this october 6, 2016 regularmeeting of the fairfax county school board will now come toorder. please rise for the pledge ofallegiance, a moment of silence and the performance of thenational anthem by the sandburg
girls sexually, middle school choralettes underthe direction of jeanne crowley. i pledge allegiance to theflag of the united states of america and to the republic forwhich it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, withliberty and justice for all.
oh say can you seeby the dawn's early light? what so proudly we hailed atthe twilight's last gleaming? whose bright stripes and bright starsthrough the perilous fight o'er the ramparts we watchedwere so gallantly streaming and the rockets red glarethe bombs bursting in air gave proof through the nightthat our flag was still thereo say does that star-spangled banner yet wave? o'er the land of the freeand the home of the brave
that was a beautiful job. thank you so much for joining ushere tonight. well done. so madam clerk, we have alreadycertified the closed meeting compliance. and next we will go toannouncements. a few announcements before webegin tonight's meeting. if you would like to receive acopy of the agenda or item being discussed that information is onthe table by the auditorium
entrance. tonight's agenda is available onschool board and boarddocs. the meeting is streamed liveonline. select school board from thefulmen you then click on the watch live button on the schoolboard meetings webpage. please turn off or silence yourcell phone. i call on ms. chu forannouncements. thank you, chair.
the board will be recognizingspecial occasions. i apologize if my voice getshoarse. the board held a closed meetingearlier this evening and october is national dyslexiaawareness month. dyslexia is a language-basedlearning disability that results in people having difficultieslearning to read, spell, write, and pronounce words. recognizing the markers ofdyslexia and intervening early helps to provide opportunitiesfor future success.
over the next several months theoffice of special education instruction in collaborationwith the instructional services will be offering severalopportunities to help raise awareness about dyslexia. on friday, october 21, theparent resource center will host a dyslexia open house from 10:00to 1:00. on december 7, january 11, andjanuary 25, there will be additional workshops aboutdyslexia at the parent resource center.
these workshops will highlightstrategies to support reading, writing and math at home andstrategies to work with schools to support students withdyslexia. please check our fcps website tofind additional resources, including, "clues to dyslexia,"which highlights both the strengths and difficultiesstudents with dyslexia exhibit at each stage of theireducation. the school board will formallyrecognize national dyslexia month this month.
in addition national school lunch week promotes excitementabout the benefits of students consuming wholesome, healthyschool lunches of fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains andmilk. the national school lunchprogram is dedicated to the health and well being of ournation's children and joined through the years by many otherexcellence child nutrition programs. there is a continued need fornutrition education and
awareness. the school board encourages allresidents to become aware of their children and their ownnutrition habits for a more healthy citizenry. the school board will recognizeteen read week, going beyond the traditional book, explorepoetry, audio books, books about music and school and locallibrary. read for the fun of it,encourages teens to escape daily routines.
fantasy novels, science fiction,travel books or tales of adventures. teen read week has been observedsince 1998 to-game teens to read for fun and to use resources atthe libraries. teens who read for fun havebetter test scores. the school board encourages allstudents to take advantage of the resources in their schooland public library and become life-long readers and learners. october 7-8 we will celebratemental health awareness week.
nami and participants areraising awareness for mental health awareness week. each year this organizationworks tonight stigma, provide support, educate the public andadvocate for equal care. nami believes that mentalillness issues are important to highlight year around but thisis a time to come together to improve the lives of tens ofmillions of americans with mental illness. this year's theme is i am stigmafree.
being stigma free means learningabout and educating others on mental illness, focusing onconnecting to see each other as individuals not a diagnosis andtaking action of mental health issues. that is all. thank you, ms. chu. we turn to item 1.04. palchik.
yes, it is my honor torecognize national school bus safety week. we have been back at school amonth in the community. we have big yellow school busesout there. these buses and drivers are thefirst contact for many of our students as we head back toschool especially kindergartens and new students. our bus drivers and fabulousteam keep our students safe each and every day.
it is all of our jobs to helpensure they are safe so please remember to follow the law, becourteous and respectful and patient when school buses arepicking up and dropping off children. with that being said, i wouldlike to announce that the week of october 17-21 hasbeen designated as national school bus safety week. based on the theme, be smart, beseen, i wait in a safe place! the week focuses on studentsafety when waiting for and
boarding a school bus. school bus safety is an issuefor all citizens of fairfax county, who need to be aware oflaws requiring them to stop and wait behind a school bus when itis loading and unloading student riders. the major responsibility forschool bus safety in fairfax county rests firmly in the handsof our school bus drivers and attendants, who daily transportmore than 141,000 students in over 1,600 school buses on morethan 6,500 separate routes
traveling nearly 17 millionoperational miles each year. it is a great honor andprivilege to invite the staff from our facilities andtransportation, this will be our very first photo of theremodeled dais. i will hand this over to ourphotographer to please direct us for our photo. thank you. madam chair, we probably onlyhad a handful of some of our transportation staff tonight.
you know they get up very, veryearly hours in the morning to transport our students. just wanted to point that out. yes, thank you. we appreciate them very, verymuch. if anyone from any busdriver, any staff is here, please join us for a photo. all right. thank you for everybody'spatience while we did that for
the first time in our newconfiguration. we turn to item 2.01, citizenparticipation. the next order of business iscitizen participation. speakers are requested to limittheir remarks to not more than three minutes. the school board will not hearstatements involving issues scheduled for public hears suchas capital improvement program, budget or boundaries. complaints regarding individualstudents or school-based
employees should be directed tothe appropriate school principal or other school official. speakers should refrain fromusing personally identifiable information in connection with astudent. speakers are expected to delivertheir remarks with the decor rum proper for the conduct of thepublic's business. tonight 10 citizens have signedup to address the board. i'm going to call the firstthree names so the two following can be prepared.
we start with monique baroudi,followed by bethany kozma to be followed by beatrice bearry. i created a video for thismeeting but you choose to censor it. by doing so you proved my point. you say you value publicengagement and yet you refuse to engage the public on the topicof gender identity. my video clip started. myvideo started with a clip from
may of 2015, the policy 1450 waspassed, the changes were passed. there was a room full of peoplebegging to be heard. since you passed this policywithout a single pup forum. just weeks after it was broughtup as new business. 10 people get to address thisboard every two weeks for three minutes on a topic of yourchoosing. and even then you decide if itaddresses the topic closely enough for your tastes. there is no discussion, noacknowledgement, no exchange of
ideas. my next clip shows mrs. schultzrecognizing the fact that this topic generated more public discourse thanany other in the history of fcps yet you didn't choose to give any of them a voice. my next clip showed ms. pattyreed, commenting on the hundreds and hundreds of e-mails she hasreceived. she said and i quote, theprocess used to pass this policy
was troubling and embarrassing. the no change memo on the agendatonight exists because of a virginia state code that requires this boardto review and update each one of its policies at least every fiveyears. policy 2601, the students rightand responsibilities, which was updated to include genderidentity language is part of that no-change memo. i'm trying to make the case it shouldn't be. another section of that same virginia codesays that each
local school board should ensurepolicies are developed giving consideration to the views ofparents, teachers and concerned citizens. have you done that or justpushing your own agenda. ms. mclaughlin said at the lastmeeting it is concerning that citizens think this board istone deaf. words without action are simplythat. empty words.
if this board is truly committedto public engagement prove it. plan a town hall or a publicforum. create a task force, take asurvey. this board has taken oncontroversial issues in the past and shown a commitment to makingdecisions about later high school start times, half daymondays, with years of public forum and studies. even the post labor day startwarranted a start of fcps. why do you refuse to-game thepublic on this issue?
i again urge you to repeal thechanges to policy 1450 in the students rights andresponsibilities handbook and start down a path of truecommunity engagement for all of your stakeholders. bethany kozma to be followed bybeatrice bearry. i come to speak about suicideprevention. the most important advocates ofstudents in danger of suicide are parents. keeping silent doesn't helpanyone.
in high school as a predator'svictim i kept silent. had i spoken up perhaps i wouldhave helped prevent that predator from sexuallyassaulting again. i felt like it was my fault, itwasn't. for some victims of rape andsexual assault and thoughts of suicide are real. i told some of my peers i wantedto forget about it. i thought i could contain it. i was wrong.
predators, even high school boyswill not stop with one victim especially if they realize theycan get away with it without any consequences. a few years later this samepredator victimized another girl i knew very well. since then i vowed never to keepquiet again. as a fairfax county resident,mother and advocate i will not be silenced. i must stand up for not only mydaughters but other girls.
as the majority of electedschool board members are women, my story should resonate with atleast one or two of you. statistically speaking 1 of 6women are victims of rape and sexual assault and malesdominate the crime statistics. you may have heard of horriblestories of girls committing suicide after indecent photosare on the internet. imagine how they will endangergirls facilities and be protected under your policy. policy 1450 seems innocuous, therepercussions are far reaching.
do you want a boy or man to seeor photograph you undressing or naked in one of the bathroom orlocker rooms. no up with should be bullied orbelittled, yet what about women or girls sexually victimized orfeel discriminated against because they have no safe place. all are ill served in thenondiscrimination clause. why are you allowing andpromoting predators to hide under transgender votes. you are charged with ensuringthe safety of all students.
how could anyone think allowingbiological boys into biological girls facilities are promotingsafety? it is a recipe for victimizationof girls. i urge you to listen to parentsand involve us in a suicide prevention plan. please repeal policy 1450 andprotect our children. [ applause ]next beatrice bearry, alice guo to be followed by johnkochka. i have two girls attendingfairfax county public schools.
i would like to start my threeminutes by sending our most sincere and heartfeltcondolences to connor rose's family. he took his own life. suicide is a shocking event. for some parents their teenssuffer silently and parents never know. some parents like me know theirchild suffers with great anxiety.
at times my daughter is crippledby her worries. ella was in first grade when shebegan having panic attacks. i was called to remove herbecause she was disrupting the kids in the classroom. i give kudos to the schoolknowing that the person who could help the most is herparents. ella is seen as different by theother children because she isn't in all their classes, sometimesher anxiety increases and she has to deal the classroom andthis calls attention to her.
i imagine children with genderidentity issues and confusion can feel like ella, some maysuffer from anxiety and depression because of theconfusion they experience. i believe the fundamentaldignity of each human beings and they all have rights. all of us have the right to feelsafe, comfortable, accepted and loved. your family is where you gainyour identity. fairfax county school boards,the board, say you foster a
culture of caring and familiesplay a fundamental role in children's education. i don't think that is so whenyou ask my daughters to share their bathrooms and locker roomwith boys. my child has special needs andhas high stress about sharing her bathroom with a boy. do the parents of these childrenwant them to endure more stress and anxiety allowing them to usean opposite sex bathroom. when one of these children thinkthey can't handle it anymore,
when he or she takes their ownlife because of this stress or anxiety who will bear the burdenof the blame? will it be you? i'm asking the decision based onevery child's dignity and rights. every child deserves to be safein their school and school activity they attend. parents or as you call us stakeholders are paramount and the board should not overridethinking they know best.
if my child has to share abathroom with a boy, i should be informed. if my child has to be in a roomin a school-sponsored event with a boy, i should be informed. make an environment whereeveryone thrives in a safety, healthy, rich environment. my children deserve to feel safeand respected. the decisions you have madebehind closed doors is unfair. i say shame on you school boardmembers.
and i hope no parent has tostand up here to tell you your misguided decisions caused thedeath of their child. i ask you to repeal. alice guo to be followed byjohn kochka and vanessa poynter. welcome. good evening. i'm here today to talk aboutsuicide prevention. roughly 90% of rapes arecommitted to females by males with one in six femalessuffering sexual assault.
why is the school board creatinga hostile learning environment by allowing males into femalelocker rooms and bathrooms? based on national statisticsthere is a relatively large group of sexual assaultsurvivors and roughly 7,000 young girls in fairfax countyschools are survivors, they carry trauma, severe dis tressand roughly 1,000 of these girls macon template suicide withhundreds already attempting suicide. so i want to hear about yoursuicide prevention for them.
many other survivors live infear, silence and distress. your policy can silence theirfear, silence and distress. you are sending a strong messageto these girls that they do not matter. your policy is also slappingtheir bruised faces that to feel fear and anxiety about a maleusing their bathroom is somewhat bigotry and wrong and yourpolicy is instead forcing them to live with it and be contentwith whatever the cost, whatever the depression and whatever theintense suffering.
so i want to hear your suicideprevention. survivors of sexual assaults arenot political activists. they often live in shame, guiltand depression. they need our help to pull themback to life, not push them over the cliff. so why is the board trying totorment these girls with a harmful and controversialexperiment that is not backed up by science, that has never beenimplemented anywhere on its own accord throughout 8,000 years ofwritten human history.
again, one in six females suffersexual assault. so where is your human empathyfor a plight of is suffering of this relatively large group? the simple solution to theirsuffering, their depression, their problem is to repealpolicy 1450. right now. john kochka to be followed byvanessa poynter. i'm john kochka and i yieldmy name to nina kamara. good evening to you all.
my name is nina kamara. i am so honored to be here thisevening to talk about suicide prevention and sex education. i work very hard to support myfamily. i work 16 hours a day most ofthe time. but at least i find it importantfor me to be here for my voice to be heard. in most cases i understand thatmaybe parents voices are not heard all the time and they arenot included when making
decisions and as a parent of thefairfax county school i'm interested in this topic. most of the kids suffering fromsuicide, they are kids who thought their voice are notheard. when they suffer traumaticexperience. and it is the responsibility ofus parents and you as important personnel here present in thisevening program to help this situation to prevent mishapsfrom not happening again. i have a daughter who is in thesixth grade, who is 11 years
old.and as an elementary school student i'm pleading that sexeducation should not be introduced in the elementaryschool. for some of the reasons i'mgoing to give. when we came to fairfax county icame because i understand they have the best schools and i'mproud for my daughter to be in fairfax county. based on that sex is really niceto be educated for students, but i want to believe that it is notfor elementary.
because when you look at theelementary school, most of the kids in the elementary schoolare below 13 years old. they are kids. they should be treated as kids. they should not be treated asyouth or adults. so educating them about sex, ithink gives them a negative emotional impact, giving themmore responsibility to think of making good and bad choices. as an african-american from westafrica, my culture and religion
and the values i practice doesnot permit my daughter to be taught sex education in schoolat the tender age. as an african-american in myculture we see kids below the age of 13 should be treated askids. you can teach them about familylife education. excuse me. could you please wrap up. your three minutes are over. you teach them about familylife education where there are
limitations to that. you can't go beyond because ofthe negative impact it creates most times on kids. so for me my daughter i amgetting out by not signing any documents coming from the schoolfor sex education. i would not want her to begiving the responsibility. for those parents who don't knowwhoa is in these classes i'm really concerned and i'm pleading. thank you very much.
thank you very much for yourtestimony. would you provide the clerk withyour name so she will have it? thank you so much. vanessa poynter to be followedby huina gao. good evening board members. representative chu. chairman evans. superintendent garza. faculty and staff, neighbors andfriends.
first a kind thank you for theopportunity to speak with you tonight and share a few of mythoughts. i count it a privilege to havegrown up within the fairfax county public school system. in fact, i'm nostalgic lookingat the stage where i performed as a middle schooler here atluther jackson. currently the cdc maintains thatsuicide among adolescent teens is the second leading cause ofdeath in the 15-24 age bracket. suicide among our nation's youthis real and it is a terrible,
terrible thing. i understand the dire need we asa school system, community and culture need to pay attention towith regard to social and emotional well being and youthmental health. i support a policy thatimplemented strong prevention and risk assessment program forteachers and students. however, i am concerned aboutthe manner in which the board intends to do so with regard toparent rights. i am not yet a parent.
i'm a masters level earlychildhood development and early intervention. i spend a lot of time with youngchildren but a lot of my team is spent behind the scenesadvocating for and cheering for students. the code of virginia onlyrequires parents to be notified if their adolescence teenconnects with a staff member when suicide is imminent. they have to know if their childis being identified or
monitored, if their child isbeing screened and the right to know when their child is beenassessed. it frightens me these aremissing pieces in your guidelines. this is a concern becausesuicide prevention begins with family life that is safe, secureand stable. in a recent discussion of familylife education the policy making power with which the board hasbeen entrusted appears abused. the kras in which it was writtenand discusses, hardly an
advisory community as stated onthe fcps website and the oversight of parents rights. these are indications that theboard may be violating the authority in the eyes of itscommunity. i fear this new policy may onlycontinue that trend. our children, your fellowstudents, your sons and daughters all deserve ourstrongest support and such strength comes from an honestthriving school community and the active involvement of theirparents.
thank you for your time. i call on huina gao to befollowed by patrina mosley and bonnie burkhardt. i'm huina gao. i have two children in fairfaxcounty schools. first of all, i would like tothank the school board for creating a nurturing environmentfor my children to grow and second i'm speaking tonightbecause i want to voice some concerns related to the overallwell being of students regarding
the forthcoming regulationsimplements gender identity to the nondiscrimination policy andstudents rights and responsibilities which isstrangely being approved with the claim of no change when itclearly has changed and appears to be violating the state law. i was here two mont ago andlistening to testimony of i was touched. no student should be subjectedto bully or denied education opportunity.
when it becomes to schoolregulations we need to set emotion aside. i'm deeply concerned over theimplications and consequences in the regulatory changes set tocome. i do not feel comfortable tohave my children in the locker room or bathroom with anyone ofthe biological opposite gender. for my childrens safety andprivacy and the modesty that is ingrained in our culture. this policy will subject mychildren to the same
discrimination the school boardforbids to jentder dis foric no student should be subjectedto harassment, bullies, their height, their weight, their lookand their issues with gender. i'm speaking from the bottom ofmy heart because when i grew up i used to be teased by myclassmates simply because i sweat a lot. i was called smelly skunk. it was such, if i was such agirl now in fairfax county, may i request the school to reducethe room temperature by five
degree so i wouldn't sweat atall and wouldn't become the targets of the bully. however, the important thing isi don't believe the ability of providing such accommodation hasanything to do with lack of inclusion. maybe the key to tackle thesmelly skunk situation is not the room temperature itself. but the understanding of humanbody dimpss and emphasis on character education and morecounseling service for children
with special needs. dear school board members, youare in charge of developing school regulations. i'm imploring each of you,please do not create more problems by precipitating aflawed implementation. let's decompose issues ratherthan compounding them. don't make an ill intention ldpolicy as a nightmare. call for the conscious rps ofnot gobbling the liquor to quench the thirst.
patrina mosley and bonnieburkhardt. is patrina mosley here? i'm here to address the topic of suicide prevention with threechildren i know. the eighth grade fle teachesabout age sex, not the normal mean one couple enjoys intimacyor which you make a baby, it is the primary method in which oneguy rapes another guy. i knew an eighth grade boy whowas raped by a high schooler. he cried to his mother, i didn'tknow you could do that to a guy.
he department have the flelesson. let's say he did have thatlesson after he was raped. other guys would say, i didn'tknow you could do it to a guy. the boy would stare at theirfaces with absolute horror. after parental support andcounseling he started his sophomore year by committingsuicide. 90% of rape victims are girls. a girl i know was raped by herfather. then her brother started to rapeher.
school is the only sanctuaryaway of the horrors of home. how would she feel if atransgendered boy showed in the bathroom. her brother could say he istransgendered. she suffers from bulimia. another fifth grade girl becamean incest victim. her older sisters started her onillegal drugs to cope. drug overdoses are a slow formof suicide. keep these schools as sanctuarysfor children.
provide them someone to confidein and who can help them. now, picture a woman holding herbaby boy in her lap, screaming, as she tries to piece togetherthe bloody fragments of his skull in a feeble attempt to seehim one last time. out of one side of the math youtalk about suicide prevention and you teach age sex and rapetechniques in school. what harm could that possiblycause? you decide. paul karpe.
hi. my name is paul karpe. i was a special ed teacherbefore i retired from fairfax county. 31 of those years have been infairfax county. followed retirement i have beensubbing on a daily basis for long-term. the board needs to understandthat all retired teachers are certified in their-- areas.
most of us have a masters degreeor two. some of us have a ph.d.by hiring a fairfax county retiree you are getting abargain in the classroom because you have hired a pro. when retirees are in theclassroom you are getting a professional. we already have the experiencein the classroom, know how to deal with inappropriatebehaviors and know fairfax county public schools policiesand procedures as they say, been
there, done that. in all the years i have beenteaching i have never seen employees treated this badly. we were told our pay would becut. all subs had their pay decrease. fairfax county employees willreceive $15. d.c.'s minimum wage was upcreased to $15. how degrading for the retiredfairfax county teacher who chooses to sub and faces a 34%pay cut from $22.20 to $15.33.
not to slight the regular subs,but retirees are the subs with many, many years of experiencein the classroom. we are have the only in of thesubject matter and ability to execute a plan and improvise ifit is necessary. even when we sub out of ourdiscipline, we have decades of classroom savvy to engage thestudent in their curriculum. several times when i subbedthere were no lesson plans left by the classroom teacher orminimal. i had to use my many years ofexperience to spontaneously
generate a learning experiencefor the 30 students for the 7 1/2 hours. could a less experienced sub,one with 60 credits or a non-teacher done that? by eliminating retiree track thecounty is insulting us, you have lumped us in the same cart garywith those with only 60 credits. the county school bus driversare paid more, $18.82 an hour. a retiree's salary would nothave been decimated. you would have increased it tokeep the experienced pool of
retirees. does the county assume retireeswill sub for $15.33? most importantly, will thoseretirees sub long-term for $21.91 an hour? i have done long-term subsapproximately 10 times. whoa. sum up. just wrap up. that would be fine.
i apologize for mispronouncesyour name. that's okay. nobody gets it right. i wanted to say, by the way, mydog walkers charge $15 a visit which constitutes a 20-minutewalk. when they walk three dogs theymake $45 an hour. it is more than a retiredfairfax county teacher and they don't even have a degree. we turn to item 2.02, studentrepresentative matters.
thank you ms. honorablechair. i want to thank our speakers tor for coming to talk about these difficult issues. when i follow citizenparticipation it is heart because everything is stillringing in my head. on two fridays ago i had thegreat fortune of attending the-- the sidewalks around theschool were completely covered in images of peace and kindnessand what it means to be a good
citizen. i would like to thank thegroveton staff, students and teachers for committing to theculture our county has been supporting. thank you for grovetoncontinuing this. groveton has been a part offairfax county 100 schools in supporting talk for peace. getting to know thisorganization and its founder have been a great experience.
in addition, on september 26,the superintendent student advisory council had its firstmeeting where we discussed mental health including suicideprevention. the school environment,bullying, harassment and student health and wellness. they have been carefully truckd.c. strur chured on the agenda. this year i'm make it it mymission to visit all the high school and second dare schools. i was able to meet withchantilly high school and
wonderful career and technicalopportunities. i just wanted to recognize chantillie high school for its wonderful education and supportof its students. in addition, one of the pillarschools of the school, diversity, i came to see isextremely well represented and cherished by its own students. there are a handful oftransgendered students and i have seen case by case basiswhere administration are able to care for such students andmaintain a caring culture within
their community. i will be making many moreschool visits. but i would like to take notethus far i have seen students take it upon themselves tocreate the caring culture. they don't react to change inlegislation something they neat to research into, they adapt tothe 21st century change and social changes we areexperiencing. i very much love the communitythere. in addition as mental healthawareness week is upon us and i
see many citizens are passionateabout suicide prevention and awareness, attend theconversation fairfax high school october 29, well known speakerwill be discussing these issues. finally, as i mentioned at lastmeeting the 2016-2017 student leadership development programas well as the application for the fairfax county countystudent human rights commission are open. any students interested inleadership opportunities i encourage you to go on line andcheck out these applications.
turn to item 3.01, this is theportion of the meeting where the board will confirm any actiondiscussed in the closed meeting. these issues may include actionregarding student disciplinary matters. board members have discussed theindividual case and at this time will make the motion to confirmthe recommended action. i call on mrs. schultz for themotion. i move to grant the schoolreassignment appeal of a student
charged with a serious crimerelated to an incident that occurred in the community andmodify the disciplinary decision of the division superintendent. do i have a second? seconded by mrs. corbettsanders. all in favor raise your hands. that is unanimous. we turn to 3.02, appointment ofinterim superintendent.
strauss for amotion. thank you, i move to appointmr. steve lockard as actingsuperintendent on an interim basis effective on the last dayof employment of the current division superintendent whilethe school board conducts its search for and until it appointsa new superintendent. >> do i have a second? mrs. strauss.
would you like to speak to yourmotion? yes. dr. steve lockard is a skilledcollaborative administrator who understands how our schoolsystem works. he is a champion for studentsand assures student achievement is at the forefront ofeverything we do. the board is grateful he iswilling to lead. he joined fcps as deputysuperintendent may 2014.
he was deputy superintendent offrederick county schools in maryland, associatesuperintendent for elementary schools and in his distant passhe was a director, principal, assistant principal and mostimportant at all, a teacher. he is a father of three kids. that also counts. the board is fortunate to havesomeone with his expertise and vision and we sincerely lookforward to our interim, we don't look forward to the interimsituation we are going through,
but as we find ourselves in thisposition we are very grateful lockard will help us. fortunately, dr. lockard willnot be alone. we have a strong team. we are grateful for karen, yourappointing of many new folks sitting over here as well asmany seasoned people. so that our cabinet and ourleadership team are very strong. so we go through the search in aperiod of strength.
thank you dr. garza. the school board is great fallsdr. lockard for agreeing to beour interim superintendent. we shall all work very hardtogether, all of us. school board, the studentrepresentative, our team, all of our teachers and our principals. corbett sanders wouldyou like to your second? i have been consistentlyimpressed by the leadership
skills he has demonstrated aswell as he is a proven consensus builder, collaborator andthoughtful listener with a deliberate management style thati think will be important as he has a steady hand on the till aswe go forward. certainly he represents the bestof dr. garza's ability ofidentifying and cultivating top talent. so i'm very excited about thisappointment. mclaughlin.
well, i'm just going to saythis, not only do i fully agree with the wonderful words ofsupport for dr. lockard, wecould be here several hours if we wanted to extoll not only ourconfidence and trust in dr. lockard but our appreciationfor dr. garza in assembling sucha great team. the work we have in front of us,another closed session after this business meeting, i wouldsay dr. lockard it has been atrue pleasure getting to work
with you these past two and ahalf years. we wish we weren't needing tocall upon you, we recognize you are going truly help us continuethe great work dr. garza has putin motion these past three years. that is what has me most excitedabout this chance to work with you in a new position. so thank you. hines.
we will be confident to go tothe public while we do the unthinkable in replacing dr. lockard does not begin histerm tonight. that will come later as we getcloser to the unfortunate departure of dr. thank you for thatclarification. before calling for the vote iwill say briefly as sorry as i am that dr. garza is leaving us,i am very much looking parted to
continuing to work with dr. lockard when dr. garza doesmove on. i know the two of you willcollaborate over the next weeks to make a smooth transition forthat time and i know dr. garzahas left us in very strong shape and dr. lockhart has a greatteam to work with as well. i'm going to call for the vote.
lockhart, i'm going give youextra time if you would like to come up to the podium after thevote. with that, all those in favorof let me see if i'm supposed to reread the motion here. all those in favor of the motionto appoint steve lockard as acting division superintendenton an interim basis according to the terms and conditionsdiscussed in closed session and effective on the last day ofemployment on the current superintendent while the schoolboard search for and until it
appointed a new superintendent. all in favor raise your hand. thank you chairman evans,members of the school board, dr. thank you, dr. garza, for theopportunity you provided for me to come here to fairfax countypublic schools, the incredible learning i have gained workingwith you and all you have done for the students, staff andcommunity of fcps. i am sorry to see you leave us.
i know i'm better for theopportunity and thankful for the experience for serving on yourleadership team. so thank you very much. thank you to our school boardfor your support and confidence. i'm truly humbled and honored bythe challenge and responsibility in front of me. you have my commitment and myword that you will get everything i have during thistime as interim superintendent and continuing the importantwork that the board, dr.
garzaand the entire fcps community has begun. i'm committed to working withour school board, local and state leaders, parents,students, communities, school division staff as we continue tobe responsive to needs, open to improvements and continuallystrive to best serve our i will continue to stay focusedon the priority work advocating for our teachers, theircompensation and the budget needs of this incredible schoolsystem.
i look forward to helping ourdivision stay on the path of our strategic plan and helping allof our students realize their full potential and attributes ofportrait of a graduate. strauss you mentioned theincredible leadership team, i am so thankful to have theopportunity to work with a dedicated and talented group ofprofessionals. because of that team i know i'mgoing be able to hit the ground running. although literally running maytake me a bit longer, but we
will hit the ground running. certainly we will work toward aseamless transition during the board's search for a newsuperintendent. >> thank you dr. lockard andcongratulations. we turn to the consent agenda. robert rules provides severalitems approved by a single motion. many items have gone throughboard review, documentation,
have been provided to all boardmembers and the public in advance. 4.01, guidelines school boardrecognition of teams, ensembles. 4 prnt 012, policy 2613, studentdres code, policy 2630, use and parking of private motorvehicles on school property. voluntary uniforms in publicschools policy 5105, authority to enter into contractualagreements and policy 2620, students with physicallyaggressive or violent behavior
as detailed in the agenda item. 4 ppt 03, award the contract forthe chiller replacement at chantilly high school to thelowest responsive and responsible builder, sting raywelding, llc, $858,000 and authorize famts and trmsservices to execute and administer the contract onbehalf of the school board. 4 prnt 04, award a contract forthe whim oaks elementary school renovation and additions projectto the lowest responsive and responsible bidder dlrks 17.263and authorize facilities and
transportation services toexecute, deliver and administer the contract on behalf of theschool board. 4.05. is there any objection toapproving the consent agenda? >> one of the speakers pointedout there were some confusion in policy 2601, referencing thepolicy. this regulation is-- i do havean objection to including that item in the consent agenda. you would like to pull anitem off of the consent agenda?
i this so. the policy refers to theregulation. this regulation has been reviewsand there have been no changes. one of the speakers werereferring to sr and r had no changes. that creates confusion. point of order, madamchairman. i'm going to ask our clerkwhether at this time it can be pulled off the consent agenda.
could you turn on yourmicrophone. oh, you don't have a microphone. it has to be done before. i see. i understand that. since there is an allowance foran objection i would raise it. in that case if a boardmember has an objection do we take a vote on the consentagenda? we move one item.
okay. i will remove that one item andso we will, seeing no objection to the consent agenda withoutthat item, the consent agenda is moved and then we will take aseparate vote on adopting policy 2601 rights and responsibilitiesof students. point of order, i'm sorrymadam chair, i'm not sure i agree. if our rules say that items maybe removed at the request of any board member prior to themeeting.
i don't think we have an item ofremoving that option. what may happen is someonevoices their objection and what do we do if there is anobjection? do we have to vote? we have to vote anyway. i think we probably need aparliamentary ruling on this. i mean, i think we have arule for a reason. if we just allow people to--someone at the board table to pull it off we should change therule if we are not going follow
you need a microphone. the strategic governancemanual says an item has to be pulled before the meetingbegins. what happens if someoneobjects to the consent agenda? then you can continue. you need a majority vote to passit. so do we vote on the consentagenda? we need a parliamentaryruling on how we proceed if one board member objects to theconsent agenda after we have
started the meeting. may i very quickly point out,i'm not certain the reference the individual constituent wasreferring to regulation. i don't see in the reference toregulation all of these specifically. in section two. which one was it? section two of policy 2601,it says this regulation. can i offer a suggestion andi don't know if this is
possible. hang on, ms. corbett sanders. i just consulted robertsrules of order. i'm reading from the 11thedition, page 361, regarding consent calendars and consentagendas. the matters are taken up inorder unless objected to, in which case they are restored toif ordinary process where they are placed in line for regularconsideration on the regular
agenda. so mr. wilson's objectionwould place it in the regular order which means it is anaction item? it is new business. it could be placed either newbusiness or as an action item. that sup to the chair. >> i see. what we will do is make this anaction item and vote on it after
we have approved the consentagenda. i'm seeing no other objection toany item on the consent agenda. now the vote is on policy 2601,rights and responsibilities of >> i have a question. i believe that the issue is the2601 is the policy. it is not the regulation. i think the error andmisunderstanding is someone thinking this is the studentrights and responsibilities. h this is a policy that saysthere will be an sr and r.
this is not a vote on thecontent of the sr and r. >> no. it is still an action item. rather than consent item. >> i know. what i'm saying is whether ornot people thought this was the actual vote on the con tepts ofthe sr and r, it is not. >> i move we change section two. this policy has been reviewed.
>> i'm sorry. what is your motion. >> to substitute regulation withpolicy. this policy has been reviewedand no changes at this time. >> i second that. >> all in favor of that motion,raise your hand. so that motion passes. new business. the following are new businessagenda items.
there is not a vote but actionis scheduled at a future meeting. 5-01, award a contract to thevisitor side bleacher replacement at stuart highschool and execute andadminister the contract on behalf of the school board. 5-02, award a contract to southlakes to the low es responsible bidder and authorize thedivision superintendent or staupt superintendent offacilities and transportation
services to execute, deliver andadminister the contract on 5-03, authorize the divisionsuperintendent or the assistant superintendent department offacilities and transportation services who may act without theother to negotiate, execute and administer a lease agreement forbus parking to serve the school division's needs in bring speeldincluding all lease documentation in consultationwith legal counsel for the school division. 5-04, adopt suicide preventionrisk assessment policies
detailed in the agenda item. 5-05, adopt newly revised 2016fairfax county purchasing resolution previously adopted bythe board of supervisors subject to the conditions in the agendaitem. we turn to superintendentsmatters. i call on dr. >> thank you, madam chairman,members of the board. the virginia department ofeducation released graduation rates for the 2016 school year.
our graduation exceeds. 96 prnt 2 students graduated ontime. we lead the state in theseparticular items. another celebration is i'm veryproud to report that yet again we have seen an increase ins.a.t. scores for our students,which is not always the case across the nation. in some states we are seeinglagging s.a.t. scores.
that is not the case in fcps. we, again, surpassed state andnational averages on all areas in our overall composite scoreincreased three points. we are already very high. our overall composite score was1672. with last year's being 1669. we are very proud of springfieldestates elementary school for being named an exemplary highperforming school in the national blue ribbon program bythe u.s. department of
education. you all know that is a rigorousprocess to be selected as a blue ribbon school. one of 329 schools named to theprogram for this year across the nation. springfield estates wasrecognized for its academic excellence and closingachievement gaps among the various student groupsdemonstrating all students can achieve in classrooms.
we are going to be working withthe school to schedule a celebration at that school. i know the board members willlook forward to visiting the school and celebrate with allthe wonderful staff there. as was pointed out earlier, ourmental health and wellness october 29, saturday, 8:00 a.m. we have 50 breakout sessions andkeynote speakers. it is going be a wonderfulconference. i'm so very pleased with yourappointment of steve lockhart
as the interim superintendent. he is an intelligent, thoughtfulleader and he cares and he always wants to do the rightthing. he will do a great job workingwith our strong leadership team as you work to find a newsuperintendent. commit to working closely withyou, with dr. lockhart, with theleadership team to ensure for a smooth transition. thank you, madam chair.
>> thank you, dr. next is board committee reports. hynes for a report on the audit committee. the audit committee whichconsists of four school board members and two highly qualifiedcitizen members met on september 28 and our agenda was to followup on previous audits and get a status of current auditengagements, the audit committee considered proposed office ofthe auditor general metrics and work plan.
the next meeting of the auditcommittee is october 26. the last wednesday of everymonth. it is open to the public andvideotaped for those who can't make it. all the papers related areposted online. derenak kaufaxfor a report on the skip committee. thank you, madam chairman. the full skill board metyesterday october 5.
and we discussed how county andschool staff work together to integrate the one fairfaxrussian into their work. there will be meetings set upbetween county and staff to begin. ongoing school and county staffhow we can accommodate more children in preschool programsand extensionive conversation about the tiered system ofapproach. we are working on a county andschool combined basis to improve school attendance in fairfaxcounty.
the action plan for this tieredimprovement system was approved with the caveat a small workinggroup would further refine the tier one interventions. the skip group is meeting, tothe public, there are two school board members myself and ms. mclaughlin and two county boardof supervisors and many, many heads of organizations aroundthe county. because we are a big group ithink it has taken some time, but there is a lot of good solidwork being done there.
it is extensive. so what i'm going to be doing isi'm going to be asking the chair and the clerk, i will add theattachments so you can peruse on your own and see. if there are things, of course,for future policy changes ms. mclaughlin and i would bringthat up. a lot of it is staff to staffwork and the things we are doing are the things i think thisboard really cares about and it is happening.
it is slowly, but it ishappening. i want to be sure you have allthat information out there. next on the agenda is boardmatters. hynes. i will pass tonight. i will also pass. hough. thank you to all those whocame out to my office hours in the sully district yesterday.
i look forward to being in mournin a couple of weeks. -- in mount vernon in a coupleof weeks. yes, i want to recognize ms. hubbard from west potomac highschool who was recognized by the white house for her avidprogram. big applause for her as well asi want to thank the county staff for all of their hard work whichmade the opening of the new mount vernon team center at theoriginal mount vernon high school a grand suchk this pastsaturday.
>> mrs. >> i met with the leadership ofthe t.j. partnership group. read a little bit of our visiongoing forward. quote from mike skulneck-- as we collectivelyenvised when the t.j. renovationbegan the new facility should serve as a hub for the wholecommunity, available to everyone in the county to inspire orexpand a passion for stem. t.j. is a public resource and welook forward as the construction
dust settles to provide oursupport. the partnership fund, in orderto broaden the impact and reach of the programs beyond thestudent body. it is important now that thet.j. renovation is nearing theend, somewhere in sight, we return to our original visionwhen we began this renovation so we can find, seek more ways toshare the facility, the resources that the school hasand the wonderful partnerships and ideas that students come upwith at t.j.
it is a place not just for thestudents who go to school every day within the walls, it is aplace for all of us to partner, to learn and to excite all ofour students about stem and research. mark skulnik and extending theuse of the wonderful resources available at thomas jefferson. >> ms. >> just briefly in honor ofdyslexia awareness month i wanted to use an opportunity toexpress my appreciation to the
tremendous advocates who helpedcreate decoding dyslexia virginia advocacy group infairfax county who have done a masterful job of helping toeducate not only the school board, but to communicate andwork with dr. garza and many ofher staff and really helping fairfax county schoolsunderstand the prevalence of dyslexia among our students andhow we can continue to improve their educational success and soit is just hats off again to dr. garza in your tenure here youreally helped us move this
school system in a greatdirection and helping those students and their families andi know from working closely with the advocates, they very muchappreciate that while we-- it is a journey and we continuewith a school system of our size to get it right each and everytime, you have helped set the tone from the very top. i know they would want me toexpress my appreciation, especially since we honored ithere tonight. mr.
wilson. >> thank you, madam chairman. first just a heads up, i amplanning to have office hours this month tentatively it is foroctober 26 at 10:30 a.m. at thecentreville regional library. i will send an e-mail to convertthat date and time. i want to say thanks to membersof our community who have come out the last several meetingsand expressed continued concern about the issues surrounding thetransgender issue that is
bubbling through our courtsystems and captivated much of our country and particularly ourschool systems. and i am thinking that perhapswe have a way to engage the public more and provide someupdate in terms of the school board's actions or perhaps noactions on the implementation of regulations. i think some of the commentsthat were reflected tonight perhaps reflected somemisunderstanding as to where we are as a school system on thisschool board on the issue of
gender identity. so i am going to discuss thatwith my fellow board members and see whether or not we can bringthat as a forum topic somehow we can engage with the public moreon that topic. derenak kaufax. >> thank you. as dr. garza mentioned i want toextend my congratulations to the teachers, staff and principal atspringfield estates elementary
school by being named by theu.s. department of education as a 2016 blue ribbon award winner. this is based on overallacademic excellence. blue ribbon schools prove allschools can achieve at high levels. as a parent of two children kwhoattended springfield estates i know they worked hard to becomethis exemplary school. congratulations. lockhart, we are happy youaccepted this opportunity when
garza moves on. we look forward to working withyou in this role. and finally, i just want toextend my sympathy to the family and friends of connor juaros. i'm sending prayers of healingduring this very difficult time. mcelveen. hopefully you having a cast on and limping is not a sign ofthings to come. we wish you the best in yourrecovery and all you will do for
our system. with that, this meeting isadjourned. we are going to into closedmeeting. the board will make a motion togo into closed meeting to discuss performance of specificemployees pursuant to to code 2-2, to consult with legalcouncil regarding legal matters requiring legal advice regardingpersonnel matters, 2.28711.
do i have a motion? all in favor.
raise your hands. we now go into closed session.
