001Good evening and welcome to the September 23 third uh business meeting of the Rockville School Board. Local news media outlets were notified in writing of the agenda for this meeting on Friday, September 19th. If you will please uh join me for the pledge of allegiance followed by a moment of silence to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Please be seated. So on tonight's agenda, um I am going to uh on behalf of board members of superintendent request approval with two modifications. Uh first one is striking um item 9 A1 which is hirings that will be at the next meeting and also a request to move item um 11 other and future business
002calendar committee update to become the new number nine. In other words, to put it in front of the executive session. So, do I have a motion to approve the agenda with those changes? >> So, moved. >> Uh, thank you, Miss Daniel. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Uh, thank you, Miss Hutchinson. Any discussion? Very now. All those in favor? All opposed? Motion carries. 7. We do not have any recognitions tonight. Do we have any citizen participation? We do not. That brings us down to the consent action agenda which contains five items. The minutes from the August 26th and the 27th meetings as well as the September 9th and also the calendar committee meeting of September 15th as well as personnel recommendations. Do I have a motion to approve the consent action? Uh, thank
003you Harris. Uh, do I have a second? >> Thank you, Miss Daniel. Any discussion? Var. All those in favor? All opposed? Motion carries. 70. That brings us to our action agenda and we have three items. All of them are second read policies. So we're going to start off off with actually that is yes um all of them are second read policies. So we're going to start off with the 202627 course catalog for second read. We do have uh Miss Alicia Johnson here. Uh if there are any questions that the board may have regarding the course catalog changes. >> Bearing none, I would entertain a motion to approve. So move. >> Thank you, Mr. Burns. Um, do I have a second? >> Thank you, Miss Daniel. Any discussion? Very now. All those in favor? All the
004motion carries. 70. Thank you. And uh next up is second read of policy GCLE and it is its accompanied ruling on a covered time second read. Uh and we got uh Miss Delakio here uh to answer any questions that the board may have regarding that second read policy. >> Hearing none, I would entertain. >> I do have one question. >> Yes, sir. Uh, Mr. Deveio, we did get one feedback in here about the special education um from a special education teacher self-contained class whether or not they get some unencumbered time. What what's the answer to that? Are all of our teachers getting unencumbered time? >> So, all of our special education teachers K through 12, if they participate in more than 20% of their time in a self-contained setting, they do receive the 30 minutes
005unencumbered time. So just kind of a for a teacher who is a self-contained teacher. >> Yes. >> With medically fragile kids, those types of things, they even get it as well. What you were saying? >> Yes, sir. >> And that was approved in our um more recent GCLE policy as well. That's been >> no further questions, I would entertain uh a motion to approve policy GCLE and Thank you, Miss Hers. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Lester Hutchinson. Any discussion? Var. All those in favor? All opposed? Motion carries. 70. Thank you. That brings us to policy BEA, which is the live streaming of board meetings up for second read. Uh, and if you have any questions, ponder them as I make my way to the Are there any questions regarding this
006policy that we requested to approve by the Department of Education? Hearing none, I'm going to go back to my seat. Var none. Um, I would request a motion to approve uh policy BA. >> Uh, thank you, Mr. Barnes. Did I see a second from Dr. Belton? >> Mr. Second. >> Second, Mr. Nosen. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor? All oppose. Motion carries. 70. That brings us to communications. Would you have uh one person who has signed up for communications? Uh just a friendly reminder that um I items uh discussed under communications should be those of uh where the board has uh authority over making the decisions. Um and um it is my understanding that Miss Powell has had several meetings with district leadership, but nevertheless, we will afford her a few minutes to
007introduce any new concepts that she has to share with the board that we have powers over. So with that, we will welcome up Miss Nancy B. You guys look fabulous. >> Good evening. Good evening. Thank you very much for a little time. Well, you well said it all. I did have a meeting with um Miss U Jones or Johnson. Well, it was very nice talking to him over everything. But um for one of us by meeting for what I'm superintendent please. Uh I got Mr. always email your last email he sent me. It was an essay and I'm a person I can't really do essay. So when I essay it was very long. I kept reading reading reading and I got lost in the email. So I said well let me not reply to him
008but come to the meeting and talk to you guys directly about it. I'm begging you in the name of Jesus. I have five children, two adopted one that make it six, seven and five grandkid and I'm asking you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whoever on the board that made the feeling that to reconsider the decision that was given to me by Mr. or in terms of the capacity for transportation. If that is not possible because of whatsoever circumstances that is taking place in the building, I understand because I live and work and have children in the district. I'm hoping to working with you guys on any timeline you guys have for a redevelopment of that situation regarding the bathroom. However, um there was couple of stop brought to my attention. Many of
009my colleagues refused to they don't want to come because they scared that they will lose the job. Man, I think it's just we are family. We talk together. Um they have been almost two and a half to three years no raise, no pay increase, no step out, no nothing. So why you making decision? Please with all humility from my heart. I'm not here to disgrace Raquel Independent School District. I'm not here to cause trouble. I'm just asking for the crumbs of the bread that is dropping on the floor. Um we need bathroom if we can't get a school to reconsider the decision. 30,000 is not a lot of money is right now. 40,000 is not is nothing for us to get 30 panic at transportation building. We can manage it. um logging into please superintendent
010and engage in your word please I'm begging you I'm on my knees begging you if you want the need I can do that but I don't know if I will get out that's the problem so please look into the bathroom situation and transportation look into pay increase step up something because you have been way over you in that area uh to share this quick I'll go with you guys you guys in the bowl are women that make me feel very good because I know women will get together we do lot of stuff there was an incident I had three weeks ago I don't know if your office was aware of it happened to me on my bus couple of months ago I came I told you guys about the buses and the situation but my
011world fell on the death saw and it was all related to the governor office which I've been working with them to see how best I can tell them what's happening but thank God it never happened I cried got the whole PM route. I was crying. A little boy was riding his scooter coming down the hill and my horn on the bus does not work well when it still work. And the little boy came one ft away from the bus and the bus have almost 60 kids on it. I have to swing the bus to the left side. The little boss sw his scooter to the right side. He felt all his whole arm everywhere was bleeding with blood. And I sat there for almost five minutes because I was just thinking if he if I
012could hold the home I could have stopped him my way but I couldn't do it. But the home was not working. When I left the scene then the home started working. So the buses giving us is not good and I believe that one call from your office from the superintendent do the governor office let it come and take the garbage they giving us cutting the buses because that would have died and I may not be working with the district because the Trump of course the district not going to be responsible but we don't know which one the parents are going to sue and open a whole new ter of investigation so that is something that you guys been looking for Please look. So, we're going to end my statement, but I beg you for to
013give me your word. And the only thing I want, I know when you give me your word, your word says, give me your word that you'll do something for transportation. Thank you so much for coming to talk to us. Okay. Uh, by policy, we do not take action or uh make promises based on feedback. Um, and we will I'm sure Dr. Elder will circle back with uh uh Mr. Wilson uh to see what the next step in the process is. But the chain of command as outlined in the communication plan means that the next person in line is the superintendent, not the board. So uh Dr. Elder and uh uh Mr. Wilson. Uh we'll continue the conversations and uh then we will see if there's any recommendations to come from them based on those conversations
014for the board to take action to. So, thank you for being an advocate and have a nice evening. >> So, will I be expecting an email or call or something from Mr. Wilson? >> That is a question for the superintendent to answer. >> Yes, ma'am. Um Mr. Wilson will set up our Okay, because I don't want to keep coming here. People have been trying the best for me not to come to this meeting for some reason. As I said, I ain't here to cause no trouble. I a trouble with nobody. I just want to make a peaceful life. But I'm just asking these are things. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Well, thank you. >> Okay. If I don't, we'll come back again though. >> All right. So that concludes communications and that brings us
015down to presentations and we're going to welcome Miss Alicia Johnson back up again and she is going to give you or give us I should say uh a presentation on the 2024 25 EOC data review. So welcome back. >> Yes. >> Oh sorry before Miss M Johnson excuse me for a second. I do think it's worth noting that at least the bathroom issue has been addressed and I do think the public needs to know that we did recognize there was a there was an issue with ladies restrooms with the bus drivers. We have now opened up Finley Road where they have access with their badges to use restrooms and there's no longer an issue with latest restrooms at for bus drivers. >> Thank you for bringing that up. and and so so again we do
016appreciate the advocacy. We were not particularly males were not aware that was an issue but that issue has been addressed and that issue has been satisfied. Um all the female drivers have access to what was the closed Finley Road. They have their adult their employee badges that will let them in the building and they have plenty of restrooms that they can use. And in fact the female bus drivers are using those restrooms. So, we did not ignore that request. In terms of the brushes hitting the bus, we don't have control over it. We also, as a school district, we don't own the yellow school buses. They are owned by the state of South Carolina. Um, so, um, I think that that's important for the public to know that we're not ignoring these things that are
017coming that our superintendent has addressed them, but we can't go to people's houses and cut trees down. We cannot give speeding tickets for people passing buses. So those things are beyond my purview. >> Thank you for clarifying that. Um to the >> public ma'am, >> I apologize for doing that. But again, there is the quorum rules and regulations for participation. >> So with that, unless there are any other conversations, >> thank you. I am going to turn it over to Miss Johnson. >> Good evening, Chair Miller, Vice Chair Hutchinson, members of the board, Dr. Elder, and members of the community. I'm Alicia Johnson, executive director for secondary education. I'm here tonight to present the data presentation for the South Carolina End of course exam program. Last board meeting, September 9th, Dr. Dicki, assistant superintendent for
018school performance and accountability shared that there will be a series of presentations um from our department. The last board meeting we presented SC ready which was the assessment for grades three through eight. And tonight I'm presenting the end of course exam program. These are tied to the high school courses of algebra 1, biology, US history and English. So on this you're going to see um the 24 25% of students with passing scores letter grades A through D. So this is the percent of students who scored an A through D on the end of course assessments in algebra, biology and two and US history. And you will see from this slide that we have more students scoring A through D and algebra and US history than the state of South Carolina. Okay, this next slide shows
019the percent of students with passing letter grades A through C um for those four areas, algebra, biology, English 2 in US history. And you will see that US history subject in which we are we have more students scoring A through C than the state of South Carolina. And it's important to note that meeting or exceeding proficiency on the end of course test is measured with grades A through C as opposed to A through D. Okay. The next slide, this particular slide shows the performance of students with grades A through D and the performance of students with grades A through C from 2022 to 2025. And you will see that there has been an increase in all periods algebra, biology, English 2, and US history from 2022 to 2025. This next slide is showing you the
020number of students that were tested for each area, as well as the number of college prep students that took the test and the number of honors students that took the test. and algebra 1 is not represented because we don't have an honors level course um for algebra one. So here this particular slide shows our highlights um for the different um areas. So there, as I mentioned before, there's been an increase in the number of students earning a passing score A through D as well as a passing score A through C on each assessment from 22 to 25. You'll see an increase from for both of those. And then the last bullet, we have an increase of approximately 9% of students scoring A through C um in algebra one. Okay, this slide shows our areas for
021growth. So these are three of the things that we need to work on. The first one is aligning instruction to the rigor of the standard. This is basically having um the level of the instruction in the classroom needs to be aligned to what the students are tested on at the end of the course. The second one is instructors using the daily work and the benchmark assessment to identify learning gaps. So knowing what students know when they leave that classroom on a daily basis that gives them feedback for that next lesson and where they need to reloop material. The third bullet is providing differentiated academic support to meet students individual learning needs. So in a classroom teachers have various learning needs that are present in that classroom. So, do they have differentiated activities and assessments to
022meet the individual needs of the students? And then this slide shows our current actions. So, we mentioned before when we did the SC ready presentation that all of our schools have continuous improvement efforts. So all of them have a plan that they're working towards to improve all of their um end of course test scores as well as their the middle schools with the SC ready scores. All of our schools are doing teacher clarity work where they are looking at the standards and breaking down the standards to make sure that they are aligning what they're teaching to what the standard is asking. And then the use of high quality instructional materials. So these are state approved state adopted materials. Are the teachers in the classroom and the schools utilizing those materials and platforms the state is
023providing? So those are our current actions. Are there any questions? >> I I don't believe so. >> Oh yeah. Yes. I don't know who I'm talking today. Everybody else is ready to go. Um, let let me say in the last board, I feel like I need to say this publicly. In the last board meeting, um, there were some concerns about some comments that I made. Um, when you sit here in the position that we're sitting in, sometimes our words are said. They're certainly not intended. They weren't directed at you. Um, but you just happen to be the one representing your department standing there. um they're said and sometimes words could be chosen better and I'm not perfect and sometimes I don't choose the most artful words but I do think we have a responsibility as
024a board as trustees of the community to sometimes ask the tough questions and push the conversation but I do think it's important for me to say publicly what I've said privately my very first meeting with Dr. elder um at my office when she first became the superintendent um and she was just asking our thoughts on the district and I said to her and I will quote that I believe that the team that has been assembled in every one of the professional conversations I've had with Dr. Dicki, I believe that she has the skill set and the knowledge base to drive teaching and learning in our district. That's exactly what I said to her. And I believe and though I don't know and I've had a unique view into her department obviously because the person I
025live with works in her department. So I had a unique view prior to getting on the board and I still have that unique view. And I said that to her publicly and I want to say it privately that I have no professional issue with anyone and I don't know you all well. I don't know the work that you are doing but I've had lots of professional conversations with Dr. And I do believe that she's the white right one who can lead and so anything that may have been taken publicly I do it personally I do apologize for it but that still doesn't mean I lower my expectations as I know you all have expectations as I know we have expectations for our test scores to improve. So, whatever I may have said that been taken
026personally, I apologize for it. But I do think that we're all on the same team. You all want the same things, and I'm here to support you how I can. >> Thank you, Dr. >> Thank you. We appreciate your questions. Um, we appreciate your interest in our work. >> Well, thank you for that very in-depth presentation. Uh, and we look forward to seeing the improvements and all the work come into fruition uh, over the coming school year. Thank you so much to you and your team. >> Thank you. >> So, next up is report of the superintendent. >> Thank you so much, Madam Chair, members of the board. Um, first I'd like to make a very exciting announcement because this evening we have high school students with us from Northwestern High School. stand up so
027we can recognize you. I didn't get to talk to all of you before the meeting because you weren't all here, but welcome. We are glad you're here and we love to see students involved in the political process of government. So, thank you for being here. I hope you're learning something. So, next um students are amazing and so are our parents. And so tomorrow night or Wednesday night, Thursday night, I get the pleasure of meeting with parents at our second parent roundt at Sullivan Middle School from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. And we also have incredible staff with great ideas. And so I'm kicking off our staff roundts this week and I can't wait to have time to hear from our employees and hear all of their insights. Another very exciting announcement, 75 young women from all
028three of our comprehensive high schools are playing flag football this year. Last year, the Carolina Panthers and Nike sponsored middle school girls flag football, and I am thrilled to be at the forefront to extend high school athletic opportunities for our young women. A reminder that we have early dismissal on Friday, September 26th. Release times have been shared with families on multiple platforms. And our next meet board meeting is on October 14th at 6 PM. It will be streamed live on our website and on Facebook and replays will be available afterwards. Any questions? >> Thank you, Dr. Elder, for your update. I just I did have a question about the student roundts. I know we had discussed as a group that there would be some other opportunities other than on Thursday night. Uh they did have
029some parents reach out was wondering if there was going to be maybe like a Wednesday night uh session because of sports in particular on Thursdays. >> Yes. So we'll be adding in community roundts. Um at least one of those will be on a Saturday. Okay. >> And parents who are a are not able to join us on Thursday nights will be welcome at those. Um and then we're working scheduling students as well. >> Thank you. Hope to see some of you there. >> Thank you, Dr. Elder. Thank you. And I believe uh that this is part of the Northwestern Olympians. Is that correct, Dr.? >> Yes. >> Our students that were listening to us today. So, um as you remember, we did make a slight modification to our agenda. So, what that means is that
030the operating future business segment is now and I'm going to turn it over to the calendar committee which would be uh Miss Daniel and Vice Chair Hutchinson. >> Good evening. I have an update from the calendar committee that met on Monday, September 15th. During that meeting, Dr. Elder reviewed policies IC and BDD which outlined the creation of the calendar by the superintendent and her design and then also outlined the process for the board to approve the academic calendar each year. Dr. Dicki reviewed the framework for creating the academic calendar that aligned with state requirements. Mrs. Monday and Miss Delveio identified stakeholder involvement and dates for input and I'd like to share those specific dates that stakeholders can have input on the academic calendar. The teacher forum was held last week where teachers had input into
031the academic calendar. The principal and district leadership meeting will be September 23rd which is today. And then the school improvement council meeting October 2nd from 6:00 to 7:00 at the district office. Citizen participation can um during board meetings leading up to our vote is when stakeholders and public members members of the public sorry can share their feedback into the academic calendar process and then at the October 28th meeting is when we will take a vote for the academic calendar for the 26 27 school year. That's our update from the calendar today. >> Thank you so very much. Any questions? No. And thank you for the warm which brings us to uh our executive uh or actually are there any other future and other business? There is not. Okay. So uh with that um we are
032now at the executive session and we do have one matter to get to to discuss which is a human resource matters personnel briefing. So at this point I will entertain a motion to adjourn the open session and enter the executive session. The matter just Thank you. I have a second. Any discussion? Not all in favor? All motion carries. 7 Good evening and welcome back to the uh Rock uh school board business meeting. We have been meeting in executive session for the purpose of discussing human resource matters personnel briefing. At this point, I will entertain a motion to adjourn the executive session and reconvene the open session. >> Thank you, Miss Daniel. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Um, I thank you, Mr. Burns. But close call. Uh, any discussion? Very none. All those
033in favor? All post. Motion carries 70. I do not believe we have any motions coming out of that executive session. Correct. That's correct. So, with that, I will entertain a motion to draw. So >> thank you, Mr. Burns. Do I have a second? Thank you, Mr. Nelson. Uh, any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor? >> All pass. Motion carries. 70. Stand at 6:49.