Work Session Date: June 3, 2025
Board Members Present: Beachley, Burkett, Evans, Guessford, McCusker, Murray, Zentmeyer, Wang (student rep)
Board Members Absent: none
Video to full work session HERE
* This is Daphne Wang's last meeting as the Student Member of the Board. Dr. Zentmeyer thanked her again for her outstanding service over the past year. After the brief business session, the work session began at 1:05 PM.
| Agenda Item / Topic #1 |
|---|
| District Website Migration Update |
| Presenter(s) |
| Erin Anderson, Chief Communications Officer |
| Summary |
Erin Anderson, Chief Communications Officer, provided an update regarding a redesign and update of the WCPS district website and school sites that will be launched this summer. Over the summer, the district will migrate content from the current website to a newly designed website that will offer improved user experiences across all types of devices. The new system will meet Federal standards for accessibility. This will involve working to ensure that content currently in PDF format becomes accessible. The site will be "soft launched" in July and will use the same content management system across all school and department websites. Each school's site will also have social media options. This will result in:
Click here to go directly to the slideshow. |
| General Board Member Comments /Questions |
| Zentmeyer and Murray thanked Anderson for the work, noting their frustrations in the past with easily finding information.
|
| Agenda Item / Topic #2 |
|---|
| From Classrooms to Communities: Advancing WCPS Strategic Priorities Through Civics Education: how WCPS is implementing a comprehensive, PreK–12 civics education framework that helps students understand their rights, responsibilities, and roles in a democratic society. These efforts align with the WCPS 2025–2030 Strategic Plan by promoting student success, civic readiness, and meaningful community engagement. |
| Presenter(s) |
| Dr. Gary Willow, Associate Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Helen Huffer, Supervisor of Counseling, and Adam Parry, Supervisor of Career and Technical Education |
| Summary |
Click here to go directly to the slideshow |
| General Board Member Comments /Questions |
| Zentmeyer thanked the group for their efforts. Guessford noted that he was glad to see this report since he had asked for more details. He then asked about how the elementary counseling lessons occur at the elementary level. Ms. Huffer explained the process.
|
| Agenda Item / Topic #3 |
| 2025 Summer School Preview |
| Presenter(s) |
| Dr. Gary Willow, Associate Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, and Dan Fowler, Supervisor of School Management |
| Summary |
Click here to go directly to the slideshow |
| General Board Member Comments /Questions |
| McCusker asked about the registration process worked for summer school. McCusker liked how they were meeting the child where they are and asked if there was a reason it was not continuing into middle school. Fowler explained that it was and how. McCusker said she was under the impression they were doing summer school at each school but it shows 16. Fowler explained it is open to all elementary schools, but some had to merge locations. Zentmeyer said it would be interesting to see how many students we reach out to and how many accept invites. Murray asked how many high school students would be getting the credits they need to graduate at summer graduation. Evans asked about a parent who has a student who is doing well in school and not getting poor grades but wanted to know if her child can go to summer school, he said it seems like it's only the kids with identified gaps. Guessford asked for the day's schedule for all- elementary, middle and high school summer school. He questioned the 70 minutes of math for the student. Willow explained that teachers incorporate small and whole group lessons and ways to make it interesting for the students. Guessford wanted further explanation as to what they morning would look like and asked Fowler. Fowler started with arrival, and as to what the morning might look like. Guessford said that when he and some other board members voted on this, they wanted it to be "meaty" and not like an after-school summer program where they go and have fun. Guessford said that in the past it was more of a playtime and some parents used it as "I don't want my kid around, so let's send them to school". Guessford commented on the invite, saying he wasn't so sure he would send an invite to a middle school parent because we really need to tell parents that their child needs to be in summer school. He said, "If we can do away with the invite and more say we need you to be here would be so much better for those parents". Guessford said that sometimes our parents really need that structure from us to say "You need to step up and be a parent, and we need them here". Guessford then asked Sovine if summer school will be within budget.
|
| Agenda Item / Topic #4 |
| 2025 Educational Facilities Master Plan (EFMP) |
| Presenter(s) |
| Jeffrey Proulx, Chief Operating Officer, Robert Rollins, Director of Facilities, Matt Burton, Supervisor of Construction, and Chad Criswell, Senior Project Manager and Planning Supervisor |
| Summary |
Click here to go directly to the slideshow (43 pages)
Click here to go directly to the slideshow (322 pages) |
| General Board Member Comments /Questions |
| McCusker asked about future use of the new portables. Evans asked about using the portables, only to take them down. He said it seemed like extra work with extra cost. Proulx explained that there are staging issues that need to be addressed for an addition, and explained about the enrollment pressures in some of the schools and also cited fire codes. A question was asked about renting portables, and Proulx said they would be needed for future renovations, and to possibly replace the aging current structures. Burkett asked about sending affected students to other schools during the construction. |