001Good evening uh or late afternoon as it may be and welcome to the November 11th school board business meeting. Local news media outlets were notified in writing of this agenda from the meeting on Saturday, November 8th, 20, 2025. At this point, if you will please join me for followed by a moment of silence to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Please be seated. And before we get started tonight, um I would like to on behalf of the board and the Rock Hill Schools, uh thank all of our veterans that serve both on our school board, we got Dr. Ma Dalton, as well as Mr. Peter Nosul, as well as all of our employees,
002parents, and community members that have served in our armed forces. We honor them today on Veterans Day. So, first up, we have the approval of the agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the agenda? >> So, move. >> Uh, thank you, Mr. Burns. Do I have a second? >> Thank you, Miss Daniel. Any discussion? Var. All those in favor? All opposed? Motion carries. 70. We do have some recognitions tonight. Uh they will most likely join us a little later. So when they come tonight, uh we will work them into the meeting. Uh if not, we will see them at a subsequent meeting. So um just know that they will u be here a little later perhaps. So with that, uh I'm going to ask for citizen participation. We do not have any. Uh which
003brings us down to the consent action agenda and we have two items. Uh the first one is the minutes of October 18th school board business meeting as well as uh the personnel recommendations. Um I want to make sure that board has an opportunity to just take a few minutes to check out that and when we are ready I will entertain a motion to approve uh the consent action agenda. So move >> second. >> Thank you Mr. Burns. Seconded by Mr. Do I have any discussion on that? >> Ask for >> few minutes. >> Absolutely. We'll take just a few minutes and while we take that I will explain to our viewing audience that technology is amazing but sometimes uh it fails us and uh we had a document that did not upload to all of
004the board members uh that involves a u um a few uh consent action agendas. So we got that a little late today and that's the reason why we're taking a few minutes. Um so we have a motion made by Mr. Burns and a seconded uh by Mr. Nosal. Um are we ready to take action? Yes. So in that case, all those in favor say I. All opposed. Motion carries. 70. Thank you. So that brings us to our action agenda and I'm going to start off with uh welcoming Miss Johnson who is going to present the proposed middle school course additions and modifications. Welcome. >> Afternoon, Chair Miller, Vice Chair Hutchinson, members of the board, Dr. Elder, and members of the community. I'm Alicia Johnson, the executive director for secondary education. And the first action agenda
005item is around middle school course additions and modifications for 2627. So this slide shows the board policy that shares that we cannot add or modify new courses without your approval. Um September 2025 we had middle school counselors meeting and then in October this was shared with middle school principles the opportunity to propose course additions and modifications. So the first set is proposed by Sullivan Middle School. They want to add introduction to agriculture seven and introduction to agriculture eight. So the agriculture seven course this semester is this semester course is designed to assist students in exploring science as it relates to agriculture through wellplanned instructional activities. Students will have the opportunity to develop an understanding of human relations, communication, the importance of agriculture to the community, and key scientific items and terms related to the field
006of agricultural concepts. So that's the agricultural set. For eight, this semester course is designed to allow students to apply scientific principles to the field of agriculture in a laboratory setting. The students are introduced to new technology and its impact on agriculture. An introduction to the regional andor international agriculture and marketing concepts in agriculture are also included. So those are the two that are being proposed by Sullivan Middle School. Okay. The next two are proposed by Saluda Trail Middle School. So the first one is creative writing and journalism. They want to create a course called creative voices writing and journalism. So basically what they're asking to do is they want to combine an isolated course of creative writing creative writing and an isolated course of journalism and put those together in one course called creative voices
007writing and journalism. So their rationale for that is they want to strengthen student interest and provide a more comprehensive writing experience. Um they want to combine creative writing and journalism into one semester course. The new course titled Creative Voices Writing and Journalism would still include all of the journalism components, news and feature writing, interviewing, photography, captions, and layout, but we also integrate creative writing. The next one that they're proposing is robotics six and seven. And so for this one, they want to incorporate their sixth grade and seventh grade robotics courses into their engineering courses. So the students will be taught the engineering concepts and the application piece will come into um play with the robotics piece. Any questions? Hearing no questions. Oh, sorry. Hearing no questions, um I would at this to entertain a motion
008to approve the proposed middle school course additions and modifications. >> Motion to approve. >> Thank you, Miss Harris. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Uh thank you, Mr. Burns. Any discussion? Very none. All those in favor? All post. Motion carries. 70. >> Thank you. >> And uh next up is the uh personal finance textbook adoption, which is also Miss Johnson. >> Okay. Um so this one the state has allocated funding for a new um textbook for personal finance. This is a graduation requirement for our students. So here is the policy that says that you need to approve um any um textbook adoptions and then the funding for new personal finance textbook that's coming from the South Carolina Department of Education. And then this whole process was facilitated by Mr. Hopper who is our
009district textbook coordinator. The timeline for this was October the 9th through November the 3. So this shows you the options that the state provided to us along with the publisher. This slide gives a little bit more detail about the timeline um when Mr. Hopper contacted the personal finance teacher. So, they're the ones that vet the materials um and decide on what they want to vote on as a school. So, this just outlines the whole process from October 9th through November the 3rd. And then here you can see how each school voted. So, Northwestern selected Ramsey Solutions, Rockville High selected Ramsey Solutions, and South Point selected McGraill. and you'll see their rationale for their selection underneath. So the textbook that we are adopting um based on your approval if you approve would be Ramsey solutions and
010then next steps after the adoption this shows what the next steps would be. So um if approved then that we would select that we would send our selection to the state department for instructional materials and then on the 13th our school-based tech textbook coordinators they would submit orders um through our platform to get the textbooks ordered. >> Okay questions. >> Miss Johnson, can you go back two slides please? Yeah, that one's on your mic. >> Oh, I'm sorry. So, the one that we're selecting and obviously if this is what they want, I intend to vote for it, but I'm just want to just want to be clear. This one that we are selecting, the Ramsay Solutions is the one that there is no print, right? It's just strictly digital. >> Is digital? Yes. And >>
011there are printed materials. The um the vendor did deliver printed materials that we provided um for review. So there are printed materials, but um our information is that it would be a six-year digital um subscription >> and and digital and and I know this may be an ignorant question, but I just don't know. And digital means everything is on the computer and it comes from the cloud somewhere and all >> the materials the kids have will be on the computer. >> They will be rostered to our students, >> right? >> Yes. >> Johnson. So >> So you mentioned the six-year digital subscription. So that means that we're tied to to this textbook for the next six years essentially. >> Yes. It would be what we adopted. Now, there could be I can check to see
012what the process would be if we if we decided that we did not want to stick with it because the state has approved all of these options. This would be the one that our district would be selected. >> So, there could be potentially an option to review something else. >> It could be we would have to go back through the process probably. I can provide that information for you. >> Thank you, John. >> And and which one are we getting? Are we getting the digital subscription with the consumable workbook or are we getting the digital subscription with the digital workbook? >> Digital subscription with the digital workbook. >> We will have no consumable, no paper and pencil, no piece of paper at all. >> That's what the teachers voted for is my understanding. >> So,
013as a followup question, building on Dr. Wolton's comment with that. We know that uh we constantly hear comments and feedbacks regarding um print copy allotments from teachers. Um is there going to be room for these instructors to have um sufficient um print copies in order to print consumable materials should they need that or are we saying that it has to be done on the computer completely? Their vote was for all digital. Um, I can go back and inquire a little bit more, but their vote was the teachers vote was for all digital. >> Okay. Any further conversations or questions? >> You No, I think >> No, I don't have any other questions for Miss Johnson. She's simply the messenger, you know, and if this is what the teachers want, I think that would be disingenuous
014for me. I just I just really wish we could put things in kids' hands. Again, I I I just struggle with that for the child who's not a digital learner to even if we were doing the digital subscription, I would feel better if we went with a consumable workbook even if we were doing the digital subscription. But I'm this is me. This is just my style of learning and and I'm basing this on the two children I have at home and I it's just everybody is not a digital learner. >> There's still some people who need this and this and to write and >> that just bothers me. >> If we adopt Ramsey solutions, I can go back to find out what that looks like because they do provide both. Um, so I'll find out
015if there is a opportunity to do >> or is there an opportunity for kids to choose? >> Yes, I'll find out. >> Mr. N. >> Thank you. I I mean, I asked before the meeting. I was like, why do we not get a paper packet of the agenda? Because I'm the same way. I mean, I I I hate computers and and I'm like, why did we change why are we changing something that has worked so well for so long to make everything digital? You know why? But I don't know why. >> Can't you answer that one? >> And and and I know we we sound like the dinosaurs up here. And maybe I am, but I'm also not a digital person. You all probably see I come in here every week with a whole big
016packet because I go to my office and I print it all. I can't read on the computers. I can't work on the computer. I can't I I'm mean, we just had a whole board meeting and I asked them to write everything down. I I you know, but so and I also know that all children are not digital learners. And so I understand that's where we are and I'm not going to be the one to stand in progress, but wow, it would be just awesome if maybe they just had an option for the kids who also want a workbook to also get a workbook that I >> I know that they do provide both. So if we adopt Ramsey solutions, they do provide both and it's a state adoption. So right um I will check to
017see >> but I guess what I'm asking in a particular class if you got 30 kids in the class and 20 of them say we want all digital and there are 10 that say give us digital but also give us a workbook is that an option or if we adopt all 30 kids in the class have to get the same thing. >> Okay I'll find out. So, do we have to vote tonight on this or does is there like a time frame or a state time frame that we have to do this tonight or else >> we have to have a vote tonight. I do know that. >> So, so given that conversation and and I know Mr. Nos isn't like to speak, one option would be possible for the board to table the vote
018on this to a subsequent board meeting pending more information. That could be an option. But anyway, Mr. No, I just I mean I guess maybe we are dinosaurs. I was in school. I mean, when were the last when was the last time you were in school? >> Me? It's been a long time. >> I mean, >> I've never taken an online class. >> I was in school from 2002 to 2009 as an adult, >> right? >> And and it everything I did was a book with a notebook. And yes, I would write papers on a computer. I don't understand why we made this radical change from something that works very well. I cannot learn on the computer and maybe these kids are different >> but for me learning is a teacher and then you read
019and then you write and when you take notes that's part of the learning process. And so I don't I just don't understand how how it happens all on the computer. But >> and it does it frustrates me with my own children, but they seem to get it. I got a young lawyer in my office. Anything I ask him, he pulls up his cell phone and he can get I get it. But I just don't want us to get too far removed that there are some basic learning techniques as Mr. Noser is talking about that's just tried and true. And I think some of the basics we're losing like penmanship and how to write, how to take notes and and with this what also concerns me is that it's totally contingent upon parents being able to
020help their children they have an internet at home and being able to access these resources. And if they don't have internet at home, they can't access a digital subscription without a consumable. And so I'm more not thinking about just the learning aspect of it. It's what does this look like when this comes home to parents who are trying to help their children if there is nothing they have there except what's on the computer. the session. >> Um, so you you're you're looking to the the six year. >> So with that said, do we need to make a motion to table? >> That that that is one option, you know. So the board could somebody could make a motion to approve, somebody could make a motion to table um until the next board meeting. That's an
021option. Will of the board, I will entertain any and all motions. Unless there is something that Dr. Al I do just want to get some clarity um before the board votes on what to do. I'd like to just be clear so that when we come back with a recommendation on behalf of our teacher selection that we're bringing information um that will result in a decision. Um because right now we have a recommendation from our educators and we're leaving without a decision. So what what information will we need? like do we need to go and convince educators to not get the digital and get the workbook instead? Do we need to what is the will of the board in terms of what we need to bring back? And I'm just asking that before you vote so
022that we have clarity when we come back in two weeks. >> Well, since I raised the issue, I I don't mind answering. I am in terms of the difference between Ramsey and the other five. I obviously I'm not familiar with any of them. That That's not what's concerning me. What's concerning me is what my question is is if we go with Ramsay, which is all the other ones up there have print options. If we go with Ramsey that only it one says digital subscription with consumable workbook or digital subscription with digital workbook. What my question is is do students get to choose or I think Miss Johnson said that we have chosen digital subscription with consum with digital workbook. Does that apply to everybody or if I'm a child in the classroom that says I
023want a consumable workbook? Is that available to me? That that's what my question is. I think for me personally, I will approve whatever the the recommendation is from teachers ultimately because they have clearly put their expertise and thoughts into this. I understand the concerns that are being raised by several board members and I share them. I am in school right now and I still print everything you know because again I I'm old school. I'm also dinosaur. You you know I need I need sticky notes. Uh so so for me the concept is terrifying when I see digital only right um so for what it's worth so do I have any motions coming forward from the board motion to approve motion to table motion something madam chair I move that we table the vote until Miss
024Johnson has an opportunity to gather the questions posed by various board members until the next morning. >> Okay. Thank you. So, I have a motion to table made by Miss Hutchinson. Um, do I have a second? >> Second. >> Uh, thank you, M. Harris. Any further discussion? Fair enough. All those in paper. Yes. Motion carries. Six more. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Next up, uh we have communications. Um and I am excited to introduce uh Miss Kristen Starrip, who is here to tell us about some amazing things that are in the works for our middle schoolers uh about in middle school career fair. So, welcome. >> Thank you. Thank you. Um good evening board. Um good evening, Dr. elder and also community members, parents, and students. Um, we have some exciting things going on
025at the middle school level in regards to careers. I am first of all the career counselor at Rockill High School, but I am also the lead career counselor for the district. So, hence why I am up here presenting for the middle school counselors. Um, we have several things that are happening at the middle school level that is exciting. In two days we are going to have a district-wide career fair and this is just our second one that we are putting on. It will be at Rollinsson Road is going to be our host and then last year we had it at Sullivan for the first year. The reason why we wanted to have a district-wide is so that all of our seventh graders could have the same information, have the same experience interacting with companies and
026also we bring up our ATC classes to the career fair. So that kind of puts it over a little um in extra in regards to career fair because we do have our ATC classes present. So not only do they get to see the careers that are available to them, but they also get to see what type of classes they can take to be going into those careers. So that was one of the reasons why we really wanted to um have a district-wide one. It is a huge process to put something together like this because we do have all five middle schools um being bust in and being bust out. So, I have to give a huge shout out to our transportation department and Jessica Wilson who is on my speed dial, wonderful, wonderful woman. Um,
027but the reason why we also picked seventh graders is because in something that um I think a lot of the um community members may not know, but in eighth grade, our eighth graders go over and they do take tours of ATC and they also have a job shadow day that they have through their middle school. Plus, they also are going to be picking their classes for their ninth grade year. So, we're trying to give them a little bit of a base before any of that happens in eighth grade. So that's why we do pick our seventh graders to get involved. And the seventh graders, I will say, they love it. They get very excited about um the different careers that they get to see. Um some of the preparation that goes on before the middle
028school career fair is our middle school counselors along with teachers. They do classroom lessons. So they do assessments with the students that will link up two career clusters that they want to go and look at. And the fair is planned according to career clusters. So, if it was a health science career cluster, we have all the health um careers grouped together and that way students can look and see the career clusters that are on the map and they can go and see what jobs are there and then they can also go and see what ATC classes they could take. Um they also do receive some you know making a good first impression um some soft skills training ahead of the career fair and then we do also um work with them on okay what type
029of questions are you going to ask the companies. So we try and get them very prepared for the career fair. Feedback last year from the companies was, you know, they had some great questions. They were very interactive. So we want them to be a little bit equipped before they see these companies. So um each school will have approximately 40 minutes by themselves um in the career fair that they again get to go around and talk to the different um companies. they will um be bust over and and and like I said before, it is a big feat because it's about six to eight buses per school that are being busted and and then picked up and more buses coming in. So, it is a big um operation to have this going on. We will have
030approximately 1,100 7th graders going through the fair. We have 45 educators that will be involved in the actual process and over 40 companies that will be there along with 90 community different um 90 community members that will also participate in the career fair. So it's a great joint combin um partnership with community and with the school district as well. Um so we have several companies and some things that I do want to give a shout out to. I want to give a shout out to our companies that are attending. They're giving up their time. One of the reasons, too, it's great for a district-wide career fair is that these companies don't have to go around to five different middle school career fairs that are all held individually. They need to just come to one. And
031so, we're giving those wonderful companies a break so they can just come to one and be able to reach over a thousand different students. Um, I need to give a shout out to our I was looking in the audience. See if I have any middle school counselors there, but the middle school counselors are putting a lot of work into this to get this going. Host schools, like I said, Rollinsson Road is this year. Last year was Sullivan, so they were brave to start the the push. Um, next year, Castle Heights has already volunteered. So, it is on a rotating basis. So, every year it will rotate from um from middle school to middle school. So each middle school will sponsor it once every five years. Um Adrien Cunningham is the lead this year and Don
032Seabald was the lead counselor last year that put it on. I have to also give a shout out to Katie McFaden. She is a Rock Hill School District parent and also career facilitator in another district. Um and she allowed us um middle schoolers and myself to come and see her career fair and really it was like kind of her brainchild and then we adapted it to our district. So um she deserves a lot of credit there. Frank Polalmo, he really helped push this along along with Miss Morrison who was here before and even Dr. Cook. This has been in the process for a while. So I have to give everybody props props that this is finally coming to fruition. Um Thomas Monroe is with our department of employment and workforce and he donated a um
033educational partnership donation so that we can do and buy some supplies for the career fair. Um Beth Boutini is also our Kitaba regional specialist and she helped get companies to come and then if we were lacking in certain career clusters she was very integral in getting us company names. Um the foundation also provided a grant for us. And then I have to always give a shout out to ATC. Um Mr. Sodto was the dean last year and he helped because with ATC they bring over their students. So it's really great because then students are talking to students. So it's a little different than if they were just talking to an adult. So the students get very excited about the classes that they are putting on. And then Dr. Rob Dr. Robinson is organizing that this
034year for ATC. So that's it. Any exciting? >> It is exciting. Finally, we are there. >> Any comments? >> So So what So some schools were touring the ATC last week? >> Yeah. Um they've been touring over the last few weeks. Um eighth grade um goes and they they all the middle schools will tour ATC. >> Okay. >> They're eighth graders. >> Okay. So that is a separate event than the career fair. >> That's separate. And that's why we wanted to do the um career fair with seventh graders. So it gives them a little taste of the ATC classes and then when they actually go over to ATC and tort they can actually see those classes and the classrooms. Um I will say we do need more ATC classes. We are um we are have
035a very small number of students that get to make it and a large weight list. So, um, it it's really picking up and the students are very excited about the classes that are over there. >> Thank you for getting more students access to the ACC or helping to do that. I I had a number of very positive um comments about the tours that were going through from both the middle school families and for the high school families of students that were leading the tour. So, I think that was a it's a great event for for everybody. So, thank you very much for that, >> Miss. >> Yes. Thank you, Miss Darcher, for organizing this. I'm I'm so excited this afternoon and most of the day. We had plenty of robust conversations across the board about
036fidelity and consistency for all of our children, no matter what side of the county they live on or within the school district. So, just thank you for rolling out and being inclusive of all of our middle school children. So, just kudos to you. >> Um I just want to say my son participated in last year's event and I do appreciate them doing the interest inventory before they went. It brought up some great discussion at home for us, especially the seventh grade level. Um, I know his key questions when he went to the fair were what's my earning potential and how much schooling does it require, >> of course. >> But then I can also say that led him into choosing his electives this year in eighth grade, strategically choosing those. um and he participated in
037the field trip to the ATC uh last week and is continuing to have those conversations on what he plans to do when choosing his courses going forward next year. So, I do appreciate that we're starting this conversation um back in seventh grade and getting them thinking further ahead and how they should choose their courses and lay things out as they move forward. So, thank you for doing this. >> I said and from the students alone, just with them getting on the buses last year, they were so excited. I mean, they were, you know, um, talking away to each other what they got to see. And, you know, a lot of the companies also bring some hands-on material like we had some welders. They get to put on the hat and, you know, and actually do
038some welding. And there was even um um what one lady um Ariel, she's part of the uh rehab um facility and she actually brings in like animals that they get to, you know, see. And so it is very like interactive as well. So they really try and engage the students that are there. Well, that's fantastic. We hope that this year is an amazing success. Uh and I'm sure we will hear more about it later on. Uh as well as continue partnerships with all of the companies that are choosing to participate and partnering with us. So thank you. Thank you. Um, that brings us to presentations and we're going to start off with the South Carolina School report cards and Dr. Dy. >> Good evening. >> Chairperson Miller, Vice Chair Hutcherson, in person and online guests,
039and Dr. Elder. My name is Christina Dicki and I'm the assistant superintendent of school performance and accountability. Tonight we will have the final phase of our data series where we share report card data for our spring 2025 state assessments. I always begin with a quote. I thought this quote was quite fitting because our our um expectation, our goal, our bar remains to be excellent and we will continue to pursue that relentlessly. So I'll start with a quick review. Our elementary and school report cards have the same indicators. And I want to highlight specifically the academic achievement and the student progress because depending upon the school, those two indicators account for 70 to 80 of the possible 100 points that a school could earn on the school report card. The prepared for success indicator is for
040our science essay ready assessment. And in elementary and middle schools, we only have grades four and six who take those assessments. Um, dependent on the school and whether or not they have a subgroup, meaning a minimum of 20 students, we get a rating also for our multilingual learners. And then we get a rating in each of our schools for their school climate, which those data are collected through a survey. Our students, our teachers and parents received the survey. But in terms of calculating the score only the survey results from our students and teachers are part of this particular calculation. High school the indicators are similar. I'll highlight for high school the academic achievement which is the most heavily weighted indicator as well as our graduation rate and our college and career readiness rate. preparing for
041success in high school encompasses both science and social studies with our biology and US history ELC exams. Um we have our high school student success rate and that is just ensuring that our students are earning those six credits each year to make sure they're on track to graduate. And then we also acknowledge students who may participate in adult ed for that fifth year graduation rate. This particular slide just gives a visual again of the point distribution. Both elementary, middle, elementary, middle as well as the high school levels all are on the 100 point scale, but those are the um distribution of actual points that lead to that overall score. So I always want to start with um uh at a glance of the state and then of course drill down to how we're performing here
042in Rock Hill Schools. So, the state provided these data um last Monday when the embargo release date was lifted and it compares how all of the schools in South Carolina performed in 2024 versus the most recent spring administration. So as you can see the number of schools who received an average or above rating has increased across the state and the number of schools having receiving a below average or unsatisfactory rating has also decreased across the state. This is a quick at a glance of Rockill schools for our 2425 school report card. So, as you can see, we have schools that range from excellent to below average, but currently no schools who are who have an unsatisfactory rating. And just to provide some context, the average rating by state definition indicates that schools are meeting the
043expectations for our kids to be on track to be proficient by the time they um graduate. So when we look at that a very similar rating as um a trend as the state the majority of our schools are performing in that average range which pretty much represents meets. Good ratings indicate that a school is exceeding the expectations and excellent indicates that a school is significantly exceeding the expectations. A below average rating indicates that a school is in jeopardy of those cohorts of students not being um on track to be proficient by the time they leave high school. And we again currently have no um schools that are not meeting those expectations. This is a a historical glance of Rockill schools. So when you look at that first row at the top that those data represent
044um baseline of where Rockill was performing um as I um arrived in the district. So as you can see we had four schools performing at the good level 14 average four below average. So over the past three years you can see that we have more than doubled um the number of schools receiving a good or excellent um rating. One personal goal that we set in Rock Hill Schools, again we are always um shooting for excellence is our goal is to have 100% of our schools to perform at the good or excellent rating. So again, we've more than doubled that in the last three years. We do see some movement. Our goal is to eliminate any schools per performing um at the below average rate. So, this slide shows a shift um in schools and how
045schools performed last year versus um this most recent test administration. And in your board packets, you received a hotline that spelled out each school in Rockill Schools, showing um how they performed this year, what their overall ratings were, as well as that historical view of how our schools have performed. So, as you can see, we have um one school that has shifted from good to excellent, four that have gone from average to good, one that has gone from below average to average. Um if you look right to the right of that, we had two schools that went from good to average, two schools that went from average to below average, and then we had um 11 of our schools that maintained their their status from last year to this year. Again, our goal is to
046shoot for good and excellent um and to be able to sustain those ratings. These are just some highlights of some of the improvements we've seen over the last year. So, we've increased our overall ratings by 10%. We um have also increased good and excellent ratings in that academic achievement. And remember that academic achievement is one of our most heavily rated indicators. We've also um increased by 13% the number of schools having transitioning from a good to excellent rating in student progress. And student progress is always the indicator that I'll highlight most because that is the one um that represents how well our students are growing. Our focus has been and will continue to be on growth because we know if we focus on growth and proficiency will take care of itself. And then 64% of
047all of our schools showed an increase in overall scores. So sometimes a school will increase in their overall score. It does not always um lead to a different achievement level. This is an at a glance of our 14 elementary schools where you can see the distribution of how our students perform based on each of those indicators. Academic achievement and student progress um of course is at the top and my apologies for how the formatting got off um with this but those two at the top again represent 70 to 80 of the 100 points preparing for success. Those are our science results. ML progress is based on whether a school has that particular indicator. And we have four elementary schools that are not rated. And then we have our school climate data. This is the same
048information but for our middle school division. So we have five of five middle schools. All of our middle schools increased their overall scores this past year. And this is the the distribution of how they performed in each of the indicators. And then we have our three high schools and how they performed in each of the indicators. This is a summary of Rockill schools showing you the percentage of schools and how they perform either in that excellent or good rating. So those would be the percentage of schools who are exceeding or significantly exceeding state expectations. The average percentages represent the percent of schools in Rock Hill that are meeting the state expectations. And then the the last column represents either schools in jeopardy or schools not yet meeting state expectations. And I always share when we
049uh have this culminating uh data presentation, any school in South Carolina by um state legislation that has a average uh overall rating less than average is considered an underperforming school. So below average or unsatisfactory. We currently do not have any unsatisfactory schools, but we do currently have three elementary schools who have a below average rating. Those schools are Ebeneza Elementary, Richmond Drive Elementary, and York Road Elementary. And this final slide just highlights some of our report card insights. And one of the things that we continue to work on is strategic alignment. Um, teaching and learning is definitely a team and not an individual sport. So, we want to make sure that we are equipping all of our educational partners with the tools and the information to help us to make sure that our students are
050having those positive outcomes. So, how do we engage parents? How do we make sure that we're providing high quality support high quality professional learning opportunities for our teachers? How are we empowering our students to really take ownership of their learning to make sure that they understand the standards, what that bar is, and how to have those self-reflections to make sure that we're improving. We know that collective efficacy has an extremely high effect size. So, we want to make sure that we are doing our individual part so that we can achieve collectively and making sure that our prior priorities are cohesive. One um difference this year is our spa department now leads continuous improvement work as well as the school renewal plan work. So that will be a great marriage of looking at those long-term goals
051that are five years and then those um annual goals to make sure that we're adjusting and responding to the data. We want to make sure that again our schools, our leaders, our parents, our students, they understand how they're going to be assessed. making sure that they have daily exposure to high quality instruction with high quality instructional materials. Making sure that we make the learning experiences relevant so that they can see how this is going to not only help me today, but how this will help me in the next grade as well as when I um when our students graduate from school. We want to make sure that they're demonstrating that college, career, citizen, and military readiness regardless of what choices they make. We want to make sure that they are equipped to be successful with
052them. So, we'll continue to make sure that we are aligned in our efforts that when we are supporting schools and principles, we're making all of the dots connect for them because the job of a teacher, the job of a principal, the job of a student and parent, it it is not easy. So, how do we make all of these things and all of these expectations make sense? So, that will continue to be the work that we're engaged in. continuous improvement, making data-driven decisions, making sure that we are doing um our part individually and collectively to have positive outcomes for all of our students. I'll pause now for any questions. Any questions? And I probably should mention that the board had the opportunity last week in small group to dig through these um data points in
053in very very detailed manners together with Dr. Hickey, Dr. Elder and other staff members. So I believe a lot of that question those questions will those sessions. >> Yes ma'am. And we certainly always appreciate the time to have those um conversations to dig deep into the data because each school has a unique story and unique things happening. So um we appreciate the opportunity to present those data in small group and to answer um any questions that you had at that point or that you may have now. >> Dr. Um I think it's important to note and I do want to note um that first of all I appreciate you as a leader saying that hey we ain't where we want to be and I take that responsibility as the leader in moving us and secondly
054so thank you for that and secondly um I don't want it to be lost that we do have significant improvement from last year to where we are now and actually over the last two years. So I don't want that to be lost. So I know this board at least in the last 12 months myself included have been very critical of where we have been academically trouble Dr. And then today we had I mean we had a whole eight hour board meeting this morning and we and academic achievement was number one on the list and it was talked about for eight six hours today. But I don't want it to be lost that that you and your team working with your people have made significant improvement and the way that you all are presenting this information
055to us to the community and if you're presented and I assume you are to your principles and parents and students this way I think we all can get our arms around it and we can get to where you are articulating you're trying to take your team and the people. So I'll speak for me and I hope I'm speaking for my colleagues here. We do acknowledge the improvement. >> I I really really appreciate that and I know I speak on behalf of our principles, our teachers, our students, our division. We will never I will never get up and tell anything other than the truth. And the truth is we have a great deal of potential that we have not yet maximized. But we are committed to the work. We will give 110%. We are not yet
056where we could and should be, but we have made significant gains. And I know that principles and teachers hearing this come from you and the sentiments being shared by your board will will go a long way with them because they are really putting in the effort. We are creating structures for sustainable success, not a oneandone. We don't want to be one hit wonders. We want to be sustainably successful. That has been our goal and will continue to be our goal. So I do appreciate you saying that. >> I appreciate you not being Millie but newly >> never. >> I agree with Dr. Belton. Um and I would furthermore uh not only acknowledge you and your team uh but also knowing that you know three schools were named tonight. Um and that is that that's a
057hard message for those school communities. It doesn't m mean that they're bad schools. >> It does not. And one of the things that I really really want to emphasize is uh for the viewing audience you cannot see that. Uh but for us as a board uh what I see is the leadership team of each one of those three schools sitting in this audience. uh and I know that their heart and their passion is on leading those schools and making sure that uh the scorch looks different next year but your presence tonight uh just to me as an individual board member and I think I can you know get get alignment for my colleagues um it shows commitment it shows commitment to your teachers and your students uh thank you for being here tonight >> yeah
058go ahead and then Dr. Sorry. >> Oh, no. >> Okay. Um, just to add to your point, I know whenever Thank you for sharing the framework and having this um opportunity for small group and for those three P principles. One of the questions that was asked were how you all were doing because we know that you've really poured yourself into um uplifting your climate and your schools. And sometimes the data doesn't really reflect what's happening, you know. So, just know that we're uh cheering for you. We're championing for you. And you know, I know it's disappointing, but we know that you have a great leader in front of you. You have a plan in place. Um but just just keep your shoulder to the wheel and remember the children that you serve and that we're
059rooting for your success. >> Thank you, >> for sharing that. And it was so great to be able to follow up with them and just said, "Hey, these are some of the questions to come up." and to be able to say they were questions from a a stance of seeking to understand. It was not from a place of judgment. It was a place of seeking to understand and sharing insights. I know many of you are current educators, former educators. You re your kids. So, we always appreciate your feedback, your questions. They certainly help us to get better and to grow. Um, I've been on the phone and texting at midnight with some of them last night. So just know we all are very very committed. They are ready to do the work. Their staffs are
060ready to do the work and we are certainly ready to support them in any way that we can. Miss Johnson >> um excuse me. So we did just have a a wonderful you know work session and I think the message that we all came out is academic excellence is a priority but I think another thing that I know that I said we need to put our money where our mouth is right. So what I ask of you Dr. elder, you know, over the next several months as we prepare support to get ready for a budget season, what supports do we need to put in place financially to help turn the tide for the places that we need to turn the tide in? >> Oh, we have ideas. >> Okay. And so this is and Dr.
061Elder, this is what what I had said to you, you know, in small group and then in our board session. um how do we get our key players in place to have those conversations with us so that we can make the right financial decisions to support the goals and make sure that we have alignment across the board to make sure that our schools are supported to to meet the numbers that they need to meet. So I make that commitment about putting our money where our mouth is to help that. Thank you so much. And I you all have no idea how powerful what you shared tonight um is for all of us and I know it will pay great dividends um to our schools, to our leaders, to our teachers to know that they have
062your support as well. So again, thank you for the great questions, for the support, um just for the willingness to um allow us to share some context because data without context is it's pretty useless. So we just appreciate the opportunity. Well, to round it off, thank you Dr. Dicki and team um and to the principles and the school families um you know that are on that list. Uh we know that we are going to get >> temporary. >> It's temporary and we are going to get continuous reports and we look forward to hearing all about the strategies specifically over the next coming months. Um and with that we say thank you. >> Thank you very much. I'm sorry. No, I just want to say cher chair um ah chair lady Milford, thank you for acknowledging
063the principles there. I do apologize. Your your line of sight was blocked for me. I couldn't see you. I can see Mr. King on the end, but I didn't see the other principles back there. So, thank you for bringing that to our attention that they are here. Thank you all for coming here. I hope you have heard tonight that you have the support of your board. Lead with courage. you have a board that's willing to help you, that's willing to do what you need to do to get our babies in those buildings learning. So, thank you all for coming here, man, being leaders, accepting the challenge that's before you, and go forth and lead with courage. Be bold, do what needs to be done in your school. So, thank you all so much. Thank you
064for acknowledging that they were in the helping silence. >> Thank you. So, next up, um we are going to revert back to our recognitions. Um we do have uh Veracula High School here tonight. Um and I am going to welcome up the leaders to uh introduce the SCMA Orchestra Division's Outstanding Performance Award for 2024 25. Welcome home. Good evening, Dr. Elder, members of the board. My name is Jeremy Shaw. I'm the orchestra director at Rockco High School and the director of guitar studies. I have with me in addition to my principal, Mr. Buddy King, my students, two of my students, Allison Alvarez and Dawson Schmidt. They were part of the group that earned this award last year. Well, we recognize this evening Rockco High School's orchestra program as recipients of the South Carolina Music Educators
065Association's Orchestra Division's Outstanding Performance Award for the second consecutive year. This award was earned through the work and dedication of my students and merited by their participation in region orchestra, all state orchestra, concert performance assessment, and the state's solo ensemble event. The award recognizes the achievements of the 2024-25 school year and this is only the fourth year that this has been an award available to the orchestra programs of South Carolina. Thank you for your continued encouragement and support of orchestra in Rock Schools. Monday would like to take some pictures. Scoot a little bit. >> Okay, looks good. Three, two, one. One, two, three. One, two, three. Thank you guys. Congratulations. So next up uh is the last of our presentations. Uh it is an administrative rule rule J-R and it is called student attendance and
066it is something being proposed by our superintendent Dr. Welcome. >> Thank you Madam Chair, members of the board. Um I bring before you this evening a change to administrative rule that is in line with current practice. So this is just taking our rule which is how we actualize board policy. There's no change to board policy. This is just how we make board policy happen from an administrative standpoint. And we currently um principles currently um provide excused absences to our Kataba Nation students who are going to be out of school for cultural events. And so this um administrative rule just formalizes that so that we're sure that so that they're sure that they're covered. Now I know that this could result in questions of what about something else something else something else. Tonight's discussion is just
067about Kataba activities and so um the parameters around that for principles are one that parents and guard guardians will notify the school 5 days in advance of the of the absence. Um provide documentation of the tribal ceremony or the event and um provide the date and date and location and contact information. um the school principal or their designate will review the documentation, approve the request, but I want to be very clear that the princ the principal will code the absence as a principal ex principal's absence or principal's excused absence but that does not exceed four absences. So principles can excuse four for any of the reasons outlined in policy but only four. So that does not change um in this administrative rule. Um, so significantly, um, I did spend, um, a little bit of time
068talking with our three principles who primarily serve our students from the Kataba Nation at Rockill High School, Castle Heights Middle School, and Lesley Elementary. Um, they already do this, so this is not out of line with current practice. It merely formalizes what we already do. And so with that, um, I know it's not an approval, it's an information, but any questions regarding the administrative rule change? >> I believe I'll turn it over to Miss Harris. >> Did you have something? >> I do. Thank you. So, as a parent, as a board member, and as a proud um, citizen of Katamin Nation, I want to express my sincere gratitude to the Rockill School District for recognizing the importance of this policy. Um, your commitment to honoring indigenous traditions ensures our children can stay connected to their
069culture and their identity while pursuing academic excellence. Um, I would be remiss if I did not thank you, Dr. Elder, and and your team who came out and visited with our tribal leadership and with our community to hear um some of our challenges and things that are asked for um from our community. So to that this is more than a policy. It's a reflection of respect, understanding and partnership between our tribe and the district. Thank you for listening. Thank you for learning and for taking the meaningful steps towards inclusion that will positively impact generations of Kataba students to come. So just thank you for honoring our ask and um thank you. This is this is great during indigenous heritage month too. So very apppropo. Thank you. >> Okay. Any comments besides I think Miss Harris
070spoke very well. So yeah. Uh if there's nothing else on that. I'm going to turn it back over to you again because it's report of the superintendent so we might as well stay up there. >> Yes. Thank you so much. Um first I'd like to echo um Chairwoman Miller's um thank you to our veterans for our for their service. We have two at the deis, but we may have others in the audience. If you're a veteran, please stand. Mr. King left. I was trying to catch him. Shoot. Okay. But happy Veterans Day. Thank you for spending Veterans Day here um with us um and your service um to our country and our community will always be appreciated. So, thank you. um working very closely to the end of that 100 day mark um for my
071100 day entry plan. Um staff roundts continue. We only have four more to go. We have completed many of them and I cannot tell you how much I have learned about every slice of our system from PK through 12, from our elementaryaries, our middle schools, our high schools, different areas of the city and everybody brings their own perspective. And so the time that I've invested in those roundts has been very well spent because I've been able to really get that wide perspective of our whole community and all of our students and their needs. Um we did hold a job and career readiness fair for our um multilingual students. We had around 250 students attend and one of our schools um Saluda Trail Middle School was awarded a strategic compensation grant which was applied for last
072school year in the amount of just over $18,000. And so that announcement was just made today. That was a grant from the South Carolina Department of Education. Um for community engagement we did hold a virtual roundt for parents and we are sliding into our last round parent roundt um this week Thursday evening at Dutchman Creek at 6:30. Um please encourage everybody who hasn't had a chance to attend yet to attend. Um additionally on Saturday we held a community forum at Knowledge Perk. We also got to taste the new Rockill Schools coffee at Knowledge Perk. And so, um, we'll be sharing details on how to get your own Rockill Schools coffee very soon. Um, very important, we continue to partner with different food agencies throughout the area. We are, of course, very concerned about our students
073and families who are experiencing food insecurity at this time. Um, if anyone needs any help at all, please reach out to our family outreach advocates. You can call the district directly uh to be connected with them. and a few celebrations. Uh not one but two big wins for our Sullivan Middle School volleyball teams. Both seventh grade and eighth grade Lady Falcons are conference champions. Yes. And over at Saluda Trail Middle School, it's a clean sweep sweep as well with both the seventh and eighth grade football teams making conference championships. And so with that, our next board meeting is scheduled for November 25th at 6 PM and will be livereamed for public viewing. Thank you so much. >> Thank you so much. So we do not have an executive session tonight. Um under other and future
074business, um I will uh first start off with uh acknowledging uh the board meeting. There has been some conversation uh because this is taking place the Tuesday before our Thanksgiving holiday. uh whether we have enough business to conduct a meeting uh if we have a necessity to do so. Um and um I I think as board we leave it up to the superintendent to make a recommendation by the beginning of next week. Uh if there are things that are pressing for us to approve prior to us going to break or not. Is that agreeable to everybody? >> Sorry. >> Yeah, it's agreeable. I guess we'll go with the majority. But I I just hope we don't have enough because isn't your staff off Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday? I'm sure they don't want to spend Tuesday
075night with us. >> And and and that's kind of what Okay, thanks for being blunt. That's what I was hinting at. Um but I also know that sometimes there are things that are in the pipeline that board members that we as board members may not know of. And if there's something that is critical to where we need to have a board me, then Dr. Alver gets to recommend that at the beginning of the week. So stay tuned for that. But I think that to Dr. Beth's words, >> Mr. Wright is Mr. Rice is making me change my mind. >> To the point is if we if we can give some grace to to to staff members, that's that's probably great. So we stay tuned, stay. All right. Uh with that, uh the one item that's
076on there is update regarding project sample. Um you know that we had some discussion in the previous board meeting regarding this. The board and uh small groups had opportunities to hear more information from representatives from uh project sample. Uh we have been having a board meeting today, a work session since 10 o'clock this morning. I got a uh notification around 5:30 or so uh right in between board meetings that there is an update answering some of the questions that the board has asked that has been sent to Dr. Elder. Clearly, she has been busy with board meetings and had not chance to send review that. Yes, you you don't know this. Uh it's in your inbox together with a bunch of other emails, I'm sure. So with that said, um we the the questions that
077we asked there is a report that sits with Dr. Elder that she can forward out to the board to to read at at some point, but I think it's premature to discuss something that we have not had a chance to review at this point, but but feel free to comment. >> No, can we just clarify for the public? I did receive a few emails. This is not something that the school board gets to vote on. Can we can we clarify? We have we may personally have an opinion as board members. The board may have some ideas, but this is not something that the school board gets to vote for. Thank you for bringing that up, Miss Daniel. So, that is correct. Uh what the discussion is about is a proposed tax incentive um that would
078be approved by York County Council for a company named Project Sample as a working name. uh the school district would be affected in the sense that it involves a potential reduction of the tax money collected on behalf of us. We as a board however do not statutoily have a right to vote on it. But just like Miss Daniel said, we obviously can have our individual opinions as board members and the board could come to a conclusion of a uniform decision of an opinion as as an elected body, but this is not something that the board is voting on at any given time. So, thank you for bringing that up. So with that um you will you will get that probably I would promise it by midday tomorrow when you have had an opportunity to go
079through your inbox. >> Madam chair as soon as I see it in my inbox I will forward it to >> Sounds good. Um so with that that concludes other future business with one exception. Uh I know that we may soon get the registrations for the uh annual conference in February. Uh I don't know Miss Gam or Miss Gammons if those have have started coming in yet. >> I don't recall seeing it yet. >> Okay. But in the near future you will see that come into your inboxes and at that point I will uh make sure to to notify everybody that they're there so that we can um get to those who wants to go to the professional development. So with that uh if uh I will entertain a motion to adjourn. >> Motion. >> Thank
080you Miss Daniel. Do I have a second? Second. >> Uh, thank you, Miss Hutchinson. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor? All opposed? Motion carries. 70.