I. Welcome and Introductions

• Introductions
  • Kelli O'Loughlin, Chair of Colgan PAC, introduced Colgan’s Administrators present at the meeting, congratulated all the volunteers who offered to serve at PAC Colgan for the School Year 2024-2025, and observed that the Vice-Chair position was the only one still open for volunteers, and if any of the attendees are inclined to serve, to please see her at the end of the meeting.

  II. Chairperson's Time

  • The PAC Chair for Colgan HS welcomed all attendees to the new School Year (SY) 2024-2025. The PAC is open to all. The chair congratulated the students at the PAC meeting that day, as it will allow the PAC to listen to all perspectives.
  • Review and Approve May 2024 Minutes
    • Minutes were approved

  III. School Stakeholder Reports:If you are attending the meeting as a representative of one of these groups, please let the chairperson know prior to the start of the meeting

  • The Superintendent Advisory Council on Instruction (SACI) representative, Mrs. Smith, expressed that SACI finalized the End of the Year Report for the SACI chair to present to the Superintendent. We look forward to hearing details of that meeting’s outcome in October 2025. Equitable budget meetings continue to happen to try to find the best ways for PWCS to be inclusive and mindful of our resources.Be on the lookout for parent surveys on the upcoming PWCS Calendar.

  IV. Principal's Time

  • Welcome and Introduction to the School Continuous Improvement Plan
    • Dr. Healey, Principal at Colgan HS, presented two sets of data points. First, he shared the Accreditation data to examine, and later, the Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP), which was distributed next. One of the CIP's goals is to establish an agenda for reviewing these points during the year. The School Division asks Colgan and each of the schools to set up a review of the data now provided.
    • First, Dr. Healey explained the data in the Accreditation Report page by page. Not all the schools’ information has been released yet, so comparable data across the district is not public as of the day of this meeting. The good news is that Colgan did well. However, the state is moving away from this accreditation. This is the last year this system will be used.
    • We will receive a new report for the same SY 23-24 calculated according to the new accreditation system, showing where Colgan would have been under the New Accreditation Model. This report will compare the two accreditation systems.
    • This accreditation data is just one snapshot of what Virginia looks at in public schools, but not all data is represented. We will not see AP testing or SAT results here. There are nine indicators of success right now, all green, showing satisfactory grades. Last year, we had only one yellow, which was still one of the best in PWCS.
    • For example, in terms of academic achievement, achievement gap, in reading, and reading SOLs combined, Colgan reached level 1 on all, which means we are at or above standard. The cumulative three years can be seen in the reading data points because sometimes the system allows us to look at the year prior. Minimum passing grades are 70%. In some groups, we made significant positive jumps, such as going from 85% to 93% in the category of English Learners, and Colgan went from 79% to 92% in the category of Students with Disabilities.
    • In the current accreditation system, we can use substitute testing grades to count as passes within the English categories. This happens with our Special Education cohort and our English Learners. By Federal guidelines, everyone needs to take the SOL, but for VA State accreditation, a substitute qualifying test is valid for graduation and accreditation. Therefore, we will see SOL testing rates alone, which will show lower passing tests.
      • Math: there are no substitute tests, but only one SOL is needed to pass for high school accreditation. This is reflected in the current system. Here, we see big jumps in Students with Disabilities and English Learners and increases in most categories overall.
      • Science: 70% passing is needed, and we maintain a good place there.
      • Chronic Absenteeism: The state defines a student as chronically absent if a student is absent 10% of the total amount of days. Excused or unexcused absences do not alter the classification. The Truancy classification is different: Here, unexcused absences are considered. These are state definitions. Within 180 days of school, a chronically absent student would have missed 18 full days. Colgan received improvement credits due to the reduction of 10% in the gap, even though Colgan did not reach a rate below or at 15%.
      • Graduation/Completion Index: 98.6%. It is worth mentioning that GED students are included here, and English Learners can continue to enroll until the age of 20 to improve their English. Colgan’s Dropout rate is under 1%, which is excellent.
      • College and Career Readiness: 86%. Here, admin would like to showcase their work with externships. These programs allow students to work for two weeks at different pre-approved locations and give a presentation of the work achieved at the end. It started in 2019. It brings incredible value. It used to be a struggle for some seniors to be in class by May, which is understandable as we prepare them to leave high school for new challenges. They need to be ready to move on; this externship allows for a trial.
    • The Colgan Administration would like to point out that these excellent grades should not be taken for granted. Many have said to us in the past, “That is just Colgan,” but that is not the reason for these excellent rates. There is so much one-to-one work involved at the student level, countless hours, and creative approaches to working on these data points. This does not happen by accident.
  • Question: Rana Kahl congratulated the rise in Math scores and asked what the administration would attribute to this rise.
    • Dr. Healey pointed out that PWCS’ math scores are trending in the right direction as a division. Here at Colgan, we have been creating space for a common planning time for teachers, where even Special Education Teachers are included. Key teachers who hold additional certifications are selected to work with special populations. And we have added the Professional development of the seven steps for all learners. Although this is recommended for English classes, we believe it can help everyone. When math teachers see success, their climate of success also improves. This positive environment continues to feed improvements.
  • Regarding Special Ed (SPED)—As I see a drop in numbers within the Special Education data points, I would like clarifications regarding the following: Are we losing SPED students to other programs? Why do we see a drop in test takers? Or is it enrollment?
    • This will be doublechecked, and a data-driven answer will be presented at the next meeting, but for now Dr. Healey explained it is possible that the number of test takers has dropped because more SPED students have passed their SOLs. Previously, they needed to take it multiple times in high school; now, they need one passing math SOL. Once a student has passed one SOL for math in High School, there is no need to pass it again for accreditation purposes. It was also noted that Colgan is about fifty-two students above the budgeted amount.
  • Moving on to the CIP: The strategic plan objectives are very narrowly targeted priorities. This does not mean that these are our only points for improvement at Colgan. At first glance, there is a tendency to ask if other issues are missing importance. However, following the guidance from the county, we only have a few major priorities that the county will look at and align across all other schools. We at Colgan will be looking at many more to improve continually. Colgan is held accountable for these targets.
  • We are now looking at data within the Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP). There is no substitute testing for special categories of students, and therefore, lower numbers will be seen in this data report. A new Strategic Priority has been identified for Students with Disabilities to increase their Reading SOL pass rate, independent of the alternative testing methodology. Colgan will continue using both according to the students’ needs, but the SOL passing rate will be given increased attention.
  • On page 7, we can see improvements in less chronically absent seniors. At Colgan, seniors cannot participate in the externship program if chronically absent. This condition improved the data, cutting it almost in half, as seen here. The importance of school attendance was raised during COVID19. Students and families received mixed messages about not attending at the basic level of sickness, and now we are asking all to attend.
  • The three main strategic Priorities agreed upon will be to have a high-functioning PAC as per the new rubric, decrease the percentage of female EL students identified as chronically absent, and increase the reading SOL pass rate for students with disabilities. When Dr. Healey meets with the strategic planning office, Colgan shows proof of how we are meeting these priorities throughout the year. Mrs. McClellan reminded us that this last document will be reviewed several times yearly.
  • Next week, the administrators will bring an update on the budget.

  Comment: We request that SPED students not on SOL tracks be included in the CIP. We do not want their data to fall through the cracks because we need to focus on students taking the SOLs. This request was noted by administrators.

  V. Round Table: Presentation Discussion

  VI. Open Comments

  • We request that a security conversation be added to one of the following meetings.
  • Will our PAC schedule of information and discussion be directed entirely by the rubric? Attendees would like to voice that as a very high functioning PAC as Colgan’s PAC has been, where parents have been able to successfully drive the subjects of discussion as to what the interests of our parents have, Colgan’s PAC should be able to continue to drive some of these important, but Colgan-driven subjects. Several attendees added to this motion of balancing our parents’ needs for Subject-specific interests. The administration specified that they heard the parents here and will look forward to balancing the parents' needs with the county's rubric for PAC.
  • One parent mentioned kids who might have tried to circumvent the Evolv system. Kids must go through the Evolv first and then go out for PE. Colgan is managing the overcapacity issues, but we have not heard this comment before. They will be looking into these processes.
  • Can you discuss the lockdown drill? It is standard in the division. The information was explained during the meeting. For more specific information, contact Colgan Admin.
  • No phones in class and security: If there is an actual situation, phones will be accessible.
  • In the case of a lockdown in one of the neighboring schools, other schools would have directions to follow. A new emergency operations center regulates issues centrally.
  • Underclass award ceremony. Can we add the topic of Inclusion?
  • How are the new cell phone usage rules working? It is going great. There have been no cell phone infractions thus far. Even though students are annoyed, they know this is good for them. Students are being compliant. Teachers are happy to see more interactions and work done in class. Same feedback from other high schools? Some peers would prefer no cell phones during lunch. Still, our experience has proven highly successful and allows students to use it in moderation, as in real work situations.
  • We are in the digital gateway area, and the county is getting areas rezoned to allow for new data centers in the area. One of the areas is less than a mile away.

  Meeting adjourned at 8:27pm.

  Remember to sign in using the QR Code if you haven't already

  **Next meeting: Monday, October 14, 2024, 7 pm in the Colgan Library

I. Welcome and Introductions

• Kelli O'Loughlin, Chair of Colgan PAC, introduced Colgan’s Administrators present at the meeting and asked everyone to introduce themselves.

II. Chairperson's Time

• • Review and Approve September 2024 Minutes
    • Approved
  • Vice-Chair Nominations (if any)
    • Adrianna Berk offered to step into the role at the end of the meetin
  • Special Recognitions
    • Colgan PAC would like to recognize those who have volunteered in the past, but it will be postponed since the person is absent today.
  • CIP questions for September
    • The County’s High Functioning PAC’s Rubric request will be covered during the Principal’s time.
    • The clarification request on data for Math Special Ed students needs to be postponed. Administrators contacted the POC for this data, who requested more time to gather past information to provide a more comprehensive response.
    • County Rubric for High Functioning PAC (cover in Principal's time)
    • Other questions after time for reviewing CIP document
  • Review of Questions asked at Open Comment
    • Clarify data on # of Math Special Ed students

III. School Stakeholder Reports:If you are attending the meeting as a representative of one of these groups, please let the chairperson know prior to the start of the meeting

PAC’s Chair wanted the group to know that in the past, she had asked for new stakeholder representation on several groups via email, to no avail. This year, she would like to bring this request to the group. If they have cleared this with the lead for each stakeholder, anybody can bring the information to the meeting, added Dr. Healey.

• • Question:As a member of the CFPA, the member requested to know what information is expected from each group. She discussed this with the CFPA leadership, who were concerned about adding extra meetings to their busy volunteers. If PAC could delineate expectations, it would be helpful.

• SACI
  • The Superintendent Advisory Council on Instruction (SACI) representative, Mrs. Smith, distributed a summary of notes and commented on SACI’s first official meeting on October 10, 2024. The room was packed as never before, and this attendance was attributed to the release of the best practices for a High Functioning Principal Advisory Council (PAC) recently released and added to all schools’ improvement plans. A task force was created about two years ago to research, observe, and catalog the best practices of PACs in Prince William County. Kimberly Werle, Associate Superintendent of Eastern Elementary Schools, and Vanessa Olson, Chair of SACI, led it. The administrators will go over the details.
  • Expectations on what it means to be a good member of SACI were also presented. It was reiterated that SACI does not create policy but provides feedback and recommendations from a parent’s point of view regarding the group or school they represent. This is important to bring back to our PAC because PAC members should also consider improving all sections of our school and leave personal matters to personal meetings with each corresponding Administrator. This will keep our school goals in mind and help us become efficient at the school and personal levels.
• This year, the Best Practices Conference, which includes PTO organizations and PAC members, could be brought back. It would be a creative setting for exchanging best practices with community leaders from each school. This time, the newly created Department of Community Engagement at PWCS is expected to lead it.
• Please complete the PWCS Calendar Survey. Most of our parents' comments that all three options seem almost the same and that there is no point in completing the survey are understandable. But that is a key comment to bring up with the county. Take advantage of the comment section and add as much information as necessary.

IV. Principal's Time

Dr Healey would like to thank the PAC for all the comments brought forward during the last meeting. Dr. Healey conducted personal observations on different days, and he was surprised to find out that kids were trying to sneak out from the busses to the trailer first instead of going to school, and other students were trying to be sneaky instead of entering through the main entrance with the Evolv machines. As a result, staff initially assigned to inside supervision was transferred to outside supervision. This solution is the best given our limited resources, but it is of some concern. Last year’s highly-publicized Patriot HS students’ fight event occurred before the beginning of class. It brought discussions about the school staff being stretched so much between handling the Evolv and having enough staff to monitor the hallways.

About the changing of cell phone guidelines, the governor and VDOE provided guidance that school boards should prohibit cell phone use from bell to bell. The Board of Education of PWCS still needs to vote before December 2024. There is a possibility that all HS might change mid-year, which could bring pushback from students and a loss of trust from the HS students toward the system, as they might feel being punished even though they are complying with it so well, thus far. Colgan HS is doing very well with our hybrid guidelines, allowing students to organize themselves during lunch and connecting with parents if needed.

Dr. Healey is reading the book Anxious Generation and understands the need for educational changes, starting with the younger generations. He would be more supportive of changes completed before the new school year rather than changes mid-year.

• • Comment: An HS Student expressed that she thinks students might feel punished and will not like having to go to the office for a phone call.
  • Comment: A PAC member expressed having discussions with people close to the matter and not taking the PAC Member’s comments well about how effectively our school handles this hybrid method of cellphone control at the high school level. This member also wondered about the author’s revenue agenda versus accepting other divergent viewpoints.

• Enrollment and Staffing update. Budget update if available
  • Dr. Healey and Mrs. McClellan presented the enrollment and staffing update, as the budget update has yet to be released to them. Colgan currently has +52 students over budget, which will trigger additional funds to cover these students. Once Colgan receives the budget numbers, they will be provided to the group in November. We have already spent some of this money on staffing. If we have additional money once the students’ needs have been met, we will present additional needs assessments.
    • Question: Were these 2,865 students originally budgeted as the school's actual total capacity, or are we still over capacity?
      • Answer: We are around 800 over the original capacity. This equates to a whole grade level.
    • • Question: How many teachers are sharing rooms?
        • Answer: About 35 teachers. We currently have ten trailers. We could have ten more trailers to alleviate the 35 rooms needed, but the location allowed to place them would make it difficult for the security and management of these classrooms. Moreover, it would not provide additional bathrooms, cafeteria rooms, gyms, or other general amenities.
    • • Question: CFPA – does it grow with the additional students? Do we need more money?
        • Answer: Colgan has the only program for CFPA in PWCS, and we are built for it. It would be hard for us not to take students who apply for the CFPA program and pass the requirements. We have only turned down non-CFPA student transfers thus far because of the importance of the program to the county. Everyone wants an exact number of admissions, but auditions have a natural cut-off number due to passing the requirements to enter the program. So far, it has been balanced, and the number of admissions fluctuates according to whether students can meet the requirements needed to enter CFPA. Therefore, we are not overcapacity because of the CFPA.
• Standards of Excellence for Advisory Councils
  • The administrators reviewed the researched criteria and rubric to which each school will be held accountable and to which a PAC would be considered highly effective. Colgan’s PAC matched almost 100% of the points requested in the Rubric for PAC Excellence, and most items have been followed for some years already. For example, the Chair has been occupied by a parent, The PAC invited the parent liaison last year to participate in meetings, and Colgan’s PAC has updated its Bylaws at least twice, ending in 2018. The only point that has never been requested is translation services, but some options are available. The Chair and Mrs. McClellan talked about maybe reviewing the Bylaws. The PAC Chair asked for feedback.
    • One parent commented that PAC in OP has a more graphic newsletter. Even though it was extremely long, she liked to read it, and the students looked for shoutouts. Outreach could be improved by maybe including it in a weekly newsletter, even though Colgan’s PAC seems much better attended than those she attended at OP or other schools.
    • Another parent commented on how the lingo is used in Corporate settings: Advisories might indicate appointed people instead of open to the public. This perception could be preventing others from attending.
    • Another parent commented that leadership or governance classes could bring attention to the PAC’s meetings and provide points for attendance or for bringing their parents [unless the points system doesn’t align with diversity and equal accessibility].
    • Another parent commented on adding a PAC information Leaflet to the Parent Liaison’s table at the beginning of the year events for parents, as this is another way the community can engage with schools
  • The missing items from the last meeting's open comments, such as requesting an invite from the security Point of Contact to discuss vape usage in the bathrooms and discuss diversity further, will be left for a later date so that we can brainstorm the topics that the PAC wants to discuss.

V. Round Table Time: Presentation Discussion

VI. Open Comments

• Can we have an update on the Homecoming Event? A: It was great. Colgan had 1800 students in attendance. There were minimal problems and issues.
• Will we have a newsletter similar to OP? I believe OP uses smores. A: Admin would be happy to review alternatives and evaluate staffing needs.
• Sped – Kuddos on Colgan’s nondisabled advocating for inclusion. Thank you for giving the space for other staff to be creative.
• CFPA- Another Kuddos for allowing the auditorium to be used by other classes for the first time. Thank you for adding other students to this opportunity that other.
• An Invitation to a new Artistic Forum creation was distributed to those in attendance.

I. Welcome and Introductions

• Please remember to sign in using the QR code

II. Chairperson's Time

• Review and Approve October 2024 Minutes
  • Motion to approve October 2024 minutes approved
• Vice-Chair Nominations: Adrianna Berk
  • The Chairperson announced the nomination of Adrianna Berk for Vice-Chair for ratification.
• Other Notes
  • The chairperson shared that she had been attending different groups in an effort to connect and find new ways to gather information from various stakeholders.
  • The Chairperson asked for any other stakeholders present besides the SACI representative, to which there were none.

III. School Stakeholder Reports:If you are attending the meeting as a representative of one of these groups, please let the chairperson know prior to the start of the meeting

The Superintendent’s Advisory Council on Instruction (SACI) Meeting on November 14, 2024, focused on the presentation of the State of the School Division by the Associate Superintendent for Teaching and Learning and the Director of Research, Accountability, and Strategic Planning. Mrs. Smith made her notes available to all attendees, along with additional links to important data or information on PWCS websites.

• Summary of the State of the School Division: A copy of the slides about the State of the PWCS School Division can be found in the link to the 2024 State of the Schools Presentation
• Per pupil cost: PWCS is third from the bottom within our tri-county area.
• 97% of schools are fully accredited under the old system, and we look quite good under the new system, where we will have a weighted index, but the core ideas will remain the same.
• Participation in advanced courses increased by about 10% overall. It increased by 6.5% among Hispanics and 5.2% among all English learners.
• SAT participation increased by almost double, and the drop in attaining the benchmark dropped due to the increased participation.
• Khan Academy: availability for sophomores, juniors, and seniors at the
• Chronic Absenteeism in decline
• PWCS Interactive Dashboard and VDOE School Quality Profile are now available on the PWCS Accountability Website
• A SACI Parent open forum question that day gained the acknowledgment of many parents in the room. The member commented that they see an increase in racial slurs and hate speech by kids who do not even understand the damage they cause. Could the county research a proactive approach to prevent more of these cases? All cases are being monitored and addressed.
• SACI Website: The yearly topics are now available on the SACI webpage
• SACI's Work Session centered on creating questions regarding the latest instructional shifts (Virginia Literacy Act, New Standards of Learning, Updated Resources) and assessments (Overview of Federal, State, and Local Assessments).

IV. Principal's Time

• Budget Update
  • Dr. Healey presented Colgan’s budget update and distributed data points for all members to review.
    • The final number of students came with 56 students above the projection
    • The allocation of money increased by $593,410 due to the increased number of students from the initial forecast.
    • Colgan monitored these numbers weekly and over the summer. Therefore, most funds have already been allocated to serve these students. Several teachers already provided their second planning section to cover the increased number of students received before the final budget allocation. This is a calculated risk necessary to diminish the impact of these changes on students’ schedules.
    • The Special Education budget is highly regulated and separate from the rest. To complete the 15 allocated teachers, we still need to hire two Special Education Level I teachers.
    • Given the gradual increase in this student population, Colgan initially fought to hire 13 special education teachers instead of 12.5. Mid-year, it is very difficult to locate a teacher certified in special education, and we still need to hire two more. Special Education budgeting is precise about how it needs to be spent, so it is challenging to miscalculate our forecasts. We might need to hire a recent graduate or TPOTA.
    • Activities funds are raised and spent on those same activities. These funds are kept separate and earmarked for those specific activities.
• Overview of new School Performance and Support Framework
  • Dr. Healey provided an overview of the upcoming School Performance and Support Framework, using handpicked slides from the VDOE website to explain it. The VDOE website has more information. A spreadsheet was also distributed, and next year’s system was prepared based on this year’s Colgan High School numbers.
    • The new system will contain a weighted index composed of a Mastery, Graduation, and Readiness section for the High School-Level School Performance and Support Framework.
      • 50% mastery: It is based on a graduation cohort of the year prior. If you think of the graduating cohort of 2023, most of their Math SOLs would be from when that cohort was in 9th grade in SY 19-20 (during the Pandemic), English ratings would come from when they were in 11th grade in SY21-22 for that cohort, to give an example.
      • 15% graduation: 4-year adjusted cohort with a standard or advanced diploma at the end of 4 years.
      • 35% readiness This section now considers 3E points for advanced enrollment classes, employment in high-demand fields, and military testing like the ASVAB.
      • There has yet to be a decision on whether work-based learning counts within this framework. If this part is approved, Colgan would receive 93 points, falling first among similar school rankings; if not, Colgan would obtain 85 points, making Colgan third highest in the county. The School is proud of its teachers’ and students’ efforts and achievements.
• Additional notes:
  • The monthly newsletter Sharktails started on November 1st. Parents gave it many kudos, and it was well received.

V. Round Table Time: Presentation Discussion

VI. Brainstorming: Future Topics

• The group worked on a brainstorming session to bring future topics to the PAC. They focused on the upcoming Safety and Security Session and other potential miscellaneous sessions. Several post-it notes were written and placed on the two boards for the PAC leadership’s further review.

VII. Open Comments

• The chairperson will be meeting with Ms. McClellan to finalize the updates, and they will be ready to present to the PAC by January for review.
• A parent wanted to remind everyone that the cell phone policy is coming for a vote on 12/4 for notes.

I. Welcome and Introductions

• Please remember to sign in using the QR code

II. Chairperson's Time

• Review and Approve November 2024 Minutes
• Vice-Chair Nominations: Adrianna Berk (if in attendance)
• Special Recognition (if in attendance)
• Presentation of PAC By-Laws amendments (discussion and voting in February)

III. School Stakeholder Reports:If you are attending the meeting as a representative of one of these groups, please let the chairperson know prior to the start of the meeting

• A. SACI

IV. Principal's Time

• A. Safety and Security Presentation

V. Round Table Time: Presentation Discussion

VI. Brainstorming: Future Topics

• Safety and Security
• Miscellaneous

VII. Open Comments

• a time to bring up issues for discussion at our next meeting
• open discussion of the issue will be limited until appropriate information can be gathered