Summary of the Sept. 7, 2016 Prince William County School Board meeting

School Board Meeting September 7, 2016

Public Hearing: Citizens addressed the School Board on the interim appointment of an Acting School Board member for the Brentsville Magisterial District.

School Board Approved:

The agreements with Manassas City Public Schools and the Manassas Park City Schools for their students to participate in several Prince William County Public Schools programs for the 2016‒17 school year;
 
The contract awarded to Colossal Contractors, Inc. for masonry services;
 
The waterline easement at West Gate Elementary School to the Barrett Drive Water Main Replacement and Loop Closure project;
 
October 5 as International Walk to School Day;

Memorandum of Understanding with the Northern Virginia Workforce Investment Board to support the development of networks of adult education providers and the connection of these networks to the comprehensive one-stop delivery system in Prince William County;

Memorandum of Understanding with Prince William County Police Department to add a section on the responsibilities and procedures for unscheduled drug searches and a section stating that School Resource Officers will operate their Body Worn Cameras in compliance with the Prince William County Police Body Worn Camera policy;

September 17 as Citizenship Day;

September 17‒23 as National Citizenship and Constitution Week;

The National External Diploma Program Agreement with Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems toassesses and certify the high school level competencies of adults and award a high school diploma to those adults who successfully complete the requirements of the program;

September 15‒October 15 as National Hispanic Heritage Month;
 
October 10‒14 as National School Lunch Week;
 
The Development Impact Statement concerning the impact to the School Division for the proposed Marumsco Assemblage development of 156 multi-family residential units;
 
The Development Impact Statement concerning the impact to the School Division for the proposed Utterback development of 230 single-family residential units.
 
The provision of complimentary lunches for police officers at school sites;

Payrolls for June and July;
 
That during the period of June 16 through September 7 there were no summer awards exceeding $250,000;
 
Confirmation of Board Poll dated June 30, requesting an opinion from the Virginia Attorney General in reference to the Brentsville District School Board seat;
 
School Board minutes for June 15;

Disciplinary Hearing minutes for June 22 and July 6;
 
The appointments of Mr. Harry Wiggins and Ms. Kristyn Gleason to represent Chairman Sawyers; Ms. Leyla Hopkins to represent Mr. Wilk; and Ms. Kathy Royse to represent Ms. Williams on the Infrastructure Task Force Committee;
 
The appointment of Ms. Cathy Strittmatter to represent the Potomac District on the Safe Schools Advisory Council; and
 
Adjustments to the 2016‒17 School Board meetings calendar as follows:
  Wednesday, November 30 (an additional School Board meeting);
  Wednesday, December 7 (no School Board meeting);
  Wednesday, December 14 (last School Board meeting of 2016);
  Wednesday, December 21 (no School Board meeting);
  Wednesday, January 4 (work session cancelled);
  Wednesday, January 11 (work session-CIP);
  Wednesday, February 15 (work session cancelled);
  Wednesday, February 22 (work session-budget);
  Wednesday, March 1 (work session cancelled); and
  Thursday, March 2 (work session-budget).

Citizens’ Comment Time:

Citizens addressed the School Board on the following topics:

  Finalist in Google’s worldwide science competition; and
  Nondiscrimination and commitment to equity policy.

Presentations on the Following Topics:

Proposed 2017 Legislative Priorities. The School Board will consider the proposal as part of the September 21 work session;

Proposed 2017‒18 Annual School Calendar; and
 
Revision of Policy 060, “Nondiscrimination and Commitment to Equity.” Information only.

Superintendent’s Time:

Dr. Steven L. Walts, Superintendent of Schools, made the following announcements:

The School Division is cutting the number of required assessments per marking period in half. Instead of 18 assessments, teachers may give as few as nine assessments per marking period. This waiver to current regulations is effective for the current school year while fully revised grading regulations are developed.

Congratulations everyone in our schools and educational support offices on the outstanding opening of the new school year. The new Kyle Wilson Elementary School and Charles J. Colgan, Sr. High School both opened and received a lot of great media coverage. The rededication of Hampton Middle School was a memorable event for everyone.
 
The scholarship total for the Class of 2016 was $38 million. More than 500 students in the class of 2016 received one or more scholarships.
 
Congratulations to Ms. Melonie Yielding, fourth-grade teacher at Ellis Elementary School, who was named one of six Virginia finalists for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
 
Parkside Middle School has been designated as a Cambridge Professional Development Center. It is the first and only school in the United States to have this designation. This means that the school offers professional development in teaching and learning that meets rigorous international standards.
 
In the annual Best of Prince William poll conducted by insidenova.com, Ashland Elementary School was voted the best elementary school and Ashland teacher Ms. Carly Domingo was voted the best teacher.
 
Ms. Kathy Smaltz, who teaches language arts and gifted education at The Nokesville School, is Prince William County’s 2016 Poet Laureate. Her selection was announced by the Prince William County Arts Council.
 
The annual Arts Alive Festival is on Saturday, September 17 at the Hylton Performing Arts Center, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
 
Archers from Reagan Middle School were able to bring home the gold to Prince William County with a win at the Outdoor World Tournament. The Reagan archers are World Champions for the second year in a row.
 
For the second year, we published a combined Elementary and Middle School Guide and Calendar. The calendar includes the weekly menu for elementary and middle schools as a separate pull-out page. The menu and calendar are posted on our website. The cover of the calendar was created by Isabelle Venette who is an 8th-grader at Bull Run Middle School this year. Throughout the calendar, we have included artwork by our students.
 
Dr. Walts shared with the School Board and the community his annual “Top 10 Reasons to Be Excited about the New School Year.”

Information and Public meetings of the School Board are broadcast on pwcstv.com

(Select “Video on Demand”), Comcast Channel 18, and Verizon Channel 36. School Board Meeting Information

School Board meetings are held in the School Board Meeting Room at 14715 Bristow Road, Manassas. Citizens who wish to address the School Board under Citizens’ Comment Time may notify the Board Clerk in writing, by phone, or by email prior to noon on the day of the meeting.

Please include your address, phone number, and topic of discussion. Your contact information will not be shared with the public. Clerk to the School Board, P.O. Box 389, Manassas, VA 20108, Phone: 703.791.8709 - Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Citizens may also sign up to speak prior to 6:55 p.m. on the day of the meeting.

Closed Sessions start at 6 p.m. and are followed by public sessions, which start at 7 p.m.