Coraggio Consulting
Prince William County School Board Meeting, Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Date: Wednesday, March 5, 2025
Place: Prince William County School Board, Virginia
Length: 1h 57m (video)
Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWa_LkErueI
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] - I'd like to call the meeting of the Prince William County School Board to order. A motion is ordered for the approval of the meeting agenda. Mr. Blake. - I move that the Prince William County School Board approve the meeting agenda as recommended. - Do I have a second? - Mr. Chair. - Ms. Wall second. Any discussion?

[00:00:17] Please vote. All in favor of approving the agenda, hands in the air. Any opposed? Okay, no opposition. Move on, that motion passes. Motion to enter closed session. Moving on to motion to order, Mr. Blake. I move 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.

[00:00:43] One, to discuss with staff the assignment appointment, promotion, performance demotion, salaries, disciplining, or resignation of specific public officers, appointees, or employees of any public body pursuant to Virginia Code 2.2-3711A 1 and 2, to consider the grievance appeal of employee T25-002 pertaining to their salary and to receive legal advice from Division Council related to the same

[00:01:16] under Virginia Code 2.2-3711A 1 and 8. And three, to discuss with Division Council and staff actual and probable litigation and specific legal matters involving staff, students, and other civil litigation involving the school division under Virginia Code 2.2-3711A7 and 8 and 4 to discuss and receive briefings by staff members related to the security of schools' facilities, the safety of persons using such facilities, and the action taken to respond to such matters

[00:01:56] where discussion in an open meeting would jeopardize the security of such facilities pursuant to Virginia Code 2.2-3711A19, and five, to discuss the award of a public contract to employees' specific representative, which involves the expenditure of public funds and the term or scope of such contract, where discussion and open session would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating and strategy of the public body, pursuant to Virginia code 2.2-3711A29.

[00:02:33] - Do I have a second? - Mr. Chairman. - Ms. Williams. - Second. - Any discussion? Please vote. All in favor? - Aye. - Any opposed? - No opposition, motion passes. All right, at this time, the school board

[00:02:48] will now enter closed session and are open in one hour.

[00:03:45] Prince William County School Board is now returning to open session. I'm gonna move things around.

[00:04:01] First, we're gonna do a motion order for 701. closed session certification, Mr. Blake. - I move that pursuant to section 2.2-3712 of the Code of Virginia, the closed session of the Prince William County School Board meeting of March 5th, 2025, be certified by adopting the following resolution.

[00:04:21] Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Prince William County School Board hereby certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge, one, only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meetings requirements were discussed in closed meeting to which this 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 do I have a second Mr. Chairman Mr. Zargarpur I second any discussion

[00:04:56] please vote vote is seven yes one not president vote Williams motion passed moving on to closed - Closed session action items, a motion to order.

[00:05:28] Mr. Blake. - I move that the Prince William County School Board approve the appointments and releases of specific employees as presented in the closed session. - Do I have a second? - Mr. Chairman. - Ms. Wall, any discussion?

[00:05:44] Please vote.

[00:06:00] - The vote is seven yes, one not present at vote. Williams, motion passed. - Moving on to Grievance Appeal for Employee T-25002. Motions in order, Mr. Blake. - I move that the Prince William County School Board affirm the step three grievance determination issued by the superintendent's designee in employee case number T25-002 and further, that the chairman at large is authorized to provide a written decision to the employee reflecting the school board's decision.

[00:06:33] - Do I have a second? - Mr. Chairman. - Ms. Zargarpur. - I second. - Any discussion? Please vote.

[00:07:01] - Vote is seven yes, one abstain, Wilk. Motion passed. - Okay, thank you. At this time, the school board is required to hold a public hearing on a matter that is before us. And so we are going to go ahead and do that. So at this time, do you want to read your stuff first and then I declare the public hearing?

[00:07:18] Yes. All right. So let's hear from Division Counsel Wade Anderson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In January 2022, the school board entered into an option agreement with Florian Power during business's light shift energy, setting forth terms under which light shift could exercise a right to purchase a 3.06 acre parcel of land abutting Gainesville Middle School and University Boulevard extended directly across from Gainesville High School at any time within a three-year period. In January 2025, Light Shift notified the board that it was exercising its option to purchase the property. Prior to selling real property, Virginia law requires a school board to make a determination after holding a public hearing

[00:07:54] that it has no use for the property and declare the property a surplus. The school board must also seek the approval of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors to retain the proceeds of such sale. The purpose of tonight's public hearing is to receive comments from the public as to whether the school board should declare the property surplus and seek to retain the proceeds of sale. Thank you. At this time I declare that public hearing is now open on the subject of the sale of surplus property. We had posted for a number of days the opportunity to speak at the public hearing regarding this topic. Tonight we do not have any qualified citizens to speak up to

[00:08:30] speak. Therefore there being no citizens indicating they wish to speak on the subject, I declare the public hearing closed. Moving on to the Pledge of Allegiance, we have Alaa Rashid to lead us in the pledge, our student representative this evening. All right, before we go on to this

[00:09:07] meeting I wanted to sort of um talk about what happened uh just a statement on um you know what my feelings are and the board's feelings are in decorum so you know good evening uh I'd like to share that it is my responsibility as chairman at large to direct and guide the actions of this board pursuant to the board's agreed upon rules as members of the Prince William County Public School Board we serve a community that entrusts us with the responsibility of shaping the future of education. This responsibility demands that we conduct ourselves with integrity,

[00:09:44] fairness, and professionalism at all times. Our School Board of Ethics, Professional Standards, and Protocols Policy 117 are not merely aspirational ideals. They are prescriptive guidelines that govern our actions and interactions. These standards require us to model professionalism, speak candidly and courteously to each other, listen with an open mind, engage in discourse with courtesy and prioritize the welfare and academic success of all students regardless of background ability or circumstance we serve as models both for our students and our staff and as such we must act accordingly likewise we must

[00:10:22] respect the defined roles within our school system our responsibilities to provide oversight and governance while the day-to-day operations of our school remain the purview of the superintendent and administration whether in public forums, private discussions, or community engagements, we must always reflect the professionalism expected of those who serve in positions of leadership. As chairman at large, it is my responsibility to ensure our board and our citizens adhere to our agreed-upon rules for decorum and professionalism. Tonight I'm reaffirming our commitment to the school board ethics policy and will not hesitate to enforce rules of orders for those who do not comply, up to and

[00:10:59] including muting audio for those who do not adhere to the time limits for speaking, recessing meetings if necessary, or take other actions as deemed appropriate to ensure the business of this board is conducted accordingly. Now more than ever, our role in public service is critical, and we must ensure our actions reflect the model behavior we want to demonstrate to our students, staff members, and community. Thank you. Next, we're going to move on to Thriving Futures Focus, and tonight, and so for those of you who don't know, but you should know, Thriving Futures Focus is an opportunity to highlight the exemplary work being accomplished in our schools of

[00:11:36] fulfill our vision that every student will graduate with the knowledge, skills, and habits of mind necessary to create a thriving future for themselves and their community. We dedicate this time during our meetings to recognizing students, staff members, and schools that have earned an honor or award at the state or national level. We appreciate how these honorees have positively represented Prince William County Public Schools, and the school board is proud to recognize them publicly for their accomplishment. Tonight, the school board will recognize accomplishments in in the arts.

[00:12:03] We begin our acknowledgements with Mr. Justin Wilk of the Great Potomac District, who will introduce our first award winner. Mr. Wilk. - Thank you, Dr. Lateef. The Council for Art Education Incorporated is a nonprofit organization established in 1984 with the primary sponsorship from the Art and Creative Materials Institute Incorporated or ACMI.

[00:12:25] ACMI supports high quality visual art education programs in K-12 schools across the US. Through the efforts of its members, partners, and the substantial support it receives from national organizations and institutions like ACMI, the Council for Art Education actively promotes a strong commitment to visual arts education for students in grades K to 12.

[00:12:48] The Council for Art Education is set to honor Independence non-traditional school art teacher, Callie Wasson, with the Award of Excellence as the Youth Art Month Chair for the Virginia Art Education Association, or VAEA.

[00:13:04] This recognition is for her efforts in developing the state digital portfolio for Youth Art Month activities throughout Virginia. As an art teacher at Independence Nontraditional School and the Youth Art Month Chair for the Virginia Arts of Education Association, Kelly has demonstrated unwavering commitment to fostering creativity and artistic expression among our young learners.

[00:13:29] Through her exemplary work in organizing Youth Art Month activities across the Commonwealth, Kelly has provided a platform for students to display their talents and celebrate the importance of visual arts in their educational journey. Her digital portfolio, which highlights the numerous activities and events that took place during Youth Art Month, is a testament to her dedication and innovation.

[00:13:53] On behalf of the Potomac District, it is my great honor to recognize Ms. Wasson and her colleagues. Independence, non-traditional schools represented by, is represented by principal Stephanie Bretzky and Jody Pankowski, principal at the public separate school.

[00:14:09] Ms. Wasson, would you like to share a few words tonight, please? - Good evening and happy youth art month. Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed members of the Prince William County School Board, I am filled with immense gratitude as I stand before you, having being recognized for receiving national award of excellence from the council of arts for my work the virginia's youth art month digital portfolio this award is not merely is not only merely a personal accomplishment but it symbolizes the outstanding art programs found throughout the state and highlights the

[00:14:47] unwavering support and commitment to the arts that we proudly uphold here in prince william county youth art month which began in the 1960s serves as a vital reminder of the importance of the arts in our schools it highlights creativity and expression that fosters arts for our students enriching their educational experiences i feel truly fortunate to be part of a community that values and supports arts programs so deeply however it is essential to recognize that in virginia

[00:15:24] many counties are facing cuts to their art programs this reality underscores the need to continue celebrating youth art month and advocating for art education for all students every child deserves access to the transformative power of the arts and together we can ensure that the vital component of education remains a priority thank you once again for your support and for believing in the power of art to inspire and uplift our students let let us continue to champion

[00:15:59] creativity in our schools and community thank you thank you very much for being here congratulations thank you mr wilk from the coles district miss lisa zagapur please share more about our award-winning students thank you dr latif uh the coles district would like to recognize charles j colgan senior i can't say that tonight charles j colgan senior high school and daryl prices for his portfolio's prestigious selection as one of the 50 by the college board's 2024 advanced

[00:16:34] placement art portfolio online exhibit just to emphasize how amazing his this selection is daryl's portfolio was one of 80 000 submitted by student artists his artwork will be exhibited online internationally within the yearly digital exhibit by the college board so we want to congratulate daryl as he present he presented a stunning portfolio of selected works earning well-deserved recognition for his creativity technical mastery and unique artistic vision his collection celebrated for its striking composition depth of expression and innovative

[00:17:09] use of materials captivated audiences and critics alike daryl graduated in 2024 from colgan high school however this selection was not made until december of 2024 and the exhibit publication was in february 2025 so we are fortunate to be able to still be able to celebrate daryl's amazing achievement and he is in college he could not attend tonight but he is represented by this evening by colgan high school principal dr tim healy and art teacher miss elizabeth burns who will read a letter on behalf of daryl's achievement good evening thank you yes uh dr latif school board

[00:17:45] members, and Dr. Medade, thank you for having us. My name is Elizabeth Burns. I am a Colgan High School CFPA art teacher, and I am here tonight to represent our Colgan CFPA art program, our AP course art programs, and then, of course, 2024 graduate from Colgan CFPA visual art graduate, Daryl Price. He couldn't make it tonight, as Mrs. Zargarpur said. He is currently a freshman at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland, titled MICA. He is studying illustration and accomplished all A's first semester and therefore he said he

[00:18:21] couldn't leave for tonight. So yes, Darrell is one out of 50 students from over 80,000 art portfolios exams globally. One of 50 chosen. His artwork was chosen as it exhibited high quality showing quality in diverse ideas, style, material, and processes. And this recognition and online art exhibit is is used as a teaching and learning tool in visual art classrooms around the world year after year.

[00:18:54] Through studio practice, application of design concepts, and informed decision-making, students assemble a body of artwork called a sustained investigation that demonstrates a high level of quality of growth over time, of personal voice shown through content, technique, and process.

[00:19:12] Daryl's sustained investigation was, how do different genres of music impact the human psyche ap scores stated that daryl's artwork was selected in part because it demonstrated and achieved synthesis in his portfolio daryl stated that by developing my skills and figure creating space and personalization and as i delved deeper into what my si asked i focused into exemplifying the emotions the genres rose out of me peers in in the public because of those symbols.

[00:19:49] After revision with this concept, he began to visually express how the message of the genre impacted emotions of the human psyche. He was focused on different genres of music and this piece here, which I have a few different images of in him, was influenced by punk music as a whole, very anti-establishment and full of rebellion.

[00:20:11] To further that feeling, he combined it with vague references to a post-apocalyptic landscape and motifs. As Daryl's teacher, as his 2D art AP course teacher, I worked diligently with him to assist in finding and fostering his artistic voice.

[00:20:31] We worked on developing a path together for him, developing questions in his portfolio. We worked on things as it related and to get his best portfolio out. He does continue to keep in touch with Colgan. He came back and helped us as an alumni and helped us with our CFPA auditions.

[00:20:50] He stays in touch with our alumni as well as myself and always looking for opportunities. He was our National Arts Honor Society president as well. He thanks you and I thank you.

[00:21:05] - Thank you, Ms. Burns. And congratulations to you and the Colgan community. Thank you for all the beautiful art and everything. I know we've got student works coming up soon and I can't wait to see those shows. - Yes, thank you. - Excellent, thank you. Ms. Zargarpur, before taking a few pictures, Dr. McDade would like to share a few words.

[00:21:23] - Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First, I just wanna say to Ms. Kelly Watson, we're so lucky to have you in Prince William County. I wanna congratulate you, but also I wanna commend you for fostering artistic expression and providing meaningful opportunities for our students to highlight their talents.

[00:21:40] And I want to just reassure you. First, I agree with everything that you said and the transformative power of arts education and reassure you that in Prince William County, it's in our strategic plan. We're starting our new strategic plan coming up very soon, and arts education will have a prominent role in that plan.

[00:21:58] So we have no issue with continuing to invest in arts education because we see it as core to the opportunities that we provide to our students. So thank you so much for your incredible work in fostering artistic expression and creativity in our students.

[00:22:16] You are to be commended. And then for Daryl Price, wow, that is so impressive. As a graduate of Colgan Senior High School, we're just incredibly proud of the work that he's doing. And to hear that he's continuing that work in post-secondary is really refreshing.

[00:22:35] But Daryl's work really exemplifies creativity, technical mastery, and artistic vision. And so it's a well-deserved national recognition that brings pride to Colgan and to the entire Prince William County Schools community.

[00:22:50] I wanna thank you, Ms. Burns and Dr. Healy for not only accepting this recognition on Daryl's behalf, but also supporting him in highlighting his artistic talent and pursuing the arts after graduating from Colgan.

[00:23:05] So, and it's a testament to the work that you're doing, the fact that he continues to stay in touch with his foundation at Colgan. I wanna congratulate each and every one of you and just say how incredibly proud we are. but for our educators, I'm grateful to all of our educators who inspire our students every single day and bring out the absolutely best in them and help them to show artistic expression in everyday life as well as in school.

[00:23:31] So congratulations to both of you. - Thank you, Dr. McDade. At this time, I'd like to request our honorees to come forward with a photo of the school board

[00:23:42] and receive a small token of our appreciation.

[00:28:06] Okay, thank you very much, everyone. At this point, we're gonna move to the adoption of the consent agenda, an action item. - Vice Chair Blake. - I move that the Prince William County School Board approve the public meeting consent agenda as recommended.

[00:28:23] - Do you have a second? - Mr. Chairman. - Ms. Williams. - I can second. - Any discussion? Please vote.

[00:28:52] - Vote is eight yes, unanimous, motion passed. - Okay, great. Moving on, acknowledgements and recognitions. A motion is in order, Ms. Blake. - I move that the Prince William County School Board approve the acknowledgements and recognitions as recommended.

[00:29:08] - Do you have a second? - Mr. Chairman. - Ms. Williams. - I second. - Any discussion? - Most of these are for the month ahead, but the procurement month resolution is also for this month of March. Just to have a little designation, 'cause usually they're for the upcoming month.

[00:29:23] Thank you. - Please vote.

[00:29:39] - Vote is seven yes, one abstained. Tridentic, motion passed. - Those citizens, moving on to citizen comment now. Those citizens who signed up in advance with the clerk may address the school board this evening when they're called to the podium. The citizen comment period for regular school board meetings is one hour and citizens may speak on the agenda items or other topics germane to the operations and policies of Prince William County Schools.

[00:29:59] Please use proper decorum and manners while at the podium or you'll be asked to step beside. We ask that the audience please be respectful of each speaker and refrain from any clapping, cheering or cheering to avoid disruption in the meeting. If you do not, the board will recess and I'll ask the room to be cleared to restore public order. Tonight we have six citizens signed up to speak.

[00:30:14] When I call your names, please come up to the podium and state your name and address for the record. We will start with, I'll call the first five just so you know the order. If you wanna come up, you can. not just come up when it's your turn brian wilson jeffrey fuller reena stapp chris funderberg and didem url um brian wilson good evening board members and dr mcdade my name is brian joseph wilson my address is on file with the clerk my son is a second grader at mary porter in miss

[00:30:51] williams district but i live in mr wilts district i'm here to speak to you tonight about a duty for empathy that I believe rests with this board. This podium and your dais represent the lowest level of the representative democracy. There are no other elected persons between me and this board.

[00:31:12] You and I as a team find ourselves squarely at the confluence of fate and circumstance, where national politics converge to become the reality of our day-to-day. On January 21st, the acting Homeland Security Secretary rescinded guidelines for ICE and CBP, which prohibited enforcement actions in "sensitive areas", which includes schools.

[00:31:37] While there's been considerable debate on what actual impacts there are or lack thereof, the fact remains many of your constituents in the Commonwealth's most racially and ethnically diverse county are terrified. While this does not directly impact my family, I am deeply empathetic toward my county mates who it does that empathy compels me to illuminate what i believe is a moral imperative for you as individuals and more importantly as a board to promulgate a distinct position and articulate your intentions with respect to this matter the pwcs immigration

[00:32:16] protection statement is only a boilerplate and it is stale in this moment of inflection it fails to tell our community what the board thinks about and more importantly what the board is willing to do about the possible impacts of this major policy change if you have made your position or positions known i cannot find either after reasonably searching thus many others might not be able to find them either during the november 19 school board meeting i watched miss williams and mr jesse contend that the board communicating a position on skills games in the community was quote not in

[00:32:53] the board's wheelhouse conversely miss wall argued skilled games were a distraction to be addressed by the board i ask is it possible is the possibility of perceived or actual federal immigration law enforcement in our schools within the board's wheelhouse or a distraction to families and students i respectfully request you demonstrate the most basic level of empathy by considering if your family was directly impacted by this change what would you expect to hear from the elected officials closest to you i thank you for your time and attention and my thoughts as i as

[00:33:28] you continue your challenging work challenging and vital work you have my full attention and support and i really thank you guys for what you do please consider your responsibility to communicate a clear and resounding position on this matter good evening thank you jeffrey fuller jeffrey fuller

[00:33:52] okay rena staff hello my name is rena staff and my address is on file with the clerk um i wanted to talk a little bit more tonight about regulation 738-5 it protects some of our most vulnerable population the lgbtq plus youth in prince william county it keeps them safe in schools and that includes their privacy and confidentiality this does not seem to be an affront to any parents rights it is a necessity for the students to feel comfortable and safe in

[00:34:31] schools of course parents want their children to be open and honest with them we all want more than the one-word answer to how was your day but it would be ideal situation where children and their parents can have conversations about sensitive subjects like sexuality and gender but not all households are that open and accepting lgbtq youth who have access to spaces that affirm their sexual orientation or gender reported lower rates of attempting suicide than those who did not according to the 2021 report by the trevor project schools were found to be affirming spaces 50 of the time

[00:35:07] and yet only one in three found their households to be affirming places. These schools where the LGBTQ youth can be treated with acceptance and can be a safe place for them can be life-saving. The LGBTQ youth are overrepresented in the young people that experience homelessness and housing instability in the United States.

[00:35:29] Less than 10% of American youth identify as LGBTQ, yet they make up 40% of homeless minors. They're also more likely to experience assault, trauma, depression, and suicide compared to their non-LGBTQ+ homeless populations.

[00:35:45] Most common cited reasons for being homeless is running away from their families who reject them due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. And the second most common reason is being forced out by family despite wanting to stay home after disclosing their orientation.

[00:36:00] it is these homes that are not welcoming and gender-affirming spaces where the children would be turned away from in fear or violence that would need the schools to be the safe place for them for these at-risk children are not always able to inform their parents and they don't need to inform the parents that a child prefers to be called a different name or use a different pronoun some items listed in the regulation like respecting someone's name clothing choice or or hairstyles seems common sense afforded to all students.

[00:36:32] And just as these are the first steps to be considered as gender affirming care that have been under attack recently, this is why we need to stand firm protecting all of our children that attend schools in Prince William County. Thank you.

[00:36:47] - Chris Funderburg. - My name's Chris Funderburg and my address is on file.

[00:37:04] And I'm often accused of being engaged in hate or being a member of a hate group because I don't believe that we should allow or encourage children to change their gender. The truth is, I'm only here because I love my children and I have love for the children that have been harmed by gender ideology and those that will be.

[00:37:22] I don't hate trans kids, nor do I hate their parents. I empathize with the parents who have been told that they can either affirm their child's transition or have a dead child. While the stats for those with gender dysphoria aren't good, as we heard several times last week and again tonight, the truth of the matter is that the suicide rates between gender dysphoria, depression and anxiety are essentially the same.

[00:37:44] Autistic children and those with other mental health issues are told that their problems come from having a brain that doesn't match their biological sex and that their distress will be solved if they transition. That's insane. I blame WPATH and gender ideology activists for causing the harm to children and creating this divisive issue that didn't even exist 20 years ago.

[00:38:05] I blame them for introducing children to this harmful ideology and effectively recruiting them in order to break down societal norms and the nuclear family. The CAS review found that affirming child gender transition does not lead to long-term better outcomes. In fact, the opposite is true.

[00:38:22] These kids need to be treated for their underlying mental health issue, not told that everything will be fine if they mutilate themselves. I understand how hard it can be for a parent who has let their child transition to believe anything that I'm saying is true, because then they would have to face the fact that they have participated in harming their children.

[00:38:38] but I'm only saying it to help them and their kids. The sooner you stop affirming, the sooner you can get real help. In the meantime, biological boys do not belong in girls-only spaces. If a trans child does not feel comfortable using the space that aligns with their biology, then they should have the option of using a gender neutral location, not forcing everyone else into that position.

[00:38:59] You cannot put the needs of the many below the ideas of the very few. Thank you. - Thank you, Didem Ural.

[00:39:16] - Good evening, esteemed board members. I have a few rhetorical questions to ask, and I hope that you'll find meaning to my words. Is it fair for one person to make another person feel uncomfortable, especially in a private setting like a bathroom or a locker room?

[00:39:33] Would you tolerate this kind of behavior from a bullying child, a parent, or a teacher? Is it not the collective goal to raise confident, successful, and emotionally stable children? Should state laws be followed by our county or at the county level, regardless of your agreement with them?

[00:39:55] Wouldn't you prefer spending more time and resources on basic and advanced academics over social non-issues that divide and categorize our children? We, the tax paying parents, certainly do think so. Now I've got some questions for which I would like to receive answers on.

[00:40:14] I will follow up with an email to you. I do understand that it's not common practice for you to reply to parent emails, but I'm hopeful that one of you will take me seriously and reply. Policy 738-5 was adopted by Prince William County during the summer of 2021.

[00:40:33] I will point out that Ms. McDade took her position here in July of 2021, and she did come from Chicago Public Schools. I am asking regarding this policy, what guidance did you receive and rely on to shape this policy?

[00:40:54] What medical journals, what psychiatrists, what mental health professionals were consulted when concluding that this policy was the new path forward here in our schools? What evidence did you find that this policy helped the transgender student and did not harm the cisgender student?

[00:41:14] Ms. McDade and others, what authority do you have to make promises to LGBTQ+ groups of parents and students while completely ignoring the civil liberties of all unlabeled groups. Sounds like diversity, equity, and exclusion to me.

[00:41:32] Ms. McDade, what authority do you have to risk $50 million in federal funding for non-compliance to our federal and state laws? And I ask that question to all of you. What authority do you have to take that money away from our children?

[00:41:48] It doesn't look like it's pouring out of the walls. You can see that the students are overcrowded in the schools and teachers are up to here with it. I ask these questions because after listening to the advocates for 7:38 during the last meeting, it came clear to me that this is not about facility use, but more so a mental health crisis.

[00:42:07] One Prince William County resident quoted statistics about an increase to 72% suicide rate. It was mentioned that they need affirming spaces in order to feel like they belong. Whether or not this study is accurate. - Thank you, Ms. Yurl.

[00:42:24] Ms. Yurl, your time is up. Thank you, Ms. Yurl. Thank you, Ms. Yurl. - Thank you. Melissa Yurk.

[00:42:41] - Hi, my name is Melissa Yurk, and my address is on file.

[00:42:58] Good evening, I appreciate this opportunity to exercise my right as a citizen, and I recognize that being on the board is not your day job, and you have families. So thank you for being here. I'm urging you to look beyond partisanship and political theater to embrace a common sense approach to this issue of Title IX and Policy 738-5 so we can get on with the job of excelling in education.

[00:43:24] We want an education. This is not a gender issue. This is a matter of safety, period. According to Webster's New College Dictionary, gender is defined as the fact or condition of being a male or female human being, especially with how this affects or determines a person's self-image and social status, et cetera.

[00:43:45] In application, gender implies personality. You can be a masculine girl or an effeminate male. These kids are perfectly perfect. biology is immutable, just like gravity. Again, this is a matter of safety.

[00:44:01] By not clearly defining our county's position on this topic, males and female sports in locker rooms, you are exposing yourself to a growing number of issues. For example, how will you ensure children's safety in bathrooms? How can you objectively determine whether someone is trans-identifying boy or a boy just trying to gain access to a girl's locker room?

[00:44:24] Despite 738-5 and the required parental involvement, the course you are advocating by your willingness to not establish a definitive position is going to undermine any parental trust of the school administration. So then, are you effectively saying we do not want parents involved?

[00:44:45] I have kids in all levels of school in Prince William County. The older they get, the less they want to use the school bathrooms. Bullying in bathrooms is not a unique issue to trans-identifying children. I do not know many kids who want to use school bathrooms.

[00:45:02] If you want to talk about safety, bathrooms are the unsafest place in any school. Why add another layer to that? Provide, in writing, a policy for gender-neutral bathrooms for trans students. This is not a civil rights abuse. As is noted, they make up 0.6% of the county's roughly 90,000 students.

[00:45:24] I have watched kids switch gender identities from one to another throughout a single school year. Please, just focus on educating and stop acting like your hands are tied. They are not. The Grimm case leaves the onus on the states. I don't understand why the Supremacy Clause is not adhered to as it is constitutional.

[00:45:44] You can't say biological boys participating in girls' sports is fake. The UN has a lot to say about that. And at no point during the speech am I saying a transgender-identifying student has less value. That concludes citizen comment time for this evening.

[00:46:02] Up next is student representative time. We have Ms. Ala Rashid, senior at Unity Reed High School. Ms. Rashid, the floor is yours. - Thank you, Dr. Lateef. Good evening to the Prince William County School Board community and Dr. McDade. I'm happy to be back on the day as representing my peers again.

[00:46:19] To start off my remarks, I wanted to say happy Women's History Month, with the goal of Women's History Month being to highlight the amazing achievements of women countywide, or nationwide, globally, I mean. And I'm excited to see how all the schools highlight these achievements, sorry.

[00:46:35] An example of this is how Unity Reed is hosting a showcase honoring women in history towards the end of the month, with other schools following suit and hosting similar things. Each student involved put so much effort into these events and I hope you all get a chance to participate and see what takes place throughout the month.

[00:46:50] On Monday, student senators countywide were able to visit Capitol Hill for National Social Emotional Learning Week, or better known as SEL Week, with the CASEL organization. This amazing opportunity was brought to us by Ms. Wines, Ms. Thomas, Dr. Schaefer, and Ms. Viola Askey.

[00:47:08] They worked really hard to allow us to advocate for ourselves and for the event to happen. It was an amazing opportunity, and each senator who went agrees, and they definitely deserve some kudos for this. At the event, we each advocated by meeting with both House and Senate members by sharing stories related to SEL and the impact of it in our lives, both at school and at home.

[00:47:27] Social emotional learning impacts students beneficially because of how it teaches us key skills needed for the future, such as self-awareness, self-management, and relationship skills. Students do not see it as something that negatively impacts us in any way as it teaches us ways to better ourselves and the role we hold in the community.

[00:47:46] It should not be seen as something that bars students as it creates an inclusive environment where we are able to grow effectively. Part of these meetings included helping to define what social-emotional learning is and to try and clarify any miscommunication that may occur.

[00:48:02] My story had been regarding the idea of social awareness and relationship skills. Currently at my school I host mentoring opportunities for East Hall students at my school where we discuss future aspiration, current school work and practice English or for me, my Spanish. This allowed me to grow my role in the community as I had been able to develop how I work with others in different settings.

[00:48:22] Other students and I hope Prince William County Schools will continue to support social emotional learning so students are able to continue participating in opportunities such as this. Furthermore, middle school students who are members of their school's student voice committees attended their first ever student leadership workshop, hosted by the county student senate.

[00:48:40] Their breakout rooms ranged from practicing peaceful disagreements to creating action plans. These students were able to practice their leadership and advocacy skills as they are working to better their school environment. Opportunities like this are so beneficial to students countywide as they give an emphasis on student voice and leadership.

[00:48:58] Even though it had been designated towards middle schoolers, the high school senators have been able to lead the event themselves adding on to this emphasis of countywide leadership. This week is also Foreign Language Week, which is meant to highlight the diversity present within our county. Prince William County is the most diverse county in the state and this week highlights that and the inclusivity we hold.

[00:49:17] It encourages students to recognize the cultural diversity present within the county and also to be appreciative of it. Food and Nutrition Employee Recognition Week is also coming up to recognize the dedicated staff who work to provide for students countywide. Recently, employees from the Food and Nutrition Services came to the Student Senate as well as many high schools and middle schools to elicit student feedback about meal options.

[00:49:42] The Student Senators and I appreciate their emphasis on Student Voice and all the work they do on us for a daily basis. We welcome other departments who want to incorporate more Student Voice in their decisions to reach out to Ms. Viola Askey to schedule meetings with the Student Senate. We'd love to be more involved in decisions that impact our lives as students.

[00:49:59] That will be all for my remarks this evening. Thank you so much and I hope everyone has an amazing evening. Ramadan Mubarak to everyone who celebrates. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Roshan. Next up, committee updates. Ms. Wall, she'd like to provide updates on internal audit and the joint governor's board. Thank you, Dr. Lateef. The internal audit committee last met on Friday, Friday, sorry, not Friday, February 19th at 4 p.m. at our previous, before our previous meeting.

[00:50:28] Dr. Lateef, Mr. Jesse and Mr. Blake were in attendance, as was I. And we received a status update on audit activities which included audit and engagement reports completed since our last meeting we discussed activities in progress and we also had a brief discussion on future meeting dates for 2025 and briefly reviewed that audit activities are governed by the 2025 internal audit plan so one aspect of internal audits we conduct school audits to assess design and effectiveness of controls over things like cash receipts, community use of facilities, fundraising activities,

[00:51:05] booster clubs, ticket sales, time and leave, things like that. Internal audit is moving forward with developing our enterprise risk management aspects of the audit function, and we expect more information on that coming up in our next meeting, which will be, I believe, in May.

[00:51:22] Audit software was purchased also to assist in modernizing audit processes and improving the ability of the auditors to complete their core functions, so I want to thank the division approving that software it's a big plus for the team and lastly an annual audit report highlighting internal audits activities for 2024 will be coming out later this month so that's about it for internal audit I'm gonna move to governor school joint board meeting the joint board meeting for governor school met on Thursday February 20th 7 o'clock over zoom and dr. Lateef and I were both in attendance as were other board members representing Manassas City and

[00:52:00] Manassas Park. And we heard at this meeting four summary presentations from students on their science projects and it was really interesting to hear what they're working on and to get a taste of the level or the caliber of research that those students are performing. And we also discussed the current student population and projected enrollment for the coming year. We discussed upcoming dates for the next school year and reviewed the admission process timeline.

[00:52:27] so one interest one interesting item of note is that the decisions for the next school year will go out on March 27th and the deadline for students to respond to admission for the program is April 6th so that's right on it we're coming right up it's very exciting for students the exciting time and congratulations to all the students who had the courage to apply and and and hopefully everybody will get in that wants to get in we have the upcoming events I want to highlight a couple for the board one is there's a research research symposium on on May 2nd at the GMU SciTech Freedom Center, and everybody's invited to that.

[00:53:02] I've heard it's amazing. I haven't ever been, so I'm excited to go this year. And this will be the 14th graduating class for our governor's school, and that ceremony will be held on May 17th at 10 a.m., and that will be at Colgan High School because the location is rotated among the three divisions, and it's our turn this year, so we get to be the hosts.

[00:53:25] Of course, everybody is invited and encouraged to attend that. all board members are invited. The next meeting for the Governor's School Joint Board will be April 10th at seven o'clock p.m., also on Zoom. That concludes my update. - Thank you, Ms. Wall. Up next, Superintendent's Time, Dr. McDade.

[00:53:42] - Thank you, Mr. Chairman. PWCS provides multiple opportunities for students to participate in performance and production with the Fine and Performing Arts, and March is Arts Education Month, which encompasses music in our schools, theater in our schools, and Youth Art Month.

[00:53:59] Arts Education Month highlights the value of arts such as dance, media, music, theater, writing, and visual arts in a student's well-rounded education, and we saw some clear examples of that during Thriving Futures Focus. Our schools recognize the educational value of the arts to teach abstract thinking, innovative practices, and understanding empathetic reasoning.

[00:54:21] Our teachers work to nurture the unique talents of our students, encourage creative exploration, and develop comprehensive skill sets transferable across the curriculum. The strategic plan sets a goal of increasing student participation in the arts by 5% through access to opportunities like auditions, concerts, and exhibitions.

[00:54:41] We want all fine and performing arts students to participate in at least three extended learning experiences per year. Our PWCS website now shares a calendar for all of our theater arts events that are taking place throughout the school year. So please visit pwcs.edu and select academic programs, then visual and performing arts to find the theater arts events page.

[00:55:05] And there you'll see all of the performances and arts events. I invite all PWCS community members to attend at least one of our many school events so that you can witness the depth and breadth of talent right here in our classrooms in Prince William County Schools. March is also Women's History Month, with International Women's Day recognized on Saturday, March 8th.

[00:55:27] This historic day was founded in 1911 by the International Conference of Women and was established to reflect, appreciate, and celebrate the contributions of women throughout history. The theme for this year's International Women's Day is "Accelerate Action."

[00:55:46] It emphasizes the critical importance of ensuring that every woman and girl has equal rights and opportunities. The theme highlights the need for collective action to achieve gender equality, showcasing that the empowerment of women and girls is essential for sustainable development, economic growth and global peace and security.

[00:56:04] The theme underscores the pivotal role of empowering women to catalyze rapid advancements in our global arenas. As the United Nations declares, gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls is not just a goal in itself, but a key to sustainable development, economic growth, and peace and security.

[00:56:23] Be sure to be on the lookout for features from the school division and our schools throughout the month of March as our school staff members and students recognize the barrier-breaking achievement of women in history this month. Speaking of breaking barriers, we want to highlight and celebrate National School Social Work Week.

[00:56:43] The first full week in March is an opportunity for our community to acknowledge the challenging work of our school social workers and to thank them for their heartfelt compassion in changing lives every single day. With a history steeped in improving attendance and making connections between home and school, National Association of School of Social Workers designate this week to recognize and celebrate the women and men who help students with mental health, social challenges, and provide family supports and resources. Often they are unsung heroes to our students in crisis and I want to thank each and every school social worker in Prince William County Schools for their transformative work

[00:57:23] with our students and the countless contributions that they make to our communities every single day. At this time we're going to move into the presentation for tonight. Each year we do a highlight on academic achievement through our quarter updates. We do the full state of schools with the school board in October, and then we do our quarter updates throughout the year. So we're at the end of the semester, and so now we'll be presenting quarter two, which is the end of the semester update. Before we start, I do want to thank and acknowledge the board for analyzing data over the course of the last month and engaging

[00:58:01] with us as we briefed you on the performance of students and how they're doing quarterly. This was something that the board specifically asked for regular updates on, and we've been doing that for the past three years now, which has been really beneficial. It's also been really helpful as board members have given us feedback, and so you'll see incorporated in the presentation that we're sharing with the public today some of the feedback that we've gotten from our board.

[00:58:25] So I really just want to thank you for your engagement and your commitment to continued academic achievement in Prince William County Schools. At this time, I want to introduce our director of research assessment and data services, Dr. Tim Neal. He's going to present data from the first semester. He'll also be joined by Dr. Stephanie Sullivan, who's our associate superintendent of teaching and learning.

[00:58:45] And so in addition to sharing the data that you'll see here, we also will be sharing some of our next steps and how we're going to tackle areas that require additional growth and attention. There's a couple of key takeaways before we begin that I do want to call out.

[00:59:01] I want to highlight that first, you will notice that chronic absenteeism is lower than last year at this same time. And the second thing is that we're seeing substantial improvement being made in students reading at or above grade level, which is a testament to all of the hard work that our classroom teachers are doing every day as they continue to implement the science of reading through the Virginia Literacy Act.

[00:59:24] And so we're seeing some really positive momentum with that work. We still have areas of growth and necessary support, particularly in the area of math. So we'll be bringing that forward, but also sharing exactly what some of the things that we'll be doing for the remainder of the school year to mitigate any risks in areas where we're not seeing appropriate growth.

[00:59:46] And so what you'll see in terms of the results that we have gotten, specifically when we talk about VLA, is there's been a lot of strategic communication around the science of reading and the Virginia Literacy Act and the work that we're doing, relationship building, data-driven initiatives, as well as powerful work that our amazing teachers, staff and administration. And so I really want to celebrate because that was a really heavy lift in a quick period of time, but our educators every day are really making a difference and an impact. And I think you'll see that in the presentation tonight. Throughout the presentation, I want to just keep top of mind

[01:00:21] that many of the goals that's driving the work is in our strategic plan and we are committed to our continuous improvement plans both at the school level as well as at the central office and department level as well. So at this time I'm going to turn the floor over to Dr. Neal and he will have support from Dr. Sullivan. Thank you. Good evening Dr. Lateef, School Board Murvers, and Dr.

[01:00:43] McDade. It's a pleasure to be here tonight to present to you the quarter two overview. So I'm going to cover information from the second quarter that is focused on the commitments we made during the strategic plan presentation in October. I'll be touching on our active enrollment information, attendance and chronic absenteeism, academic performance, specifically related to our Virginia growth assessment, literacy and our course performance. I'll also look at progress towards graduation and then conclude my portion with looking at our focus student

[01:01:17] support dashboard in a little bit more detail. So this table shows our active enrollment for quarter one and quarter two you can see in terms of total students we are hovering a little over 91 000 students active at the end of the second quarter so it's a touch more than where we started in quarter one the fluctuation we do see among student groups is fairly typical in terms of looking at our academic growth and achievement some of our big takeaways we do see a drop in our chronic absenteeism compared to the same time last year our vertical scaled scores for mathematics

[01:01:57] are generally improved over what we saw last winter. And in terms of reading, the percent of students on or above grade level with our HMH are significantly improved over the prior year.

[01:02:13] So this line plot shows our average daily attendance from August to January 17th or January 10th, which is the first quarter. And you can see we're hovering around 94, 95% average daily attendance with the characteristic dips near the holidays.

[01:02:30] You do see one larger dip there on January 10th and that was the two hour delay. When we look at chronic absenteeism, just as a reminder, this is defined as missing 10% or more of the student membership day.

[01:02:46] So if you're enrolled for 180 days, that would be 18 days. It does include at the present time, both excused and unexcused absences. And it is a component in our accountability system. The bar chart that you're looking at shows us chronic absenteeism rate from August to September to January and so in 23-24 we are a little over 17 percent for the current year for that same time span we're a little over 15 percent so two percent reduction and you can see that same pattern persists when you look across school levels

[01:03:24] moving on to our academic performance the Virginia growth assessment is required by Virginia code for students in grades three through eight there is both a math and a reading component to this we are allowed to have an alternative for the vga and we do have that approved for reading for the current year and what's important to know is that historically we see a greater change in our vertical scaled scores from winter to spring than from fall to winter so this table shows our vertical scale scores for the winter of 2024 and the fall of 2024 which was the start of the school

[01:04:03] year and the winter of 2025 which is the most recent assessment on the far right you can see two columns with arrows if it's an upward arrow it indicates we saw improved scores either over the fall or over the prior winter if it's a horizontal arrow that means we saw relatively flat change and a downward facing arrow indicates a drop so when we look across grade levels we generally see improvement in both the fall and over both last winter.

[01:04:33] Fourth grade is relatively unchanged and eighth grade we did see a drop compared to the prior year. So the Virginia language and literacy screening system has replaced PALS. It is a more robust assessment that assesses both code-based and language skills and looks at progress over time.

[01:04:55] students are placed into risk bands high moderate and low and if you are assessed to be in the high risk band individual plans are created to support you so when we look at this stacked bar chart you can see specifically looking at kindergarten first and second grade the blue bars are the low risk bands and we see substantial increases in the percent of students that have been assessed in that low risk band meaning we have fewer students in the higher risk band across those three grade levels. Third grade requires a little bit more of an explanation. At the beginning of the year all

[01:05:32] students in third grade are assessed with VALS. So you can see at the start of the year 42 percent of them were in the low risk band compared to the 25 percent of them that were in the high risk band. At the middle of the year the only students that are assessed are in the high risk band. So the bar chart for third grade at the middle of year reflects only those students who were in the high risk band at the beginning of the year. So of the 25% that were in that high risk band you can see almost half of them are now either at moderate risk or at the

[01:06:05] low risk bands. So our HMH growth assessment is administered in grades 2 through 8, three times a year. It is an adaptive test so it does respond, create questions based on student responses and it provides a growth measure for both language and comprehension. So this bar chart shows the beginning of the year which is in blue, and the gold, which is middle of year assessment.

[01:06:35] When we look at beginning of year compared to middle of year, we see substantial increase in the percentage of our students who are reading on or above grade level. The gray bars are a comparison for the prior year, and so you can see in general we're outperforming where we were last year at the middle of the year as well.

[01:06:54] So the next three slides are stacked bar charts that show the distribution of HMH reading So, HMH does place a student into one of five categories, below or far below, approaching and at or above grade level. And so here you can see the dark blue bars of percent of students who are at or above grade level.

[01:07:14] And across all grade levels, we do see an increase from the beginning of the year to the middle of the year. We see the same pattern when we look at our English learners, a higher percent are on or above grade level at middle of the year compared to beginning of the year. And we also see that same pattern for our students with disabilities.

[01:07:37] So this is information that we shared in first quarter, but we're sharing it a little bit differently now. And it shows the percent of students who are passing all of their courses, which is the dark blue, failing only one course, which is the light gray, or the gold, which is failing two or more courses.

[01:07:53] The caveat here is at the elementary level, this is only grades three through five. And for those students, Ds and D pluses were included in the failing category because we have a very small number that receive F's at the elementary level. And the distribution we see here is fairly typical of what we've seen in prior years. When we look at progress towards graduation, this is something that is being tracked and monitoring using a dashboard throughout the year. It includes key indicators such as course credit areas, earning verified credits as defined by diploma type and so forth. For the purpose of this presentation,

[01:08:33] We have defined the key indicators as core academic areas and the core verified credits associated with them. So this bar chart shows two things. The gold bars are course credits and the dark blue bars are verified credits.

[01:08:50] Verified credit means you've passed a test associated with that course. So you can see we have some increase in both course credits and verified credits. The horizontal bars on each one of the bars shows where we were in the first quarter. So it's been a very small movement up.

[01:09:07] What is important to note here is that this will change more rapidly in the spring as testing ramps up and more students earn those verified credits. So in the first quarter update, I shared with you the focus student support dashboard, which provides real time data on critical risk factors.

[01:09:26] It was something that you asked for more information about. So we fleshed it out a little bit more here to show how the data that I've shared with you now is being utilized at the school level to help inform classroom interventions so this is a screenshot from the focus student support dashboard it is a single high school and it's it's it's pretty colorful but what i want you to focus on are the individual donut charts and the coolness or hotness of the colors so in the upper left you can see a donut chart that shows risk factors

[01:10:04] associated with grades. Just below that you can see risk factors associated with absences and then total risk factors in the upper right. What this dashboard allows our school staff to do is look at these risk factors and use them as filters to drill down to the student level, identify students that might be in need of additional support and design interventions based on on those specific needs. So just beneath this graphic you can see there is a table. That is student information. It has been de-identified. But each one of those lines

[01:10:39] represent an individual student that then the teacher or school counselor can look into that, find what that specific student's needs are, and they can design specific support plans. And at this time, I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Sullivan to talk about some of the support measures we're taking. Thank you, Dr. Neal. We are employing multiple strategies to ensure that our students and teachers have the best resources and support to maximize student achievement.

[01:11:10] This year, every K-8 school has launched the All-In Tutoring Program. These programs are designed to provide eligible students with high-dosage tutoring opportunities before, during, and after school in both virtual or in-person formats. The focus of this tutoring program is on building skills in reading and math so that students are able to successfully navigate the content in class. Over 10,000 students are currently participating in these programs. Our high school students

[01:11:46] continue to have access to supportive digital curricula for credit recovery, credit support, and credit accrual. Teachers may assign specific units of instruction or students may enroll in a full course. Currently over 2300 students are participating in one of these options. We spoke about Varsity Tutors at our last update.

[01:12:09] This provides students with an on-demand support 24/7 through a variety of program options. This is available to all K-12 students and currently over 2500 of our students have used this resource.

[01:12:25] one of the most popular features is the essay support option students can upload their essays and receive live support in improving their work we know that timely feedback is critical to student growth and through this resource students have another option for instant support this year we also made available to our students the resources in khan academy in the platform students can receive support for a wide range of classes to include ap courses and students can

[01:12:58] utilize the sat preparation tools built into the system khan academy is the official partner to college board and the preparation tools are adaptive based on the individual strengths and weaknesses of the student at the division level one of the newest ways we support teachers and schools is through our collaborative supports for instruction known as CSI every week all the departments and our level associates meet to review current school data and identify appropriate

[01:13:33] support to assist school leaders and staff in targeting high need areas for example our instructional coaching team may be given additional focus areas for the upcoming weeks based on prevailing student data. This weekly review allows for timely adjustments for coaching, professional learning, and resource needs. We also continue to employ the strategies identified in our WestEd review for our ELS students. New this year is access to Lexia English, which is a research-based tool to support

[01:14:08] English language acquisition for our level one and two students. Families can utilize it at home to strengthen practice in english we're also excited about the deployment of new instructional assistants to support english language development this has allowed us more support in classrooms that we're serving students in a variety of different languages with very limited skills in english to better assist new teachers serving students with disabilities the the SPED team launched a series of training this year focused on novice teachers and co-teachers.

[01:14:47] These sessions filled quickly with a great response from our teachers. They commented about the timely and relevant support from the sessions. Also wanna spotlight one more thing, the collaborative monitoring of students with disabilities.

[01:15:02] Each central office team is responsible for monitoring student progress by name and by need. This allows them to go into the schools, meet with principals and review individual student progress. These strategies have been a great success in making sure that all parties are looking at the individual needs of students.

[01:15:23] As we move on with this school year, I wanna remind all parents and students to not hesitate to contact their teacher, their school, their support staff, if they have any questions about any of the available resources. Thank you very much.

[01:15:47] - Questions, Ms. Williams. - Thank you, I appreciate the presentation and I really appreciate the full circle scope that we're, lens that we're using to help students cross that finish line of graduation. And I don't have a question that needs to be answered now, but one of the things that I was thinking about when looking at all the resources that are available that I don't see listed, I think is an often forgotten tool and something that we could strengthen not only our use of in schools, but also for our student families is our academic career plan, because I feel like, at least in my household, it's a goal, right, of what we wanna do after

[01:16:26] and all the things that we need to do to get there. So, and we spent a lot of time and effort. It's absolutely fantastic, I think, the superintendent. And the reason why I bring it up is 'cause it also kind of folds into having guidance counselors and more family engagement, because it's a tool not only used by students, but the families, right?

[01:16:45] And then it could be reinforced for our students, maybe if they're having a hard time in chemistry and they wanna like not do it anymore. It's sort of a motivation. So I just think it's one of the things that we don't talk about a lot, but really fits nicely into having students achieve their goals.

[01:17:01] So in our next presentation or sometime in the future, if we could add that, I think it'll also give more visibility because I've been speaking to quite a few parents who are like, I don't know what that is. And even myself, I got it confused with the difference between a profile of a graduate versus the plan that ends up in your student view and your parent view account to sort of track where your student is and progress.

[01:17:23] So I think that this is wonderful. I know that we'll, you know, we're all human, so the scales will go up and down. I thank you for bringing attention to detail where we have those absentee days, 'cause just look around the calendar, like, what is that? So I appreciate that and the new format.

[01:17:39] So thank you for your hard work, and I still think we're on a good path, appreciate it. - Ms. Wall. - Thank you, this is a great update. I really appreciate it. I asked a bunch of questions already, but I wanted to ask one and then make some general comments.

[01:17:57] Or maybe I should make my general comments and ask the question. I just want to say I'm impressed with the commitment to academic achievement, and I know the most important thing that we do is focus on the academics of the students, and I really appreciate these updates. It just helps me know how we're doing.

[01:18:12] I'm excited about all the efforts with literacy, and it looks like it is starting to yield results. So I just wanted to point that out. I'm also excited about how the data, how we are able to use the data at the central level to then go into the schools and actually help the educators who are working with the students.

[01:18:33] And I think that's a really important connection. And I think if we stay at it, it should start to really yield some really great results for students in their own individual learning paths. And I thank you for going through the supports, the All In Tutoring, the Varsity Tutors, Khan Academy, Lexia language acquisition, that was one of the concerns.

[01:18:54] I remember voicing it to Dr. McDade early on. How can we get better at helping children learn English as quickly and as efficiently and as effectively as possible? Because as soon as they can do that, they can be their own teacher. They can learn at the pace of everybody else.

[01:19:09] So I really do appreciate that, including the highlighting of instructional assistance to support ELs and the WestEd recommendations, which I'm assuming we're moving forward on implementing. I just wanted to highlight all of those things. I really do appreciate it. My question was just on the slide with the third graders and why we, I wondered if you could go a little bit more into why we only retest the high risk band and not the high risk and the moderate risk band.

[01:19:34] I would think like from, that would be good data to have on those kids who are moderate risk. Because to me, if I were a parent and I had a child who in third grade, you're like your child's at moderate risk, you know, I kind of want to know like are we making progress towards the end of the year? And I don't know if that's just a decision that's guided by policy, or if we just, if you could explain that a little.

[01:19:55] - Oh, absolutely. That's actually the expectations of the VDOE. - Okay. - And so they set the parameters. This is the first year of implementation, and they set the parameters of who's to test and when to test, but we have already given some feedback around that distinction in third grade, and I know that they've been actively receiving feedback as VALS has rolled out throughout the year.

[01:20:17] - Okay, that's good, 'cause maybe it is good to test the moderate at risk too. - Okay, super. I would hope going forward, maybe they would recommend that. Is it possible for us to do it anyway, even if it's not recommended? - For this year, it wasn't, but I think there will be more flexibility in the future.

[01:20:35] And I do wanna add for the board's benefit that VALS four through eight rolls out next year. So again, these are still initial years of implementation with a lot of test data. And so I think it was really important to keep to the construct on how they're evaluating. It's done through the University of Virginia, but we are gonna be able to extend beyond that next year.

[01:20:56] - Thank you. That's a really great piece of information to have. I appreciate it. Anyway, thank you. I appreciate the update. No more questions. - Ms. Trudani? Okay, great.

[01:21:13] Dr. Solomon, you mentioned that Lexia language acquisition tonight, you said that there's opportunities to do stuff from home with that. Are we using those opportunities to do things from home? - Yes, our data usage on Lexia English is pretty strong. and students are accessing it at home as well.

[01:21:30] I definitely think we, I mentioned it today with intention to begin reminding parents that this is something that they can use at home with their child to continue that practice of language acquisition in the home. - Is it optional or do we recommend and tell the parents you should work on this with them at home?

[01:21:47] - It is an optional resource that outside of the school that we want to encourage our students to continue to use at home, but we can elevate our encouragement to the next level. - So, I mean, are there, do they say, is there homework assigned?

[01:22:06] - No, it is an additional resource for students to practice English language outside of their ELD block. And many teachers are providing some additional sessions and assignments, but right now it is an optional tool for the home piece of it.

[01:22:24] They are using it in school as part of the required ELD curriculum. - Okay, great. And then on slide 20 for the Focus Student Support Dynamic Dashboard, it is, this is really cool, this is great, we're looking at risk factors, but reassure me how and what you look at, so these look like we're looking at dynamic dashboard, dynamic factors for high-risk students.

[01:22:51] What are we doing for the BC students who we're trying to make AB students? What are we doing for the CD students who we're trying to make BC students? Who's monitoring that effort? And are we monitoring that with dashboards or is that included here? - So I can say definitively that the dashboard is intended to target those who are most at risk in terms of determining how our school counselors and school staff are using this and other risk bans for lack of a better word, I would actually have to go and talk to our director of school counseling about that.

[01:23:25] - That'd be great. maybe if you can just give us some feedback on what do we what are the efforts for those children so we want we you know we'd love to know that too you know i know we're making some efforts in that regard but i'd love to know the specifics on that okay any other questions mr wilk uh not questions i did ask mine earlier and thank you for the earlier presentation i do want to just commend and recognize again the varsity tutoring program um i wish more students used it i mean it's a great program we pay a good chunk of money for it um and and i'm thinking you know i know like when we have

[01:24:01] our um title one family nights and programs like that at our schools that we promote it it's almost like when we i'm not even don't really want to get into this but like when we teach the code of behavior for the first week of school it would be nice in almost every classroom if it was just brought up to our students to emphasize the this what you get from it because i mean the students that i know who use it for like their homework the essays first of all it eliminates the need for them to feel like they have to go on chat gbt and have their essays written for them so having those opportunities to work with a live person on the other side of it a qualified tutor

[01:24:40] the test prep is good um i don't know about you dr latif but i find a lot of students go to college and don't really know how to study yet for tests um you know and i think a lot of that's ingrained at home and the parents work on that with their kids but i also sometimes i realize that may not happen um and so some of these like vital almost soft skills it's like we have to re-emphasize and focus more on um to really keep our kids engaged all of them as dr latif is saying not just you know the ones accelerating or the ones that we really focus on the lower end but that middle end group as well and identifying them and ensuring that people are aware of the

[01:25:16] resources the parents the students and i do want to put a plug in for our upcoming summer school programs uh those are phenomenal um and uh you know not only the ability and you know middle and high school to do academic recovery and uh support but we do have those new discovery engagement programs and so as a parent i'm excited about that because i was just looking today uh looking at programs at the county uh government not that those aren't bad with like the county parks and stuff but i'm happy we have them and those are going to be right away i think it opens on march 10th okay that's a good one so for families you know out there to enroll your students um you know

[01:25:54] obviously there's a cost but and there's other options for families who free reduced lunch for like scholarships but i think that's another great opportunity to promote the academics and the stem or steam or other areas of focus so kids can gain an interest on them and are not just sitting home all summer on like their ipads or something like that so anyways that's my two cents thank you mr wilk just on the what i'm really excited about the presentation though i really appreciate is the varsity tutors available to all students 24 7. you know that is that's the thing that's going to help our students you know move from bc to ab you know and cd to bc though

[01:26:32] long before varsity tutors and long before the pandemic you know varsity tutors was a company that was just available for folks who wanted to do it online at home nothing to do with the pandemic because it's a private company and my family, we use them extensively and they are fantastic.

[01:26:50] They are really, you know, I credit them a lot with helping my children, you know, have good grades, stay, you know, up to date. And what I would encourage every student in the division, every parent in the division is to, you know, try varsity tutors at home.

[01:27:08] They are fantastic. They are, it's a service that the school division is paying for, we want you to use this. We're not paying for this and spending taxpayer dollars so that it just sits unused. We really want you to use it. I mean, varsity tutors, Khan Academy, depending on your type of learning and how you like to learn, each of them are a little different.

[01:27:28] We have other tutoring things that I know the school division, different schools are trying different things. We have a lot of variability and a lot of different things rolled out by different schools. but I would really, you know, I think one of the ways to move the needle on our performance is really pushing all the students, especially that middle of the pack students too, to take advantage of the opportunities.

[01:27:49] Many times they may be told, oh, you're doing okay. Like a B or C is okay. It's, you know, it could be better, it should be better, I think, and there's so many options here that we're giving them that we are paying for, that I hope our students and families truly take advantage of, and I'm glad you highlighted this, and Dr. McDade, thank you for this presentation.

[01:28:09] This is really critical stuff. And I can't tell you how useful these resources are. And just please, I'm begging the parents, I'm begging the students, I'm begging the teachers, encourage your children to go out and use these resources.

[01:28:24] They are there, they're for you. Every kid has a laptop. This is not rocket science. You can get on and do this. And they can help you with any aspect of whatever course you're working on and what you're trying to do and study and help you with reviewing, help you preparing for the future classes, please.

[01:28:42] And I'm not getting paid by any of these tutoring companies. Let me be clear on that, but I am a big fan of them. I know they work and they've worked for my kids and I want them to work for your kids and I know they can and I truly hope, you know, we're investing a lot of money in this, so thank you.

[01:29:00] I think Mr. Blake, did you have something to add? - I was just gonna say thank you as well for this presentation. And I was really just, and thanks for the, all of the support measures that are offered to our students. You know, it's just great to be able to pick up the students that are falling behind or that slipped through the cracks.

[01:29:19] So, and I know, especially with the additional support for the L students and the students with disabilities, that's very important, so I appreciate it. Thank you. - Mr. Chairman, for the tutoring, varsity con, et cetera, we can, we'll do, we'll work with our communications team to get just some more pushes on it and push out information and just kind of get a regular drumbeat of marketing it to our families.

[01:29:48] - Truly appreciate it, I think that's a great idea. Mr. Jessie. - Yeah, I think we're doing a lot of good things here. Some things concern me because when I look at it, for example, on the course performance where our high school students all, 16% are failing two courses.

[01:30:07] But again, with all the things that you're doing, I'm hoping that we can get those people up. And I hope the correlation of all that we do correlates well with SOLs at the end of the year.

[01:30:23] So I'm looking forward to seeing some improvement in the SOLs and hopefully it does what it's supposed to do. 'Cause I think we're doing a lot of good things, but sometimes we do good things and it doesn't correlate with the actual test, but we'll see, thank you.

[01:30:44] - I think Ms. Williams, did you have your hand up again? - I just wanted to piggyback on the idea that Chairman Lateef was saying, and in addition to marketing, I think sometimes some of our parents, the amount of messages that we push out, make them less and likely to read whatever communication sends out.

[01:31:02] I don't know the answer to this, and obviously you don't need to know now, but maybe something simple as a one line on our report card. Most of our families look at report cards if they don't catch the text messages and everything else. So if it was something simple, it says tutoring is, whatever, that's not my strong point, but that might be a better idea.

[01:31:19] I think Mr. Wilk also said something about the beginning of the year when we have the high points of when our parents are most engaged. So that's all I wanted to add, thanks. - Okay, that's it. You know, last on the tutoring, it helps your A students also stay at the A's, right?

[01:31:36] So, you know, I highly encourage everyone to use it. I don't think there's anyone who won't benefit from it. So anyways, thank you all very much. Thank you, Dr. McDade. Anything else to add? - No, that concludes the superintendent's report for this evening. - All right, moving on to, what is on my thing here?

[01:32:01] No, we have revisions. We are now moving on to board matters. Oh yeah, first off, we have several revisions policies for first reading tonight. And they're available to read in their entirety in board docs under agenda item 1801 and 18 through 1803. If the board has any questions regarding the revisions, deletions division council.

[01:32:16] Wade Anderson is available to answer them now. So take a look, 1801, that's 116 vacancies on school board, 132 regular special closed meetings, and 139 school board member participation in meetings of electronic communication. We're updating a lot of these policies.

[01:32:31] Take a look at them over the next two weeks. If the community has any concerns, they also can weigh in. Please email school board on any of these concerns. Anyone have any questions on these right now? Anyone? mr wait mr anderson sure yes i was mr chairman i was just going to mention that for these three policies primarily the changes are due to statutory changes that have needed to be updated including in 132 changes to state code regarding electronic meetings and in 139 changes to the ways in which

[01:33:07] a board member might participate remotely and so that's primarily the changes in these to update and be in alignment with the changes to state code. Ms. Wall. And Mr. Wade, I have one question on Policy 116, but I think I'll just talk to you about it offline.

[01:33:28] Yeah, it was just a matter of the wording. Editor-in-chief, editor-in-chief, board editor-in-chief. Yeah, it was just like because of the way it was written, I was feeling like it was ambiguous. The understanding wasn't as clear. But anyway, it's probably me.

[01:33:47] but anyway I will take it's just a wording issue and interpretation based on the wording so I'll talk to you later about it. Ms. Trudenik. Wade you said that 132 and 139 was because of code does that also apply to 116? Yes ma'am. Thank you. Anything else? Okay that takes us on to board matters. We will start with Ms. Zargarpur. Thank you Dr. Lateef. You heard this evening that it is Music in Our Schools Month, Art in Our Schools Month, Youth Art Month, I wanted to highlight

[01:34:25] some things that the arts give our students. This is not an exhaustive list, just a list, but creativity, critical thinking, cultural awareness, communication, confidence, self-esteem, social-emotional skills, resilience.

[01:34:44] They have decision-making skills, fine motor skills, logic and reasoning, social skills, develop student voice, problem solving, and innovation. And our teachers, especially in elementary, give our kids a basic experience in as many things as they can, and then they get to go into middle school and develop these a little further.

[01:35:06] When we get to, you know, the things like tonight where we're honoring students who have taken that interest and really honed in on it and become one of 50 students out 80,000 on an AP exam it that really speaks to the the level that some kids will go with these things I am myself I'm a music teacher and I see what my students get through these things and even when you don't necessarily go into our classes thinking that you're going to be a performing musician or an artist

[01:35:44] I want kids to have an appreciation for those things specifically music can you rock your baby to sleep can you dance at your wedding can you recite a poem lyrically that kind of thing so it goes with you for a lifetime I'm going to keep it short tonight I just had an opportunity to hear all-county chorus at Colgan a couple weeks ago and it was just one of my favorite events getting to hear all of these elementary kids from across the county great job to the to the students and the parents for making sure their kids got to rehearsals and to the teachers for preparing them

[01:36:24] thank you very much have a great week miss williams thank you mr chairman um i just want to start off by acknowledging that freedom height there's been a lot of concern and questioning the community about how mr lee will be recognized freedom high school is in the process of meeting with students and then it will go out to the community and we'll have later updates uh they're they're trying to narrow down what the students feel is the best way but in addition to that there will be a celebration of life for mr lee on march 7th at freedom high school the doors open at 4 but the program is from

[01:37:02] 5 to 6 p.m mr lee was just a pillar of the community not just necessarily freedom so i believe this is open to the public and i did hear the cry from several current freedom teachers in administrators that they would love to see their former alumni and families in attendance to celebrate him. In addition to that, I haven't been listing too many things that I attend. I'm trying to keep that in the school board monthly newsletter, but I did attend the Black History Month program at Fred Lynn. From there, Woodbridge Senior High School's Black Student Union was in attendance,

[01:37:37] which was amazing to me as a former member of that group. I was able to then receive an invitation to attend Woodbridge's senior high schools and black mental health event I'm sorry I know there's a little bit of nuance to the title but it was really interesting just to see from a former student's perspective as a graduate of Woodbridge senior high school how these programs are still active in our schools but how they've evolved to meet the needs of the students today and how they provide leadership activities and advocacy activities for our students so it's really refreshing to see that that was the first mental health panel that they

[01:38:11] have put on. I know robotics is coming to a close there'll be some state champion competitions. I encourage schools that they have the capacity to keep robotics going until the end of the year. The new platform comes out at Worlds in May so some schools I know are going to continue to practice and robotics again provides a lot of the soft skills that our students need to thrive in life after school. This month is Women's History Month and as well as Arts and Music Awareness Month. We celebrate these things because they acknowledge a part of who individuals are and a few of my favorite women history are Phyllis

[01:38:50] Wheatley, Ida B Wells and Henrietta Lacks. So if you don't know who those are you can go ahead and look them up. I also want to give a nod to the Family Engagement Series for March. There are quite a few everything from online exploitation and what to be aware of to gifted college financial aid and so forth and then the board will have a work session on 3:12 I think it's important for our public to be reminded of that and then it's SOL time so fun time here and many family households I highly encourage you to seek out additional assistance practice with your student at home and get prepared for

[01:39:28] SOLs and then in honor of March history month just for my two seconds I would like to thank my mom because she is a historic trailblazer for me. Jen Wall. All right first I'd like to start by briefly speaking about our meeting last week. It's important to me that we maintain a professional courteous demeanor while doing the public's business. Occurrences last week brought unnecessary and unwanted attention to our division and our lack of decorum was unfortunate and I do not think it represented as well. So I do hope that we can moving forward commit to showing greater respect for each member of the board and assure the public that we're here to focus on

[01:40:06] educating the children Prince William County and keeping their education at the forefront of all that we do and say. I also want to say yay for the calendar for all the arts events. I'm so excited about this. This is going to make my life a lot easier.

[01:40:22] I love the arts and I love to support the arts and so having it all in one place I think would be really great. So whoever is responsible for that, thank you. So I want to give some shout outs. Congratulations to the Battlefield Girls gymnastics team. came in as the runner-up at class six state championships. They were so close.

[01:40:41] They did such a great job. So congratulations Lady Bobcats. I'm sorry it wasn't first. Congrats to Lucy Arnold of Battlefield High School. She was the state runner-up in the one hundred one thousand meter run and Trent Daniels from Gainesville is the state indoor track champ for the 1600 and the 3200. So congrats to those kids. Battlefield played Langley and state hockey championships in a really close game. It was three to two. Battlefield again came up short, but I still want to congratulate the team. Sometimes it's just hard to be number two, but to get to that level, compete at that level, that is worth it and worth mentioning.

[01:41:14] And congratulations to Battlefield's FBLA on a successful run at regional conference. They had six members place first in their events, and in all 13 members will go on to the state regional conference in April. So congratulations to the FBLA students. In my remaining time, I'm going to highlight a few events. I've been to a bunch of things.

[01:41:34] Unity Reed had a roaring rumble drone event, it was awesome. There was a robotics middle school competition at Potomac Middle, that was a double hitter that day for me. I went to Gravely Elementary's Literacy Night and this was a really cool event, it was all winter themed, it was so fun.

[01:41:50] Mullen Elementary had a multicultural night, big success, the room smelled absolutely amazing with all the foods that families had brought and really helped build meaningful connections between home and school. So great job, Mullen. Wow, I'm going to, I went to a pyramid concert at Reagan, I went to a Black Excellence Celebration at Sinclair, so fun, and Sea Perch Robotics, and a mystery guest reader.

[01:42:13] I was a mystery guest reader at Gravely Elementary, and I had a lot of fun with that. One of my favorite memories is reading to my kids when they were very small children, and helping them discover the love of books. I am a lover of books. I regularly read two or three at a time, and I'm a member of two book clubs, so lifelong

[01:42:32] learning is a continuing focus of mine. So I leave you with a quote about literacy. This is from Jackie Onassis. There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Wall. Mr. Jesse. Yeah, I'd like to, you mentioned something, indoor track events and so forth. It's something, again, somewhere down the line, I hope we can find a way to get an indoor track facility in Prince William County. I've been to a lot of events this month. Some of them really touched me.

[01:43:06] The mental health event over at Woodbridge High School really touched me. I have a very interesting and strange upbringing, and I could have used a lot of mental health when I was a kid.

[01:43:22] So it's good to see that we have that here. The Lake Ridge Middle School drone and robotic team are just kicking off kind of air and doing well. And so I'm looking forward to them doing well in the state finals this year in a couple weeks.

[01:43:45] I also was a wrestler in high school, and I don't enjoy going to the big events where you got four or five mats going on at the same time. But Lake Ridge Middle School had an event, and it was one wrestling event at a time.

[01:44:03] And that really brought back some good memories for me. So it's something that I did enjoy a lot of. I went to a member of the Head Start Committee, and that group is there. It was sort of interesting.

[01:44:19] Our meetings usually have about 10 or 15 people. And for this particular last meeting, we had about five because people were sick with the flu and stuff. So it was just sort of interesting that. But it's good to be back and getting out. I'm looking forward to the summer and this spring and looking forward to see how well we do because and I hear the rain on top of the building here so I hope that I should have brought my umbrella in.

[01:44:52] Thank you. Thank you. I wanted to thank the speakers tonight who spoke and exercised their right to come up and talk to us. I appreciate that. I also wanted to thank you all for the presentation that you gave that we do receive in our two by two and we're given time to ask questions and suggest edits to the presentation as well.

[01:45:20] So I appreciate you doing that, again, for all of us and for the public. I'm also thankful for the Division's work on the budget as it's a big task and for your willingness to have conversations with us and get our input and take to heart the things that we care about and want to point out.

[01:45:41] So I really appreciate that from the Division and from Dr. McDade. It's a big, big, big week. I know Jen Wall tried to steal some of my thunder from Gainesville High School, even that's in my district but it's fine it's fine um our track athletes have just done a phenomenal job at states and seeing these things pop up there there is a girl who cut down her time i don't want to even like do it not justice by talking about the actual time frame because i am clearly not a runner it's not my thing but um she did take a huge chunk off her time and win a title again

[01:46:17] a lot of kids from gainesville as well brentsville um our basketball teams i did get to see a lot of basketball this week i went to patriot unfortunately um the patriot boys lost but they um put up a good game and the gainesville girls as well as well as the brentsville girls um but they had great seasons and i can't wait to see these kids play their senior years we also took home some wrestling titles which is a huge deal um it's a very mental one-on-one sport so to watch those kids do big things on the wrestling mat is so cool to see and i can't wait to see those kids all in here in a couple weeks for thriving futures um which will probably take forever that week because

[01:46:57] there's so many of them um and then i just want to highlight that i will be at the show of this season this weekend which is susicle at marsteller middle school i am biased because my son is in it but um i'm very excited to see that i'm also excited to come watch everybody play in their their spring sports and performances, as well as continue to visit schools in my district.

[01:47:21] So thank you and have a great week. - Mr. Wilk. - Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a brief note. I've tried to make sure my positions are articulated on topics ranging from federal law and the recent changes with the VHSL.

[01:47:39] I assure an earlier speaker, I will articulate my position on a matter within the next two weeks of something that was brought up. Couple events I wanna broach and bring up a little bit and talk about some of the good things that are happening in the district. I know I haven't run down my events in a while and done like an inventory, but I do wanna talk a little bit more about some of the ones in the last two weeks.

[01:48:01] Covington Harper had a great kindness night. At first I was like, well, what is going on here? But it was more of a community coming together in like a facility, which was really nice. I was like, well, there's no real theme or decoration, but it was nice to see everyone just getting along and doing different things together and eating pizza as families.

[01:48:22] I love seeing that. Henderson had a STEM night that I've traditionally gone to every year. A great program, I really love the room. A lot of students, a room where a lot of students created their own version of the game, Operation. So it was really cool. There's a lot of neat ones there.

[01:48:38] I took some photos of some of them. Always attend, usually when I make sure I'm in the area that the Potomac NJROTC ball gala that they had. Dr. McDade was there with me as well. Very big supporter of our ROTC programs, especially the two in my schools of Forest Park and Potomac High School.

[01:48:58] Ashland had a family reading night. Montclair had an event titled Black History Month. Ashland had Heritage Night. It was the first year in a while that I wasn't able to do my Italian booth, but I will try to do that next year.

[01:49:14] It's just been a busy time. I do wanna thank a great meeting I had in collaboration this week with Supervisor Bailey, talking about some of the budget topics and the funding and bringing her up to speed with some of the issues within the Potomac District.

[01:49:32] So we had a great collaborative meeting. We plan on also within the next couple of weeks, this month going to some PTOs together to introduce ourselves, well, bring her and introduce herself to some of the families in the area.

[01:49:47] So I'm excited about that and our collaboration and our partnership that she and I have. Of course, it's very important for the board of supervisors and the school board to work in a collaborative manner and engage one another and make sure we're on the same page, in my opinion.

[01:50:03] Lastly, the choir, Forest Park had a great pyramid concert last night, three of my elementary, no, four of my elementary schools, two of my middle schools, and one high school. We're all together in a great night promoting the arts. So there we go, my two weeks.

[01:50:19] I appreciate that, thank you. - Mr. Blake. - Thank you, Dr. Lateef. Good evening, everyone. Just want to talk about over the past few weeks, I've had the opportunity to attend several exemplary events across the schools And I want to take a moment to highlight the inevitable work and dedication of our students, educators, and families.

[01:50:47] At Minnieville Elementary, I had the pleasure of attending not just one, but two great events. They had a friendship dance and a health fair where they gathered canned goods and brought families together for their new food pantry there.

[01:51:04] And it was a celebration of wellness and community. And then last night I was able to visit their spring steam night and then showcase the hands-on learning, ingenuity, curiosity of our students.

[01:51:20] Events like these remind us of how vital it is to engage families in education early and often. Then I was able to visit Hampton Middle School where I got to watch the fairy tales, fable, and things production where students explored the power of storytelling and literacy.

[01:51:42] Seeing the creativity come to life was a testament to the formidable work being done in our classrooms. And then, like Ms. Wall said, I also was able to attend the Unity Reed Royal Rumble Robotics Drone Event. That was my first time seeing it.

[01:51:58] It was awesome. And it's just our students are pushing the boundaries of STEM, proving that Prince William County Schools is fostering the next generation of engineers, problem solvers, and leaders in technology. tenacity and skill were on full display and it was truly wonderful to see i also got to visit bel-air elementary school where i got where i met with the the new principal mr pensler it's always great to see such strong leadership taking shape and i have no doubt great things are ahead for

[01:52:31] bel-air and then i visited also fitzgerald elementary where i got to enjoy the kaleidoscope of sounds musical performance you would have liked that miss zagaport made me think about you the The talent and dedication and enthusiasm of our young musicians were truly brilliant, reinforcing the importance of art education in shaping well-rounded students.

[01:52:55] And last night, I got to visit the 47th Annual Spelling Bee at Garfield High School. Watching our students demonstrate dexterity with language, poison, intellectual strength was a powerful reminder of the importance of literacy and academic excellence.

[01:53:15] And I want to give an extra shout out to the winner of the Spelling Bee, who hails from the Neabsco District, and George Hampton Middle School, Vincent Chu, the eighth grader. This was his third time. He's been to the Spelling Bee every year, his sixth grade, seventh grade, and then he finally won this year, his eighth grade year.

[01:53:37] And lastly, I just want to express my appreciation for being on this board. We may not always concur on every issue, but we approach our discussions with civility and decorum, understanding that our shared goal is for the betterment of our students.

[01:53:56] That is not something we should take for granted, especially in light of the discord that we see in other governing bodies across this nation. Thank you. - Thank you, Mr. Blake. All right, great news. So Patriot had a great basketball season.

[01:54:14] Unfortunately, they lost in the quarterfinals, but a great team, great coaches over there and great program. Congratulations to the Osborne Park girls basketball team for now qualifying. I think they play the semifinals and the game is this Friday. And if they win this Friday, they will go back to the state championship, I believe, which they went to in 2022.

[01:54:35] Tammy, not Tammy, Caroline Tribbett, I wanna congratulate defending her state title in the 3,200-meter run yesterday at the VHSL Classics Indoor Track State Meet with a time of 10-19-46 setting a new meet record and moving her to the top five in the nation in 3,200-meter rankings.

[01:54:56] Top five in the nation, Gainesville High School student, Caroline Tribbett, who I think is a commit to Penn State. So congratulations to her. And then I think we have just some more 'cause Dr. Lateef loves late-breaking things. Congrats to Ava Rice, who just won states 55 meter hurdles battlefield student and broke her own school record and ran for the third fastest time in virginia history she also finished third in the 55 meter dash congrats to brandon murray who won the states for 300 meter dash and lucy arnold she got second in the 1000 the boys 4 400

[01:55:29] got fourth overall good job bobcats thank you um this is the season you know for finals robotics debate speech science fairs this is an exciting time spelling bees this is one of the most wonderful times of the year i look forward to our students competing at the highest levels as they continue to make great achievements and and really make prince william county schools proud so very excited about that let me just reiterate a number of things prince william county schools and the county is the 10th most diverse county in the country and we have been committed to over the the last seven years I've been on this board

[01:56:08] and even before that, and since Dr. McDade has come, to make sure that everyone knows we are the most welcoming place for any student, regardless of what they are, what they believe, where they come from.

[01:56:23] It is critical for us to continue to do that. We have emphasized that in press releases. We've emphasized that in our commitment to letters coming from the superintendent, from the school board, to our community and parents. And I believe our parents understand that. They understand where we are on that.

[01:56:40] We have a safe and secure environment. Our safety and security is among some of the best in the nation. I'm very proud of that. And that includes protecting our children from unwanted or unnecessary, you know, risks. And so it is really important for us to continue that work.

[01:56:56] I firmly believe we have done that well, and I'm committed to doing that. And, you know, our work is based on the fact that we are the most diverse county in the country, and we wanna make sure that we are diverse, we're equitable, and we include everyone.

[01:57:12] And that's the work we've done, that's the work we're committed to doing. We continue to follow the law on all aspects of the work we do, and we will continue to do that, and we will continue to proceed as usual. And so I wanna thank everyone for their work here, and I wanna thank the division for second quarter report.

[01:57:31] Everyone have a great night, thank you.

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