001Good evening and welcome to our March 4th regularly scheduled board meeting. Um we do have a quorum present. Um I'm going to ask Mr. Jay Westbrook to come introduce his students for the pledge of allegiance. >> Good evening Mr. Paling the board is I'm really excited to sub for Miss De's as a former career technical education teacher and FBLA adviser and a DECA adviser in my journey as a teacher to introduce these fine students. Um I've had the privilege of meeting them and it's we're all together tonight at not the three high school. So I'm super excited starting Miss Madison uh Madison Madden from Crotown High School. She is the FBLA Future Business Leaders of America president. Um, followed by Mr. Braden Hunt from East Carterette. He's our FFA uh, president and Mr. TJ Murray
002from West Carterette, North Carolina Skills, USA State Officer. Y'all come over and take care of the pledge for us. >> Please join us in the pledge. I pledge allegiance 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. >> And if you guys would come forward, we have a certificate for you. >> Pictures. Pictures. >> Best part of the night. Excellent job. Excellent job. And if you'll remain standing, Mr. John Warren from Newport Middle is going to lead us in the invocation. All right. So, will everybody go ahead and bow your heads? Dear Lord, tonight I just want to pray for the leadership of our county. I pray that this meeting can better our
003county. I know that we're a very good county in the school system. I pray that we just continue to get better through this meeting. I pray that everybody in here can say what they need to say and that we can just help grow together as a county, as a school system. I pray that everybody can bond closer together and see what we need to do better and what needs help. And God, I pray that pray that everything we do can be for your glory. I pray this all in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. >> Amen. >> Good job. Thank you. Thank you. Now, we're going to have Miss Heather Boston recognize our 2026 Presidential Scholar Program nominees. >> Hi. Um, I'm here to present the US Presidential Scholars in the general category. This program was established
004in 1964 by President Lynden Johnson and since that time, the program has honored over 8,000 outstanding high school seniors. The mission of the program is to recognize and honor outstanding high school seniors and thereby encourage high school attainment among all students. Per the original executive order establishing the program, students are selected based on outstanding scholarship qualities. For most of the program's existence, nominees have been invited to apply for recognition based on their SAT or ACT score. As the program has grown, candidates are invited to apply in other ways as well. And a female in the general category. This year, we are recognizing Genevieve Leonard, a senior at Croitan High School. She is an active volunteer in the school and community. As secretary of her school's beta club and an active member of the Key Club
005and hospice helpers, she has contributed to numerous donation drives and community initiatives, including Lights of Love, an event that raised thousands of dollars for local hospice home. She also regularly volunteers at the Pregnancy Resource Center and provides free prenatal care for disadvantaged women. She is deeply passionate about advocating for women's access to healthcare and education, and she aspires to pursue a career in international law with a focus on civil and human rights. This commitment to service and advocacy continually fuels her academic success. For the male, we have Mr. Isaac Moss. He is a senior at East Carterette. Isaac serves as both a band member and a drum major. He sees the band as a powerful example of how music can unite a community and enjoys opportunities to see his community come together, such as the
006Veterans Day parade, homecoming, and Christmas parades. The summer after his sophomore year, Isaac was accepted into the Duke University Marine Lab summer program, where he woke worked with local youth to promote environmental education and stewardship of local waterways. As part of this outreach, he participated in community initiatives such as beach beach and marsh cleanups, storm drain monitoring, and the collection and sharing of environmental data. Through his leadership, service, and academic rigor, Isaac Moss exemplifies a strong commitment to both community engagement and excellence. We would like to recognize both of our US presidential category general category nominees. Come forward. Good job. >> Congratulations. >> Feel good about >> their list of accomplishments are more than I'll ever have. >> Thank you. Um, and now it's over to Mr. Pal for recognition. >> Good evening. The North
007Carolina School Boards Association honors board members who demonstrate exceptional commitment to professional growth by completing extensive schoolboard training. Certificates are awarded based on the cumulative training hours with certification requirement of a minimum of 30 hours of professional development within an academic year. A meaningful achievement that reflects dedicated service and leadership. Tonight, we are proud to recognize our board chair Katie Statatler and board member Kevin White. And please stand as recipient as the recipients of the school n Northcon Schoolboard Association certificate of merit for their outstanding accomplishment of completing 35 and 41 cumulative training hours respectively during the 2425 academic year. Their achievement represents an outstanding commitment to leadership, learning and success of our students, staff and community. Guess we need to stand up. >> Doesn't matter. >> Make them stand out front. >> No. What
008we do to everybody front and center my mom. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Proud of y'all. >> Thank you. Um, now I'm gonna have Miss Katherine Chadwick is going to do our annual memorial recognition of young water fowlers day. >> As previously proclaimed microphone by the board, February 13th is recognized annually in the Carter County Public School System as young waterfallers day established in memory of the six Corsine residents, including our four Carter County Public School students who lost their lives. We ask that you please join us in a moment of silence in their honor. Thank you. Thank you. >> And now we are on item two, meeting agenda. Do we have a motion to approve? >> A motion by Miss Wheatley. Do we have a sec? >> Second by Mr. White. All in
009favor? >> Perfect. Now we are at public commenting. It is now time for public comment. Anyone present tonight wishing to make a comment should have filled out a request to speak public comment form. To ensure civility, relevance, and time management, there are specific requirements for public comment set forth in schoolboard policy. They include comments are limited to matters pertaining to public education. The speaker shall state his or her name at the beginning of his or her comment. Speaking time will be limited to three minutes per person. A threeminut timer will appear on the TV screens in the bottom corner. The timer will beep when there are 30 seconds remaining. It will then beep a final time when your time is up. For civility and decorum, no speaker shall make obscene remarks or issue personal attacks
010or insults. No complaint against the school employee or student will be permitted, although this may be heard in close session at a later date following consultation with the superintendent. Much information about individual students, including a speaker's own child, is confidential under state and federal law, and we discourage and often prohibit such information in open session. The chairperson may immediately terminate any comments that violate these rules. Board members will not respond to questions except occasionally to request a clarification. Um, tonight, our first speaker is Payton Williams. You're good. Uh, hi board. My name is Payton Williams. I'm currently a freshman attending West Carter High School and am involved in a great deal of band programs in this county and state, but most importantly, West Carter's marching patriots. I would like to start off by saying that
011a young adults education is what gives them the opportunities to explore what they are passionate about. And I am eternally grateful for not only what this county has done for my education, but also the educators who are guiding me through life. Almost three years ago, I chose band as an elective in middle school. Almost three years ago, I started playing my instrument, the trombone. All that I can remember from my early band career is that I wanted to quit and that I didn't feel like I was capable of being good at music. But my then band director, Mr. Jason Robinson, said to wait it out for a couple of weeks until the winter concert and see what I thought about quitting. Then after that concert, I first realized what an an incredible program that I
012was a part of and band suddenly became the thing that I would show up for school um for. Fast forward to a couple of months ago and I was having to adapt to a whole new program and I was really nervous. I thought that I would never be good enough for West Band, but that turned out wrong. It just took some time and a great deal of practice. And now I can play multiple instrument instruments fairly well. I'm a section representative for this program and I am the second chair in the district for concert trombone and I also want to go to college for music education because of the band programs in this county. Uh this band West Carter's high west carter high school's marching band is going through an adaptive phase one that will
013greatly determine the success of music education across the eastern side of the state. This band is going through an adaptive state just like I did. I believe once we come out of this adaptive phase, we will be one of the programs that is innovating, not emulating anymore. This is all to say that we need as much support as we can get educator-wise and moneywise while not forgetting all the support that we currently have. Mr. Wright is a once ina-lifetime kind of educator. He gives so much to this program and all of its ensembles, including Carter Collective Sounds, outdoor and indoor groups. I would like to estimate that he has about a 70hour work week. Uh he is a devoted man to his craft and had has had more experience than anyone in this room with
014running a program like this and on top of that he balances his time with his family. Um I think I can speak on behalf of the program for this one but we need someone to lighten the load for him. Someone who need someone who can step in when he isn't here. I will speak for myself when I say this but I'm so lucky to have him as my director and I appreciate him so much. It also takes a great deal of money to run this program. I can't speak much on this part since I'm not as involved with all of the things that go into the budget, but it takes a lot of money to run these programs because of props, uniforms, and all that other stuff. Um, I love this program and would love
015to see it grow, but that can only happen if we get more help. Thank you for your time, and I hope I offered some insight into what we need as a program coming from the perspective of a student. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Hey, Peyton, real quick. I just want to tell you I'm proud of you for coming up here and uh advocating for what you believe in. That's a admirable trait. So, I'm very proud of you. >> Thank you, sir. >> Um, up next is Dylan Reed. >> My name is Dylan Reid. I am the junior drum major of the West Carter High School band. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you again tonight. Our band program has experienced tremendous growth and success in both participation and performance. Our
016band consistently has the largest representation in all district concert band and many of our students go on to earn places in all state band as well as all district and all state jazz band. As at West Carter, Mr. Wright currently directs four ensembles, concert band, symphonic band, jazz A band, and jazz b. Each of these groups requires separate rehearsals, preparation, and instruction along with marching band responsibilities. This creates a significant instructional and logistical workload for one person. Student leaders and parent volunteers work hard to support the program and we are incredibly grateful for their dedication. However, a program serving this many students and ensembles should not have to rely primarily on volunteer support to sustain its success. Funding a second band director is not about fixing a problem. It is about protecting and strengthening a
017program that is already thriving. Additional instructional support would allow for safer rehearsals, more individualized instruction, and continued growth for our students. The West Carterette band program builds leadership, discipline, teamwork, and school pride while representing our community with pride and excellence. By investing in assistant brand band director, you are investing in students and in the continued success of this program. Thank you for your time and for your continued support of Carter County students. >> Thank you. >> And Dylan, I also want to tell you how proud I am of you. I mean, both of y'all coming up here and advocating for what you believe in, I it impresses me. Know it's probably not easy. So, I I appreciate y'all coming up here. >> Thank you so much. Thank you. >> Up next, we have the approval
018of the consent agenda. Do we have a motion? >> A motion by Miss Chadwick. Do we have a second? >> Second by Miss Wheatley. All in favor? And we are on to Mr. Taylor for bond project updates. >> So, we still just have one project going on and that's at West Carter High School. Um besides punch list items at various parts of the school, the main project going on is the uh auditorium renovation. Um that project is running a little behind schedule due to um there was new seats ordered for the auditorium and they were not received in a timely manner. So we were hoping the project would be completed this month, but it looks like it's going to be the end of May before that project is complete. >> Still with you for comments.
019Yes. So, good evening. Uh, first I'd like to thank all of our parent advisory council members who spoke this evening. We sincerely appreciate your time, your thoughtful input, and your service in supporting our school system. I'd like to congratulate Croatin High School's carpentry students for earning third place in the annual shed competition in Pender County, where they partnered with industry professionals to build a shed from start to finish under live inspection. We also appreciate the generous support of the local uh Western Carter businesses to help fund the students lodging for this outstanding hands-on learning experience. I'd again like to congratulate our two board members, Miss Statler and Mr. White, on earning the certificates of merit from the North Carolina School Boards Association. We appreciate your commitment completing ongoing training year after year to strengthen your
020knowledge and leadership. Uh please know that your efforts do not go unnoticed and we're deeply valued. Um please note that March is National Music in Our Schools Month. We are also recognizing this week the ReadAcross America Day school social workers and school breakfast. The next regular school board meeting will be held here on Tuesday, April 14th at 6 p.m. And please note that this date has been moved due to spring break. So it's a week later than normal um due to spring break being April 6th through the 10th. Um Mr. Chair, this concludes my comments. >> Thank you. >> Have any board member comments? I want to make Saturday March 7th at farms having the third annual boys hunt there's lunch tickets from fat fellas there's raffles a live auction with some decoys and sell
021shirts go to the scholarship fund so anybody that's looking for something fun on Saturday come join us um as Mr. Mr. Taylor said our next regularly scheduled board meeting is Tuesday, April 14th at 6 PM. Do we have a motion to adjurnn? >> So moved. >> Um motion by Mr. Jenkins. Do we have a second? Second by Mr. White. All in favor?