Prince William County Public Schools

Select this link to view the agenda on the Electronic School Board webpage.

Select this link to view the School Board meeting on PWCS-TV.

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The School Board Approved:

• The biennial Governor's School Funding Agreement by and between the Prince William County School Board, George Mason University, and The Governor's School @ Innovation Park articulating the minimum seat count and per pupil fiscal year rate. Approval of this agreement authorizes a minimum of 88 full-time equivalent pupil seats at the specified per pupil rate;
• October 7 as International Walk to School Day;
• October 18-24 as National Chemistry Week;
• September 17 as National Citizenship Day and September 17-23 as Constitution Week;
• October 11-17 as National Earth Science Week;
• September 15-October 15 as National Hispanic Heritage Month;
• October 12-16 as School Lunch Week;
• The Memorandum of Understanding between the Northern Virginia Workforce Investment Board and Prince William County Public Schools to support the development of networks of adult education providers and the connection of these networks to the comprehensive one-stop delivery system in Prince William County;
• The application for Sinclair and T. Clay Wood Elementary Schools to become a Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP);
• The provision of complimentary lunches for police officers at school sites;
• The June and July payrolls;
• The lease agreement with APC Realty (Sprint) to lease 2,500 square feet of land (Tower) at Hylton High School;
• The School Board meeting minutes for June 17;
• The confirmation of a Board Poll regarding H.R. 5, the Student Success Act;
• The Disciplinary Hearing minutes for June 24;
• The Expulsion and Long-Term Suspension Confirmation Hearing Minutes for August 5; and
• The appointment of William Reeder to represent the School Board Chairman At-Large for the Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC).

Policies and Regulations:
First reading on proposed revisions to Policies 403, "Smoke-Free Environment" and 464 "Price of Meals." (No action is required on first reading.)

Presentations:
Mr. Keith Imon, associate superintendent for Communications and Technology Services, gave a presentation on the proposed priorities for the 2016 Legislative Session that will convene on January 13, 2016. The School Board will consider the proposal as part of the September 16 work session.

Superintendent's Time:
Dr. Steven L. Walts, Superintendent of Schools, made the following announcements:

Congratulations to everyone in our schools and educational support offices on the outstanding opening of the new school year. The new Chris Yung Elementary School opened and received great media coverage. At every school I visited, students and staff were very excited and engaged in their learning. You would think that school has been open for weeks. As the year begins, I am pleased to announce some of our more recent accomplishments, and there are many.

• This is the time of year that we report on last year's assessments-the results of student achievement on the spring 2015 Standards of Learning tests.
• Our students beat the pass rates of counterparts statewide in almost all subject areas, and across most demographic groups.
• Efforts to narrow the achievement gap of certain student subgroups paid off, with black student pass rates surpassing statewide performance in all areas, and by as much as 10 percentage points in English reading.
• Overall, our students' performance on standardized tests remains strong, and is improving in many cases.
• The scholarship total for the Class of 2015 was $31.8 million. A total of 516 students in the class of 2015 received one or more scholarships.
• Congratulations to Samuel Benson, technology education teacher at Marsteller Middle School, who was named the Northern Region Middle School Technology Education Teacher of the Year by the Virginia Technology and Engineering Education Association.
• Kilby Elementary School received a Virginia Department of Education 21st Century Community Learning Center grant of more than $197,000 for a before- and after-school enrichment and remediation program. The Learning Center will also serve students during school breaks, Saturdays, and summer vacation.
• For the first time, we expanded the annual Elementary School Guide and Calendar to include information important to middle school parents, too. The calendar also includes the weekly menu for elementary and middle schools as a separate pull-out page. Throughout the calendar, we have included artwork by our students. The cover of the guide was created by Jenna Chaney, who was an 8th-grader at Gainesville Middle School last year.
• The School Division's Purchasing Office and Media Productions Office once again earned top awards in their fields.
• To bring everyone up to speed on the unmet staffing needs identified in Special Education during the 2016 Budget discussions:
• Thanks to just over three hundred eighty-seven thousand dollars set aside by the School Board, we have hired two sign language interpreters,
• And we have filled the need for the full-time-equivalent of 2.6 speech pathologists through a combination of hiring, and interim contracted services, and the use of a former employee returning under the Retirement Opportunity Program.
• Human Resources is working hard to replace the interim measures with full-time hires; for now, the additional funding has enabled us to give students the services they need.