Coraggio Consulting
Prince William County School Board Meeting, Wednesday, September 2, 2026

Date: Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Place: Prince William County School Board, Virginia
Length: 2h 18m (video)
Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8niBZz6hO_c
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 2026-10-26. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:02] The Prince William County School Board will now come to order the meeting, and we have a motion in order for the approval of the meeting agenda. Mr. Vice Chair, Jesse. I move that Prince William County School Board approve the meeting agenda.

[00:00:17] Do I have a second? Mr. Chairman. Ms. Zargarpur. I second. Any discussion? Please vote. Are we raising hands? What do you want us to do? Okay, all in favor, please raise your hand and say aye. Aye.

[00:00:33] Any opposed? Looks like no opposition. The vote is seven yes, one absent. Williams. Motion passed. All right, we'll try to vote on the paper. Motion to enter closed session. Mr. Jessie. I move that pursuant to section 2.2-3711 and 2.2-3712 of the Code of Virginia, the Prince Rooney County School Board, enter closed session for the following reason: One, to discuss with the staff the assignment appointment promotion performance demotions salaries discipline or

[00:01:13] resignation of specific public officer appointees and employees of any public body pursuant to section 2.2-3711 a1 of the code of virginia 2 pursuant to the to discuss and consult with legal counsel regarding requests for religious exemptions pertaining to the specific of students under section 2.2-3711A of the Code of Virginia, three, to discuss with division counsel and

[00:01:52] staff actual or probable litigation in specific legal matters involving students, staff, and other civilian civil litigation involving the school divisions on the section 2.2 that is 3 711 a 7 and 8 of the code of Virginia and for to discuss or consider the acquisition of real property in the Woodbridge Magisterio district because discussion in open meetings would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy with the school board and for

[00:02:31] CONSULATION WITH LEGAL COUNSEL REGARDING THIS MATTER FOR TWO AND TO SECTION 2.2, THAT'S 3-7-1-1-A-3-N-A-8 OF THE CODE OF VIRGINIA.

[00:02:49] AND FIVE, TO DISCUSS AND RECEIVE BRIEFINGS BY STAFF MEMBERS RELATED TO THE SECURITY OF THE SCHOOL FACILITY, THE SAFETY OF PERSONS UNDER ASSISTED FACILITIES, AND ACTION TAKEN to respond to assist matters where discussion in an open meeting would jeopardize a security assist facility pursuant to section 2.2-3711A19 of the code of Virginia.

[00:03:19] Do I have a second? Second. Mr. Blake seconds. Any discussion? Please vote. Yeah, I wouldn't do it online.

[00:03:34] Do it online. I don't see.

[00:03:52] Do you vote yes? Yeah. He votes yes. Thank you. The vote is seven yes, one absent. The Prince William County School Board will now enter closed session and return open session

[00:04:00] in one hour. Good evening, good evening, good evening everyone and welcome. The Prince William

[00:05:21] County School Board is now returning to open session from closed session for our first meeting of this new 2026-27 academic new year. First up is a motion to certify closed session. Vice Chair, Mr. Jesse. I move that pursuant to section 2.2-3712 of the College of Virginia, cold session of the prince william county school board meeting of september 2nd 2026 be certified by adopting the following resolution now therefore be resolved that the prince william county school board hereby certify that to the best of each member's knowledge one only public

[00:06:00] business matter lawfully exempted from open meetings requirements were discussed in closed session meeting to which this certification resolution applies and two, only such public business matters were identified in the motion convening the closed session meeting were heard and discussed or considered by the school board. Do I have a second? Mr. Chairman. Ms. Zargarport.

[00:06:26] I second. Any discussion? Please vote. The vote is seven yes. Motion passed.

[00:06:45] Moving on to the closed session action item. Motion is in order for 9.01. Vice Chair Jesse. I move that the Prince William County School Board approves appointments and releases of specific employees as presented in closed session. Do I have a second? Mr. Chairman. Ms. Zargarpur.

[00:07:01] I second. Any discussion? Please vote.

[00:07:17] Thank you, the vote is seven, yes. Motion passed. Moving on to appointments of hearing officers. Vice Chair, Jesse. I move that the Prince William County School Board appoints hearing officers as presented in closed session as required by section 22.1, of the Code of Virginia for purposes of the employee grievances procedures contained at Prince William County, contained at Prince William County Schools Regulation

[00:07:47] 5.08.01-1 and 5.08.01-2 through June 30th, 2027. - Do I have a second? - Mr. Chair. - Mr. Blake.

[00:08:02] - Second. - Any discussion? Please vote. - Thank you, the vote is seven yes, motion passed.

[00:08:21] - Next up, 9.03, Vice Chair Jesse. - I move that the Prince William County School Board approves a request for religious exemption from the compulsory school attendance and case number RE26-1 through RE26-4.

[00:08:40] - Do I have a second? - Mr. Chairman. - Ms. Wall. - I second. - Any discussion? Please vote.

[00:08:58] - Thank you, the vote is seven yes, motion passed. Wonderful, okay, well that closes closed session items. Moving on to the Pledge of Allegiance. This evening we have our new student representative for this academic year, Marlee Smith, senior at Freedom High School. She will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

[00:09:25] The states of America to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. Thank you, Ms. Smith.

[00:09:40] So a couple housekeeping items. We're missing Lori Williams this evening. by death of a close family member in her family, and so our prayers are with her and her family as she attends to that. Moving on, so this evening, I'd like to introduce our appointed 20, 26, 27 student representatives and our student alternate.

[00:10:03] We have Marley Smith, Storm Allo, Carly C.J. Graham. Joining us tonight in the dais will be Marley Smith, who you just heard lead us in the pledge. She's a senior at Freedom High School. Marley is an accomplished student leader, singer, and athlete. She has performed at the Hilton Performing Arts Center and at the Kelly Leadership Center and has had the honor of singing the national anthem at multiple professional sporting events.

[00:10:26] Through the collegiate program at Freedom High School, she is beginning her second year of college while serving as a senior in high school. In addition to her academic achievements, Marley is the captain of her cheer team where she leads by example and helps foster teamwork and school spirit. She is proud to represent her fellow students and bring their voices to the table.

[00:10:43] We are also pleased to have with us tonight, our second student representative, Storm Allo. Storm is a senior at Woodbridge Senior High School. Storm was born and raised in Pretoria, South Africa and moved to Woodbridge three years ago at the start of freshman year. Relocating across the world has given Storm a unique perspective on education and the importance of building a welcoming and inclusive community.

[00:11:07] After college, Storm plans to attend medical school and pursue a career as a physician with a particular interest in surgery. Storm is passionate about finding ways to combine service, science, and advocacy to making meaningful impact on others' lives. In addition to academic interest, Storm is also an accomplished artist.

[00:11:24] Storm received the best in show award at the National Museum of the Marine Corps for one of their artworks, which is currently on display at the museum. So head over there and take a look. Next, we welcome our alternate student representative, Carly CJ Graham, a senior at the Charles J. Colgan Senior High School.

[00:11:41] CJ is a nationally recognized policy debater with a passion for critical thinking and advocacy. Outside of debate, she is an avid artist whose favorite art movement is, boy, Favism, very good. Known for its vibrant colors and bold expression.

[00:12:00] Looking to the future, CJ aspires to become a psychiatrist and is dedicated to helping break the stigma surrounding neurodivergence and students with disabilities. Marley, Storm, and CJ, welcome each of you, and we look forward to working with you this year.

[00:12:26] We are also pleased to welcome our new appointed clerk, Ana Udayatah and Deputy Clerk Liliana Bickham. Both ladies have supported the school board in their former roles for the past four years and we are excited for them in this new chapter.

[00:12:42] Give them a round of applause. And before we move on to Thrive and Features, I just want to welcome everyone to this new academic school year. We are excited. Prince William County, as you all know, is the 10th most, if you don't know, is the 10th most diverse county in the United States of America and our school division absolutely reflects that.

[00:13:06] Everyone is welcome here. Everyone is expected to be supported here and we have a great team of teachers, faculty, administrators, students, student groups, student support services, central office folks at a school board that is committed and dedicated to being the support system you all need to succeed.

[00:13:26] And so we welcome you to this new year and we wish you all the best and have the greatest success. Moving on to our Thriving Futures Focus, Thriving Futures Focus is an opportunity to highlight the exemplary work being accomplished in our schools. That fulfills our vision that every student will graduate on time with the knowledge, skills, and habits of mind necessary to create a thriving future for themselves and their community.

[00:13:50] The School Board is proud to publicly recognize these honorees for their positive contributions to Prince William County Public Schools. Tonight, we celebrate excellence across athletics, career and technical education, teaching and scientific research. Because the school board does not meet during the summer months, you will notice that some of these outstanding achievements occurred at the end of last school year.

[00:14:12] We begin with Ms. Jennifer Wall, school board representative of the great Gainesville district to recognize our first honorees, Ms. Wall. - Thank you, Dr. Lateef. It is my privilege to recognize the outstanding achievements of Battlefield High School.

[00:14:35] So first, congratulations to the Battlefield Bobcats baseball team for winning the VHSL class six championship. We're incredibly proud of you.

[00:14:52] A state championship represents far more than what happens in a single game. It is the result of a shared commitment to excellence throughout the entire season and often over multiple years. So at this time, I invite Coach Burkhart to introduce his Bobcats and share a few words on behalf of the baseball team's winning champions.

[00:15:12] - Thank you very much. Good evening members of the school board, Superintendent McDade, colleagues, families, and guests. Today we celebrate more than just a state championship. We celebrate the hard work, dedication, and teamwork that brought us here.

[00:15:29] Every practice, every challenge, every moment of perseverance prepared us for this achievement. I'm incredibly proud of this team and grateful for everyone who supported us along the way. This championship belongs to all of us. Congratulations champions.

[00:15:45] Let's enjoy the moment and remember it forever. Thank you again for allowing us to be here. And now I'm more reputable at home that I can now compete with my wife who has two state titles. And so now I'm a little bit more honorable at home because I appreciate the opportunity for us to be on this platform.

[00:16:03] The gentlemen behind us, all the awesome people that are put in the effort and just to support, it's been amazing and you said it best. I love this county, I love this school and Battlefield is awesome. Thank you guys. coach do you mind introducing each one of the kids or having them introduce themselves sure sure um we definitely have a good amount of them but we did have some seniors that graduated and already are at school playing so they unfortunately could not make it but we will announce the gentlemen who are behind me and i'll announce the people that are not here as well um number one

[00:16:41] brady burkhart number two number two alex komprowski number five colton smith number six Nicholas Moritz Toledo, number seven Sean Peratt, number eight Yogi Colangelo, number 11, oh excuse me number 12 Xander Amaya, number 13 Josh Gunning, number 16 Devin Perry, number 19

[00:17:18] Brian Fox, number 20 Connor Rouse, number 21 Chase Kuntz, and number 24 Bobby Arnold. You know I couldn't have done this without my amazing staff as well. Not here tonight is Bill Thompson, keith howe cam smith um randy jones tucker mccoy and bobby coleman rounds out my staff i know it seems a lot um and then obviously my managers they always do stuff behind the scenes help me out and as much appreciated i'd like to recognize them too cammy wonder carly arnold alani nielsen

[00:17:58] and winnie bay i'd also like to thank uh my athletic director bill hall and our athletic trainer christy nelson again we couldn't have done it without all the support and uh it's amazing i've I've been doing this for 15 years and finally got one, so I thank you very much.

[00:18:20] - Congratulations to you all. I also wish to congratulate Battlefield coach Angela Johnson for being named the VHSL Classic Softball Coach of the Year. Coach Johnson, this recognition speaks to your leadership and the impact you have had on your student athletes and the Bobcat softball program.

[00:18:41] Ms. Johnson has asked Director of Student Activities, Bill Hall, to share a few words on her behalf. - Good evening, members of the school board, Superintendent McDade, colleagues, families, and guests, it is my privilege to introduce someone whose leadership has made an immediate and lasting impact on our school and community.

[00:18:59] This year, Coach Angela Johnson was recognized by the Virginia High School League as the classic softball coach of the year, one of the highest honors a high school softball coach can receive. What makes this accomplishment even more remarkable is this is Coach Johnson's first year as our head coach.

[00:19:16] During this level of recognition in her inaugural season speaks volumes her leadership preparation and commitment to excellence at battlefield high school our cultures build on rep b relationships extreme ownership purpose why do we do what we do and we are all becoming coach johnson embodies those values every day she is the model of excellence for our softball program leading with integrity high expectations and an unwavering commitment to developing young women of character coach johnson has built a program founded on hard work discipline accountability

[00:19:51] and teamwork while wins and championships are certainly worth celebrating her greatest success is the positive influence she has on the lives of her student athletes she inspires them to compete with confidence lead with humility and represent battlefield with pride we are incredibly proud of coach johnson on behalf of battlefield high school prince william county public schools it is our honor to recognize her for her outstanding achievement and congratulate her on being named the 2026 Virginia High School League class 6 softball coach of the year.

[00:20:24] Please join me in congratulating Coach Johnson. Thank you Mr. Hall and congratulations Coach Johnson and to the entire Battlefield community.

[00:20:39] Battlefield is represented tonight by Assistant Principal Megan Hostetler, Director of Student Activities Bill Hall, and Assistant Director of Student Activities Doug Burney. Thank you so much for coming tonight. Wonderful Mr. Wall that was great. Coach Burkhardt and Coach Johnson congratulations.

[00:20:55] I've been on this board nine years and I've been watching Battlefield a long time and they've come so close and we're very excited you guys were able to do it last year and we're excited to see what you can do this year. We have several more champions to celebrate tonight. I would now like to invite Miss Erica Tredenik of the beautiful Brentsville District to recognize our next group of student-athletes. Thank you Dr. Lateef. The Brentsville District is proud to recognize several outstanding student-athletes who earned VHSL state championships for outdoor track and field. From the Brentsville District High school we are so excited to talk about Kayla Smith again a state champion in

[00:21:33] both the 400 meter and 200 meter runs Kayla could not be here with us tonight because she's enjoying her first year at William & Mary big congrats to Kayla I have watched her grow from a kindergartner to all the way to a senior in high school and she is not only a phenomenal athlete she is a phenomenal human being and such a kind sweet girl and so so so talented so I can't wait to see what she does at William & Mary and make us proud back here at home from Gainesville High School congratulations to Gavin Daniels Trent Daniels Isaiah

[00:22:11] Foster and William Hamaker sorry if I said that wrong William for winning the state championship in the 4 by 800 meter relay we also extend our congratulations to the individual state champions Cody Scott for his first place in pole vault and Trent for the first place in 3,200 meter run. Gavin, Trent, Isaiah, William, and Cody have demonstrated the discipline, focus, resilience, and determination required to compete at the highest level. Your victories are well-deserved. We are fortunate to have Gavin and Cody with us here tonight. Isaiah, Will, and Trent are currently enjoying their first year at

[00:22:48] at West Point, Roanoke, and the University of Virginia. At this time, I'd like to invite Coach Connor Lee to acknowledge the members of their team and share a few words on behalf of their state titles.

[00:23:04] - Good evening, members of the board. Thank you guys for bringing us back. Congratulations to all the other honorees that are here tonight. It's nice to see Prince William students doing really well academically and athletically as always. Thank you again to Gavin and Cody for coming with us tonight, as well as my assistant coach, Coach Steve Susick.

[00:23:22] my other assistants, Coach Stephanie Hamaker, and Stan Muckerman could not be with us tonight. And then thank you to our administrators, Adam Daniels, who's pulling double duty as admin and parent tonight, and then of course our principal, Neil Beach. This was a great group.

[00:23:39] Really appreciated getting to work with Trent and Will and Isaiah for four years. Get to watch them finish their journey together. They are, as you said, currently enjoying their freshman years at their various colleges competing in cross country, And we'll do so track and field later in the year.

[00:23:55] But it's really nice to be able to see Gavin and Cody really just get started with their success in track and field. Cody did a great job to defend his pole vault state title from the indoor state meet and jumped a school record of 15 feet 3 inches in the pole vault. And then Gavin was a massive part of that school record 4-byte, 100-meter relay team of 741 in the 4-byte in the spring.

[00:24:18] Just a quick note, I know we're not here to talk about the national meets, But that same quartet of Daniels, Daniels, Hamaker, and Foster also ran the third fastest time in Virginia history in the distance medley relay at the New Balance Nationals in June in Philadelphia. 9.55 and change, which I still can't quite wrap my head around, and it's August.

[00:24:44] It's September. Crazy, crazy performance from them. Couldn't be where these guys are today without the help of my assistant coaches, Coach Steve Susick especially, best coach in the county for the pole vault. and then it's incredible to watch the success of these guys that I have on my roster and also the success of the kids that they have to compete against. I should remind everybody again that just like we were indoors in the winter, Patriot and Gainesville were in the running for the state title again as a team and both finished second. So it's nice for these two teams to continue pushing each other and for all the athletes in Princeton County to continue raising the level of what we

[00:25:24] expect from our student-athletes here. Thank you again members of the board, coaches, administrators, staff, students, parents, and friends. Congratulations.

[00:25:40] Gainesville High School is represented this evening by Principal Neil Beach and Assistant Principal Adam Daniels. Thank you all for being here as well. From Patriot High School, the Brentsville District congratulates Henry Burge for winning the state championship in the 1600 meter run. Henry couldn't join us this evening as he is currently attending the University of Virginia.

[00:25:57] Patriot is represented tonight by Assistant Principal Christopher Brown. congratulations to all thank you mr. Janik and thank and congratulations our Gainesville folks as well I would now like to invite mr. Justin Wilk of the proud Potomac district who will recognize a wonderful Woodbridge district outdoor track and field recognitions on behalf of miss Lori Williams who could not be here tonight mr. Wilk thank you dr. Lateef I'm proud to recognize on behalf of the Woodbridge district and my esteemed colleague miss Lori Williams for state champions from freedom high school congratulations go

[00:26:35] to Courtney Fernadan, Joshibed Kanadu, Janaya Marshall, and Ariana Thomas for winning the state championship in the 4x400 meter relay. Ariana could not be here tonight as she is attending the University of, say it correctly, Louisville. At this time, I invite Director of Student Activities Jim Harris to introduce Coach Kenya Hannaford, the members of the team, and share a few words on behalf of the team's accomplishment.

[00:27:06] Good evening, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Vice Chairman, our great school board, and Superintendent McDade. My name is Jim Harris. I'm the proud director of student activities at The Freedom High School in Woodbridge. These four ladies, Courtney, Josabeth, Ari, and Janiyah, showed what it takes to win the girls 4x4 relay at the Class 6 state championship.

[00:27:29] After finishing second in the indoor season by just half a second, these girls were determined to make a count during the outdoor season. And they claimed that title that they just missed in the indoors. Knowing that they were going to be in the state meet rank 7 going into the final heat, they understood that their lane might not be the strongest.

[00:27:50] But if everybody gave their best on race day, they would reach their goal. After winning from lane 1 and running a season best time of 3 minutes 49 seconds, that's four laps around the track that quick, the girls managed to hold off a charging Patriot High School that finished second best time.

[00:28:10] They proved that hard work and you can achieve your goals that you set. I want to thank Coach Hannaford and these ladies for making my first set of state championships as the director of student activities at Freedom and hopefully many more and Mrs. Smith and the rest of the administration for always supporting the athletic program at Freedom.

[00:28:37] Congratulations to our state champions and the entire Freedom Eagles community. and tonight is represented this evening by Principal Chevelli Smith and the very engaging and detailed speech from Director of Student Activities, Jim Harris.

[00:28:53] - Thank you, Mr. Wilk. Mr. Tracy Blake of the great Neabsco District has our next recognition. Mr. Blake. - Thank you, Dr. Lateef. It is an honor to recognize Joshua Kai Smith of the Garfield High School. Joshua earned not one, but two outdoor track and field state championships, winning both the 110 meter hurdles and the 300 meter hurdles.

[00:29:16] These championships add to an impressive collection of awards over his time at Garfield. Joshua, unfortunately, could not attend tonight's meeting as he now attends the University of Florida. Congratulations, Joshua, and congratulations to the entire Garfield community.

[00:29:36] - Thank you, Mr. Blake. We conclude our state championship track and field recognitions with Vice Chairman, Mr. Richard Jesse of the outstanding Occoquan District. Mr. Jesse. - Thank you, Dr. Lateef. - The Aquaman District is proud to recognize Darian McNeil of Woodbridge High School for winning the state title in the high jump.

[00:29:56] Darian could not attend tonight meeting. - Thank you, Mr. Jesse. Congratulations again to our Track and Field State Championships, Ms. Trudenik. Up next, I understand the Brentsville District has two additional national recognitions to celebrate.

[00:30:15] Ms. Trudenik. - No surprise, Dr. Lateef, it certainly does. We return to Patriot High School, where we are proud to recognize student excellence in career and technical education, as well as exceptional teaching. The Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America provide students with opportunities to develop leadership, career readiness, and real-world skills through family and consumer sciences education.

[00:30:40] Congratulations to Muscon Carr for placing first in the nation in level two instructional video design star event at the FCCLA National Leadership Conference. At this time, I welcome FACS teacher, sorry, FACS teacher, and FCCLA sponsor, Jet McVeigh, to share a few words on Muskan's accomplishment.

[00:31:05] - Thank you, Ms. Tredenik. Dr. Lateef, distinguished members of the board, and Superintendent, Dr. McDade, I am again so proud to share highlights from the FCCLA National Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. this past summer. I am specifically pleased to recognize Muskan Carr, as she is a first time attendee and competitor, with her submission in defense of her online instructional video, How to Make Cream Puffs Using the STEAM Method.

[00:31:31] Muscon used baking and food science skills she learned in her intro to culinary class, honed them in her own home baking business, and created and edited an instructional video that was published on our school website. Muscon's video qualified for top 20 in the nation, where she later defended it live in front of a panel of judges at our national conference, earning first in the nation for this event.

[00:31:54] Luscon is supported here today by Virginia FCCLA Vice President of Competitive Events, who also happens to be a student at Patriot High School. Our chapter's achievements would not be possible without the support of our dedicated members and families, our school administrators, the Prince William County Schools CTE office, and our community partners who sponsor us.

[00:32:16] We are grateful for their commitment to helping our students reach their full potential and showcase their talents. FCCLA, along with the Career and technical student organizations like them provide students with meaningful opportunities to take initiative and develop essential workplace readiness skills.

[00:32:32] Through participation in these organizations, students gain the knowledge, skills, and habits needed to pursue their goals and prepare for future success. The Prince William County Schools Elevate 2030 Strategic Plan aligns remarkably well with FCCLA's longstanding motto, Toward New Horizons, which was inspired student growth and leadership since 1945.

[00:32:55] With your continued support, FCCLA will continue to empower students to elevate toward new horizons and launch thriving futures. Thank you. - Laney, I just want to give you a shout out as well.

[00:33:12] The Vice President of Competitive Events for the State Executive Council for FCCLA is also here to support Muscan's accomplishments, so I just wanted to make sure you got a highlight of that. And Ms. McVeigh, you guys do put on one of the best events of the year in our community, which is the, can you come tell me what that is real quick?

[00:33:33] I'm sorry. - I assume you're talking about our trunk or treat. - Yes, I just wanted to make sure I called it the right thing so I needed you to say it. It's a trunk or treat. - Trunk or treat, we sponsor this free community event every year for our local elementary schools and it is going to be on October 30th.

[00:33:49] - October 30th, it's a good one, thank you. Nothing. Our next recognition celebrates an educator whose work has helped students develop the skills to think critically, communicate effectively, and understand their role as engaged citizens. Congratulations to Patriot Social Studies teacher, Randy Warren, for being named the American Lawyers Alliance Teacher of the Year.

[00:34:16] The ALA recognizes educators who excel in law-related and civic education by helping students understand their legal rights, responsibilities, and the judicial system. Ms. Warren, your dedication to students and your commitment to creating meaningful, authentic learning experiences have made an impact far beyond your classroom.

[00:34:33] We have senior leadership in helping Prince William County Schools students understand their civic responsibility and the power of their own voices. I wish to invite Ms. Warren to share a few words on behalf of your award. - Thank you, Mr. Dednick, and good evening.

[00:34:49] I would like to begin by thanking the chairman at large, Dr. Lateef, and vice chairman, Jesse, and members of the Prince William County School Board and superintendent, Dr. McDade, for inviting me here tonight and recognizing the award I received over the summer.

[00:35:04] I'd like to give a huge thank you to the American Lawyers Alliance for this incredible recognition they bestowed on me this summer and their commitment to honoring those of us who teach civics, history, government, and the rule of law. Our democracy depends on citizens understanding how it works, it depends on people knowing their rights, understanding their responsibilities, and appreciating the historical struggles that made those rights possible.

[00:35:27] Much of the work I have been fortunate enough to do over the past decade has really been centered on that belief, whether it's through mock trial, court classroom instruction or community programs my goal has always been simple help students understand how law history and citizenship connect to their everyday lives I must acknowledge this award would not have been possible without an incredible community that has supported these efforts from the very beginning I'm fortunate to work with amazing students staff administrators at Patriot High School especially to my department chair Lindsay Cavender who found this award and encouraged me to apply for it I'm grateful for the support

[00:36:03] of Prince William County Schools and the opportunities they have given me to try new ideas and build programs that didn't previously exist. To my former department chair and now assistant principal Adam Daniels who happens to be here tonight, I did not know that, at Gainesville High School, who encouraged me to create a new course within our county, Introduction to Law. I'm deeply appreciative of the Prince William County Bar Association, our judges chambers, and Prince William County Sheriff's Department. These organizations have consistently opened our doors to our students and showed our young people what public service looks like.

[00:36:36] The truth is that with every success that I've had with the law class and the law club, it's the result of partnership. This program exists because educators and legal professionals chose to work together for the benefit of our students. I'm honored to receive it, but I also see this recognition as a much larger effort.

[00:36:54] It belongs to all the other teachers who have volunteered their time to coach and mentor these students across the county. It belongs to the administrators who supported new ideas; it belongs to the lawyers, the judges, the law clerks, the community members who continuously show up for young people; but most of all, it belongs to the students who stayed after school to practice for competitions and remind us every day why this work truly matters.

[00:37:16] The curiosity, enthusiasm, and willingness to engage with difficult questions gives me tremendous hope for the future. Thank you for believing in the importance of the civic education, the rule of law, and the next generation of our leaders. And thank you again to the American Lawyers Alliance for this incredible honor.

[00:37:34] I am profoundly grateful. Thank you. - Congratulations again. Patriot is also represented this evening by Assistant Principal Christopher Brown. Thank you all for being here. - Congratulations and thank you, Ms. Trudenik.

[00:37:49] We conclude tonight's recognition by celebrating outstanding achievements in the scientific research arena. I would like to invite Ms. Lisa Zarepour, the Coles District to recognize our Virginia Junior Academy of Science honorees. - Thank you, Dr. Lateef. The Virginia Junior Academy of Science, or VJAS, promotes scientific inquiry and innovation and provides young researchers from across the Commonwealth with an opportunity to present their work and engage with the scientific community.

[00:38:17] In its annual research symposium, its annual research symposium recognizes some of Virginia's brightest young STEM scholars and provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate the curiosity, critical thinking, and problem solving skills that are essential to scientific discovery.

[00:38:33] PWCS and the Coles District are extremely proud of the students and educators recognized at this year's VJAS Research Symposium. At the high school level, congratulations to three students who placed first in Botany Research and received the VJAS Botany Award.

[00:38:50] Sajila Ahmad is the student at the Governor's School at Innovation Park and at Colgan High School. Lauren Obig and Ruth Saifa attend the Governor's School at Innovation Park and Osborne Park High School. At this time, I wish to invite Lauren to share a few words on behalf of the team.

[00:39:13] - Thank you, and good evening to the distinguished members of the school board, chairman at large, vice chairman, and superintendent, Dr. McDade. I'm honored to share our recognition from the 2026 Virginia Junior Academy of Science Research Symposium. My teammates, Sajila and Ruth Saifa and I were honored with the Virginia Academy of Science Award for our research project, Antioxidant Mediated Recovery of Mitochondrial Function and cell viability in hydrogen peroxide stress in the Koshiana tobacco callus tissue.

[00:39:42] We also received first place in botany at the statewide competition. Our research focused on how plants respond to abiotic stress. Under severe stress, reactive oxygen species can build up and damage plant cells. We tested three different antioxidants, Reservatrol, Curcumin, and EGCG, to determine which could best support mitochondrial recovery and cell viability in hydrogen peroxide stress tobacco callus tissue.

[00:40:04] This research is important because plants are essential to the ecosystem, health, and provide the food, materials, and medicines that people depend on. Understanding how antioxidants can help plants withstand environmental stress could have applications in maintaining crop productivity and protecting vulnerable plant species.

[00:40:21] We are especially grateful to Dr. Romano for her guidance throughout our research and the Governor's School at Innovations Park for giving us the opportunity and resources to pursue this project. Receiving the VAS Botany Award in first place in botany was an incredible honor and a reflection of the collaboration, persistence, and dedication that went into our work.

[00:40:38] We are proud to represent the Governor's School at Innovation Park, Osborne Park High School, Colgan Senior High School, and Prince William County, and we sincerely appreciate the school board's recognition and continued support of student research. Thank you.

[00:40:58] - Thank you so much. I almost want to ask what that whole study was about, but we'll take a sidebar on that. Additionally, at the middle school level, congratulations to Sarmoud Ahmad, previously from Benton Middle School and currently OPHS Yellow Jacket, once a jacket, always a jacket, for placing first in plant science.

[00:41:17] Would you like to come up and share some words on this accomplishment, Sarmood?

[00:41:33] - Good evening, members of the school board, chairman at large, vice chairman, and superintendent, Dr. McCade. I'm very honored to be recognized for receiving first place in plant sciences and receiving the botany award for VJAS and the VJAS symposium of 2026.

[00:41:49] My project, if you're curious, is the effect of salinity on catalyzed activity on hydrogen peroxide stress potatoes, seeing how much salt potatoes can tolerate. It was interesting to see just how much resistance potatoes can already have, naturally. I'm very grateful for my middle school teachers, Mr. Pepe and Ms. Oldenburg, for making this project possible.

[00:42:10] Also, I'd like to thank my family, especially my sister and my mom, and I would also like to thank the Masseur Masse community for their support as well. Thank you to the board for giving me the opportunity to share this honor, thank you.

[00:42:31] - So when you mentioned salt and potatoes, I just got hungry, so, congratulations to everyone. The Coles District has a few more awards to share. So first, congratulations go to Osborne Park student Phillip Butler for receiving the Virginia Sea Grant College Program Award.

[00:42:49] Truly an amazing accomplishment that foreshadows a brilliant future. I understand that Phillip has a few remarks to share. - Good evening. First and foremost, I would like to thank all the members of the school board and Superintendent Dr. McDade, and also all of the judges and the organizers of BJAS.

[00:43:13] I'm truly honored to be receiving this award. I would also like to thank Osborne Park High School, my science mentor, Mrs. Moss, and my parents for their support and guidance. I'm so grateful for this opportunity to be here. Again, thank you so much.

[00:43:36] - Next, I would like to recognize Teresa Sabomas, biology teacher at Osborne Park and recipient of the Franklin D. Kaiser Science Teacher of Tomorrow Award, a recognition that reminds us that behind student innovation are educators who challenge students to ask questions, investigate possibilities, and believe that they can contribute new knowledge to the world.

[00:43:56] I now invite Ms. Sabomas to share a few words on behalf of these outstanding accomplishments. - Thank you. Distinguished members of the board and Superintendent Dr. McDade, I am honored to be here today to recognize several outstanding student researchers and to express my gratitude for the Virginia Junior Academy of Sciences' recognition of my work as a science educator.

[00:44:20] The Virginia Junior Academy of Science, VJAS, provides students with an opportunity to conduct original scientific research, present their findings, and publish their work using standards similar to those required in professional scientific journals. It is an experience that develops not only scientific knowledge, but also critical thinking, perseverance, and communication skills.

[00:44:41] I am humbled to have received the Franklin D. Kaiser Science Teacher of Tomorrow Award, which recognizes a teacher with fewer than five years of experience in sponsoring students for the VJAS Symposium. This is my second year, I mentored 14 papers last year.

[00:44:56] While I am grateful for this recognition, the true accomplishment belongs to the students whose dedication, curiosity, and hard work make these achievements possible. We celebrate the students here today who took full advantage of the competitive science opportunities offered in Prince William County. Each of these groups earned first place in their category at the Prince William County Science and Engineering Fair, and then went on to present and publish their work at the VJAS annual symposium, where they additionally received multiple organizational awards.

[00:45:25] Their achievements reflect the very best of student innovation, determination, scholarship, and resilience. They embraced complex scientific challenges, invested countless hours in research and experimentation, and demonstrated the power of curiosity and perseverance.

[00:45:41] And excitingly, they also represent the increased interest and participation in competitive science events in Prince William County, which this past year also included the Aerospace Herndon Memorial Competition and the formation of a Science Olympiad team at Osborne Park High School. Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to all those who supported the students, our students throughout the research process, including our parents, the Osborne Park High School science team and administration, and specifically, our principal, Dr. Lisa Marie Kane, who is unwavering support of student research and competitive science opportunities helps create an environment where students can pursue ambitious ideas

[00:46:19] and reach extraordinary levels of achievement. Thank you for recognizing these remarkable young scientists and for your continued support of student research and achievement in Prince William County Public Schools.

[00:46:36] - Guys are making me wanna go back to OP and study science. Oh, wow, all right. Congratulations to everyone. All of our VJAS honorees are represented tonight by school leaders, Principal Jeffrey Litz of Colgan High School, Principal Dr. Lisa Marie Kane of Osborne Park High School, and Dr. Jason Calhoun, director of the Governor's School at Innovation Park.

[00:46:57] And finally, I have the honor of recognizing Colgan High School graduate, Rania Lateef, who received the Virginia Academy of Science Award for dedicated service to VJAS. Rania is not here this evening, she is back at Stanford University, and we send her our best wishes.

[00:47:18] - Thank you, thank you, thank you, Ms. Zargarpur, and those were great words, Ms. Sabomas. Those were fantastic, we really appreciate that. - That was wonderful. Congratulations again to all our honorees this evening. I would like now to take the opportunity to invite our honorees, friends, family, coaches, teachers, colleagues, and other supporters here tonight to stand up in recognition of the important role you have played in the success of our distinguished guests.

[00:47:43] All parents, teachers, friends, who are here to support these kids, please stand up and be recognized.

[00:47:59] Thank you so much. And before we take a few pictures, Superintendent Dr. McDade would like to share a few words. Dr. McDade. - Thank you so much, Dr. Lateef. What a wonderful way to begin a new school year, celebrating the extraordinary talent, dedication, leadership, and achievement of our students and staff.

[00:48:15] Tonight's many recognitions demonstrate just how many different pathways there are to excellence in Prince William County Schools. To our Battlefield Baseball State Champions, our Outdoor Track and Field State Champions, Muscon National FCCLA Championship, and our Student Scientist VJAS Honorees, you all exemplify the absolute best of PWCS.

[00:48:39] We are proud of what you have accomplished. Congratulations to Coach Johnson on being named the 2026 Coach of the Year, and to Ms. Warren and Ms. Sabomas, your recognition reminds us that extraordinary educators are behind our students.

[00:48:57] You create the conditions for young people to discover their talents, challenge themselves, ask important questions, and see what is possible for their futures. Congratulations to each of you on these remarkable accomplishments. And as always, we are PWCS proud.

[00:49:22] - One last note, and I should congratulate both Dr. McDade, Dr. Sullivan, all of our folks at the Virginia Junior Academy of Science. The Virginia Junior Academy of Science National Conference or competition, or state competition, will be in Prince William County. this coming year, home field advantage, folks.

[00:49:39] So I wanna thank our teams for putting together this event and the work that's gonna go into it. And I encourage all of our schools, both middle and high school levels, to really take advantage of the Virginia Junior Academy of Science competition is gonna be right here in our home court.

[00:49:55] We'll do some pictures right now, and I think we'll look to Diana Gulotta to direct traffic.

[00:49:59] Thank you.

[01:01:48] - It's Uncle Albert's family.

[01:02:08] - Okay, wonderful, thank you so much.

[01:02:37] Yep, right there. So up next, 12.01, adoption of the consent agenda. Mr. Jesse, motion's in order. - I move that Prince William County School Board approve the public meeting consent agenda as recommended.

[01:02:53] - Do I have a second? - Mr. Chairman. - Ms. Zargarpur. - I second. - Any discussion? Please vote.

[01:03:14] The other vote. - The vote is seven yes, motion passed. - Okay, and next up, approval of acknowledgements and recognitions. Mr. Jesse. I move that Prince William County School Board approve the adoption of the acknowledgment and recognition as recommended.

[01:03:32] Do I have a second? Mr. Chairman. Ms. Zargarpur. I second. Any discussion? Please vote.

[01:03:53] The vote is six yes, one abstained. Tradenek. Motion passed. Okay, next up, citizen comment time. Those citizens who signed up in advance with the clerk may address the school board this evening when they are called to the podium. The citizens' comment period for regular school board meetings is one hour and citizens, sorry, may speak to the agenda items or other topics germane to the operations and policies of Prince William County Schools.

[01:04:14] Please use proper decorum and manners while at the podium, or you will be asked to step aside. We ask that the audience please be respectful of each speaker and refrain from any clapping, cheering or jeering to avoid disruption of the meeting. If you do not do so, the board will recess and I'll ask the room to be cleared to restore public order.

[01:04:29] Tonight we have 10 citizens signed up to speak. When I call your name, please come up to the podium and state your name and address for the record for policy 134. The time allotted for each speaker will be three minutes. I'll call the first five so you know the order and if you wanna move up to the front seats, you can. If not, that's okay.

[01:04:44] The first five, Sedelia Langot, Jessica Young, Blake Hera, Hina Ansari, and Dr. Kimberly Melman Orozco. Sedelia Langot.

[01:05:06] - All right, good evening, my name is Sedelia Langot. I have two children in PWCS schools. So one is at Ashland, so they're in Mr. Wilkes District, and another one is a Colgan High School student. So my concern today is four years ago, I had to work with Prince William County Police, as well as the county supervisor, to get a bus stop put in our neighborhood.

[01:05:28] So we are in Potomac Preserve, right on Minnieville. So if anyone drives on Minnieville, you know they drive 60 miles an hour down the road. So that bus stop was considered dangerous, and therefore we eventually got the two bus stops. Now this year, one of those bus stops has been removed, and now the county is telling me that it's a half a mile from where my cul-de-sac is to the bus stop.

[01:05:53] As William County Transportation stated that it is a centrally located bus stop for everyone in the neighborhood, which is not a true fact. The main problem is it's a safety concern. Where the bus stop is currently located, it's dark, it's adjacent to the woods, and we have a brown bear that's on the loose.

[01:06:11] As a result, K through 12 buses all stop there, however, the middle school bus has began stopping at the old bus stop so the kids don't have to be at the wood stop. In addition, the older children, so middle school and high school, there is a bus across the street from Minnieville.

[01:06:30] Now, where I'm speaking of, the intersection is running Cedar Lane. There is no traffic light there. It is pitch black, so that high school bus picks up at 6 a.m. I'm watching kids run across four lanes of traffic in the morning. It is extremely dangerous to catch the bus because they do not want to walk the half a mile to the other bus stop.

[01:06:52] Everyone in the neighborhood has tried contacting Prince William County Transportation, and the result we got back was just after a review, they decided to eliminate that bus stop. So what I'm asking for is that we address the safety concerns here, as well as send everyone that's impacted the review that was done, because I've not been able to get a copy of it and neither have any of the neighbors.

[01:07:18] And that's all. Thank you. Jessica Young. Good evening.

[01:07:33] My name is Jessica Young. My address is on file. I am here as the voice for our son, Ryan Young, a nonverbal freshman with the preferred language of American Sign Language. What Ryan requires is a communication partner throughout his day for appropriate access to his education and provide the least restrictive environment modeling and translating what he signs to his instructors we met with his new iep team today who stated that since pwcs legal team who has never met our son has denied it we can no longer discuss it just please put yourself in ryan's shoes for a moment for the better part of his life ryan has been unable to communicate

[01:08:11] effectively living frustrated with his wants needs feelings trapped inside his head his family he finally has signed, "I love you," and is being heard at home. Since starting at Battlefield High School, because of the decision of the IEP team at Reagan, Ryan sits in a classroom every day, able to sign with no one who can understand his signs.

[01:08:31] He cannot participate in his classroom, and currently his teacher cannot instruct him, not knowing what he's saying. He is alone. We are expected to send our son to school, waiting for him to either develop negative behaviors due to frustration, or worse yet, stop signing. They post to the position, a temp, $17 an hour, with no mention of ASL.

[01:08:50] no benefits maybe we audit the spending of the county and look at how much of a taxpayer dollars go towards catered lunches versus upping the salary of the position needed to support our son and not hire someone who is learning asl with him never heard of a physics or french teacher learning from scratch with their students ryan had iees and they both said asl only we advocated and begged for support and were denied the pwcs policy that was cited was that if he's not deaf he doesn't get asl and it should be amended we thought the i in iep is for individual needs not what you have done in the past or what you have on staff. The American Disabilities Act 2 states public schools must follow the ADA to ensure

[01:09:27] communication is as effective as it is for students without disabilities. Our son is not awarded that. His method should be supported at the same level of rigor as an ESOL student learning English, a blind student learning Braille, and not have to master it before the school will rightfully support it. The irony is is that if I was mute and use sign language to communicate and wanted to present tonight, you would have to give me the accommodation of an interpreter here at this meeting so my words could hold the same value as everyone else's.

[01:09:57] Why isn't that being done for our son in school every day? Day one without his ASL support started the clock on the amount of harm being done to our son. It would be way more financially responsible to spend a little more money for the support he has a right to than to continue to pay for legal fees to lawyers while you fight 88 cases in federal court.

[01:10:15] I thank you for your time. Blake Harrah.

[01:10:38] Good evening. Board members, Chair. My name is Blake here, my address is on file. So, over the past year, I've come up here speaking mostly about criticism, sending kids, overcrowding, sending kids to school while buses, sorry, roads are iced over and other things, making recommendations, stuff like that.

[01:10:57] But this time I come to thank the school board. The reason I come to thank the school board is because you've made it very clear that you pretty much care about yourselves and yourselves only outside of thriving futures focus and that came with the June 3rd vote where you essentially removed the teachers protection of unfair labor practice so the wording can change and you can say okay yeah they still have unfair unfair labor practice but you read the fine wording no no no no so now you've kind of positioned yourself where you have the intention of not negotiating because you're not going to

[01:11:32] be forced into it through arbitration and if you didn't see that you had no reason casting a vote so but right now you made yourself the judge in the jury You didn't bargain appropriately during the last CBA, so, I mean, why would you do it this time?

[01:11:52] So, you can say you're committed to fair labor practices, but you're not. Dr. McDade, do we let our students grade their own papers? No. For those of you who don't right now, the school board is currently sitting in court trying to vacate an arbitration award over a self-inflicted wound caused by a staff member in the executive office.

[01:12:10] So, for those of you, there's several of you that don't like the CBA, you're entitled to your opinion, but you've taken every option that you can to essentially destroy it and remove any kind of protection that it has against it.

[01:12:26] Now, I can tell you that there are only two people on this board that have 100 percent care for our schools, our teachers, and students, and they're not anyone who voted for it on June 3rd. So, right now, you're taking every legal option you can, spending millions of dollars to vacate this arbitration, and it may not succeed.

[01:12:48] You may think it will or may not. So, Ms. Wall, since you are on the bar at one point, you have a client that their employer, you think, committed unfair labor practice. So, you bring forth that information and the governing body says, nope, I disagree.

[01:13:10] Continue about your day. How are you gonna explain that to your client? The job of the school division is to support the schools, the teachers and the students, not for us to support you. You work for me, I don't work for you.

[01:13:27] So whether you want to accept it or not, the job is to govern the policies that make up PWCS not to retaliate against our teachers. I ask you all, where is the accountability of the board? - Thank you. - Thank you. - Hannah Ansari.

[01:13:53] - Hey everybody, good evening. Before I get started with my prepared remarks, I just wanted to say my heart goes out to everybody in Waynesboro, Virginia. I can't believe what happened. A very tragic incident and a very 100% preventable tragedy that happened. If we ever do anything about it, I'll be very old probably. So I had a great summer in case nobody cares.

[01:14:10] Thanks to the board for allowing me to speak. Pleasure to see you again, Dr. McDade. It looks like you had a really fun summer. I saw the pictures on the Facebook from all the events that you were doing, very nice. My address is on file if anyone needs to know it. So while I wasn't totally super productive over the summer, I spent a lot of time being somewhat passive about my political activism.

[01:14:28] And one of the things I did was watch a lot of ICE activity in our area. And if you don't know what that means, the Immigration Customs and Enforcement have been running around and they've been snatching people and kidnapping people off of the streets. And I know you might be like, what does this have to do with the school board? I promise I'll get to it.

[01:14:43] So they've ramped up their activity in this area. And one of the things that being a passive, I mean, I haven't gone out and canvassed myself is what I'm saying is, is you can see what's happening. You can kind of get a bird's eye view of what's going on. And I was thinking, how can we help the community in the school board and the school system is really a clearing house for everybody.

[01:15:00] Everybody comes through the school system at some point or another, either as a student or as a parent or as a guardian. And I think that education doesn't stop when you get that fancy piece of paper that says you graduated, you know? I mean, we can still continue to educate and we can continue to educate all of the community members as well.

[01:15:15] And one of the things that they hand out when we're doing canvassing is these little wallet sized cards called know your rights cards, which are red and they're in Spanish on one side and English on the other side. And it kind of tells you like the basics of what you do if like an ICE agent like tries to detain you. You know, like obviously I don't probably don't have to tell everybody here, but you know, if you're a student in the school system, you're a legal resident, you would have to be.

[01:15:35] You can't be an illegal immigrant. the ICE agents wouldn't be allowed on campus, but I can't imagine how terrifying it might be for a student to come home and wonder if your parents are gonna be home or not, because they might have gotten snatched in the next day. And I just wanna hit out some other things, like if an ICE agent tries to detain you, if they don't have a judicial warrant with your name on it, and they don't have any probable cause, and what probable cause could they possibly have, that you're not the right color and you're not speaking English?

[01:15:58] That's not really a valid reason to detain somebody either. And it's a difference between a civil infraction and a criminal infraction. Like a civil infraction, I think, would be like me deciding I didn't want to pay my taxes this year versus a criminal infraction, I murdered somebody. I think we can understand the difference there, right?

[01:16:14] So, I mean, it's not like, it's not an apples to apples comparison. So I was thinking, how could we, wow, I've already run out of time. How can we spread the news? And I was thinking about the brilliant idea you guys had last year with the food pantries. And I thought if there was a Venn diagram of people who were food insecure and people who were possibly gonna get snatched from ice, there would be some overlap in that group.

[01:16:34] And I don't see why we can't just provide and know your rights information to the people in the community, just like we provide all the other social services to the community through the counseling offices. So that was just something I thought that maybe we could think about. Thank you. - Thank you, Ms. Ansari.

[01:16:49] Kimberly Melman-Orozco. - My name is Dr. Kimberly Melman-Orozco. My address was on file. Last school year when I was here, I spoke to you about the civil rights violations that you know about that are being committed within your schools.

[01:17:11] One of my speeches went viral with over 5 million views. update that i have for you is some of those five million viewers were teachers current and former teachers and administrators and i want to kind of give you an update in the public if anybody's interested in seeing any of this please tune in to ensure to fail podcast and you can hear the whistleblower teachers and see some of these documents so may 2026 former administrator writes you might want to dig into all the employee complaints in prince william county including high-level administrative people who left because of the unethical and illegal practices in schools and central offices would estimate hundreds of people they went on

[01:17:51] to say that Prince William County only hires young people and people who will say yes and do what they're told even though it's unethical or illegal or not right for kids anyone not like that is out this person then gave me some tips on what to FOIA request and I paid over a thousand dollars for a FOIA request that you all have withhold for held for two months going to court to get some more of those documents but thank you for the production mr. Anderson you You forgot to redact some things.

[01:18:17] Specifically, you forgot to redact the fact that apparently Dr. Walts was clear and emphatic on his direction to remove the doors in the seclusion rooms with padded walls for children with disabilities.

[01:18:33] But Dr. McDade, you brought him back. You brought him back, didn't you? And in 2023 to 2024, little kids being excluded were in Signal Hill Elementary School, Woodbridge High School, Henderson Elementary School, Independence, Pace West, Bennett Elementary School, Kyle Wilson. I also have a work order that you approved for $4,000 for a solid wood door for Penn Elementary so you can lock little kids with disabilities in a room. You all think that your crimes will not be uncovered, but I want to remind you of a very, very important quote from Dr. Martin Luther King.

[01:19:09] The moral arc of the universe is long, but it always bends towards justice, and you are miscalculating one important fact. There is nothing more formidable than a mother who loves her child and will do anything to bring justice.

[01:19:26] I promise you, your crimes, and Mr. Wadey Anderson, talking about money, you're signing off checks to your former employer for millions of dollars. They're buying Nando's Perry Perry and Five Guys with our tax dollars staying at the Residence Inn. They're claiming to have worked, well, eight months pregnant, 18 and a half hours in one day.

[01:19:46] If you believe that, I got a bridge I want to sell you. But I'm telling you this much, your crimes need to be investigated by the federal government. The civil rights violations incurring in this county are like nothing we've ever seen. The perjury, the fraud, you better believe it's going to be uncovered.

[01:20:02] Next five, Carly Carrington, Marcel Ripandele, Rena Stapp, Nicholas Chadoin, and Janelle Anderson. So, Carly Carrington. Good evening. My name is Carly Carrington, and my address is on file.

[01:20:29] I'm standing here right now because the county has left me no other choice. On May 28, 2026, my son Bradley was violently attacked at Bull Run Middle School during his PE class on the outdoor tennis court. He was blindsided, pinned down with his arms at his side, and taken to the ground and punched repeatedly, leaving him unable to defend himself.

[01:20:55] The school nurse never conducted a proper examination after the attack. She gave him an ice pack. She never even filed a written report. There was no documentation that was even formally shown to show that my son was seen by the nurse that day.

[01:21:16] When I picked him up from school, seeing that he was in pain, I took him to the emergency room myself. They discovered two fractures. The next morning, I brought the updated medical report to the school myself. Your administrators classified this incident as a fight, even after Prince William County police classified it as aggravated assault.

[01:21:38] The student who caused these two fractures received a three-day suspension, even though The Prince William County Schools Code of Behavior mandates a minimum of 10 days for serious bodily injury.

[01:21:54] The year before, the same principal recommended a five-day suspension for my son for an off-campus altercation with another minority student, which resulted in no serious injury, no police charge, and it was off school grounds.

[01:22:09] Five days for which I successfully appealed and got removed. Now this violent, on-campus, aggravated assault by a Caucasian student, and he only got three days. This disparity has never been explained to me, and I'm asking for the school board to explain that.

[01:22:30] I've filed formal complaints at every level of the county and have been dismissed by the principal, associate superintendent, and the deputy superintendent, which sent me a letter stating that the case is now closed. My son spent most of the summer in a boot and an arm brace.

[01:22:47] He carries physical and emotional trauma from this attack, and not one administrator has acknowledged that. All I've received instead are bureaucratic language, FERPA citations, and a letter telling me to basically go away.

[01:23:03] I'm asking the school board tonight to hold administrators accountable for those failures that put my son in this position, and I'm asking for the incident to be coded responsibly on the student's records consistent with law enforcement as it was filed and classified as aggravated assault.

[01:23:24] My son and every child in Prince William County Schools deserves better, thank you. - Marcelle Ripandele.

[01:23:47] - My name is Marcelle. - What school do you go to? - I go to Ashland. The reason I'm here is 'cause the bus stop very far away and there is a bear roaming around the town that's it thank

[01:24:13] you Rena Stapp good evening dr. McDade dr. Lateef and members of the school board I'm Rena staff and my address is on file happy beginning of the school year I know that May is mental health awareness month but with the school beginning the stress of homework classwork friends and family can affect many students.

[01:24:46] I want to thank Dr. McDade for advertising the Save Promise Club on social media. I'd heard about it last year and it sounds like a really great club to build community within schools to help prevent any of these other bullying situations from even starting if other students can talk to one another and work it out in advance.

[01:25:06] I wanted to bring a spotlight to the Out of the Darkness Walk next weekend, September 12th at the Virginia Gateway in Gainesville. This fundraiser raises money and awareness for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Every dollar raised through there allows them to invest in life-saving research, education, and advocacy to support those impacted by suicide.

[01:25:26] So I'm hoping that maybe some of our school board members and community members will show up and help raise some money to help prevent suicide. Thank you. - Thank you.

[01:25:41] Nicholas Shadwine. - Good evening, I'm Nicholas Lessard. My address is on file and I'm actually here because I just wanted to thank the board.

[01:25:57] I came on January 7th, 2026 in order to discuss a situation dealing with a school bus problem in my community where my child was left in the cold and then also had to walk on one of the coldest days of the year this year. I wanted to thank the board for their quick and decisive action in order to get people in contact with us and in order to start handling the situation.

[01:26:18] So we were able to get the problem resolved and on top of that, we had less issues as the year went on. Both of my kids are now at Battlefield High School, so we don't expect that that situation is going to be the same for them as basically everybody in our side of the development all gets on one bus, and it's kind of fun to watch 'em all walk on like ants.

[01:26:37] So I do very much appreciate that. I also wanted to thank the board for extending the, and specifically Dr. McDade, for extending the school program for having community pantry closets at the schools. I think that this space is extremely necessary in certain communities and is also going to really help out.

[01:26:56] I hope that the school continues to push food drives and different things like that, especially with the giving season coming up, where we'll be able to fill out those closets and be able to help people in need. So I really wanted to thank you for that. I only have one minor concern, which just came up recently to me.

[01:27:14] My family is a big reader. I've got a big reader in my family. My wife, Jessica, who's sitting behind me, she's a huge reader. She reads about 500 books a year. Now, I say that because my kids are now starting to become readers, and the school also has different programs where they're reading in school as well for their classes.

[01:27:36] One of the things that I've learned in my master's level classes, where I literally was just sent a box of books, a Kindle is a great way to carry them around. I think that being able and allowing kids to have access to their Kindles being able to reading devices or potentially being able to allow them to download Kindles on their iPads could be a great way for them to be able to save space, one, for their safety and two, for practicality.

[01:28:00] I think that this is something that could easily be instituted and is something that might be necessary. One of my kids is not having an issue. The other one is being asked on a regular basis, "Is that your cell phone out?" I hope his cell phone isn't this big, but I just at least wanted to bring it to the the board's attention, specifically the superintendent because I think that you could have the biggest impact on this policy across the county.

[01:28:23] So thank you very much for my time and being able to come up here and thank you very much for your support at the beginning of the year. - Thank you. Janelle Anderson.

[01:28:41] - Good evening. My name is Janelle Anderson. I live in the Occoquan District. My address is on file. I'm here tonight as a parent with a concern about student restroom access at Colgan High School. I've been trying to resolve this issue through the school and the district, and I have an upcoming appointment with the almsudsman next week.

[01:29:03] I'm bringing this to the board tonight because I believe it raises a broader question that affects many students. Colgan High School has approximately 3,000 students. I recently asked Colgan's admin to clarify when student restrooms are available, and I received a detailed schedule explaining that different restrooms are open or closed Depending on whether students are in class, changing classes, or at lunch, the bathroom schedule at Colgan is complicated.

[01:29:35] But my concern is this. What is the division's standard for ensuring that a student has timely access to a toilet when they need one? During class changes, some restrooms are closed. During class, students may need to ask their teacher to leave.

[01:29:53] The Colgan admin told me that if a student has to wait in class and it becomes an emergency, the student should tell their teacher. But that raises an important question for me. Why should a student have to wait until a normal biological need becomes an emergency before receiving access to a toilet?

[01:30:14] I would like the school board to review this policy and to determine whether there is a better way to guarantee students timely toilet access while still addressing Colgan's legitimate safety and supervision concerns.

[01:30:30] I will be meeting with the omsudsman, Monique Bookstein, next week, and I hope to work collaboratively with Colgan High School and Prince William County Schools towards a solution. Thank you so much. Thank you.

[01:30:45] OK, that concludes citizen comment time for this evening. Up next is--let's take a look. Is it 1501? Am I correct on that, folks? Yes. Yeah, sounds good. Proposed sale of VSPA bonds for fall of 2025.

[01:31:01] Mr. Youssef, this is on for information. This is the proposed sale of Virginia Public School Authority bonds for the fall of 2026. I'd like to turn it over to Dr. McDade. - At this time, I would like to invite our Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Shakil Youssef, to provide an overview of the proposed sale of VPSA bonds.

[01:31:30] - Good evening, Dr. Lateef, school board members, and Dr. McDade. Going into the CIP program, we had anticipated a sale of $250,330,750 in bond sales.

[01:31:51] Understanding that there were some restrictions and requirements in terms of debt limits, we went through, we scrubbed our CIP file, we reduced it with some year-end balances, state revenue, and also worked with the CEO in looking at projects that were not coming on board during this bond sale period, which is usually a two year spend down, and reduce the bond sale by $72 million to $177 million.

[01:32:30] I'll be happy to answer any questions. - Does anyone have any questions? We're voting on this next time? Are we voting, are we voting at all? - I believe this is informational. - Yeah, so are we voting on this in the next couple of meetings, or no?

[01:32:45] When do we vote on the bond sale? - The 16th. - Okay, so we are voting for it in two weeks. So any further questions, concerns board members may have if they don't have any tonight, as they look through the reviews of the bond sale, please forward them to Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Yusuf or Dr. McDade.

[01:33:03] Good, all right. Moving on, 16, student representative time. Tonight we have, and we'll welcome, Marlee Smith from Freedom High School. Ms. Smith, you may have the floor. - Hello, everyone. I hope you had a great first week of school. First, I would like to acknowledge School Board Chairman, Dr. Lateef, the members of the Prince William County School Board, and superintendent of schools, Dr. McDade.

[01:33:26] I would also like to welcome staff members across the county, my fellow representatives Storm Allo and CJ Graham, and all students K through 12 to the first school board meeting of the 2026 to 2027 school year. My name is Marley Smith, I attend Freedom High School, and I am one of your new student representatives of the Prince William County School Board.

[01:33:47] I'm truly excited for this new experience and responsibility, and I'm grateful that I have been given the chance represent the entire school body, student body. Last week was the start of the Prince William County school year. The year started off strong with new smiling faces, amazing first-week outfits, and a bunch of energy across all our schools.

[01:34:06] Many high schools including Freedom, Woodbridge and Forest Park, Hilder Senior Sunrises, and Friday Night Lights have officially begun with our football game. The spirit is starting off very high and will only get higher from here. Moving forward, I can speak for all students when I say we are still adjusting to the phone policy. It is definitely a change, but many of us are finding ways to adapt, whether that is through communicating face-to-face more often, using school-issued iPads for research, or staying focused on classwork. At the same time, students are dealing with real challenges. Although the

[01:34:43] school year has just begun, I have already taken time to collect data from my peers. Out of everything shared, there were common themes stated. Trying to balance heavy workloads while being involved within their school can be very heavy to add weight concentrating on school work can be difficult for students who are stressed about their family's finances it is important that students feel supported during their time in high school counselor check-ins at the beginning of the year will help create early early relationships with students teachers it always feels good when you take time to say hello school should not only be a safe environment but a welcoming one as well

[01:35:23] These experiences matter, and part of my role is making sure that they are heard. With the board recognizing important Awareness Months, from ADHD Awareness Month to Hispanic Heritage Month and Virginia Disability History and Awareness Month, I want to highlight how meaningful it is for students to see their identities, needs, and experience acknowledged at the start of the year.

[01:35:47] I cannot wait to meet with the Student Senate so that we can continue brainstorming our ideas for this year. Like I said in my video, it is important to make sure every voice is heard, no matter who you are. I encourage all students to join your school's Student Voice Committee.

[01:36:02] By joining Student Voice, you are stepping into a space where you can advocate, speak up, and share your perspective. You can be the change that you want to see. In fact, I challenge everyone to do an act of kindness this week. Check on someone, ask how their day is, give a compliment, and show that you are there for them.

[01:36:21] choose kindness we do not just help others we ignite a chain reaction that

[01:36:25] can impact the entire community thank you all so much for your time okay we're

[01:37:05] at 1701 superintendent time thank you good evening I want to begin with my gratitude and appreciation for all of the work that went into such an outstanding start to the school year it has been wonderful to see our students back in our buildings and I am thankful to our staff families and students for beginning the year with such a positive attitude toward learning I want to give a special acknowledgement to our transportation team for the incredible work that they've done this year for one of the first times in the last five

[01:37:42] six years we've achieved a ninety two point seven percent on-time arrival rate for the first week of school and that is a testament to their professionalism commitment to ensuring our students arrive safely and on time each day so we are really starting the school year strong thank you for everything that you are doing we know how difficult it is we have about 3,700 routes and we've transported over 73,000 students every day that is no easy feat so just a huge thank you and congratulations to our incredible transportation team for all

[01:38:19] of their hard work to keep our schools running smoothly. As we begin another school year I also want to welcome our new school board student representatives Storm Allo from Woodbridge Senior High School and Woodbridge also was our high school that opened the school year with a lot of high energy and Storm had an opportunity to be interviewed for the start of school year so thank you for that Storm. Marley Smith from Freedom High School and our alternate Carly CJ Graham from Charles J. Colgan Senior High School. I'm so excited to work with each of you as well as the Student Senate and hear about all of the incredible work that you'll be doing with student voice throughout the school

[01:38:59] year. We're excited to have you here and even more importantly we are eager to hear from you. You have an incredible platform serving in this role and representing all of our student body and their voices and I say that intentionally because student voice matters. It's in our strategic plan we've worked hard to bring our student voice committees. You heard one of our citizens talk about the Save Clubs and so our students are really making a difference in Prince William County. You're the people closest to the work of teaching and learning and our student experiences in our classrooms, our programs, and our opportunities, they have the the best seat in telling us exactly what they need.

[01:39:38] Authentic student voice means creating a place for students to ask difficult questions, challenge our thinking, and offer solutions and help shape what comes next. Their leadership demonstrates what we ultimately want for every PWCS student: the confidence to find their voice, the ability to communicate their ideas, and the courage to use their voice both in service to their school and their community.

[01:40:05] So to our student representatives, I hope you will bring us your perspective throughout, I know you will bring us your perspective throughout the year. Tell us what's working. Tell us what's not working and continue to remind us to look at our work through the eyes of the students that we are here to serve.

[01:40:23] And speaking of leadership, I'm also pleased to formally at our first board meeting, introduce our newest member of our executive cabinet, Dr. Tangi Millard, who's here this evening. Dr. Millard is our associate superintendent for high schools.

[01:40:40] She's certainly not new to PWCS. Most recently, she served as our director of high schools, where her leadership and collaboration with our high school teams contributed to significant improvements in graduation, dropout rate, ninth grade retention, and chronic absenteeism outcomes.

[01:40:58] Dr. Millard brings more than 30 years of experience in education, which spans from the classroom to division level leadership, giving her a comprehensive understanding of what students and educators need to succeed. Congratulations, Dr. Millard, on this new role.

[01:41:14] We're excited to have you leading the way in Prince William County Schools. I also want to take a moment to recognize some exciting news about Prince William County Public Schools. Forbes has named PWCS one of America's best in-state employers for 2026.

[01:41:30] PWCS is one of only four public school divisions in Virginia to earn this recognition and ranked 58th amongst employers statewide. Now, this recognition is particularly meaningful because it is informed by the voices of employees themselves and considers areas such as workplace culture, career advancement, wage parity, and responsiveness to employee concerns.

[01:41:53] An organization does not become a great place to work because of ranking. A ranking reflects the culture that the people in the organization builds every day. So this recognition really belongs to our more than 13,000 full-time employees who serve our students and families and who make PWCS a place where people can find purpose, opportunity, and belonging.

[01:42:16] That is something we should all be proud of while continuing to recognize the responsibility that comes with that reputation. And finally, as we talk about listening to our students and strengthening our connection with families, I want to highlight several upcoming opportunities through our PWCS Family Engagement Series.

[01:42:36] The Family Engagement Series provides practical information information and resources for families that they can use to support both their students and strengthen the partnership between home and school. Families are invited to join a Zoom webinar entitled Supporting Every Student: Understanding PWCS Child Find and the Parent Resource Center Services.

[01:43:01] That will be held on Thursday, September 10th from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. This session will help families better understand how PWCS identifies and supports students who may need special education services and will highlight the many programs and resources available through our Parent Resource Center.

[01:43:21] On Thursday, September 17th from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., we will also host a Zoom webinar entitled "Support Learning at Home: Come See What's New in English Language Arts and Math." will learn more about reading and mathematics instruction and assessment including the star reading assessment and receive practical strategies they can use to support learning at home i would also like to invite high school students and their families for a zoom webinar psat school day what

[01:43:54] families need to know and how khan academy can help that will be held on thursday september 24th from 6 30 p.m to 7 30 p.m please spread the word this is a great resource for our high school families and students this session will explain the importance of the psat and demonstrate the free con academy tools that are available to pwcs students to strengthen skills and prepare for the sat information and registration from each of these webinar sessions are available at pwcs.edu Welcome back to school, Prince William County.

[01:44:32] We are excited for the upcoming school year. We believe that it will be the best school year yet. Dr. Lateef, that concludes my prepared remarks for superintendent time. - Thank you, Dr. McDade. Up next is committee updates. We're moving with one committee update from Ms. Lisa Zargarpur of the Coles District tonight on the Joint Environmental Task Force.

[01:44:51] Ms. Zargarpur. - Thank you. So the Joint Environmental Task Force meets, I think it's the third Thursday of every month and it's a public meeting the public is welcome to come I'm oddly intrigued by some of the topics last week or not last week in July we had a meeting on local food procurement challenge with Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments so the focus of that discussion was how the different governments in Northern Virginia and Maryland might be able to procure some of their food needs through local producers so regional and local farmers and our discussion in the room was

[01:45:31] mostly focused on how Prince William County could participate and the schools already do get some of our food from local farms so I believe we're gonna have we're working on a resolution that'll talk about that a little bit but that was just one of the things that we made a point of in that particular meeting is between the two sides of the government the schools obviously would have the bigger need for food. There was also a discussion about the better buildings challenge. I think the county is doing their own improvements. The schools have been doing improvements forever and ever and ever. It was one of

[01:46:10] our resolutions when I first got on the board. So both the county and the schools are making great progress toward that. It saves taxpayer dollars. It cuts down on pollution and it's just good overall. And then we had another meeting just about a week ago and we were expecting a report on the school division's outdoor learning environments that will be coming in a future meeting that had to be put off we got to learn a little bit about the landfill waste development diversion program and they've got some ideas for managing trash that comes into our

[01:46:46] county from other counties things like that we had a brief update on water quality studies if that's your jam there will be a meeting with the board of county supervisors coming up when they will be hearing about some of the water studies. I did learn in that that the water studies are very specific so some look at how waters use, some look at how what our wells look like, some look at where our water is coming from and what those water tables look like, some look some will be monitoring pollution so it's important to understand what those different reports are giving you. So tune into one of their meetings coming up I believe it's probably their next one next on their next one where they're

[01:47:24] to be getting that information, and that would be all for this evening. Thank you, Ms. Sergapur. We're now moving on to board matters. We have one policy that's on for first reading. This is the proposed revision of policy 384 on direct deposit of payroll. This will be on for action in the following school board meeting. Mr. Youssef, you want to address this just to give us an update on what this is. Good evening school board members again. This is a change in, really it's a change

[01:48:03] that is driven by a change in our regulation our policy mandates direct deposit but our regulations did not mandate it they were exceptions so we've brought that into sync but we did need to change the policy and also address some changes in the titles of the of the the policy from assistant superintendent finance to chief financial officer but essentially this provides a lot more efficiency, we have a lot of issues with issuing manual checks, and so it does bring us into,

[01:48:39] give us the ability to provide direct deposit to all employees. Any questions for Mr. Youssef? This will be on for vote in two weeks. Thank you so much. Thank you. Next up, Board of Matters. Mr. Wilk.

[01:48:57] Thank you, Dr. Lateef. Welcome back to a new school year. It's great to see a lot of our usual speakers and our frequent guests. It's always nice to have you here. So thank you and come one, come all, anyone watching this who would also like to join in the festivities.

[01:49:20] I do wanna just highlight a couple events. There hasn't been a lot yet 'cause school's getting moving and in motion to different things and getting used to the flow. There were a couple back to school nights. I did attend both Forest Park and Potomac Senior High School.

[01:49:35] a lot of great conversations with families, got to introduce myself to new families, hand out my magnets, which have the calendar on it, which is very popular over the years. Yes, I know, my magnets, and so good events, and I look forward to the middle school ones and the elementary ones.

[01:49:55] I will try to attend as many as possible, but you know, disclaimer, a lot of the elementaries have many on the same nights, so it's probably gonna be impossible to be at every spot, but I will do my best. Also, Montclair Elementary had a great welcoming event a few weeks ago.

[01:50:15] I do wanna pay a short tribute to a very special person in the Potomac District who passed away over the summer. Over the summer, we lost a longstanding waitress in the Montclair Family Diner named Peggy. Anyone who has lived in this community for all these years, Peggy was a dedicated, I call her magnanimous Peggy, waitress who served over 30 years in that diner, worked tirelessly, always had a smile on her face, extremely gregarious, and always, she had an amazing memory.

[01:50:52] She met my mom, she of course met my family, and she always remembered, always remembered to say, tell your family hi, hello, everything. Just such a welcoming environment, and Peggy will be missed, and I think the diner and the owner, Francesco, did a great job honoring her.

[01:51:10] If anyone drives by there on 234, she's on the sign now out front, which was paid for by Lucille and Renee Frye. And so thank you so much, and yeah, you will be missed, Peggy. I do wanna also thank our transportation department.

[01:51:26] In comparison to last year, Uh, I think things have gone relatively, uh, successfully, um, very, I have received some emails. I think that's natural with the process, uh, but nowhere near the volume that I received last year. Uh, just an example. Um, I, I put my kids on the bus in the morning and one of my sons goes to Potomac shores. And so I'm standing at the bus stop and parents are talking and the app's not working. The app's not working for me. People are on Facebook. The app's not working. Okay.

[01:51:58] Well, I reached out to Mr. Bach, and I mentioned that, you know, this is not working, not just for me, but also members of the same school and community. Well, within an hour, he was on it. He got on the phone. He had the president of the company talk to me as well, and they investigated and did a troubleshooting, and it's working now to my best understanding, at least for me and my neighbors.

[01:52:21] But I just want to commend the great work of our transportation team and their responsiveness. And so, yeah, welcome back. Thank you. Mr. Janik. Yes, thank you.

[01:52:40] Sorry. Welcome to another school year. I'm super excited. I've only got one kiddo left in the house. It was a lot easier to make lunches. Shout out to all the moms making the lunches every week when you have multiple kids and a husband and you're lining up all that lunch meat or chicken or whatever you're doing.

[01:52:58] I know it's a task. So I know you had a fun summer not doing that, although they still had to eat, unfortunately. our houses we still have to feed them I just want to say a huge thank you I know a lot of you come out and you talk to us you bring your concerns to us but I do want to thank the couple that came out to thank us and to tell us when we rectify a situation I think a lot of people that come here maybe don't know this but we do each have our own districts that we represent in the first week of school we get a lot of emails and I would say that 99% of the emails

[01:53:31] that I get are a concern or something that we have to rectify and we don't get to come here and say I rectified 200 cases this week 200 this month I talked to 40 parents I was at this many back-to-school nights I addressed this many children who came to me in public and said these things we don't often get to do that so I truly appreciate parents that come back and sit through an entire meeting just to thank us that means the world to us so thank you very much for doing that and for recognizing the good that Prince William County Schools has

[01:54:08] done the good that this school board has done the amazing things that our superintendent do I just I really appreciate when someone says anything kind and points out the the great things that happen in our school system I know dr. McDade stole my thunder a little bit but I was a huge advocate of moving the bus stops and making our children walk further I grew up in Prince William County Schools and I walked over a half a mile to my bus stop. I sat on that bus for 45 minutes.

[01:54:38] It was it was a long bus ride, but we did talk about that just seeing over the years where the bus stop where the bus stopped four times within an eye shot In my neighborhood and I really just thought is there is there a way that we could cut down on some of the Issues that we're having in transportation the on-time rate all of those things. Is there anything we could do?

[01:54:59] Transportation came up with this on their own. Of course, I just got here at the right time and get to say I was a huge part of that change. So For the first time ever we had a seventy seven point eight percent Arrival rate on the first day of school most school districts see 50 to 60 percent if you google there's some other school districts Prince George's who did not have a great first week. I'll say it. I don't care and we crushed it our train it's all our transportation team so a huge shout out to Vern huge shout out to our bus drivers for getting our kids to school and home safely and

[01:55:32] on time our first five school days were between 88 and 91 percent and they're aiming for 97 percent and they are almost there so and thank you to all the parents that did reach out when there is a problem when there is an issue with your bus stop reach out to your school board member directly they have access to transportation they have access to the superintendent to talk about those issues and I went out I even drove before school started went out to a few bus stops that were of concern talk to those residents and we and sometimes you don't get the answer that you want but you can still talk through it we can still look at what's going on and the main thing is safety and making sure our

[01:56:08] kiddos are safe I'd like to encourage people to ask questions do that do that to your own teachers to your own principals your own school they have amazing resources and can answer those questions. I've heard great things about the iPads. I've also heard concerns and I know that they're working through that.

[01:56:27] So thanks again and I hope you guys have a great school year. Ms. Lisa Zaribor. Thank you Dr. Lateef. So I would like to recognize the work done by VDOE after that July JET meeting that I went to where we discussed the procurement practices of governments and how they could support locally grown food and and farms, I was excited to learn that we have something in VDOE that closely connects what Virginia is encouraging schools to do with something called farm to school.

[01:57:07] And it's not just about purchasing food for schools or local government. It includes education, school gardens, greenhouses, hydroponics, student farms, things like that. And I know our nutrition department's gonna participate their meeting that's or their big I don't want to say it's a conference but something like that but I was thinking about how much property we have at our schools and how it's it's such an important thing to know where your food comes from and if any of my schools want to learn more I'm happy to sit and help

[01:57:45] connect you with people who can work with you through VDOE but I think there's something really powerful about connecting our students with what we eat they can learn about the food growing process and the agricultural community that surrounds us in our own Prince William County I got to go to Opie's back-to-school night last week which was early people are like oh so early yes we're just gonna jump right in and go Colgan was this week I look forward to seeing the Finn friends at on Thursday just before the football game and I also

[01:58:22] had a chance to go see the Dale City Ravens play. Their home base is over at Hilton High School and the reason I went there is because one of my own students who lives in Fairfax plays on that team so I thought what a great opportunity and I got to talk to a whole bunch of parents who were talking about they weren't Kohl's people they were just from all over this county talking about how excited they were for school to start how you know these were all sixth grade kids how they were excited about what was going on in middle schools. Shout out to Bevel, Mr. Blake. I heard a lot of great stuff going on over at Bevel. So I really enjoy just meeting with parents and listening to what they had to say, even though

[01:58:59] they weren't necessarily Kohl's people. I want to tag on to something that one of our constituents said this evening in a speech talking about the Kindle. I got an email also that I need to go and address. I hadn't had a chance to do it yet. But there have been some parents who've raised that issue about it's a Kindle. It's not connecting to the internet in terms of playing games and things like that and would that be an acceptable appropriate thing for a child because it is a it's it is housing books so that was a request I got so I just wanted to echo that I've already heard that I know that there has also been

[01:59:35] some concern from some of our parents about the internet the guest Wi-Fi being turned off when I was at Colgan I asked why that might be and at Colgan they are keeping it on in the like the cafeteria uh and it can be put on for certain things but it is also because our students are sometimes pretty smart about how to get around things and it's making sure that they aren't taking the school issue devices and getting onto a different system and going out to their things at least that's one of the things that i was told so it it is to keep kids doing what they're supposed to be doing we all have safety procedures

[02:00:13] and things going on in our schools schools are not unsafe we have security systems and ways of communicating your children are safe so um but please make sure that you talk with your administrator about your concerns so that they can kind of help you understand what decisions have been made and why i look forward to the rest of the school year thank you have a great evening ms wall thank you dr latif good evening everybody as we launch into a new school year i want to take a moment to celebrate the incredible students staff and families of the gainesville district and share some of the ways that I've been engaging with schools over the summer

[02:00:51] and during this back to school season. One of the best parts of this last couple of weeks was the chance I had to visit a number of schools in the days leading up to school, when parents and students come to school and they meet the teacher, they drop off their supplies, they figure out how to open a locker.

[02:01:14] There were a few tears and some stress with that, but it was just really rewarding to see how engaged our families were in the start of the school year process and it really energized me and helped me feel that what we do here is important and it reminds me of our that our greatest success is the achievement and growth of our students and it was just so great to see their happy smiling faces throughout the summer I did stay connected with schools and families through email and in more casual environments but while students were enjoying a well-deserved break I know that our principals teachers and staff were hard at work

[02:01:50] preparing classrooms and participating in professional learning and ensuring that our schools were ready and welcome welcoming to students and so I want to thank everybody who worked all of those weeks in preparation for the start of a successful school year I know it just doesn't happen by itself it happens because of very diligent and focused efforts so thank you in August I attended the Triple E conference on the sixth I toured the new Occoquan elementary school on the 12th attended the triple L conference on the 13th celebrated the Prince William cohort of the class of 2030 of Thomas Jefferson high school the Prince William cohort is a pretty distinguished group of kids we

[02:02:30] had the preschool Institute on the 18th I went to about a dozen meet and greets on the 20th and 21st I went to battlefield new student orientation and a back-to-school night last night and a bunch of other amazing stops and spent the first day with gravely elementary school where my three children attended back in the day so it's been very great and I know that we are off to a great start um one thing that continues to impress me is the level of family involvement in our schools our parents are very engaged they're very appreciative

[02:03:08] of the communication that we give and above all they want to know that their teachers care about their kids know their kids see their kids and see their needs and are providing a great educational environment for their children so those partnerships are very critical to helping our students thrive and I remain committed to being visible and accessible for families of the Gainesville district and advocating for you and helping you navigate this the school division I'm gonna close my remarks with a thought on gratitude and then we did hear some kind words tonight as we as we celebrate the start of a

[02:03:44] new year, I'm reminded that gratitude is the memory of the heart. When we take time to recognize the successes of our students, the dedication of our staff, and the support of our families, we create lasting memories of what is good, hopeful, and possible in our community. I would encourage each of us to pause at the end of each day and take note of the specific things we are thankful for that day. With that, our teachers and staff, thank you for learning the names of each and every student so quickly in your classrooms and learning what makes them each individually special to our families thank you for showing up at back-to-school

[02:04:21] nights after a long day of work to meet your teachers navigate the classrooms find the modules at the back of the school and learn about the school and how you can be involved and to our students thank you for your cheerful smiles and your willingness to put in the hard work both in the classroom and on the track court or field it's an honor to serve the Gainesville district and thank you and have a good night. Tracy Blake. Thank you Chairman Lateef. Good evening everyone and isn't there something just special about the beginning of the school year? The buildings come

[02:04:56] back to life, the buses are back on the road on time. Thank you Byrne and your team. We appreciate that. Our hard ways are filled again and behind every classroom door is just another opportunity to change the trajectory of a young person's life and for me this school year really began with our triple e-conference and I'm just looking around the auditorium and seeing leadership from across Prince William County Schools I was reminded that not no one person school department or board member can do this work alone and we're all in this together then we then we welcome our newest

[02:05:34] educators at the triple L conference the people who chose Prince William County Schools and are now beginning their own journeys serving our students. And our community showed up too. At our sixth annual backpack back to school community event at Freedom High School, more than 5,000 backpacks and school supplies were distributed to families.

[02:05:58] At one point, the line stretched nearly all the way towards Neyap School Mills Road. So if you know you know the streets out there, you just think about that how far that was. and thousands of families showed up because you know they wanted their children to be prepared for the first day of school and hundreds of people and community partners showed up to make sure they were there and um that's that's what community is all about and i just want to thank all of those community partners and the staff the communications department everybody that was involved with that was a great event and uh this year we're also taking um our important

[02:06:37] steps for some of our youngest learners so last week i got to join dr mcday uh miss wall um dr brian and dr hart at washington reed preschool the preschool center and um it was awesome and i and i just wanted to also thank bernie's team for getting pulling that together too they're doing a lot of a lot of construction jobs out here they're looking really good but um for me it was just bigger than than extending the school day because you know now we have our all day our four-year-olds are there all day so but um it's just another step towards uh universal pre-k becoming reality and

[02:07:15] making sure our family's income doesn't determine whether their child has access to a strong educational foundation and walking into those classrooms and seeing our youngest students learning engaging and building those early skills reminded me why why this investment matters it's more it if we want to improve literacy close opportunity gaps and strengthen academic achievement We cannot wait until the third or fourth grade to begin.

[02:07:41] We need to have, we have to start early with better time than pre-K. I'm excited to see what we learn from this first year, how our students benefit and where this work can take us. Over the past few weeks, I've also had the opportunity to be in our schools from the Meet the Teacher events at Fitzgerald, Bel Air, and Minnieville, open houses at Beville and Hampton, popsicles with principals at Dell City and Enterprise, welcoming kindergarten and families at Fitzgerald again and visiting classrooms at Penn Elementary. I've seen packed

[02:08:18] hallways, excited students, nervous parents, teachers getting ready, getting started, principals welcoming their community's home, and the energy just doesn't stop when their final bell rings. I also made it out to Garfield, of course, you know, go watch a football game, Friday Night Lights, and I don't know if you've seen it, we got new helmets, so they're red helmets. They had the - All red unis.

[02:08:42] Yeah, you gotta get out there and see us. And as a parent, I get to experience our schools from both sides of the dais. So from elementary through high school. So I just want everybody to know this work remains very personal to me.

[02:08:58] And as we begin this school year and continue to work on Elevate 2030, our responsibility is not simply to maintain what we have. It is to elevate educational excellence and expand opportunities for every student will be challenges there will be setbacks there will be moments when something we try doesn't work the first time but i'm reminded by something the late great dolly parton said i never tried quitting and i never quit trying that energy i hope i hope we carry into the school year

[02:09:31] keep trying keep learning keep adjusting keep showing up for our kids to our students families educators staff administrators and everybody who makes first working county schools work welcome back let's make this an incredible year and let's continue to elevate prince william county schools together thank you vice chair richard jesse while campaigning for the school board and since being elected i have consistently said that one of my major goals is for schools in the aquapon district to be among the best in the prince william county and among the best in virginia

[02:10:09] and ultimately among the best in the country our aqua district teachers principal administrative staff students and families are making progress towards that first goal. I have been I have also been appropriately reminded that as a school board member my responsibility is not to run or manage our schools. That is Dr. McDade's job and her administration. However I certainly can

[02:10:42] recognize and brag about this accomplishment of the school I represent so with this recent release of the 2025-26 standard learning SOL results here's here goes as I have stated several times during our public school board meetings one of my major concerns remain the student academic achievement particularly our SOL test score the Virginia Department of Education recently released the the official 25-26 SOL results.

[02:11:18] I want to focus specifically on the performance of the 10 elementary schools in the Occoquan District, three of which are Title I schools. My purpose in presenting these results is not to criticize our teachers, principals, staff, or students.

[02:11:36] Instead, I want to recognize where our schools are succeeding and celebrate the progress they are making. I am not focusing here on where we are failing or falling short. That will be an opportunity to examine these areas and most importantly determine what additional steps may be needed to improve student achievement.

[02:11:59] For a simple overall comparison among our schools, I combine each of the school SOL passing rates and reading, right history, mathematics and science, then divided that total by four.

[02:12:16] The result percentage is the overall average I used in this discussion. This is my own calculation and should not be confused with the official Prince William County School or the Virginia Department of Education performance measures.

[02:12:34] Using this method, both Antietam Elementary and Marshall Elementary averaged 82%. And Teetham results were particularly consistent with a pass rate of 80% or above, except for 1% in history, which was 79%, almost 80.

[02:12:55] Another way to look at our progress is through mathematics and reading. My understanding is that Prince William County five-year goal is to reach an 85% level using these academic measures. Based on the average of the 20, 25, 26 mathematics and reading SOL pass rate, seven of our 10 Occoquan District Elementary schools score 80% or higher.

[02:13:25] I am particularly pleased that two of these schools, Title I schools, Kerrydale Elementary is at 83%, and Occoquan Elementary is at 80.5%.

[02:13:40] And perhaps most impressive, Old Bridge Elementary has already exceeded the 85% goal with an average in math and reading of 86.5%. The results are giving us something worth celebrating.

[02:13:56] They reflect the hard work of our students and the dedication of our teachers, principals, and staff. We are not where I ultimately want us to be, but we are making progress. My goal remained the same, first for the Occoquan schools to be among the best in the Prince William County, then the best in Virginia, and ultimately the best in the country.

[02:14:22] The last results show that our schools are moving in the right direction, and when they succeed, I'm more than happy to brag again. Thank you. - Thank you, Mr. Jesse. Again, welcome back everyone. I'm excited to be back and celebrating a couple of great things this year.

[02:14:42] We're opening the new Woodbridge Elementary School on Route 1, Woodbridge Elementary School, and long overdue, and it's a beautiful building, and very excited about that, and welcome all the new teachers there and the students there. The Occoquan Elementary School, which is now a net zero school, fully geothermal and solar.

[02:15:01] Very exciting, excellent, real strong statement on the commitment the school board has had on sustainability and energy for a long time. I want to appreciate and welcome back our school board members. Without them, we couldn't be accomplishing such great things.

[02:15:16] I appreciate the comments of each member. As you hear each of them, you know their interests and their concerns. This board ways have, you know, thinks a lot about, you know, a lot of the challenges. I think it'd be arrogant to say that, you know, these last eight or nine years that I've been on the board, it's been the toughest time to be on a school board.

[02:15:34] I mean, it would be tough to sort of think about comparing that time to the civil rights movement and desegregation, and certainly some of the challenges we've seen in this country in the past. But having dealt with the pandemic and then, you know, challenging administrations, challenging funding issues, you know, there isn't a break.

[02:16:05] We really haven't had a break. You know, we are now talking about and thinking about artificial intelligence, AI, how to use it, to use it, not to use it, how much to use it, ethical uses of it. You know, will it make our children dumber? Will it make them smarter?

[02:16:21] Will using it help them do things better? How do we get them to get the most out of it without harming them? These are things that this board has to weigh, continues to worry about, and struggles with. These are not easy questions.

[02:16:38] You know, technology and its impact on our children is going to, has already had an effect. You know, test scores worldwide have been dropping since 2012 when sort of phones and social media became ubiquitous in everyone's pockets.

[02:16:54] So sort of Facebook hits the phone at the same time, becomes readily available to the most people. And since that time, we've seen scores drop worldwide. And the question is, how do we get that back? How do we get our students to remain engaged and worried about the work ahead?

[02:17:11] - I will tell you, you know, sitting on admissions committees for a variety of different things, whether it's medical schools or residency programs or reviewing job applicants, it's not hard to see an AI written statement. It's not hard to figure it out. And, you know, that is important, you know, as we move forward, you know, preparing our students to, you know, be able to be original and that is critical.

[02:17:36] And so those things do weigh on this board and how we move forward, I don't have an answer. I didn't have answers. This board didn't have answers when the pandemic started. We didn't have answers, you know, as we deal with the federal government who's ramped up enforcement over the last few weeks, just on ICE raids alone, we've seen our students who've recently graduated arrested.

[02:17:59] I know of students who've been arrested, families impacted by this, many in our community. You know, two years ago, when I started ramping up enforcement, we didn't really see the impact that much. We did see it, but we've seen dramatic increases now.

[02:18:15] So as a board, I worry about AI, I worry about ICE, I worry about bears now. There's bears, we're worrying about bears. Brown bears, black bears, we have all sorts of bears. We got Lisa telling me about bears. - I got a bear in my yard. - She got a bear in her yard.

[02:18:31] I worry about SOL scores and SAT scores, as you heard from our other board members. And so this board is working diligently we're gonna continue to focus on what we know works best for our students and how we can get them prepared for this new world that continues to change on a daily basis and becomes very hard to deal with.

[02:18:49] I wish you all the best as we begin this new school year. Enjoy and have a great school year, everyone.

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