001Dear gracious heavenly father, Lord God. First of all, I thank you today for the opportunity just to be here, just to speak in front of these people to you, Lord God, to pray humbly before you. We just thank you also, Lord, for all these folks here that uh about handling different matters for the board, for handling different decisions over time, the countless hours that they put into this job and and to do this for our students and for our staff and for our community, Lord God. We thank you for them. Most of all, Lord, out of all the people here, Lord God, we thank you for your presence, Lord God. We thank you that there are a lot of people here that are they're super important and highly respected by me and others, Lord, but
002most of all out of all the people here and all the wisdom, we need your wisdom, Lord God. We need your presence. And we just ask, Lord God, you be among us and we thank you for that, Lord God, that you lead us, that you guide us in this time, Lord God, as decisions are na- made and people are being honored, Lord God. We thank you for all those that are going to be honored tonight, Lord. What victories you brought about, what goodness you brought about. Uh it is an honor to be able to celebrate people, Lord, and the things they've done. And we just thank you for them. We just ask, Lord, uh as things are handled tonight or decisions are made that you just give wisdom, not as the world gives wisdom, Lord
003God, but as you do, a godly wisdom, and that that you give them discernment in these decisions, Lord God, that they honor you and glorify you in the way they uh make their decisions, Lord God. So, just be with them, Lord. We know it lays heavy sometimes, the things that they do, and and we don't know all the reasons that uh some decisions are made, Lord, but we know they're thoughtful, and we know every person wants the best for our staff and our students and our community. So, we thank you for what the time they put in, and we just ask you be with them, give them wisdom and discernment uh as they do these things, Lord God. We just thank you tonight that you have given us the air to breathe, you've given us
004place to meet, and we just so many things we just don't remember to thank you for, and we just thank you for them tonight, Lord God. Just help everything done in this meeting, everything glorify you, that we put it in your hands, that we let you guide us during this time. In Jesus' name. Amen. And now, Major Ron Jones will describe his folks from the JROTC. Um thank you. If you guys want to just go ahead and have a seat, that that would be fine. Okay. Thank you. I'm Major Ron Jones from Bunker Hill High School, and I have the privilege of leading this group of fine young men and women, and I have for us tonight um 3 years ago, we we our program collapsed, and we have been rebuilding we lost 20 seniors
005last year, and so we got decimated. Uh 80% of our group is actually juniors and excuse me, sophomores and freshmen, so we are definitely rebuilding. So, but I've got a couple of people I want to highlight. First up is going to be Nicholas uh Bates. He is uh a sophomore. Next in line, holding the American flag, is our core commander, Emily Foster. This is her third and final year, and this is also her final uh color guard presentation that she's done for us. She has been instrumental in growing this program, cuz when we first brought the program back uh we had virtually nobody in the program, and she helped to rebuild it, uh recruiting and uh just leading in general. Next up is Savannah Merrick. She's also a sophomore. And next to her is um
006Scarlet Knight. Almost ooh, brain. Uh she is uh also another person who's been with us uh for the last couple years, and she is also a junior. And next up is Sean Song. He is a junior as well. So, I have a very young program. I'm excited about what we're going to be doing in the next uh in the future. So, uh give these guys a round of applause. Next on the agenda is approval of minutes for March 23rd, 2026 meeting. Uh all of us have had an opportunity to re- review over these minutes. Uh I seek a motion for approval. So moved. Hear a motion. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor shall raise a hand. That is unanimous for the present board members. Uh next on the agenda is
007adjustment approval of the agenda. Uh we do need to add new business number 12, Catawba County Board of Education acknowledgement of receipt of Catawba County Board of Commissioners resolution adopting a plan for the merger of Catawba County Schools, Hickory City Schools, and Newton-Conover Schools. Are there any other adjustments that need to be made? If not, I seek a motion for approval of the agenda with the adjustment. That motion. Hearing a motion, any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor shall raise a hand. That is unanimous. Uh as for the chairman's report, uh I don't have anything big going on this month other than we start graduations here in the next well, 2 weeks from this Friday is our first graduation, so congratulations, class of 2026. You're almost there. Next up is the superintendent's report.
008Uh it will be recognitions by Dr. Matt Stover. Thank you, Chairman Settlemyer, members of the board. If you could meet me out front, we've got several uh recognitions this evening. >> [clears throat] >> Start with the the little town of Maiden. >> [clears throat] >> Maiden High School women's basketball state champions. Congratulations. All you guys up, I just want to say congratulations coaches, uh players, team mom back there, uh What an accomplishment. I don't know if the girls Maiden High have ever won a state First time ever, first time. Congratulations. Uh Mr. Westmoreland is going to be called today and he will shake your hand. Yeah, absolutely. Again, congratulations to first place in the Western Foothills 4A 5A Conference. I know that's That's That's a big deal, but not quite as big deal as state
009championship, but also first place in Dick's Sporting Goods uh Classic Christmas Tournament and an overall record of 29 and 0. Is that correct? So, undefeated season, 29 and 0, um and then defeated Fairmont High School 40 4 to 39 to be your 4A state champions. So, congratulations ladies. Also, thank you Brian Hefner, principal Maiden High School being here tonight. Um and supporting your team. So, let's let's do some recognitions. First up, Olivia Shook. So, you can go around and shake hands, okay? Yeah, you'll just go and shake the board's hand and then if you'll line up over here, we'll get you back for a group picture, okay? And Reagan Rhymer, I believe she's softball tonight, correct? Um Willow Bass. Willow come on up. All right. Yasmine McClain. Not here? Amaya Broom. Liz Campbell. Lamaya Fife.
010And Haven Deal. Neely Campbell. Lecia Gault. I get the name out of it. Okay. Caitlyn Hensley. And Madden Hensley. All right. I saved three for last. Here Amelia Beal. And also Amelia was the uh the uh sportsmanship award for the tournament as well. Ava. Okay. Ava Anderson also and she was the most outstanding player. And then last, our MVP of the tournament, Tiara Colover. All right. And also, do we have our stats here? Candy Hensley. All right, she helped out with stats this year. So, thank you very much. And assistant coaches with us today, Kiwan McDaniel. And And this is Brandy Dawkins. All right. And our head coach for the uh Maiden Blue Devils, Stephen Hensley, who is retiring this year. So, he's leaving on a great note. Going out on top. So, good job.
011Everybody come back in front of the board. We'll get you a big group picture. All right. At this time, I'm going to introduce uh Dr. Ryan McCurry, who is uh our leader of our fine arts department. We've got some incredible artists among us and art teachers in Catawba County. Dr. McCurry, if you'd like to share with us a little bit about our art contest. Thank you, Dr. Stover. Good evening, everyone. We're excited uh this evening to be able to highlight three of our student artists who were selected this year uh for the Superintendent's Choice Art Awards. And we had uh artwork submitted from across the district by our students and these three uh students were selected as winners for this year. And what is awesome um is their artwork Their artwork uh has been framed
012and if you look around the room in the board room here, uh each year we select Dr. Stover select Superintendent uh art awards and then they're permanently displayed in our board room. So, it's it's an awesome honor. Um and we're so excited to celebrate our students uh tonight as well as the excellent instruction of their teachers. So, uh first off, if I could have Kiera Swanson from Maiden High School. She is a 12th grader. If you'll come on up. And also, if uh Ms. Pace our her amazing teacher could come up as well. And Kiera, if you're willing, could you describe your artwork to everybody? Would you be willing to do that? Well, uh it's um my last year of high school. I don't know what I'm doing. I did a lot of sketching out
013and then I put it here. Um I was nervous surprisingly. Um and I'm very very happy to be here. We're super proud of you. Let's give her a big hand. coming up. I didn't even have her in the ball game. And that's where I was like right after I had kids and I And I said to me and I said, "We got to We got to get on the ball. We got to get in the airport. We got We struggled. We We went back and forth and then I said, "What about something that we like to I said, "What about anything with the school?" Anything like that. And she said, "Well, this is what I submitted to the school." And I was like, "Okay, cool. That works. Perfect." So, she did it to him. She
014did it before I even had her. And she finished it in January. We got back to school a couple of weeks after that. So, she is she went over and above and beyond. I didn't even have her in the student show. But, I was very very very excited to have her in the show. So, and that's why she won it. It was very good. Uh next, we'd like to recognize uh Bryson McClain and he is from Jacob's Fork Middle School and he's an eighth grade. And his awesome teacher is Larkin Engle and she's here this evening. So, uh Bryson, if you'll come on up. Would you be willing to describe your artwork? Yeah, I was inspired by this artwork to do a deer. You know, I enjoy hunting with my father. And I wanted to
015do something fun. So, something challenging. So, I decided to do the deer. And our third winner is Melanie Allers and she is a sixth grader from Clyde Campbell Elementary School. If you'll come on up. And her awesome teacher uh Taylor Childers is here tonight as well. So, Ms. Childers, do you want to come up as well? >> May I only would you Also, thank you to Mr. Hefner and uh Miss Sams for being here this evening. We really appreciate your support. And then finally, just want to um also just announce to everyone that we had our opening reception for our um Catawba County Schools art show at the Valley Hills Mall this past Friday. Um and it the show will be open uh through May the 14th. If you'd like to stop by and see
016it, the the artwork is outstanding. And our students and our teachers did a really great job. So, thank you all very much. Thank you, Dr. McCreary. So, our students didn't know we were going to ask them to speak. They're awesome. Great job. Teachers, thanks for being here. Uh next, I'm going to move to our award that Catawba County Schools just received Friday. Uh Mr. Latimore's with us. Uh he is a state level military consultant. And I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Tim Adams who led this program to us. Um Mr. Adams, come on up. Just real brief, >> [clears throat] >> the Purple Star recognition gives uh says to military families that we are welcoming them and that our schools uh have done things to help highlight military recognition uh such as parades,
017um Veterans Day, different things on Memorial Day, anything related to our service men and women and their service. The whole goal of this is to be able to take our uh incredible military retirees and embed them back into civilian life. And we have several uh uh retirees from the service who are with us in our system and teachers and uh administrators. Mr. Adams is a veteran. Uh our chairman, we've got other folks who are veterans in our in our system. Uh so, we are very proud of our veterans. So, Mr. Adams, I'll turn it over to you and Mr. Latimore. And then Mr. Latimore's got a gift for us tonight. So, thank you, Dr. Stover. Um the Purple Star program is near and dear to my heart. Uh as we talk about families and we
018talk about the military, we often talk about all of the stresses and all of the things that service members go through as they transition and they're deployed overseas. But what we forget about is the military family. Uh the military family goes through so much. Uh one of my friends is a Brigadier General and he was talking to one of his daughters and asked her how she felt about the Purple Star program in her school. And she said, "Dad, you know, finding a home is hard when you move that many times." And he's like, "Well, yeah, we've moved a lot." And she's like, "No, you've been deployed. You don't understand." And he's like, "What do you mean I don't understand? Like I I was there." And she's like, "No, you weren't. You weren't in the schools
019with me. You weren't there when we changed from school to school and from station to station. You weren't there the 15 times I moved from kindergarten through the end of my senior year. You weren't there the five times I had to come up with new friends in high school because we moved five times when I was in high school. That's how important Purple Star is to the kids and the families that that serve us. So, without further ado, I'm going to let Mr. Latimore, who is our state representative for the Purple Star program, um come up and present the award. All right. Good evening. And uh once again, I'm Mr. Latimore, state uh military consultant. I do bring greetings on behalf of state uh Superintendent Mo Green. And uh this take leadership. So, it starts
020at the top. So, uh Superintendent Stover, Principal Mr. Allen, uh uh other uh military POCs at the school, points of contact at school, it's a it's a group thing. And I'm glad to come down here. Last year, you had seven schools. And you went from seven schools to 28 schools in 1 year uh of serving military connect students. So, I had to ask to come here to to present this uh to the board. >> [clears throat] >> All right. Last but not least, sorry, I know uh it's a lot. I apologize, but it's good stuff. So, we have our um employees of the month with this is Mr. Chris Gettys. Uh if you would join us up front, Homes for Heroes again gives them a plaque and a gift card. We're so thankful for their
021many years of support. So, first, from St. Stephens Elementary School is our assistant principal of the month, our administrator of the month, Miss Lauren Timlin. Come on up, Miss Timlin. Miss Timlin um and all of our staff at SSES work so hard, but Miss Timlin stands out. She has uh been a huge supporter of our instructional support at SSES uh and Mr. Barham's leadership. Every year, we seem to find ourselves hiring new staff. And every year, uh we train them up because of Miss Timlin's work instructionally uh and Mr. Barham, your leadership. So, we can't thank you enough. It definitely stands out. It's hard to retrain folks year after year. Miss Timlin, not only that, I see how you relate to students the many times I've been there. And that is what it's all about.
022So, Miss Timlin, thank you. Certified employee of the month, this was fun. This was Friday night. Was it Friday night? All right. Miss Al Chairman Sellmeyer was there. We were watching the Bandys High School production of SpongeBob. I think with us is the villain tonight. Anyone else? Anyone else? Yeah, all right. You all were awesome, by the way. Could you do a little villain force that rap? That was really cool. No, no. Uh Miss Andrews was our employee of the month. We go up at intermission and we acknowledge her and every single one of her parents, which were several hundred that evening, gave her a standing ovation. So, what's that tell you about that? Um so, Miss Andrews, Dr. Maynard, uh thank you all. Come on up. Uh Miss Andrews, thank you for all you
023do. Um the sets, the all the countless hours, excellent excellent job. All right. And last but not least, so we're at Maiden High School the other day and we got to recognize Miss Rhonda Boehmer. She's our school secretary. And as for as many years, 10 years I've worked with her, you've been here for I'm not sure how long. But if if Maiden High School's open, she's there. Uh if their finances be had, she's handling them. And there's a lot of money that goes through a high school. And you do an amazing job. But most importantly, you are absolutely a pleasure to work with. The community loves you. Your administration loves you. Miss Hefner Mr. Hefner, thank you for your leadership. So, Miss Boehmer, come on up. Thank you. >> She cried the other day, happy
024tears of course. Let's get a picture together. Next on the agenda is public public comment and that will be facilitated by Miss April Underwood. Catawba County Board of Education appreciates and welcomes all public comments. Members of the public who have signed up to speak may address board members on any topic of concern during the public comment section of a regular meeting. Each speaker will be allowed a maximum of 3 minutes to address Time clock will be displayed to assist each speaker with their 3 minutes. Speakers should direct their comments to board members rather than to the audience. Comments by members of the public should be respectful without slander toward any other member of the public community any member Catawba County Board of Education. Any displays of approval or disapproval are out of order unless otherwise
025directed by the board chair. Speaker Lawrence Weidman. Good evening. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The United States Constitution establishment of religion is unconstitutional. The board's established religious convocation is thus illegal. My purpose, my reason for being here is to protect and defend the Constitution. Plain, simple, patriotic. But what is the purpose of the convocation? The why behind the what. If you read policy 2.315, it says to solemnize the proceedings. Does anyone here really know what that means? Well, I had to look it up. Um solemnize means to duly perform or publicly affirm a private agreement. Well, do I got to figure the board is already duly performing the meetings with an agenda, Robert's Rules of Order, yadda yadda yadda. So, um this purpose, the
026word solemnize makes no sense in this context. So, I asked the board to clarify. What is the purpose of the invocation? And surprise, surprise, surprise. They have not responded. I tell you guys, I'm just not feeling the love. I am left to speculate on my own. What is the real purpose of the invocation? Now, I don't think it requires a rocket scientist to figure it out. So, I'm going to give it a go. I'm guessing the purpose is to establish God as an integral part of the board meetings. Which of course is blatantly unconstitutional. Golly gee Wally. If I'm right, that would also explain why the board has not responded to my query. I get super double bonus Occam's razor points cuz I answered two questions with one answer. All right, moving on. Last month,
027I read to you the First Amendment of the Constitution and pointed out how the board's religious invocations are contradictory contradictory to the intent and the intent and the law of the Constitution. And I posed the possibility that you all forgot, you never learned, or simply don't care. Now, if you're fascist, have no respect for the rule of law, no love for the Constitution, or perhaps you're a majority mob bully and find satisfaction treading on other people's rights, I don't know. If any of that's true, well, that's a you problem. There's nothing I can do for you. Now, if on the other hand, you never learned or you simply have forgotten, it's your lucky day. I'm your guy. This is something I can help you with. I have the means, the motive, and the opportunity to
028educate you. High school civics 101 refresher live and in person. To be continued. Thank you, Mr. Weidman. All right, there's no further public comment. We will move on to the consent agenda. Uh again, uh things that you've had access to over the last week. Are there any questions? If there are no questions, please uh I seek a motion to approve the consent agenda that's been posted. Hear a motion, is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor show raise of hand. That is unanimous for attending board members. Thank you. Uh next up is new business uh which will be number one, approval of 2026-2027 alternate school accountability model for Catawba County. I'm sorry, for Catawba Rosenwald Education Center presented by Mr. Lee Miller. Thank you, Chairman Setzer, and good evening, board. Um coming
029to ask for board consideration of the alternate school modified accountability model. >> [clears throat] >> The local Board of Education must determine the option that each alternative school in their jurisdiction will follow for participation in the alternate schools modified accountability system. We would like to propose to the board option B. In option B, the school is graded on student persistence as 20%. That is just new school or new students continuing to be enrolled in a North Carolina school or through the end of the school year. Second piece to that is school achievement, which is also 20% and that includes end of grade and end of course tests, ACT, the ACT WorkKeys, the four and five-year graduation rate, and math course rigor. And 60% of that grade would come from the school growth, which is calculated
030in EVAAS. We've used this option B for a number of years and would ask the board to consider using that option again for the coming year. Are there any questions for Mr. Miller? If there are none, I seek a motion for approval of the 2026-2027 alternate school accountability model for Catawba Rosenwald Education Center. I'll make that motion, Mr. Chairman. Hear a motion, is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor show raise of hand. That is again unanimous. Thank you. Thank you. Next up again, Mr. Miller, is approval of the quote from Curriculum Associates to purchase I-Ready Math Toolbox for elementary schools. Yes, sir. We've used the Math Toolbox this year in 11 of our schools and we have 13 schools already included on this quote. There are two, possibly three other schools
031that would also use the Toolbox, but because they're also planning to use other resources from Curriculum Associates, the Toolbox can possibly be included. So, we're withholding three schools tonight and the quote is just for 13 schools. Like I said, um and the quote is for $53,414.20. And this is really a teacher resource that the schools who have used it seem to like it and think it provides good content for their grade level and matches the state standards. Did you have three schools that were on the fence about it or uh Yes, so they they're considering using other resources from Curriculum Associates and if they use the consumable resources, then the Toolbox can possibly be a part of that. So, we're holding those out for now until they make up their mind if they're going to
032use the consumable and if this will be included in that. Is there any questions for Mr. Miller about this? If not, I seek uh approval of the quote from Curriculum Associates to purchase I-Ready Math Toolbox for elementary schools. Hearing a motion, is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor shall raise a hand. That's unanimous. Thank you. Thank you, board. >> Thank you, Mr. Miller. Uh next up is approval of 2026-2027 uh student transfer dates and deadline, and that'll be presented by Mr. Dan Moore. Thank you, Chairman Suttlemyer. Members of the board, school policy 4.2320 outlines our transfer process each school year. Superintendent shall establish a period of time which transfers will be accepted. Section M refers to how those transfer notifications are then sent to the parents. For the past 16 years,
033Catawba County Schools has opened out-of-district transfers on June 1st. We would ask that this school year, that again June 1st be established as the date to begin those transfer requests, and that the Friday, the last Friday in July, July 31st, be the deadline to accept those transfers. There's also a caveat in that policy. Monday, August the 10th is the due date for tuition for those students that are outside of the bounds of Catawba County. So, I would be happy to answer any questions you may have, and I seek approval for these dates and process. Are there any questions for Mr. Moore? Hearing none, I seek a motion for approval of the 2026-2027 student uh transfer dates and deadlines that as submitted to by Mr. Moore. Chairman, I make the motion to approve approve as presented.
034I've heard a motion. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor shall raise a hand. That again is unanimous. Thank you, Mr. Moore. Thank you. You're up here for the next about eight things, so Yes, sir. Remember to bend your legs, so your knees don't get locked up and you pass out. That's I will. Uh next up is approval of vehicle dealer and pricing recommendation to purchase a new small capacity dump truck for the maintenance department, uh presented by Mr. Dan Moore. Yes, sir. Uh construction maintenance recently submitted bids for a small capacity dump truck. The basis of design for this dump truck is a Chevrolet GMC C500, rear-wheel drive with a flatbed. We will add sideboards to this dump truck after purchase. We solicited three vendors. The apparent low bidder is
035Ever Chevrolet in the amount of $59,876. These funds are appropriated by our county government in capital outlay, and I would seek your approval of this proposal, and be happy to answer any questions that you may have. I just had one thing here. It says uh number one, Ever Chevrolet 2024 Chevrolet 6500 rear-wheel drive regular cab work truck, and on the one with a picture on it we have is a 5500 regular cab. That's just a typo on the first sheet. >> if you see the notes, it does say 6500. Right. I'm Robert, and I'm assuming that stock number is correct. It is that 6500 HD. It is a 5500. That is my my mistake. It was a 5500. >> Yes, sir. We could have afforded 6500. All right, I seek a motion uh if there's
036no any further questions, I seek a motion to approve the purchase of a the 2024 stock number as presented, which would be a 2024 Chevrolet 5500 HD. I seek a motion for that approval from Ever Chevrolet. Make a motion we approve the vehicle. All right. Hearing a motion, is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor shall raise a hand. Unanimous. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Next is approval of bid tabulation for re-roofing project at H.M. Arndt Middle School, presented by again by Mr. Dan Moore. Yes, sir. Uh we have a bid tab for the re-roofing at H.M. Arndt Middle School. We are experiencing issues with that building envelope. The low apparent bidder is Barger Ash Roofing in the total amount of $345,950. We do want to accept those three alternates, which includes
037the additional 1976 re-roofing work, uh warranty upgrade to a 15 + 5-year no-dollar limit labor and material warranty, uh also the thickness of the material, and the R-value on the '76 addition 5.2 and R30. So, we are requesting that the board approve this bid tabulation for the re-roofing at H.M. Arndt Middle School by Barger Ash Roofing. And I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have. Have we used Barger Ash before? We have. We've been pleased with their with their work. Mr. Moore, um since we're getting ready to add on to all the middle schools, will it be any interruption of a new roof that we're partial that we're putting on last to come back off? No, sir. This will be uh in parts of the building that will not be disturbed with the
038new construction. Okay, if there's no further questions, uh I request a bid uh approval of the bid tabulation for re-roofing project at H.M. Arndt Middle School for $345,950. Hearing a motion, is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor shall raise a hand. That is unanimous. Thank you, sir. Next up is approval of a contract between Catawba County Board of Education and Barger Ash Roofing Company for re-roofing project at H.M. Arndt Middle School. This is our standard contract we've used in the past with our architect, and Barger Ash requires this contract for them to be able to proceed with this project. Uh the supplemental terms and conditions are what we have used in projects in the past, and I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have. I do seek your approval
039of this contract for the bid that was approved by the board. Okay, if there's no questions for Mr. Moore, I seek approval of the contract between Catawba County Board of Education and Barger Ash Roofing Company for re-roofing project at H.M. Arndt Middle School. I got motion. Hearing a motion, is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor shall raise a hand. That is unanimous. Thank you. Thank you. Next up is approval of architectural design firms for school additions and renovations, presented by Mr. Dan Moore. Yes, sir. Uh last month I stood before you, and we had Hickory Construction approved as the construction manager for our middle school project. And at that same time, I told you that or notified the board that we were unable to come to agreement with regard to a
040free fee structure for SFLA Architect. At that meeting, I asked for permission to begin discussions with LS3P. Uh we had those discussions. LS3P toured each building that following Monday. And at that time, they were able to get clarity on the scope for the four projects that are H.M. Arndt, Mill Creek, Jacobs Fork, and River Bend. There was a little bit of concern about being able to meet timeline with regard to the project at Maiden Mill. So, at that time, we reached out for our legal counsel to see if it was possible for us to engage another architectural firm so that the timeline could be met. We reconvened the architectural committee, committee that actually chose the design firm. We discussed the merits of each firm. And at the end we determined that Holland and Hamrick would
041be the design firm at Maiden Middle School based on their extensive knowledge of that school campus as they've already completed quite a bit of work. Uh having those discussions with both Holland and Hamrick and LS3P, both firms feel that they can meet the timeline established of August 2028 for occupancy. And I can also tell you that based on the offer letters we've received from both firms, we have saved $2.6 million in that in that conversation between SF LA and Holland and Hamrick and LS3P. We've had multiple meetings with both firms and feel very good about them in this project. And I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have, but at this time I would seek approval of those two four firms to serve as our architectural design team for the middle school project.
042Thank you for the presentation. Thank you for making sure we all understand where we're at on this. Yes. >> Uh I do you said they feel comfortable with the August 2028 or thereabouts? Yes, sir. Okay. All right, if there are no further questions Mr. uh Moore, uh I seek approval of the architectural design firm for Maiden I'm sorry, for middle school additions and renovations project. Uh do I need to name these one at a time or Okay. You would. Uh project A LS3P HM Middle School, B LS3P Jacobs Fork Middle School, C LS3P Mill Creek Middle School, D LS3P River Bend Middle School, and E Holland and Hamrick Architects PA at Maiden Middle School. Mr. Chairman, I make that motion to approve as presented. Hearing a motion, is there any other further discussion? Hearing none,
043all those in favor shall raise their hand. That is unanimous. Thank you. Thank you. Approval of five proposals from Wright and Associates for land surveying services at middle school sites. And uh these are the same sites that uh will be getting the renovations, correct? Yes, sir. Uh varying costs, but the project scope pretty much remains the same for each uh with the exception of Maiden Middle because a lot of work has already uh been completed there. Uh the project scope at each of these sites is basically preliminary research and preparation uh tied to the uh North Carolina Geological Survey grade coordinates and elevation tying to the existing boundary and using deeds and old plats to draw current property lines physical location of all buildings drives, walks, etc. 1-ft interval topo survey with spot elevations utilities
044as marked by third party and NC1 call and preparation of a survey plat showing the above information. So, as I said, varying amount uh Arndt Middle School in the amount of $29,700 Jacobs Fork in the amount of $28,200 Maiden in the amount of $3,900 based on quite a bit of work done previously at that location Mill Creek $29,800, River Bend $29,300. And I'll be happy to answer any questions that you may have about these proposals. If there are no questions for Mr. Moore, I seek approval of five proposals from Wright and Associates Incorporated for land surveying services at middle school sites HM Arndt Middle School, Jacobs Fork Middle School, Maiden Middle School, Mill Creek Middle School, and River Bend Middle School. Hearing a motion, is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor
045shall raise their hand. That is unanimous. Thank you, Mr. Moore. Thank you. Up next, again Mr. Moore, is approval of proposals from Wright and Associates for underground utility locations at HM Arndt Middle School, Jacobs Fork Middle School, Maiden Middle School, Mill Creek Middle School, and River Bend Middle School. Yes, sir. Project scope involves locating and marking underground utilities being surveyed by Wright and Associates. All utilities and surveys being prepared for the construction site work that will be at each of those locations. All of those proposals are $4,700 per school. The total amount is $23,500. And I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have about our underground utility location uh proposal at those five sites. If there are no questions for Mr. Moore, I seek approval of proposal from Wright and Associates Incorporated for
046underground utility locations at HM Arndt Middle School, Jacobs Fork Middle School, Maiden Middle School, Mill Creek Middle School, and River Bend Middle School. That motion. Hearing a motion, is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all shall raise their hand. That is unanimous. Thank you. Rest those legs. You get You deserve it. Uh next item on the agenda is adoption of Catawba County Board of Education local board uh resolution urging budget passage. Uh I believe we talked about this last month and we just plugged numbers in, is that correct? Uh to urge our state representatives here to pass a budget that's uh in my opinion well overdue. Any Do we need to discuss this any further or any questions or anything that you need to ask? Chairman, members of the board, um [clears throat] our teacher
047group that I meet with every month, I talked to them about the resolution you all want to pass. I believe uh I don't know. Well, I got to thank you from our uh in support of them and uh on behalf of them, uh we appreciate you thinking about students. If there are no further discussion, uh I seek approval for the adoption of Catawba County Board of Education local board resolution urging budget passage. Make that motion. Hearing a motion, is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor shall raise their hand. That is unanimous. Thank you all. Next up is approval of proposed revisions for the Catawba County Board of Education policies. Uh A 3. 6320 School Trips, B 8.2220 Crowd Funding, and C 8.3250 Daily Deposits. And these will be presented by Mr.
048Sink. Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, Madam Vice Chair, members of the board, thank you for the time. I would like to note before diving into each of these three briefly that uh while it does say approval of the proposed revisions, it's really approval as to a first reading since this is the first time that it's on. So, we're pushing them through, if it's the pleasure of the board, on first reading tonight. That first policy 3.6320, these are all existing policies, but that first one on school trips, board's idea came to me said, "Hey, draft up something that would incorporate everything we need to incorporate with respect to alcohol and school trip chaperones." Uh and that's what it does. So, uh within that existing policy, you have a chunk of material before you in your packets that
049has language I think it's in red, there it is. Uh where whether you're an employer or volunteer and you are tasked You've signed up for it. You're otherwise tasked with being a school chaperone on a school trip, near or far, uh it just of it is no alcohol the immediate night before, no alcohol during the trip, uh and and and no other illegal substances that could interfere with your readiness readiness or awareness uh to to chaperone to chaperone and supervise these students while you're on the job. Uh that that's what it is. That's the whole gist of it. Of course, you do see also within the red uh due concern and care for those who have uh legitimate prescription drugs that they have to be on for their own health, that there's a paragraph in
050there for that. Uh but as you'll note, they they have to safeguard those and keep those very close to them so that they are not easily accessible and you know, reasonably accessible by students. We don't want them getting a hold of even legally uh prescribed uh medications. So, that is the gist of that that first policy. Uh is it the board's pleasure for me to go on and do all three or do you want to stop one by one for questions if there are any, Mr. Chairman? Want to do all three and then we'll go back and ask questions. That makes sense. Yes, sir. So, on the crowdfunding very easy tweak and and a quick thanks to Seth Privette for this. He he was all over it. He's been working on these actually for years
051even before in his current role. The crowdfunding policy is a simple tweak and it was an idea from one of our principals. They came to Seth and they said, "Look, we need a section here that that has an actual approval from the superintendent or his designee." So, that's what's in here. You'll see it in yellow up on the screen or designee. Uh and and just a refresher real quick, crowdfunding as you all know is is a taking smaller chunks of money to support a larger school project. Often student ideas, things like that to to make it come to fruition. But, that way, you know, I think there was a private conversation. I don't think he'd mind me sharing it, but Dr. Stoever and uh Mr. Privette were talking and he said, "Well, Seth, you are
052the you are our crowdfunding guy. You are our CFA." That's CF CFA. And so, that's just one more thing that uh we can take off with a with an already very busy plate for the superintendent. Makes sense to have that within our CFO's domain. So, that's the tweak as an or designee inserted into that policy, Mr. Chairman of the board. And then the last one uh just to take into account inflation is the daily deposits policy. Again, all three of these policies before the board tonight are existing policies, but this would take the threshold from a $250 uh limit threshold or whatever would trigger a daily deposit requirement pursuant to state law and raise that up uh in consideration of the fact that everything is so much more expensive nowadays. I mean, everything, life. And
053and so, at $1,500 taken in, uh if there's $1,500 of money's on hand, it would require that daily deposit. Whereas, since I believe it was the '70s, Seth had reminded me. And he actually worked on this. I thought that was cool with Representative Elmore back in the day to get that threshold uh increase. So, we're well within that threshold that's what's before the board on the daily deposits tweak. Thank you. Thank you. Uh the only question I have it's probably not for you. It's probably more for Dr. Stoever is uh are administrators going to get a copy of this change that that are on here in this policy? Yes, we can uh go over that at our next uh after the final reading. May. May 18th, so we'll either do it in June or our
054uh beginning of the year admin academy, but yes. Okay, thank you. Next on the agenda is >> [clears throat] >> Catawba County Board of Education acknowledgement of receipt of Catawba County Board of Commissioners resolution adopting a plan for the merger of Catawba County Schools, Hickory City Schools, and Newton-Conover City Schools. Um I guess everybody on this board is well aware of the 3-2 vote last week to to merge all three school systems in the county. This is just saying that we acknowledge that we have received the plan, which is right here. Have received this. All right. Let me go ahead and ask for a motion to say that we have received the Catawba County Board of Education acknowledgement of receipt of Catawba County Board of Commissioners resolution adopting a plan for the merger of Catawba
055County Schools, Hickory City Schools, and Newton-Conover City Schools. Make a motion showing that we have received this. Heard a motion. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor show with a raise of hand. That is unanimous. Thank you. Next up is closed session for purposes to protect confidential or privileged information, to consult with an attorney to protect the attorney-client privilege, and personnel. Uh let me Let's take a quick break of about Let's meet back here at 7:15. We'll go up immediately into closed session. And do closed session things. I seek a motion to uh take a break and then enter into closed session at uh 7:15 p.m. That motion, Mr. Chairman. Hearing a motion, is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor show with a raise of hand. That
056is unanimous. Thank you. We'll be back here at 7:15 for closed sessions.