Prince William County Public Schools

School Board Meeting September 6, 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 updated authorization for signature in the absence of the Superintendent of Schools with the Department of Education. The designees are Mr. Cline, Mr. Wallingford, Mrs. Goss, and Mr. Imon;
• A contract awarded to Modular Technologies, Inc., to provide a ready source for classroom trailers;
• Contract awards for instructional supplies for educational/non-educational purchases at a percentage discount off vendor's catalog;
• The Head Start Program Continuation Grant that provides Head Start opportunities to economically disadvantaged students and their families;
• The Head Start Program cost-of-living allocation that provides federal funding to offset the cost of benefits and salary associated with the raise that the School Board provided for FY 2018;
• October 4 as International Walk to School Day;
• The Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Mary Washington regarding partnership for educator preparation;
• The Memorandum of Understanding with Shenandoah University for continuing the partnership relating to the Teachers for Tomorrow Dual Enrollment Program for the 2017-18 school year;
• The Milestone Communications Deed of Lease Agreement for a telecommunications tower at Gar-Field High School;
• September 17-23 as Constitution Week;
• Continuing the agreement with the National External Diploma Program and the Prince William County Public Schools (PWCS) Adult Learning Center;
• September 15-October 15 as National Hispanic Heritage Month;
• October 9-13 as National School Lunch Week;
• The Dual Enrollment Agreement with Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) that allows students to complete a general education certificate program while completing high school;
• The Dual Enrollment Agreement with NVCC for the HVAC Program. Upon satisfactory completion of the two-year HVAC program, students may be eligible for the Career Studies Certificate;
• The applications for Recognized American School Counselor Association Model Program for Mullen Elementary School, Reagan Middle School, The Nokesville School, and Saunders Middle School;
• The provision of complimentary lunches for police officers at school sites;
• The payrolls for June and July 2017;
• The review of summer contract awards from June 22 through September 6. There were no summer awards exceeding $250,000;
• A temporary waterline easement located at West Gate Elementary School;
• The Baccalaureate and Career Pathways Program Memorandum of Agreement with NVCC to facilitate the successful transition, retention, graduation, and transfer of participating students from high school, through NVCC, and on to a university of the student's choice;
• The Memorandum of Understanding between Youth for Tomorrow-New Life Center, Inc., that defines the terms of a Medicaid-funded therapeutic day program that provides services to PWCS students;
• The minutes of the School Board meeting for June 21, 2017 and the disciplinary meeting minutes of July 26; and
• To reinstate the Division Counsel to be seated on the dais to better provide the School Board with legal representation and guidance as needed during School Board meetings.

Citizens' Comment Time:
Citizens addressed the School Board on the following topics:
• Suicide and opioid addiction prevention;
• Red Ribbon Week; and
• Funding for social workers, psychologists, and counselors be added to the Legislative Priorities.

Presentations on the following topics:
• The proposed 2018 Legislative Priorities. The School Board will consider the proposal as part of the January 10, 2018 work session; and
• The proposed sale of Fall 2017 VPSA stand-alone bond funding projects.

Superintendent's Time:
Dr. Steven L. Walts, Superintendent of Schools, made the following announcements:
• Congratulations to everyone across our School Division on the outstanding opening of the new school year. The Covington-Harper Elementary School opened and received a lot of great media coverage. In every school that was visited, students and staff were very excited and engaged in their learning.
• PWCS students did well on the most recent Standards of Learning tests for Virginia. Pass rates soared in history assessments. Students met or exceeded the average pass rates of counterparts across the commonwealth in all five areas covered by the 2016-17 exams. There were big successes at schools that devoted extra attention to subjects where students needed extra help.
• The Virginia School Boards Association honored our School Division with the top award in the annual Food for Thought competition. The Office of School Food and Nutrition Services won the award for its contest entry, a video on the self-serve garden and fruit bars we offer in all elementary schools.
• The Virginia Department of Education honored a total of 20 schools for advanced learning and achievement in the annual Virginia Index of Performance Awards program. Honored schools exceed minimum state and federal accountability standards and achieve excellence goals established by the Governor and the State Board of Education. The current awards are based on achievement and performance during the 2015-16 school year. Our website has the details.
• Back in March, PWCS successfully underwent our external review with AdvancED, and was recommended for a five-year renewal of our accreditation status. Accreditation with AdvancED is a voluntary process and allows for schools and school divisions to be benchmarked against others both nationally and internationally. It is great honor for PWCS to once again be recognized by AdvancED for our educational quality.
• Jack Dumoulin, a senior at Forest Park High School, won the Microsoft Excel World Championship, which included a $7,000 award.
• Associate Superintendent for Finance and Support Services Dave Cline received the Distinguished Eagle Award from the Association of School Business Officials International. The award recognizes Mr. Cline as a visionary K-12 leader who maximizes resources so teachers can teach and students can learn.
• For the 22nd consecutive year, Prince William County Public Schools has received the Meritorious Budget Award from the Association of School Business Officials International. The award recognizes Kathleen Addison, supervisor of Budget, and her staff for their work on the School Division's FY 2018 budget.
• Our School Division was recognized recently in a post titled "Education Super Highway." The article focuses on the research conducted by our Office of Information Technology Services to maximize our position in negotiating a greater bandwidth speed with service providers. Congratulations to Director A. J. Philips and her staff.
• Several schools are recipients of 21st Century Community Learning Center grants. Fred M. Lynn and Hampton Middle Schools received grants of $180,000 and Gar-Field High School received a grant of more than $172,000 for the first year of three-year grants. In addition, Kilby Elementary is beginning the third year of its current grant. The grants fund after-school academic enrichment programs at each of the schools.
• A random sample of Osbourn Park High School students participated in the 2015 Program for International Student Assessment, or as it is better known - PISA - which is given to 15-year-old students across the globe.
o Osbourn Park students outperformed schools in the United States in science, reading, and mathematics literacy categories, and outperformed all countries in science literacy.
o Osbourn Park students outperformed students from 68 other countries and were not measurably different, but were statistically equal, to four countries: Chinese Taipei, Estonia, Japan, and Singapore.
o In reading literacy, Osbourn Park again showed well against the rest of the world, outperforming 67 countries and essentially tying Singapore.
o And in mathematics literacy, Osbourn Park outperformed 31 countries and was comparable to another 31 countries. Only Hong Kong, Macau, and Singapore performed better.
o Congratulations to the staff and students at Osbourn Park High School for their outstanding performance.
• For the third year, we published a combined Elementary and Middle School Guide and Calendar. The calendar includes the weekly menu for elementary and middle schools as a separate pull-out page. Throughout the calendar, we included artwork by our students. The cover of the guide was created by Daria Kot, who is a freshman at Battlefield High School this year.
• And in closing, the annual "Top 10 Reasons to Be Excited About the New School Year."

Policies and Regulations:
First reading on the following policies (no action is required on first reading):
• Policy 403.09, "Student Safety Equipment and Training";
• Policy 261, "School Calendar"; and
• Policy 261.01, "Make-Up Time."

Volume 13, Number 1 - Publication Date: Friday, September 8, 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.