our student representative, Al-Medina Latore, to lead us in the pledge. Ms. Al-Medina. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, - With liberty and justice for all.

[00:06:16] - Thank you. At this time, we'll go to our Thriving Futures Focus. We're bringing our originally scheduled Thriving Futures Focus from the January 8th meeting, which we had delayed till this meeting because of the weather related issues at the time.

[00:06:31] Dr. McDade, what am I doing here? Why do I have it? So Dr. McDade, oh, hold on, let me see. I gotta read my thing, sorry. Thriving Futures Focus is a time to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our students, staff, schools as they work toward fulfilling our shared vision, ensuring that every student graduates with the knowledge, skills, and habits of mind necessary to create a thriving future. Tonight, the school board is very proud to recognize several high schools in Prince William County for their exceptional work in expanding access to advanced placement coursework in fostering equitable learning environments. These schools have earned a place on the College Board's

[00:07:08] AP School Honor Roll and Access Awards. For a school to be recognized on the AP school on a roll in a given year it must meet each of the following criteria for their students in the moat in in the most recent graduating class college cultured 40% of more of the graduating 40% or more of the graduating cohort took at least one AP exam during the high school 25% or more the graduating cohort scored a three or higher on at least one AP exam during high school and college optimization which is 2% or more the graduating cohort took five or more AP exams during high school. At least one of those exams was taken in 9th and 10th grade or 10th grade

[00:07:47] so that students are spreading their AP experience across the grades rather than feeling a disproportionate pressure in any single year. To begin introducing tonight's honorees, I begin with Ms. Erica Trudenik of the Brentsville District. Thank you. I'm proud to recognize Gainesville High School which has achieved gold status on the 2024 AP School Honor Roll. This honor reflects Gainesville High School's dedication to promoting a strong college-going culture and increasing AP enrollment for all students. Representing Gainesville High School tonight is Principal Neal Beach.

[00:08:21] Mr. Beach, would you introduce your staff and share a few words on this remarkable achievement? Chairman Lateef, members of the board, Dr. McDade, thank you for recognizing our schools this evening. I'm joined this evening by Marianne Burns, who's our Social Studies Department Chair and an AP government teacher at Gainesville High School. The Advanced Placement Honor Roll Gold Award recognizes the hard work of our students, over 65 percent of whom accepted the challenge to participate in rigorous college-level coursework and performed at high levels. It also serves as validation for our outstanding teachers who've gone the extra mile in committing to providing

[00:08:59] quality instruction and support for our students in these rigorous classes. We're proud of our students' accomplishments and we appreciate you recognizing our schools this evening. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Beach and congratulations to Gainesville High School for this outstanding recognition. The Brentsville District is also proud to recognize Patriot High School for earning Silver status on the 2024 AP School Honor Roll. Patriot's efforts to expand AP opportunities for all students reflects an unwavering commitment to academic excellence. Patriot High School is

[00:09:34] represented tonight by Acting Principal David Van Gelder. Mr. Van Gelder, would you introduce your team and share a few words. Absolutely. Prince William County School Board, Dr. Lateef, Dr. McDade, we appreciate this recognition. I'm joined today by Ms. Lisa Bussian, department chair of our math department, as well as AP teacher. Also joined by Mr. Corey Finn with the math department as well and Ms. Amy Lenahan with our business department. I parallel a lot of what Mr. Beach has shared with you and also just share that these recognitions go a long way in showing the support for our staff. There are many more staff at Patriot High School and all of our schools

[00:10:14] in Prince William County doing wonderful things. And so I just want to say thank you to all of you for helping us celebrate a positive accomplishment with our schools. This sends a positive message not only to these teachers behind me, but also all of our teachers in our schools. So thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Van Gelder and Mr. Beach, and congratulations to the Patriot and Gainesville community. Thank you, Mr. Denik. I'd like to now turn to Ms. Lisa Zargarpur of the Coles District to recognize the schools from the Coles District. Thank you, Chairman Lateef. The Coles District is proud to recognize three of our outstanding high schools for tonight. Well, that would be

[00:10:53] all of the high schools in the Coles District, so fantastic. First, Charles J. Colgan, Senior High School, has achieved silver status on the 2024 AP School Honor Roll. Colgan's dedication to fostering academic rigor and expanding access to AP coursework has greatly benefited our students.

[00:11:12] Representing Colgan tonight is principal, Dr. Tim Healy. Dr. Healy, would you care to introduce yourself and the staff and share a few thoughts? - Thank you, Ms. Zargarpur, Chairman Lateef, members of the principal board and Dr. McDade. With me tonight is assistant principal, Melissa McClellan.

[00:11:30] She oversees our advanced placement program. Ms. Tyrone, AP chemistry teacher, and Mr. Oldenburg, AP psychology teacher, and right now filling in, helping us out with AP government as well.

[00:11:49] The award, without duplicating what everyone is saying, I would say this, that the award reaffirms the hard work that we do every day, and I do want to thank the board for taking time to recognize all the schools tonight. It's a big deal. It's a big, big deal.

[00:12:05] But we don't do the work because of the recognitions of the College Board. We do the work because it's the right work and it's hard work. But we believe we truly believe in the access, the opportunity we're providing for our kids with advanced placement courses.

[00:12:21] We're opening up doors. We're preparing them for their thriving future. And we believe it's the right work. And that's why we do the work. Our counselors on the on the front end, in the trenches at academic advising, you know targeting kids who haven't taken an advanced placement course before and saying you can do it that's why we're here our teachers like these two teachers representing our faculty encouraging those kids giving them academic supports in the classroom when they struggle at first and a pat on the back when they need it and telling them they can do it that's why we're here

[00:12:55] and our administrators our teachers and our counselors those first weeks of school when kids panic and parents panic and they're like this is too hard we can't do it and we reign them in we sit them down we map out a plan for them and we keep them in those advanced placement courses that's why we're here and that's why we do the work and thank you again so much for recognizing us tonight thank you next I am off I am honored to recognize CD Hilton High School for receiving bronze status on the AP honor roll as well as the prestigious AP access award for

[00:13:35] ensuring equitable access to AP courses for underrepresented students. Representing Hilton is Principal Cassandra Crawford. Mrs. Crawford, please introduce your team and share a few words about these honors. Good evening, Chairman Lateef, members of the board, Superintendent Dr. McDade, I'm Cassandra Crawford, and members of my team tonight, I have with me teacher Tristan Troyer, our school counselor, Dr. Genova, our former specialty program coordinator, Ms. Christine Terencin and our teacher, former AP teacher, Darcy Stanley.

[00:14:12] And they're gonna share with you the work that we've been doing at Hilton and why we're so proud of the award, not just because of the hard work of our students, but again, the work of our staff. And so there's a reason why it's so important to us. And I'm gonna have Ms. Stanley tell us a little story, why it means so much to have our kids have access to these AP courses.

[00:14:33] - Hi, I taught AP at Hilton for many years. And the story that I wanted to share is about a student that I taught first in a regular sophomore class. And I shared with him how I believed he would do well in an AP. He took AP macroeconomics with me the next year. He got an A for the year and a four in the AP exam.

[00:14:51] And at the end of the year, he shared with me that he never thought he was going to go to college. That was not something that he really saw for himself. And after having that experience, challenging himself and having that success, he's not really considering college. He's a senior taking many AP classes and I'm really proud of them.

[00:15:11] - And then last but not least, Ms. Tarantian, she was our specialty program coordinator last year and she worked very, very hard with our team and our students and our families to reassure them that yes, AP is for everyone. - Just really briefly, I wanted to thank everybody on the board and everyone who made EOS possible for us.

[00:15:31] EOS gave us tools to address a problem that we knew we had, that our AP classes weren't representative, that they weren't necessarily reaching all students. It gave us the tools to make sure that we don't miss students as we work. And it took the passionate faculty, our counselors, our incredible administrative team, our teachers who care about our students so much, but EOS really allowed us to work a program where we started working together with our community, with our students, so that we make sure that every student can build that thriving future and can succeed in those courses.

[00:16:02] We're so grateful for the opportunity to work that program, for the tools that it gave us, and the work that we do, believe in with every fiber of our being it's been a work of heart and a work of passion thank you finally i am honored to recognize osborne park high school for achieving silver status on the 2024 ap school honor roll osborne park's long-standing tradition of academic excellence is reflected in their commitment to expanding access to ap coursework representing osborne park tonight is principal lisa marie kane miss kane would you please introduce your staff and

[00:16:40] share a few words. Absolutely. Thank you so much to Dr. Lateef, the school board, Dr. McDade, and thank you for inviting us tonight to be recognized. We are incredibly proud of the AP courses at Osborne Park High School and the success of our students. These courses foster essential skills such as time management, critical thinking, and effective study habits. But most importantly, AP coursework builds confidence in our students and their ability to be successful.

[00:17:08] Last year, Osborne Park administered 1,812 AP tests to 863 students, with 71.5% of those students earning a three or higher. We more than doubled the number of English learners taking AP courses, with 36% of them scoring a three or higher, which was a 20% increase from the prior year. Additionally, there was 10.9% increase in the number of Hispanic students who passed with a three or higher. I am honored to be here tonight with two of our shining stars at

[00:17:43] OP. We have Ms. Lisa Petrovich. She is right here. She is our AP government teacher and then we have Brittany Schwabel. She is our AP art history teacher. These two incredible teachers along with the rest of our team at Osborne Park, they're sometimes warm demanders. Sometimes they are cheerleaders always with high expectations and together with the rest of the staff at at OP, they collaborate, innovate, and continuously strive to improve their courses.

[00:18:13] I am immensely proud to work with each of them and together we just keep getting better. Thank you so much. - Thank you Colgan, Hilton, and Osborne Park Schools for representing the Coles District with such distinction.

[00:18:30] I am so proud of you guys. - Wonderful, now I'd like to invite Mr. Justin Wilk of the Potomac District to present the next honoree. Mr. Wilk. - Thank you, Dr. Lateef. Tonight I am proud to recognize Forest Park High School. I was there last night for their amazing basketball team in victory over Colgan for achieving silver status on the 2024 AP school honor roll.

[00:18:55] Forest Park continues to create pathways for student success through rigorous AP coursework. Representing Forest Park tonight is principal Richard Martinez. Mr. Martinez, would you introduce your team and share a few words, please?

[00:19:11] Dr. Lateef, members of our school board, Dr. McDade, Mr. Wolfe and Mr. Hood over here in the corner, you know, I wanna thank you. And Mr. Wolfe, thank you for always the shout outs that you have for us. Big game tonight, Tomic, you're not there, but I'll be heading back.

[00:19:30] - Believe me, I wish I was. - I'll text you, I'll text you. I'm gonna say, I repeat the remarks that my colleagues have said. I'm not gonna go into that, But it's through the self-reflection and selflessness of our teachers where we were able to receive these types of recognitions.

[00:19:54] And it goes to them. It's the work that they do in looking at their students and looking at what their needs are. Today I have Mr. Higgins, who's our APUSH teacher. Ms. Welch, who teaches our AP world.

[00:20:09] And we have Mrs. Peitler, who teaches our AP CompSite principles and has also taught AP ComSci. It's interesting for a school for us because we also work hard to offer dual enrollment.

[00:20:24] So as you try to increase one and maintain the other, this is like icing on the cake to show that we're offering both opportunities for our students to succeed in either the dual enrollment world or in the advanced placement world. And it's a testament to the dedication of our students who day in and day out go through the grind, Conversations, for example, today I had with a parent who had some concerns about the rigor and what it's doing to their child.

[00:20:53] And we had a plan and I'm coming at the game, she sees me there, she says, I spoke to him, he's gonna tough it out. And it's a team effort. If it's me offering tutoring in mathematics after school or connecting them with other administrators who have taught these courses, because our teachers have lives after school too as well and where they're usually late.

[00:21:11] So if they need help from whoever they need to, we try to connect them with that support so that they can be successful. So we wanna thank you. I asked them if anyone wanted to speak and they were like, no. So I'll quote, the last time I was here, one of my students received an honor from the college board.

[00:21:29] He goes, this is pretty cool. So it is, it's the accolades and honors. I receive them, but I share them with the staff and let them know that I'm proud of them and that we will continue to work and support our students and offer the opportunities to those who do not know they're available for them so that they can grow.

[00:21:51] And I'll share the one story that was shared with me today. It's a special ed student, went through a special education program, wasn't sure about going to college, but today the parent contacted Mr. Jim Smith to let him know my son just graduated from George Mason University.

[00:22:06] And if it had not been by the work that was done by the staff and the programs that you led, it probably wouldn't have happened, but he is a graduate of college now and going into the workforce. And he had the opportunity to take some AP courses as well.

[00:22:22] So thank you and congratulations to all my colleagues as well. - Thank you, Mr. Martinez. And he did allude to something when COVID was happening and when we got back in recovery, Mr. Martinez taught his students and took on courses.

[00:22:42] So I'm very, very thankful for you, Mr. Martinez. I'm very thankful for your staff and always the warm welcome when I come and visit. So thank you very much. - Thank you, Mr. Wilk. Well, Mr. Jessie was the representative of the Occoquan district was unable to make the board meeting tonight.

[00:22:57] So I will read this one. I want to recognize the Occoquan district and they are proud to recognize the Woodbridge High School for earning the bronze status. Representing Woodbridge High School tonight is principal Heather Abney. Ms. Abney, would you introduce your team and say a few words?

[00:23:13] - Thank you. Problem with going last is a lot of the words have already been said, but I'll go ahead and read what I wrote. you for taking the time to recognize our achievement at woodbridge senior high school our school theme is building bridges closing gaps and leaving legacies and the increase in the number of underrepresented students taking advanced placement classes at woodbridge would not have happened without the support of an amazing school community to include students teachers counselors librarians administrators support staff and families joining me tonight is Kim Spindler, Specially Program Coordinator, Sarah Groom, one of our science teachers,

[00:23:53] Carrie Sheenel, English teacher, and Sarah Terrell, a history teacher, who also has her husband and dad in the audience, so we're excited to have them here. Each of these teachers have welcomed first-time AP students into their classes and not only provided them with encouragement and support, they have instilled a sense of confidence that has resulted in the majority of these students deciding to take another AP course the following year, which as the research shows, supports students on the path to college success and beyond. One student, like another colleague mentioned, one student recently spoke to me about what

[00:24:31] it was like to take an AP course for the first time. She said this was not something that was ever brought up by her parents or her family members. She said that it was a teacher at Woodbridge who recommended she register for the course and a counselor who encouraged her to take that first step. The student went on to say that because she was successful, she will be signing up to take another AP class next year. And for the first time, she is now considering college after high school. Again, thank you for recognizing Woodbridge Senior High School for earning a place on the AP school honor role. I'll end with a highlight because I know Dr. McDade always likes the data. At Woodbridge,

[00:25:08] we have seen an 8% increase in students from cohort 2023 to cohort 2024 earning college credit as a result of the AP classes and the instruction that our amazing teachers provide. So thank you. Thank you, Ms. Avni.

[00:25:30] That was great, great news. And let's give another round of applause to our distinguished principals, staff, teachers who've made this happen. As Dr. McDade likes to say, our core business is educating these young folks. And if you look at our strategic plan, it is about our core business.

[00:25:48] And I don't know a better example of success in our core work than this. We've increased our graduation rate at the same time we've increased rigor across the board. And I think this tonight, this celebration is an excellent example of that work.

[00:26:03] And the enthusiasm you heard from Dr. Healy and our other principals on why they do this work is so important. And I'm glad we were able to showcase this. Thank you all, congratulations to you all. Before we stop for a picture, I'd like to have Dr. McDade share a few words.

[00:26:18] Dr. McDade. - Thank you so much. - This is, I think all of the leaders know how special this is to me because of all the work that we've been doing over the course of the last few years to get more underrepresented students accessing AP coursework.

[00:26:36] And something that Dr. Healy said just stuck with me is that the teachers that you see here and the schools that are not here and the leaders, yes, receiving the award and the recognition is great because it's representing their hard work.

[00:26:52] But more importantly, the work is being done because there's a strong belief that every single student in Prince William County can create a thriving future for themselves and their community. And we know that the talent, the intellect is there. We just have to meet that with opportunity.

[00:27:09] And you have each done that and you continue to excel. And what I do wanna share with the public and with the board, what you don't know, is that it's for the first time AP seekers, the students have trusted adults in their school. So they don't just get enrolled in these classes.

[00:27:27] They also have people that are supporting them along the way, checking in, making sure they're okay. Like the story you heard about the parent that said, "Hey, my student may not wanna stay in the class." They have counselors to talk to, but the students are not just enrolled in these classes. They're supported throughout the entire time that they're there to make sure that they get all of the resources and supports that they need to be successful.

[00:27:50] So I wanna thank each and every one of you for that hard work, for your belief in our young people, for being not just the cheerleader, but being the support that they need so that they know that they each can reach their wildest dreams and be successful in life after high school.

[00:28:07] I appreciate your hard work. To our leaders, thank you for creating the conditions for our teachers to show up for kids every day because they also need the right environment and climate in their schools to be able to serve students well. So thank you, congratulations to each and every one of you, and I look forward to seeing all the incredible work that you will continue to do on behalf of Prince William County students every single day, thank you.

[00:28:36] - Thank you, Dr. McDade. At this time, it would be the board's distinct honor to take pictures with these distinguished individuals

[00:28:42] this evening, we'll do that now.

[00:37:51] Okay, thank you everyone for that. We're moving on next to the adoption of consent agenda, 11.01, a motion's in order. Mr. Blake. - I move that the Prince William County School Board approve the public meeting consent agenda as recommended.

[00:38:10] - Do I have a second? - Mr. Chairman. - Any, Ms. Zargarpur. - I second. - Any discussion? Please vote.

[00:38:34] - The vote is seven yes, unanimous. Motion passed. - I'm moving on to acknowledgements and recognitions. A motion in order, Mr. Blake. - I move that the Prince William County School Board approve the acknowledgments and recognitions as recommended. - Do you have a second? - Mr. Chairman. - Ms. Williams.

[00:38:50] - Second. - Any discussion? - Mr. Chairman. - Mr. Williams. - Thank you. Again, I'd just like to say every now and again that we do these for the month coming up. So next month will be African-American History Month. Thank you.

[00:39:03] - Please vote.

[00:39:33] - The vote is six yes, one abstained. Tridentic, motion passed. - Next is citizen comment time. The period for citizen comment is an opportunity for citizens to speak on agenda items or topics germane to the operations and the policies of Prince William County Schools. Tonight, we do not have any citizens who completed sign-up process, so we will move on to agenda item 14.01.

[00:39:51] I'd like to hand it over to Dr. McDade. - Thank you, Mr. Chairman. At this time, I would like to invite our Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Vernon Bach, to present an update on the redistricting process.

[00:40:08] - Thank you, Dr. McDade. Good evening, Chairman Dr. Lateef and school board members. During our November 19th school board meeting, the board exercised its authority under policy 264 to direct staff to initiate a school redistricting proposal for three new residential developments in the Noakesville school attendance area.

[00:40:29] Here I have tonight Dr. Matt Cartlidge, who is our supervisor of planning and CIP to present to you that proposal for first reading. So I'm gonna turn it over to Dr. Cartlidge.

[00:40:51] - Good evening, Chairman Lateef, members of the school board and dr mcdade it's great to be here this evening to go through the first reading for the redistricting proposal for three new residential developments we'll first begin with a brief overview and background of the situation at hand sorry i just want to make sure that we didn't click too far ahead the overview for our agenda this evening is to talk about the situation at hand discuss the redesign policy and how that is being implemented for the first time

[00:41:26] for a school redistricting discuss the timeline and then dive into the proposal now we will discuss the background for that so first of all back on the november 19th meeting under the new policy 264 the school board passed a motion that directed the planning team staff to consider school redistricting for three residential new development construction projects they are bristow corner

[00:41:59] Bristow Crossing and Thomas Farm at Bristow Station. These are located within the Brentsville Magisterial District. The three developments are currently assigned to the Noakesville School, and the Noakesville School is operating significantly over 100 percent. There are 12 portable classrooms already on site to serve as overcrowding abatement. The data and projections that my team produces suggests that the

[00:42:31] Overcrowding is going to increase over the next several years and this board during its last CIP cycle for fiscal year 25 through 29 approved the construction of a 30 classroom addition at the Nooksville school as a result of this overcrowding as we move forward to more recent times we had a work session with the board last week and the proposed CIP for FY 26 through 30 is reducing that to a 10 classroom addition because of the site's suitability for an addition.

[00:43:06] And with this, we're also considering additional mechanisms to address the overcrowding for this school. The second meeting that the school board held in September, the consultants National Demographics Corporation presented to you all the redesigned proposal for the school redistricting policy that was later adopted at the first meeting in October and I just want to bring to your attention kind of which parts of the process in this policy and reg we are undergoing and exercising right now so

[00:43:43] with the new policy the board passes a motion that initiates school redistricting to be examined by my planning team we are at that point now bringing back to you a proposal for the board's consideration because there's THERE WERE FEWER THAN 15 CURRENT STUDENTS IMPACTED BY THIS PROPOSAL, THE ENGAGEMENT PART WITH STAKEHOLDERS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS IS SOMEWHAT MORE ABBREVIATED.

[00:44:13] WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE FOR THIS PARTICULAR CASE IS THAT THE SCHOOLS WERE NOTIFIED FOUR WEEKS PRIOR TO THIS MEETING AND THEY WERE ENCOURAGED TO USE THEIR TYPICAL COMMUNICATION channels with parents and guardians to bring awareness to this project and proposal underway.

[00:44:33] Additionally, school status messages were sent out to the parents and guardians at Cedar Point, T. Clay Wood, and Marsteller, as well as the Noakesville school. This part of the policy is specifically intended to allow for the board to redistrict neighborhoods that are not yet constructed so just kind of recap our timeline motion was passed on the 19th of november the parents were contacted of the one current student who would be affected then moving forward to a

[00:45:12] couple weeks messages went out to the schools mentioned here we are for the first reading and then this is for info this evening it will be up for action at your next board meeting so now let's move into the proposal that my team is has prepared for you for your consideration so what we are proposing is that the future communities of bristow crossing and bristow corner be redistricted away from the nooksville school to cedar point elementary the community of thomas

[00:45:49] farm at bristow station is proposed to be redistricted away from the nooksville school to T Claywood both of these changes would be proposed to take effect for the 25-26 school year now as part of the policy 264 we are to report to you how these proposals would be affected through the four criteria the first one that we'll discuss is the facility utilization Cedar Point Elementary School in 5 years is projected to have approximately 344 vacant seats.

[00:46:28] The communities of Bristow Corner and Bristow Crossing, when they are fully constructed out, are anticipated to yield approximately 60 elementary students. Our projections that we calculated in October are estimating that approximately 40 of these students will be present in the next five years so we project five years into the future for elementary and middle schools with the additional students yielded from this development there would still be approximately

[00:47:01] 300 vacant seats anticipated at cedar point five years from now leaving the school at about 63 percent of program capacity the other elementary school proposed to be affected here is t clay wood they have a very similar story currently 345 vacant seats are projected five years from now upon the build out of bristow thomas farm at bristow station we anticipate approximately 95 elementary students to be yielded from that community with those added to t clay wood five

[00:47:38] years from now we would anticipate about 323 vacant seats at the school leaving it at approximately 64% of program capacity. The second criteria in the redesigned policy is looking at the stability of school assignments. These new developments have not been reassigned recently and as I mentioned there is only one current student who would be impacted by this proposal. The school did make an outreach effort to understand how this would impact this student and the family and

[00:48:16] and we learned that the student would like to remain at the Noakesville school if that would be possible. So there is an opportunity here for the board to grandfather this one student to stay at the Noakesville school and still move forward with this proposal.

[00:48:33] The third element in the Policy 264 for school redistricting is local geography. Upon reassignment, each of these three future developments would then be assigned to schools that are more proximate than their current school assignment.

[00:48:54] The fourth element in the redistricting policy is student demographics. Now with fewer than 15 current students impacted by this proposal, the impacts on the demographics at these schools is negligible.

[00:49:11] The Nooksville school is a K-8 model, and so in the operationalization of it, you have an elementary attendance area and you have a middle school attendance area. What the board would need to do to maintain every residence being assigned to both the elementary and middle school portion of the Noakesville school is you would need to adjust both the elementary attendance area and the middle school attendance area under this proposal.

[00:49:42] That would keep the elementary and middle school attendance areas for the Noakesville school coincident and you would offer the most overcrowding relief to the Noakesville school. In this proposal we are proposing that the total three communities be reassigned from the Noakesville school to Marcellar Middle. Marcellar Middle in five years is projected to have about 180 vacant seats. Upon the build out of these three communities we are anticipating about 80 middle school students.

[00:50:17] Of those 80, about 26 are anticipated to be yielded within the next five years within our projection window. If they were reassigned to Marcellar, we would anticipate Marcellar to be at about 87% of program capacity five years from now.

[00:50:34] What we want to mention is that there is already development being tracked in Marcellar's attendance area, namely Innovation Talent Center. we know that there will be many students yielded from that community and are already assigned to Marsteller Middle.

[00:50:53] For that reason, in the proposed FY2630 CIP, we are proposing a 10 classroom addition to be constructed at Marsteller. That would be scheduled to open for the school year 28-29.

[00:51:11] Additionally, we have examined the geography of the area and looking at the capacity utilization of Gainesville Middle, we believe that there are opportunities to leverage in addition at Marcellar Middle, reassign part of Marcellar's current attendance area to Gainesville and provide overcrowding relief to this area.

[00:51:34] Those elements are beyond the scope of what we're bringing you tonight for proposal. This is strictly to reassign three new developments from the Noakesville School to Marcellar. - Dr. Cartlidge, real quick, question on that innovation development, is that the one near the Governor's School?

[00:51:56] - It is, yes. - My understanding was when they proposed that, maybe to the Planning Commission originally, that it was an over 55 community or they weren't gearing towards families. Am I wrong or did they change that? - There were a variety of avenues initially investigated for the community.

[00:52:15] At one time, there was also discussion about it was going to be student housing. so where it landed was communities that could yield k-12 students okay okay well good thank you again briefly going through the elements here there are no middle school students currently enrolled who would be impacted by this proposal local geography again these neighborhoods would be assigned to a closer middle school than they currently are assigned and with fewer than 15

[00:52:51] students the impacts on student demographics would be negligible the information I just shared with you is available to you all and to the public on the project's website there is both a QR code and a shortened link to the website additionally there was public feedback collected through an online form for this project we are reporting that to you and compliance with our redesigned policy from the feedback you know self-prescribed there were 65 of the responses identified this proposal

[00:53:30] as either neutral to satisfied in terms of impact and concerns shared primarily they saw that the proposal is intended to help with the overcrowding relief at noakesville and it would allow more of these students to attend without the need for portable classrooms they found the proposal to be a good plan for community building as far as any concerns or themes that we saw among the concerns they were concerned about increasing class sizes and overcrowding at marsh cellar and cedar point

[00:54:05] as far as for the not satisfied we saw about 35 of those responses the proposal they felt did not do enough at the noakesville school and we do agree with that this is not the end solution for the nooksville school this is a variety of tools being applied to this overcrowding situation and then lastly there was concern about increased class sizes and overcrowding at the schools to which these communities would be reassigned and i think to that i would mention that we can provide

[00:54:43] overcrowding relief in the sense of redistricting some of these neighborhoods away but the class sizes will still be funded based on the current budget manual and the calculations of teacher to student ratio. So the other schools necessarily would not have larger class sizes but there might be more classes. And that concludes the presentation for this evening. Happy to answer any questions that you might have. Ms. Williams. Thank you. Could you tell me which of the three or if all three have they already been approved for development of these? Bristow Corner, Bristow Crossing and

[00:55:19] Thomas Farm at Bristow Station? Yes all three have been already approved. The Thomas Farm at Bristow was approved in December. So that one in our projection model starts yielding students one year after the other two.

[00:55:34] - And then what is the difference between what was proposed at the CIP and this proposal here? - So this effectively augments what we were proposing at the CIP work session. With the CIP work session, we're proposing a 10 classroom addition at Marcellar Middle to allow us to redistrict some of the attendance area of the Noakesville school to surrounding schools.

[00:56:02] At the elementary level, there is abundant space in the Linton Hall corridor. But because the Noakesville school is that K-8 model, we must also reassign the middle school students too. And that's where Marsteller does not have loads of space to accept all of these students and also experience increasing enrollment from Innovation Town Center.

[00:56:28] So that's why we're proposing the classroom addition there. - Okay, and then what will the upcoming, so remind me 'cause that's not my district and the numbers are not sticking right now, but I'm just trying to paint a better picture because I feel like this proposal tells us exactly what we asked for, but I'm trying to view it from a more holistic position because one of the things that we do or historically have been done with boundaries boundary issues is we sort of band-aid it and then we create more problems down the road which I'm not saying you're doing but my brain can't get out of that cycle because it's been there for a very long time so could you remind me so if

[00:57:06] I'm hearing you correctly regardless our elementary spaces we have plenty at the surrounding schools within the next five years to accommodate the students what about at the Noakesville school elementary itself because I know that we talk about the decline elementary students how if you could just refresh my memory just on the elementary section yeah so to give you kind of a benchmark place cedar point elementary was at 63 of capacity this year t clay wood was at 82 of capacity as we've been sharing with you the national trend is decreasing birth rates we've also seen domestic net out

[00:57:44] migration from our region all of those things are making it more difficult for enrollment to increase so with that trend that we're seeing at those linton hall corridor elementary schools being present we have the opportunity to send some of the attendance area at the noakesville school to those elementary schools but because we need to also send the middle school students as well that's our limiting factor currently so in order for it to all work the plan is to construct a classroom addition at Marsteller and then do an additional redistricting case

[00:58:22] where we send some of Marsteller's current attendance area to Gainesville Middle. Once you do all of that you know we will have a much more holistic approach to addressing the overcrowding that we're seeing at the Noakesville School. Okay and this is my last question not to be answered now but could we get a snapshot or a picture of how the boundaries are drawn currently where students are because the the thing the issues that i hear are that there are a lot of students in the nooksville school district boundaries that pass other elementary schools and middle schools and such i just don't that i can't pull that up in my brain but i just would like to see that for

[00:58:59] information and when we make this decision because i think it's our responsibility to make the best decision i'm not saying i disagree with this because obviously we have an overcrowding issue right but i am not geography is not my thing so trying to put all those boundaries in place and look at this at the same time is would be easier just to see a better map we'll definitely do that before our second reading okay perfect and the challenge of the area is it's fairly low density for most of the nooksville school's attendance area the higher density housing that we're seeing is closer to that intersection of 28 highway and linton hall it's those areas that allows us to

[00:59:37] send the most number of students to a closer school okay thank you i appreciate that and i and I appreciate the fact that it's coming. - And Ms. Trudetic. - Hi, Matt, thank you so much for all your work on this.

[00:59:52] This is a big deal. I do, I'm extremely familiar with my district. The entire corridor of Vent Hill all the way down is zoned for the Noakesville School. And that is part of the issue is we've had growth in that corridor in the last 10 years, and it's, you know, shaken things up a bit.

[01:00:12] And then we had the new build with the Noakesville School and everything like that. So one of the things I did want to point out in this, and something that you and I had talked about, is New Bristow Village is a budding Thomas farm. There was going to be an interpersonal connector that connected the two.

[01:00:30] Where does New Bristow Village go to school? - Yeah, currently, it's equally wood. - And so, to me, it makes sense to have the neighborhood that's built directly next to them also attend with them, especially because that would help mitigate the overcrowding.

[01:00:46] So that's part of why we did that. Bristol Corner and Bristol Crossing are closer to Cedar Point than they are to the Noakesville School. So again, that also made sense to do that, so then it also addressed the overcrowding at the Noakesville School, which these developments, because they've been approved, will essentially get built sooner than the other ones that are in the pipeline in the Brentsville District.

[01:01:12] And I know people don't go back and watch our meetings because they, you know, just don't have the time to sit through our two and a half hour meetings. But at the last session that we did talk about, I did mention that we, in planning, we have 6,000 homes coming to the Brentsville District currently.

[01:01:28] They have not been approved yet, but they are in planning and these are part of those. So there is going to be some issues as far as growth and overcrowding in some of our schools or could be potentially, which is why we're having these conversations now.

[01:01:43] Like Ms. Williams said, this is a Band-Aid for the current problem right now and it fixes it in the short term but in the long term of the you know four to six year range we're gonna need to figure out something in the Brentsville district even at the middle school level then one thing that wasn't mentioned here is that is the high schools can you talk about any impact this will have on the high schools yes the proposal that we're providing to you is only for the elementary and the middle school attendance areas this will not affect Brentsville district highs attendance area or Patriot or any of the

[01:02:18] surrounding high schools where will these kids go to high school would be the question thomas farm bristol corner bristol crossing yeah so they i believe it would be brentsville but i will double check that before we come to the second reading okay thank you miss wall yes thank you um i am looking i had pulled up the map of boundaries um and i was looking at t claywood's boundaries and And I noticed there is kind of a figure eight period space.

[01:02:51] And then there's a non-contiguous trapezoid. Correct. And that's New Bristow Village. Right. Okay. So that's where these are. And then, and I don't know historically why that occurred. I know we generally try to not do that. Are there neighborhoods?

[01:03:06] And I'm a little disoriented because when I look at this map, it's totally colored and purple. And so you can't really see the roads. but is there a reason why we can't just extend, connect those two together? Well, I mean, I don't know what's in there, but, and that's not the issue before the board tonight.

[01:03:25] - Correct. - That's kind of a troubling boundary. And I guess we're inching closer to maybe connecting it 'cause it is moving towards its other part of its boundary. - So it's an interesting geography. - Yes. - And it's also kind of a historical relic of rapid growth that was seen the Linton Hall corridor in the early 2000s. Non-contiguous parts of an attendance area, we try to avoid them because they tend to offer less efficiency for transportation, less walkability. However, you know, Teclay Wood is an example that comes to my mind that we have,

[01:04:04] as well as Vaughan Elementary. It's just it's a product that sometimes happens because of the number of students and where space is available at the schools. Additionally, you know, that can you just connect over to it there's also existing housing that has been around for roughly 10 years like Avondale so that would become a larger redistricting proposal that would affect more than 15 current students and we would have to do this in a different manner to be compliant with the policy

[01:04:35] okay thank you thank you dr. cartilage if anyone wants to take a look at the proposal. It'll be up on the website and we'll have it back for the second reading. If anyone has any questions or concerns for superintendent staff on this issue, please get them to the superintendent. We will be voting on this in the first week of February. I do appreciate your fidelity to the new process and you going through specifically, you know, us abiding by sort of the

[01:05:09] rules that we've set for this. I truly appreciate it. And, you know, from my standpoint, I have two major concerns and I mentioned this at the CIP meeting number one where we have under capacity I don't want to be in the business of closing schools and in the business of dropping enrollment and less babies and less people moving in I am concerned we have two areas of the county that continue to see some you know can significant growth and that's both Brentsville in the Potomac district and so addressing their growth is critical but at the same time addressing the fall off everywhere else is deeply concerning and and these tools that you've all

[01:05:48] provided us will be helpful moving forward so thank you to the superintendent your staff for looking at this second reading next time thank you folks moving on next we'll move to our school calendar here dr mcdain we we don't it's just are we are we just vote are we voting on this today yes okay uh a motion is in order mr blake that the prince william county school board to approve the revised 2025-26 school calendar.

[01:06:28] - Do I have a second? - Mr. Chairman. - Ms. Williams. - Second. - Any discussion? Please vote.

[01:06:54] - Vote is seven yes, unanimous. Motion passed. - Outstanding, that agenda item is going forever. All right, let's move on next to student representative time. Our student representative tonight is Alma Medina Latoury from the CD Hilton High School. Ms. Latoury, floor is yours.

[01:07:11] - Thank you. Good evening to the board members, Dr. McDade, and everyone who has taken the time to be here today. once again i'm happy to have been given the opportunity to be here as a student representative i look forward to continuing to represent student voices many more times before the school year ends now i will begin my remarks by acknowledging the recognition of february as african-american history month across prince william county schools pwc is a highly diverse county in fact its diversity is one of its most notable characteristics today the african-american history month resolution encourages the celebration of an important part of our community

[01:07:49] as a student i am excited for the inclusivity this promotes and i hope everybody shares my excitement continuing to a different topic last friday 17th marked the end of the second quarter marking period for students in prince william county as of tomorrow thursday 23rd we are officially in the last half of a school year seniors this means that we are less than five months away from graduation therefore i want to remind everybody that fafsa workshops are still being held in many high schools across the county for more information on when and where they are scheduled please visit the pwcs college website additionally student job fairs have already begun

[01:08:28] to be scheduled this is an opportunity for high school students across all grade levels to explore employment options for the summer and even throughout the school year student and career counselors across all schools are eager to share more information with students so please check your emails and reach out to them finally as a former participant of virginia girl state i'm happy to know that the applications for american legion voice state and american legion auxiliary girl state are not open i encourage all juniors to take advantage of this opportunity i would now like to share some news and updates about student voice committees and the student senate

[01:09:06] SVCs across the county are growing and their input continues to be highly valuable for discussions in the Student Senate and my input in board meetings. If you're a high school student or a middle school student interested in joining, reach out to your student senators, since we would love to hear from you. On another hand, after two years of working on this project, this month in the Student Senate we were able to share a copy of the Student Bill of Rights with dr mcdade and her fellow associate superintendents this would not have been possible without the help of our sponsors and all student senators working together so thank you i

[01:09:43] look forward to the student bill of rights being shared with pwcs board members and the public finally i hope everybody enjoyed their winter breaks and extra snow days with the temperatures outside remaining below freezing for all of this week please remember to wear warm clothing prince William County also provides hypothermic shelter services to those who need it. The county website contains more information. That will be the end of my relatively short remarks for this evening.

[01:10:11] If anyone has any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me or my fellow student representatives. Board members, Dr. McDade, and everyone listening, thank you for having me. Thank you, Ms. LaTorre. I appreciate that. Excellent work. Next up, Superintendent's time. Dr. McDade.

[01:10:26] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to share a little bit of information today on an exciting pilot program that the prince william county community foundation is partnering with pwcs coming to 12 pwcs schools will be designating food pantry space with shelving to support ongoing and sustainable food security at the following 12 schools hilton unity reed unity braxton lake ridge enterprise occoquan sudley penn reagan minneville parkside and mullen we will be working with these

[01:11:06] schools to prepare for these spaces with the goal of launching the pantry before the end of the school year we're also excited to congratulate spark which is the pwcs education foundation for being awarded a grant from centera cares to support food security in the school division working alongside prince william county community foundation and its child wagon i want to extend a heartfelt thank you to dr vanessa gaddis and the entire pwccf team for their continued support and commitment to pwcs schools and families and speaking of meals

[01:11:41] i'm also pleased to share the beginning march 1st 2025 our families will no longer be charged a convenience fee when they use my school bucks to add funds to their students meal accounts Additional information will be sent to families in the coming weeks about this positive change.

[01:11:58] Another reminder to our families that the registration deadline for applying to our 37 specialty programs will close February 1st, except the Center for Fine and Performing Arts, which closed December 14th. Our specialty programs offered in elementary, middle, and high school focus on career exploration, subject area concentration, and college/university preparation.

[01:12:22] information and application assistance sessions are being held through february 1st and i want to invite everyone to attend one of our online sessions found on our pwcs website last week pwcs and pwea reached a tentative wage agreement totaling more than 160 million dollars over two years this multi-year commitment delivers on the 2025 strategic plan promise to ensure that pwcs offers regionally competitive pay in the coming weeks staff should expect to receive detailed communication about the compensation plan, which will include live webinars for employees

[01:12:58] to hear directly from our HR specialists, who will explain the scale improvements and provide illustrations for employees to better understand how these changes will positively impact them over the course of the next two years. Last Wednesday, January 15th, the school board held a work session to review and discuss the capital improvement program, also called CIP.

[01:13:23] As I wrote in my Friday letter to our families and staff, PWCS anticipates a notable deceleration in enrollment growth over the next five years, which will delay or change current and future facility plans.

[01:13:38] This means we will refine, update, and proactively respond to ensure past, present, and future student success as it relates to our educational facilities. More information on how PWCS responds to current and projected data can be found on our website.

[01:13:54] site. On February 5th, I will present the CIP along with the FY 2026 proposed budget to the school board. On February 10th, a public meeting, the FY 26 proposed budget and CIP will be held and an official public hearing on the 26 budget will be held on February 19th. A final markup on the 26 budget and CIP in a school board work session will occur on March 12th. And then upon On approval on March 19th, the school board will submit the fiscal year 2026 budget and

[01:14:29] CIP to the Prince William County Board of County Supervisors. And Mr. Chairman, that concludes the superintendent's report. Thank you, Dr. McDade. Excellent. We have committee updates up next. We have just one committee update from Ms. Wall on the School Health Advisory Board.

[01:14:46] Thank you very much. So the School Health Advisory Board met on January 17th at 9:00 a.m. we met from nine to 11. And the school health advisory board's purpose is to advise the school division on broad topics relating to health or on specific aspects of the school health program.

[01:15:04] The purpose is also to provide guidance and service and advocates for school health and assist with, is supposed to provide advocates for school health and assist with the development of health policy in the school division.

[01:15:20] And on this particular agenda were several key items that fit within that purpose. One is this, well, to start with, the school health advisory board met to review and approve bylaws for the school health advisory board. The board will need to undergo some structural changes to bring it in line with a policy 170 that we just recently passed.

[01:15:41] Our policy 170 is our standing committees, advisory boards, task forces, and councils. So there's a little bit of work to do for clarifying membership roles and also what happens next. We also were informed on the use of secondary devices in the population of students with type 1 diabetes, a particular topic of interest to me since my son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 10 months old and he's now 19.

[01:16:06] So this discussion involved an update in particular about continuous glucose monitoring, which is used by nearly 95% of our student body who are experiencing diabetes. And staff gave an overview of plans in the works for improving medical care and management of diabetes in our school.

[01:16:23] So that was really, really exciting. And I was really thankful to get that update. Also, the board received an update on immunization vaccination clinics and plans for additional community partners so that we can have a really wide coverage across our district. I mean, the school district, yeah.

[01:16:40] We also discussed substance abuse prevention and support in PWCS. And we had a great presentation by Mallory McKnight and Shaila Michaelis. And this was a really great presentation. And I would recommend that we invite these individuals come speak to us sometime about their work and efforts in Prince William County Schools to support substance abuse prevention in our schools, because this is a challenge, as we know, in our community and in our schools. And so that pretty much sums it up. It was a really great meeting.

[01:17:09] Thank you, Ms. Wall. Very appreciative of that work. Up next is board matters. Last time we started here over on that side. So we'll start with Mr. Wilk. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't much to say other than i enjoyed um thoroughly the martin luther king jr speech oratorical contest it was a great experience some great speakers and so congratulations to the winners and i yield the

[01:17:38] remainder of my time mr denick um i don't have much either i'm excited to go around and meet with all my principals and vice principals this next month or two and talk to them about their schools and what's going great and any needs they may have i'd like to leave you guys with a quote no dream is too big no challenge is too great nothing we want for our future is beyond our reach

[01:18:07] miss wall well i thought that exciting snow was terrific um and to me a native of the rocky mountain winters i have to say i kind of liked seeing snow linger on the ground and i love it that it's still out there it makes me feel that it's winter so for all you snow lovers out there i'm with you um i want to highlight some events that i've attended i went to a pto meeting at Mullen Elementary. That was exciting to see them in action. I love those kinds of meetings because I get to meet people in the community and hear what they have planned. I'd like to see us on

[01:18:45] that topic sponsor a conference to bring together PTO leaders from across the division to network, receive instruction, resources, collaborate, hear what others are working on. I think that would be a really great thing to do. I know there's a lot of interest in meeting other PTO leaders across the county i went i tried to go to ub uh pyramid concert at unity braxton but because of i think it was the weather i'm not sure it was postponed so i'm looking forward to hearing that um there was an ftc robotics competition hope hosted at battlefield this last weekend um and i believe there were 36 teams there it was awesome i commend those who ran the event we had a lot of staff

[01:19:21] there who were volunteering um it ran very smoothly um i was invited to share a few words and my comments centered on the importance of opportunities for children to explore their interests particularly in steam and parents um i encourage parents to support their children's interests even if they don't align with parents interests because i was a humanities english major and my son was all into stem he wanted everything to do with stem and i had no idea what he was ever talking about passed about sixth grade so it's really awesome when we have educators who support children and help them develop their interests and their talents and these are really great programs and I love seeing it in action. That's what you get when you go to robotics tournament.

[01:20:01] Plus they can develop soft skills such as good eye contact, verbal skills, interviewing skills, public speaking, all those soft skills that are really important and seem to be highly in need especially with kids who are otherwise really good at working on computers and texting each other over the phone. So it's really great to see those kids trying so hard. So great job Battlefield on their their tournament i also commend the student orators for entering that the mlk oratorical contest and congratulations to the winners it's not easy to get up and prepare a delivered and memorized speech before a big crowd so that was really great i'm looking forward to the

[01:20:39] vsba legislative advocacy conference because i've already been advocating for a particular bill that is on type 1 diabetes and how we manage it in schools across virginia so i'm really looking forward to that. To seniors and families with seniors, hang in there. Keep working on those last-minute college applications, get them in, and then keep your eye out for scholarships. That's a really important part of this. Let's see. As always, thank you to all of our division employees and especially our classroom teachers for your belief in what you are doing and for caring about students. You really do make a difference. Thank you. Ms. Laurie Williams. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[01:21:19] Just wanted to start by saying congratulations to all the MLK Day oratorical winners and participants as well as all the staff that supported them in their journey or their mentors and thank you to Delta Sigma Theta Sorority for hosting. This is the first year I was not in attendance so I will be watching some recordings somewhere because it's one of one of my favorite events. I was not in attendance because this weekend I went to the Alliance of Black School Educators Conference. It was the first time I attended. I got to network with a lot of different

[01:21:52] educators at all different levels and it was very uh it was very educational and i'm very appreciative of the opportunity to go and to interact with leaders and educators from all across the state and to hear their opinions and views as to what they're doing now what may be coming in the future we also saw a few of our vendors like equal opportunity schools so it was an all-around informative event next up i just want to bring to the public's attention that there's a Prince William County Schools title one annual meeting night which will be held virtually

[01:22:27] on the 28th you can register online I can't mention enough the specialty program deadline that will be February 1st I encourage all those who are interested to attend an information session or ask questions not just of your school staff but if you know any other students excuse me who are already participating in those programs if you are a student reach out and ask them as well and see what they think about the programs next up for that if you have not checked the profile of a graduate is in your student view and parent view account from sixth grade all the way

[01:23:02] up it will guide you in your choices as you make career selection course selections for your upcoming school year or career selections as you're graduating out of the school division i just want to say also congratulations to all of those who put in the hard work for the collective bargaining agreement on both sides it is always a challenging adventure when you do collective bargaining but I do believe that this agreement is historic in nature and provides the best outlook that we can for our staff and I know it was a long haul to get there so I appreciate all the hard work and dedication that went into that I look forward to attending the SBA's annual

[01:23:41] legislation day I bring this up just to say now is the time to reach out to your legislators in the virginia assembly as they make the laws to have your voice heard and i look forward to celebrating african-american history month next month african-american history is american history as well as all of our other minority groups who contributed to the foundation of this country and with that i'm done thank you miss sargapur thank you dr latif um on january 11th and 12th there was a choral festival called VOC, which is the Virginia Organization of Kodai Educators.

[01:24:17] This is one of the rare instances where my professional life and my Prince William life kind of cross because I brought several of my students from my school to participate, and I got to participate along with educators here, Ms. Rekers from Marshall Elementary, Mr. Palendi from Parkside Middle, and Ms. Kennedy from Loch Lohman.

[01:24:38] And together, there were 31 students from Prince William County Public Schools. I challenged the other educators who can bring their fourth, fifth, and sixth graders to this. It was an amazing program. Some years it's held here in Prince William.

[01:24:54] Sometimes it's held in Fairfax County. But it was a really great event. The best part was there was a world premiere. The conductor also wrote the song, Chris Fox. The song was about chasing your dreams. And the first part was sort of representing kids chasing fireflies in their backyard.

[01:25:11] And then the second part was the adults going, you chased fireflies, now I want you to chase your dreams. And then the two parts combined. The concert was at Osborne Park High School, which is where I graduated from, where I played on that and performed on that stage multiple times. And it was just kind of this full circle moment for me personally to see my students on that stage where I once dreamed my dreams and they were there.

[01:25:33] So got a chance to go to the Marshall Heritage Night. They were also celebrating. Was it 30th or 35th, Dr. Lateef? 30th anniversary. My three daughters went to that school. I know it's a school in Occoquan now.

[01:25:48] It's districted there. But my children went there, and it was really nice to catch up with some of the staff who are still there and see the families that live in my neighborhood that still go there. So that was fun. also got to see the colgan and hilton step teams perform at their night went to the mlk oratorical competition on saturday which was fantastic i'm looking forward to seeing um the the musical uh at osborne park this week and oh one other thing lunar new year is coming lunar new year a lot of times we will just sort of say it's chinese new year but many cultures around the world also

[01:26:28] celebrate Lunar New Year around the same time. So if that is your observation, I wish you to have a fantastic festival. Thank you and have a good evening. Ms. Williams. Thank you. Just really quickly, I wanted to give a shout out to Rippon middle school staff, the assistant principal, and a few of the teachers who presented this weekend at the conference. Mr. Blake. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As Ms. Williams said earlier, this past weekend, I had the privilege of attending the vaspy conference in richmond it was a really inspiring event that was focused on professional

[01:27:04] development networking and empowerment some of the insights i gained from educators and leaders across the commonwealth will help continue to guide my advocacy for the students in my community our community and it has been privileged and as as has been previously mentioned We reached a significant milestone for PWCS with the tentative collective bargaining agreement.

[01:27:32] And I just want to thank Division Council and their team for their leadership throughout this collective bargaining process, as well as Dr. McDade and her team for their dedication and collaboration, collaborative efforts in helping us reach this tentative agreement.

[01:27:51] This is truly a strong and fair agreement that reflects our unwavering commitment to supporting educators, through competitive compensation, enhance professional development, improve working conditions, and fostering collaborative decision making. Our teachers are the backbone of our school systems and this agreement ensures that they feel valued and supported in their critical work.

[01:28:13] And as we move further into budget season I'd also like to emphasize the importance of our recent capital improvement plan work session. The CIP highlights essential investments including new schools, expansions to alleviate overcrowding, renovation to age and HVAC facilities to ensure safe and modern learning environments and transportation and safety enhancements.

[01:28:40] Sustainability remains a key priority with plans incorporating energy-efficient design and renewable energy sources. For the Neapco district, I'm particularly focused on advocating for equitable resources, prioritizing updates for older schools and ensuring transparency accountability throughout the budgeting process. I encourage everyone in our community to stay engaged as we move forward, attend budget seasons, share your feedback, partner with us to ensure every student in Prince William County has access to high quality education they deserve. Thank you.

[01:29:17] Thank you Mr. Blake. Okay number one you heard from Dr. McDade earlier we've come to terms in a contract agreement with the Prince William Education Association.

[01:29:34] We are awaiting their ratification of the contract and then the school board will vote for it. I think it's a terrific contract. It puts an exclamation point on the work that this board has done for many years on improving salaries, increasing salaries, achieving, you know, salaries that are competitive with regional our neighbors and And for the first time, if this goes through, we will have first-year teachers starting at similar salaries as Fairfax County, and I think that's incredible.

[01:30:05] And that will go a long way in helping us continue to recruit and retain great teachers. That helps us improve student performance. That helps us then be a district that continues to be recognized with awards and success at all levels of students whether it's athletics academics um in the arts um i want to uh and so i i'm very excited about where we've gotten to on that and i look forward to the school board approving that once the pwa ratifies it next the um we had the capital improvement plan meeting last

[01:30:40] week i would encourage the public to take a look at it uh this board is investing uh or proposes the superintendent proposes to invest uh over one billion dollars in our capital improvement plan over the next five years uh i would pay close attention the fact that the school board recognizes the importance of maintaining our current buildings maintaining a lot of the non-sexy stuff that that has to be done to make sure that the heaters don't break down we have good hvac systems and air conditionings we all saw what happened in richmond when the water supply was cut we don't want to see those kinds of things and you know as as our nation gets older and as the buildings we use get

[01:31:16] older we do have to spend a lot of time on making sure they're those buildings are maintained and so that is absolutely critical and I am I look forward to seeing this but the CIP approved we've also made new investments in new construction that I think are very exciting so please take a look at that and we look forward to hearing the public's contributions and concerns regarding that congratulations Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated for hosting another terrific and I think it was a 30th annual MLK Martin Luther King oratorical competition competition was incredible our students performed very well you know if you were ever pessimistic about the future go to one of

[01:31:55] those you will see nothing but optimism and hope for the future of our nation because we have tremendous young people going to be taking the mantle of leadership soon congratulations to Marshall Elementary I attended the 30th anniversary celebration and their heritage night my children all attended Marshall Elementary it's a great place and very congratulations to all of them and the teachers there it was great to see old friends and old teachers for my children was wonderful last I want to be clear that the Prince William County School Division welcomes every student and every family to enroll in our school

[01:32:35] we believe we have one of the best school divisions in all of America we are committed to making sure that this is an open and welcome environment for all students i worry when students start not coming to school i worry about when students start thinking about dropping out you know this is the middle of the year i would encourage you to reach out to your counselors whatever concerns that you may have whatever worries you may have about not being able to stay in school or whatever struggles you may be having whether they be academic or otherwise please go to your counselor please reach out to someone in your school your principal

[01:33:13] you saw our principals here tonight they they they spoke about how warmly they care about the the children and the future of our kids you've heard from the superintendent over and over again we have the most welcoming school division in the nation and we want you to come here stay here and enjoy the opportunities we provide thank you all and at this time i'll adjourn the meeting

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