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Board Meeting Recap: September 12, 2024
Dear Providence District Families,
Last Thursday, the School Board held its second Regular Meeting of the new school year (agenda | video). We discussed and considered several important items, including our efforts to achieve a diverse, adaptive, and supportive workforce and the approval of a contract for new high school stadium bathrooms, including at Marshall, McLean, and Woodson.
We also received an academic update from Superintendent Reid about the Virginia Board of Education’s new misguided and extreme updates to accreditation and so-called “accountability” standards. I strongly encourage you to watch the presentation and board discussion in its entirety:
As I said in my response, for a state like Virginia, which was recently ranked the best state in America to do business precisely because of our amazing public schools, these changes are an insult designed to undermine public education. Here is video of my remarks from the discussion:
As always, you are welcome to attend School Board meetings (schedule) and register to share your thoughts with us during community participation at Regular Meetings and Public Hearings (sign-up).
Karl Frisch
Chair and Providence District Representative
Fairfax County School Board
P.S. Connect with me and follow my work on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
IN THIS EDITION
LOCAL INVESTMENTS: HIGH SCHOOL STADIUM BATHROOMS
High School Stadium Bathrooms (Marshall, McLean, and Woodson): The board approved a $7,755,000 contract for the Stadium Bathrooms Installation Project to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. The project includes new stadium bathrooms for many schools, including three attended by Providence District students, including Marshall, McLean, and Woodson high schools. Funding for the project will be provided through a cost-share agreement between Fairfax County and FCPS. (More Information)
ACADEMIC MATTERS: ACCREDITATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY STANDARDS
Video | Meeting Materials
For the Academic Matters presentation, Superintendent Reid offered an update about the Virginia Board of Education’s new accreditation and accountability standards. As I noted above, for a state like Virginia, which was recently ranked the best state in America to do business specifically because of our amazing public schools, these changes are an insult designed to undermine public education. I strongly encourage you to watch the entire portion of the meeting to learn more about this important matter.
STRATEGIC PLAN: DIVERSE, ADAPTIVE, AND SUPPORTIVE WORKFORCE
Video | Meeting Materials
For the Strategic Plan Update, Superintendent Reid offered an update about efforts to achieve a diverse, adaptive, and supportive workforce. She detailed the school division's efforts to get new teachers off on the right foot with the Great Beginnings Summer Institute, where I had the pleasure of welcoming more than 1,100 new Fairfax County educators earlier this summer.
She also discussed the Global Ambassador program, which has secured more than 130 educators from 16 countries across the world to teach on J-1 Visas for up to 5 years. These teachers participate in a rigorous selection process and have been chosen from amongst thousands of other applicants. They have, on average, 11.5 years of experience, and several hold advanced degrees.
CONTRACT FOR BOUNDARY REVIEW CONSULTANT
Video | Meeting Materials
On July 18, 2024, the School Board voted to amend Policy 8130, Local School Boundaries, Program Assignments, and School Closings. The school division will now engage with a consultant to provide the comprehensive school boundary review over an 18-month period. The consultant's scope of work has several key tasks, including project management plan development, website development, pre-analysis stakeholder engagement, data collection, data analysis and draft scenarios, post-analysis stakeholder engagement, and final potential scenario development.
Motion: Sizemore Heizer, Second: St. John Cunning / Vote: Yes 10, No 1
SUPERINTENDENT PERFORMANCE REVIEW
The board judges the overall success of the Superintendent on the basis of the school division’s reasonable progress toward achieving the 2023-30 Strategic Plan’s goals and adherence to a set of thirteen Executive Limitations found on pages 14-31 of the board’s Strategic Governance Manual.
The Superintendent provides annual monitoring reports to the board for each Executive Limitation. The board then votes on whether the provided reports are in compliance with the given Executive Limitation. If the report is found not to be in compliance, the Superintendent provides a corrective action memo addressing the board’s concerns.
Executive Limitation 8: Superintendent’s Relationship with the Board
Video | Meeting Materials
The Superintendent provided her annual monitoring report for Executive Limitation 8: Superintendent’s Relationship with the Board. As outlined on pages 24-25 of the board’s Strategic Governance Manual, Executive Limitation 8 stipulates that the Superintendent shall not fail to ensure regular and positive interactions and foster effective partnerships with the board to facilitate the achievement of the school division’s Strategic Plan goals and overall success. It further states that the Superintendent shall not fail to ensure the board is fully informed in a timely manner about matters relating to board work and significant school division concerns. Following the Superintendent’s presentation and a thorough board discussion, the monitoring report was found to be in compliance.
Motion: Dixit, Second: Moon / Vote: Yes 10, No 1
STUDENT PERFORMANCE OF THE NATIONAL ANTHEM
The board meeting began with a beautiful performance of the National Anthem, performed by the Annandale Singers under the direction of Pat Vaughn:
BOARD MATTERS: PROVIDENCE DISTRICT UPDATE
At the end of each meeting, School Board Members provide updates from their communities about school visits, activities, upcoming events, and more. Here is video of my update from the meeting:
UPCOMING SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS
Upcoming School Board Meetings (Luther Jackson Middle School)
- Thursday, September 26, 2024, at 7:00 p.m.
- Thursday, October 10, 2024, at 7:00 p.m.
Upcoming School Board Work Sessions (Gatehouse Administration Center)
- Tuesday, October 8, 2024, at 10:30 a.m.
- Tuesday, November 12, 2024, at 10:30 a.m.
All meetings are broadcast live on Channel 99 (Verizon channel 11) and on the FCPS website. Meetings are also recorded for future viewing and posted to the FCPS YouTube channel. Visit the community participation webpage to sign up to speak at regular meetings or public hearings.
Reuniones de la Junta Escolar de FCPS en Español: Para ver las reuniones de la Junta Escolar grabadas o para ver en vivo durante las reuniones regulares en YouTube, por favor vaya al canal de YouTube de FCPS en Español.
The views contained within this newsletter reflect the views of the individual school board member who is the publisher of this newsletter and may not reflect the views of the Fairfax County School Board.
© Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax County, Virginia
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