Prince William County Public Schools

School Board Meeting October 18, 2017

The Prince William County School Board approved a motion to retain B. Thomas Balch as Parliamentarian to the School Board for the remainder of the 2017-18 school year and authorized the Vice Chairman to execute a contract for such services upon the terms proposed by Mr. Balch

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:
• November 13-17 as American Education Week, International Education Week, and School Psychology Awareness Week;
• November 15 as Education Support Professionals Day;
• November 16 as Dutch American Heritage Day;
• The School Board Chairman signing the application for Federal Program Funds - Title IV, Part A - Student Support and Academic Enrichments Grants;
• The Cooperative Agreement with the Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired to establish cooperation, collaboration, and coordination interagency efforts that will help students who are blind, vision impaired, or deaf/blind participate equitably in school and prepare for gainful employment;
• The naming of the library media center in the Independence Nontraditional School as the Renée H. Lacey Learning Center in honor of Dr. Renée Lacey;
• A resolution for Support of Public Education, stating that the School Board and the Superintendent of Schools join the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), the School Superintendents Association, in support of the "I Love Public Education Campaign";
• The School Board meeting minutes of October 4;
• The 2018-19 Annual School Calendar with a pre-Labor Day start on Monday, August 27, 2018;
• The revisions of Policy 757, "Administering Medications and Temporary First Aid";
• The appointment of Yukiko Dove to represent Chairman Ryan Sawyers on the Special Education Advisory Committee.

Citizens' Comments:
Citizens spoke on the topic of bullying in schools, racism, Brentsville School Board seat, naming of Renée H. Lacey Learning Center, Freedom High School Step Marching Band, and Woodbridge High School space issues and cafeteria.

Presentations and discussion on the following topics:
• Fred M. Lynn Middle School corrective action plan update on completed items listed in the plan.
• Strategic Plan Report.

Superintendent's Time:
Dr. Steven L. Walts, Superintendent of Schools, made the following announcements:
• First, I extend a warm welcome to Mr. Trenum, on his return to the dais after being away for more than a year serving as a Naval Commander in Africa. We thank you for your service to our country, Mr. Trenum, and are happy to see you here.
• Here is great news for Dale City residents. Dale City has been named sixth-best in a ranking of America's 50 best cities to live in. This is according to an index created by 24/7 Wall Street.
• The numbers are in, and this year's student enrollment for PWCS is 89,861 students. We added 941 students since last year.
• At the last School Board meeting, I announced that the School Division's on-time graduation rate was 91.8 percent for last school year. This is above the national and statewide results. Additional data show that the on-time graduation rate for our English Learners topped the state by almost 10 percentage points and exceeded all other Northern Virginia school divisions. This reflects a great job by all our administrators and teachers, and especially the entire staff in the office of English Learner Programs and Services, led by Director Janine Sadki.
• We have adopted a new option regarding employee leave; it is family-friendly and engagement-focused. This leave is available for parents of students enrolled in PreK-through-12 schools in the DC Metro area. Our parent-employees may take leave for parent-teacher conferences, eligibility meetings, Individual Educational Plans, and any other designated school conferences and student achievement celebrations. Employees will not be charged for this time off.
• As advocated by Ms. Raulston last year, we have been working on our comprehensive professional development plan and the first part to be rolled-out is on cultural awareness. All school-based and central office personnel who teach our students, support student services, or provide instructional support will complete cultural awareness and responsiveness training that will have a direct, positive impact with students in the classrooms. This required professional learning also aligns with our Strategic Plan goal to provide a safe, caring, healthy climate in our schools and encourage appreciation and respect for diversity.
• This is a reminder of the Parent Summit coming up on October 28 at Battlefield High School. The event will run from 8 to 11:30 a.m. There will be great resources at the Summit on everything from how to apply for financial aid to college applications and graduation requirements.
• And an additional reminder: History and social science textbooks for all history and social science subjects are available for public review and comment until November 3. Please see our web announcement on where to see these textbooks.
• The Middle School All-County Choral performances will be on October 21 and the High School performances will be on October 28. The middle school treble and bass choirs perform on October 21 at 2 p.m. at Forest Park High School. The high school mixed, treble, and bass choirs will perform October 28 at 2 p.m. at Osbourn Park High School. All performances are free and open to the public.
• High School Specialty Program information nights will be held on October 23 at Stonewall Jackson High School and October 24 at Gar-Field High School. Both events will be held from 7 to 9 p.m.
• Many employees and students are deserving of special recognition. Congratulations to Supervisor of World Languages Carol Bass on receiving a Distinguished Service Award from the Foreign Language Association of Virginia. Her career is a model of selfless dedication in the service of others to promote the study of cultures and language.
• Congratulations to the Woodbridge High School Marching Vikings Band. These great musicians won first place in all categories in the double "A" Division, were named Fan Favorite, and won Grand Champion at the North Stafford Big Blue Invitational under the direction of Mark Carder and drum major Megan Whatley.

Volume 13, Number 4 - Publication Date: October 23, 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.