Major Items for Board's Agenda This Week

The Loudoun School Board has just one meeting this month, on Tuesday the 12th. Our agenda is full of important items that many people will be interested in. You can see the proposed agenda or download the full Board Book (PDF) from the LCPS website. The four major items likely to generate the most attention are:

1. A report on a School Efficiency Reivew by MGT of America, Inc. conducted over the course of the past year at the initiative of the School Board. Representatives from MGT and the Governor's Department of Planning and Budget will present the findings jointly. The report will be distributed at the meeting. Board members will follow up with questions at a September meeting. This is the kind of independent, outside review that LCPS critics are perpetually calling for, so the results should be interesting.
   
2. The Board will consider a dramatic change to the LCPS Minority Student Achievement Advisory Committee, implementing bylaws modeled on those of the Loudoun Education Alliance of Parents (LEAP). Veteran MSAAC members asked for the Bylaws but are asking the Board to make major modifications to the LEAP version.
3. The Board will hear a presentation on a recent in-depth assessment of Sustainable Design and Construction Practices in our existing school prototypes. This is a topic of great interest to many in the community and our Board of Supervisors.
4. The Board will consider a policy change proposal made by Leesburg representative Tom Marshall which would in essence make it easier for LCPS employees who live in Loudoun County to transfer their children to a different school, and to receive early notification of the result of their transfer request. I think it's important to find ways to offer benefits to LCPS employees, especially in years when budget constraints limit our ability to provide meaningful pay increases, and I will support this proposal.

Agenda for June 24, 2008

Tomorrow night's meeting features a few items that may be of interest to various folks.

• We'll vote on a change in the tobacco use policy to ban tobacco use at all times and in all places at LCPS.
• We'll vote on a new policy for comments and complaints. A few changes will be proposed at the meeting before the final vote.
• We'll vote on a change to the way that the staff investment program works (403B, similar to a private-sector 401k)
• We'll vote to affirm the purchase of the Rouse property pending Board of Supervisors approval. This one has been in the news recently.
  
• We'll also hear information about the dates for this fall's budget planning meetings, the name of the new high school in Leesburg, and dates for the Fall 2008 attendance boundary adjustment calendar.
• Finally we'll receive a presentation on Bylaws for a formalized Minority Student Achievement Advisory Committee (MSAAC).
  

LCPS has the board book online, complete with the text of the proposed policy changes, and the proposed MSAAC bylaws.

There are no meetings in July, we will reconvene on August 12th.

Week of June 9, 2008

We're in the thick of end-of-year recognitions, celebrations and graduations now.

Monday: I'll be at a faculty-sponsored dinner in honor of the Potomac Falls High School custodial staff. As I hear it the teachers will serve and the administrators will clean up.

Tuesday morning I'll attend the Douglass School awards ceremony, and then our twice-monthly Board meeting starts at 4pm. At this meeting, we will:

• Review (but not vote on) proposed changes to the Board's policy on Tobacco Use (section 6-40);
• Review (but not vote on) a proposed new policy for handling written comments and complaints from parents and students;
• Review the LCPS Head Start program; and
• Discuss attendance boundaries for a new High School to be build on the northern edge of Leesburg.

All of these items will be presented in the afternoon, before the Board breaks for dinner. Note that no votes will be taken during this time, we generally save those for the evening sessions when the public is better able to witness.

• We'll start again at 6:30 by honoring the many employees who have served LCPS for 25, 30, 35 and 40 years. There will be a reception afterwards, catered by students in the Monroe Technology Center culinary arts program
  
• Public comment time won't begin until after the reception, so if you come to speak you should anticipate a very late starting time.
  
• There are pro-forma action items regarding our Group Health Insurance plan, bonds to be issued for school site acquisition and construction, and the pre-purchase of diesel fuel and gasoline in 42,000-gallon allotments from the LCPS fuel contractor.

You can see the agenda online and download the "Board Book" with details from the LCPS website.

On Wednesday evening I'll be at the Monroe Technology Center graduation ceremony, and depending on how long that goes I may be also able to attend some or all of the Potomac Falls High School awards ceremony.

Thursday is the monthly meeting of the joint School Board/Board of Supervisors committee, 4pm at the school Admin building. On the agenda:

• A Proclamation Supporting Energy Efficiency in Public Buildings drafted by Tom Reed,
• Overview of Board of Supervisors Fiscal Policies,
• FY 10 Budget Calendar Adjustments,
• and a discussion on Collaboration/Consolidation of LCPS/County departments
  

Each of these items, in their own obtuse way, reflect ongoing tension between the two boards regarding budgeting and the cost of administering schools.

On Friday I will attend the dedication of a new playground at Potowmack Elementary in memory of third grad teacher Amanda Lorenzo, who died on April 19th.

Saturday evening is the graduation ceremony for the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. I'll be out of town earlier in the day and I'm still a little uncertain about whether I'll make it back in time for this one, but I'll try.

May 27th Meeting Agenda

At our next Tuesday meeting, the Loudoun County School Board will celebrate the Substitute Teacher of the Year, the Shenandoah University Teacher of the Year and the recognition of LCPS as one of the 100 Best Communities for Music Education.

We will also vote to approve the nomination of Blue Ridge representative Priscilla Godfrey as an At-Large member of the Board of Directors of the Virginia School Boards Association. Priscilla is a leader in our state, something I think more people should know.

A new high school will soon be built north of Leesburg, and there will be a presentation on attendance boundaries for that new school. The new school (currently referred to as HS-5) will need a name, so the Board has nominated a naming committee and those nominees (18 of them, and it appears four are students) will be presented for approval.

We will here a committee recommendation to prohibit the use of tobacco on all school property at any time. Current policy allows adults to use tobacco in designated areas out of sight of students.

There will be a presentation on energy conservation at LCPS, I will work to make that available online.

Finally, there will be presentations on our annual grant application under the No Child Left Behind act and special permission procedures for Aldie and Middleburg elementary schools.

See the full agenda here.

May 13 Board Meeting Preview

Tonight's meeting starts at 6:30pm with recognitions for some of LCPS's very best teachers. Some are visiting international faculty... teachers from other countries who come here for three years. Others have joined the elite ranks of their profession with national board certification. I look forward to hearing about their accomplishments and recognitions and applauding them with the rest of the board.

Following public comment, the Superintendent's report and Board member comments we'll consider final passage of new rules for "Selection and Review of Library Media Center Instructional Materials," which is primarily an overhaul of the procedures under which materials (including library books) can be challenged by parents. This is in the wake of the And Tango Makes Three controversy of a few months ago.

After that we'll receive a report on a $2.4 Million left over from seven school construction projects. The funds will be returned to the County. These are for schools that opened between 2003 and 2005.

If those numbers grab your attention, you'll be interested in the 3rd quarter financial review that projects an end-of-year surplus of $9.3 Million, or about 1.3% of the operating budget. I know that some folks will say the budget was over-funded. My own perspective is that 1.3% is pretty accurate, and good fiscal management.

Finally, one last item, an issue of easements regarding the new Stewart Weller Elementary School in Ashburn.

Download full agenda information: Agenda & Addedum (PDF)

Full Tuesday Agenda

If you're planning on attending the School Board meeting on Tuesday October 9th, or even just watching it on cable or the webcast, you might want to have a nap in the afternoon. It looks like it's going to be a marathon.

In addition to recognitions, delegations and the Superintendent's report, we'll be looking at:

• Adding state code to the School Board policies on the powers and duties of the school board,
• Hearing a report from the Special Education Advisory Committee
• Considering a request from Leesburg representative Sarah Smith for a study about adding certain special education services currently only offered by the private sector into the public school budget
  
• Hearing a report on changes in the cost per pupil
• Receiving a Fiscal Year 2007 Year-End financial review
• Hearing a report on Enrollment projections for 2008-2010
• Considering a proposal on land appraisals by Sugarland Run representative Joe Guzman.

Most of these items are likely to come with lengthy discussion, so it will be twice as long as a football game but without all the enthusiasm. I'll enjoy it from start to finish, because I'm just that kind of a policy geek.

Sept 25 Board Meeting Agenda

This next week's agenda looks like it will make for a short meeting.

• Once again there is a specific time set aside for public comment on next year's operating budget.
• We'll have recognitions and any public speakers, followed by the Superintendent's report, and committee reports.
• The consent agenda includes adoption of new Health & Music textbooks

The headliners for the night include reports on enrollment and new hires for the current school year. Folks who are interested in growth issues should tune in for the enrollment report to witness how fast we are growing as a district. I have encouraged my friends at the Loudoun NAACP to attend for the new hires report, which I'm sure will become a discussion of our progress in improving minority enrollment. See my previous post on the subject.

Tonight's Board Meeting

I don't think I've yet done a post on a Board agenda, but I should make it a practice. Here's the first. If you attend the Board meeting tonight, or watch it on cable or the Webcast, this is what you'll see:

• Presentation of new Elementary Music & Secondary Health textbooks
• A report on enrollment of the just-commenced school year
• The Board will declare its priorities for changes to the No Child Left Behind Act
• A presentation on minority achievement in response to the NAACP's presentation on August 14th.
• The proposed calendar for the 2008-2009 school year

It's likely to be a long and interesting (to we policy wonks) night.