Prince William County Public Schools

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    • March 1, 2017

    Board Briefs
    • March 3, 2017
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    School Board Meeting March 1, 2017

    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.

    The School Board Approved:

    • The Summer School Program as recommended by staff, contingent upon funding in the FY 2018 Budget;
    • The 2017 state technology grant intent-to-reimburse resolution;
    • March as Irish-American Heritage Month;
    • March 25 as Greek Independence Day;
    • May 10 as National Bike to School Day;
    • The Memorandum of Understanding with Fairfax County Public Schools, Alexandria City Schools, Arlington Public Schools, and Loudoun County Public Schools for grant funding from VDOE to establish a regional adult education program to serve the geographic area where each of the parties operate;
    • The Northern Virginia Community College Dual Enrollment Agreement for alternative education;
    • January payrolls; and
    • School Board minutes for February 15.

    Citizens' Comment Time:

    Citizens addressed the School Board on the following topics:

    • Suggested names for the new "Alternative Education" School;
    • Employee step increases and salaries;
    • Books at school libraries and Black History Month;
    • Evaluation of students; and
    • Recess for students.

    Presentations and discussion on the following topics:

    • Middle School Best Practices - Saunders Middle School Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Showcase. Select link to see PowerPoint.
    • A presentation from Alvarez & Marsal Public Sector Services on Central Office Staffing Study. Select link to see PowerPoint.
    • Information on the naming process for the "Alternative Education" School and potential names. Select link to see PowerPoint.

    Superintendent's Time:

    Dr. Steven L. Walts, Superintendent of Schools, made the following comments.

    • March is Brain Injury Awareness Month and Prince William County Public Schools is a leader in concussion awareness training. Our model of mandatory parent and athlete training in this area has been implemented in many other school divisions across the state. There is a video titled "Chloe's Story," about the experience of one of our own student athletes, that is incorporated in our concussion training. You can watch this compelling video on the PWCS YouTube site.
    • The School Division will hold two job fairs. The first will be on Tuesday, March 7, at Osbourn Park High School, and the second on Thursday, March 9 at Gar-Field High School. Students must complete an online application before the job fair and bring a copy of that application with them. Visit the Human Resources webpage at pwcs.edu.
    • Congratulations to recipients of the 2017 Human Rights Awards presented by the Prince William Human Rights Commission. These individuals were honored for their unique contributions to human and civil rights: Maria Burgos, Supervisor of Global Learning and Culturally Responsive Instruction; Carolyn Custard, Director of Student Services; and Dr. George Hampton, who last year had one of our middle schools named after him. The youth winner was Norman Jones III, a senior at Stonewall Jackson High School.
    • A recent press release from the Virginia Department of Education applauded the news that 28.3% of the state's graduating seniors earned a "qualifying" score of 3.0 or higher on at least one AP examination. That puts Virginia's students ahead of national results, and all but a few states. But our students did even better. In Prince William County, we did better than the state and the national average. Remember, Virginia's number was 28.3%. Among PWCS students 30.2% got at least one AP qualifying score, ahead of all but two states in the nation. When you count the Cambridge and IB courses that many of our advanced students take instead of AP, the number rises to 35.2%. That puts our students among the very best in the country.
    • February 17 was a very exciting day for Kilby Elementary students and staff. They all began a bright future as they walked from their old school to their new school. The Kilby Elementary replacement increased the program capacity at Kilby from 333 to 646, an increase of 313 seats in the eastern part of the county. [Dr. Walts displayed the Kilby transition sunglasses that he and the students wore on transition day. The sun glasses are the school colors. Select link to see a short video of the transition.]

    Finally, Dr. Walts held up a coffee mug given to him by the cast of "Romeo and Juliet" from Osbourn Park High School. Dr. Walts said it was a fantastic play.

    Volume 12, Number 13 - Publication Date: March 3, 2017

    School Board Meeting Information:

    Individuals who wish to address the School Board under Citizens' Time should notify the Board Clerk in writing at P.O. Box 389, Manassas, VA 20108; by phone at 703-791-8709; or by email at pwcsclerk@pwcs.edu prior to noon on the day of the Board meeting and will be placed on the list of speakers. Or, individuals may also sign onto the list of speakers maintained at the entrance to the School Board meeting room at the beginning of a regular Board meeting, but prior to 6:55 p.m. on the evening of the meeting. Please provide your name, address, phone number, and topic you would like to speak about. Any deviation from these procedures shall be at the discretion of the Chairman. All speakers must provide the School Board Clerk with their address and phone number in order to verify their residency and permit the Clerk to contact them if necessary. Upon request, the Clerk will not release to the public the address and phone number of the speaker.