001the teachers. And then at the very bottom, I'll point out the international teachers. That's the fee we pay to the passport and getting all the for foreign teachers. It's about 13,500 per teacher we have to spend on that. Supplies and materials, this is about 85% of this is the supplies in the classrooms. Technology supplies, in line with last year, slightly down. And then the transfers, Palmetto School and New Hope, these are driven by enrollment. I will touch on the other category. We don't have the details behind that. That is primarily people activity money, general fund dollars that we're giving to the schools as well. And last Lastly, here, this is the general fund budget that we are asking y'all to approve tonight. Administration recommends. Does that conclude the presentation from administration and CFA? Yes, ma'am.
002Then I will open it up for public comment for people present in the room. It seems that we don't have any public comment in the room. Um yes. I'd like to use the mic. Yes, please use the microphone just because it's hard to hear. Can I ask any questions or Uh Yeah, just had a little So, the questions at this point would be to the presenters as an administration and the CFA. Yes. Yeah, and we'll just play to I don't know the answer to this question, so I would love your expertise on it, but I know in the nonprofit world, we have to file a 990 every year so that there is transparency so we can see, you know, for purchases, you can see salaries, you can see all those things for nonprofit organizations. Is
003that a requirement for school districts in the state of South Carolina? Some kind of tax filing that is a public record for families to see. There isn't. Please use the microphone just so our online viewers can hear the response. Every year the school district has an annual audit performed. Um and the annual auditor has to there's certain requirements the SD has passed down that the annual audit has to review as well and ensure that all is done in in accordance with generally accepted accounting standards. Um so that no 999 tax is issued for nonprofits, but we do have an annual audit that is done properly every year on time. And it's public. >> And I actually have a copy of one right there, too, if you'd like one. Sure. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Do
004we have any further public comment? I do not believe so. So, with that, I will at this point entertain a motion to adjourn the public hearing. So moved. Thank you, Mr. Burns. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Arneson. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries 7-0. We are going to take a pause until uh 6:00 p.m., which is when we will entertain the motion to um reconvene the business meeting uh and so we have about 18 minutes before 6:00. So, we will be back. Thank you. >> Mhm. >> Good evening and welcome back. We have just completed our uh uh official budget general fund budget hearing. You will hear the same presentation here in uh a few agenda items down the agenda. So, before we get
005started, I would like to entertain a motion to reconvene the business meeting. Uh So moved. Thank you, Mr. Neusel. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you, Ms. Daniel. Any discussion? Uh yes, Madam Chair. I'd like to uh get get get out of the list real quick. Can you tell me what we did with things? Um the dual enrollment with is uh finally in has been in motion, obviously, but uh we actually received uh state funding. So, I wanted to thank uh uh State Superintendent Weaver, uh Senator Clammer, Gary Semrou, uh 100% RHS, um Deborah and your team, y'all did a heck of a job. Um especially Lisa Johnson, thank you. And none of this would have been done without you. Um with the university and the board members. We uh We now have the
006uh dual enrollment Rock Hill schools are second to none with state funding. We have scholarships to go to aspiring teachers here soon. Um please go online to 100% RHS and fill out this fill out application for the scholarships and I hope we can We've got a lot of money to give out for aspiring teachers to come back to Rock Hill schools. So, please let's get that done and make sure we push that as hard as we can. But, thank you all. Thank [snorts] you. Any further discussion? If not, uh all those in favor? I. All of us. Motion carries 7-0. So, uh citizen participation, we do not have it. Going down to the consent action agenda, we have some personnel recommendations that the board has had an opportunity to receive in the executive session portion
007of the packet. Do I have a motion to go to approve the consent action agenda? So moved. I believe Mr. Newsome, closely followed by Mr. Brown. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say I. I. All of us. Uh motion carries 6-0 with one abstention and that would be Dr. Bolton. So, with that, we are going to welcome up our superintendent, I believe, and our CFO, Mr. Kevin Madden, for uh the second identical version of the general fund budget. Uh presentation. The floor is yours. Thank you, Madam Chair, members of board. Um, we are very excited to present this time to the board the um general fund budget presentation for the fiscal year 2026-2027 2026-2027. Um, as we have seen um in multiple meetings, the policy framework gives us a model for good governance.
008And good govern- governance keeps everybody very clear on their roles. And so, as we know, the Board of Trustees role is to approve salary schedules, approve the budget, and approve revenue generation. The administration's role is to recommend salary schedules that then the board approves, prepare, present, and recommend the budget, which is what we are doing this evening, and establish budget priorities. Those budget priorities are based on Board of Trustee goals. The board gave us four goals um this school year. Goal number one, of course, is to deliver academic excellence, to ignite each student's highest potential. The budget that you will see has optimal staffing levels in classrooms. We did a comprehensive study of the state requirements for pupil-teacher ratio and looked at what we have here in Rock Hill, and we made sure that our
009ratios are lower than what the state requires. We want our teachers to be able to teach, and we want our kids to get plenty of the individualized attention. So, we optimized the staffing levels. And we did also notice that our exceptional student education programs had much too ratios, especially in our UP2 and UP3 classes. So, we did did add some teacher positions and accompanying educational assistant positions to this budget so that we can have a good learning environment and a good teaching environment for our most vulnerable students. Goal number two is optimizing resources. Under this goal, our budget shows a cost of living adjustment raise included in the budget of 3.5% for all non-teaching employees. When we did our salary look back in a previous board meeting, we saw that we had multiple employee role
010groups that had received nothing um for a couple of years, and so we're attempting to rectify that with the 3.5% for all non-teachers. Teachers have a 2,000% increase in every cell in the salary schedule in addition to a step increase. Um in addition under the goal number two, our capital maintenance needs are being addressed. And as we know, capital funding and the general fund budget are completely separate, and so tonight we're focusing on the general fund, not on capital. Under the board's goal around engaging stakeholders, um we are very proud of our budget process this year. We for the first time held two community sessions on the budget, just discussion around resources and where they go and how we use them. We worked with every single principal from every single school. We worked with all
011of our departments. Everybody in our district had a say in this budget, and we are very proud of that engagement because it is with engagement from everybody and all of our stakeholders that we get the best product. And so we're very confident in the budget we're going to present. Finally, elevating Rock Hill Schools to be the proud first choice for students, families, and employees, we're continuing funding of communications. They play a huge role in telling the story of the great things happening in our schools, telling the story of learn where you live, as well as our program options, so that our community knows that there's a place for every student in Rock Hill in the Rock Hill schools. Additionally, ensuring that our funds are available to maintain facilities at the appropriate level. Taking a look
012at our general fund timeline, I'm not going to go through it line by line with you because you have lived it every single line. The only thing that we have not yet done is April 28th, we were supposed to bring the 2026-2027 meal prices. They were not available at that time. I believe they are still not available, but this is not student meal prices because we're CEP. We have breakfast and lunch free for every student. This is just the adult meal prices. So, with that, we have accomplished all of the items on our general fund timeline. I do want to acknowledge for the sake of the public, we did have a scheduling conflict tonight with multiple school events that conflicted with this budget meeting. I do apologize for that. It was an oversight, and we
013will make sure that in future years that we are on top of that. And so, with that, I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Madden to present the budget. Good evening again. This slide represents the comparison between the current year budget we're in, the fiscal year 2026 budget, and the budget that you'll be voting on tonight, the fiscal year 2027 budget. I'll point out tax revenue is coming very strong, about 8% increase in our local taxes. Very grateful for that. Also, highlight the fact that we are not using fund balance appropriation to balance this year's budget. It's never a good thing to use one-time funds for recurring expenditures. Down below I'll talk payroll, you'll see that's up slightly. That gets We get into more detail on that in a little bit. And all the
014other categories, operations, maintenance, transportation, purchased services, supplies, materials, um, transfers will discussed in more detail later on. The other that is primarily pupil activity, so I don't have an individual slide on that one. Revenues, as I touched on, strong growth in local value of a mill at an 8% increase in that. We're very fortunate. State funding of $101.5 million for the general fund overall increase of $2.8 million from the state. We're very appreciative of that. Miscellaneous revenues, 2.5 1.9 of that is interest income. Well, remind y'all we're we're very fortunate right now because of our cash position. We've got some significant interest income coming in. When interest rates fall, that will have to be dialed back. I do believe the rates will stay strong for the upcoming years well. Overall revenues of $240 million. General
015fund. This slide is where we talk about where we're spending our money. We put this chart together using the way the state the way they report how the budgeting spend, um, instruction and support. That short line that you see over on the left side, the state's a couple years behind right now, but that's where the state average is right now for instruction across all funds. The green line represents Ron Gill School District across all funds, and the orange line I'm sorry, the orange line is across all funds, the green line is the general fund. We are in a very good place right now with where we're spending our dollars on instruction versus support, and hope to continue to maintain that in upcoming budgets as well. Expenditures payroll, we talked about before the teacher raises are
016going to equate to about $4.3 million. $2,000 per step in each box, and then the step increase as well as increase in fringe. Cost of living adjustment for all non-teachers of 3 and 1/2%, that's going to cost about $2.1 million. >> [snorts] >> We also, as Dr. Arlotto alluded to, we're adding six new special education teachers and 12 assistants to go with those teachers to drive those ratios to much better level. Cost of that is going to million dollars. Money well spent. Operations, maintenance, and transportation. You will see some variances in these slides between our current budget, what we've spent, and what I'm requesting for the upcoming year. My ultimate goal in every budget that I work with the district on is going to be to give you expenditures that represent what I think you're
017actually going to be spending in the next year. And there's a variety of data points that come into play with that, but the fluctuations I've tried to provide some explanations on the right as to why they've increased or gone down, but you'll notice quite a few changes from last year's budget to the upcoming budget over here, but there's justification for those. Purchase services, and think of this as your outsourcing for our consulting type services. The top line represents what we're paying for ESE services to come in and vacant positions we have right now. Two lines below that, that's going to be your Kelly Services primarily, your substitute teachers. And then down at the bottom, those are for international teachers, the fee we have to pay for the firm to process all the visa work, everything
018else. 13,500 per student. We do hope in the future we will drive that number down, particularly when we get more local teachers into the school district. >> [snorts] >> Supplies and materials, about 85% of this is in the classrooms. Down slightly from last year based on current year expenditures. Technology supplies down slightly as well. Transfers 1.1 million dollars, this is driven all by enrollment numbers at the elementary school as well as Hope. And the last slide, this is the recommended budget for the general fund for the Rockdale School District 2027. The board recommend or the administration recommends Yes, so just to close this out, we have presented a balanced budget with no tax increase, and we are happy to answer any questions and seek your approval. Thank you. Board members, any questions? Madam Chair, question.
019Yes. Um Mr. Madden, if you don't mind going or Dr. Elder, if you don't mind going to the children's supplies and the materials from 2.1 4 million, I believe that's slide 12. Uh I see there's a note down here that says there's a new allocation of $1,000 for each school included in the budget for the media center and arts. Can you further explain how that will work? Yes, ma'am. Going through the budget process, if you all remember, we talked with the principals. The principals went back talk with their teachers and then we met with the teachers the principals again and gave them their budgets to work on. We haven't changed any of those budgets. They all came back very good budget numbers. We talked to the principals. There's no changes in the schools with that.
020Not every school is consistent with how they allocate money towards particularly the media center and the arts. And so going through the budget process working with Dr. Elder, we felt that it would be appropriate to give something across the board to all schools. So that's where that $1,000, $500 for the media center, $500 for the arts came from. >> [snorts] >> And is that arts band, orchestra, visual arts? I'm going to say the arts is defined by the principal. Okay. So I think this is a good great budget. I think Let me just preface that. But the question I have for you is there an opportunity to um in some form or fashion, if we need to supplement in some that in some way later on down the line, is there an opportunity for us
021to do that because last year we did um give a significant increase uh and that was to our high school bands. Yes, ma'am. Uh but there are some gaps in in the curriculum. I think I have also expressed that to you um especially for other arts like orchestra, visual arts, and the need to fund those programs appropriately. Um will there be opportunities to amend at a later time? Uh or find other ways to find money to help supplement that. Yes, ma'am. What I would encourage um the board The board speaks as a body. The board should, you know, can at a future date visit this and direct administration to look at reallocating funds or to make a general recommendation as how to address the needs of the board with that. So, that can be done
022at the board's pleasure. Throughout the year, yes, ma'am. If I may jump in, um I don't want anyone to think that schools get only $1,000 for media center and arts. Um our bands get 65 65,000 dollars. Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. >> [laughter] >> Our high school band So, this is in addition to what they already get. And so, we looked at what what the arts get and what music programs get, which is already significant. So, so I don't want to want it to look like everybody gets $1,000 and that's it. Yeah. And as you alluded to, you you're all getting significantly increased band funding for the high schools in this past year. And you know, we actually had one school that rolled that back a little bit. [snorts] And this is the balancing act
023between what the principals want to do and and how you all want Uh Mr. Madden, you uh obviously came from the county. You have a great understanding of the taxes and uh utilities and everything else, which takes me to Can you go back to your utilities and power slide? >> [snorts] >> Energy at the bottom there. So, that's 3.5 million dollars a year. Is he getting we on some type of commercial rate or something there? I am not quite certain what kind of rate the school district has. There's some questions around that. Um you know, we get approximately of the the year to date expenditures so far? About 2.3 of that is from the city of Rock Hill. The remainder is going to be from York Electric, the vast bulk of that. Um, but I
024am not certain of the type of rates we pay right now. I'm just curious to see what kind of type of margin is in that from cost to you know what we're passing on to the taxpayers and Uh, there's no margin. We don't make a margin on that. >> we don't, but I'm talking about who is who is selling us the power. So, I'm just I don't want to be digging and find that cuz I mean that's a significant number of people we could actually fund sports and arts with that excess there. But, do something. Uh, one other question I had, um, for the foreign teachers, you said earlier, um, 30 year at 13.5 and yes, sir. For passports and everything else. Is that on top of the $30,000 fee that we pay the head
025hunters? Or is that 13.5 that Uh, everything that includes 13.5. That includes everything. >> Yes, sir. Okay, just checking. Yes, sir. Okay, any further comments? District attorney? >> [clears throat] >> Thank you, Mr. Madden. Thank you for, um, the presentation that, you know, obviously with a budget of $240 million is absolutely impossible to, um, present every single expenditure in a, you know, in a in a presentation like this. I know at some point all of it will be available. So, I do thank you for providing more detail. Um, my questions are mainly for Dr. Elder and I've basically got three questions and and a statement. Um, I'll just ask you all the questions at one time and you can just answer them. You, um, In here, um, are there any initiatives that you're adding or
026cutting as a result of your budget priorities? That's the first question. The second question would be like what are your budget priorities? And I'm talking more specifically about classroom instruction and those things. And then the The one I'm kind of combining all into one. There were some conversations specifically around athletics and the arts, and I know this has to say something. So, I heard the answer that was given to the arts, but I'm specifically talking about the disparity in what some athletic programs are paying to play versus others. For example, what a football player pays to play pays to play versus what a high school cheerleader pays to play. Um or what someone in the band has to pay to play. Um Soccer. Or soccer. What what what soccer has to pay to play versus
027American football team. So, so all those are kind of combined into one. Budget priorities, what are they? Are there any initiatives that you're adding or cutting as a result of your budget priorities? And then does this budget give any focus to trying to bring some parity with the athletic program so our female cheerleaders are not paying more than our male football players. All right. [clears throat] Thank you, Madam Chair Dr. Belton. Thank you for your questions. Um first, let's go through the budget priorities. Um those were in the presentation My budget priorities were in the budget presentation um initially in February starting with students first, taking care of employees, and taking care of facilities. And facilities, of course, is capital and not as much part of the general fund, although some general fund um monies
028do go to capital maintenance. Um So, those really are the top three. So, that formed the basis of every conversation we had with principals and with district office staff. So, putting students first at the center. As far as initiatives being added, you may recall from my entry plan um our feedback from teachers, principals, parents, everybody is that we have way too many initiatives. It's not that we're not doing enough, it's that we're trying to do everything and do everything at well well all at once. So, we're strategically building on the work that's been done with our spa with our spa department in looking at how do we consolidate programming, how do we make sure that we're not duplicating programs, so we don't have a program that the state pays for and then we pay for
029something that the at the district level that does the same thing as the program the state does, and then schools buying something on top of that that does the same function as the other two. So, we're really looking at streamlining and creating cohesive initiatives so that we're able to better focus not only our budgetary resources, but our time and attention resources as well. Um finally, with athletics and arts, those budgets are funded as in previous years. However, the way they are allocated, um we can work with schools to set some different flexibilities. We didn't specifically um we don't have you didn't see a line item for cheerleading, but you also didn't see a line item for any other specific activity. Those go to the school in a lump sum, and so we can provide some
030guardrails and some some support to schools as they budget their school-based resources. Thank you. Mr. Nelson. Um Dr. Elder, first I just like to thank you for the collaborative efforts that you and your team did to work with the the leaders in our schools to give give them have let them have some skin in the game. I really appreciate that. Thank you for for working with them. Um kind of this goes back to one of Dr. Belton's questions. I would like um as a board for us to work together to see how we can increase partnerships with um our business community. You know, one such idea might be like, let's take a look at getting video boards at our stadium so that we could sell advertising and and let that money come back into the
031schools to fund these programs like so that it's not outrageously expensive for a you know, for a girl to be on the high school cheer team versus the soccer team or the football team. Um the other thing I do I would like to go back to what Mr. Barnes said about the energy prices is that I have a real problem with a business owner that owns a commercial building in the county, let's say on Mount Gallon Road, it's not in the city, but it's paying property taxes to the county that are supposed to go for education, but yet those property tax dollars instead of going to education, they're going to pay for electricity to another municipality that that business owner if they live in the county, um own commercial property in the county, but it
032are in Rock Hill schools, they don't have a voice in the municipality to determine what our electric rates are. That's not fair. That money should be going to our kids. It should not be going to another municipality to pay for electricity. So, I would love to know what the cost of the electricity is that we are buying and we're sending rent checks for you know, three and a half million dollars a year. So. Thank you. And and I think to that is obviously not information that is available tonight. And those are the prices that we are currently paying. Um but I think for future discussions, it would be helpful for the board to get a report. And I think that is the message that I'm hearing from my fellow board members and I'm in agreement.
033Um anyone else? Mr. Daniel? No. Mr. Daniel, do you have something else? Yes, sir. Thank you. One other thing, slide a little in. This is slightly different. The expenditures purchase services. There's the itemized. Yes, thank you. So, there there is two things that I did not I don't think I asked initially when we were initially talking and and I mentioned it, but the contracted instructional programs, is that related to some of the things that you were discussing discussing with Dr. Belmas number one and then number two, that line I might think I did mention the line item for consultants. It did go up. Can you explain what those some of those costs were under that line item? There was some one-time consulting expenses during this fiscal year that were I think a lot of those
034were board driven initiatives that we don't expect those things to be forever and I think I'll go on to a couple of years of a lot of spending on consultants. We expect that to level out going forward. On the contracted instructional programs, I think you're exactly right if I understand your question correctly. Those are what we're paying people to come in and do a lot of our training and stuff like that. Oh, okay. >> [snorts] >> So, I have a quick question. Does that conclude your questions by the way? Yes, thank you. I appreciate all of the work that has gone into this. I I feel like the process has been very detailed and laid out from the beginning of the year. It is my understanding that it has been really driven from input from
035every facet of the organization, which I think is very important to hear the voices of our administrators and the the staff members. Um, I knew that we had a lot of people who are overdue for for salary increases and it it really seen that some of those numbers are coming up. But more than anything, um, it really warms my heart to see that we are making an intentional move to support our special education students uh, through recognizing that uh, the staffing levels in those classrooms have been uh, sub par. Uh, not saying that our staff in those classrooms have been sub par, but not enough of them. So, I'm really excited to see that we're adding those positions in there. Anyone else? If not, I will entertain a motion to approve the fiscal year 2026-2027
036general >> Madam Chair, I move we approve the 2026-2027 budget. Thank you, sir. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Nozal. We have a first by uh, motion made by Burns and second by Nozal. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries 7-0. We say thank you to our presenters for their two identical presentations tonight. Um, and just to reiterate that some of the questions that were asked earlier on uh, and alluded in this presentation that every year the fiscal audit of the school district is published on the website and if you call the district office, you can also receive a hard copy of the latest. >> [snorts] >> So, with that uh, we are going to go down our action agenda. I am going to welcome
037up Ms. Alicia Johnson who is the executive director of secondary education. Um, and she has provided the board with a list of local board approved courses which I believe will be up on the screen. Good evening. And I wanted to if board members had any questions regarding that list. The courses were part of your packet. Yeah. So, you received those already. So, we are just giving you approval. Yeah. I don't have any questions. Are they on the screen so at least the public can see them? >> That's what I was wondering if we could get the the the course lists for the public. It's in the board packet, but to Dalton's point. Thank you, Mr. Wright. We'll leave you a second. I'll go through them as we are um looking for those. So, the first
038one is yearbook production. So, we already have the board has already approved yearbook two, three, and four, and we are requesting approval for yearbook five through seven. So, this is for students who want to continue in the yearbook production course to work on the yearbook throughout their time in high school. So, that is one um that we're seeking approval for. The other one is creative writing. This is a course that's already been approved by the South Carolina Department of Ed as well. Um we are seeking approval to create creative writing two, three, and four. This is for students who want to take additional creative writing courses so they will be able to get credit for all of the courses that they take. Perfect. And I believe that we now have them up on the screen
039as well so that our viewing audience as well as those in here can see them. Uh any questions for Ms. Johnson regarding these courses? Those were the course additions. And then we are seeking a modification to um modify the IB language class so that the prerequisite is just for English three and not English three honors. And we will be bringing forth additional courses in the future to modify the prerequisites to um provide access more access to the IB courses for students who are not on that honors pathway initially. Okay. If there are no questions, I will entertain a motion to approve the local board approved courses. >> So moved. Thank you, Mr. Barnes. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you, Ms. Daniel. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Um. All opposed? Motion
040carries 7-0. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Johnson. Um. Next up is the June 9th board meeting change. Um, and um, I believe I am presenting that. Um, uh, with that, um, we have in policy that, you know, we have our board meetings the second and fourth Tuesday of every month. Uh, it so happens that the second Tuesday of June is also the, uh, primary elections, uh, here in the state of South Carolina. Uh, so it has been a long standing tradition for the board to move said board meeting to, uh, accommodate, uh, people's opportunity to vote. We also know that we have, uh, a couple of polling uh, locations that are close to us. So, um, at this point, uh, it's a conversation and potentially a motion to be made to move the June 9th
041board meeting from that Tuesday to that Monday evening, which would be June 8th. So, I have a motion? Yes, uh, I believe I have a motion by Mr. Barnes. Did I have a second from Dr. Belton? Any further discussion? Is there another option? Is it just the 8th as the option? >> I think the 8th is the option based on other calendars. Um. I cannot call in. I will be flying at that time. Okay. I will be in class. You'll be in class that that day. Well, so So, we have a motion just to feed the motion is on the floor and then we'll vote it down. Well, well, another option would be if if the person making the motion would be amendable to um Welcome. to modify the motion to say that we seek
042to move the ninth board meeting if possible. We have board approval to do that and then we can send out a poll to to make sure that we have a date that that we don't have conflicts with. Madam Chair, I'm moved to modify to the board to reconvene at another date. Thank you. Do we have a second on that motion? >> I will second. Perfect. All those in favor? Aye. All Motion carries 7-0. And we will get on this tomorrow so that we can get it scheduled um in act. Okay? Um That brings us down to communications. We do not have any. Um moving on to presentations. Uh and I'm going to welcome up Mr. Bobby Barnes. He is going to give us an update on where the district is with the semi-monthly payroll project.
043Welcome up. Thank you, Board Chair Miller, Vice Chair Hutchinson, members of the Board of Trustees, and Superintendent Dr. L. >> [snorts] >> Tonight, I am pleased to provide update on the district's transition from a monthly payroll schedule to a semi-monthly payroll schedule beginning in July 2026. Under the new schedule, employees will receive two paychecks each month with paydays on the 10th and the 25th. Benefit deductions, retirement contributions, and other withholdings will be divided evenly between the two payrolls. >> [clears throat] >> Employees on a July through June work schedule will begin receiving semi-monthly paychecks in July as their fiscal year already begins at that time. Employees on an August through July schedule will receive their final regular monthly paycheck on July 10th with their regular semi-monthly pay schedule beginning on August 10th. This phased approach
044allows us to align the transition with existing employee pay schedules. I would like to thank our payroll team for the hard work and planning that's gone into preparing for this transition. >> [snorts] >> We are excited to take this step forward for employees, and we believe this change will provide greater consistency and flexibility for staff and managing their finances throughout the month. Additional communication will begin going out tomorrow. Thank you, and I'll be happy to answer any questions. You're welcome. Uh I just want to say first of all, this is who quick on this one. This was Um first of all, it's good to see you. We used to see you a lot. We don't get to see you as often now, so that's good to see you. And um and and please pardon my
045colloquialism here. I'm going to use a bit of slang, but I think it's most appropriate here. This is a game-changer. Thank you all. You're welcome. Ms. Daniel Um I just want to second that. In my quick passings today in school buildings, just collecting my own children, um a lot of positive feedback. Uh I already know some staff members that did their own color-coded spreadsheets to determine what their paychecks are going to look like going into the school year. I did have a question. Um you may have answered it previously, but I'm not sure. Questions were um what the December paychecks look like. We know that can be a tough time. I think this was created to ease that, but can you share with the public what December paychecks will look like? Yes, December paychecks, they
046will be paid on the 10th and I'm going to We're going to do the calendar and I'll send out the calendar when it'll probably be around the 20th. I need to figure out when the holiday is, so it'll be about the 10th and the And they'll receive their regular pay divided by two and any like other pay, you know, like the maintenance people might work overtime on that. Now, we will when we come back in January, we will do that final week and they'll they'll be chewed up at that point. So, there will be a two-week overtime pay in January. Okay, thank thank Thank you so much for all of your work on this cuz this was like something that we wanted so badly. So, this is going to be like Dr. Boone said, a
047game-changer for our district, for our employees, our staff. So, thank you, thank you, thank you. I just want to make sure I understand. So, if if an employee, like your example here, if they don't get one last full paycheck in July, and then so they'll get a paycheck on August the 10th, August the 25th, September the 10th, September the 25th, and so on and so forth until the December thing you just explained. It was kind of That's that's correct. The normal schedule is going to be the 10th and the 25th. But, what we're going to do is the same thing we do if a holiday or weekend, it might be the 24th or the 23rd, depending on that situation. Okay, this is great. This is definitely going to be great for our especially our support
048staff. Yes. Um that it's just really good. So, thank you for your hard work and your diligence on it. Really appreciate it. And I just want to give a big shout out to my payroll team, too. And a shout out to your team, yeah. Shout out to the team. Thank you for that. For sure. I can only agree with all of what my colleagues are saying. This is a game changer." I think that uh I too have heard a whole lot of positive feedback from from staff throughout the district. This is fantastic. And I know that it has taken a heavy lift for both you and your team. So, for that I'm incredibly thankful. I wonder because again, this is a change and there's going to be a lot of questions. If there's an opportunity
049to perhaps work together with communications to to have some kind of Q&A for our staff members to to sort of illustrate some of these examples because I think it's better to have the Q&A on the front end versus the phone calls coming on the back end. So, just a thought. And that will also make it easier for us as board members if to be honest so that we have somewhere to direct those to. Could that be possible? Can do. Can I ask a a potential blind spot maybe your summer school teachers? And I know at one point we were waiting until the end of the summer and you would know better than I about this to pay summer school teachers. So, first of all, I don't think they should have to wait until the end
050of the summer to be paid, but that could be a potential blind spot that you may want to note and how you going >> So, you know, our time sheets are set up for monthly payroll right now. So, they'll turn it in at the end of the month, you know, at the beginning of the month they'll turn in the prior month. So, it's going to turn around quicker. So, they're going to have a time sheet that has two weeks on it, you know, maybe three weeks depending on you know, the the situation, but they'll turn it in quicker. So, they'll we'll we'll try to get paid a lot quicker this upcoming year. And we are getting the credit as board members and I will tell you apparently your bus drivers already know about this because
051I got several text messages over the last couple of days. So, I'm certainly directing them back to you and your team, but you are a superstar right now at least at the bus depot. >> [laughter] >> They know me before I do, so I don't know. Well, fantastic. Thank you for all the work and thank you for your presentation and Okay, thank you. Thank you. Bringing it down to our report of the superintendent. Good evening, council members of the board. I have a few announcements for to wind this up this evening for this evening's meeting. First, we have a calendar survey open. This was, as you know, the first year of the modified calendar and now that we've lived it for a full year, we want to get feedback. So, please encourage everybody you know
052to give feedback and a reminder that our calendar for the 2026-2027 year has already been approved and finalized. So, this feedback will be looking forward to 2027-2028 school year and beyond. The survey will be open through Friday, June 5th and we're already encouraged by the response. We already have over 1,800 submissions. I know, pretty good, huh? Student registration also continues for new and returning students. I know I say this every other week, but I really want to emphasize this time our 4K programs. Rock Hill Schools does have full-day 4K programs. We are very proud of our programs and appreciate everyone helping us spread the word. We don't want one single spot to be empty when we can have a little one in that spot come fall. So, please let's get everybody registered, especially our 4Ks.
053I would like to highlight a special tradition across our schools. Many of the members of the class of 2026 have recently returned to their elementary schools and their middle schools that helped shape them. During these visits, graduates reconnect with former teachers and staff while participating in celebrated in celebratory senior parades held in their honor. What a great opportunity for the little ones to get to aspire to grow up to be a graduate just like those high school seniors. Um we have several of those events still scheduled for the week and they continue to be meaningful moments for students, families, and staff alike. Another exciting milestone is the official launch of Rock Hill Schools partnership with the University of South Carolina Lancaster dual credit program. Um we are proud to welcome 11 students into the inaugural
054cohort. These students are on track to graduate from high school with a diploma in one hand and an associate's degree in the other. This is another strong example of our commitment to graduation plus, ensuring leave our students leave our diploma with meaningful opportunities and advantages for their future. I would like to also give an update on a newly established technology task force. We are looking at um how we use technology in classrooms and how we should and should not use technology in classrooms. We have a committee that includes students from the advisory council, school improvement parent council parents, as well as teachers, principals, technology specialists, and other stakeholders. So, this group is meeting three times to look at research, look at policy around the country, and give recommendations regarding techno- technology usage in classrooms to
055lay the groundwork for our future policy work. In a similar spirit of collaboration, we are forming an assessment calendar committee that will be heavily populated this year with teachers who know the cadence of the curriculum throughout the school year the best. The goal is to review state testing guidelines. We can't change those, but when we time our local assessments is entirely within our control. We want strong teacher input in that process. We are also looking at reducing non-state required assessment to ensure that we have maximized our instructional time and give teachers time to teach. This was a theme over and over and over again in brown tables. This work includes partnering with our curriculum specialists and teachers to create common summative assessments that will ultimately streamline and reduce testing demands. And although we did not
056hold formal recognitions this evening, I do want to just mention that we have a new assistant director of human resources, Anthony Scorsone. He officially joined Rock Hill schools. He came from Clover and we're excited to welcome him to our team. We will have him up here in a future recognition. Also want to recognize two achievements in our fine arts programs. Northwestern High School and Rock Hill High School were honored by the South Carolina Band Directors Association with the Outstanding Performance Award. This recognition is based on participation and performance ratings across multiple state sponsored events, including marching band championships, concert and jazz assessments, solo and ensemble festivals, and all state and region band participation. We're incredibly proud of the students, the directors, and the families who contributed to these accomplishments. Finally, the district recently celebrated this
057year's 60 retirees during our annual retirement banquet held at the Gathering Space. The evening was an opportunity to recognize and thank these dedicated employees for years of service, their commitment to students, and the lasting impact they've made on Rock Hill schools. We're deeply grateful for all they have given to our district and our community. Upcoming dates. Graduation, Monday, June 1st, South Pointe, 10:00 a.m., Rock Hill High, 1:00 p.m., Northwestern, 4:00 p.m., all at Winthrop. I can't wait. And our next board meeting, um, that is will be more of a recognition event, um, is to be determined. But whenever it is determined, it will be streamed to our website and Facebook. And that concludes my announcements. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Elder. Uh, and again, we will make sure that we get that information about that
058board meeting out as soon as possible. So with that, uh, I we have now reached the, uh, section of executive session. We do have three items. We have the legal advice regarding policy. We got a contractual matter discussion, and then we have some hirings for assistant principals and an athletic director. So at this point, I will entertain a motion to adjourn the open session and enter the executive session for those matters. Madam Chair, before we do that, and because when we come back, I see Ms. Darlene here and she may not be here when we come back, um, I just want to say, um, I've gone to the teacher, the retiree thing 2 years in a row, and you've spoken both years that I've been there. This year was a little more personal for me.
059So I'm speaking as a board member, not as a husband. It is absolutely a five-star event. And I don't know if any of you, I know some of us here have been and others have had other schedules, but if you have an opportunity to go in the future, I would highly encourage you to go. And thank you, Mr. Nozzle, for giving me an extra ticket so my son could attend as well. Um, so thank you all to you to HR Department. That's my second year going. It's a five-star event, and I just think that's a a real neat way for the district and the foundation, who I understand is is the sponsor, to to send our teachers off and and teachers and professionals off into retirement. So, thank you thank you all for that. Personally
060and professionally. And and I think if you're wondering why we're mentioning that the audience is because we do have the director of the foundation here tonight in the audience, so that's why. >> And Madam Chair, you did a phenomenal job representing us in your speech. Last year, I thought your speech was good. This year, it was even better. So, thank you for and I mean that sincerely. I think your words, I don't know if they're captured anywhere, but if they are, they are worth listening to. So, thank you for representing us. Well, thank you. And again, congratulations to the retiree class of 2026 and the service that they have given to our school district. So, with that, I will entertain a motion to adjourn the open session and enter the executive session for Mr. Burns,
061this is your time. >> [laughter] >> I believe Nozzolillo is our second, [laughter] and with that, and Nozzolillo is second, all those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carried 7-0. >> Mhm. >> and the executive session for the purpose of legal advice regarding policy, contractual matter discussions, and hiring of athletic director and assistant principals. At this point, I will entertain a motion to adjourn the executive session and enter the open session. So moved. Was that Mr. Nessel? Second. Nessel and seconded by Daniel. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carried 7-0. Are there any motions coming out? Yes, Madam Chair. I have a new motion. Um I move to approve the superintendent's recommendation for the position of assistant principal for Cherry Park Elementary School of Immersion. Thank you.
062Do I have a second? Second. Thank you. Uh any discussion? Hearing none, [snorts] all those in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carried 7-0. Are there any further motions? Yes, I have an an additional motion. I move to approve the superintendent's recommendation for the position of assistant principal for Independence Elementary. Thank you. [snorts] Do I have a second? Second. Thank you, Ms. Daniel. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. All of you opposed? >> [snorts] >> Motion carried 7-0. Any further? Yes. I move to approve the superintendent's recommendation for the position of assistant principal for India Hook Elementary. Thank you. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Nozel. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries 7-0. Madam Chair, I have a motion. Thank you. I move
063to approve the superintendent's recommendation for the position of assistant principal of Northside Elementary. Thank you. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you, Ms. Daniel. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries 7-0. Madam Chair, I have a motion. I move to approve the superintendent's recommendation for the position of assistant principal for Sunset Park Elementary. And do I have a second? Second. >> Second. I believe Mr. Burns, and I have been informed that this is um a vote that Dr. Belton will be recusing himself from. Correct? Yes, Madam Chair. Thank you. So, without further ado, any more discussion? No? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries 6-0 with one recusal. Madam Chair, I have a final motion. I move to approve the superintendent's recommendation for the
064position of assistant principal for York Road Elementary. Thank you. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you. I believe Vice Chair uh Jennifer Hutchinson. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. All opposed? Motion carries 7-0. >> [clears throat] >> Madam Chair, Yep. I move to we approve the superintendent's recommendation for the position of assistant principal of Castle Heights, Dutchman Creek Middle School, and Sullivan Middle School. Okay. So, we're going to do um Do we have a second for that? >> [laughter] >> Do we have a second for all three of those? Okay. We have >> [laughter] [snorts] >> We have those three all made by Burns and seconded by Daniel. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor. All opposed. Motion carries 7-0. Madam Chair. [clears throat] Yes. I have a motion to
065approve superintendent's recommendation for the position of assistant principal at Northwestern High School and assistant principal at Rock Hill High School and an additional assistant principal at Rock Hill High School. Do we have a second? And I got a second from Nozzle on all three. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say yes. All opposed. Motion carries 7-0 on all three of them. Does that conclude our motions? I don't believe so. Yes, ma'am. No, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, move to approve the superintendent's recommendation for the position of assistant principal for South Pointe High School. Thank you. Do we have a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Nozzle. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor. All opposed. Motion carries 7-0. Madam Chair, finally, I move to approve the superintendent's recommendation for the position of athletic director
066of Northwestern High School. Thank you. Do we have a second? Second. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor. All opposed. Motion carries 7-0. I do believe that that concludes our 14 motions for the evening. Am I correct? Correct. Thank you. And um with that, we are going to move on to Just one second for the agenda. Thank you. Yes, so other than future business. So, I put a memo to the board in there regarding the potential of a July board meeting. So, traditionally and um we do not meet in July. Um unless there is a a very strong circumstance for us to meet in July. Most school districts don't meet uh over the summer. So, that's not atypical. However, I wanted to post that since July 23rd happens to be the ribbon cutting of
067Sunset Park, it is a safe assumption that all district staff and and board members will be in town and in attendance uh because of the significance of opening Sunset Park. So, I wanted to just kind of pose the question and again, no decision to be made now, that should Dr. Elder need to have approval to make her opening of school or starting school on on positions that we potentially would have a called quick board meeting only for the purpose of um uh hirings uh during that day. But, I wanted to mention it that that could be a possibility unless somebody has any strong And may I just assume this would be cuz my calendar says the ribbon cutting is at 6:00 p.m. Is that still Correct. Correct. So, I assume like 4:00 4:30 something like
068that. >> Correct. And then go to the Okay. >> Correct. Correct. So, that we would have plenty of time because obviously that takes precedence, but since we're all most likely going to be there, it would make sense. Just so that for HR, the department and Dr. Elder for planning purposes know that if there are positions that needs to be approved, they may we an opportunity to get that done that day. So, that's the reason for me to bring that up. Okay. Uh besides that, I'm going to email out some uh housekeeping matters as far as graduations, including parking, and those kinds of things. Um like I did last year, you'll see those coming in over the weekend. Um and we're all excited about graduations on Monday. I know y'all are ready to leave, but I
069do have some other future business to ask. >> Yeah, I was just going to ask. With uh with the recent legislation Yeah, I just want to say with the recent legislation about grading floor Um about what? >> About about the grading floor. Yes. Um make sure that the to either know whether the board is working on or the district is working on ensuring that our grading policies are current and in place for I believe it goes into effect next school year. It does not go into effect for this current quarter, is my understanding. But I just want to make sure that we are on that and making everyone aware of grading changes. I think that's a very good feedback, and I know that um Dr. Dickey is in attendance, and I'm sure that her and
070her team together with Dr. Oliver and >> [snorts] >> other offices are working on those. But yes, I think you you know, the quicker we can get those in place so that the expectations are set for for first semester, the better off we are. Right. Anything else for other and future? No? In that case, uh I believe this is Mr. Burns' moment to move to adjourn. I'm not making a motion today. So, motion. I will not make it. >> [laughter] >> Do I have a motion to adjourn? Yeah, go ahead. >> a second? I second. I have four seconds. I think Mr. Nossal was first. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? All opposed? Motion carries. Seven to zero. >> Hey.