Prince William County Public Schools

School Board Meeting of March 16, 2022

View the agenda on the Electronic School Board webpage.
Watch the School Board meeting on PWCS-TV.

Launching Thriving Futures Focus:

• The School Board recognized state diving, swimming, and wrestling champions and their coaches from the following high schools: Brentsville District, Charles J. Colgan Sr., Patriot, Potomac, and Woodbridge.

The School Board Approved:

• Recognizing April 2022 as "Child Abuse Prevention Month (PDF)";
• The award of a contract for the fenestration upgrades at Graham Park Middle School to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder (PDF), Juniper Construction Company, Inc., in the total amount of $2,581,588;
• Recognizing March 2022 as "Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month (PDF)";
• Recognizing April 18-22, 2022, as "Earth Week (PDF)";
• Recognizing April 2022 as "Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month (PDF)";
• Recognizing April 2022 as "Month of the Military Child (PDF)";
• Recognizing April 2022 as "National Autism Awareness Month (PDF)";
• Recognizing April 2022 as "National Occupational Therapy Month (PDF)";
• Recognizing May 2022 as "National Physical Fitness and Sports Month (PDF)";
• Recognizing April 2022 as "School Library Month (PDF)";
• The March 2, 2022 School Board meeting minutes (PDF); and
• The FY 2023 CIP and the FY 2023 school budget in the total amount of $1,865,025,383; the revenue sharing agreement (PDF) between the Prince William Board of County Supervisors and the Prince William County School Board that provides 57.23% of general county revenues be transferred to the School Division for the operations of FY 2023; directing the Superintendent to forward the requested school budget by fund totals to the Prince William Board of County Supervisors; and requesting the Prince William Board of County Supervisors to approve and appropriate the FY 2023 school budget (PDF) by lump sum appropriation in the amount of $1,865,025,383 by fund totals as in previous years.

Citizens addressed the School Board on the following topics:

• The FY 2023 CIP and the FY 2023 school budget
• School Library Month (PDF)
• Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month (PDF)
• National Autism Awareness Month (PDF)
• National Occupational Therapy Month (PDF)
• Child Abuse Prevention Month (PDF)
• School Board meeting procedures
• Educational policies and school curriculum
• Thank you to PWCS teachers and staff
• Data centers
• Collective bargaining

Student Representative Matters:

• National Woman's History Month
• Earth Week (PDF)
• School Library Month (PDF)
• Later school start times
• Announcements for students

Superintendent's Time:

• Good evening. I want to highlight our robotics program and the many outstanding students, coaches, and mentors who participate and compete. Recently, 18 robotics teams from Prince William County Public Schools qualified for the "VEX Worlds" competition to be held this May in Dallas, Texas. The VEX Robotics World Championship, presented by the Northrop Grumman Foundation, brings together the top VEX IQ Challenge, VEX Robotics Competition, and VEX U teams from around the globe to celebrate their accomplishments and compete for the championship. Congratulations to the Lake Ridge Elementary School qualifying team, as well as the two qualifying teams from Ashland Elementary School. Both Parkside and Gainesville Middle Schools are being represented by three teams each, and the following schools each have one team representing them: The Nokesville School, Porter Traditional School, and Benton Middle School. Six teams will represent our high schools, with two teams representing Patriot High School and Woodbridge High School each, one team representing Charles J. Colgan Sr. High School, and one team representing Osbourn Park High School. We are immensely proud of these teams, and we are looking forward to witnessing their talents and skills in the world competition. Good luck to all competitors.
• Our Strategic Plan's number one commitment is Learning and Achievement for All, and we have begun implementation. As part of our commitment to academic excellence for all student groups, PWCS will focus Division-wide on the implementation and fidelity of the instructional core, which includes continuous improvement in the level of content, student engagement, and teacher knowledge and skill. By focusing on enhancing and improving the instructional core, PWCS students will be exposed to rigorous educational experiences. To ensure integrity to the teaching and learning process of the instructional core, school-based administrators are being trained in how to conduct instructional learning rounds, which is a research-based approach to improving teaching and learning and a priority in our strategic plan.
• During Instructional rounds, educators observe instruction and work together to analyze those observations with the goal of improving classroom instruction. Over the past few months, I have had the privilege of joining instructional rounds at several schools, including Ellis Elementary School, Beville, Gainesville, and Parkside Middle Schools, and C.D. Hylton, Unity Reed, and Woodbridge High Schools. I will be participating in instructional rounds at many more schools this spring, and I look forward to working with our associate superintendents, school administrators, and teachers toward continuous improvement to ensure academic progress for all students.
• This Monday, I had the honor of serving as the guest mystery reader for Ms. Boney's first grade class at Covington-Harper Elementary School. The students and I read "The Good Egg" by Jory John. Students were excited about reading, engaged in follow-up discussion, and asked great questions. It was the perfect way to close out national reading month. I would like to extend an extra special Thank you to Ms. Boney and Principal Ivania Sieiro at Covington-Harper Elementary for the invitation.
• Mr. Chairman, that concludes my report.