The Falls Church School Board met in Regular Session Tuesday, September 8th.
You can Watch the Meeting in Full, or use the links below to skip ahead to topics and documents of interest.
Agenda Action Item highlights:
Received Update on School Renaming
+ K-12 is developing a survey expected to be ready for school board approval by September 29th. If approved, the survey would be opened to the public between October 6-20. Following a two week analysis, the results would be announced tentatively on November 5th, followed by public forums and other public comments. Under this timeline, a final decision on any change would come, probably, in January.
+ Statement from Greg Anderson, School Board Chair
In June, the School Board decided to consider changing the names of George Mason High School and Thomas Jefferson Elementary School. There is strong community interest in this issue; we have received more than 100 public comments to date with support both for and against name changes. These comments represent a small share of our community and we believe it is imperative to seek input and give Falls Church residents, as well as Mason alumni, multiple avenues to share their thoughts on this issue. To gather feedback, the School Board has hired an outside consultant to conduct a community survey. In addition to the survey, the Board will hold at least two public comment sessions where members of the community can give their input on school renaming.
During the process of selecting a firm to conduct the survey, the Board took into consideration the scope of the work needed and also the cost, in order to minimize expenditures. The basis for deciding to retain an outside consultant was twofold: a desire to have FCCPS staff remain solely focused on managing academics and return to school amidst the COVID-19 crisis and to have an independent and unbiased third party overseeing the survey and its results.
-- Greg Anderson School Board Chair
Approved Charges to Advisory Committees
+ Charges to School Board Advisory Committees for the coming year.
Approved Proclamation: October 2020 as Bullying Prevention Month
+ Read Proclamation
Approval of disposal of an old School Bus via auction
+ FY21 Memorandum on Disposal of Assets. Note: This bus has already been replaced.
Received Presentation of FY2020 Available Balance.
+ Included was a CIP Budget Transfer request and a Fund Transfer from Fund Balance to Food Services Program. Both were approved.
+ Presentation slides
+ FY21 CIP Authorization
+ Budget Transfer Memo
Adoption of Wellness Policy
+ Policy JHCF/GBF/IGAL – Wellness
School Reopening Plan
+ Discussion of the plan developed to return our most needy children to in-class instruction was postponed until Thursday. The exact time for the continuation of last night's meeting will be announced later today. The meeting will be web-streamed and recorded.