##VIDEO ID:teolI9lL5M0## Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the February 4th, 2025 board business meeting. Welcome to our board members, M.c.p.s. Staff and community members. This is going to be an exciting board meeting. Now, I would like to begin by standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you everyone. Okay, now I'm going to ask my fellow board members to introduce themselves to establish a quorum. I'm going to start from my left hand side. Perennial Suvarna student, member of the board, excited to be here on this very exciting day. Good afternoon, Natalie Zimmerman representing district two. Good afternoon. Buenas tardes. Carla Silvestre, school board member at large. Good afternoon. Buenas tardes. Great Rivera-Oven. District one. Welcome to all our guests today. Good afternoon, Brenda Wolff. District five. Good afternoon, Rita montoya, board member at large. Good afternoon, Laura Stewart, district four. Thank you for being here. Good afternoon, Julie Yang. District three. Now, can I have a motion to approve our agenda? So moved. Second, all in favor, raise your hand. And that's unanimous. Before we get into the agenda items, I have an announcement to make. In December, we announced that the Board of Education will create. A advisory committee on communication and community engagement. And the goals of this committee are to strengthen community ties, improve transparency, and drive engagement on key initiatives. And in 2025, and this committee's focus will be on the upcoming boundary study related to the Crown. Woodward and Damascus High School construction projects. Okay, so the committee members of that committee, the goal is for them to work together with district leaders to strengthen the communication and engagement efforts. So now the board is seeking seeking individuals who are skilled in communication and engagement, especially with our very diverse communities. So if you are community leaders, passionate about building strong collaborative partnership, and you will be a great asset to this community's work. So this is going to go out there. We have send it to media. We have our board, social media and newsletter will will publicize this. And we encourage anyone that that has expertise and passion on this work to join us in this work. All right. So the application is on the board website. The deadline is Friday, February 28th. If you have any questions about this, please call or email our board office. So thank you everyone. Thank you everyone. So now Doctor Taylor this is going to be a milestone business meeting for you with some exciting appointments. Thank you, Madam President. I have several important appointments for the board's consideration today, so bear with me as I read some some exciting narratives about some of these fantastic people that I present to the board for consideration. Today, we will be recommending a slate of candidates to serve in the superintendent's cabinet and in chief office positions, joining the candidates in the audience today are the sitting members of our cabinet team, and thank you for being there to cheer them on today. First for consideration is Doctor Margaret S cage for the position of Chief Student Support Officer. Joining her are her husband, Byron Cage, and a personal friend, Margarita Gillespie. Doctor cage is an experienced educator with more than 25 years in public education. Throughout her career, she has served as a teacher, instructional coach, turnaround specialist, school principal, school district director, and state public education executive. She is passionate about fostering equitable, equitable, and inclusive learning environments that has always been dedicated to and has always been dedicated to, advocating for diverse learners. Doctor cage has worked with policy makers and education stakeholders to improve student outcomes, focusing on ensuring all students have the opportunity to thrive. Doctor cage is excited about the opportunity to join M.c.p.s. Where she can contribute to the district's mission of ensuring that every student has the academic, creative, problem solving and social emotional skills necessary to succeed in college and career. With a deep commitment to student well-being, family engagement, and supporting students and families with disabilities, she looks forward to working with M.c.p.s. To continue to enhance the educational experience for all of our learners, ensuring that they have the resources necessary to succeed. She would like to give a shout out to her family and friends who are wishing, who are watching online today. Her sister Debbie Smith, her niece Chantelle Gaytan, her sons Dexter Hartman and Byron Cage Junior, her daughter Riona Cage, and colleagues and friends from across the United States. Doctor cage is currently the Deputy secretary for Special Education in New Mexico, and she is excited to join our team. May I have a motion? I'm excited to move this forward. Second. All in favor? Raise your hand. And that's unanimous. Congratulations. Next for consideration, Miss Kaitlyn Conolly for the position of chief talent management officer. Miss Conolly has served for 16 years in K-12 education, with the past 12 focused in talent management. Miss Conolly currently serves as the Chief Talent Officer for the School District of Philadelphia. Prior to that, she served as the district's Chief of Strategy and as an Executive officer of Talent Strategy for the Houston Independent School District in Philadelphia. She contributed to significant improvements in employee hiring, onboarding, and customer service that led to the rollout of a new ERP system and supported cross-functional teams to execute the strategic plan in Houston, she translated a $1 million seed fund to develop a cost free Grow Your Own University program for over 140 teacher assistants, and led efforts to extend the reach of the district's best teachers to more than 7000 students. A former education researcher, policy analyst and teacher, Miss Conolly has built her career on a firm belief that all students can succeed when they have access to caring adults who are equipped to provide for their potential. She looks forward to joining the M.C.P.S. Community to support efforts to recruit, develop and retain an effective workforce of diverse professionals who contribute to the success of all students. Special shout out to her father, Mark Conolly, who will be watching online today. Move approval. Second, all in favor, raise your hand. And that's unanimous. Congratulations. No stranger to this room. Next up is Miss Kimberly R fields for the position of chief technology officer. Miss fields has been with M.C.P.S. For the last two and a half years. As the director of Business Information Systems. She believes technology should be used to enhance learning, foster collaboration and be a positive force that enriches the educational experience. To prepare students for success. By leveraging technology, we can create a more inclusive and engaging learning environment, allowing for greater flexibility in how and where learning takes place. Miss fields continues to be energized and ecstatic to serve the district, while leading the Division of Technology Services. She wishes to express her heartfelt and special thanks to her parents, her family and her friends from around the country who are watching today online. Move for approval. Second, all in favor, raise your hand. That's unanimous. It is my very distinct and special privilege to welcome home doctor Nia Hamlett for the position of Chief equity and Development Officer. Joining Doctor Hamlett today are her aunt, Kim Hubert Hunter, her uncle, Tim Hunter, her cousin C.J. Hunter, and great uncle and great aunt Larry and June Plummer. Doctor Hamlett is a dedicated educational leader with more than 20 years of experience, including 16 years in district leadership and the past four as superintendent of Chapel Hill Carrboro Schools in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She has championed equity and organizational development by building systems and structures that remove barriers, cultivate a culture of care, and ensure all students have access to high quality affirming education. Doctor Hamlett looks forward to returning home to M.C.P.S. To advance equity efforts that create meaningful, lasting impact and strengthen organizational systems for student success. She would like to give a special shout out to her family who are watching online today. Her mother Joanne, Carole, her husband Brian Hamlett and their three children Destin, Marley and Grayson, along with the plumber, Carole and Hamlet extended families, some of which who are here today. I would also like to make a special note that Doctor Hamlett and I also have a very special connection. In addition to our career paths crossing a number of times in Virginia and in other places that we share. A high school principal from M.C.P.S, my high school principal, Mr. Wayne Whigham, when he left my care as a student, I tried to take good care of him, but he went elsewhere. He went to Seneca Valley High School, where he had the privilege of serving as Doctor Hamlet's principal. I welcome Doctor Hamlet. You have to take a vote. Have to take a vote first. We do need to make this official. Yeah, I'm just going to move that for approval. I second all in favor, raise your hand. That's unanimous. Congratulations. Another familiar face on our team, Miss Nikki T Hazel for the position of chief academic officer. Joining her today is her fiance, Ron Porter. Miss Hazel has been employed with M.C.P.S. For nearly 30 years, beginning her career as an elementary school teacher. Throughout her tenure, she has held a variety of leadership roles, including principa curriculum supervisor, and curriculum director. Currently, she serves as the Associate Superintendent for Curriculum and instructional programs, and as she transitions into her new role as Chief Academic Officer, miss Hazel is excited to continue supporting the growth and successes of all students by ensuring that academic programs are effective, equitable, and meet the needs of all students. She would like to give a special shout out to her parents, Marty and Norma Morris, who are watching from Seattle, Washington, and her children, Joshua and Lauren, who are in school. Move for approval. Second, all in favor, raise your hand. That's unanimous. Congratulations. To. You. I didn't mention that she was the winner of the cheering section competition, but thank you. And you can see her team decked out in purple. Well represented today. Another familiar face to M.C.P.S, Mr. Adnan Mamoon for the position of Chief Operations Officer. Mr. Mamoon has been employed with M.C.P.S. Since September of 2024, serving as the Deputy Chief of Facilities Management. He is honored to step into this new role and is committed to supporting the Division of District Operations in its mission to enhance student success across M.C.P.S. He would like to give a special shout out to his wife, Sabrina, who is watching online. He is also. He also extends a shout out to his daughter Sabrina, who unfortunately can't tune in due to cell phone restrictions at her middle school. But his. Butt is with him in his thoughts today. Move for approval. Second, all in favor, raise your hand. That's unanimous. Congratulations. Next for the board's consideration is Doctor Peter O. Moran for the position of chief school leadership officer. Joining him today is his dad and best friend, Neil Moran, a mentor and mentor and dear friend, Don Chris. Doctor Moran has been employed with M.C.P.S. For 21 years as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, intern, principal, Director of Learning, Achievement and Administration, Associate Superintendent in the Office of School Support and Improvement, and most recently as the Chief of School Support and Improvement. He looks forward to continuing his work alongside an exceptional administrative support staff, a deeply committed team of directors and associate Superintendents to support and serve outstanding school leaders to aggressively work together to eliminate academic opportunity gaps. A special shout out to his wife Kathleen, and sons Luke and Mac. He also would like to honor his mother, who serves as his inspiration to do what is right and best for students. Move for approval. I second all in favor. Raise your hand. That's unanimous. Thank you. Congratulations. There is definitely a contest going on. Yeah, there's. There's definitely a contest, but I'm going to I'm going to give the gold to Nikki and the silver to Peter, but. Okay. Nice try. Yeah. All right. Our last recommended appointment for today is no stranger to M.C.P.S. And it's a delight to welcome her back to M.C.P.S. It's my pleasure to present Miss Robin and Seabrook for the position of general counsel. She is joined by her partner and number one cheerleader, Sean. Miss Seabrook has more than 20 years of experience in education, where she has a passion that began with the opportunity to serve as a classroom teacher in Philadelphia. Gosh, we are just Robin Philadelphia of town. Since then, she has led several leadership, several leadership positions and legal positions across the broad spectrum in areas that include the state Department of Education, K-12 districts, and higher education institutions. She also serves as the. She has also served in the past as a director of Our Own in Montgomery County's Board of Education. Miss Seabrook looks forward to returning to M.C.P.S. And service of our students, staff and the board to engage in this important work during a critical time in public education. She would like to give a special shout out with gratitude to her parents, brothers, and all of her friends and family who are watching online. She is sending love to her sudden son, Jaden, who she hopes is not watching right now because he should be sitting in a classroom. So thank you so much. This is Miss Seabrook. Move for approval. I second all in favor, raise your hand, and that's unanimous. Welcome back. Yes, miss Wolff, I just want to say congratulations to the cabinet, to the new members and to the returning members and to the members who stepped up, even though they knew what they were getting into. We know you have a lot of work in front of you, but it is really this is really an important time for M.C.P.S, because we need to have a renewed focus on customer service. And one of the things that Doctor Taylor has pointed out to us is that that is what he is intending to focus on. And as head of the Strategic Planning committee, it is a high level focus for us. So I just want to say welcome. I want to appreciate Doctor Taylor for elevating that issue, and we look forward to working with you. So on behalf of the Board of Education, congratulations to each one of you and best of luck in your new position. Let's give them another round of applause. As we are doing some transition, we are going to move to our next item, which is recognitions. We have three recognitions. Go ahead, Doctor Taylor. Thank you, Madam President. We have three very important recognitions. And the first one is top of mind because we have a ton of exciting calendar events and M.C.P.S. Tied to the celebration of African American History Month. It is my pleasure to present a resolution for the board's consideration recognizing African American History Month and its importance to not just the State of Maryland to the United States, but also to Montgomery County. The superintendent recommends that the Board of Education approve the recognition of African American History Month, whereas people of African descent have lived and shaped the history of Maryland since the arrival of Matthias de Sousa, a sailor and fur trader in Saint Mary's in in 1634. And whereas the United States of America has recognized and celebrated the history and achievements of African Americans since 1926 with the creation of History Week by Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. And Whereas Black History Month is celebrated annually during February throughout the United States to give recognition to black history achievements and African Americans who have influenced American history since 1976. And whereas, African Americans have fought to experience full freedom and equality in the United States, Maryland, and Montgomery County since slavery was legal until today through protest, self-determination, advocacy, and the use of the American legal system. And Whereas, African Americans, including in Montgomery County, have worked to preserve their history through the creation of museums, films, oral histories, books, and research, and whereas African American Marylanders have contributed significantly to American history, including the Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman, abolitionist Frederick Douglass, explorer Matthew Henson, jazz artists Eubie Blake, civil rights activist Gloria Richardson Dandridge, and civil rights lawyer and Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall. And Whereas, the Montgomery County Public Schools is committed to all students learning about the history of African Americans and contemporary African American content in its kindergarten through grade 12 curricula. And Whereas, Montgomery County Public Schools regularly partners with African American parents, guardians and caregivers, students, staff, and community partners to improve learning outcomes for African American students. And Whereas, Montgomery County Public Schools is engaged in addressing anti-Black hate to ensure African American students feel seen, valued and respected. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Montgomery County Board of Education and the Superintendent of Schools hereby declare the month of February 2025 to be African American History Month in Montgomery County Public Schools, may I have a motion? Move for approval. Second. All in favor? Raise your hand. That's unanimous. Thank you, Madam President. It is my pleasure to bring forward a resolution recognizing our nationally board certified professionals. The student, the superintendent, recommends the Board of Education receive a report and recognize educators who have earned certification from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. In December of 2024. And I'm going to read a truncated resolution, whereas the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards was established, has established a voluntary certification program to recognize outstanding teacher competency. And Whereas, the Maryland State Department of Education and Montgomery County Public Schools have participated in financial aid programs to encourage educators to engage in the rigorous process of becoming a nationally board certified teacher. Therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Education supports increasing the number of National Board certified teachers, and may it be further resolved that the Montgomery County Public Schools recognizes and appreciates the leadership skills and abilities of nationally board certified teachers that benefit our staff, students, and communities? And may it further be resolved that the Board of Education and the Superintendent of Schools urge all Montgomery County residents to join in recognizing and expressing their appreciation for these educators and the skills they bring to the students of Montgomery County Public Schools. And may it further be resolved that the Board of Education hereby recognizes the educators named on the attachment that's located on board docs. The attached list of those who have completed their National Board certified process and are receiving certification as of December 2024. Move for approval. Second. All in favor, raise your hand. That's unanimous. Congratulations to our nbcts. Yeah, our last recognition and last resolution for the board's consideration today is to recognize Career and Technical Education Month. And I'll read a truncated resolution for the board's consideration. Whereas the Montgomery County Public Schools and national education organizations have proclaimed February 2025 as Career and Technical Education Month. And whereas profound economic and technological changes in our society rapidly are reflected in the structure and nature of work, thereby placing new and additional responsibilities on our educational system. Therefore, be it resolved that the Montgomery County Board of Education and the Superintendent of Schools hereby declare February 2025 be observed as Career and Technical Education Month in Montgomery County Public Schools. Move for approval. I second. All in favor, raise your hand. That's unanimous. I think we are in the clapping mode today. It's a very great start for the for our meeting next. Thank you, Doctor Taylor. Madam president, if we could ask the CTE team that's in the back to please stand to be recognized. Thank you all so much for being here to represent. Thank you for your work every single day. Next on our agenda item. Just as exciting is public comments. We have 18 public comments today. We will go first to in person once. Then we will do the audio and virtual ones. And before we start, I have some guidelines for our public comment sector. It is not the board's practice during its business meeting to respond to questions, provide comments or take action on the issues raised. This is a public meeting and the board expects the conduct of all speakers and members of the audience to be within the bounds of proper etiquette, inappropriate, inappropriate personal remarks, rude retorts, or other such behavior is out of order and will not be tolerated. Those who demonstrate disruptive or disrespectful behavior during public comments may be asked to leave the room. In addition, public comment is not the proper venue to address specific student or employee matters. Such matters should be directed through the complaint or appeal process. Each speaker has two minutes to deliver comments. When your name is called, press the flat button and speak clearly into the microphone. A yellow light and a single beat indicate you have 30s remaining. A red light and repeating beats signal that time has expired. Once you have finished speaking, press the same button to turn off the microphone. Following live testimony, audio and video testimony will be played. Copies of testimonies are posted with the other materials for the meeting on board docs. So I'm going to call the first sixth speakers to come to the front. They are. Ananya. Nambudiri. Dash. I'm doing my best with the name, so bear with me. Duck. Jackie Beaudry. And. Grace song Sarah Razavi. Ella one. Daniella Wilson. And now you can proceed. Good afternoon, Doctor Taylor and members of the Board of Education. My name is Anika Nambudiri and I'm a junior at Northwest High School. I'm here today as an instrumental music student to urge you to prioritize funding for instrumental music programs as you finalize next year's budget. For many students, schools are our first opportunity to play an instrument. I remember eagerly waiting for our instrumental music lessons each week so I could learn new music and improve my skills. Since I started playing the violin in fourth grade, my amazing music teachers and conductors in my elementary, middle, and high schools have gone above and beyond to support my passion for music, providing us every opportunity to reach our full potential. However, many of our music teachers lack the resources to fully support us. Many students rely on school instruments, but they are often worn down and need repairs. While our instrumental music teachers do their best to provide for these instruments and students, they struggle to gather the necessary funds to support every young musician. Too often, instrumental music programs are overlooked when it comes to funding and support. However, music is far more than an extracurricular or elective for me. It's a community of lifelong friends, a safe space amidst the pressures of academics, and a gateway to essential life lessons that have shaped my identity, we learn the value of teamwork, resilience and dedication, teaching us vital lessons to our musical growth and shape our shaping our character to influence how we approach challenges in every aspect of our lives. As you move forward with next year's budget, I encourage you to prioritize the needs of our instrumental music programs. Every student should have the opportunity to follow their passions, and that starts with investing in our school's music departments. Thank you. Thank you. Doshi. Good afternoon, Doctor Taylor and members of the board. My name is Daksh Badri and I'm a 12th grader at Wootton High School. I'm here as the Fine arts equity director of the Lynn Harris Student Internship, and I'm here to discuss rebranding and promoting M.c.p.s Fine Arts programs to the public. M.c.p.s is a large, expansive school district comprised of numerous schools and fine arts programs with immensely talented musicians, singers, actors, and performers. These individuals deserve praise and popularity for their hard work and talent, yet they don't seem to receive the same level as recognition as athletic programs or other extracurriculars. While individual schools promote their concerts and productions, there's no centralized effort to showcase the sheer breadth of talent within M.C.P.S. Fine Arts. That's why we propose a rebranding of M.C.P.S. Fine Arts, one that treats our programs like a professional concert hall. Imagine an official M.c.p.s Fine Arts website that serves as a public facing hub for performances across the county, featuring band and orchestra concerts, theater productions, chorus shows, dance recitals, and all other fine arts events, this website would allow students and families to stay informed of upcoming performances and engage the broader Montgomery County community, making it easy for those outside of M.c.p.s to purchase tickets and experience the artistic excellence within our schools. Additionally, we can introduce a ten show Fine Arts Pass where community members can purchase a pass that grants entry to any ten M.c.p.s. Fine arts events of their choosing at a discounted price. This revenue, the revenue generated from ticket sales and passes, would directly be invested into elementary, middle, and high school fine arts programs, ensuring that students continue to have high quality arts education and resources by elevating M.c.p.s Fine Arts to a professionally branded, community accessible level, we can bring greater recognition and financial support to these programs while fostering a greater appreciation for arts across Montgomery County. My Fine Arts Equity Committee in the Lynn Harris Student Internship would gladly collaborate to create this fantastic opportunity. Thank you and have a great day. Thank you Grace. Good afternoon Doctor Taylor and members of the board. My name is Grace song and I'm currently in 11th grade attending Wootton High School. I'm here to address the critical underfunding in our high school instrumental music program, which is struggling as a result. This underfunding is impacting instrument quality, student access and ultimately the numerous benefits of music education. I've been in the instrumental music ever since elementary school, but noticed a concerning trend in student participation that dwindles in high school. Consequently, the program is overlooked because of increasing costs and inefficient time. Because of this, students have to share moldy, peeling instruments which compromise their quality, and using unclean instruments raises concern for health. In addition, the cost of instruments is a major issue, creating multiple problems sharing instruments makes it incredibly difficult to get instrument maintenance directly, affecting their quality and hindering all students ability to play well. While instrument cleaning and maintenance are crucial for sanitation, the lengthy 5 to 10 day repair turnaround makes it impractical. This leaves not one, but several students who fall behind in music education to pay for these transactions. Students or even our own educators have paid out of pocket to get these instruments fixed. Instrument cleaning can cost as much as $300, while repairs range from $500 to a staggering $1,000. To address this critical issue, students are taking initiative to address the high cost of instrument maintenance through fundraising, concerts, fruit sales and partnerships with local donation clubs. While helpful, these efforts are not a sustainable, long term solution to the program's funding challenges. Music offers a powerful outlet for self-expression and emotional well-being, inspiring students to pursue their dreams. The passionate individuals I've connected with through music are bright and intelligent, and their enthusiasm lights a spark in others. Strengthening instrumental music programs enhances cognitive and social skills which are valuable to a wider range of students. With improved instruments and adequate funding from M.c.p.s. Increased participation is virtually guaranteed. Therefore, we urgently request increased funding from the Board of Education to adequately support our instrumental music program. Thank you for your time. Thank you Sarah. Good evening. Members of the Montgomery County Board of Education. My name is Sarah Razavi and I'm a junior at Walt Whitman High School. I stand here today to advocate for the prioritization of sustainable practices across Montgomery County. First, I'd like to acknowledge Montgomery County's positive changes regarding its sustainable efforts. This includes working alongside the Charles Coiner Conservancy for Urban Farming, providing equal educational opportunities, improving food insecurity, and promoting land conservation for all. I'm sorry for all Montgomery County students. While these efforts have laid a strong foundation for students, there are still pressing, pressing, climate related issues prominent in our community. American public schools serve millions of students breakfast and lunch each day. The way we source, prepare, and distribute this food is vital to addressing the rising health concerns of American youth. The majority of school meals, especially those provided by large corporations, contain process and low nutrients. Foods that contribute to increasing obesity and diabetes rates. The majority of these meals. Additionally, plastic utensils, styrofoam trays, and single use packaging undermine Montgomery County's sustainable efforts. The introduction of compost bin would address these critical aspects of sustainability. Waste management by composting leftover food scraps and other biodegradable materials, Montgomery County can prevent significant amounts of waste from being put into landfills, and instead allow it to naturally decompose in school gardens. Additionally, transitioning to biodegradable trays. Yes, to transitioning to biodegradable trays and reusable cutlery will decrease our waste production. In addition to improving our meal sustainability, shifting our reliance to renewable energy sources such as the implementation of solar panels would significantly decrease our annual greenhouse gases. Our student body recognizes Montgome County's dedication and commitment to combating climate change. And by expanding these preexisting initiatives, we can create a county that empowers the students to take environmental stewardship. Thank you. Thank you. Ella. Good afternoon, members of the board and Doctor Taylor. My name is Ella Warren. I'm an eighth grader at Neelsville Middle School, and I'm here today to encourage you to keep the Division of Sustainability in compliance for fiscal year 26. I originally planned to give this testimony at one of the budget hearings, but I was waitlisted instead. That alone shows how many people in our community care about the future of M.c.p.s. And I hope you will listen to all of our voices. 2024 was officially the hottest year on record with extreme heat waves, wildfires and other climate disasters becoming more frequent, including the recent and devastating fires in Southern California. Scientists warn that if we don't take immediate action, these dangerous trends will only continue. At a time when school systems should be leading the way on sustainability, we are instead considering eliminating the very division that ensures our schools are environmentally responsible and safe. The Division of Sustainability and Compliance has been crucial in ensuring that our county meets our climate goals to reduce emissions by 80% by 2027 and 100% by 2035. Removing this division would be a major step backwards, undermining years of progress and sending the wrong message to students who are looking to M.c.p.s for leadership on environmental issues. Getting rid of it not only contradicts our school system's commitment to sustainability, but equity as well as climate change disproportionately harms low income and marginalized communities. If m.c.p.s. Truly values innovation and student success, then sustainability must remain a priority. I urge you to reconsider this decision and protect the future of our schools, our students, and our planet. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Wilson. Hello, president Yang, Superintendent Taylor, and members of the Board of Education. I'm Daniella Wilson, MCA vice president. It's great to be with you all on a day that marks some new beginnings. I want to begin by congratulating all the new M.c.p.s. Chiefs on their appointments. Finding the right people for these positions has taken a lot of time, and we have faith in your commitment to helping our students and educators succeed. MCA members look forward to working together with you and Doctor Taylor to help students achieve their full academic potential, while striving to improve equity and opportunity across the district. This could also be an auspicious day, despite Punxsutawney Phil predicting another six weeks of winter earlier this week. My hope, at least when it comes to next year's budget, is the prospect of an early spring the operating budget that this body could tentatively adopt today would meaningfully address significant challenges, including special education, English language development and school safety in this district. While we know that this budget does not address all the concerns that educators, students, and parents have, we know that adopting this budget moves us in the right direction. And while the overarching budget will move us forward, we know that the change in seasons can be difficult. It is important that MCE members affected by the reorganization in Central Office are dealt with fairly and in accordance with our collective bargaining agreement. This requires the timely issuing of job descriptions for any newly created positions. If the board tentatively adopts this operating budget, you will be sending a message to our funding partners, the County Executive and the County Council, that this is a budget that needs to be taken seriously. But we know that voting for it is the is only the first step in ensuring that the budget is adopted later this year. I am asking you all today to not only vote to adopt this budget, but to become ardent champions for funding this budget alongside MCE members who understand that this budget will help secure US funding for improvements that have long been needed. Let's prove Punxsutawney Phil wrong a longer budget winter is not inevitable. If we come together to champion this operating budget for our students. Thank you, thank you. I'm going to call the next set of six speakers to come forward. Mark Simonson, Kelly Isoquant, Lindsay. Walberg, Stephanie Shorter, Leticia Soto, and Sonia. Carolina Bonilla. Mr. Simonson, please go ahead. Turn it on. One more time. There you go. Hello, superintendent Taylor and members of the board. My name is Mark Simonson. My children have attended or currently attend Magruder High School. According to the 1790 census, Colonel Zadok Magruder enslaved 26 individuals. Two years ago, in February of 2023, the first step of a five step process was taken, whether whether or not to rename Magruder High School. Since then, steps two, three, and four have been completed. Step five remains. Step five is the Board of Education votes. Whether or not to rename Magruder High School. Help me and the community at large understand what else has to happen for the board to simply vote. Whether or not Magruder High School will be renamed. I'll close with something. Doctor Martin Luther King Jr said it was known to say it's always the right time to do the right thing. Thank you. Thank you. Miss Isken. Go ahead. Good afternoon. My name is Kelly Isoquant and I'm a proud M.c.p.s. Alumni community advocate, parent of three M.C.P.S. Grads and an SEIU staffing specialist in the Department of Talent Acquisition. My seven colleagues, some of whom have joined me here today, and I were informed that the FY 26 operating budget has cut our positions. When my career started in 1998 as a paraeducator, I could not have guessed that 27 years later, I would be in a position to build relationships with hiring managers, from chiefs to building service managers, while hiring for extremely important positions, such as the 500 new paraeducators that are coming on board to security assistance and everything in between. As the gatekeepers for 13,000 support staff, we touch every school in office. We already remove the layers by guiding navigation of our very complex system. We stand in the bureaucratic gap between central offices and stakeholders by leveraging our historical expertise of over 450 positions with the intimate knowledge of what it means to be a support professional in this county with the highest degree of customer service. We are a diverse team of multilingual individuals, deeply invested in anti-racist practices reflective of the population we serve. SEIU has worked for many years to dismantle the perception that M.C.P.S. Places a lower value on support staff in the operating budget. Presentation slides. In December, I was struck by one slide that read M.C.P.S. Values public education and educators. If we want to be able to recruit and retain the highest qualified candidates for these extremely critical support positions, with student success as our guiding light, it's critically important that our staff feels valued by the system we serve by eliminating positions, converting them to administrative positions, and limiting growth opportunities while publicly excluding our valuable role in student success. The retention of qualified support staff will become immediately and increasingly difficult. We would like to ask for your reconsideration of the elimination of staffers for FY 26. Thank you. Miss Walker. Good afternoon. My name is Lindsay Wahlberg and I'm the instructional specialist for the cryo program. I would like to first express my gratitude for Cryo's inclusion as a separate line item in the budget. This year for the first time ever, but there's more work to be done. We need continued transparency in staffing and budget for cryo, including rationale for involuntary transfers for FY 26 at a prior work, group board member Montoya specifically asked if the proposed $1.6 million budget for cryo was an add on. In addition to this year's budget, no one at the table directly answered her question. I don't think that's the case, however, since some current staff have been cut for next year, Emls receive additional funding from the state via weighted funding formula. For many years, cryo has not received anywhere near equity in funding for our specific student population. Existing staff has been involuntarily transferred. Why? If the budget is truly increasing and we are expanding, why are these cuts necessary? You're eliminating some of our most experienced and connected staff. Additionally, I'd like to examine placement as an academic program. We face many operational and funding barriers due to this program label. We when we are really a school. This was a key recommendation of the external evaluation completed and presented to the board last summer. Faced with severe staffing shortages this year, Osci stepped up to provide emergency support to our evening program. We should be a school and we should be staffed as such. Finally, please involve current cryo staff in the plan for cryo. Plus, you've heard a lot from cryo staff, students, and parents over the past two years as we've advocated for equity for our unique student population. Older Emls who are unlikely to meet graduation requirements before aging out. The GED option program is a partnership between the district, MSD and the Department of Labor, and is intended to target the subgroup that historically is extremely underserved. Graduation rates for Emls are consistently 25 to 30 percentage points below the overall. The plan to incorporate non emls is news to cryo staff. It's not too late for us to fix this. I urge our Central Office leadership to partner with the on the ground teachers and staff to develop a stronger plan to equitably serve our students and treat our staff with respect. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Shaw. So good afternoon. I have been an educator for ten years and have worked in various departments and schools. In 2020, I started working at cryo. Being a teacher in cryo has been a true pleasure. Joy to be part of a wonderful team and students has been an honor for me. When I began working in Korea, there was no curriculum developed for the program. The previous instructional specialist goal was to just make the students happy. This, of course, did not align with our current instructional specialist. High expectations for our students. As a team, we developed a rigorous curriculum that would meet the needs of our ESL students. Cryo is a unique program which requires specialized instruction. In recent board meetings, Doctor Taylor has mentioned Cryo Plus Night School. The idea left me puzzled. What is cryo plus night school? Is it additional opportunities for our current M.L. Students to excel in their education? Is it another learning pathway for them to graduate? Current cryo staff members have not been involved in the planning process of this, and has left us with uncertainty of the program's future. Why are we not part of the planning process when we are the ones who know the program best? This year we had a meeting for a student needing special education services. This process took over a year to hold a determination meeting. Our student qualified for services, but the only services that were presented had to be during the morning at the student's home school. These services are not accessible because the student works during the day and attends school in the evening. The student is the only source of income for the family. As a former special education teacher, I am appalled that the student did not receive the services they qualified for and needs to succeed. If cryo was a school instead of a program, it would establish a sense of security and continuity. It would guarantee adequate funding and staffing. Being under the leadership of SSI is in the best interest for cryo to continue growing and flourishing. Thank you, thank you. We have another Miss Shaw thought. Go ahead, mom and daughter. Oh, that's why that explains it. Thank you for both for being her Good afternoon. My name is Leticia Chantel and I have been part of cryo since 2000 2017. With a wealth of knowledge and experience, I have seen cryo grow and gain success year after year. In recent years, I have seen and experienced some major inequities. I acknowledge that we are working towards fixing this, but I want to know why. Why we had to go through those inequities at all. As a PCC, I have built a close relationship with my students and their families. This school year, we had a student diagnosed with diabetes. In the first week of school, we had two medical emergencies and had to call the ambulance for both. We were told at the start of the school year that we would have a nurse, but we were lied to. We asked for help and it fell on deaf ears. As a team, we thought that the 504 might help. During the 504 meeting, we were told that our student did not necessarily need access to the nurse's office because he could simply inject himself in the classroom. We asked if they could be a meal prepared for him, and we were told that M.C.P.S. Does not provide this and the students will need to bring their own food. We thought that the meeting would provide help, but it didn't. It just confirmed a lack of care. Our student was unable to work and had zero support from home. I went with him to the hospital. I went to his appointments. I spoke with his care team. I brought him food and learned everything I could about diabetes. We asked for help again and we were told to send him back to his home school. How is this right? Why is it time after time we are met with roadblocks? Why do we have to fight so much when we have shown how successful the program is and how dedicated our students are, we want to be a part of the decision making process that will impact our student's life. All SSI has proven to be a partner in this fight, not our current leadership. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Bo'nina. Bo'nina am I saying it right? Hello, vanilla. Hello, my name is Sonia Bonilla. I'm a para educator. Aria career is a wonderful program. The program's main focus is to support students who will not meet graduation requirements and are emergent multilingual learners. In addition, they have the opportunity to gain career certifications and earn their GED. Our curriculum is specially designed to meet the needs of MLS. For the past few years, gray has been neglected by the system, but specifically by the people with decision making power. I often find myself asking, why are some people against such a valuable program? Is it because they do not believe in our students potential? Is it because the students we serve are immigrants? Or is it because people don't think they deserve a high quality education? It is especially troubling when key members of the program have been involuntarily transferred, thus weakening the very program we have been fighting for. Without these key members, gray is set to fail. No one else will give as much of themselves to the gray students as they have. Running a program like gray doesn't just need people with the highest level of education. It takes unwavering dedication, a deep love for the students, and a commitment to help them build a bright future. Grad students work eight, ten, sometimesven 12 hours a day, and still go to school at night. That is how much they value education. Attending school at night is their only option because they have to work in order to survive. Let's not add more barriers to their journey. Instead, let's support them and give them what is, by law, their rights as students. Let's not be the rocks and potholes in their path. Let's be the ones who help them build a bridge to success. Because after all, they are the future. And let's not forget that by investing in their education, we are investing not just in their future, but in ours too. Thank you. Thank you so much. At this time, I'm going to call the last in person speaker, Andrea Madonna, to come to the front. Yeah. Thank you for being here. You can press the button to begin. Good afternoon. My heart is heavy for my children and many others left in the wake of the virtual Academy's closure. I appreciate the efforts behind the blended learning program, but for my children, it simply does not meet their needs. They are not asynchronous learners, and the blended model doesn't offer the flexibility or safety the MVA did. The Virtual Academy was a lifeline, a bridge to a world where my children could thrive despite their challenges. My daughter wakes up every day as a triple minority, disabled black female child. From the moment she opens her eyes, she faces barriers most can't imagine. And when she looks at your curriculum, she doesn't see herself reflected in your lessons, your stories, or your world. The absence of disabled people in M.C.P.S. Curriculum is profound. It's a harsh reminder that the system doesn't see or value her. The MVA was one of the few places where she didn't feel this way. It provided a space where she belonged. It was equity in action. She has comorbidities, including life threatening allergies, and the MVA allowed her to learn safely without constant fear of exposure. That brick and mortar schools can't guarantee. Beyond academics, the MVA offered opportunity. Debate teams, accelerated math and creative writing. My sons learned to read with Mrs. Evans, worked on articulation with Mrs. Marshall, grew Lima beans with Mrs. Monti, and showcased their artwork at Montgomery Mall. Thanks to Mrs. Bramson, all while receiving necessary medical treatments, chest therapy, breathing treatments, continuous feed without missing a beat. But now that safety and opportunity are gone, too many children are slipping through the cracks, including mine. I plead with you to fully fund a synchronous virtual program, a program that extends your classrooms into our homes and truly lives out equity, especially for our most vulnerable students. You pledge to fight for Dei and virtual learning is equity. Don't forget us. See us. Thank you, thank you. Can the M.C.P.S. TV play the one audio and full video testimony, please? Hi everybody. My name is Audrey and I am seven years old. I want to be the first Salvadoran woman astronaut ever. Can you help me with that? Please support the blended learning program and have it open to all students like me. I love my mom so much, but sometimes I would like to meet new teachers too. As I get older, I need more education. It would be great if all kids had that, because some of us cannot go to in-person school because of our own health. I want to I want to protect my great grandma and learning virtually lets me keep her and my all my family safe and healthy. Please support the blended learning program so I can be the first Salvadoran woman astronaut ever. Thank you. Hi everyone! My name is Amelia. I'm a first grade in the blended learning program and I love broccoli. You call this a broccoli budget because it's the things kids need, not just extra stuff. And a virtual school is something kids need. My teachers in the BRP are very kind, but it's not a real school. I only get a few classes and I don't have a real school community like I learned about in social studies. May I please have a real school that won't go away, where I can have all my classes, make friends, and be in a yearbook so people know I'm here? Too. Some kids cannot go to school in person and they need a real virtual school. It's the only way they can learn if all we have is BRP, then it's like giving most kids a full lunch that can't be taken away. They're giving the rest of the kids a small snack that can be taken away at any time. Is that fair? Is this budget is for things kids need then? Then a real virtual school is something kids need. Please pass the broccoli. Thank you. Good afternoon. Budgets are moral documents. They tell us not just what we can afford, but who and what we value. I've sat through every board meeting since June, hearing demands that we spend our money on programs that work. And that is exactly why I'm here. Because we had a program that worked, but it's not yet in this budget. When you gave us a full time virtual school, it primarily served black and Hispanic students enrolled twice the M.C.P.S. Average of students with disabilities, and was predominantly Farms recipients. These weren't families looking for convenience. These were students already on the wrong side of the opportunity gap. And yet we made a choice to get rid of their school. We talk about equity, but who are we actually choosing to serve? Because right now we're choosing not to serve students with disabilities who can't physically or mentally function in an in-person environment. Black and Hispanic students who are finally in an academic environment where they could thrive. Military families, low income families who are already struggling with stability. Some of these students in person school is impossible due to medical or mental health challenges, sensory overload, being bullied or assaulted. Some simply cannot learn in a traditional setting. Does their reading performance matter to life is about to get even harder for these families. Budgets will tighten, equity measures will be rolled back, and the kids that we are failing right now will fall further behind. The fiscal cost of a virtual school is not the issue. We're already spending millions on inefficient programs that serve fewer students at higher cost. A permanent virtual school is not about extra spending. It's about using the funding that we already have in a way that actually works. But the real cost, the human cost is met, can't be measured in dollars. What does it say about our values when we fill some gaps but leave these wide open? What does it say about our priorities when we walk away from a proven solution? What does it say about our morals when we knowingly push the most vulnerable students further into the margins? The NVA, the kids who thrived in NVA are gone. They're still here, still struggling, still waiting for you to see them. I want to thank Doctor Taylor and Miss Zimmerman, Miss Stuart, for leaning into the issue, and asked President Yang to be intentional about the board's fundamental mandate to provide schools that can educate every child in our county. We hope and pray that you'll take action for us. Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Sterling High, and I'm testifying on behalf of the Maryland Coalition for Virtual School Access, a statewide organization of families and educators fighting to ensure access to local or regional public virtual schools across Maryland. Over the past year, we have worked with families across the state who, like Montgomery County families, were displaced when their virtual schools were eliminated. And what we have found is undeniable. The demand for comprehensive virtual schools is broad and enduring. The board has even acknowledged the need for access to a virtual school by listing it as one of your legislative priorities, yet instead of taking action to achieve that goal, the board is trying to shift responsibility to the state to educate these students instead of educating them like any other Montgomery County student. But these children are a part of this school system and deserve the same commitment to their education as any other student. And let's be clear about funding. Virtual schools are not taking resources away from other students. They are using allocated resources to educate those students where they are receiving their education, just like any other school. And while M.c.p.s previously chose to fund the NVA mostly through central funding, it could instead choose to fund a virtual school directly with per pupil allocations. The point is, this is not about resource scarcity. It's about priorities. The state has already provided the framework and the funding comes with the student. Comer explicitly states that virtual schools are public schools, and Maryland law makes clear that each county board is responsible for providing schools that serve every child, not just those whose health and circumstances allow them to safely attend in person. The tools are in your hand. Now it's the time to use them. M.C.P.S. Has a choice. Continue losing students and turning its back on families who need this type of access, or to reinstate a virtual school and ensure that every student in Montgomery County has access to the education that they need. The right answer is clear. Now. We need you to make the right decision. Thank you. Hello. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to speak regarding the M.c.p.s. Budget. My name is Tina Pfeiffer, and my husband and I are the proud parents of a first grader at M.c.p.s. My son is autistic and has received services in Montgomery County since he was three years old. And in that time, we have been very impressed with all the speech and occupational therapists, teachers, parents and staff who have helped our son along the way. And I'd also like to recognize the superintendent and the board for your hard work and dedication. Your job is not an easy one. I care deeply about ensuring all the children who attend M.c.p.s. Receive a high quality education according to their needs, as I'm sure you do, and I deliver these words based on conversations I've had with other parents of autistic children across the county. I'd like to start by reflecting on the last budget cycle, when the Darnestown Elementary Learning Center was cut entirely. Many of the students who attended this program and their families were adversely and deeply impacted by this, by this cut, and the manner in which this high impact decision was made late in the budget review cycle, with very little notice to affected parties, constituted a major failure of the M.C.P.S. Budget review process. I encourage all those involved in the budget review process this year to take steps to mitigate public concern and put the school system on a path towards adequately serving the needs of autistic students. These steps include adjusting the budget to ensure the continuation and enhancement of autistic specific programs, including the Cap program, Autism Connections, and the Secondary Autism Resource Services programs. Other crucial steps, including additional training for general education teachers and additional hiring of special education teachers and parents, as included in Superintendent Taylor's budget, which I strongly support. Thank you. That concludes the public comment for today. I want to open up to my colleagues, for colleagues, for any comments or questions. I'm going to start from my right hand side, Miss Stewart. Yes. I wanted to see if we could clarify where the Division of Sustainability and Compliance will be covered for the concerns of the students that talked about that. We can actually ask Mr. Mamoon to come on up. I think our students will be delighted to learn that instead of sustainability being a standalone, separate item, that it would be integrated into how we do everyday business, which is critically important. Next step for us to elevate that work. So I'll let Mr. Mamoon elaborate. Yeah. Thank you, Doctor Taylor. Yes. Thanks for the question as well. Of course. I mean, we understand that our focus and the importance on sustainability and compliance, and that is a very big piece of what we do on a day to day basis. So that entire team is remains intact. It is just under a different reporting structure under the Department of Maintenance, which because there is a lot of overlapping work that both the teams do together. And we you know, that that team fits well under that, you know, division. So that, you know, as we collaborate and look at building issues and compliance issues as well as sustainability, that's where we think the team fits better. That's great news. If we could maybe follow up with the students later as we get that team shifted and continue that connection, because I know it is a really important issue for the next generation. So I appreciate your answer. Absolutely. Miss Montoya. Thank you. And I know we're going to get into this item a bit more later further down the agenda. But in case Mr. Simonson can't stay for the entire time, we basically don't want to pay for it twice. Right. If we rename now and then have to reprint signs and all of these things later, we're basically doing it twice and it's costing the taxpayers twice. So again, I know there's going to be more discussion and those things, but I know you were talking about the McGruder renaming in terms of the budget, right, of it coming out of the budget and following the steps. Thank you. So this is not a time to engage about a specific item discussion at the moment. I will I think Mr. Simonson have a way either stay for the meeting or watch it online for the conversation. Thank you. Any other comments or questions? Mr. Savona? Yes. Thank you. Sorry I skipped my mind. I'll let someone come back. That's okay. I'll come back to you, miss Zimmerman. I was just going to thank everyone for coming and for their advocacy for all these different things that are brought to the table. It's really impactful and really great to hear from the community. And it's also really wonderful to have a community that's so passionate and engaged with education issues. So thank you very much, Miss Sylvester. Yes. I just wanted to ask Doctor Taylor. The board has been getting a lot of emails, and we heard today about positions being eliminated. Could you just expand a bit more in terms of the restructuring and what it means, how that's being interpreted as eliminated? What does that mean? Yeah, absolutely. And this is a broccoli budget. It is a it is a budget of sacrifice. It is not a budget of unlimited wants. It's a very large request that the board has to consider today. And it is just one step in the budget process that's far from concluded. We are making position changes and in a number of different areas we are consolidating layers and consolidating things. This will adversely impact some of our employees for sure. This is not exciting. It's not delightful. It's not it's not fantastic. And it certainly needs to be said that our staff should and can advocate for themselves when decisions like this come about. That being said, this is an opportunity for us to streamline our work, for us to be selective about the work that we can do centrally moving forward. And we absolutely owe it to our employees. As was stated by our associations, when they have testified before the board that there is a process that preserves their rights within our structure and that we honor timelines and that we honor those processes moving forward, we have created several involuntary transfers, but it's important to note that t are not reductions in force, that we are committed to our employees and finding great places for our team to stay intact, even though it may not be in the role that they're currently in right now. Thank you, Mr. Savona. Yes. Thank you. It came back to me. First of all, I just want to thank M.C.P.S. Staff for clarifying that on the sustainability side, I think that's really important for students to know we are not, you know, Decommitting from our work to sustainability is very, very important to us. We just want to make sure it's in a place where it can make the most impact. And like we were mentioning earlier, that's under maintenance. And then also, if we could ask M.c.p.s staff and board staff to follow up with the fine arts, some of the fine arts students, you know, there was a recommendation out there about, you know, maybe a fine arts website and just, you know, talking over talking with the students. As someone who has been in a lot of fine arts programs, I know you know just how much, you know, funding some of that, some of those programs get and understanding that this is a boli budget. What can we do to just make life easier for some of those fine arts students? From a board perspective? Thank you, Miss Rivera-Oven. Yes. Thank you. I also like to thank especially the students, some of them in eighth grade, who who come and testify so eloquently for their advocacy starting early, because we learn so much from from our youth, because they're the ones who get affected directly with the decisions that we make. I want to thank also the folks from Crayola and for their advocacy. I just asked administration if we could listen to what they're saying about being involved in the program. These are folks who have dedicated years of their lives to a program that, honestly has been neglected for many, many years. We heard that, you know, they they they did their own curriculum. In order for these people to be able to learn and feel that they were part of the system. So these are folks who truly care, who have spent their time away from their families and putting their efforts and love into students who are probably one of the highest, most vulnerable and most needy that we have in our system and who want to learn. And as a board of education, our job is to ensure that every young person gets that opportunity to be able to learn. So I want to thank the administration for putting the focus on craft for expanding, you know, but this is not we're not done. We're just resuscitating the program that was neglected for years. And it will be great for us to have a dialog with the folks who are frontline, who are taking care of the young students that truly need it. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Wolff. Thank you. I just wanted to second what O'Neill was talking about in terms of fine arts. It would be helpful if there was one place we could go to identify what's going on in all of our schools, because many a time I've driven by high school and seeing that there is an activity going on that I would have attended had I known. So just having a central location where you could go see the dates and buy tickets even would help. Thank you. And Doctor Taylor, as our system is engaging in this recapturing or restructuring, I think one of the things we do need to think about is the professional development for all staff, but especially for staff in the SEIU unit, because there should be opportunities for everyone that seek professional development, and we sho encourage that and help them to be able to get to their best potentials. That's the one area I think that needs strengthening. Thank you. That concludes the public comment session, and we are going to move on to the consent items. I'm going to turn to my board members to see if there are any consent items you will request to be pulled for clarifications. Yes. Miss Silvestre, yes, I would like to pull the consent item. 6.8 Supplemental Appropriation for Clean bus. Clean school bus grant. Okay. Any other items? 6.1 Monthly Financial Report. If we could just get an overview of what we need to know that is included in the report. So 6.86 1.10 pool. May I have a motion to approve all the other items in bulk. So moved. Second. All in favor raise your hand. So we have 123456. So seven board members. And to sustain to oppose. So are you asking me if I abstain? Yes, yes I abstain okay. Thank you. Yes. Can we move on to item 6.8, please? Miss Silvestri, I'm assuming you just want to break down to explain a little bit about what this is, especially since we've had some news of late. We have changed some of our business arrangements with one of our vendors. And to connect some of the dots for the public as to what this is and connect that to some of the news that's been recently been released. I'm going to invite Miss Maguire to do a little bit of a breakdown of this and the news that we recently shared. Thank you. You read my mind. Certainly. Thank you. And this this appropriation that's being requested here is to secure grant funds which were previously applied for and busses that are already in order. So as was mentioned, we are reworking our our release arrangement with, with Highland Electric because we do need to maintain a mixed fleet. We need to pause our expansion of electric busses and really ensure that we can maintain the continuity of operations for the fleet and work with the electric fleet that we have. However, securing busses, procuring busses is a long process. You order them approximately 18 to 24 months in advance, so we will still receive the busses that are already in order. And this grant represents a part of that process. We will we will continue to receive busses in terms of the shipment. That again, is already on order and will come in this summer. This grant will help us secure some of that, and we will still continue to have a relationship with head around our existing fleet and will continue to work with them. However, we are going to pause that expansion so that we can really focus on our operational efficiencies. Where is the grant coming from? This grant is I didn't see that in the I apologize. And while she's looking that up, I just want to take this moment to say, even though we're changing our relationship with our electric bus vendor, this doesn't diminish our commitment to sustainable efforts in the community and particularly in how we transport our students to school. This actually, even though it is a pause in our expansion of the electric bus program, it is an opportunity for us to look at a number of different options for us to explore this space and for technology to advance to where it can play to our advantage a little bit better. So and it is a grant from the federal EPA, Environmental Protection Agency. The Clean school bus program does come through the federal EPA. Okay. Thank you. Now let's move on to 6.10. What would be your question, Miss Alfonso Windsor, if you could, just as the head of fiscal management committee, I just want to highlight our fiscal management report. And if you just want to tell us, what do we need to know in this month's report? Sure. And thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share that information. As we discussed at our last Fiscal Management Committee meeting, we M.C.P.S. Started the fiscal year with a deficit that we recognized in September, and we've been making strides towards making sure that we end the fiscal year, you know, in a good place. We instituted a spending restrictions, effective October, and I'm happy to report that we are moving toward that direction. This year decreases the deficit, the spending deficit by another $900,000. Overall, we are more in a positive because of the revenue changes that we have received. So right now we are in the positive by $7.7 million. But in terms of our operating budget, we will have to go with a supplemental. If we don't decrease the deficit from I believe we're now at 2.9 all the way to zero before June, but that supplemental will be from our fund balance. It wouldn't be, you know, anything additional that the county would have to provide us. But we are making progress. Like I said, our deficit has decreased by 900,000, and that is considering the emergency days that we had earlier, you know, in January, that was at a cost of about $800,000. So, you know, in in spite of that additional expenditure, you know, we are making progress towards, you know, being in a in a good financial place. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. May I have a motion to approve 6.8 and 6.10 in bulk move approval I second okay. All in favor raise your hand. And that's unanimous. Thank you everyone. And we are going to go to our next agenda item is. The fiscal year 2026 operating budget. Doctor Taylor. Now I before we get into the presentation, I really want to highlight some of the things that got us here. I first want to thank our community for engaging in this important topic around the M.c.p.s operating budget. In the past three weeks, the board has held three work sessions, two public hearings, and three information sessions to provide members of our community with opportunities to learn, discuss and advocate around issues that's critical to M.c.p.s. Operations. Hundreds of pupils. I saw a great number online, some great student turnout at Paint Branch have participated in these events, and we have appreciated the community's interest. I want to thank the board staff for their work in coordinating and facilitating these efforts. Now, I would also like to thank Doctor Taylor and his team sitting right here in this room for your availability, diligence and clarity in preparing this budget and elevating the public conversation around school systems needs. This year's process has been substantive, collaborative and transparent, and this budget has been informed by the feedback received from our community and the thoughtful contribution of your team, Doctor Taylor. With that, I want to turn the presentation to you. Thank you, Madam President. And we didn't spend any time talking about this whatsoever, but it is not a coincidence that School Board Appreciation Month in the state of Maryland coincides with budget season in a pretty dramatic way, and this is really an opportunity where I get to share some praise for the board. The Board of Education has worked incredibly hard this budget season to ask really tough questions, to dive in deep. You had a brand new superintendent, you had brand new budget team, budget team that was actually operating from a couple of positions down. And really, this was a process that began in July. And, and from the onset of my arrival, we've been talking about budget and some of the challenges and opportunities that we've experienced and that we knew we needed to address. And that's all dovetailed with some really compelling community needs and some community interests that have availed themselves at just around every turn. So I want to thank the board for elevating the voices in our community, for validating the concerns and challenges that we have seen and for making a commitment to beginning the process on how we might correct some of these things, because that's really what we're trying to do here. This budget, alarmingly for the size of its request, does not solve a lot of issues. It really merely puts us on the path to correcting a lot of our challenges. And though we are on the path to correcting some of those challenges there, there are still some really tough sacrifices represented in this space, and it's not nearly the full commitment that we would like to make to our team, to our programs, and to the manifold things that we know we need to do to move the needle positively. That being said, this is a step in the right direction. And so at this time, we do have a brief presentation with just a couple of slides to highlight some of the strengths. And I'd like to turn it over to the district chief of staff and the Chief Financial officer to lead us through a couple of those slides. But but I do thank the board for your your dedication in this process. Thank you. And as we are pulling up the presentation, I will just start by saying that since the superintendent first released his budget to the board in December, the board has taken a lot of steps to both hear from the community and to deliberate among yourselves and ask questions regarding this budget. The board held two formal public hearings on the evenings of January 16th and 27th. The board held three work sessions during which we reviewed thoroughly and line by line aspects of the budget and answered questions. And then in addition, the board did hold three evening community meetings to listen more from the community and answer questions. And also, of course, the board has also heard communication from the community as well as testimony at the at the public comments. All of this input and deliberations has certainly brought us to where we are today to approve the budget. And Ms. Afonso Alfonso Windsor will go through the changes that we have made to the superintendent's budget in light of, again, this public comment and the board's deliberations. If the presentation is able to be brought up. And while they're bringing up the presentation, I just want to thank the budget team, you know, who has worked so hard in in getting everything together and will continue to work. I know this is not the end. This is not the end of our budget season, and there's still a lot more work to be done. We are going to be going over the changes. Like miss McGuire said, the changes that have taken place since the superintendent's budget was released in December, and one of the main, the main things that impacted this budget was the governor's release of his of his budget, because that's when we really find out what our state funding is going to be for FY 26. And again, it's just a draft, but there were a lot of in there is a lot of changes that he is recommending. This budget that we're presenting in terms of the revenue is going to assume the full impact of the governor's proposed budget. So we are taking into consideration everything that he has put forward at this time, even though we still have to go through the General Assembly, there is an increase for community schools. There's an increase of about 22 community schools, not about exactly community schools. And there's funding not only that, the state is providing us, but we're going to have to spend. The changes are also aligned with the increase in state aid due to formula. There is the governor's is recommending a decrease for collaborative planning time in terms of the revenue. And we want to make sure that we account for that in the budget that is moving forward. There is a decrease in nonpublic reimbursement for special education services, and we have discussed that that is a decrease of a 70% reimbursement to a 60% reimbursement for FY 26. And last but not least, this new budget also presents a reduced on the M.C.P.S. Request for local funding of about almost $1 million. So the state aid, including blueprint the increase in state aid, including blueprint that we're getting as part of the revenue from the state, is about $37.7 million. There we go. If we can. Let's see. So we just went through this. So we'll go through the table that shows the numbers. So there is a decrease in the local funding from what the from the budget that was presented in December was an increase of $284 million from the from FY 25. So we're decreasing the local request by $991,000, give or take the state aid, including blueprint from the superintendent's budget. There is an increase of $49.3 million, so it results in a change of $37.7 million. So overall, our revenue increase between the decrease to the local contribution from the from the county council and the county executive of almost $1 million. And the increase in state aid is an increase in revenue of $36.7 million. That is moving forward. But there are also expenditures, right? There's also additional expenditures to go along with that revenue. So we again, we're assuming the full impact of the governor's proposed budget, which says that we are going to have an additional 22 community schools, which result in additional spending from the revenue that the state is giving us. But we're also going to have to expend our local share, which is almost $8 million or a little bit more than a million, $1 million, as you know, the governor is recommending an increase or requiring a shift of our pension costs from the state to local. We are going to reduce the expenditures as identified by the Board of Education, which are going to be reflected in this budget. We have, you know, based on conversations on those community inputs that have happened during the last, you know, month. We're adjusting positions through ongoing review of the restructuring plan and school needs, and we have increased LEP savings to reflect the impact of adding positions to the budget. Based on that, the numbers to go along with that is, the governor's proposed pension shift is 20 point almost $20.9 million. The additional community schools is an additional 19.3. And expenditures to our system. The other adjustments that we just talked about is another $2.8 million. The Board of Ed amendments that you requested at the last work session is almost $1.2 million. That's a decrease. And then we are I know we were trying to decrease the layoffs and turnover, going from 75 to 65. But, you know, based on the needs that we have, we're not able to do that this year. And again we're increasing more. We're adding more positions to the budget. So we are decreasing that by another $5 million. So the total amount in expenditures is $36.8 million, which aligns exactly with what our revenue i, because we do have to present, what do you call it? The word just escaped my mind. But. An alliance, a reconciled, a balanced budget to the county council. Thank you. So. And I think that ends our presentation. And if there's any questions, we'll be glad. Glad to answer. I commend you for a very brief presentation, but get us through the numbers. I I'm going to turn the conversation to my fellow colleagues, and I'm going to start with my left hand side, Mr. Savona. Yes. Thank you. I want to thank you for again this very brief presentation, but very, you know, right to the point. So again, thank you. I just started my account class. So this is this is great to see all these numbers numbers in front of me. But for the viewing public who maybe isn't in an accounting class, can we go back and explain? I know it's been talked about many times, the lapse in turnover and what the number is now, because it's kind of like a double. You know, we kind of double budget some of the money. But what is the number right now from 75 to 70 I'm guessing. So just explaining that. Yeah. So I think, you know, we've talked about this before because like we like Doctor Taylor has said many times, it's probably one of the most, you know, difficult concepts to explain. But basically when we're doing labs we're budgeting for things twice. Right. Because we know that we budget assuming that we're not going to fill every single position. But our hope is that we are going to fill every single position. But we're adding a lot of positions to the budget. So we know that, you know, that depends. And also as throughout the year, as people leave and employees are hired, right. There's that portion where they're the position is not filled at all. That's where we gain a lot of laps and turnover as well. That's the turnover part of the equation. When we first started this budget, we wanted to go from a $75 million lapse to a $65 million lapse, you know, and the goal is to decrease it year over year. But based on the over 600 positions that we're adding for special ed and others, we feel comfortable that we can go from 75 to 70 this year and keep making, you know, progress, you know, in the next budgets. Yes. Thank you for that question. I'm going to come around. Perfect. Miss Sylvester, no, thank you to all the staff and in the budget office and throughout the system that have been a part of this process. And I just wanted to emphasize for our viewing audience, I love table one because it just in the budget book just summarizes where the money is going. People say, that's a huge budget. Why can't you cover everything with what you already have? And as your as a reminder, the 90%, almost nearly 90% of our budget is staff and salaries and benefits. There isn't a whole lot of other dollars that can be utilized to cover all the increasing demands of our school system. For example, $55 million in utilities. I mean, what does that tell you? And that's only going up every single year. So it's a huge budget. Almost all of it. Almost 90% is staff. Hence the importance of a reorganization and a recoloring, because that's where our investment is going. It's going into staff. And so we want to make sure that the right people are at the table and they have the right support and vision so that we can accomplish the huge goals that we have to accomplish for our school system, for our community and for our children. So thank you so much for your great work on this. Thank you for that comment. This is the first round. So I ask board members to stay. One comment and one question. Okay, I'm going to go keep going down the line to see if there's any lights. Miss Wolff, I don't have a question. I just have a comment. I wanted to thank you for the great work that you have done in making this a much clearer discussion for this year. I think it helped us to be able to have a better conversation with the community, and certainly the community has shown great interest in this. It is unfortunate that we don't get to fund everything we would like to fund, but we are definitely doing the best that we can with what we hope to give, and hopefully we won't be in such a limited position when the county council comes out with their budget. Thank you. Mr. I just want to highlight that these numbers do reflect our BOE amendments to the presented budget, and I don't know if we want to quickly list those things or not, but for the viewing public that we are trying to be responsible with our money and ehm, our dollars, where the most impact can be made. And I also appreciate the way this was presented. The spreadsheet method of sharing the budget for me was very helpful. I'm sure it was helpful to others as well. So thank you. I'm going to go around the table to check to see if there's any other lights or comments. Yes, Mr. Savona, I think, I think they were going to give a response to that first and then I can go back to my question. Please go ahead. Sure. I just wanted to reiterate, you know, the changes that the board requested. One of them is the postponing the renaming of Magruder by reducing the budget by $800,000 to be addressed through the CIP process. The second one is $250,000 reduction to the leadership development program from 500,000 to 250,000. And last but not least, is the one instructional specialist for the social emotional learning that we know that we can address through other positions in the in the system. Thank you for clarifying. Any other comments? Yes. Thank you. And again, I want to kind of go back to this idea of state aid one more time, right? We look at this number of state aid and we say, wow, you're getting so much more money than you expected. Why is the budget not going down? Right. But then when you look at like some of the other things that are attached to it, then you start to see, well, actually we have to start spending more than we're than we're saving. And I think the pension shift is a great example of this because it's reflected as 20 million. But I think there's a little bit more that goes into it. If that wants to be explained. So 21 million is the amount that the again under the governor's proposal is ascribed to shift to Montgomery County. But certainly that's one that has a long tail on it. And that cost will grow over time. The state first shifted some of the pension costs to the county during the recession, and that, again, that number has increased over time. And this number will increase over time as well. Another number that would have future implications is the reduction of the cost share with the state on the nonpublic placements. So in addition to the fact that our expenditures for nonpublic placements are increasing, if the state is paying less of a share again, then that that will also increase over time. Perfect. Thank you. Yeah. And again, like that means that we we're paying $20 million this year, but we're going to keep paying more and more every single year after. Because you know, that's just the way the, the pensions. Correct. And I just want to say are really pension costs, the local pension costs with a shift is 155 with now with it's 20 million obviously it's over. You know 175 million. All right. Thank you. Into our base budget every year. Just understand okay Mr. Rivera all just want to say thank you to you and your team for working so diligently and hard and through the weekends and so on to make sure that we have a budget. But, you know, these are really tough times, not just locally but also the state level. So the governor, I think tomorrow announces his budget. And as one of my colleagues said, we wish we could fund everything in in the budget. So we're going to have to delay certain, you know, certain things. So because we are you know, we are trying to improve and be just as functional with what we're having so we can actually be able to make a difference in the classroom. So all our kids can be reading at a level that they should be reading and doing math at a level they should be doing. So a lot of these things are very intentional to ensure that that is happening across our county. So I just, you know, I just want to say there's a lot of things in the blueprint that we're supposed to match. There's a lot of things that that are put on that we have no control over, that we have to do and just, you know, as, as Mr. Silvestre said, you know, almost 90% of it is that we're paying the folks that are working. I mean, we have over 25,000 employees plus we have so many part time employees. And I think you gave the figure last time it was over $800 million just in benefits that, you know, between our current employees and our retirees. Right? So there are certain things that we have to do and that we should be doing. And so I just want to say thank you for helping us navigate very, very troubled waters. And that we got here. So thanks again. Thank you. Mr. Just one more thing. I'd like to highlight the additional 22 community schools. Here. You have the item as state and local share. Could you just quickly break down how much is coming from the state and how much is coming from local? Correct. So when the state aid was released and the new 22 community schools were included, that's their funding us. They're giving us a little bit over $10 million from the state. And then there's a required local share, meaning we have the local contribution, another 8 million to make it up, a total of, I believe it's almost 19, $19 million, you know. So yeah. So it's a breakdown. It's about 60 or 55, 45% state and local. So we love our community schools, but it does mean that we actually have to put in a good portion of that as well. It doesn't just all come from the state. And so I just want to make sure people are aware that when you see that 19 million, that it includes our local dollars. Thank you. And I just want to say, because when the budget comes out, they're not going to see they're going to see the placeholder for the 19 million. But in order to determine how those $19 million are going to be spent, there's need to be needs assessments that are going to have to be done at that school to make sure that the dollars go exactly where the need is. Thank you, thank you. That's explained another piece going to the base budget moving forward. Miss Silvestre, if you could just Doctor Taylor, if you could just remind us what the next steps are in this budget process, where it goes next. Thank you. Well, the very next step is that staff will read a resolution for the board's consideration and hopefully get the approval of this board. And from there, there will be a couple of things that will happen. The County executive will present a budget that will have a number a ascribed to M.C.P.S, and County council will consider the county executive's funding request in in conjunction really with the Board of Education's funding request and try to reconcile an appropriation amount of money once the county Council approves its final budget, then we will reconvene on on a budget discussion to go from there. Maybe the county council gives you more than what you asked for, and then you have something to figure out, or less than what you ask for. And you have to make some additional tough choices or exactly what you asked for. And then you have a budget intact, and then you'll adopt a final version of the budget later this spring. So the budget season still continues for the next several months. As the county portion of this discussion and advocacy continues. And it is something that our community has to go through several stages of advocacy and not just advocating to the Board of Education for its priorities, but also carrying that to the county council in terms of its needed priorities as well. Thank you so much. I'm double checking, seeing no lights. If there's no additional questions or comment, may I have a motion to approve the proposed fee structure? Proposed budget for the recommended fiscal year 2026 operating budget as a device. Madam president, I'm going to I'm going to offer our chief financial officer the honor of reading our resolution for this budget for consideration. Thank you. So we have three resolutions that the Montgomery County Board of Education approved the final year, the fiscal year 2026 Special Education Staffing plan, as outlined in the fiscal year 2026 operating budget. And be it further resolved that upon final approval of the fiscal year 2026 operating budget in June 2025, the Special Education Staffing Plan will be submitted to the Maryland State Department of Education. And be it further resolved that the Montgomery County Board of Education tentatively adopts the Superintendent of Schools recommended Fiscal Year 2026 operating budget, as amended, totaling. $3,655,244,116 as follows. And there is the breakdown of the budget by category so moved. May I have a second? I'll second. All in favor, raise your hand. That's unanimous. Thank you, everyone, for your hard work. And this is another call out to our communities that for the hundreds of people who have engaged with us in this process so far and what we want you to be continue to engage with our budget. And now it's moving on to the county level. So thank you, everyone. Okay. Doctor Taylor, two days ago, the Buckeye Chuck predicted a very late spring arrival. Even though that's the case, we still have to move on planning and we are on to planning summer schools and summer programs. Summer school already? Well, happy 96th day of school and M.c.p.s. We have less than 90 days to go in this school year, but a lot of families are planning on what summer activities will look like. And so I know that there are folks that are eagerly awaiting our plan for summer school, and we had entertained a lot of ideas about some things that we might do differently, many of which we kept the same. And in giving our families some continuity. And so we have actually revised our presentation to the board to present some new information in terms of continuity today, for our 2025 plan, we are also seeking some approval today for our summer school fee structure. That's an important part of this process. So there is a motion and a resolution attached to our request today. And so now I will turn it over to Doctor Peggy Pugh, our Chief academic officer. And her fantastic summer team that covers everything from title one to career and technical education and out of out of school. Time to talk about our summer program offerings for today. Thank you, members of the board and Doctor Taylor. Next slide please. Today we are excited to share with you a plan that aligns directly with the board's priority in ensuring that students have access to high quality instruction, specifically in reading and math, and that we use every opportunity that we have to help our students achieve their goals. There are a variety of summer learning opportunities for students that have been, and continue to be planned, in coordination with district wide programs. Title one. The curriculum Team. We work with school leadership. We are working with facilities, food services and transportation. It's like putting on school at a whole nother time of the year. So today you'll hear from doctor Lagrange, who is our Director of college and career readiness and district wide programs. Miss Williams is our director for the Division of Special Education, Prekindergarten and Program Services and Mrs. Owens, director in title one and early childhood programs. They're going to be sharing an overview of what we're planning for the summer of 2025. They're also going to share in each of the areas what what happened last summer. Who participated. So you'll have some data there. And then we would like to end by forecasting some visionary ideas that Doctor Taylor has asked us to consider and think about how we might even offer more opportunities in the future. Next slide please. At this time, I'll hand it over to doctor Lagrange. Thank you, Doctor Pugh. Good afternoon. The overall goal of the summer programs is to provide tuition based and in-person and virtual summer school to allow high school students to meet graduation requirements, as well as to provide federally mandated, grant funded programs to qualifying students at no cost to families. The superintendent recommends that the Board of Education receives this information for discussion and for approval of tuition fees for high school programs. Next slide please. The in-person and virtual high school programs focus on school on focus on students recovering and earning graduation credits. In addition, the revenue based local programs allow students to engage in various noncredit bearing courses, and credit recovery allows students to earn passing grades for semester courses. On the other hand, the extended school year provides special education services for eligible students in grades K through 12, while Early Childhood Title one and additional targeted support and improvement programs provide enrichment and additional academic opportunities in math and literacy to students in select elementary and middle schools. Next slide please. Close to 6000 high school students participated in virtual programs, and the majority of these students took health A and B this past summer. While the in-person enrollment was much smaller at 800 plus students, the class with the highest enrollment was also the health class. Additionally, seven high schools ran local enrichment programs, and 18 high schools provided credit recovery to students based on high school principal feedback. We used grant funding to create a unique out-of-school time, six week program that was led by identity 126 emergent multilingual learners from Gaithersburg, Wheaton and Watkins Mill High School spent mornings in high school graduation courses, and in the afternoons they engaged in a multitude of activities and field trips. The program was very successful, with a 92% passing rate. There was no cost to students, and both transportation and meals were provided. Additionally, grant funding also allowed an additional 590 elementary school students to be served at several schools and camps through vendor led academic classes, arts, and high dosage tutoring from M.C.P.S. Teachers. Next slide please. Thank you. Based on last year's data and increased enrollment in virtual classes, we are planning a single in-person site for high school programs, which would include central transportation and meals. Prior to the pandemic, we did not use M.c.p.s busses for summer school. However, because we're using a single site, having M.c.p.s transportation is essential. Next, while there is a set fee for both in-person and virtual programs, high schools are able to offer revenue based local programs for summer enrichment based on student interest and voice data. The cost of revenue based local programs is determined by enrollment and the required number of teachers to run them. Those programs do not provide transportation or meals. Once again this summer, high school students will have access to credit recovery, which allows them to earn a passing grade for their marking period course and then earn a semester course passing grade. Next slide please. Thank you. Today we are seeking your approval for our course fees for high school summer programs. The cost for each course is $350, with tier one reduction being 140 and tier $298 for eligible families. It is. It is important to note that students will continue to have access to free graduation required courses throughout the year through online pathway to graduation and dual enrollment. I will now pass it to Miss Williams. Thank you, doctor Lagrange. Next slide please. I will be speaking to you about extended school year. The individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires that each year, the Individualized Education Program team meets to determine whether or not a pre-K through 12 student meets the criteria to participate in extended school year. The vast majority of students receiving special education services throughout the year do not qualify for extended school year services. Extended school year is not summer school. It is an extension of the services provided for students with IEPs during the regular school year. If they are eligible, teams use a data based process to determine whether or not a student meets the eligibility criteria to participate in extended school year services. For example, a student who has almost met all of the objectives of their phonological awareness goal, for whom there is concern about retention without continuous instruction over the summer, may qualify for services. Extended school year is provided at no cost to families, includes transportation, and focuses on the identified Individualized Education Program goals in academics, behavior or related services. Student progress is monitored and documented on the IEP based on the data identified in the goals. Parents and caregivers of eligible students have the option to decline extended school year services and summer 2024 4979 students in pre-K through 12th grade participated in extended school year services at at 60 cluster sites and special schools, depending upon individual student needs. Services were provided for 4 to 5 weeks for up to five hours a day. Summer 2024 extended school year cost a total of. $10,123,714. Looking ahead to summer 2025, 5169 students are projected to be eligible for extended school year services. I will now pass it to Mrs. Michelle Owens. Thank you, Miss Williams, and good afternoon. Starting on the left. Sorry. Next slide please. Starting on the left side of the screen, I will discuss title one programs for 24 years. Federal title one grants have been used for the implementation of the Extended Learning opportunities, summer Adventures in Learning or ELO sale program. The program is designed to provide high quality experiences that reduce learning loss during the summer by sparking curiosity and Stem, enhancing collaboration skills, and supporting social and emotional learning. The program is offered to students enrolled in kindergarten. Excuse me enrolled in and entering kindergarten through eighth grades at title one schools. Additionally, title one School Improvement Grant funds are used for identified students at additional targeted support and Improvement, or ATS. Scott Atsi schools to participate in a summer program that follows the same structure as our ELO program. Atsi is offered to elementary students in grades three through five, and middle school students in the identified Atsi groups. The goal is to provide supports needed to increase academic performance. Both programs last four hours per day, and we partner with the Montgomery County Recreation Department to provide an afternoon complement at selected schools. Staying on the left side of the screen. I would like to recap last summer, because we often use the previous summer to plan for this summer. In total, last summer we had 8523 students participating in our four week program. When analyzing pre and post assessment data, we see that 61.29% of students increased their literacy and math scores over the duration of the program. In addition to academic data, we collected student voice data, and that data showed that students in grades three through five found math and science to be their favorite subjects. They also enjoyed ELO and believed that they were learning new things. Our middle school students also provided voice data, and they rated their summer experiences positively, particularly in English, math and in electives. Our request for feedback also extended to families and teachers as well. Families of our elementary students who completed the surveys indicated high attendance and excitement about the ELO program. While middle school families appreciated the schedule and saw improvement in independence, teachers noted progress in literacy and math, as well as positive social emotional growth overall. So based on this data, we plan to continue our Elo sale and Elo At-sea summer programs serving the communities discussed. The programs will continue to be free of charge and will include meals and transportation, in addition to offering hands on, enriching learning experiences in Stem and social studies, we will continue to focus on critical literacy and mathematics standards and concepts to set students up for success. For the start of the school year, we anticipate that roughly 9000 students will participate in our Elo programing. Shifting to the right side of the screen, M.C.P.S. Has been awarded the Ulysses Currie Head Start State Supplemental Grant, which will fund summer programing for 120 of our current prekindergarten students. These invited students will participate in this full day program for four weeks. While the goal of Excuse Me with the goal of promoting school readiness and foundational learning skills, their program is full day and will be located at one site. We look forward to welcoming our pre-kindergarten students in order to support an effective bridge to kindergarten. Now I will turn the presentation back to Doctor Pugh. Thank you. Next slide please. In forecasting future summer program, we've been asked to consider not only the voice feedback that was collected, but also some ideas about making sure that our students and our families have multiple options over the summer, stakeholder feedback was collected from students and caregivers. After summer school 2024 ended, and some suggestions included communicating about the program sooner. They included. Improving the website included simplifying the payment processes and having a single place to ask questions, so these considerations are currently being addressed for the upcoming summer. But again, as we look to the future and an opportunity to serve more students across all grades, we plan to introduce a dedicated program Coordinator which would help with this type of organization here, as well as with all of the supporting offices, so that we this is a year long process that we've been starting planning for summer school. When summer school ended, we also recognize the need for support for registration. It was overwhelming, I believe, for the staff on the first day of summer school last year. And so we really want to make sure that we have the appropriate supports, again, expanding offerings and access to our schools and to our students who have need over the summer. Is one of the concepts moving forward? Also having making sure that we are working through the supervision with our association partners and our leaders to make sure that students are safe and that we have dedicated staff who are available in the buildings to support the programs that are occurring. And then finally, the cross office logistics and support coordination, again, is an intense operation, and we would like to be able to begin that again right after we receive feedback from this summer. Next slide. And with that, we will turn it back to the board for any discussion. I'm going to look at my colleagues to see if any one has questions. I'm going to start from my right hand side checking and not yet. I'm going to go to the left. Miss Rivera-Oven, thank you. So just to be clear, because last year was very confusing, because we had people calling us about tuition and, and, you know, we had done it differently the year before. So and I was not clear on some of the process. So just to be clear, this year. For the federally mandated and grant funded programs, pre-K through 12, those folks are going to be able to sign up for summer school at no cost. So, yes, those programs, the extended school year, if you think about it the way it was described, it's not actually a summer school. It's actually an extension of that student's school year because they've not yet accomplished the objectives that they have. So those that program, as well as the programs that Miss Owen spoke about, those are the free already funded through grants program. So can you give me an example of high school programs that fall into that category? Yep. I'm going to kick it back to doctor Lagrange. So for our high school students, the high school programs, they have a fee. And so that's a fee that students would have to pay for students who receive special education services. And the team determines that they need services during the year, they would be able to attend the programs at no cost. Okay, so give me a name of a program like example. It's course based. So for high school their course based. So for in high school for the programs in person and virtual we provide tuition based high school graduation courses. Their the courses that students register for and based on registration. So for example might be a math class. No no I understand now what I'm saying is I get that. But what I'm trying to understand is which group of kids will qualify to be able to take advantage of they'll have to pay. Yeah, they all have to pay. Right. I think that's what our secondary, the only students that have to pay are the students who are taking high school courses for graduation requirements. So title one that Miss Owens talked about is for elementary school students going and also as part of some middle schools. And then the other group is a very small group of students threw me off was the K through 12 because it's really K through eight, K through 12 for services and then high school for graduation programs. So any high school student will have to pay a fee. Any high school student who is taking a graduation course will have to pay a fee to take the course. And then you can speak to how that impacts students receiving services. So I think I can help illuminate this a little bit. So we basically have two groups of high school students who access programs in the summertime. If you're taking a class for credit, there's going to be a fee and it's on a sliding scale. And we have some students with disabilities who are are just accessing their general curriculum. They need to have their goals met. They haven't been able to do that. So they have an extended school year program that is not for a fee, something that overly complicates this. And I think that this might partially be what you're getting at is that during the post Covid times, we did not have fees and we were able to offer a very rich summer opportunity at no cost to our families. And coming out of the Covid dollars from Esser, it's put us in a position where we now have to add the fees back. And so this has been a pain point for our families in the community that we that we are now going back to a fee based program. And that's why we're coming to the board today to talk about a fee request. And that's what I was getting at, because that's where the confusion, I think was last year as well, was like, well, my kids farm, we have been farms since, you know, kindergarten. And now where am I going to get because and it's expensive, honestly, to be able to meet. So if a child is in a as a special populations, I really want to get a handle on this to be able to, to understand it. So let's say I blur Ewing. Situation and they're working with kids who, who, you know, who have to meet graduation standards to be able to graduate. Right. They will have to pay or no. Any student who is receiving special education services if they're a part of the extended school year, they do not have to pay. But Blair Ewing is not an extended you know, it really depends on what they need. But they might have an IEP and if they have an IEP there is and some are not. That's what I mean. That's why I think it's important to be really clear in these programs who because they, they hear their friend is getting into in you know into the summer school and then, and then they're calling and say, well, my son goes to the same school and I don't understand why, you know, so the circumstances could be different. So it's really if you have an IEP. Yes. It's really if you have an IEP and that's also decided, you know, at the IEP meetings before summer occurs. So it's not really a surprise to the families who are taking advantage of that service. Because we have you have to review the data. You have to decide whether they're eligible. And then at that time, that's usually when families discuss whether they want to opt in. The child can be eligible, a parent can still refuse services. So it's usually a discussion at that time during the IEP meeting, if they're eligible for services and they want them. That's usually when parents, you know, talk about, you know, what their plans are for the summer, how it fits in so that it's really not a surprise once the summer arrives. And how does a program like Kaya fit into this? So high schools are able to all schools are able to apply for a local revenue based program. And so what happens is schools there's a formula that w used that has not changed since pre-pandemic. And schools are able to submit an application. And then we look at the cost and to determine the cost of the program. And so credit would be different because the students in Korea, as the Korea team has shared, they would have a difficult time coming up with the minimum payment. And so we would be meeting we have actually a scheduled meeting to determine what would be the cost to run a summer program like crab, because they have an additional cost of bus drivers, they have an additional cost of the evening staff. So we would just have to see within our limited budget how much it would cost to provide that service to all the other high schools that run their own local enrichment programs. Students pay. So based on the number of classes that are offered, the school runs a formula that Central Office approves to determine how much we would have to pay teachers. And so Korea is the exception to that, right? Because I was trying to figure it out because I know they had applied last year, but they did not get the summer program because of the cost, because it was very expensive. And so we're going to make an exception this year. And we have that meeting scheduled. That is that's good news. Thank you so much. Thank you, Miss Silvestre. Have any questions? President Yang one question. Just one. Thank you for pointing that out. I have many questions, but I want to follow up to something Miss Rivera-Oven said. Didn't we used to have a waiver for high school students to take a summer school class for a lower cost or free? We have the tier one and tier two, so that is still in place. The only time that we had it at absolutely no cost was during the pandemic. As Doctor Taylor mentioned, when we used Esser funding. Once upon a time, as you remember, we had a grant that allowed us to charge a much lower fee for our emergent multilingual learners who were taking English development, but that was grant funded and we no longer have that. So that's important to point out. To Miss Rivera Evans point about who is in high school can take it for less, take the classes for less money or not free. Just the free option is during the school year so students can take classes through online pathway to graduation, which is online and through dual enrollment. Students can take up to two courses per semester, so that would be a free option for high school students this summer. There's only a reduced option. There is not a free option. Correct okay. Thank you so much. And thank you for sticking with the one question, Miss Zimmerman. Thank you. I've taught both Esy and ELO, so I want to say you did a good job of trying to explain how the two of them are the same and different, and it's all it is kind of confusing unless you're like fully in it. So my, my question is that, you know, we're looking at like ELO for fiscal year 26. Right. That's the summer coming up. So as you know, realistically we're going to have changes to title one status for those schools. So is your possibility of having ELO at your school. Is that based on being identified as title one and FY 25 or FY 26? That's a great question. And we I will say that we do try to advocate for our title one schools that are exiting to continue. We did ask the state and the state said no. You know, as of June 30th, that's it. So for our exiting schools, they will not be able to participate in the ELO program for our incoming schools. They will be able to participate in the yellow program. Okay. Well, I don't know if anyone from the state is listening, but I've decided I don't like that answer. But if I know that we try to do as much communication as possible, I know for so many of our families that that finding out that you don't have ELO is really devastating, because that's how you plan your whole summer. So any communication that we can do as soon as possible to make sure that families know that that's part of it. I just implore that we can do that. Thank you, Miss Savannah. I'll let I'll let staff respond. If they had a response before, I just gave the thumbs up to Miss Zimmerman. We have it. We got it. Thank you. So I had a question. We talk about, you know, the a centralizing the in-person services at one school. And so but we also talk about local local schools being able to host their own summer school program. So are we are we as a school system, having, you know, our summer school services at one school and then local schools can have their own, you know, revenue based option based for their for their own students. Thank you for that clarifying question. So because of the limited budget, and we want to make sure that all students have access to the same classes for graduation requirements, because that's really important. That's the focus. We are going to have a single site. So prior to the pandemic for regional summer school, we had five sites this past summer. Then during the pandemic, every school ran a site. So this past summer was our was our opportunity to see what where the interest was going to be. And there was enough interest for a single site, what the local high schools are able to do, which the eight high schools did, is they offer enrichment programs, so they're not offering graduation requirement courses, they're just offering enrichment. So for example, that might include successfully transitioning to high school. How to write your resume I mean, a multitude of courses that they're offering at their high school as part of enrichment, not graduation courses. So I have a question. So is that only for those high school students or can any student apply to any individual high school program for those enriched services? Sorry, I know that's a double question, but no, it's okay. And I think that's something that we will need to explore currently because each high school has to submit an application, and the application has to pay for the teachers who are teaching those courses. The applications need to come in, and then they have to see where the interest is based on student voice data. So up until now, we were not able to determine how to best market that, so that students from other schools can see that high schools offering a course that I find really interesting for enrichment, I would like to attend it. So we'll have to work with high schools to see how they would market that to other schools, so that they can include that in their application in order to determine the cost and how many teachers they can hire. Yeah. Thank you. Mr. Yes. I'd like to talk about the fee structure for the rising ninth through 12th grade. So the tier two is $98 and that's for original or replacement credit courses. And I know kids  that age bracket and some that might have might need replacement credit also have jobs during the year. And to you know it's free if they do it during the school year. And yet $98 if they do it in the summer when they might have more ability to do a more thorough learning experience in the summer. So. I'm. I'm just going to say this, that I think $98 is actually a lot for some of our families that are most in need. I would like to see if we could have scholarships available in some way. And I don't know. I know this is a big topic. I get it and maybe we won't get there, but I would like to explore if we could do anything because I would just hate. Sorry. I would just hate for a kid not to go for that recovery credit because of the cost, and because this cost could affect a population of our kids. So thank you for bringing that up. So just a couple of answers. So for students who are working during the day, as we know, many of our students work, they are able to take the virtual classes. So the virtual classes as you can see, have increased in popularity and the in-person ones have significantly decreased. So we have thousands of students taking virtual classes, which allows them that flexibility to do asynchronous and synchronous work at the time, that is, that they're available in terms of students who are doing credit recovery. So any student who failed a course during the school year, and they're repeating it and need it for graduation, there is no cost for them. So a student, for example, who got a B and they want an A, they would have to pay. And you can also see that the majority of our virtual classes and in person were students who took health A and B, and so they were doing that for original credit in order to free up their schedule. Also, 18 of our high schools provided credit recovery for marking period courses, and that's for students who failed a single marking period and needed to make up enough work to get a grade A passing grade in order to pass a semester. There's no cost to that for any of our students. So all 18 high schools that provided that did that at no cost to students, other high schools. And then it's also important to note that many of the students engage in credit recovery during the school year. And then now, since the pandemic, we've provided it during the summer, and we're continuing that service. Does that clarify some of that? Yes. Okay, good. It clarifies a lot because to me that's still summer school. But it wasn't a separate slide. And I'm new so I'm learning. So thank you for educating me. Thank you. Thank you I'm checking this site to see if there's any other questions. One at a time. Miss Rivera. Arvin, can you elaborate on the pre-K program that you're going to be putting together this summer? Just interested in you said it was going to be 120 rising kindergarten. So it's from the pre-K population, and we have currently how many kids in pre-K and the general education program for pre-K, we have about 2900. I'm just going to round up almost 3000 kids. So 120 pre-K, lucky kids. And how is that process going to be? How are they going to be selected and what location is this going to be taking place. So I'm going to zoom out first okay. Because our program, which is for rising kindergartners, also encompasses the children who are currently in pre-K. And because our pre-K program sits in so many of our title one schools, many of those children will go. So when you look at the 120, you want to look at those children who are not in our title one programs. So that reduces the numbers a bit. Things like operations, transportation is a big driver for who participates in the summer program for our at our Up county early childhood center. So our pre-K team is really looking through the data to see which children will be invited. So we do have criteria in place for that. And last year we were pretty full, which is no surprise. But we also have, again, a large number of kindergartners who were in pre-K in our yellow program. So that's the coordination and that's how we cover a large number of our pre-K current pre-K children for bringing them into kindergarten as well. Does that help? Yeah. And the site you said it was going to be up County. It's going to be at the Up county. Right. McDonald knows will be closed for renovations this summer. Yeah. Thank you, Miss Silvestre. Thank you. I think this question comment is about return on investment. So we are very happy to be able to provide summer school options for students throughout the grade levels. And you spoke about some data that you have in terms of 60 some percent of students have were making progress from the start of summer school to the end of summer school. So I'm interested to hear that again so that we, we we're seeing the positive benefits of our summer school program for the elementary. I want to hear about attendance at summer school because if they're not going, they're not going to reap the benefit of summer school. And you mentioned that you partner with the rec department to offer afternoon programs, which I know is a it's a best practice because kids want to learn, but they also want to have fun. And it works better for working parents to have a longer day rather than just a half day. So three questions in one. So I want to hear can you repeat the evaluation and then talk about attendance and how many of the elementary programs have that pairing with the rec department? What percentage? Sure. Okay. So starting with the data I will repeat that pre and post assessment data shows that 61.29% of our students increase their literacy and math scores over the duration of the program, and that's for grades K through eight. In terms of attendance, I don't have that data with me. We did break it down based on the number and percentage of students who participated. For. I'm very visual, so I'm looking at it in my head 20 days, which is the total program 15, ten, and five. Okay. So I can make sure you have that data. We'll follow up in writing with that. But we're doing well. We need to work on that. Just we always need to work on it Mondays and Fridays. Summer. You know, those are some days where there's an issue. But one of the things that I do love about the program is even for families who may not have signed up in spite of our best efforts, as soon as they see busses on the road, they're putting kids on busses to come to our program. So we do have a lot of interest, and attendance is something that we work on annually. In terms of the rec department last year, and I know this is on the record, but I'm not sure of the exact number. So I'm going to give you a ballpark. Okay. I think we had about 12 to 15 sites that hosted an afternoon complement. And we have over time been able to work with transportation so that children who may not be at a site that offers the afternoon rec, they can get transportation to a nearby rec. Right. So that's something that we coordinate. Rec only has a limited number of resources. And they did communicate this year that they would have to make some reductions. So we're still waiting to see what that looks like. The 12 to 15 sites out of how many. So it gets a little complicated. I'm just looking for coverage. Sure. Covering half the sites, 47 schools total. Right. But then they are paired because so many of our buildings close. So if I talk about sites, I could be talking about a pairing of sites. But if we just want to talk schools, then we'll say 12 to 15 out of approximately 45. So it gives me an idea. We have some work to do there. Okay. Thank you. Sure thing. Thank you, Mr. Savona. Yes. Thank you. I'm going to go back to the thing I was talking about earlier in relation to the enriching courses. I think it's a really big equity issue. Right. If we're saying that students from one school can get access to it just because they're in that just because they're zoned into this school or they're in a magnet program that allows them access to this, to this school, and now they're getting access to these services over the summer that yes, I understand that you may have to pay for it, but otherwise students wouldn't even have the option. Right? I think that's a really big equity issue. So I really hope to see, you know, some level of communication to parents across the district or some level of student voice, survey or interest to be able to say, well, if you're across the district, if you're at any high school, you may have to provide your own transportation because, you know, we're not going to fix every single equity issue overnight. But this is to me, it seems like a little bit of low hanging fruit. Thank you. I have a question and a comment. So first I want to have a data request. I know that our special education population has been rising in the system in the past few years. So I would like to see the number of students participated in the extended school year program in the last few years. So if you can provide that data, that will be helpful. It doesn't have t now. It can be a follow up to theoard that I will appreciate that, so that we know kind of for planning purposes. And the second thing is I really appreciate this is related to Miss Sylvester's questions about the return of investment. You share some data. So these metrics, these metrics, the measurement of the effectiveness of the summer program, is it done every year or is it just last year we happen to do it. Do we have plans to do it this year? That is for the that is for the title one schools. L o r programs. But what about other programs? Do we have data for the extended school year? Do we have data for other programs? So I'll speak to the yellow sail program because that that's what lives in my work. We have conducted a pre and post assessment for the past couple of years. We also have had OSA review our programs, and OSA has favorably identified yellow programs as effective. Again, I'm going to just do this by memory, but I believe we had about two done during between 2010 and 2019. And once we went into the pandemic, we started using part of the pre and post assessment to really measure our effectiveness. Great, great. Do we do any for the extended school year? For extended school year, it's a little different because it is more. Individualized. And so each student has their own IEP goals and their progress is measured. And so for extended school year and looking at the students with disabilities, the success is just, you know, could they maintain the skills over the summer. We're not looking so much for growth or hitting some academic goal. It could be behavior. It could be social, it could be a critical life skill. And so we're just looking at for the goals that were determined for us to focus on during the summer. Did they maintain those goals so that when they return to school in the fall, there may not have to be as much reteaching as if they didn't have anything over the summer? Okay, thank you so much. Seeing one more Light. Yeah. Final question, but is it from from my understanding, the fee stays the same no matter if it's an in-person or a virtual course. There's no distinction in the fee structure. Correct? It. It doesn't change the fee structure. If it's an in-person or virtual course, so does it does the virtual course kind of offset some of the in-person like transportation costs to some level? Well, we have a smaller number of students who need transportation. So this past summer, again was the first summer we used M.C.P.S. Busses and we had utilized five busses and they were at capacity. So yes, as we can imagine, the cost is decreased because we have more students in virtual programs. So let me answer that a little bit more comprehensively. The fees do not cover the cost of summer school. We actually have to budget for the cost of summer school. It does help us offset some of the cost of summer school, but it does not cover the cost of summer school. The largest expense that we incur for summer school are personnel expense. And whether you have a virtual course or whether you have an in-person course, you have a teacher of record. So you are you are going to incur personnel expense, or you're going to incur program expense, or you're going to incur whatever kind of expense. And so this only defrays some of the cost. It does not defray all the costs. I really appreciate board members who have chimed in about the cost structure, because this is really something that that we need to elevate in future budget years to see what kind of commitment we want to make in terms of our summer programing, because there there are some real equity of access issues in terms of what we can do comprehensively and what students can access which programs, and there is a way to solve that. And that the way to address it most directly is financially. And so making some commitments as to what we will be willing to do really does need to be a conversation in your 27 budget cycle. Got it. Thank you. I think that answers my question perfectly. Thank you, thank you. So seeing no other light, does the staff have any? Motion or reserve or resolution for us to approve? Yes. Thank you, President Yang. So I'll just read the resolved resolved, that the Montgomery County Board of Education approved the 2025 summer school program, tuition, fees and plan. May I have a motion? So moved. I'll second. All in favor, raise your hand. That's unanimous. Thank you everyone. Thank you, staff, for the presentation. Our next item will be. The Magruder High School renaming petition. Community engagement presentation. I'm asking the staff to come to the front. Thank you. President Yang and members of the board. The names of our public schools are a high honor, and they should represent the ideals, core values and commitments of Montgomery County Public Schools. Our school name should be a source of pride for our district, our staff, our families, and most importantly, our students. Whether the names reference, the unique geography of a region or historical figures who uphold and represent the core values of our district. As directed by the Board of Education in February of 2023, after receiving a petition from the Magruder High School community to rename their high school, M.C.P.S. Conducted a community engagement to inform the school community about the petition and to receive additional input about the meaning of the name. Today, you will hear a summary of this process, including the results of a community engagement efforts with the community. We appreciate the community engagement in this process and the thoughtfulness in which those who participated in community meetings, dialogs, and surveys bring to the results that you'll hear today. We would also like to make the historical note that this is the first instance of implementing policy for naming of school facilities, as it was revised in June of 2022 to address the process of renaming a school facility. We do not take the position of the petition or decision of the board lightly and respectfully. Submit this report for your consideration. At this time, I'd like to ask Doctor Peter Moran and Miss Frost to please address the board. Thank you, Doctor Taylor, and good afternoon again, President Yang and members of the Board of Education. So as Doctor Taylor shared, in alignment with policy FFA, we've engaged with the Magruder community around the question of renaming the high school. In today's presentation, Miss Frost and I will provide a short review of policy, FFA, and the renaming process. Share community engagement findings about renaming the school, review budget and operational impact, and consider alternatives for the board's decision. As you'll see in the community engagement reports, there is not a definitive preference from your community of students, staff, parents and alumni regarding the renaming of the school. Option A if a board approves in the FY 26 budget. Given that the board has included this in the FY 26 operating budget, the information provided this afternoon will be helpful for the public to understand how we engaged in our community to arrive at this decision to change the name of the school. Option B if the board does not approve, given that the board has not approved the proposed amount for the FY 26 operating budget, this presentation will provide information on the efforts to engage the Magruder community in this issue. This work is an example of how we can be inclusive in making important decisions, and develop options to address the many issues of our that our school district faces. And with that, I will turn it over to Miss Frost. Good afternoon, I'm Francis Frost, I'm in the office of Well-Being and Student Support, and we're going to present to you our report on the renaming of Magruder High School. Next slide please, and we'll go to the next slide. So while you all have decided the operating budget for FY 26, I think going through this process will be very instructional for the community on how this process works. As Doctor Moran stated and Doctor Taylor, that this is the first time that this process has been applied to renaming a school. So in 2022, policy, FFA, our naming school facilities, which includes provisions for considering renaming a school, was updated and that process requires five distinctive steps. Step one is that a petition from the school community initiates the renaming process. It's important to note here that M.C.P.S. Nor the Board of Education initiates a change in a school name, but that petition must come from the school community. Step two. Upon receiving a petition to rename a school, the board determines if the petition has merit to be further considered and discussed with the school community, and we engage with the community. In step three, the designated M.C.P.S. Staff engages the school community about the petition, seeking their input about the meaning of the existing school name and to get a sense from the community how they feel about a name change. This conversation is not a definitive decision by the community, nor is it a solicitation and discussion of new name options. Step four the board receives a report about the community engagement findings for discussion. And while the policy states the budgetary requirements are not necessarily a decision factor, it acknowledges that this is an important information and a cost estimate is submitted with the community report. And then lastly, step five the board makes a decision considering the community engagement findings and the alignment of the existing name with naming criteria. The board renders a decision on whether to rename the school. If the decision is made to rename the school, then the board will go through the process of naming a school, just as you have done for new schools. If the board decides not to rename the school, the process ends there. Next slide. So, as a brief summary of how we got to the petition for Magruder High School community in June 2019, then Superintendent doctor Jack Smith presented a memo to the Board of Education, which benchmarked renaming approaches and analyze biographies of individuals for whom current schools and M.C.P.S. Are named and names existing in the Board of Education's database of names. In that memo, six M.C.P.S. Schools were identified to be named after enslavers, and then in June 2022, the updated policy FFR was approved and we held community information sessions with the six identified schools in the fall of 2022 to explain the new policy. Policy FFA section four C enumerates the criteria for school facility in Montgomery County Public Schools. In regards to selecting a school name, a name must meet these criteria, and in submitting a petition to rename a school, the petitioners must explain why they feel the existing name does not meet these criteria. In February 2020, three members of the Magruder community submitted a petition to rename their school on the basis that Colonel Zadok Magruder was an enslaver of 26 known slaves, a fact of Montgomery County history. Next slide. So after the board approved the petition it received from the Magruder community, we established a steering committee to conduct community engagement. This steering committee was led by Mr. Edwin Hernandez from the equity and Equity Specialist and the equity unit and the Office of Special Initiatives. Miss Nicole Kimball, representing Magruder High School and myself. Francis Frost. The committee represented a diversity of experiences and relationships to Magruder, M.C.P.S. And to the county. There were school staff, alumni, parents, and community members on that committee who worked to plan the community engagement, inform the school community about the petition and meetings, and encouraged input. So at this point, we'd like to acknowledge Mr. Christopher Ascenso, the principal of Magruder High School. He's here in the audience, and he was a critical member of the steering committee and a partner to this committee, exemplifying the importance of the principal and school community relationship in such important community conversations. Additionally, we had representatives from representatives from Montgomery History who researched and prepared reports on each of the namesakes of the identified six schools, and we'd like to thank them for their diligent work to provide factual, neutral information for our communities and presenting this information at every community meeting that we held. Next slide. So in the fall of 2023, student and community outreach was conducted in a variety of ways to make sure that the community was aware and could be active participants in this process. The Steering Committee determined that in addition to current Magruder families, staff, and alumni, the school community should also include families in Magruder's feeder schools to make sure that all community members were consulted so that they felt their voice included and considered. When your final decision was made. Our outreach efforts included notices on social media and the school website. Engagement with school parent organizations such as the PTSA and the Booster Club and the NAACP Parents Council. In-person outreach at Back to School night and feeder school PTA meetings, and many lessons and student surveys of Magruder students, and additional details on the community engagement efforts are in the report that you received. Our primary method of receiving community input was through in-person and virtual community dialogs designed and facilitated by Proactive Collection. We offered a students only session in English and Spanish at Magruder High School and had five additional dialogs, three in person and two virtual for the community. Our aim during these sessions was both to inform the community about the potential name change, and to gather input from as many individuals as possible. The community dialog sessions were structured to intentionally build trust and open dialog about the issue of renaming the school. As we realize that this question is much more than a yes no decision and warranted conversation amongst our community members. In the sessions, we provided an explanation of the petition and input gathering process, followed by a brief history of Zadok Magruder's life to ensure everyone had a foundational understanding of the issue before the dialog. After that, participants engaged in small group discussions about the meaning of the school name for them and their thoughts on changing the name. A summary of those meetings is also included in your topic materials. At the end, they were all invited to complete the survey, and the same survey was made available to community members who could not make the in person meetings. The survey consisted of 12 questions, ten multiple choice and two short answer questions. In designing the survey, we wanted to keep it short enough that participants would complete the entire survey, but long enough for meaningful data. The survey was available in English and Spanish from October 9th through November 14th, 2023, and yielded 1415 responses. You received the details of that survey also in your materials in this one simple chart that's on the screen in front of you, is the survey question of whether the school should be renamed. And you'll see the survey respondents were split in their decision, slightly less than half, 43% believe the name should not be changed. About a third would like to would like it changed and 25% remain unsure. Individuals in favor of a name change cited the positive impact it could have on the mental health and well-being of students and alumni, particularly Black and African American students and alumni. They also highlighted that a name change would allow the school to better reflect Montgomery County's current values. Those opposed to a name change emphasize the importance of tradition and the cost to implement a change. And again, we'll remind the board and the community that while this chart exemplifies this question and or simplifies this question into a yes no decision, the community discussions were thoughtful, emotional, and complex. Participants in the community discussions and the survey shared not only whether the name should change or not, but their feelings on why, why not, and other options to consider. As it was pointed out to the community in the dialogs, this decision about the name of the school. Colonel Zadok Magruder, and that rests with the Board of Education. The current school community may on its own also consider to change the mascot and or school colors. Next slide please. In addition to the community input, we have compiled an estimate of the associated costs with renaming a school. These are the costs of branding the school with its new name, as it would be similarly incurred by the district when opening a new school. This slide summarizes the costs. The details are in the materials that have been provided to you, and I want to thank the staff from facilities and construction, athletics, fine arts and school Administration for working with us to develop these detailed estimates. So you'll see that school facilities, which includes items such as repainting, rebranding within the school and installing new signage, is estimated at $400,000. Athletics is approximately $590,000. This includes your uniforms, equipment for all sports, as well as branding your gyms, athletic fields and gym equipment, and then operating and administrative items of $6,000. This includes school operating costs such as stationery, small signage, program, banners, etc. And our. Our total estimate comes just under approximately $1 million. These are our best estimates, with many variables that may come into consideration, including whether the school would want to change their colors and or their mascot. Last slide. So you have a few alternatives in front of you to make one. First, let me say that the policy for the board should consider the following. When reevaluating the lives of individuals for whom schools are named. One is that there is a known dissonance between the context of the individual's life and the board's core values and policy. ACA two. There's alignment of institutional and societal values with those of the individual's life or legacy at the time the individual lived, and within the current context that's relevant. Consideration should be given to an individual's legacy and significant contributions, as well as the balance of the individual's life, public and private, and should not isolate singular actions or behaviors. And lastly, consideration may be given to acknowledging the past to move toward healing and reconciliation. You have received the report of the community findings, the historical background of Colonel Magruder and the financial estimates. And on behalf of the superintendent, we offer these alternatives for your consideration. Number one is to take no action with this option. The issue ends in the school remains as Colonel Zadok Magruder High School number two is to decide to change the name with the associated costs included in the FY 26 operating budget. Number three would be to decide to change the name, with the associated cost attributed to a future operating budget, and in essence, the name change would take place at a later date, and then lastly to link a potential name change to any future capital project with the vision that such a capital project is not on the CIP. Before 2030. And we also want to add that during the discussion in the community engagement, there were a lot of comments on a non-budgeted option of making sure that students at Magruder and in the community understand the history of the person and how that impacts their school, and that is something that the school, you know, and other schools and M.C.P.S. As well could consider to make sure that our students understand the history of slavery and racism in our county and how that impacts our schools and our daily lives. So that is another alternative. That is not a fiscal decision. And now I'll turn it back over to Doctor Moran. Next slide please. So in summary, in regards to the petition filed in February 2023 regarding changing the name of Colonel Zadok Magruder High School, your community of students, staff and parents and alumni is essentially split. So we open it up for your questions and discussion. Thank you, staff, for the presentation. I'm going to turn to my board members for questions. Miss Wolff, I want to thank you for a very detailed report. This has been ongoing for some time, and for me personally, I think the name does not reflect the current values of the of the of M.C.P.S. However, at this time, because we did remove it from the budget currently, I'd like to move that the board delay any remaining consideration for Magruder High School until such a time as a major capital project for Magruder High School is programed for construction in the CIP. So Miss Miss Wolff put a motion on the table any second. I'll second that. Okay. And any other discussions or comments. So just to clarify, the motion is that we will change the name, but it will be up as a part of a future CIP process. Yes, yes. Thank you for that clarification, Miss Zimmerman. I just want to echo my support, and that is we're looking at, you know, that we're talking about engaging the community in education, that that gives us more time to do so. And that will likely see different results in surveys. So, Miss Wolff, can you reread your motion again? I move that the board delay any renaming consideration for Magruder High School until such time as a major capital project for Magruder High School is programed for construction in the CIP. So from what I'm hearing is we are delaying the decision. No, we're not delaying the decision. We're delaying the process. The process. We're moving to the CIP because the funding can be used under the CIP, and we don't have to take this out of our operational budget. Okay. So we have a motion and a second. All in favor? Oh, miss Miss Stewart, you have a it's not a question. Just a quick comment. I just want to I appreciate Miss Frost's suggestion that we can continue the education, which I think Miss Zimmerman actually mentioned as well. But I would like for that education to happen in the community and in other schools as well. Thank you. Yeah. Very important. Thank you, Miss Savannah. You have a comment? Yeah, I was I was just going to say, I mean, when looking at some of the things from the survey, a lot of the reasons why we community members were saying that they didn't want to rename the school, large portion of that was financial considerations, correct? Yeah. So I think that being able to incorporate some of those costs in the CIP does a lot because, you know, while you're getting, you know, anything new or major renovations to a school, if we're able to incur those, change the name. At the same time, we don't have to, you know, spend money twice as as was referenced earlier. Thank you for that comment, Miss Silvestre. So in just hearing Miss Wolff reread the wording, I heard that we will take up this process again in a current CIP. The board is not deciding for future board action to rename the school. I just want to be very, very clear. Correct. And you have a few other steps that need to be a part of this process, as in coming up with another name and, and engaging the community in some additional steps that that go with that as well. So that's a part of that next steps that that would need to happen as you move forward. That's correct. You know, there were five steps that she mentioned. And you know that the board has to come up with names, send them to the school, and then the school comes back with names. So it's not a done process. Even we still have a ways to go on it. But we're just saying let's take it up when we do the. CIP. Okay? Okay. Are we ready to vote on Miss Rivera ovens? I think this is a topic that board members are very interested in. And just a little bit I'm just a little bit confused. So it is quite obvious that it doesn't go with the values that we represent today. As members of M.C.P.S. So we have established that a name, it needs to be renamed right. That is established. Correct. So what are we what I just want to be clear for the community where where we're saying so we're saying at this time, because of fiscal restraints in a sense, right. We don't have really the funding because it will cost us. And since this report was put out, there's been inflation. So it's probably going to cost over $1 million, to be quite frank. And that's without taking into consideration whether the mascot is going to be changed and so on. So really, the delay, let's just, you know, I just want to be honest with the community. The delay really is. Yes, we're with the community. The name needs to be, you know, changed. It doesn't reflect who we are. As you know, as a system. And that is going to come when we when we do changes to the physical, the CIP, right. Because renaming it to something else, I don't think that's going to take years. Right. But but right now the issue is the funding that we just don't have to make those changes. Right. Because we're trying to focus to have stuff in the classroom so our kids can learn. But at the same time, we don't have that extra funding and we have to be fiscally responsible with what we have right now. So we're not saying we're not changing the name. We're saying we are. Absolutely. And that's and that's but we're just delaying the process of I think that's that's Carla's question. So I, I am saying that we are just delaying and moving it to the CIP for the funding. I think I'm hearing something else now from Carla. I'm not sure. No. Because, see, this says any delay in the renaming, I was only talking about the final steps. We haven't gone through all the steps that are required. As you know, my first question was to Miss Rivera Evans point. But when I heard the reading, I understand that we are going to revisit the renaming process, the final steps at a future CIP. I think that what Grace and I are trying to figure out is if you're saying something different, we're not sure that we're not sure that you are, because we're saying that we're renaming, but the steps are not complete. We have a whole lot of steps still to go, okay. And that we're moving that to a CIP year. Now. Are you in disagreement with that? That's what I'm I understand that we cannot commit future boards to a decision of this type. So I'm trying to get clarification. This current board feels like it should be renamed. But if we are going to wait for a time when McGruder is in a CIP, which I believe it's currently not in the current CIP, so we're talking at least 6 to 10 years, then that might be a different board, and that board might make a different decision. So what are you proposing? I mean, we are not that I have a motion on the floor that's been moved for if we have a motion on the floor for procedure wise, we need to vote. It has been motion has been second and it need to be voted on. And then if then we have another motion, we can propose another. I think it's about clarity around the motion because yeah, from from or can this motion be breaking into two parts. Would that be what two parts are you talking about? Are we breaking into naming? So commitment to naming and then when to do it. So question for board staff. Can we can we. Because I don't think it's allowed under law. Right. Are we are we allowed to make the decision now and then delay it until like future years. No, no. So what what the motion says in, in the language is that whatever board is in sitting, standing at that time will consider whether or not to rename Magruder. Now, this board can make clear that their their desire would be for the school to be renamed. But no future board can be bound by that. Okay. Thank you for that clarification. Yeah. The delay in renaming is that the process is not complete. Now they can decide to end the process. Just cut it off and there will be no renaming. But we're moving it from now and giving that decision over to them. Again. Thank thank you for the clarity around that. And then I'm just going to say one more comment. But again going back to the document that was around the survey. Right. A lot of the respondents also said at the same time, we would rather use this money to fund things that are actively, you know, promoting anti-racist behaviors in our school system. So, again, understanding that our operating budget does that, I think is an important distinction to make. And I think you're making an important note that needs to be reflected in your minutes, because as minutes become historical documents, people will refer to this decision primarily when they revisit this topic and making it clear, like you are doing right now, that you that that the name currently does not align with the values of M.C.P.S. Is a critical part of that process, so that future boards, when they are confronted with this decision, you have made it clear that of where your values lie. And so even though you can't compel a future board to a decision, you've made it clear in your minutes where you stand on this issue. Thank you, Mr. Rivera-Oven. I just thank you, Doctor Taylor, because I just want to be on the record because I know, you know, I know what the law says, but I think it's important what we say as, as, as as a board now with the petition from the parents, you know, that went through the process to rename the school, which was, as you said, a very emotional process, and it was quite entailed, and it was quite, you know, there was a lot of activity and participation from the community. And it is clea right, in a sense, and the whole education part has to be a component of it. But I just want us to be clear that where we're saying even though we cannot bound future boards, what we're saying is this does not reflect the values of this current board, and we hope that it's not going to reflect the values of any future boards that would disagree with us. So I just want to be clear, to be on the record that we are supporting, right? Even though we cannot at this time rename it officially that we are supporting what the renaming of the school. So I just want to be. Can I just respond to that? And I'm just I'm asking our staff, we could technically rename it. Now, what we don't have the money to do is to go through all of the things that would have to change when you rename a school, so we could make the decision to rename it. Thank you. Yes. So that can be that's what I'm asking. That can be broken into two motions. That's what I'm so if that's the will of the board then if that is the direction we want to go, we still need to first vote on the motion on the table before we can proceed to any future motions. I'm sorry, can she say her motion? Right. Well, can I just can we get a feel for whether or not people are interested in even renaming it now? Because if they are, I will withdraw my motion and split it into two. If they are not, then I want my motion to stand. I miss Silvestre first and then Miss Stewart. I would like to support the motion as written. And just for the record, I echo my colleagues concerns that the current name doesn't align with our values, but I would like to do it as proposed in the resolution. Thank you, Miss Stewart. Being that there's a lot of there's other steps that need to happen, and it could take a while to get through those steps. For instance, landing on the name that will be used. I like the idea of splitting this up and saying, let's go ahead and move forward with the process. But then will come. Hopefully the community will come up with a name that they can know that the when the school is back in the CIP, that it will open with that name, and it just moves us a step forward so it doesn't seem like we're on hold forever. And then when the school is in the CIP, then you're ready to go with the name and the branding so that I prefer the two step method. Thank you for sharing, Mr. Savona. Yeah, so two things. Number one, asking the question to M.c.p.s staff, what is there? Is there a significant cost associated with going through the process to actually figure out the new name for the school? And then number two, when we're looking at the when we're looking at the CIP process, right. What is the typical time frame over which, you know, a high school may be built just for, for the viewing public to consider. So would we be able to complete the process in that time? Yeah. Saying saying that we got the decision for the CIP and then how long after that would it take? No significant cost in terms of following the process and identifying name other than staff, time and energy and obviously community emotional energy associated with that whole process, which it will generate substantial energy in terms of a timeline, you have more than enough time because you're not going to really revisit your CIP in earnest until the following fall. And so you you do have some time. And as far as where it lies in the CIP, well, that that's your prioritization. And so staff will certainly bring a recommendation to the board for prioritization. But the board may have other ideas about how it wants to prioritize its projects. I want to put out a point for our fellow colleagues to consider if we move forward. Going through the exercise of identifying a new school name. Yet the physical building of the school and the signage does not change. For many years afterwards. There is a certain level of confusion and, and in the community. So I would really like us to consider that point. We already put in the document very clearly, thanks to Doctor Taylor's suggestion, where our value stands and is this is this the board's intention to change Magruder's name with your motion? And so I would like us to consider all these different factors in evaluating Miss Wolfe's motion. Yeah. I'm going to go back to what Miss Wolfe's comment was at the beginning. My support is for the motion as written and to let the process be followed out in in the out years. Thank you. Any other lights? Okay. Sorry, I just can we read the motion again? I move that the board delay any renaming consideration for Magruder High School until such a time as a major capital project for Magruder High School is programed for construction in the CIP. And it was second. And. Yeah, and I second that motion. Okay. And then, all in favor of this motion, please raise your hand. And as Miss Wolff me, Miss Silvestre and Miss Savannah, that's one, two, three, four. The motion does not carry. Okay. Is there another motion on the table? At this point? If there's no other motion on the table need to table this item. There will be. We will go back to. There will be no action at this moment. Option number one from your presentation. Thank you everybody for the discussion. Let's go to our next item is legislative positions. And this is the I will turn off actually turn it over to our board's legislative Affairs coordinator, Miss Armstrong. To do this presentation. And legislative legislative session is in full swing in Annapolis. And there are many bills to be discussed. And she's going to help walk us through the process. Did she give us anything? She didn't. Good evening. We'll stay with afternoon, late afternoon. Good late afternoon. President Yang, Doctor Taylor, members of the Board of Education. As Ms. Yang said, I am Patty Ursprung. I'm the coordinator of legislative affairs for the board of Ed. And I'm here today to give a quick legislative update and then seek board approval on approval of adopted positions on a couple select bills. As we sit here today on February 4th, we are about a third of the way through the legislative session. More than 2000 bills have been introduced between the House and the Senate, and our office is currently tracking over 200 of them. I don't want to cause you panic. You're not going to be asked to take positions on 200 bills. Many of them are just bills that I'm watching and tracking just to see if they pass, because the school system may have to do something, but they're not significant enough to bring to the board for actio. As part of the bill consideration process, there are fiscal notes that are generated, and we have received 80 some odd fiscal note requests, and we have responded to about 70 of them so far. So we have about a dozen that are still outstanding, but that allows us to be involved in the bill consideration process even when we're not providing testimony, because they are looking to us to see how these bills would impact our school system in a fiscal manner, in terms of where we are with the 90 day session. The Senate bill introduction deadline was yesterday, and the House deadline to introduce bills is this Friday. That does not mean that bills cannot be introduced after those dates, but the process to get them all the way through to approval is a little more challenging. So we probably will start to see the introduction of new bills slow down over the next week or two. I want to turn to our bill report. There are four sections. The first is bills with recommended positions, the second is reintroductions. Then there are some bills that are covered under our platform. And finally bills to watch for the bills with recommended positions we will go through one by one. I will provide some information on the bills, give some rationale for the position, and then ask you to adopt a position. Reintroductions or bills that have been reintroduced in the same form they were last year that this board took a position on last year. And we're asking you to just reaffirm that position this year. We will not have discussion on those bills unless the discussion is requested. The platform bills, these are bills that there will be no vote needed by the Board of Education, because the position is determined by what we put in our in our platform. You will see that many of the bills in today's report are bills that we will oppose, and that is mostly because they infringe on local autonomy or local control. These are bills, largely, that would require the board to adopt a policy or update a curriculum, and include specific terms or topics that would, in essence, eliminate the board's ability to determine what is best for our school system. And it would have the same effect on all of the different school systems around the state. So generally, we oppose those types of bills because they remove your participation in that process. So in today's report, you'll see there are a number of cell phone policy bills that would require you to adopt a policy prohibiting or limiting cell phones in schools. We already have that policy, and we would update it when we find it necessary, based on the information that we have at hand. It doesn't mean we don't agree with the need for something, but we just want to be able to make those choices on our own. We don't oppose all of those bills under our platform. There are some bills that are in today's report that would either expand available educational resources or look to help with teacher recruitment and retention. So those types of bills we would support under our platform positions, there's one platform bill th I would like to highlight, and that's House Bill 325, which was the culmination of our GED accessibility priority. That bill was introduced in the House, and there was a cross file in the Senate. The House hearing was last week, and Ms, Yang and a few of our staff members testified on in support of the bill. They did an excellent job, and we're really hopeful that it will go forward and hopefully make it all the way to the finish line this year. And then the final section is bills to watch. These are bills that I just want to bring to your attention so you're aware of them. We're not going to ask you to take a position on them right now. But I just want you to be aware that they're out there and they're making their way through the process. We may ask you to take a position on one of those bills in the future. We're just not ready to do that right now. And I will say that there is one bill that's not on today's report that you all have heard about. I'm sure at this point in time. And that's the governor's Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act. I plan to bring this bill to you next, next meeting. At this point, I'm still gathering information from staff and having conversations with my colleagues from other systems around the state and our state partners, education partners, mayb, just to kind of get a sense of what the education community is, is doing. So next meeting I will have more information and we will bring a position for your consideration on that bill. So with that being said, we'll just get right into the bills with recommended positions. Unless anyone has questions at this point. All right. So the first bill is House Bill 329. Cross file is Senate Bill 297. This is a sign language Interpreters Act. So this the sign language Interpreters and Interpreters Act was a bill that passed last year that requires licensing for sign language. Sign language interpreters who provide interpretation services in certain settings. And one is the school setting. This bill just delays from January 1st, 2025, which for those looking at a calendar, has already passed to July to July 1st, 2026, the date by which the licensing regulations would go into effect. The reason for this is that the State Board of Sign Language Interpreters has not yet published the regulations that establish what the licensing requirements are. The process for becoming licensed is not yet known, so the delay is necessary so that the regulations can be published. And all of our interpreters have the opportunity to comply with the regulations, do any sort of training, submit the applications, all of that. So we are recommending that you support this delay in order to give our staff the necessary time to comply with the regulations once they are enacted. Wonderful. Thank you. And so any questions about this bill from board colleagues? Miss Wolff, no, your light's on. All right, Mr. Savona, your lights on. Do you have a question about this bill? No, sorry, I apologize. So if there's no questions for this bill, can I have a motion? So the staff's recommendation position is to support this bill. And if we have no further questions, can I have a motion? So moved. May I have a second? Second? All in favor, please raise your hand. That's unanimous. With those present. Great. Thank you. The next bill is House Bill 319. And this bill concerns county boards of education and contact information for board members. So it would require that for that, the email address of all Board of Education members be published on the school system's website. And then for non-student members, it also requires a mailing address and a direct telephone number that is provided by the county school system. There's been no interpretation of this yet. My reading of this would mean cell phone numbers, a direct line to the board members. Currently, what we do is we provide for our adult members a mailing address, an email address and a phone number. But it's our office phone number. So there's a contact information, but it's to our general office. So our recommended position on this is to support it with an amendment to remove the just remove the word direct. And then this law would comply with our current practice, which is to provide a telephone number for board members. But it would be this office phone number as opposed to an individual cell phone. So any questions from the board member about this bill? Not at the moment. So right now the staff recommendation position is support with amendment. May I have a motion. So moved second. All in favor please raise your hand. Thank you. Okay. And then our final bill today is House Bill 358. The Senate bill is 408. And this is the soccer Opportunities program. This establishes basically a grant program to offset the costs associated with participating in soccer. For teams that have either 50% of their players are minority or 50% are eligible for farm's benefits. It's not 100% clear if we would actually benefit from this program. It earmarks, I think, $100,000. We don't know what the amount of grants would be. All of all of those things are still uncertain. But we do know that it would provide funding to allow minority and low income students to participate in soccer at a higher rate, and have it be less of a drain on on them, having those having to cover those costs. So for that reason, our recommended position is to support this bill, even though it's not clear that M.C.P.S. Will directly benefit. But the children around the state would. Thank you so much. Now this this bill, any comments from the board members? Yes. No. As as someone who's a big fan of soccer, I'm going to delightfully move this forward at this time. Yes, Miss Silvestre, I just because the fiscal note is not clear, it could have it could be an unfunded mandate. No, it's a grant program. So the okay you have to apply for it. Yeah. So it would be funded through the governor and then we would be able to apply for grant grant monies if we had a team that qualified for eligibility. So then can I have a the staff recommendation is support. So can we have a motion. I thought I already moved. Well you already moved. Do we have a second. Second. All right. All in favor, please raise your hand. Thank you so much. Great. So those were all of the bills with positions. We really kind of eased you in this this week. The only other action that would be requested at this time is to approve the bills that are in the reintroduction. So approve the board's prior positions that would remain the board's position this year on reintroduced bills. Thank you so much. And I also appreciate your earlier comment about the rest of the bills on the platform. It seems like my colleagues have more to say about the you're just going to be a motion, so move for approval. I have a comment. We did move approval for the. The rest of it does not require any motion because it's on our platform. The reintroduction does the platform bills. You do not take a position on. The one bill that is a reintroduction would require a motion to approve the prior position, which was to oppose that bill, I believe. Okay. Right, right we are for is your comment about this bill, Mr. Silvestre, I'll wait after we vote. Okay. I move to for the reintroduction of HB 282. Second. All in favor, please raise your hand. That's unanimous. With those present. That's all. That's all. Thank you. I do have a comment. Right. Go ahead. At a recent county council meeting on the blueprint, some of the council members asked about our priorities so that they can also advocate. And I know you, I'm sure you have sent them over, but just send them again so that they are aware of the things that we are advocating for. And so as they continue to have conversations with our legislators, that they have our priorities front and center. Thank you. I will certainly do that. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Wilson, for doing this work. Can I have a clarification? Yes. I just want to make sure that that was not just to reintroduce, but to oppose. Yeah. To oppose your motion should be opposed. That's our position. Yes, yes. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much. I also asked the staff I want to go back, take us back a little bit to the last agenda item about the Magruder High School renaming petition, community engagement item. I asked staff to check on some rules because there are four of before, because we only have seven board members present, and we have four votes for that motion. And that is the majority of the vote, though it is not the majority of the board, but it's the majority of those present. So that motion carries. So I will I will ask the board staff to update this meeting minutes and to reflect this change. We will do so. And what that means is that you've guaranteed that the renaming will be considered in the CIP process. Yes. Thank you. And Madam President, just for parliamentary procedure here, we do have to since we are going back and revisiting a topic, you should ask if the board members would like to challenge that because I don't think that they would. But you do have to offer that. As to whether or not anyone challenges the ruling, and you're making a ruling as the president that there was actually a majority vote cast, which there was a majority vote cast, and whether or not the board has a challenge to that, it's going to be a dramatic meeting. All right. So seeing no lights, calling once, twice, three times. Thank you so much, Miss Yang. I just ask that we put this out clearly to the community, because there were a lot of people in the audience that came for this decision and left with what, what they saw. So it's very important that we send it out in all of our different communications that our decision was was made on this topic. Doctor Taylor, actually, that brought up a very good point, because whatever decision we make today, it needs to be communicated clearly to the school community and those who have participated in this process. And I think your staff is not here anymore. But if there's any way you can help answer or they can follow up with us. In addition to Doctor Keisha Addison winning the Last Standing Director Award, our staff is listening and they will absolutely do that. And it is our responsibility to promulgate the board's will. The board has made a decision, and we will absolutely communicate that in assistance with the school administration. And Miss Wolff, I wonder if I can ask and I'm and I'm not speaking for the board, so feel free to jump in on this. If we could not communicate our values as a part of this decision, yes. And somehow incorporate the educational process starting immediately. Thank you, Mr. Savona. So two points. The first one, just just to say sorry, I had a brain fog for a second, but the first one, just to say that when we're deciding what the what the motion with the number was to carry, I wanted to be clear that the motion was just to ensure that at least it would be considered in the future. It doesn't, even if we wanted to guarantee it now, that could be done with a separate motion. So no matter what motion was, was passed right now, in terms of the decision to and the decision to delay the renaming consideration until the point of the CIP, we could also in a separate motion at the same time, still say that we wanted to rename it right now as well and continue with the steps now. So the motions are not mutually exclusive. Correct? Asking asking board staff for some level of clarification there say that say that one more time for me. Sorry. So the motions are not mutually exclusive. Meaning if we pass that motion that that we were talking about in terms of delaying the consideration of renaming until, until the CIP, we could also at the same time, in a separate motion. Like say, that we want to rename it right now, but so. Miss Savannah, I know you have more to say. As I mentioned earlier, this is going to be a dramatic board meeting, and I have a new update for you. My original ruling was correct because according to our Board of Education handbook, the rules of Order, a motion is not adopted without the approval of five members. So any motions need to have majority of the board, regardless of how many present at them, with one exception for personnel matter. So. So this is not a personnel matter. So are we allowed to remove that motion? The someone who was on the losing side or of the vote. That's probably not the way to put it, is the one who has to move it to come back. So someone who didn't vote for it. Okay, I can I speak? Yes. Mr. I have a question. I'm so sorry, staff. I didn't know this was going to be this complicated, but this is I would like to know, like, as Mr. Savannah just mentioned, about a possibility of another motion to start the process. How is that? And I guess I needed that information earlier. But since we're revisiting, is that even possible? Can I mean, I think you kind of answered it, but what what's the is there a ramifications? I don't know, I just would like to hear from staff about the ramifications. Yeah, I, I think that the further clarification that Miss Wolff has added has, I think, illuminated the board's intent, which is that the board intends to revisit this issue tied to the CIP, but that you you would like to make a decision that communicates your values and your intent. Your intent is to proceed with the process of renaming, and that you are also would like the community that is a part of the Magruder High School community to be educated about the history and to contextualize some of the negative components tied to the name. And that's that's a good starting place. And I think that as you as you have a game plan, without that additional context, this is this is a little bit of a hollow experience and doesn't really communicate the board's intent. The board's intent is to communicate its values. The board's intent is also to be fiscally responsible. And so you've really got two trains leaving the station at the same time. And how to combine those 2nd May be the same motion plus educational programing and the intent to proceed with the process. Could we even put that in the motion in any way? So what you could do is offer a new motion that incorporates the language that Miss Wolff gave, and add to it. In addition, the board requests that the staff engage in education. Around the history of the name. The current name of the school, with both staff, students, and community since the other motion didn't carry. So you can feel free to start a new motion. I will give Miss Wolff the first bite if she wants that or I can do it. tually, it has to come from a member who didn't vote, so I'll do that. I would like to start with the language of the original motion and add an addition. The board requests that the staff at Magruder High School engage in. Education of the student body. As to the renaming, and you can reword that. Miss Wolff, can you pass your motion to Miss Stewart so she has the whole motion to read? Is this a time for a question? After she rereads her motion, then we can. I have to have a second before we can go into discussion. Okay. I move that the board delay any renaming consideration for Magruder High School until such a time is as a major capital project for Magruder High Schoo, is programed for construction in the CIP, and in addition, the board requests that the staff at Magruder High School educates the whole school community on the on the remaining renaming of the school and the history behind the renaming of the school. Thank you. Is there a second? Second? This is a time to open for discussion, Miss Wolff. I guess I don't see the point in this because they've already agreed to do that when I when I asked them. So it just seems like fluff if I could use that term. And I don't mean it to be offensive, it just seems like it's unnecessary because Doctor Taylor already said he was willing to do that. Miss Zimbelman, I agree that we need to do this work right, that that's an important element. I would rather see us take more definitive steps in the renaming process than make our motion more about the education element. You could offer a friendly amendment directing staff to proceed with the naming renaming process. Okay, Miss Stewart, is that a friendly amendment to move forward? Yes. Great point of clarification. Can we get the entire motion read out as it currently stands on on the table? I have a question. So if the if it's amended then it need to be reread for the clarification for the all the board member on the dais, can I just ask a question? What are we what are we doing now? Because it sounds like you're moving forward with the renaming without any money. But I mean, even if you move forward with the process, the process will end probably before the calendar year ends. And we still don't have any money. And so, I mean, I just don't think that's exactly what you want to do. That's part of my point of clarification. I just want to know understand what the motion is on the table right after the motion on the table is, is to add the education component to the original motion by Miss Wolff, miss Yang. And also right, right. We could all board members could think about this and reintroduce something else at a later time rather than I don't like to kind of right at this point on the at the board table, as it seems like we all need to rethink about this issue. So right now there's no change to the original decision. Oh yeah. So we have a motion on the floor that we still need to vote. And so it was second by Mr. Savannah. So all in favor raise your hand. What was the motion? The motion was to add the history education component. And we are not accepting the friendly amendment. All right. So all in favor, raise your hand. Point. Point of parliamentary procedure. You can you go back on accepting a friendly amendment? Yeah. The mover can accept or not accept. So if it was already accepted and it goes back as a further point of clarification, isn't it then by rule, an unfriendly amendment, then you can withdraw, you can withdraw and then you can vote on that. Okay. So I withdraw my amendment just to make I have a question about that, though. You're adding on to a motion that was voted down. But that's a new motion that doesn't matter if it's okay. So you consider this a re-introduction, right? Right. It's a new vote. It's a new vote. All right. We are really trying to cross our T's and dot our I's. Thank you for your patience. So there is a motion on the table and there is a second. Let's vote. All in favor, raise your hand. All. All opposed. Raise your hand. Okay. All right. That is six votes opposed. Thank you so much. That was a great learning of parliamentary rules for today's meeting. Fantastic. All right. So besides the wonderful, wonderful appointment of your new cabinet, adopting a tentative budget and a proposed budget, operating budget, that adding the McGruder renaming excitement. We have a few items. The to go quick items to go through. Okay. The next item is. New business. I actually have a new business to present to the board and to put on the table for board's consideration. Many of you know Mrs. Patricia Pat O'Neill devoted her life's work to public education, serving on the Montgomery County Board of Education for 23 years. She represented the students and school system of Montgomery County as a leader in a number of critical state and local organizations, and she earned numerous awards for her work. Miss O'Neill Mrs. O'Neill was dedicated to the students and families of Montgomery County and committed to the value of equity, respect, relationship, learning, and excellence. She led the board's Policy Management Committee for many years, ensuring that the system's core values were embedded in its policy. Because Mrs. O'Neill believed in the importance of the board's governance work and its vital role in the success of Montgomery County and its schools, and in honor of her lasting legacy of service with Grace leadership with purpose and commitment to the community, I would like to ask the board consider that the board room at 15 West Gully Drive be named the Patricia O'Neill Board of Education Room. So with that, I will open this matter for any discussion if there's any. Miss Wolff okay. Seeing no discussion, it's resolved that the Board of Education hereby names the board room at 15 West County Drive. The Patricia O'Neill Board of Education Room. And be it further resolved that the Patricia O'Neill Board of Education Room serve as a place for the Board of Education and the Montgomery County community to engage in the work of providing each and every student in M.C.P.S. With the education they need to thrive in their future. Thank you. This item is going to sit on the board table until the February 24th meeting for board approval and voting. All right, any other new business from my colleagues? Madam president, I do want to note you've got a few informational items just for the board's review that are on the agenda, just for the board's consideration. I just want to make note in our meeting minutes that that happened. Right. So there is. Item 11, item of information. And then also item 13 is informational summary. And those are for information purposes. Those two items are for information purposes. No actions required at this time. And but there is another item that requires your action, which is adjournment of this exciting board meeting. Miss Yang, I just real quickly we have two items 12.1 and 12.2 that just require block approval to move, approval of 12.1 and 12.2 second. All in favor, raise your hand. Thank you. Unanimous. You can clearly tell this is an action packed meeting. All right. And then the meeting is adjourned. We did have the motion to adjourn it. Did we vote on it yet? Move to adjourn. All right. Item 14. Adjournment. May I have a motio? Second. Second. Thank you. All in favor? Thank you so much, everyone. The meeting is adjourned.