Board Buzz

We offer this recap of our school board meetings as part of our commitment to providing timely updates for students, families, staff, and the community.

The board is slated to approved the district's Tentative Budget for the 2024-25 school year at its May 20 action meeting. In preparation, board members heard details from Deputy Superintendent Houston Barber; Ann Sampson-Grimes, executive director of Budget & Financial Planning; and Rodney Jackson, executive director of Financial Accounting & Benefits Services.

• View the Tentative Budget presentation
• Bookmark the Financial Transparency Dashboard

Academic Services: Assistant Superintendent Meocha Williams and Assessment Director Brooke Stinson shared highlights of this spring's MAP (measures of academic progress) data on reading and math. "It provides information on what our students are ready to learn in that moment," Stinson said in explaining the adaptive test for grades K-9. "It's a great assessment of what our teachers use in the classroom every day," she added, noting how the latest numbers showed improvement. Williams credited teachers' intentionality in setting goals for students. "Our kids are really taking this seriously, and it's really showing in how students are growing and are excited to show what they know," she said.

• View the MAP presentation
  

Strategic Plan: Staff members gave progress updates on two areas of the district's Strategic Plan. Shamiah Ford and Lori Bowen focused on Highly Effective & Culturally Responsive Workforce while Christi Sexton and Erica Beatty reviewed the status of Organizational Health & Efficiency.

Student Trip via Commerce Lexington: The board heard about the Black Male Working Academy's (BMW) recent trip to Huntsville, Alabama, where students explored engineering careers and entrepreneurship while touring a Mazda Toyota plant and learning about Boneal Aerospace. The group also visited Alabama A&M University and an innovative STEAM-based high school. Three dozen students went on the Youth Leadership Chamber Trip, in conjunction with Commerce Lexington and other community partners. "When we expose our students to things they haven't even imagined, it makes a great difference," said Board Member Marilyn Clark.

Along with the Tentative Budget, board members considered several other items that will be on their consent agenda at the May 20 action meeting, including:

• FY25 pay dates and salary schedules for FCPS employees
• A contract with Rachel's Challenge for bully awareness and prevention assemblies for middle schools
• Approval of construction documents and advertisement for bids for the construction of the new Rise STEM Academy

The video series “Murphy’s Minute” features Board Chair Tyler Murphy answering frequently asked questions. Topics include the school board’s roles, responsibilities, service to the community, advocacy, meeting schedules, and decisions that affect our students, schools, and families. Students from several of our secondary schools host the biweekly series.

You can watch the latest video here in the Board Buzz; it's later archived on the main school board webpage and in a YouTube playlist.

The public is welcome to attend planning sessions and action meetings in person at the John D. Price Administration Building, 450 Park Place. (Note: June and July meetings are virtual.) The monthly action meetings are also livestreamed on the FCPS YouTube channel and the district's Video on Demand service. These videos are archived in a YouTube playlist.

• Skim the May 6 planning agenda or listen to the whole meeting.
• Read the official minutes, which will be posted within the agenda of the next board meeting.