Regular School Board Meeting

Carolyn PitchesGood evening ladies and gentlemen. It is Monday, September 15th of 2025. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Kristina CecereI pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States

Carolyn Pitchesof America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. We do not have any changes to our agenda or any other announcements, although I would like to welcome Mr. JC Martinez from the Director of Finance in the city. Actually, I don't is it director or do you have I just realized I don't actually know the official. sorry chief financial officer I kind of shorted you on that okay the first item is the adoption of our agenda may have a motion please

Sarah Kelseymadam chair

Carolyn Pitchesmiss Kelsey I

Sarah Kelseymove that the city of Fairfax adopt the agenda as written and distributed

Carolyn Pitchesmay have a second second okay miss miss Kelsey move Ms. Hickman seconded. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. None are opposed, so the adoption passes unanimously. We will move on to presentations to the school board. I assume we do not have anybody signed up for citizen participation. So we'll move on to our student representative report, Ms. Abby Lucas.

StudentThank you. Four weeks of school in the Fairfax City Schools have been abuzz. In Fairfax High School, the students have been involved in various activities. With Lion Pride has launched the 2025-2026 school year. Senior Sunrise took place on the first day. Then freshman leadership, freshmen were engaged in leadership activities organized by the Student Activities Office to help build teamwork and school spirit. The main market opened a new student-run entrepreneurship program. The main market opened offering hands-on business experiences and marketing and management. The first tailgate, the season's first tailgate, tied to the varsity football game on August 28th against Langley. Unfortunately, the Lions lost, but it rallied students and families with volunteers supporting concessions.

Unite and Excite was the name of the tailgate, and it boosted a lot of school pride, and it was organized again by SGA. Fall sports started, including girls' flag football tryouts, which is new this year. getting great turnout there. And then this past week, we had pyramid night, which was all four elementary school, two elementary schools, one middle school and the high school all gathered together. And it was a big community event and a huge success. And then in the elementary schools, Daniels Run had back to school night on September 10th, offering families a chance to visit classrooms, meet teachers, and connect with the school community, and of course the annual PTA picnic in the cafeteria with food trucks and fun activities. Providence also had

back-to-school night on September 3rd, allowing families to connect, meet, and visit school and teachers. Before the start of school year began, Daniels Run had their annual welcome walk. Teachers visited the students' homes to personally welcome them into the school year, building connections and setting a positive tone. At Katherine Johnson Middle School, they started their 2025-2026 school start including many events and activities for their students and community Eagle Fest was hosted August 14th an open house for families and students explored classrooms walk schedules met teachers to prepare for the new school year picture day was September 4th and 5th students took picture school photos during PE on these days in a standard event to capture the

students portraits for the yearbook and records and the Italian trophy competition was held in late August and early September. KJMS held its first Tallinn Trophy competition on time to class challenge with over 90% of students had no tardies with all teams achieving less than 1% tardy rate promoting punctuality and school spirit and PTA meetings and membership drive is still going on. Thank you.

Carolyn PitchesThank you, Abby. Is there any

Kristina Cecerecomments from school board members?

Carolyn PitchesI would just like to thank you personally for all your work with Ms. Dorsey on pyramid night. It was a great success. And both of you did a wonderful job arranging that. So thank you.

StudentThank you.

Carolyn PitchesOkay. The next item on our agenda is a tuition bill and the FCPS fiscal forecast. And we have Leigh Burden from FCPS. She is their chief financial officer. I got that one. And Matthew Norton, assistant director for budget services.

Matthew NortonstaffOkay, good afternoon Fairfax City School Board members. On behalf of FCPS, I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you and express our appreciation to Mr. Phillips and you all for your continued support and partnership. If we could advance to the next slide. Just a little bit of background here on the school services agreement. It was established in 1962. 1978 and it's still in effect today kind of in that general form so we've had a long-standing partnership with you all and we're approaching the 50-year anniversary of the agreement that's sort of been in effect since 1978 so that's exciting to know generally speaking we are operating schools on your behalf and you all are managing your the agreement you have with us and then

also maintaining your city-owned buildings next slide so you know you all are well aware of sort of this partnership in action between our two And obviously, it's a huge benefit to both of us, providing economies of scale and allowing better utilization of your buildings, given the number of students that live in the city and the size of those buildings. Next

Carolyn Pitchesslide, please.

Matthew NortonstaffThis budget development timeline here is sort of meant to just sort of express one big thing that's happening in any given year. we basically have three fiscal years activity that's happening related to the bill so in the first quarter of any given year so July to September we're closing out the prior fiscal year which includes the final bill calculation and then presenting to you all as we're doing now through late fall and into the winter we're monitoring the current year spending and collaborating with city staff to provide revised estimates which we'll talk a little bit about today as well. And then simultaneously, we also are beginning to develop future year budgets, including a proposed city bill estimate and then finalization of the future year budget

that doesn't come until May. So really, again, this kind of complicated graphic is just meant to express that there's in any given year, there's three years worth of activity sort of happening during that timeline. If you could jump to the next slide. So with regard to FY25, FCPS, we saw an operational increase of $259.1 million, or about 7% compared to the 2024 final bill. And there's a bullet list here of some of the major highlights that drove that $259 million increase being 4% compensation increases for all employees. There was a mid-year 2% increase related to some additional revenue that the state was offering that obviously we have to provide additional funding to match that and receive

that small amount of

Carolyn Pitchesstate funding.

Matthew NortonstaffThere was a one-time bonus payment paid to employees. There was increases in health care premiums and counter-retirement rates. And then there were changes in shifting enrollment and student needs. And that's one of the ones that I think later in the presentation will highlight quite a bit for you all because what's happening with enrollment and county students really does play an outsized role in the tuition bill. Next slide. So as far as FY25 impact goes, it's a $7.6 million increase compared to the 2024 bill. What we've done here is we've broken that increase into four different things. The first one, which is about 60% of the change, is $4.6 million. And I would say that's the routine things that you all should expect, just given on, you know,

whatever budgetary increases we have as a result of, you know, salary increases, if we have any kind of investments in the budget, if we have any initiatives, if there's costs due to inflation, those kinds of things.

Carolyn PitchesMr. Norton, could you just speak a little to the multi-year investments and the initiatives, some specific examples of some of those things for our citizens who might be watching

Matthew Nortonstaffabsolutely so as far as multi-year investments go in this most recent budget that we're talking about for FY25 we had expansion of inclusive preschool that was about a two million dollar increase in the overall Fairfax County budget we had the third year of the joint environmental task force updates which are really green initiatives across a variety of about We had improvements to fine and performing arts stipends. We had athletic expansion in the form of boys' volleyball and girls' wrestling. We are in the middle of a human capital management project update, so we're in year three of those costs. And then we are in the second year in FY25, we were in the second year of expanding certified athletic trainers,

so there would be two at every high school. And we have three more years of that initiative to go. Okay, so again, that 60% of the increase is really kind of related to just budgetary changes overall. The other changes for you all, 1.4 million or about 20%, a little bit less than 20%, is due to shifting enrollment patterns. And so a very oversimplification of the bill is to say that, you know, the proportion of your enrollment and our enrollment to one another are going to drive the sharing of those costs. across our two organizations. When there are small shifts in the total percentage of students that Fairfax City has, that can have a fairly large impact on the bill because as we are declining

enrollment or changing enrollment and you all are level or increasing, your share of the total number of students is increasing more than just the number of additional students you're seeing because in the most recent couple of years, Fairfax County students have actually been declining. So just for a point of context, a .01 percentage point change in that share of enrollment is roughly about $355,000 on the bill.

Carolyn PitchesAnd we have increased almost 1.71% from 1.6?

Matthew NortonstaffYeah, so just from 24 to 25, city has gone from 1.66% of that enrollment share to 1.71%. Now, due to rounding, it's actually not quite .05 percentage points. It's a little bit lower than that. So it's .04, but that's just a rounding because we're not going out to more decimal places than two in this. But the $355K multiplied by about four would be roughly that $1.4 million. yeah additionally the city receives revenue credits based on the revenue that that FCPS receives that is not revenue that the city receives and those revenue credits since the pandemic have actually been going back down to like what I would call more normal levels and so during the COVID pandemic and even more recently like some all-in Virginia funding when

we've gotten these infusions of capital it has actually really had a positive impact as far as reducing the city bill but when we go back towards normal revenue credits that are things that you all aren't receiving you're gonna see that as a negative impact on your bill and so kind of again similar to the 355 thousand for every point oh one percentage point change in ADM or student enrollment your revenue credits for every ten million dollars in revenue credits that you have reduced you'll see about 157 000 impact on your bill and that's what translates into this one and a half million here due to declining revenue credits and then finally you know you all as a city have been funding some additional positions above and beyond

uh what fcps would normally provide to a school system or any given school and that's a smaller much smaller portion of this but it's three hundred thousand dollars which is the last uh the last bullet there on the slide. So moving into just kind of a quick summary. Throughout the year, obviously, as I said, we collaborate with Mr. Phillips and staff, and the city has been able to adjust the budget to the $63.6 million figure that you see on the top line there. And that was, I think, the city's most recent budget in January. Obviously, we calculate the final bill after the fiscal year closes in June, and the final bill calculation is $66.2 million. And so there's about a $2.6 million difference between what's actually budgeted for this year

and what's actually owed based on the final bill. And there's generally variances there at any given year. This one obviously is a little bit higher as far as what you all owe, you know, COMPARED TO HISTORIC NORMS, ALTHOUGH IT IS MUCH CLOSER THAN LAST YEAR'S NUMBER WAS.

Carolyn PitchesAND THAT NUMBER, THE 66.2, IS WITH THE CLASSROOM RENTAL BACKED OUT. SO BOARD MEMBERS KEEP THAT IN MIND. THIS IS THE TRICKY MARK. so the sixty six point two million dollars our final bill actually has the classroom rental backed out because they treat it sort of as a discount we need to add it back in because we treat it as revenue that help okay yeah

Matthew Nortonstaffand the terminology that we've been using is it accounts for classroom rental I don't know if that helps people better than the way you're stating however you want to state it it makes it makes sense it's like the battle of absolutely so that concludes the the 25 portion of all this which is is the final bill um but but we did want to make sure that we we kind of um you know look forward as well in in in this conversation um and so with regards to the 26 estimate we wanted to number one point out that in january we had a projected payment for this current year that we're operating in right now of 61.7 million uh again That was the initial estimate that was included in our 2026 proposed budget.

As you can see, the number that we ended up with for the final bill for 25 is $66.2 million. And so what we're kind of calling on this chart on the third line a catch-up is off the bat, we already know that that projected payment of $61.7 million is low by $4.5 million because it's not even at the level of what the 25 final bill was. Now, you all, with some foresight, already have a city budget of $69 million, so that's good news because it is higher than what that catch-up is. But the same pressures, and we'll talk about this on the next slide, the same pressures that put pressure on this year's bill are likely to continue into the future given what we're seeing as far as the factors that I sort of laid out previously on what affected the 25 bill.

So if we go to the next slide, you can see that enrollment and student needs, we expect it to play a big part of the bill role for 26, especially because we are seeing continued declining enrollment for county. And yet it still appears as though city enrollment is growing. And so your share of students appears to be continuing to increase. And so we expect it to be above that 1.71 percent we talked about. So it's been 1.66 up to 1.71 and right now it's a question mark as to whether or not it goes to 1.75, 1.8. You know, I'm just throwing out a few numbers. I'm not at all suggesting what it will be because we don't know that at this point.

Carolyn PitchesThe prediction is that operating costs will continue to rise at approximately 7% or more?

Matthew NortonstaffWell, so that enrollment pressure is by itself completely separate from anything else. So that'll drive some increase in the bill without us giving any pay raises, without us doing any multi-year. But you're operating costs. But, yeah, I also expect salary and inflationary pressures to be a factor in future years as well. Now, we already know those for our 26 budget. But if you're thinking about 27, 28, 29, yeah, all those things will continue to put pressure. And then finally, you know, we'd be remiss if we also didn't talk about, again, during the pandemic and COVID and more recently with things like all in Virginia, there's been this infusion of, you know, federal and state revenue that has been slowly kind of going away.

And obviously those decreased revenue credits from what we had during that most recent like three or four years is putting pressure on the bill as well. And then kind of tacked in with that third bullet is also just the uncertainty at the federal level right now. I'm sure you all are reading the news as much as I am or close to it. So with that, I think we've kind of laid out the things that are likely to put future pressure on the bill, and that concludes kind of this formal presentation for you all.

Carolyn PitchesOkay. Ms. Barlow, do you have any questions?

Lauren BartelmeNo, I think that was thorough, and I think your clarifications caught my question, so thank you very much.

Carolyn PitchesOkay. Ms. Kelsey.

Sarah KelseyYeah, I wanted to go to the multi-year investments that you talked about. One of my questions about it is you had listed the project updates. Is that, like, the renovations on schools, what would that all entail in those multi-year for, like, one of the multi-year investments is dealing with project updates and renovation updates I think is what you said

Matthew Nortonstaffsorry so I let me clarify because I think yeah to led you a little bit astray the project update that I was talking about is our human capital management software so our HR system that we also use to keep track of you know all the employees

Sarah Kelseyyou're fine yes that's no that's fine my brain heard nothing like other

Matthew Nortonstaffthings and so yeah okay nothing to do with capital at all you guys deal with that on your

Sarah Kelseyside

Matthew Nortonstaffof this

Sarah Kelseyokay and then what was the athletic you said the athletic trainers was also part of it but what was the other athletic part you had said possibly in the multi-year investments yeah

Matthew Nortonstaffwe had a we had athletic expansion in the form of boys volleyball and girls just the

Sarah Kelseynew

Matthew Nortonstaffsports yep does

Sarah Kelseythis also include like middle school sports as well would that be part of it

Matthew Nortonstaffum or

Sarah Kelseyis that something totally different yeah

Matthew Nortonstaffi'm sorry i'm i'm in so many different fiscal years that i don't know if it was started in fiscal year 25 off the top of my head but if it or sorry fyi 26 If it was, then yes, but if it was already in place in 25, then it's not going to have an impact in the future. But whatever year we instituted, I'm sure.

Carolyn PitchesYes. Okay. Thank you. Ms. Hickman.

Amit HickmanAll right. I'm getting into the weeds here just a little bit, but I'm curious about I'm comparing from fiscal year 24 to fiscal year 25. It looks like for the majority for elementary and middle education, the city costs went except it went down in secondary education is that

Matthew Nortonstaffare you looking at something

Amit Hickmanyeah sorry I'm in the like detailed expenses I am on no we don't have less we had 13 136 last year and we have 14 0 60 this year or you know this fiscal year

Carolyn PitchesI think it's more expensive to or at the elementary and middle school programming then right high school yeah

Matthew Nortonstaffso

Amit Hickmanthat's that the initiatives were more in the elementary and secondary yeah

Matthew Nortonstaffso if you're looking at the cost per pupil across elementary middle and high which I think you might be looking at there was a 10.7 percent increase in elementary there was a very minor increase one and a half percent in middle school and there was a slightly larger increase in high school at seven percent and so what I would say is those initiatives and those changes in our spending patterns were more at the elementary and high school level which I think lines up because you'll see that you know a lot of the initiatives I talked about preschool the high school athletics the high school athletics directors sorry the certified athletic trainers those kinds of things we didn't have a lot of initiatives at the middle school level that would drive up middle school program

costs.

Amit HickmanRight. Okay. I was looking at secondaires. I was looking at 4E, which was 872 fiscal year 24, and it's 868.

Matthew NortonstaffYeah, so the 743,000 increased the 6.5%. Is that, am I looking at the same figures you on 4e

Amit Hickmanall right that's all right um and then my second question for you was um

Carolyn Pitchesyou're looking at the 872 and it goes down to 868 yes okay i don't think he has that that was barb provided that for us okay i

Matthew Nortonstaffwas

Amit Hickmanjust saying why is it cheaper

Matthew Nortonstafffor high schoolers like oh yeah yeah so i mean i think i do have it so if i'm speaking from something or i'm just not aligned with you let me get aligned with you because no

Amit Hickmanessentially the city costs of secondary education has gone down from fiscal year 24 to 25.

Matthew Nortonstaffthe 12.2 million is the number you're referring to right let's see

Amit Hickmanwhere i'm not seeing 12.2 yeah

Carolyn Pitchesif you look over it says 12.2 right

Amit Hickmanso it has gone yes so yes the final amount went up because we had an increase in students but what i'm saying is the city cost went down.

Matthew NortonstaffSorry, I don't agree with that statement. So what I'm seeing is that in FY24, the similar number for 4E was $11.5 million, and now in 25, the similar number is $12.2 million. So I've got a $700,000 roughly increase in city costs for the high school program.

Sarah KelseyYou're

Carolyn Pitcheslooking at 2023. Right,

Amit Hickmancompared to 24.

Carolyn PitchesBut there's... You're looking at the old... Okay. She's looking at the bill before.

Matthew NortonstaffNot the final 24 bill, but some intermediate 24

Carolyn Pitchesbill. 2023-2024. So what we've reconciled was the 23 bill. looking at the reconcile 23 bill we're looking at the reconciled 24 bill

Matthew Nortonstaffyes so that's from 23. this is the reconciled

Carolyn Pitches23 bill here that's the reconciled 24 bill so so yes no that but it that's when they reconcile it but it's for the previous no i

Amit Hickmanunderstand that part of it i don't i understand that part of it i'm just saying it's still a lesser number it is a lesser number yes it

Carolyn Pitchesis a lesser number from 23 reconcile it to 24. Yeah. That's

Amit Hickmanessentially what I'm saying.

Carolyn PitchesHe doesn't have that. I have 24 and 25. Yeah, he doesn't

Amit Hickmanhave 20. You don't have 23 and 24. Okay, that is totally fine. And now I don't remember what my second one was. Sorry. That's okay.

Matthew NortonstaffIf we need to have further dialogue about that, that's fine.

Carolyn PitchesOkay, Ms. Sessori.

Kristina CecereShould I do one and then go back? No, go ahead. Ask them both. Ask away. Just a clarification for people listening at home. When you refer to revenue credits tied to state or federal funding like ESSER, all in Virginia and whatnot, and that funding, those credits reduce year by year, is the programming still in place with FCPS and they just continue that funding through county? initiatives or is it just that programming is going away as the revenue credits are uh

Matthew Nortonstaffit's a combination of the of both

Kristina Cecereokay

Matthew Nortonstaffso in some instances we may be continuing some of the things that were funded with esser originally in other instances we we may have not done that um in some cases we may be using some other funding source to continue it um and then if that funding source goes away you know we might sunset it but it's it could be either or of what you just said

Kristina Cecereokay and and sorry add on to that the is that typically countywide or is it just depends on the sort of the region's needs and such

Matthew Nortonstaffoh boy that

Kristina Ceceremight be a heavier question you might want to get back to me on so yeah

Matthew Nortonstaffso I mean if I was to hazard a guess I would say a lot of that funding was countywide but there are certainly the possibility that some small bits and pieces of it or some portion of it could be more focused

Kristina Cecereokay and then my second question all right the so I was watching the August 28th school board meeting and I noticed that they the board approved for roof replacements for two for high schools one for middle actually two for middle schools using an infrastructure replacement fund and I just wanted to get clarification as to where that funding comes from and is it just so our city residents can understand that you know the academic money we provide is for the academics here and not necessarily funding any structural improvements on other schools

Matthew Nortonstaffyeah so thanks for letting me phone a friend there so that that that infrastructure financing committee money that's coming from the county it's part of our construction fund so it's completely unrelated to the operational stuff here, the academic pieces of all this. And again, because you all sort of manage your buildings and we manage our buildings, when we start to get into the construction fund, it's not really at play in this conversation.

Kristina CecereThank you very much.

Carolyn PitchesOkay. So just so everybody knows for clarification purposes, when we talk about operating costs, We are talking strictly about instructional programming and personnel, not anything having to do with facilities projects or CIP related to FCPS schools. Okay. Is there a way for the city to get sort of a breakdown of, and maybe it's in here, because I know these numbers off, like what goes into that, into your operational costs? Like, we're paying a piece of the operational cost. Can you just be specific about exactly what's in it, or am I making sense? Okay. I'm just trying to, because the question has been asked from constituents and regarding, well, what is an operational cost? and we typically say it's instructional programming and personnel.

That is it. There is nothing else in there. Is there a right, correct, is that for? We are basically asking what components make up the operational costs that we pay a piece of.

Speaker 5The entire operating fund. Okay. so it's instruction it's you know finance it's it's all of our costs are separate from

Carolyn PitchesCIP facilities anything related to building renovations none of that is part of this deal this

Speaker 5is the operating

Carolyn Pitchesfund only okay that's what we were trying to make sure that's what that was the thought but we just wanted make sure that nothing else was included in that

Speaker 5it's based on air actual costs in the operating operating the

Carolyn Pitchesschools not maintaining or improving facilities thank you that's helpful um and what about total uh total other operational costs when we talk about other operational costs what is i know you've explained this to me before i just cannot recall what it's a number five

Matthew NortonstaffI can take a stab at that. If you feel like it's insufficient, I'm sure we will fill it. No,

Carolyn Pitchesit's fine. Anybody?

Matthew NortonstaffAbsolutely. So when we look at our budget and we talk about that operational cost of the $3.961 billion, that's the very top number on probably the sheet you're looking at, we broadly break our budget into what I would call 10 program areas. And so we refer to that as elementary, middle, and high school, or the three that are broken out separately here that are really based on these per pupil numbers and the ADM and all of that calculation. Other operational are all of the other costs outside of elementary, middle, and high school for us. So the interesting piece there for you all is that our

Carolyn Pitchescouncil and leader people. So

Matthew Nortonstaffthe other operational costs that we have, special education is a large one, right? And that really spreads across elementary, middle, and high. including it in other operational. So that's one thing that I think is a little bit, I don't want to say kludgy about the way that this is done, but it's definitely a little bit odd that we are going to the trouble to calculate elementary, middle, and high school on its own, but then special education kind of gets lumped in with things like financial services, all the other things that are part of that, right? So transportation is one of our other big programs. the instruction provided by like our curriculum specialists and things like that that are not

based at the schools but that are providing support you know centrally to develop curriculum rollout training things like that um and then uh central administration covers functions like financial services human resources um some of those other areas legal services ism is also Legal services would be a classic example of that. We have a small, very small bucket for our leadership team that's kind of separate from central administration, but we sort of lumped those two things together. So I think I've covered most of them, certainly the big ones.

Carolyn PitchesOkay. All right.

StudentI think that was...

Carolyn PitchesOkay, I think that's it. I can email if I have any other questions. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Okay. Abby, do you have any questions? I have two questions. I'm sorry. I'll get used to it. Mr. Phillips.

Dan PhillipsstaffNo further questions. I've got it. Thank you, ma'am. All

Carolyn Pitchesright. Thank you all so much. Ms. We have one go back. Ms. Kelsey? Ms.

Sarah KelseySorry. It will take two seconds. It's just more for our constituents. The ADM number is the March count, correct? Is that the number for the end of the year? When is this number? Okay. I just wanted to clarify because I know we always tell all these different numbers and so I just wanted to make sure that our constituents knew where we're getting this number from. you

Carolyn Pitchesyeah membership is the September number and ADM is the March I believe it is dr. Phyllis Pichardo our edge the superintendent selection process update from dr. Pichardo is this evening welcome dr. Pichardo all

Phyllis PajardostaffI can say is whoo That was a lot even sitting in the audience. You're not here

Carolyn Pitchesanymore.

Phyllis PajardostaffYeah, absolutely a lot to digest, but, you know, a very important part of your work. As the next thing that we're about to talk about, which is your superintendent search process. So I'm providing an update from last month when I was here, and I'm pleased to say a lot has been going on. busy work, but a lot of good work. So good evening, Chair. Good evening, school board members, students, Mr. Phillips, city school staff. Good to be with you again. So tonight, if you'll go ahead and go to the next slide. So tonight, specifically, we are going to look, you can advance, yeah, there you go. So tonight, specifically, we're going to take a look at the approved timeline, as well as give you some preliminary themes that came from your stakeholder input.

And with that, let's first look at the approved timeline. So you have the timeline in front of you nicely segmented into four months. As I said, I am pleased to say that all activities in the month of August were completed on time, on schedule, and that's always a good thing. into September now, I'm giving you the update. We have a community forum scheduled on Wednesday and then beginning next week I start screening applications for this work. As we move into October, October is going to be a heavy lifting month with your interviews, your first round interviews, your second round interviews, and if everything goes in place according the schedule in November, we will be back together with you actually having a new superintendent.

And so, again, lots of different activities, but in fact, this is what you have approved. And just for the public record, I'd just like to know now, and just a quick discussion, and Madam Chair, if you want to poll the board, or just to see if there are any changes or concerns or questions about the schedule and the timeline that has already been approved

Carolyn PitchesMs. Barron, do you have any questions or concerns or do you have modifications to this?

Lauren BartelmeI think the timeline looks great.

Carolyn PitchesMs. Kelsey? Ms. Hickman? Ms. Sessori? I think we're good to go.

Phyllis PajardostaffAlrighty well let's just keep it in drive and keep on moving on then so now let's shift to the stakeholder input since I was last here with you all we have spent the last 30 days gathering input from a variety of stakeholders and through a variety of venues we have collected input from about 75 stakeholders 40 of those have been through one-on-one either telephonic or virtual sessions we've also small group meetings you were part of the in-person community forum and with the help of this Dorsey thank you very much we launched the online survey and so far we've heard from about 20 stakeholders from the online survey so that's been about the last again 30 days hearing directly from 70 about 75 of

your stakeholders which is I think is a nice number so let me share some of the themes that have emerged from speaking with the stakeholders. And I am categorizing these as preliminary because we still are in fact collecting input and the survey will still be open all of this week as well as we have a virtual forum that will take place. So with the preliminary themes, I'm going to characterize some as opportunities and And instead of going through each of these, since you just pretty much had a pretty heavy lift in terms of the tuition bill and the school services agreement, let me just highlight a few on each of the slides. People are certainly concerned, as you are, about academic achievement and the academic success of our students.

So they really see that the new superintendent will continue to highlight and recognize students, monitor student achievement, as well as to innovate programs and positions that are kind of the icing on the cake and make the city of Fairfax a unique place to be. Some of those positions you heard Mr. Norton speak to in terms of the tuition bill. You're currently funding an avid teacher at the elementary level. No other school in this, in the, in Fairfax County has an avid elementary school. I think you're funding a security position at the elementary level. Again, very different, innovative. And in the past, you funded a counselor at the middle school level, a transition counselor at the middle school level and the high school level to really identify and help meet the

needs of some of our students who, you know, we were pinpointing to have greater success. Let me speak to the budget and resource management. Again, probably no surprise to you, again, based upon the presentation that you just had. you know folks are concerned and know that this new superintendent as a priority should be focused on the budget and how resources are managed with anticipating the continued rising costs of the tuition as well as managing the cost of renovations if we move to the next slide let me just highlight two opportunities and priorities school safety top of mind with your stakeholders is school safety for our students as much as we would like to focus on academics kids cannot succeed and adults cannot succeed if they don't feel like

they're in a safe place to learn and to be able to thrive you've already taken some initiatives by having secure vestibule increasing your cameras in schools staffing the security person and as well as having your SROs in place but that is continues to be top of mind for stakeholders right now and so it's an opportunity for the new superintendent to either continue on that pathway of what you're doing and maybe even take even additional steps to support school safety in school and then staff retention as educators we know that we being concerned about teachers in the classroom building principals even the city school staff staying and and and and being in a great place to work and thrive and so again that's an opportunity for the new superintendent

to consider as we move now to the preliminary challenges I put academics again. There are certainly things that are happening right now that are taking an impact on our students' social, emotional, mental, and physical health. So folks want to make sure that our new superintendent addresses that right away and figures out ways to, in fact, continue to support our students in those areas because all of those things impact their academics additionally there's a huge let me just address the boundary adjustment there's a huge boundary study that is occurring in Fairfax County right now and those boundary studies have some impact on who's in city schools other than the city students let's just make sure that we know I

think I can safely say you know that city students are not being moved out of It's a first priority for you as a board. But what is the impact of the boundary adjustment? How large will Fairfax High School be when the boundary adjustment is over? How large will your elementary schools be in your middle school? And what's the impact on programming depending on the size of those schools? And so the important thing that people want to have the new superintendent do is get right involved in that. partner with you you know to make sure that the voices of the city of fairfax schools is present in that boundary study before final decisions are made as we move to the next slide highlighting just two challenges no surprise to you i think given some of your more recent discussions with

the mayor and city council is the city development and the increased development in the city, whether it's projects that have been planned, projects that are already in process, and that impact on enrollment. The residential, I'm speaking specifically for residential developments that have been approved, that have been planned, are in development right now, because that does impact your enrollment, your city enrollment and consequently impacts the tuition cost. Challenge, I think speaking with one voice to the city council around your concerns about this. And stakeholders want that to happen. And then, again, it's worth repeating, people are concerned about the fiscal and the financial challenges

that await this new superintendent and you as a board, too, in terms of the renovation costs. Those are rising as we speak. Certainly the bond passed, but how much money is going to be used and how much money can you get to modernize the schools given the bond passing? I don't believe that any of the bullets that are on these slides are a surprise to you. You probably could have written them without having the input of 75 people. However, that is an important part of this process is that you do get to hear from what others are thinking and to see if your thinking is aligned with them. So as I conclude, I just want to give you a couple of final reminders in the search. We do have the virtual community forum this Wednesday at 6.30, probably tomorrow.

Ms. Dorsey will have on the website information about that, and we will make sure our community knows that they are welcome to attend that virtual community forum. It should be about 30 minutes. Our online survey will continue until Friday at 5 p.m. It has been out there for a month, and we need to go ahead and get that closed. And so 5 p.m., the link will no longer work. So if you know friends and families that want to provide some input, go ahead and share that with them. My next report to you all is in October. These themes will be finalized then, so I won't call them preliminary themes anymore. I call them finalized themes. And then certainly for each of anyone in the public to look at the city website to check for search updates, what's going on, what's happening, you know, here.

And at that point, at this point, I am ready to answer any questions or take any comments that you might have. And if folks have any questions from the community, they are free to use the superintendent search inquiries email address and we will respond promptly.

Carolyn PitchesThank you, Dr. Ruggiero. Ms. Barlini, do you have any questions?

Lauren BartelmeI don't really have any questions, just comments. I agree with you that there's not really a surprise in the themes, but I think that's reassuring that stakeholders are seeing things in a similar way.

Carolyn PitchesMs. Kelsey.

Sarah KelseyNo, I knew you would do it, but you answered my question. I just wanted to double-check the closing date of the survey. And then this is probably for more Ms. Dorsey. Ms. Dorsey, could you send us, like, a link or something that we could post to send out to? Again, I know you did once, but could you send it again? Thank you.

Carolyn PitchesMs. Heckman.

Amit HickmanI just wanted to thank you for your work on this and highly encourage everybody who can to come to the virtual night add in their input

Kristina Ceceremiss sassari just want to make sure that our constituents here the state 75 stakeholders come from all walks of life will you uh just just clarify that for us one more time

Phyllis Pajardostaffyes absolutely so we have uh from the survey we've had students parents staff to complete the survey because we asked them in the beginning when they're completing them the demographics that of the 40-some people that I had one-on-ones with they were your city school staff they were you as well Fairfax County board members your current mayor and city council members key stakeholders in the Fairfax County school system that our superintendent would normally engage with and key staff from each of the buildings the principals teacher leaders as well so cut from a variety of folks across city of Fairfax as well as Fairfax County Public Schools

Kristina Cecerethank you so much for reaching out to all those folks there's a lot of a lot of people to reach out and get these themes in and just to reiterate that those really are the people that our superintendent will definitely be interacting with during this position I also just want to thank you so much for all your work on this so far. And so, yeah.

Carolyn PitchesThank you, Ms. Sussere. No

Kristina Cecerequestions? And no questions.

Carolyn PitchesOkay. I have a couple of- Yes, ma'am. Just want to clarify some things. So the school-one of the themes of the school services agreement, we talked about collaboration of all parties, where people specifically, when you say mainly FCPS and City of Fairfax government, our school board with those two entities- Were there any concerns that people brought up? Well, there are

Phyllis Pajardostaffa few wild hairs, or I'm going to say wild hairs, but there are certainly people that would like for you all to consider your own independence in terms of no longer partnering with FCPS. That is not the majority of the people who I spoke with, but there were people who definitely said, hey, you've had, as Mr. Norton said, year of this agreement and there are things that you are doing and that you're paying for and do wonder could you while you operate somewhat independently with the board with the superintendent to probably go totally independent so kind of what is it I wish I had my notes immediately in front of me but you know what what are the advantages or disadvantages of is agreement with fcps that would be the best uh paraphrase that i think i can share with you

Carolyn Pitchesokay did anybody bring up board of supervisors by any

Phyllis Pajardostaffno not a one person yeah i did not reach out to any board of supervisors either i

Carolyn Pitchesjust was wondering if any constituents or people within the city felt that dial because typically the city of fairfax school board does not interact with the And I was just curious if anybody wondered about that or if people thought that there was some value in

Phyllis Pajardostaffthat. No, not at all. I think, you know, while the school services agreement certainly is a four-piece partnership, to your point, the county board of supervisors, the mayor, city council, you all, and Fairfax County Public Schools, the three that they probably see most are you, FCPS, and the mayor and city council.

Carolyn PitchesOkay, and then in terms of the boundary adjustments, it's mentioned attending to the impact of enrollment shift from possible boundary changes. Again, were there any specific concerns that came out of that and what types of impacts they were?

Phyllis PajardostaffYeah, so people are remembering some of the enrollment shifts previously at Fairfax High School, and it would have been then Lanier Middle School when there was not a major. When Fairfax Villa was

Carolyn Pitchesshifted

Phyllis Pajardostaffto Woodson Frost. Yes, absolutely, yeah. And so people are remembering that both of those schools went down in enrollment quite a bit, and there was then the need for management of curriculum, programming, staffing. so that's still in folks heads as well as is this boundary adjustment or boundary study because it's county-wide is much more comprehensive than the previous which was a limited boundary study it

Carolyn Pitcheswas a limited boundary adjustment that was requested by the city because both schools were overcrowded and it brought us back to right sizing and now we are sort of back on the same trajectory. We are right back where we started from that 2014 boundary adjustment. Our numbers now look, again, very similar to they did to then. So I was thinking more in terms of I know there's always concern about test scores and athletics when it comes to boundary adjustments. know if any no

Phyllis Pajardostaffit really is about you know what's the size as well as i mean clarify just as i did here and for you all you know the city enrollment of the city students still their first right is to be in a city school other than for programming reasons going to another school as and i think for you all it's paying attention to that timeline associated with the boundary study in fcps okay

Carolyn PitchesGreat. Thank you. This is very helpful. But again, I don't think any of us were surprised by the themes that you discovered. Does anybody have any go-backs for Dr. Bajardo? Okay. So we will see you again this week, Dr.

Phyllis PajardostaffBajardo. Absolutely. I'm going to be a bad penny.

Carolyn PitchesJust keep showing. Thank you so much. Thank you, Dr. Pajardo. Okay. Let me see. Where is my agenda? Okay. Okay. Now we have the opening of school and summer report, and that will be done by our acting superintendent, Mr. Dan Phillips.

Dan PhillipsstaffThanks very much, Chair Piches and school board members. Great to be here with you this evening. So we've had an excellent opening to the school year so far, and we're just looking forward to a great year ahead. I just think I spoke to someone on the way in it going and I asked him the same question he's a parent and it just seems like we've been off to a really really good start and so just want to share some numbers with you and a few a few pieces of information thank you Miss King so you can take a look at our opening day numbers and you'll see that Daniel's run is down a little bit from the beginning and you know just remember there are lots of fluctuations throughout the year and different months

spring different things at different schools so just uh kind of looking at the the beginning of the year uh daniels runs down a little bit providence is up a little bit providence has regained you know i was formerly the principal at providence and cobit really hit our numbers pretty hard it's really interesting to see and and also some changes in apartment complexes and things in the city changed around that same time but it feels like to the best of my recollection 960 was about as high as we got while I was at Providence, and we're back to 955. So those numbers have really recovered. Catherine Johnson is down a little bit from last year, but we're still a little over the program capacity.

At Catherine Johnson, I think it's 101% capacity. Daniels runs 89%, Providence 98%, Catherine Johnson 101. And the Fairfax numbers are down slightly from last year's opening day, but they're still at 96% capacity. and obviously we'll keep a close eye on those numbers we'll get a chance to review those every month and see where we are with that taking a look just so just looking at class sizes for a second our elementary school started the year fully staffed I think it's important to know that and that's a change from the last couple of years so we're very excited about that and happy about that there are some long-term subs related to some new parents and medical needs and notice that class sizes are up in a few grades. Just remember Fairfax County Public Schools

had that budget adjustment in the spring that impacted staffing. So again, we're going to work with principals, pay attention to those class sizes and any related needs and concerns that might arise from them. Both Katherine Johnson and Fairfax High School are also fully staffed to start the year, and same thing with a few long-term subs, but thankfully each position is filled. Enrollment is down slightly as we start the year at both schools and we'll continue to monitor those numbers each month. Our principal has been very positive and they've all shared, all four schools, just that things have gotten, it's been a great start for them. And just a couple words about our principals. I'm just so thankful

for them and a lot of that good start that we have is due to their work. And so I'm just proud of them and the work that they do every day with our students and staff. And while and staff are away for parts of the summer our principals spend their time closing out one year and diligently preparing for the next and we appreciate appreciate their dedication their efforts to make the first weeks a time of welcoming reuniting and getting back to learning and so their hard work has paid off and we've really been off to a good start so far and with that any questions about the opening

Carolyn Pitchesmiss bartlemy no miss kelsey

Sarah KelseyNot at this time. I'll email you when I come up to them.

Carolyn PitchesMs. Hickman.

Amit HickmanI know that it's a question. It's more of a statement. But I'm noticing a pretty big decrease in kindergartners between kindergartners versus first graders in both schools. And I'm curious if this is kind of a new sign of the times. Or we just had a... I mean, I guess maybe we're just seeing the impact of true COVID kindergartners.

Dan PhillipsstaffWe could be. We could be. And I think just after spending time in both of our city schools and even my previous school, just some years there's a little bit of, some years it's a bubble and some years it's a dip. And it usually sort of works itself out. And you can sort of follow those, you know. Some years we'll have a class. Again, as principal at Providence, when I started, I think we had six teachers at each grade level. And then we went to seven. We went to seven in kindergarten one year. And another year we had four in another grade level. And it just kind of works itself through. but often when we see a four, we'll follow it by a seven. You know what I mean? And just, and in fact, I think at Providence last year, if you look at first grade at Providence, is it seven?

You know, so it's, it's just a little interesting thing. And Mr. Foreman can give us more information on it, like for, for city residents. I'll

Amit Hickmanalso be interested in seeing the comparison from this year to next year. If it jumps, if more people are choosing not to send their children to public kindergarten are kind of where it was if this is a trend we're seeing.

Dan PhillipsstaffAnd it's worth paying attention to.

Amit HickmanYeah. Thank you.

Carolyn PitchesMs. Sassari.

Kristina CecereI just want to ask a question about the over program capacity at Katherine Johnson.

Dan PhillipsstaffSure.

Kristina CecereIs that due to late enrollments in the summer? Like just sort of that quick influx of enrollment or is that something that we could have projected or that we anticipated?

Dan PhillipsstaffI think it was that way last year also. In fact, I think it's down a little bit. So we're probably at 102, 103 percent capacity last year. We're down to 101. But again, just, you know, Providence, KJ, and I guess the high school to a certain extent, if we look at it in a different month, it'll look different. You know, just I think it always, it's good to look at the trends year after year, but month to month things can change a lot. Yeah.

Carolyn PitchesI will just say this. I am noticing that these 9th and 10th graders, that's going to be one long graduation. Could be.

Dan PhillipsstaffIt definitely could be.

Carolyn PitchesAnd 7th and 8th grade does not look any, those kiddos coming up looks like we're going to have quite the enrollment for, you know, over the next year or two. That dip is the 11th grade class right now. Right.

Dan PhillipsstaffAnd there's a rebound after. And there's

Carolyn Pitchesa very big rebound.

Dan PhillipsstaffAnd a lot of those are city kids, so there'll be a lot of familiar faces. A lot of them

Carolyn Pitchesare city kids. Yes. Absolutely. And I am also noticing Providence has significantly more students than Daniel's Run and classes.

Dan PhillipsstaffAgain, for a period of time over the last couple of years, it was almost flipping.

Carolyn PitchesYeah, because Daniel's run was up in the upper 800s at one point. Now we're down to the upper 700s. Okay, or mid-700s.

Dan PhillipsstaffBut I think that high number of Providence is worth watching also. Yes. Because we are pretty close to capacity there. And also as programming needs change, more special education students, some that require a smaller number of students in the same size classroom, those things can impact what it feels like in the building also. So we'll be working with the principals, Mr. Pratt, certainly, and all of our principals for that.

Carolyn PitchesOkay. Would you like to move on with summer school?

Dan PhillipsstaffI'll just keep going. Yeah, sure thing. So let's just go back a little bit and shift back to the summer and just look at a couple things for the summer. This is actually pretty quick also. Just reviewing summer school activity, and then I'll close at the end with a little bit about facilities. But you'll remember in the spring we received, talking about those, the budget realignment and the staffing changes. Fairfax County made the decision to change the way that they did their summer school offerings. So this summer they only offered the SOAR, the Academic Support Summer School Program at Title I schools. So our Title I school in this case is Providence. So they got the SOAR program and a program called Explorers for Multilingual Learners.

And this was a change from the last few years. you know post-COVID there was a real robust summer school program really at all of our schools and it's you know the budget impact now caused a little bit of a reduction this year and so when they cut that program they also cut the young scholars so advanced academics program and the bridge to kindergarten program and so the board certainly had questions and our former superintendent and I both thought about it also we spoke to our principals in the spring and with the support of the school board we were able to add back in a modified three-day kindergarten bridge program for all we at least we offered it to all the rising kindergartners in the in the city and I'm sorry in our schools not just city

residents but anyone and I know our principals our kindergarten teachers and our families appreciated that extra opportunity it's not the same as the 15 day program we had before but in that case those were like specifically students who had not been in preschool programs before. And this one was one for everybody. So it was a chance for the young students to be in the building before everybody else got there with the staff dedicated just to them. So it's a really nice program. And I'll tell you a little bit more about it in a second. And so first, just going back and looking at some numbers. Barbara, if you'll go back to the, thank you very much. So for the SOAR, for the Title I program at Providence, that program included students

Brookfield. Brookfield is also a Title I school so they sent their students, it's quite a distance, but they sent their students to Providence and I know the board had an interest in making sure that we sort of had a home field advantage and we got that again this year but just at just at Providence this time. So those students participate in the SOAR and then the Explorers program for multilingual learners. The SOAR program this year had 121 students all together and that was for current K through 6 students and those students received support in our instruction in math language arts and all using the benchmark program that they used during the school year and they also participate in some project-based learning activities that was integrated

with the language arts curriculum some students created opportunities for students to present to their classmates and other classrooms and also our rising fifth graders presented career projects to a group of rising first and second explorers program had 45 students and again multilingual learners those students were in grades 3 through 6 and they also used they use benchmark Express curriculum to provide instruction in reading writing listening and speaking and then for the kindergarten program Ms. King thank you thanks to support of the school board we were often able to offer that short jumpstart program at both elementaries and again it was a change but the school teams felt that it went really really well kindergarten teachers the mostly

Daniels run but I know Providence would have had the same goals they set three achievable goals for the new kindergartners they wanted to have the chance to interact with other other students to transition in the classroom and get a little familiar before the year started and then also to start working toward a following one-step directions and just like every other year some come in prepared to do that and others aren't quite ready for it but But the school teams felt that the students made progress on all three during those three days. And there are other intangibles as well. They were able to start making friends. They could feel the routine of the kindergarten. They probably got to meet the principals in a way they won't when the school year starts

and everybody else is in the building. And so it was just a great opportunity for them, and we thank you for making that happen. At Providence, there were 51 students there for the three half days. The parents said it made a tremendous difference in helping their children's transition as well as their own. start for parents as well to get in a few days before the school year started or before the masses of other students arrived. And so great, great success. Undoubtedly investment in introducing those routines and making school familiar and comfortable will help them as they transition. And again, just after spending time in elementary school, usually it's that first three weeks. In the beginning, it's a lot of cat herding and students all over

the place. And by the third week, they're lining up. You know, they've started to pick traditions. At Daniel's Run, the kindergarten team made calls to 70 families who pre-registered for kindergarten. Twenty-one students came. They had bus transportation, and they also felt like the program was a great success. So thank you for offering that and giving us that chance, even though the county wasn't able to, we were able to here in the city. Ms. King. Katherine Johnson Middle School. I gave you some information at the end of the year last year that the algebra program would be offered at Katherine Johnson. And I didn't really know until mid-summer that the program wasn't actually offered there.

I think the intention was, but they made the, made a switch and it was offered at Liberty with transportation from Katherine Johnson. And so there was a staff person from Katherine Johnson that was able to work with the students, so there was at least someone familiar. And so they worked at Liberty. The teacher reported back that the students felt a stronger foundation being in the program. They also got to use some avid strategies during that time, focused note taking and that sort of thing. And she remarked that it was fun to see the students make connections and relationships with students and teachers from outside their base school, which was kind of neat. Katherine Johnson also had a program that was sponsored by

the city school board, the RISE program, so the introductory program. There were 225 students in the RISE program this year. year students consistently say they really enjoy the opportunity to be in the building before the year starts. They do a scavenger hunt so they get familiar with the building itself and they get to know those important places in the building. They made some Katherine Johnson tie-dyed shirts and the program was a nine to one program. Students had a lunch, a snack and they got a t-shirt. And according to administrators and the teachers, the program went really smoothly and again the students felt like it made a nice transition to middle school. And then Fairfax High School, there's always a ton of athletic camps, band camp,

that sort of thing. With the board support, we offered a Latin and French camp for the third year. Students learned about colors, numbers, sports, greetings, food, body parts, that sort of thing, culture and history. And learned a little bit of French, German, Latin, and Spanish. Students were really excited to be at Fairfax High School. The younger students spending time in the building where they'll eventually end up. Hopefully they had a great time. They also worked in collaborative cohorts with each other very well, and they formed a lot of friendships and flourished during the camp. And then Dr. I and her team, Dr. A, excuse me, Dr. A and her team hosted 300 students this year for Lions on the Rise.

That was a record that most students they've been able to offer. That introductory program, too, it's designed to help new students acclimate and create connections to Fairfax High School. and again it just felt like a lot of great success so thanks to the board for offering that program thank you very much and also a big thanks to our teachers summer administrators and staff members who ran those programs this year any questions or thoughts on that

Lauren Bartelmefirst I just wanted to say thank you for making the kindergarten jumpstart happen. Sounds great. And then I had a question about the Algebra Summer Program. I can't remember. Who were the target audience? I think the

Dan Phillipsstaffaudience was students who were preparing to take Algebra. So this is just sort of a foundational three-week opportunity to learn some things to kind of make the transition easier as it starts this year.

Lauren BartelmeAll right. Thank you. Thanks, Ms. Barley.

Sarah KelseyMs. Kelsey. with algebra before eighth grade being one of the goals for FCPS is this program was likely going to be offered again the algebra program next year you

Dan Phillipsstaffknow it's hard to say just knowing what we know about the way the budget impacts summer school but I would think so because it would be a natural alignment since it is a goal that they continue to offer and it wouldn't be a surprise to see it offered even a little younger yeah

Sarah KelseyI was gonna say

Dan Phillipsstaffwith

Sarah Kelseysome of this if they want seventh graders to start taking in

Dan Phillipsstaffstuff

Sarah Kelseytoo.

Dan PhillipsstaffSure.

Sarah KelseyI would like to see if it is, like when we find out if it is, if we can try to get it at KJ again this year. I think so too.

Dan PhillipsstaffI was surprised by that. And I don't want to say disappointed because I know those decisions are made just about the number of students that are coming from different buildings and all that stuff, but we'd love to have it at KJ. We like having a home field advantage in the city for sure.

Sarah KelseyWell, and I think we might get more than 62 students

Dan Phillipsstaffif

Sarah Kelseyit was,

Dan Phillipsstaffeven though they

Sarah Kelseydid provide the transportation, if it

Dan Phillipsstaffwasn't. I don't disagree. Sure thing. Just to

Carolyn Pitchesclarify just on that point, it's 62 students from the city or 62 students total in the

Dan Phillipsstaffprogram? 62 from Katherine Johnson. Okay. That went to Liberty for the program.

Carolyn PitchesOkay. Thank you. Sure. Ms. Hickman, Ms. Sessori. Okay.

StudentActually, I... Yeah. I was able to go to Bridge to Kay to volunteer and help out. They were so happy to be there. They were so cute and little. And they just grew so much over three days. Like, they learned their numbers and colors really fast. I taught some of them how to spell some words, and it was really great. It was really fun. Kevin, were you at the 300 students at Fairfax High School, or no?

StudentI was there. I had a great time interacting with the rising ninth grade students and I'm I've made friends with a few of them and I sit with them at lunch and just trying to get them acclimated to high school giving them tours and everything.

Carolyn PitchesYou guys are so great. You just like literally warm my heart. Yeah. I

Dan Phillipsstaffjust I love those stories so much because I know one of the big things that even as a parent we think about like what's the relationship with other students in the building going to be like and it's a fear that parents have a lot of times. and I know it's certainly one for students, so having familiar faces. Other students, especially, and teachers, just knowing somebody when you walk in the door makes it easier, so thanks. And Abby, I'm so glad you got to be with the kindergartners. And, you know, it's a big thing for them, too. And I'm sure they think you were one of the teachers.

StudentThey actually thought that I would be their teacher.

Dan PhillipsstaffOh, I'm

Studentsure, yeah, yeah. One day,

Dan Phillipsstaffcome

Studentback

Dan Phillipsstaffand join us. I

Studentwas like, no.

Carolyn PitchesYeah, it

Studentwas really funny.

Dan PhillipsstaffThanks to both of you for doing that.

Carolyn PitchesWell, thank you, guys.

Dan Phillipsstafftwo more facility slides that are really really quick if it's okay can i do those i could have just kept going but i wanted to take oh

Carolyn Pitchesoh i just assumed

Dan Phillipsstaffcan i do those real quick

Carolyn Pitchesyeah

Dan Phillipsstaffall right here we go so i'll i won't take long here uh we had a really really busy summer uh in facilities and i want to thank tom wood tom works as a contractor but he's really part of our family and part of our team and he's so instrumental in making things happen during the summer and often when something needs to be done during the school year and hvac is out or something like that I don't know that we jumped the line because it's probably not reasonable to say that, but we get really good attention, and Tom just helped us so much this summer with getting things done. Some of it's planned summer maintenance and others are just emergencies and things that come up during the summer. I'm going to hit a few highlights of just significant things and things that have been long-term projects that we've all been working on.

So just take a look real quick at the pictures. After many years, we've completed the project to replace the old carpet at Daniel's Run with tile, I think we have nine classrooms at Providence left and then we're done. And then we renovate. But yes, Dr. Vajardo, yes, the carpet to tile is almost complete. But I think that makes a big difference for teachers when they come back. And there's a little bit of a pain because you pack up differently when you're going to do something like that. But when you come back and you know the floor is going to be clean and shiny and new, it looks really good and it's inspiring in the classroom. So I'm happy we were able to do that this year. Working with our partners at FCPS, there's a path at Fairfax High School that leads to

LEADS TO THE COUNTRY CLUB HILLS NEIGHBORHOOD. AND AT THE END OF THE PATH, THERE'S A BRIDGE THAT'S OVER SOME STORM DRAINS THAT WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED. AND IT WAS A REAL HAZARD. AND PARKS AND RECREATION FOLKS LET US KNOW ABOUT IT. AND THE SCHOOL BOARD WAS SUPPORTING GETTING IT DONE, BUT FCPS TOOK CARE OF IT FOR US. SO IT LOOKS REALLY GOOD AND IT'S A GREAT PATH NOW TO GET HOME. EVEN IF YOU'RE RIDING YOUR BIKE IN THE DARK, IT'S SAFE TO GET THERE. SO WE'RE HAPPY ABOUT THAT. WE ADDED SOME BASKETBALL STANTIONS AT THE FIELD HOUSE added that gives the physical education teachers additional options during the school day. So we're happy about that. And then also we were working on an auto tech classroom project. We

installed lights last year. And John King, our awesome teacher there, really loved the lights, but he really wanted the floor to sparkle and look great. And it does. And I think he's going to have to tell the students that it's probably not going to be like that when you get to work in the field. But our floor is really really nice and then one more four more quick slides our photos as you saw the other night we have a new scoreboard at the football field and that's gonna it's certainly going to benefit our teams that play you know from our school from Fairfax High School but also there's a small ribbon scoreboard it wasn't a great expense it would be a great thing for FPUIC and other other users of the scoreboard to to be able to use it without necessarily

using the video board that comes with a loud sound speaker and things like that. There's an option for everybody. It kind of is what it boils down to. We did a lot of grounds maintenance, and you can see the marquee is visible at Providence, which is really nice because they cut the bushes down. A lot of that work that happens during the summer, at the end of the year, if you're paying attention, you can see that there are a lot of needs, but when school starts, it's ready, and we just appreciate the Blake Landscaping that works with us, the awesome school custodians that do a lot of the work and then also our partners in FCPS to make the places look good. And I can't say enough about those custodians.

Let me stop for a second and just say it's a massive undertaking because in an eight-week period, they tear down everything that was happening and they rebuild it. And we walk back in the buildings. It looks as close to a new place as you can find, and that's a lot of hard work. So thanks to all of them who do that. Added treat at Catherine Johnson this year. we took out some old hallway lights that were in disrepair and they turned yellow and some of them had fallen down to the sides and I Had the good fortune of working with the electrical staff at Fairfax High School during with this project and They were so happy about it They put so much energy into it an effort and when the project they finished one hallway

So one hallway was old and one was new and they asked me to come over and look at something I was thinking oh my gosh what are we gonna look at? but it was basically the difference between looking at 1970 and 2025 so when they turn the lights on it just looks like a new place so so happy about that and thanks to the support and encouragement from the board yes it's really nice and I know it's gonna

Carolyn Pitchesit

Dan Phillipsstaffwon't be something kids think about every day when they're in the hallway but it certainly looks good and it represents it looks

Carolyn Pitchesamazing

Dan Phillipsstaffit really does and and it's the team we're gonna do a FCPS CARES for the gentleman who did that, the full team, gentlemen and ladies who worked on that because they did a great job. And again, they were so proud of it. And it's just I think that speaks to our partnership. We talked about, you know, there are a lot of things that you can look at and think about, but when we work with folks from FCPS, they're on our team and they're our family. It's not, it's not, it's never an us against them. It's working together and we're happy about that and proud about that relationship. And then And then finally, we were really excited to see what we thought was going to be the beginning of the vestibule project, but I went by on a Monday night and there was nothing there,

and I went back on Tuesday, Wednesday morning, and it really looks like a full-on vestibule. Need some glass and things like that, but again, we appreciate our partners in FCPS and certainly the support of the board to make that happen. And we're also... It was

Carolyn Pitchesmostly the board. I'm just going

Dan Phillipsstaffto put it out there. I'm talking about the people that installed

Carolyn Pitchesit. Like that... That's high and dry.

Dan PhillipsstaffI Financially you're 100% right and the guys who built it work for FCPS and we're happy with that and I we are also Looking at the vestibule project for Providence Elementary School And so we're looking for and

Carolyn Pitchesand I'd also like to thank you Dan on the Daniels run vestibule because the original date was For it to be started and finished was well and to after the holidays the winter holidays Yes, in February. And we are September 15th.

Dan Phillipsstaff26th.

Carolyn PitchesWell, no, right now. Okay.

Dan PhillipsstaffI'm sorry. I was looking at the end date, and I gave that away, didn't I? Yes, now you gave away the article. I did. I was holding on to that information. Yes. No, thank you very much. I appreciate that. But, again, it's about the partnership. Yes, but you

Carolyn Pitcheshave done quite the job of advocating and being on the phone and trying to get it done.

Dan Phillipsstaffthat and again i'll i'll deflect a little bit and just say there was someone answering on the other end and we appreciate that so thank you and that's just a quick look at facilities there are other things that happen during the summer and again it's a lot of hard work by folks to make the places look right for our staff and our students when we return so thank you

Carolyn Pitchesthank you mr

Dan Phillipsstaffphillips

Carolyn Pitchesokay oh does anybody have any questions about facilities miss borrow

Lauren Bartelmeme um no questions but i just want to say i've had the pleasure of seeing several of the and they look great and our students do well when they have a nice place to learn thank you

Sarah Kelseymiss Kelsey mine's not a question either but I will slightly adjust what you said the students do notice the lights yes my hallway

Carolyn Pitchesused to be yellow

Sarah Kelseyyeah it is when they spent a lot of time last year in the cafeteria area for after school and now they're in that hallway. It's very noticeable and so yes they do notice it.

Carolyn PitchesIt's not

Sarah Kelseyjust the adults.

Carolyn PitchesGreat to hear. Thank you. Ms. Heckman.

Amit HickmanI don't have a question about the presentation but I'm curious because I know we're going to be voting shortly on moving some CIP funds. Is there are there any numbers associated to it yet or right now we're just giving permission to be able to reallocate as needed once the numbers come about.

Dan PhillipsstaffAnd you're talking about the Providence. Yes. I think it's safe to assume that it's going to be in the ballpark of the Daniels Run. It's in the design phase right now. Then it'll go out to bid. I think as long as we're included on that initial bid, we can look our cost should be somewhere what other FCPS schools are paying. And it'll probably be right in the neighborhood of the Daniels Run.

Amit HickmanAnd with the fact that Providence has much more county kids than Daniel Zirundas has there been conversation about.

Carolyn PitchesYeah, when we get to the motion. We

Dan Phillipsstaffare going to talk about that. I appreciate that. It's a great question. Thank you.

Carolyn PitchesMs. Sessori.

Kristina CecereI just want to thank you, Dan, for all your hard work in getting these projects done. Our schools look amazing.

Dan PhillipsstaffI didn't do any of the actual

Studentwork, but I'll take it on behalf

Kristina Cecereof

Studenteverybody

Kristina Cecerewho did. On behalf of everybody who reached out.

Dan PhillipsstaffWe work with a lot of great folks, but thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Cessary.

Carolyn PitchesOkay. We do not have any public hearings, so we will start with our action items. The approval of the July 1, 2025 regular meeting minutes and the August 4th special meeting minutes as well. The clerk has provided these minutes. Is there a motion?

Kristina CecereMadam Chair.

Carolyn PitchesMs. Cessary. I

Kristina Ceceremove that the City of Fairfax School Board approve the minutes of the July 1, 2025 School Board regular meeting and the August 4, 2025 School Board as printed and distributed. Second?

Lauren BartelmeI second.

Carolyn PitchesOkay. Ms. Sessori moves. Ms. Bartle May seconded. City of Fairfax School Board approve the regular meeting minutes from our July 1 meeting of 2025 and the August 4 special meeting minutes as printed and distributed. changes or modifications or any additions. Okay. Being none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. None opposed. The motion passes unanimously. The next is the approval of the reappropriation of funds of CIP funds. Is there a motion?

Kristina CecereMadam Chair. Ms. Sessori. I move that the City of Fairfax School Board approve the reappropriation of capital improvement program CIP funds to support the completion of the Providence Elementary School vestibule project. This motion is contingent upon FCPS approval for the city to reimburse FCPS for executing the project in order to enhance safety and security at the school.

Carolyn PitchesOkay. May I have a second? I second. Okay. Again, Ms. Sessori moved and Ms. Bartlemy seconded.

Kristina CecereCity of Fairfax

Carolyn PitchesSchool Board approved the reappropriation of CIP funds to support the completion of the Providence Elementary School vestibule project. I have asked the superintendent to work with FCPS around contributing to the cost of the vestibule as 30% of their students attend Providence Elementary School. They are paying for their own vestibules. We are being responsible for our vestibules. And as such, we are hoping that, well, we are making the, we are going to put in that request. Okay. All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Kristina CecereAye.

Carolyn PitchesAnd then are opposed to the motion passes unanimously. Okay. Mr. Phillips.

Dan PhillipsstaffWell, thank you so much. It's been a really exciting beginning to the school year. You know, those first weeks of school require so much prep and planning, but our schools are just ready to go. I was fortunate to be able to attend all the open houses and the back-to-school nights, and it just really made me miss being a principal in some ways. I appreciate our principals and our families so much for sharing their joy with me and with all of us as we started the new school year. Also, I just want to say for a second, thanks to everyone on the city government team for and guidance during this transition between superintendents and you know again I've said I'm a principal and there are a lot of things that go on in

our office that weren't in my wheelhouse as a principal and we've just gotten great support and I just want to also thank our awesome schools team our small but mighty schools team right now for keeping our focus on schools and students despite being down a person in our office in addition to beginning of school year we're in budget season we're supporting the hiring of the new superintendent we started planning the renovations in our elementary school so it's been a really busy time and it's taken a team effort but I think we've had a very productive summer and a great school opening and finally I said it a second ago but I'll reiterate it here just a great shout out to our incredible teachers and students who bring our schools to life when they return I've

seen firsthand as a parent and educator and I think this is really important good things happen in our schools every day learning friendships fellowships NORM NOT THE EXCEPTION AND YOU HEAR A LOT OF NOISE BUT THAT'S NOT THE REALITY THERE'S SO MANY GOOD THINGS THAT HAPPEN SO I JUST URGE OUR COMMUNITY THIS YEAR PAY ATTENTION TO THE GREAT THINGS THAT HAPPEN WE'RE GOING TO HAVE MOMENTS WHERE THINGS FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE THEY'RE GOING TO REQUIRE EXTRA ATTENTION AND WE'RE GOING TO GIVE THINGS ATTENTION BUT DON'T MISS THOSE GOOD THINGS THAT'S THE JOY OF SCHOOL AND IT'S JUST WE HAVE GREAT A GREAT PLACE THROUGHOUT FAIRFACTS COUNTY BUT PARTICULARLY OUR FOUR SCHOOLS SO ENJOY THAT THANK YOU

Carolyn Pitcheswell said mr. Phillips okay let's move on to board matters miss Barlamy

Lauren Bartelmethank you I also had the pleasure of attending several of the back-to-school nights and it was fun to talk some to some of the city residents about our schools and what's going on in our schools I also wanted to welcome our student representatives Abby and Kevin we're glad to have you guys as we start this new school year and I also wanted to encourage city residents to complete the survey this week or to attend our meeting on Wednesday great

Sarah Kelseymiss Kelsey so we don't repeat everything again the one other thing I would like to say though is attending the pyramid night on Friday was a lot of fun there were so many families that were there at one point I was wondering if they were ever to go into the football game because they were having so much fun outside. But it was a great game, a great night, and congratulations to the one Daniels Run winner who won the M&Ms and the Providence winner who won the Lion. They were both very excited. They both, I know the Daniels Run one was kind of going to rub it in sister's face, I think, but they were very excited about winning, and we had a great turnout for those raffle prizes and then I will say yes

please do attend the community forum the virtual one on Wednesday and fill out the survey

Carolyn Pitchesthank you I

Amit Hickmanalso enjoyed attending the back-to-school nights that I was able to attend as well as pyramid night which was it's always a lot of fun thank you Abby for all your hard work on that and the rest of your leadership team. It really was so well done. I know the younger children really enjoyed it. Thank you, Dr. Projata just left, but a huge thank you to her for the amount of countless hours she has spent talking to stakeholders and going through feedback. And I'm going to just go ahead and say what Mr. Phillips said to thank Ms. Dorsey, Ms. King, and also you, Mr. Phillips, for doing the work of four people as three people. You make it look effortless and we really appreciate everything you all always do and

especially during this time.

Kristina CecereI'm just gonna echo what a lot of people have already said before it's been an amazing start to the school year all the events that we've attended the back-to-school nights the pyramid night on Friday just as a reminder of how amazing our city schools are and just the joy of being in school and having that community there and it just kind of connects I know with the tuition bill and budget but it's hard to put a price on that you know that's that value of that community that we create with our schools so and just again thank you for all the teachers and staff are starting the school year strong and yeah thank you

Carolyn Pitchesditto to all of that and

StudentI'll just once again thank

Carolyn PitchesCarrie and Abby for all your amazing work on the pyramid night and I'm just to tour. I'm thankful for the smooth start, but I'm also, again, very grateful to you, Dan. I don't think I could continue doing this this year without you, and Carrie and Barb, I literally, we're going to have to, like, the fourth person's not going to be a superintendent, is going to be a therapist. I am not sure how you guys are managing. It's a long time to go without having two people, a superintendent and an assistant superintendent, especially with all that we have going on with facilities and now this whole process of hiring a new superintendent, independent start of school, wrapping up all the summer programs.

So I'm just very grateful to all of you. So, okay. If there's nothing else before this board, I'm going to adjourn us at 8.02. Thank you.