Student Representative to the Prince William County School Board Report and Recommendations of the Superintendent’s Committee April 5, 2017 School Board Directive of November 15, 2016 That the Prince William County School Board direct the Superintendent to proceed with a recommendation on the process of appointing a student representative to serve in a non-voting, advisory capacity to the School Board. Superintendent’s Committee Facilitator: • Mary McGowan, Division Counsel Members: • Carolyn Custard, Director of Student Services • Debbie Bishop, Professional Development and Program Specialist, Office of Student Services • Jeff Girvan, Supervisor of History and Social Science, Office of Student Learning • Wayne Mallard, Retired Deputy Superintendent 2 Committee Met December 12, 2016, February 22 and 28, 2017 to: • Review directive of the School Board and legal authorities applicable to the appointment of a student representative • Gather and share benchmarked information from other Virginia school divisions which have student representative(s), including Loudoun, Virginia Beach, Fairfax, Henrico, Alexandria, Arlington, Chesterfield, and Lynchburg • Share and discuss best practices and policies from other divisions, as well as studies from SoundOut Guide to Students on School Boards and the National School Boards Association • Develop recommendations for the selection process and the respective roles and responsibilities of the School Board and the student 3 Virginia Code § 22.1-86.1 • Board may adopt procedures for the appointment of a student representative • Student is not a member of the School Board for any purpose, including, but not limited to, establishing a quorum or making any official decision • Student representative must serve in a non-voting, advisory capacity • Student excluded from Closed Session meetings • School Board determines term and other circumstances of service 4 Recommendation: One Student Representative and Two Alternates • Must be PWCS students and rising junior or senior • Representative and alternates will serve full school year • Alternates will attend smaller percentage of meetings, fill in during student representative’s absences, and assist in gathering student input from the school community at large 5 Recommendation: Role of the Student Representative • Will commit to attend all regularly scheduled open sessions of the School Board • Will not attend Closed Session nor receive confidential information relating to personnel, individual students, legal matters, etc. • May be invited by the School Board to participate in additional meetings as appropriate, e.g., VSBA conferences, budget work sessions, ribbon cuttings, legislative breakfast, etc. • Will be allowed to present the student’s viewpoint on agenda items and during Board Matters • Will become familiar with and follow Roberts’ Rules of Order, FOIA, the School Board’s policies, regulations, Code of Ethics, and agenda • Will meet quarterly with alternate student representatives and will solicit the views of other students as requested by the School Board 6 Recommendation: Responsibilities of the School Board • Engage student in appropriate issues, model ethical and leadership qualities, solicit student input, and provide student with a voice • Consider financing student’s participation in VSBA and NSBA conferences as appropriate • Award the student an elective credit based on participation and attendance as overseen by a faculty advisor • Excuse the student from School Board meetings which conflict with testing or other academic requirements, and allow to leave early from Board meetings which run beyond 10:00 p.m. • Permit the student to participate in discussion of specific agenda issues and present views during Board Matters 7 Objective: To develop a process for the selection of a student representative to the School Board intended to: • Open the selection process to as many eligible students as possible • Conduct the selection process so as to encourage participation by students in all high schools throughout the County • Base selection solely upon the student’s genuine interest in civic matters, commitment to the position, and demonstrated communication skills • Avoid politicization of the selection process through procedures which until final interviews, are “blind” to the sex, race, national origin, and school 8 Recommendation: Eligibility Criteria • Student representative and two alternates must commit to one-year term (July 1 to June 30 each SY) and attendance at regular open meetings • Open to rising juniors and seniors from all 12 PWCS high schools, PACE East, PACE West, and New Directions • Must have at least a 2.5 GPA, and no failing grades in high school • Must have no in-school or out-of-school disciplinary issues during high school and must exhibit behavior consistent with position as representative to the School Board. • May not be directly related to any member of the School Board or Senior Leadership staff • Must submit written application and essay, and participate in an interview (for finalists) • Signed acknowledgment by parents of support for commitment 9 Step One: School-Based Selection Process • Selection process will focus on identifying students who are genuinely interested in government activities and civic leadership • Application process advertised to students on PWCS website and by schools (April 18, 2017) • Students must complete “blind” written application, which focuses on the student’s motivation and goals relative to the position, rather than his or her past accomplishments (April 28, 2017) • Application, essay, and interview questions developed by Division Selection Committee • School-Based Panel, composed of social studies, government and/or history teachers, evaluates blind application responses to select two students from each school whose responses best fit the selection criteria (May 1-15, 2017) • Facilitators at each school simultaneously provide the selected students with essay question provided by Division Selection Committee, which must be answered at schools under SOL-type protocols (May 16-18, 2017) • School facilitator forwards to the Division Selection Committee the applications and essays of the two successful students, absent any identifying information (May 16, 2017) 10 Selection Process-Step 2 • Division Selection Committee will be comprised of social studies/history teachers from East, West, and Central high schools, with Debbie Bishop as the facilitator/tiebreaker: – Tiffany Newell, Freedom High School – Chevelli Smith, Gar-Field High School – Warren Hill, Potomac High School – Michele Larosa, Woodbridge High School – Vincent Reese, Osbourn Park High School – Sharon Scavella-Knotts, Hylton High School – Peter Wonders, Brentsville High School – Cullen Nolan, Patriot High School – Joe Calloway, Battlefield High School 11 Selection Process-Step 2 (Cont’d) • Committee reviews blind applications and essays of the two students from each high school and then notifies candidates of interview dates and times (May 22-31, 2017) • Committee conducts interviews, focusing on students’ communication skills (June 1-6, 2017) • Committee submits nominations for student representative and two alternates to the Superintendent (June 7, 2017) • The Superintendent presents nominations to the School Board for approval and introduction of appointees at June 21, 2017 Board meeting (next year start process earlier) 12 QUESTIONS? 13.