001Welcome to the Monday, June 23rd, 2025 special call meeting. May we pause for a moment of meditation followed by the pledge of allegiance. Thank you to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I thank you all for joining us tonight. This meeting is held in accordance uh with the Freedom of Information Act. The news media has been notified and a copy of the agenda has been made available to the public. This meeting is open to the public and the public is welcome to attend in person. All persons wishing to attend the meeting by virtual means may do so via YouTube Sumpter School District board meetings and Sumpter School District's Facebook page. Vision Sumpter School District
002is committed to educating and empowering and enriching the lives of all students to reach their full potential. Mission Sumpter School District is committed to providing a safe nurtin and high quality educational environment that supports diversity and equips students for local and global success. Ladies and gentlemen, tonight you have yours truly, Shawn Reagan, board chairman, area five. Um, Brian Austin, area one vice chair. Dr. Gloria Lee, area 7 clerk, we have Dr. Raph Wanty, senior area three, Miss Tara Johnson, area four, Mr. Phil Levenis, area 8, Miss Bonnie Disney, area 9, and Miss Deborah McQueen Shaw, Air Force Base representative. We have the superintendent here tonight, Dr. William Wright, and our administrative manager, Miss Shante Scott. We will proceed with the agenda as outlined. Uh at this time we'll move to item number two uh 2.1
003approval of the agenda. Upon consensus without any objections the agenda shall stand approved. Hearing none the agenda is approved. We now move to item number three superintendence report to the board on this evening. And at this time, uh, Dr. Wright, we will turn it over to you at this time. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the board. Um, I'd like to begin by, uh, simply saying thank you to, uh, the members of the board of trustees for giving me an opportunity to continue to serve as superintendent. And tonight, uh, we are glad to talk about, um, our year in review. uh we have um created a document that was actually we had actually started the work um prior to um the need to present it tonight. Um so thank you for that charge and
004we certainly um are excited about um this document. We're going to um at the conclusion of this tonight. Um the plan is to have this uh loaded to our website so that um our school district can uh and our community can can know some of the wonderful things that are going on. I'll begin with my remarks as we close out another school year. I'm certainly honored to share a reflection on the accomplishments and growth that define 2024 2025. And uh this was certainly a year of academic gains, innovation, and community partnerships along with focused leadership. Tonight's year in review is going to highlight our progress and a path forward as we remain allin for SSD and we transition into being united for students. Um ladies and gentlemen of the board, we will not be reading
005line for lines. A lot of stuff in the document. However, um we we do want to highlight our points of pride. And so, of course, we know that we began the school year, kicked it off with an inspiring 2024 convocation. The theme was all in for SSD, and it set the tone for the year. We also celebrated our district teacher of the year, Terry Johnson, who received a one ve one-year vehicle lease courtesy of Freedom Honda of Sumpter. We also introduced four new district awards. By the way, I was by Freedom Honda the other day and it looks like we're going to be eligible to do that again this year. So, we're certainly excited about that. But we had four new district awards. Principal of the year was Michelle McBride from Maca Springs. Assistant principal
006of the year Leslie Dowling from Lamara. District office annex employee of the year was Kristen Hackett. and support staff employee of the year was Felicia Martin Bell from Ferman. And each of these folks received a $250 award from the Sumpter Education Foundation. These leaders set a high bar of excellence and their recognition was welld deserved. This year also, Sumpter School District earned full district-wide accreditation through Cogna with an outstanding index of education quality score of 307, which is well above the Cogna network average. In recognition of our ongoing efforts, Cognia honored Sumpre School District with the 2025 Innovation and Impact Award. This prestigious award celebrates institutions that thoughtfully identify areas for growth through data analysis and stakeholder collaboration. They also implement structured processes to monitor and drive change. They embed new practices into the culture
007to ensure long-term sustainability and they develop measurable continuous improvement in educational outcomes. In addition, the spark, Ignite, and Engage framework was highlighted at national conferences and in Cogna's publication, which was also released earlier this year. Points of pride at a glance. Uh we have many many of them as you can see in your in your book, but we'll talk about a few of them. Uh $38 million was given to students in merit-based scholarships. uh 211 of our students uh received perfect SC ready and/or EOCC scores. We had 20 seals of biiteracy and the South Carolina seal of biiteracy is a statewide recognition awarded to high school juniors and seniors who who show strong proficiency in English and at least one other language by graduation. Three of our schools exit exited school improvement status. Crestwood High
008School, Cal Springs Elementary School, and RE Davis. We had 9,968 workbased learning experience. And we had a 2025 Palmetto's finest elementary finalist, which was Alice Drive Elementary. And in the superintendent's personal opinion, they should have won it. Uh, but we had a finalist, five adult education SC awards. We had Chamber of Commerce educators of the year. We had a Air Force Academy swamp fox state teacher of the year, a WLTX teacher of the year, a South Carolina Regional Librarian of the Year, South Carolina Association for CTE teacher of the year, the South Carolina School Social Worker of the Year is also a Sumpter employee. State and National Awards in Academics, Arts, and Athletics. South Carolina Association for Middle Level Education Regional Teacher to Watch. We had Sumpter's best award super uh recipients. We had National
009Blue Ribbon Beacon Schools which were Cwell and Lamara. We had a Jean Bottoms Paste Setter Award for Excellence in CTE at the Career Center. We had Skills USA winners, American Culinary Federation and Automotive Service Excellence accredititations. We had the Southeastern School Behavioral Health Community School of the Year in Sumpre School District, Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools, ROC State Championship Winners, FBLA State and National Champions. We had an SIC Riley award winner and and two finalists actually. Uh Lamara, well two finalists, one winner. Lamarra was the winner and S uh Sumpter High School was a finalist. National and state conference presenters also reside in our district. We had an interview community service impact award, exec path trophy challenge winner, mayor's Christmas card winner, numerous grants recipients. We had uh Sumpter High School was an avid schoolwide
010site of distinction and we have game cox graphics print industry of the Carolina's awards. These represent the strength of our students, staff, and partnerships and are expanded further on the preceding pages. In the area of student life, athletics, and fine arts, our students excelled on the field, on stage, and in service. Over 30 student athletes signed to play at the coll at the collegiate level. Crestwood, Lakewood, and Sumpter High each had standout seasons, regional and state playoff appearances, and players selected for the North, South, and Shrine Bowl allstar games. Athletes were honored for excellence, leadership, and sportsmanship. Coaches earned accolades including coach of the year awards and national recognition as the A such as the AFCA power of influence award. Fine arts thrive throughout the district. Multiple schools earned superior and excellent ratings at regional
011and national band, orchestra, and core event choir events. 100 plus students were selected for all state, region band, and honor choir. Students won top placements in local and state visual art competitions, published work in art books, and received art scholarships totaling over $200,000. Innovative programs were introduced, including piano labs, Nuvo instruments, and student centered and created theat theatrical productions across grade levels. This commitment to the whole child is helping students discover purpose, passion, and pride. College and career readiness. We continue to prepare students for post-secary success. We had 213 college and career ready medallions, 40 college ready cores, 307 career ready creatations, 141 students and internships in tech, auto and healthc care fields. And Alice Drive Middle led the state again in middle school workbased learning. Academic growth and assessment gains. ELA and math proficiency
012have improved annually since 2021. Of course, we're rating we're waiting for this year's uh data. Uh but the graduation rate has increased by 5.8% exceeding the state average growth. Significant gains across subgroups including students with disabilities. EOCC performance improved across algebra 1, English 2, US history, and biology. We had zero testing violations, which is a testament to our improved protocols and staff training, and a 125% increase in data support meetings with school leadership, world languages. Our commitment to global readiness includes 2024 2025 school year. We had 20 se seals of bi literacy awarded one of which was a gold 12 silver and six bronze. In addition to the high schools, Spanish instruction is offered K8 and re Davis and Lamra. Students are being celebrated for their multilingual achievement, cultural awareness, and communication skills. Under our
013title one and federal programs department, we are designated as a model district for federal programs. We are identified as a lowrisk district by the South Carolina Department of of Education. I want to be clear, that's a good thing. That means that we our our title one programs are operating as they should. We hosted a T3 event and PD conferences focus on uh SEAL leadership and instructional excellence. That was done for many of our leaders. uh decreased deobligation of funds. They had a third annual title one boot camp this year and we have added a thanks to the board of trustees, we've added a school improvement coordinator um that is helping us with many of our schools. Under finance, our fund balance has increased by over $20 million since 2022. a bond rating was upgraded to
014an A2. We've had three years at least, it's been more than that, but at least three years of clean audits. We've had consecutive yearly employee retention bonuses. And we recently, as the board of trustees is aware of, we received a millage increase from the Sumpter County Council to fund auxiliary educators in some of our elementary schools. We're meeting and developing that as we speak. and an electronic online PO approval process was implemented in finance in conjunction with the IT department. Under the heading of community engagement, we strive to foster transparent, meaningful, and inclusive communication that connects schools, family, and community. We now have over 200 community partners. We've strengthened our military partners and education program. We launched a new website during the school year in conjunction with it. We're trying to strengthen our social media
015presence. We hosted a successful state of the district partnership breakfast and communication was ensued through mobile app, mass notification systems, social media, news media, website, email partnerships and events under the category of off operations and safety. A strong foundation in operation and safety allows instruction to thrive. We now have weapons detection systems and SRO's or safety officers in every school. Have emergency response teams and revised code of conduct. Our school buses are equipped with security cameras and a mobile app for transportation was piloted. Terms of facility upgrades, uh we've got Crestwood Stadium, of course, underway. Uh new HVAC, roofing, and security cameras across the district. We have a new softball field and back stop at Crestwood. And in terms of food service, they served 1 million774,196 lunch meals, 40,000 plus afterchool snacks, and just shy
016of 5,000 evening supper meals. Under our human capital and talent development portion, the human resources department of Sumpter School District is committed to attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse and highly qualified workforce. We provide comprehensive support to employees at every stage of their careers, fostering a safe, inclusive, and collaborative work environment. We currently have 53 National Board Certified Teachers. We have 568 586 employees with advanced degrees. Our starting teacher salary is $47,250 now, up from $40,000 two years ago. And our staff retention was 84.2% this year. Multiple professional development pathways are also in place for alternative certification. Our grow your own program continues to thrive. We have 22 new teachers who earn certification through the certificate track program. And we have the Vohees apprentice program which is creating tuitionfree paths to a bachelor's degree and
017certification under student support services where we're supporting the whole child. It remains a key priority this year. We expanded our multi-tered systems of support for academic and behavioral interventions across all schools. We increased access to mental health resources with support from nine partner agencies. We implemented PBIS systems, positive behavioral intervention and support systems districtwide to improve climate and discipline. We continued social emotional learning integration in daily instruction and we piloted new behavior and attendance tracking tools to ensure early effective intervention. I'm getting close, Mr. Chair. Provided on and we also have provided ongoing professional development on trauma informed practices and deescalation strategies. These efforts reflect our commitment to equity, access, and meeting students where they are so they can thrive. Technology also helps drive our operational effectiveness and student experiences. We launched a new website
018and an electronic PO system as you already heard me talking a little bit about. We also received a cyber security pilot grant. We secured -ate funding for three sec consecutive years and we're in the process of planning a full point of sales system upgrade in food services uh during this summer. Our chief of stu schools continues to lead and as a part of the ongoing efforts to cultivate strong school leadership and support effective school operations, the following initiatives and responsibilities were undertaken to enhance instructional leadership, build capacity among assistant principles and strengthen school community engagement. the Assistant Principles Institute, which provides leadership training focused on instructional leadership, school safety, and staff management. And through collaborative sessions, which featured many of our EOT members, assistant principles sharpened skills in student discipline, stakeholder communication, and teacher support.
019This investment builds future principles from within. There are also at least 107 school visits done this year. 391 parent and community contacts. There are weekly principles updates generated from the chief of schools office. Spreadsheet was created to assist with course enrollments. Uh the attendance and student success team was coordinated. There were 21 programs conducted for assisting, developing and evaluating principal performance um paid EP evaluations which are three per principal and the other six were done by yours truly. So we did get all 27 um collaborated with ELT members for continuous improvement efforts and conducted classroom walkthroughs. So in closing, this year has been a powerful reminder that unity of purpose and a shared commitment to excellence can lead to extraordinary achievements. And so from earning national recognition to making a meaningful impact locally, Sumpter School
020District has demonstrated that innovation, collaboration, and perseverance drive our progress. And while we readily recognize that there is still work ahead, we celebrate the growth that we've achieved together. Each milestone reflects the determination of our students, the dedication of our staff, and the invaluable support of our board of trustees and community partners. And so, Mr. Chair and members of the board, um that concludes my presentation. As you see, there's much more in there, but I just wanted to hit the highlights. All right. All right. Thank you, Dr. Wright. Um, at this time, um, I would open the floor for any comments or, uh, questions that you all may have. Um, at this time for, um, Superintendent Dr. William Ryan. Any questions? M do Mr. Reagan. Dr. Reagan. Um, yes. I would simply like to say
021job done well to the superintendent and the communication staff on the year in review. I know that um it doesn't contain everything, but one of the a few of the key areas that um one in specifically that I wanted to just find out if it's in here. Um the statistics are here, but those stat statistics do we show that they are based on how many teachers we had in the school year to yield this? and um also how many um students we had that yielded all of the results. Right. We we need to add those. You're talking about like kind of like an action um snapshot, school snapshot, just just a snapshot for the school year since it is in review. And it puts things in perspective where it says that we have 423 hypothetically
022speaking um professionals support number of support professionals and that's based out of what is the total number right what what you have of course is just a printed copy for your review but we can we can certainly add that for the um you're listening Miss Galloway right okay we we'll add that for I think that's thank you for that appreciate All right. Any any other questions, Mr. Chair? Yes. Um, I have a couple of remarks regarding the year review. I think overall it is a a good document to highlight uh the positives that are going on in the district. Um, my only concern with labeling it a year and review that there is some information that is from previous school years as well. Right. Um maybe just renaming the document before we share it publicly.
023Um also piggybacking on what Miss Johnson brought up. um if we could see actual data points um as opposed to you know when we look in here and we see that we increased when we talk about um district proficiency on SC ready math has improved each year since 2122 at what rate has that increase taken place um more specifics on on that will be helpful Um, and I don't know if this is a question for the chair or or for Dr. Wright. Is this a separate document than Dr. Wright's uh progress on his goals for the 2425 year or is this the document to support the goals? Um, I don't believe that this has anything to do with your goals, right? This is just a overall review. Yeah. Okay. Um, so I would just like
024to see more data points before we release this to the community just to put it out there so that we can actually see the progress because I mean just because we have it on paper to say has improved every year. The community wants to know at what rate are we improving. Um, overall I think it's a good document. Uh I just if we're going to include information outside of the 2425 school year then we may need to look at renaming this document. So if I may Mr. Chair just a point of clarity if I Okay. Yes sir. So, um, the original assignment from me was to, um, give us a snapshot over a couple of years. And so, that's kind of what we did first. And then for this presentation, we want to kind of
025take information from that. So, we can certainly, we can actually do both. We can we can do a conglomerate document that shows progress over time and then um, we can also pull out, you know, the specifics for this year. Um the problem with of course as we all know with the test data is um we're not going to have that finalized until the fall. So that'll be the challenge with that but we'll we'll we'll work through it and get it figured out. Thank you for the feedback. Dr. I'm get Dr. Lee and I come back to you. Okay, Dr. Lee. Um as it's been said, this is a very nice book and has a lot of great update. Um one of the things I was looking at was the key service offered by human resources.
026Um, is there any way it could be like a spreadsheet covering 22, 23, 23, 24, 25 on the teacher salary and showing, you know, how many teachers we had during this time to where we are right now. Okay. Thank you. You Yes. Yes. Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you. I I thought I responded. I'm I'm sorry. All right. Uh thank you for that feedback. You You good? All right. Any other questions or comments at this time? Yes. Yes, sir. Thank Thank you, Mr. Superintendent Dr. Wright for Yes, sir. for the report. I um I have a few questions here. Me as sharing with us this overview which is very positive. How does the events of the year and of the three years if I raise that question interface with your vision for
027the district? Do do you feel that current productivity advance is on track with what your overall vision is and if so where do we go from here? What do you see as uh are derailing events etc. Negatives etc that may prevent us from materializing your ultimate vision? And what do you see fueling that vision as you view this report? Okay, that that's two or three things, but we're going to try to get through them. Yes, sir. Um, so probably the best way to answer the first question is um while while we can point to progress um you know, no, I'm I'm not satisfied where we are. I wish we were further along. uh things of that nature. Um particularly here um we've got really what I would call three major things that we've got to
028we've got to work on. Obviously student achievement will be an overarching thing. Um but um historically here um in our district as as well as you know more and more we're seeing across the country uh we we got to get students to school. I mean that's really the that's really the bottom line. Students have to be present in classrooms. Um and and we've got to do a better job of the physical transportation but also um you know people have to attend school. I mean, that that's really the bottom line because that's going to help us um in all of the other measures that that I'm going to talk about. Um we continue to struggle um with um um recruiting and retaining personnel, quality personnel. Um so that has to continue to be at the forefront
029of all that we do. Um and then um Sumpter School District in my opinion also has what I would call a a a critical um uh infrastructure issue. You know, we we are we are spending a great deal of time um repairing buildings that um that that quite frankly need replacing, which also affects student achievement and the ability to recruit and retain employees. So, as we move forward, um, I will continue to talk about and come up with those things and leave no stone unturned. We we we had a a conversation just today where we're talking about how to implement um these professionals to help with K3 reading, for instance. That that happened just today, and we're trying to come up with a plan and hopefully have it ready to present to you all um
030July 14th, I think it is. Um th this work particularly with traditional public schools in 2025 and beyond is really going to require all hands on deck. So, um there going to be times probably um where I'm coming to you all to ask you all to help advocate because when we start talking about for instance um needing 500 plus million dollars probably at some point to reimagine schools to get more schools. That's going to take more than just me putting on the website. You know, there's going to have to be some discussions about that. When we talk about reimagining education and what's going on in classrooms, that's going to take a collaborative effort, programs that are out there that are available um that help children. But the most important factor to improving student achievement is
031that classroom teacher, people that are actually doing the work in the classrooms. And across the nation, there's a significant deficit. And if you don't believe that, ask our higher ed folks how many folks who graduated from teacher ed programs. So part of what we're going to have to do is re-imagining ourselves by how we train professionals because the traditional teacher that you and I may have had, they're not there anymore. And so we're going to have to find alternative ways, continue to find alternative ways to uh to to to recruit and retain quality personnel. And that's all the way up as teachers, par professionals, teachers, but it's also administrators, you know, making sure that we um that that we recruit and retain quality administrators. Did I get them all? Well, you Thank you. Thank you
032for what? Thank you so very much for for your response. Um um I I I'll miss Miss Baron want to ask a question. I I can come. Okay. While you're thinking, um I when I saw this, I had a different uh reaction. Okay. I looked at it as a military family coming to this town and saying, "Where do we send our kids to school? I mean, there are a couple of charter schools out there. Do I want them do what what is this public school doing? Does it have anything to offer my high school uh child, my elementary child? Uh what are they doing?" And I I can see this in a dentist office sitting there and I might pick it up and say, "You know what? I I think we need to rethink and
033we might want to go to Sumpter School District." There are no lies in here. And there is nothing wrong with accentuating what is positive. There is no way. And I love Liberty, but they don't offer all of this. And I believe that what we offer as a public school, Sumpter School District, is very much appreciated by newcomers and those of us who've lived here and want our grandchildren to go here. So, I didn't see it as let's nitpick it to pieces and you can but I think it is a good idea to promote ourselves in the community in the real real estate offices in the dental offices where real people go to find try really concerned about where to send their children. Thank you for doing this. All right. Any other questions or comments at
034this time? Yes, you I do have one. Um, thank you um, Miss Disney for those comments. I agree with you on several of those comments. However, I did want to point out to the public that I hope they didn't see our offering constructive feedback as nitpicking the document because it is a solid document. Thank you. and thank you for your All right. Thank you, uh, Miss Johnson. I'll come back to you, Dr. Canyon. Go ahead. Okay. Um, M Mr. Superintendent. Yes, sir. Where do we go from here? Where do you see us going in terms of of goals in the next year that complements where we have come to at this point? So, so all the things that I've mentioned um are are a part of what I want to develop a plan and I
035and I and I want to do it justice and talk about the things that we we being the nine of you as well as me believe are most important cuz you know we we can say here are the three or four things we're going to work on next year, but as we learn this year, stuff can sometimes change. And so, um, again, I mean, I think, you know, student achievement obviously has to be at the forefront how we, um, catch people up that need to be caught up. Um, but again, there has to be a significant focus on attendance. We have an attendance problem in S school district. the numbers are eyeopening to say the least. Um but but I also think that we have some uniqueness about us that's going to have to be
036addressed somehow. Uh because enrollment has declined the last few years. Um and we have to have some very courageous conversations about how to address that moving forward. Um, and you know, I I plan to offer some some solutions, but it's it's got to be a collaborative discussion and decision because of the impact of it. Um, but but but you'll see some of that. Um, and then obviously um continuing to find ways how to how to get grown folks in front of children. I mean that's really a um a a dilemma that whenever a group of superintendents get together now that that's one of the biggest topics that we talk about and we are quite honestly having discussions now about what does instruction look like um you know as you might remember me talking about what
037does instruction look like 5 10 years from now. Is it are we going to go back some form of virtual because we can't get teachers in the classroom? Nobody wants to do that. But we got to think about that because um people just aren't out there going into the profession like they were um collaborative efforts with with um with high schools to to do teacher cadet programs. you know, we we we've done all of that kind of stuff, but somehow or another, we have to make teaching attractive again. And um and so, you know, I've got some ideas that that I'd like to develop a little more to be honest with you before I share them about those kinds of things. One one other. Okay. Yes. I think we we both agree that and I
038think this board agrees that morale is a is a key issue. Sure. In in any organization. This this journal provides us with a record of of achievements. My question is, do you think our strategies to celebrate successes are as strong as they should be? And if not, what do you think we might be able to do in the future to salute schools, salute, salute teachers, salute students, to salute athletes to keep them on the path of success and achievement because I think the more we celebrate celebrities, superlatives, right, the or we we will increase others to to do likewise. Well, I think this is a start. Um actually um um one of you or a couple of you u mentioned something that kind of got me to the point where you know want to try
039to do this or put it in um put put it in print form. Um, but students, I'm I'm a big proponent of what we've done some where students have an achievement, we bring them in and have you all celebrate with them. Um, you know that over the years, you know, we've we we've fed a student or two and celebrated their successes. um anytime you can do things of that nature. But but let me tell you where the Yes, we need to celebrate and honor and respect and um and and help students, but we also have to do a better job of every once in a while just telling the people that are in the trenches, you're doing a great job. It does matter. I know it's difficult and I don't think as a society we're
040celebrating public school education like we should. Now, you asked a question to me as superintendent and what I'll tell you that I know that we need to do is just what you said. We need to find even more opportunity to celebrate. We need to do something at midyear in my opinion um to make sure that people you know I've seen uh midyear festivals and things of that nature. I mean, I think those things are are always good. But to be honest with you, if I can answer your your question completely transparently, um I think that society as a whole needs to do a better job of respecting and celebrating the work that we do, even if we don't get it right all the time. I just don't know that I see enough of that. And
041so, um, any ideas and and and I'm open, you know, if if somebody has an idea, but I think we gota I think we have to on purpose, as you're saying, take more opportunities to celebrate success. So, you know, things like, you know, um, you know, convocation, you do it at the beginning of the year, but maybe also in the mid in the mid mid year as you're getting ready to go into the, um, second seme, excuse me, second semester. Um, we've toyed around the idea, um, as many of you know about midyear graduation, you know, do we need to do that for students that finish mid year, things of that nature where we can let people know more often that we are thinking about them and we appreciate what they're doing. Money, money helps,
042too. Don't get me wrong, but it's it's about more than that. Okay. Okay. All right. again. Thank you. Um, I guess off off track with where we are, but I do want to ask you for your views because I'm really trying to to discern the vision of of of where we're going in the future. Uh, where where are you uh with AI? AI in the curriculum, AI uh in administration, AI in general in uh our our school district. Yeah. So, um I'm looking at Mr. Jonas back there cuz we had a conversation let's see mile school conference before last I think so about two years ago when AI was first coming up and um at that time one of the most amazing eye opening things for me cuz we heard all of this you know
043AI is going to be bad kids will cheat and things of that nature and we we heard a ton about that um but the discussion was centered around how AI can be used to even operate school districts better. Um, if it's properly implemented, um, we can just like we do on our phones right now, we can also access information on our school website using AI. So, part of what has to happen is students and teachers have to be taught the valuable uses of AI. And um and so even last week um I was in um at the conference post conference in Myer Beach and we had an AI presenter talk to us and young man was probably I don't know late late 20s. He was the presenter and he was talking to us about the
044uses of AI. So the answer to the question is a work in progress because when when it was first introduced, there was a lot of discussion about it being um something that we had to guard against as opposed to a tool used properly that can enhance. And so that's what we're seeking. We're trying to find ways to to enhance it. We're going to protect against it because it can be used inappropriately and um fictitious stuff can be so we have to do that but uh but it's about also using it to benefit us too. So so we'll be I've got that written now. We'll be we'll be developing some plans with that as well. All right. Thank you. Uh any further Mr. Okay. I see two people. All right. All right. Um, Dr. Wright, and
045this may be for you and Miss Galloway as well. Um, with this document, is there a communications strategy or plan of how this information will be disseminated into the community or I shouldn't say disseminate because we don't want to just push it out in the community. We actually want it to be integrated in the community where our stakeholders actually pick it up, read it, digest it, and go out and share the good news about everything that's going on in summer school district. Yeah. Um the original plan was what what I said to try to get something that people could access on the website, but we do need to develop it more along the lines of what you're of what you're referring to additionally. Yes, sir. So it becomes a live living and breathing document. Dr.
046Wright, one moment, ma'am. Miss Johnson, and then we'll hear from you. That sounds good. Yes. And uh this is Dr. Wright. This document is so significant. I don't know if we have a parent advisory council in the district or if they're just at the school levels. I don't know if you could pull just a few parents together and run it by them as well and just see from a parental perspective what are their thoughts. And then secondly, this has nothing to do with um this document or anything that we're discussing right now, but I don't know if the technology team is aware that there's a lot of uh feedback that we're hearing in the room. Sounds like something is knocking and I'm not sure if it's interfering with our on online services or not. All
047right, Miss D. And I was just going to um follow up what you were saying. So you were talking about finding ways to disseminate this. Several years back, I think it was 2017 through 2018, I was on the board for a year. I was appointed by the legislative delegation and we actually had um something drawn up and I think Shelley will remember that and we had all of the realators join us for a lunchon and we were able to have a discussion. We many principles were there. they were given the time to be there to speak to the realators and we had something sort of like this but it's not as this is more comprehensive but the and then they took these back to their offices and I'm sure they used them for newcomers. Okay.
048Thank you. All right. Any further questions or comments uh at this particular time? You you did mention uh Dr. Wright in this document when you discuss u uh in your presentation over technology right you mentioned is it rate yes funding that we receive what does that consist of Mr. Mr. Jones could give more specifics. It it is um government funding that for schools. Please come to the mic please. Yes sir. Thank you. Good evening. We've been using the past years. Every year they help money for and about how how much money was that that we were out because it says here in the document 22 23 and 24 um we received those funds. So about how much funding was that? You have to apply for you send them your needs. You send them the cost
049and they 85% of the request. Last year our funding was just shy of $1 million. Last year do you know the amount for the other previous years? Uh the previous year if I'm not mistaken was about 600,000. We apply every year. and I can you don't have to do that. Yeah. All right. Thank you. You're welcome. All right. Any further questions at this time? Comments uh for Dr. Wright? All right. At this time, we will move further into our agenda. And ladies and gentlemen, we'll move to item uh again, thank you, Dr. Wright, for the presentation. Thank you. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Uh we'll move to item number four. Um we'll now enter into executive session. Uh do we have a motion, Mr. Chair? Yes. I'd like to make a motion that we enter into
050executive session for the 24205 superintendent's midyear evaluation and receipt of legal advice pertaining to contractual matters. Do we have a second? Second. It's been a motion and a second to enter into executive session. Um, one moment. Uh, enter into executive session uh for the purpose of the 2425 superintendent midyear evaluation and receipt of legal advice pertaining to contractual matters. Any discussion? Hearing none, you may vote your pleasure at this time. All right, vote is unanimous and it passes at this time. Thank you. to open session at this time. Uh we'll now move to item number six uh action required uh 6.1. Any actions related to executive session at this time? Hearing none. 6.2 calls for the fiscal year 2026 budget. Uh, do we have a motion? Mr. Chair. Yes. I'd like to make a mo
051I would like to make a motion to approve the fiscal year 2026 budget as presented on Monday, June 9th, 2025. Mr. Chair, I second that motion. There's been a motion and a second uh to approve the second reading of fiscal year 2026 budget. Any discussion, Mr. Chairman? Yes. Um, I am going to vote for the budget, but I do want to file a statement to put in the record uh that uh I'm voting for the budget because the school year begins, fiscal year begins in a week, but I think that we need to reexamine the budgeting process, involve the board in it a lot more for their understanding because my statement says I don't understand perfectly what's in the budget and I'm not casting any espersions anywhere but we should be more informed about a
052lot of the issues in this budget. Uh the one I specifically cite of course is that we that you before I got here budgeted for a truency officer. We never got an individual to be the truency officer. We confer that on a person who had great responsibility and I don't know my personal failure what happened there in terms of how the money was accounted for. I'm sure it was accounted for correctly but I sure don't know and it's not transparent to the point that we needed for it to be. So, uh, I need to file that, but I will be voting for the budget, uh, because the schools need it. Thank you. Any further discussion at this time? Hearing none, you may vote your pleasure. I'll just tell I can't it's not on my computer
053but put me in please. Thank you. Vote passes at this time. All right, ladies and gentlemen, we're now down to item number seven, closing of the meeting. Certainly, we thank you uh each and every one of you for being here on this evening um for our special call meeting and certainly to our audience um and the executive staff members that are here with us tonight as well as our superintendent. At this time, ladies and gentlemen, I wish you all a restful evening and a safe trip home. Thank you.