001I call the meeting the uh Caldwell County Board of Education public hearing budget and regular meeting for March 23rd, 2026. Uh all please rise. We'll start the Caldwell March office with a invocation by Pastor Kenny Mills followed by a presentation of colors. After that, pledge of allegiance. So, Pastor Mills, Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh my name is Kenny Mills. I serve as the lead pastor at Home Church. We actually gather at uh Maiden High School on Sunday mornings. It's my honor to be here. Uh I'd love to lead us in an invocation this evening. Father God, I come to you right now in uh the name of Jesus, the only name under heaven and earth by which men might be saved. And Father, I say thank you for this evening. Thank you for this collection
002of our community that you brought together tonight. God, I say thank you for every leader who is here, who has uh given up parts of their life to serve uh the community. And so, Father, I pray for them. I pray for wisdom. Your word says that the the the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. And so, Father, I pray you would provide that to them. Um but God, your your word also says uh in James that wisdom from heaven uh comes from heaven and it is first of all pure, it's peace-loving, it's considerate, it's submissive, it's full of mercy and good fruits, it's impartial and sincere. And so, Father, I pray that you would give them the wisdom of heaven as they lead our community, they lead the school district, um as
003they make decisions uh not only for today, but for the future. And so, in the name of Jesus, I pray this. Amen. Please stand. Arms, 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. Arms, order arms. Uh ladies and gentlemen, my name is Lieutenant Colonel Channing Moose. I've been at Bandys High School Junior ROTC for about 2 months and 2 weeks. It's been a privilege and honor to be there and serve under Dr. Maynard. It's a great job and I'm very happy to be there and very happy to be here tonight. We have a premier leadership development program at Bandys High School and the foundation of that of that program is confidence. We
004provide opportunities for these cadets to to build and to test their confidence. Just a few examples are starting with last Thursday at the Charlotte Hornets where we got to see Dell Curry's number 30 uh jersey retired and performed uh color guard for the national anthem there. Lenoir-Rhyne University a month ago and then next Thursday, the 2nd of April, we'll be perform performing presenting colors at the Hickory Crawdads on their opening season night. Also, our drill team competes against the best teams in the nation. We're nationally ranked. I'd like to say just something about each of these four cadets. On my left or audience's right, we have first Cadet Lieutenant Lopez. He's on our competition drill team. His goals after high school are to attend App State and to and to major in nursing. Cadet Lieutenant
005Falcon, holding the American colors, is also on our competition drill team. He plans on attending college ROTC and wants to commission as an Army officer. Cadet Lieutenant Herrick, who's carrying our North Carolina colors, he's also on our competition drill team and also performs as a key member of the Bandys choir, which is ranked first in the state. His goals are also to attend ROTC and commission as an officer. And lastly, Cadet Staff Sergeant Martin is our junior ranking officer tonight. He's a class leader in JROTC. He's in the marching band. He plays clarinet and he's a leader in the Boy Scouts. His goals are to compete he complete his Eagle Scout before graduating high school, hike the Appalachian Trail, become an officer in the military, and then after a successful career in the military, Cadet
006Jackson will become a wildlife officer. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for this opportunity. Arms, order arms. Have a seat. Next on the agenda is approval of minutes from February 6th. Hope you had a chance to look at those. Are there any discussion? If not, I seek a motion for approval of the minutes Make a motion. Hearing a motion, is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor show raise a hand. That is unanimous. Next is adjustment approval of agenda. There are two items. First one is uh listed as an adjustment, uh new business number six, approval of architectural design firm negotiations with LS3 Associates conditions for the maintenance projects. Uh number two is new business number nine, uh adoption of resolution Caldwell Board of Education initiating the absent bidding process to dispose of
007surplus If there are no further discussions I see or adjustments need to be made, I seek a an approval motion for approval of those two additions to the agenda. So moved. Hearing a motion, is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor show raise a hand. That is unanimous. Thank you. Next up is the superintendent's report or chairman's report. Uh county has a merger plan in place. Uh we do have copies outside the room if you like to take one. Ask that you do so and you can contact contact me. Discuss that. Next up is superintendent's report given by Dr. Maynard. Thank you, Chairman. Members of the board, I uh I'm very excited this evening. Several uh students to acknowledge tonight and staff. Uh so, we'll start with our uh state champion athletes
008first. So, I'm going to ask Mr. Westmoreland to come forward and if the board would meet us out front and we're going to shake hands with some excellent athletes. >> custodian, bus driver, and coach. I think he works all the time. Mr. Milburn, come on up. Of course, uh we have several folks uh like Mr. Milburn. We're so thankful for people who are so passionate about Catawba County Schools. Um Luckily, our tennis coach gave him uh last part of practice off so he could get here. Mr. Milburn, we appreciate all you do. The other thing I want to say to this while I'm here, we got 28 clean schools, and I'm very thankful for that and our custodial staff. That's hard work. Great job. Let's give them a big round of applause. [applause] The hits
009keep rolling. Uh we are pumped up about this. Marty Sharp uh was named our North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Technology Director of the Year. This is the second time he's been nominated since I've been here. Uh and Mr. Sharp will be the first to tell you uh that it's not only him. I see some of his team members here. Just absolutely amazing uh what they do, and we're thankful for Mr. Sharp. And uh not only that, uh he also won the North Carolina uh pardon me, the International Society for Technology and Education Making It Happen Award, which is given to one person from each state in North Carolina. And this is the first time it's ever been given to anyone that works in a school system. So, we are especially pumped about that. I
010see uh Ms. Sharp here, too, tonight. Thank you for letting us have him 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Uh Marty Sharp, we couldn't do this uh without you. You make this place run. Congratulations. Uh last but not least, uh every year the state gives out communication awards, and this year Last year, we won three thanks to Ms. Kim Jordan. This year, we've won six. And uh we are extremely thankful for Ms. Jordan's work. We won a gold for excellence in writing. Uh uh showcasing the community connection. We won a gold for strategic communications, Refining Diamonds, which you did awesome with that. Um also silver for our CT and Career Readiness, which I know she's going to speak just a minute about with Kristen Lewis, who's here tonight. Thank you. Uh won
011a silver for our special events in middle school football jamboree. And if you don't you're not doing anything in August, come out to the jamboree. Uh that all those proceeds go to our Education Foundation. We won a silver. Class of 2025 congratulatory ad, excellent job. And last but not least, a bronze in our 2025-2026 CCS recruitment flyer. And if you know any uh incredible folks that want to work, please have them contact us ASAP. We'd love to have them. Kim Jordan, you have done an amazing job. Um and I tell this story a lot. Ms. Jordan was an art teacher and a principal, and she applied to be a marketing director, and I had no idea. And I am so thankful. Great job, Ms. Kim Jordan. I just I just wanted to take a minute
012because every award that I win is not just what I do, but it's a team effort. And this year, when I was submitting work for consideration, we had a fantastic CTE graphic design campaign, mainly done by Kristen Lewis. She did all the heavy lifting and the design work, and I just put it out there in public. And so, I'm going to award one of the NC Spark Awards to Kristen Lewis in the CTE department. All right. I think that wraps it up. Thank you to the members of the Board of Education. I just want to say how proud I am of our students and staff. Man, what a great place to work and learn. I'm looking at a lot of great staff members, a lot of great community members, and these students are absolutely amazing.
013Thanks to everybody in this room. So, we appreciate the Board of Education, and let's get to business. All right. Next on the agenda is public hearing regarding the 2026-2027 budget presented by Dr. Matt Stover. Public hearing on the 2026-2027 budget allows Catawba County Board of Education to receive feedback on the 2026-2027 budget before final approval and adoption. Speaker will be allowed a maximum of 3 minutes to address board members. A time clock will be presented to assist each speaker with their 3-minute time limit. But looks like no one signed up on the No one signed up, Chairman Settlemyer. We On the budget form, no. On the budget? Um Mr. Privett, do you have anything you'd like to add this evening? Okay. Then I don't have anything to add, either, Chairman. We move on to public
014comment. Uh and that'll be handled by Ms. April Underwood. The 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 board members. A time clock will be displayed to assist each speaker with their 3-minute time limit. 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 member of the public, community member, or any member of the Catawba County Board of Education. Any displays of approval or disapproval are out of order unless otherwise directed by the board chair. Our first
015speaker will be Kyla Little. Good evening, everyone. My name is Kyla Little. I'm a costume designer, a proud Hickory native, and I'm here tonight as an advocate for arts and cultural support on behalf of Arts Culture Catawba, the local arts arts agency for Catawba County. I'd like to briefly share a personal story about how the arts actively contribute to the growth of our students and the direction of their futures. As a first-generation college student, I would not have known what path to take if it weren't for theater. The Tractor Shed Theater at St. Stephens High School, led by Molly Rice, gave me more than just a place to perform. It gave me a place to grow. In that classroom, I learned the soft skills that form the foundation of any career: communication, adaptability, collaboration, and
016problem-solving. That theater program strengthened my confidence in public speaking and helped me learn how to express my thoughts and ideas with clarity and with purpose. Research shows that low-income students who participate in the arts throughout all four years of high school are five times less likely to drop out and twice as likely to earn a college degree. I would know this because I was one of those students. Without the Tractor Shed Theater, I would not have gone on to earn my master's degree in costume design and technology, live abroad in England, travel to 27 different countries, and build a successful freelance career in the arts. Next week, I'm interviewing for a professor position so that I can give back to the very art form that helped shape my passions, my confidence, and my future. Beyond
017the numbers, the arts strengthen connections between neighbors and help us tell the story of who we are as a community. They give young people a place to discover their voices and remind us all of the creativity and humanity that bring us together. I want to sincerely thank you for the continued support of arts and culture and for recognizing the value that they bring Catawba County. Your leadership helps ensure that our community remains vibrant, creative, and connected. If you have any questions about the impact of arts in our community, I encourage you to reach out to Arts Culture Catawba. Thank you for your time tonight. Thank you, Ms. Little, and and good luck next week with your You said you had an interview next week? Good luck for that. Speaker is Kimberly Turk. Thank you. 60%
018of 60% is 36%. Students who earn between a 45 and a 59 can do credit recovery in a program called Edmentum. The state says that we must now award students who complete credit recovery a 60 in the course instead of the pass that we used to give them. We consider completion of Edmentum getting a 60% on the final assessment of 60% of the units in Edmentum. 60% of 60% of the course material is 36% of the course to earn a 60 on your transcript. While asking these students to do less, we are also asking faculty to do more. I support students doing more writing and less typing. But asking teachers to use technology less is asking us to lose useful tools and do more work. When I give a test or a quiz online, not
019only am I not having to waste time grading multiple choice and matching questions by hand, but I can very quickly and better analyze which questions they missed, what answers wrong answers were picked most often, and I can give faster feedback. In many cases, I can give that feedback in the same class where they took that test or quiz. Edpuzzle has recently been pointed out as a tool that is being used too much. This is the only tool we have to deliver videos to students that make them answer questions about the videos while they are watching the videos. We use Edpuzzle on virtual days and in our online classes. It is great for days when we have a sub, and it is also great for students who have been absent and need to stay on task.
020Use of technology is part of our annual assessment. It is a tool students need to be comfortable using. They will need these skills in college, their careers, and just to navigate the world. Some systems are talking about not having one-to-one with technology or with computers any longer. Our poor students would be the ones who are going to be left behind if they do not have a school-based computer. Um, I'd also like to point out it's really add or really easy to add layers in your classroom is cool. It is very difficult to cool down if your classroom is warm. Our classrooms have been hot and humid for the last 2 weeks. The only critter comfortable in my room is Einstein the Bearded Dragon. The poor pregnant lady across the hall has been nauseous and unable
021to stand up some afternoons for the last couple of weeks. It's past time for us to switch to air conditioning. We've been waiting for some special date. We need it now. Thank you, Ms. Hart. Speaker is Lawrence Wiedeman. I plead the first. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. The Bill of Rights the very first item was to establish the principle of separation between church and state. The First Amendment was written specifically to protect minority religious views from impositions of the majority. Perhaps you've forgotten. Perhaps you never learned. Perhaps you simply don't care. Many years ago,
022I took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. I remember that oath and I stand here before you to honor that oath and to peacefully petition my government for a redress of grievances. I expect many in this room have taken a similar oath. If there any military or veterans here, I know you have sworn an oath to protect the Constitution. But perhaps you don't remember or perhaps you simply don't care. By writing and approving policy 2.315, the board has established as part of this government function a religious invocation. This is a black and white violation of the Constitution. The board seems to think it it makes it okay to preach their ideology by allowing other religions to participate but nod nod wink wink with the caveat that they
023have to be established within the community. How clearly ironic. Using community establishment as a justification to subvert the Constitution's prohibition against religious establishment. It would be wrong for Muglin Immon to come in here to use government resources to tell you you are condemned for worshipping Christ. That would be wrong. It is equally wrong for Mr. Mills tonight to tell a non-Christian they cannot be saved because they are not Christian. That also is wrong. Two wrongs do not make a right. Allowing other religions to present invocations does not make it right for you to impose your Christian invocations upon others. I was taught see that no one repays any evil for evil but always seek to do good to one another and everyone. Last month, I asked the board what legal, moral, or ethical tenant gives
024the board a right to establish a religious invocation as part of the board meetings. I've also posed this question to the board via private email. While Mr. Settlemire has been gracious enough to respond, he did not answer the question. Y'all can turn a blind eye to the Constitution, a deaf ear to my arguments against the invocation, and silence when challenged. Can we not aspire to higher standard than the wisdom of the three proverbial monkeys? Thank you, Mr. Wiedeman. Here's Charlie Shepherd. Good evening. Um I've come to understand that education apps are being used as purpose well for surveilling our children public schools. Pretty sure that's a fact. Uh I've got a list of some apps here. I was wondering if somebody maybe knows about these apps. Um Gaggle Bark Securly Mind Up Inner Explorer Mind
025Flip Clear. These apps are uh I'm pretty sure we may be using some of these. I'm not I don't know. I just found out about this. And uh we're turning our kids into data mines, you know. Uh we're using AI as mental health apps to harvest information. Um you know, when you you got people collecting data on our children and our parents. Um Well, they're selling it then. And they're third parties that are getting access to data like this. Pretty sure and but I'm concerned. I'm concerned. I think uh that we shouldn't be collecting data like that and just turn it over. Uh I don't think it's being protected. I was wondering if uh maybe we have an opt-out on these apps, these education apps. So, I don't know. Heard about it. Thought I'd bring
026it up. Maybe somebody can look into it, somebody on the board. Lee may know something some something about these apps. So, that's >> Can you email email us a list of those apps? I can uh I can produce these. Okay. I'd appreciate that. >> Charlotte has used them some. Okay. Yeah. If you if you want to email them to us, we'll take a look at it. Okay, thank you. Yes, sir. And that concludes the public comment section of the agenda. Uh next up is the consent agenda. There are seven items on there that we've all been able to preview. Are there any questions, any concerns, any comments about any of those? If not, I seek a motion for approval on the consent agenda items. Motion to approve. Hearing a motion, is there any other discussion?
027Hearing none, all those in favor shall raise a hand. That is unanimous. Thank you. Next is unfinished business and that is approval of the 2026-2027 local current expense budget. Uh That'll be uh Mr. Seth Prevett. Yes. Um very simply, Chairman Settlemire, members of the board, Attorney Sink, and Dr. Stover, we would like to formally ask the board uh for their approval of the '26-'27 local current expense budget. You see that here before you. We've spoken about it a little bit previously. Overall, it's a request of about 11 and 1/2% increase and we are set to meet with the county uh Friday morning of this week. Uh and hopefully uh get their approval as well. I would seek a an approval of this but I would be glad to ask answer any questions you may have.
028Anyone have any questions for Mr. Prevett? If not, I seek a motion to approve and adopt the '26 the 2026-2027 local current expense budget for Catawba County Schools as presented. I 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, Mr. Prevett. Next up is the presentation of on on an aviation program and it says Dr. Ashenfelter right here but it looks like Adam Windham is going to present and this is his first time presenting to the board, right? That is correct. >> Let's give him a round of applause for the first time. Way to go, Adam. Thank you. I look forward to many more of these by you. Uh Chairman of the Board and members of the board,
029I thank you for your time tonight. I'm I'm excited to bring back this information uh and Dr. Ashenfelter has asked me to speak so I'll do my best to to fell forward with you guys here tonight. Um So, recently we traveled down to Dare County to do a deep dive into their aviation program, see what it would take to bring that program back to Catawba County Schools. This would create a new pathway for our students, the aviation pathway uh where they would take aviation one and aviation two. Basic course overview of both of these courses is or is that students will develop skills in the basic sciences related to careers in aviation and aerospace. There's a classroom and lab setting tied to both of these courses. Uh they'll be studying aviation structures, systems, power plants,
030and it could lead to aviation maintenance technician certificate. Basically, that means our high school kids could be building a plane. So, these are local co- course options. Uh we do have to get DPI approval for both of these and Dr. Eisenhauer has gained those approval from our DPI reps. For the proof of learning, as you know, CT courses have three options. The the standard 100 question multiple choice state assessment, the industry aligned credential, and then the performance based measurement. This would obviously be a performance based measurement where our students can showcase the skills that they've learned throughout the class. And this would also align directly with our comprehensive local needs assessment that we're currently working on. We have seen a emerging trend with aviation and aerospace in North Carolina, and we have found a way
031that we could possibly align this with CVCC as well. Tango Flight is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit out of Texas. They work with school systems all over the nation. Obviously, a lot are in Texas, but East Coast to West Coast, and they provide the curriculum and the build kit for CTE programs. They combine the theory, which is your classroom work, with the hands-on STEM focused lesson plans, which are the actual building of the airplane. And this is going to help students obviously for a a career in aviation, but it can also be helpful for any students in any type of engineering field as well. Some of the skills that our students will be taught would include technical, mechanical, aviation maintenance, aviation inspection, avionics equipment, aircraft structure, and assembly. The aircraft students will be building is called a
032Sling 2. It's a two-seat aluminum 700-lb plane. They refer to this as a low-wing light sport aircraft. It has a cruising speed of 120 mph. And once the permanent bolts are installed on the airplane for the wings, they're no longer removable. And we'll we'll talk a little bit about that here in a few minutes. Obviously, with any new program, there's going to be significant expenses. The first one we talk about here is our annual expense. So, we would have to renew this every year. It comes to a total of $16,873. There's also a one-time expense, and it's made up of a $10,000 instructor training fee and an $8,500 aviation specific tool package. Both of these fees can be paid for with our CTE federal funds 017. Here's just a detailed list of the aviation specific
033tools that Tango Flight will provide for us as a part of the the one-time fee. We would also have to buy additional equipment. Luckily for for these two equipment lists, this totals at about $9,000, but we can use our local vendors for these. Some of these include shelving, wooden tables. We can probably get our construction and carpentry labs to help produce these as well to kind of save on some cost, but these funds would also be These funds would also come from our federal funds 017 as well. And then lastly, is what they refer to as the refundable program fee. $114,962. This money is held in an escrow account by Tango Flight. Once the build is complete, we would have the option to either be refunded our money or to continue on with a new
034build. Unfortunately, our CTE fiscal policy guide will not allow allow CTE funds to be used for this. So, this would have to be local funds for this for this refundable fee. Here's just a general overview of how the program works. This is a turnkey build. Luckily for us, they send the parts in four installments because it totals over 29,000 parts. So, Tango Flight does a great job of sending these to us whenever we need them. Tango Flight also reserves ownership of the aircraft at all times. So, we never have to worry about um purchasing liability insurance. Catawba County Schools would be added on on their current liability as well. Once the plane is complete, it'll be transferred to Hickory Regional Airport where it will undergo an FAA inspection. After it is completed inspection, Dan, who's
035the founder of Tango Flight, will take the first flight in the airplane. From there, uh he will make sure that any students that had a hand in building the aircraft have a chance to go up with him in the aircraft so they can experience it as well. Afterwards, Tango Flight is in charge of selling the airplane. So, Catawba County Schools would never be involved or never get into the business of selling airplanes. And from that point is when we make the decision, do we dissolve the program and receive the refundable feedback? It would be my hope that we would renew the program with a new build. We do have variables to consider here. Number one and the most important is the facility. We're looking somewhere that's centrally located and needs to include a build area,
036a classroom area, as well as a storage area. So, this this aircraft will measure 20 ft long by nearly 27 with a wingspan of 27 ft. So, obviously, a large build area is something that that we have to look into. We're hoping for about 3,000 sq ft. The second most important factor is our faculty, and the instructor who will be teaching this course. This will be a double block course. At First Flight High School, they use an adjunct instructor. So, it's a it's a retired admiral who works part-time. We're exploring the option of of employing a full-time instructor to teach this course. There's no aerospace expertise required. There's no military background required, but we do need someone who can manage people and a number of individuals. Our students will be looking at juniors and seniors,
037and we're looking for students that have the work ethic, focus, discipline, and drive to do well in this course. And lastly, sustainability. It's important that we find the right instructor right away. Um That's going to help decrease cost if we have to retrain an instructor. Mentors make up a big part of this course. So, between Hickory Aviation Museum, the Hickory Airport, Appalachian Aero Group, the Statesville Airport, we feel that we can find a number of mentors that will be able to come in and help with the build. That's where the aviation building and maintenance um knowledge will come into play here. Consistency is also huge. Having the right instructor that's in place for a long term. Finding mentors that can come on a regular basis is important as well. And also, the quality of students
038as well as the number of students. 18 seems to be the sweet spot for this course. A strong strategic recruitment strategy is also important. At First Flight, they have their Aviation 1 students help recruit students so they're invested into that process. And then lastly, we want to make sure that all high schools have equal access. So, that goes back to the centrally located. We want all five of our traditional high schools to be represented as well as hopefully Challenger as well. Now, there is a curriculum only option to this. Uh we believe this could be a temporary solution to help us as Dr. Sobel would say, get off the ground. This could be a one-semester delay or a one-year delay. If it is a one-year delay, the curriculum fee for the year does drop about
039$8,900. This the curriculum would include hands-on materials, and you can see a list of what all will will come with that package also. And then lastly, labor market data. So, obviously, for us to bring this program here, there needs to be a need for aviation and aerospace in Catawba County. Recently, Catawba County government paid Site Selection Group to conduct an an industry analysis on Catawba County. They found that aerospace industry is growing in North Carolina, and they also found that Catawba County is competitive for that industry. We have the infrastructure to bring in this sector this sector. It provides high impact high wage growth as well as high wages. Um and we also believe that this program could help potentially attract some of these industries to Catawba County as well by creating the pipeline. So,
040board, I come here tonight asking you to consider the allocation of the refundable fee and for permission to begin looking for appropriate sites for the potential aviation program. So, once we build this, if we build it, let's say here in our warehouse, you said they'll take care of transporting it from here to the airport. >> takes care of the transportation to Hickory Regional Airport. Also, in part of our fees, the FAA certification is in is included in that as well. So, all of that will already be taken care of, and and Tango Flight will handle the logistics to get it there. So, the $114,000 that we would need to get started, have you guys looked at any potential grants, or what is your plan for that? We have not explored any other options at this
041time. Um great question. We'll have to um look at our budget to see if we can um make room for that for next year. The plan was to start the year after. However, uh if if the board does want to try to get this program started, um we can look at our current budget and see as as Mr. Pruitt always says, you can have it, but you got to take something away. Uh and and we can see where that might be. Uh and I want to thank the board again for your all's vision on this opportunity. I think it's uh a game-changer for 18 students and hopefully uh hundreds before it's over. So, I I think the $100,000 up-front cost is um well worth it and well worth us taking a strong look at where
042we could get it from. For everything that you have done, both of you. I know when we went down to Dare County, we were all just amazed and we said before we ever left there, actually when Clayton and I come out of the meeting at the school board association meeting back in November, we said we have to bring this to Catawba County and we left that meeting with Dr. Stover pumped up and so excited because it's such an amazing opportunity for our kids. And so I I have spoken with several folks in the community with military backgrounds and engineering backgrounds who are excited about the possibility of this coming here. So I believe we'll have mentors who are going to be ready to help with this program because they they're excited about the opportunity for
043our kids. So So thank you guys for all that [clears throat] you're doing. I I do have a question. If if we do allocate these funds, would it still be a possibility of reaching out to the community businesses and so forth to reimburse? I think there's some partnership opportunities definitely moving forward, especially if we're able to recruit more aerospace industry to this area. We know of one manufacturer in the area. I think we're going to have to show them what we're doing in order to partner, but I think once we show them some product and what we're doing with students, we can at least explore partnerships. Um I had a question. Um I was wondering if you had an idea of where you were going to look for to get an instructor. I know that
044you said that you were you had an idea for the mentors and that sort of thing, but what about an instructor? We would first look [clears throat] on staff to see um we have a couple of ideas of people that we could approach uh to see if they'd be interested in teaching this course and obviously it's somebody when you're building a new program and somebody that can get the get the students excited, which I think would be fairly easy when you tell me you're building an airplane. Um but we have a we have a great CTE staff. We have a number of fantastic leaders and this course is also about building future leaders. And so we're looking for someone that can not only build a plane, but can build leadership in our students. I think
045we have a number of teachers that can do that. I remember that whenever we did visit down in Dare County, they had so many um kids that were so happy and excited to do this project of the aviation. Um I could not believe the enthusiasm that um they had. And then on top of that, um what was it they said that whenever we were down there, they actually said that they had they had so much help. They everybody was wanting to work even come at different times to even um come and actually build the plane. They were so dedicated and involved and so excited. And so their enthusiasm, I could not believe how much that they the kids really enjoyed it, the instructors, everybody that was even involved loved it. So I'm excited about this
046too. Um I'm I'm sure everyone else is as well, but this is a great opportunity and I'm so glad that our school system is going to have this opportunity. Thank you. Okay, so uh hearing all that, are there any any further comments or questions? Hearing none, I'll seek a motion to uh kind of kick start this with with what Adam asked for, which was to be able to look for a spot and start talking to people who would be interested in possibly teaching the program. Uh Mr. Chairman, I make the motion uh to approve the aviation program as presented to the board. All right, hearing a motion, any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor show raise of hand. That is unanimous. Thank you. Thank you. Dr. Isenhour, yes, sir. Adam, put that in
047your pocket. What he said, he doesn't say that very often, so consider it an honor. Uh Next up is on the agenda is overview of High County STEM initiative presented by Dr. Ryan McCrary. Uh good evening, members of the board. Uh Dr. Stover, I'm very excited this evening to be able to share just an overview of the High Country STEM initiative. Um and STEM, the acronym uh in High Country STEM actually stands for strategies that engage minds. Um it is a regional partnership. Uh Catawba County schools is a part part of this as well as six other uh school systems in our area. And we're really excited about this opportunity because it's going to allow us um to share ideas with one another, share strategies with the ultimate goal of benefiting our students and our
048staff community. Uh we have had two meetings so far regionally. Uh the the seven school systems have come together. One was on January 23rd and another one on March the 6th. And what's been great about this is our our team that has attended these meetings has included uh teachers, it's included instructional coaches, administrators at all three levels as well as district leaders. Um and we've really been able just to brainstorm ideas around what we think will benefit um our school system going forward. So out of those um two meetings, these are the three areas um that we have chosen to focus on going forward. One of them is uh rigorous real world learning. So when you think about that, it's it's project based learning. Um it could also be interdisciplinary projects. So for example, a
049math teacher might collaborate with a carpentry teacher to plan a unit of instruction. And it's also uh real world simulations. Um so we're excited about that. The second area is employability skills. So if you think about things like teamwork, adaptability, resilience, characteristics that we want to instill in our students that will allow them to be successful in the future. And we believe there might also be an opportunity here for like credentialing or some sort of badging um so that when our students graduate from high school, they can um put something on their resume or demonstrate to an employer that they they possess these characteristics and have mastered them. And then the third area is artificial intelligence literacy. Uh Mr. Sharp has done a great job um of already getting us off the ground in this
050area with CCS and power. Um we also believe that there's an opportunity here just to continue to enhance um both our students uh responsible use of AI and also it can really benefit our teachers in the classroom both um from an efficiency standpoint with lesson planning and also just helping to design questions and activities that we can do with our students. So these are the three uh main focus areas that we have. Uh our next step is to bring is to um have a an another planning meeting where we're going to begin to develop a two-year implementation plan for our school system. And we will continue to have regional meetings and be able to share ideas and get um get feedback from everyone that's involved. Uh one of the things that I think is important
051about this um is this is not something new for our teachers. Um we're just going to continue to build upon the work that we've already been doing um in our school system around student collaboration and rigor and and AI. Um so again, this won't be anything new for our teachers. It's just about building upon and enhancing what we're already doing in our school system. Um Mr. Sharp's been a an integral part of it. Mr. Miller has as well. Dr. Stover was at our last meeting. Um and we're just we're really excited about this partnership. Uh the funding uh source behind it is the Burroughs Welcome Fund if you may have heard of that. Um there's also the North Carolina um Science, Technology, and Mathematics Center um is a funding source for this. So it's not
052going to cost our school system um any additional funding. Um we've got a big support from those two entities in this. Uh this is the logo for the High Country STEM. Um and as we go forward, you may start to hear more about that um in our region. So Dr. Stover, is there anything you'd like to add? >> No, Dr. McCrary, great job. You know, anytime uh we have the opportunity to partner with our surrounding counties doing great things uh and we're not paying for it. Dr. McCrary has done a great job leading it. Uh and and again, our team has chosen things that we're already working on. And so we want to continue that pathway. Um so great job. Thank you. Thanks, Dr. Stover. Thank you, members of the board. Uh thank you. Uh
053next up is presentation on character education program uh teacher survey data presented by Mr. Lee Miller. Thank you, Chairman Smaw. Good evening, board. I knew when I add to what Dr. McCrary was saying, um we were approached by High Country STEM after they'd already started. And from what we understand from Dr. Daggett is some of the other districts had asked us to come on board because they knew some of the great things that we were doing in Catawba County. You know, I credit Marty Stover with a lot of that. I think word was out that Marty was building some pretty significant things and they wanted to bring us in so they could tap into that, I think. So um proud of Marty and all he's done and we're proud to be a part of the
054High Country STEM initiative. And again, it's great to know that people want to be want us to be part of maybe something bigger uh and have a reputation as a district that's being innovative and moving forward. So, that being said, I do want to share with you some survey results. These results actually come from a fall survey that we did. As you probably recall, we presented to the board back in the fall about some options for character education programs. Um, so, the data that we received from our elementary school teachers, um, when asked the question, "How often have you delivered Second Step lessons?" Almost 64% reported consistently or often. And another 24% reported sometimes, and about 13% reported rarely or not at all. Um, the next question, "How would you rate student engagement during Second
055Step lessons?" High or moderate engagement reported 71% of the time. Uh, 13% said very high, and then 15% of teachers who responded said low to very low. The next question, "How helpful do you feel the Second Step program has been in supporting students' character education?" 76% of teachers reported being very helpful to somewhat helpful, while 21% indicated they're not very helpful or not helpful at all. And then, when asked, "Would you recommend continuing the Second Step program in future years?" 74% said yes, 25% said no. So, that gives you an idea of where we're at with Second Step. We've had it in our district since Believe I'm going to look back at this file in 2021. So, I've been online for 5 years with kids before that. Um, one of the strong points of Second
056Step is it helps our younger students teach them how to self-regulate when they can feel themselves maybe maybe getting angry or upset. Teaches them some skills that they can use to try to calm themselves down whenever they start to to maybe get out of sorts. Programs do come with a cost. We talked about this back in the fall. Second Step is a new quote we received from them would be right at $46,000 per year for K-6. Character Strong, which is another program that's being used by some districts, is right at $40,000 per year for K-5. And if you do that in middle school, 6-8, it would be another $7,200. We talked about Olweus, and the program that has kind of gained some notoriety across really the Southeast and the nation. It is expensive. The training
057for that is expensive, $110,000, and the training while it's expensive, also extensive for our our staff. Uh, team teams would be sent to training uh for this program, come back, and then train members of their school. And then, Rachel's Challenge is something that Cabarrus County Schools was involved in probably 10 or 12 years ago. Uh, it's $5 per student, but they do talk about There's a lot of grants available for Rachel's Challenge. There is some training involved, but it's more train as you go versus the Olweus program, which is all the training happens up front for your lead team, and they come back and train the folks at their school. So, just give you an update on some of the costs involved. This is a a table that I shared with the board back in
058the fall, which has just some brief information. There was a presentation that was done in the fall. I can share that again with board members if you'd like. That's more specific, but this is just a table that we created uh with some overall general information about each of the programs. I'll mention Quiver as a program that we talked about. I personally not recommend it. It's a program that's based uh in Europe, and they right when we spoke to them in the fall, there were no schools in the United States currently using it. They were impressive. They agreed to meet. We had a virtual meeting, but again, a program based out of Europe. Uh, nothing wrong with that. I just don't know that we would be the first ones to implement that in the United States.
059So, I think uh Character Strong, which I mentioned earlier, Second Step, Olweus, and Rachel's Challenge are ones that are used throughout the country in different school districts. And really, we're just seeking guidance from the board tonight as to what direction you would like to maybe investigate further. The Quiver is the one where where they we we had to send our staff to like Sweden or somewhere, is that Yes, or they would do virtual training, which That was it. Okay. Question. For the teachers who did not think this needed to continue, was there any feedback on what they would use that time for, and also how much time is being spent in the classroom on this program currently? Second Step, when when done to fidelity, it would be about 20 to 25 minutes per week. The
060lessons. There are videos that that go with Second Step, and then there are questions that you can use for your class or or small abbreviated activities that you can do with your class for Second Step. And I think the first part of your question was what what would they do with the time? One of the One of the comments that we heard and we saw in the survey, a lot of teachers don't use it is because they don't feel like they have the time cuz they're trying to cover core curriculum, and they don't want to take the time basically to implement a character education Uh, one of the things that maybe we could consider um, as we're working with uh High Country STEM, and we're learning uh how to embed other items into the curriculum
061we're already teaching, one of the items we might could consider is how we embed our character education uh 4-6. I think K-3 is something that we need to continue to be intentional with, especially with um uh what Mr. Miller was describing as our students self-regulating. I think those are specific skills uh that would still need to be taught, but uh I think there is opportunities out there uh 4-6, 7 uh uh 9, uh 7-8, um and then high school kind of we kind of embed that in just high school life in general. Uh, but that being said, I think we could narrow our focus to K-3 possibly, and uh find ways of embedding that in our curriculum moving forward. So, just another idea that um just to marry the two, I think would help our
062students and teachers, but again, there's some options I have. I see up here you don't have the Character Strong in this section. Right. This was a table that we had created back in the fall, and that's why Character Strong isn't here. Character Strong is kind of new on the scene for us. I mean, it's been used in many other districts, but we reached out to them a few weeks ago just to get a quote on what it would be. Their initial quote came in fairly high, like they normally do. We reached back out and said, "That's not uh within our budget." It's kind of like buying a car, honestly. You do a little haggling, and then hopefully they'll they'll come down. And so, the quote that we came up with and they came up with
063was again, for K-5, was right there at 40,000. Differences between Character Strong and Second Probably just got a quote in the beginning. Background that that comes with A little bit. Uh, we can go into the program a little a little further. They both have bullying prevention uh components to it. They They both have components of just general character ed, what qualities make up a good person. Uh, I what I don't know about Character Strong is, excuse me, [clears throat] how much self-regulation that it has within it. I'd be glad to share that with the board. They will send us a demo and with login information, and I can share with the board, and you can go in and look at Uh, it looked like Rachel's Challenge would cost us around $18,000. Grants available or grants
064for these other things or just grants? No, Rachel's Challenge was So, I said we have experience with that and it was came out of uh Columbine. It's named after uh a victim at Columbine. Her Her Her family started this organization after that tragedy. Uh he actually came to Catawba County when we kicked off and spoke at many of our schools. Uh Rachel Scott that Um and because I think of their ties to that just horrible tragedy, they have a lot of support. And they're able to offer grants. Uh and I believe I don't They are pretty much a nonprofit. Now, these other organizations you see are all for-profit. So, I think that's why you see more grant opportunities Rachel's Challenge than with the other ones. Personally, I think I'd like to see a breakdown of
065Second Step Character Strong and Rachel's Challenge. Kind of see what our best option would be. I'd like to add one more thing. That we can Whenever I've looked and researched offer like demos. They get a deep deeper dive into some of these cuz they can actually give you more than just like a regular like like a demo. >> Yeah. So, that you can get a better understanding what's in the curriculum. And I can certainly ask. I know when I asked that back in the fall when we were looking at they're reluctant to share their entire program because people take it, copy it, and then use it, and they don't make any I don't I didn't feel like they were trying to hide anything. They were just trying to protect their product from people using it
066that way. >> And I understand that. But sometimes or um whenever um looking at some of the different ones, um my concern is that we are not going to know My concern is that we will not know exactly what's in the curriculum until we get it. You know what I'm saying? Because sometimes they do have things underlined in some of these curriculums that we're not that we might not want to teach cuz they're not satisfactory. We have the option now, board members, of course, to look at every every component of Second Step. We have that. We've purchased that. So, it's available to look at at any time. I know Miss Valerie has went through every every piece of Second Step. Um they have made some changes. Uh and that was a perfect example um just
067to let you know um or whenever we talked about that before cuz there was like something with the bullying program um that was not um that didn't suffice. I think that you were it was with the eighth grade, I believe, um module. That was something in the eighth grade module if I'm if I'm mistaken. So, I'm just I'm just concerned I just want to make sure that we're not going to end up with something that or pay for something that we're not going to end up using because of the reason of some some of the things that are in the curriculum that's not satisfactory or that shouldn't be taught. And anytime you want to look at that, reach out to me or Miss Valerie, and we'll be glad to set that up. I appreciate it.
068Thank you so much. Any other questions? Any further questions or comments on that for Mr. Miller? All right. If not, uh we'll move on to approval for the quote from Scholastic Education Solutions reading packs again presented by Mr. Miller. Yes, sir. Uh thank you. Uh we'd like to request board approval to purchase uh reading packs for pre-K through our current third third grade students. And these reading packs would go home with students for the summer, and they would be theirs. Uh they come with a family guide and also a letter a custom letter uh for families the importance of continuing to read throughout the summer. This would be through Scholastic. Uh there are four books to a pack. And the funds for this would come from PRC 085, which is a state early literacy fund,
069which we have used, and we have about $150,000 left. We would like to hold on to about 50,000 of that for summer reading camp for any overruns that we may have for summer reading camp, uh and then spend 103,000 uh $38.50 for the summer reading packs. What money we did not spend in PRC 085 would revert back to the state July 1. So, I'm just seeking Yeah, to to add that real quick, one of our strategic plan, as you guys know, is to increase our literacy uh rate for all our students, and um you know, through school hours, we're doing a lot, and last last summer we tried to do a few things to get kids excited. Not only uh if the board approved this, would we be doing the summer reading packs, but we
070also have a vision for what our media centers look like in the in the summer to be able to open up for families and um make them a spot where people want to be. Um and so, just again trying to get our students engaged in summer reading, get them excited. Um We would uh welcome any support uh financially we could to get them get this off the ground. Does anybody have any further questions for Mr. Miller on this? Hearing none, I seek approval of the quote from Scholastic Education Solutions for the summer reading packs uh for a grand total of $38.43. I make a motion that we approve this. Hearing a motion, is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor shall raise their hand. That is unanimous. Thank you. Thank you, Mr.
071Next on the agenda is approval of the use of agreement between Catawba County Board of Education and the Town of Maiden Parks and Recreation Department to be presented by Dr. Matt Stover. Yeah, uh thank you, Chairman Setzer Meyer. This is a donation to the Board of Education for $100,000 uh to be spent at Maiden High School for a new um scoreboard um and that would be approximately 2/3 of the cost. The other third of the remaining cost will come from the uh Sportsmen's Club of Maiden uh to finish that purchase. Uh a generous donation. I've never cut a check for $100,000. Uh so, we're specifically excited about that. Um and what uh you all asked is to ensure that we have a memorandum of understanding to to show that in good faith we'll allow them
072to use our facilities as we already do, and then up that every 10 years uh to to meet the the legal requirements as uh Mr. Sink has pointed out. So, uh big thank you to the Town of Maiden uh Maiden High School for all their work they're putting in. Our uh Robert Hoyle's here tonight, and he's going to be helping to put this together. So, Robert, you and your staff, thank you. Um but uh generous donation, and we're excited. Yes, if the Town of Maiden is listening, thank you very much for this opportunity. Saying that we already let them use these sports fields Looks like a great opportunity. It's a good-looking scoreboard. If you scroll down to it, Marty. Do you have it on there? Very bottom thing. Oh, okay. Yeah, so there's what it
073would look like. You have video to go with it? Yes. There is uh uh been in Lincoln County before. It's very similar to their video scoreboards. I'm not sure if you've seen them, but um it will have a lot of different functionality, including uh playback video. Is there any further discussion? Uh then I seek a motion to approve the agreement between Catawba County Board of Education and the Town of Maiden Parks and Recreation Department. Make a motion. Hearing a motion, is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor shall raise their hand. That is unanimous. Thank you. Next up is approval for architectural design firm negotiation with LS3P Architects for middle school additions and projects. Presented Mr. Dan Moore. Thank you, Chairman Settlemyer, members of the board. A month ago, I stood before
074you seeking approval of the SFLA as our architectural design firm for middle school additions and renovations. Unfortunately, those contract negotiations have not been successful. We're at an impasse. And it would be my recommendation to the board that we terminate those negotiations with SFLA and go to our second firm, which is LS3P, to begin contract negotiations due to the timeliness of this project. And I'll be happy to answer any questions that you may have. Are there any costs that we've incurred in the first negotiations? No, sir. They are Charlotte. Yes. I thank Mr. Moore and our staff and just to um really paint this picture, this is going to be a possible cost savings uh several million dollars if this next firm uh plan to accept our offer. And all that does is allow us to
075build better facilities for our children. So, I thank Mr. Moore and Mr. Hoyle work on this uh not settling for anything less. So, I appreciate y'all. Are there no further questions uh for Mr. Moore? Motion for approval of architectural design firm LS3P architects for middle school additions. I'll make that motion. Hearing a motion, is there any further discussion? Favor shall raise their hand. That is unanimous. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Next up is approval of a allowance authorization number 01 for roof replacement project at Maiden High School. Typically, we call these Thank you, Chairman Settlemyer, members of the board. Typically, we call these change directives. Uh REI engineers refers to these as allowance authorizations. We have an allowance for this roofing project. What we're talking about is the addition of some extensions uh located at
076the gutter and the downspouts. There were 58 of them that had to be created to fit with the gutter for this particular roof at the price of $8,400. And I would seek your approval and be happy to answer any questions you may have about this expenditure at this time. I guess I just wanted to say so far down at Maiden, they're happy with uh the roofing project part of it. Um It It's coming along. We've had a few bumps in the road. Uh we've had some of our sheathing that's underneath the metal roofing. Uh we've had some integrity issues there, a couple of holes, created some leaks. We had some temporary ridge caps that got blown off the last storm, so we had some leaks. But they are progressing. Uh it's unfortunate we've had some
077wet winter weather, and so the grounds have been disturbed, but we're making progress, and we're about 60% of the way through with this installation. So, hopefully, we'll see real progress real soon. So, since they started, we had the ice storm and the snow storm and We've had a lot all kind of storms on top of that, so We've had a lot. >> It's good to see them getting progress made. Getting it fixed right where it hopefully doesn't leak in the for the rest of our lifetimes, anyway. Uh If there's no further questions for Mr. Moore, I seek approval of allowance authorization number 01 for roof replacement project High School. Make a motion that we approve this allowance. Hearing a motion, is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor shall raise their hand.
078That is unanimous. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Uh next on the agenda, again, is Mr. Moore with uh approval of construction management at risk or CMAR firm for uh middle school additions and renovation projects. Thank you, Chairman Settlemyer, members of the board. As you can see, we are progressing rapidly through this timeline that we established beginning in January with regard to this project. And of course, we have to have this project completed by the fall of 2028 when our sixth graders arrive on campus. We had opportunity to interview multiple firms for construction management at risk for Catawba County Schools. We were fortunate to have firms both local, regional, and national and have opportunity to to speak with them about this project. We had a robust process in which we had questions created tailored to our
079specific needs. We were able to have opportunity to hear each firm present for 20 minutes and follow up with 20 minutes of questions. We were able to deliberate after every firm after they presented. After much thought and deliberation by the committee, it would be my recommendation to the board that we approve Hickory Construction Company for the construction management at risk firm for the middle school additions and renovations. I'll be happy to answer any questions that you may have. Anyone have any questions or comments for Mr. Moore? Uh just a comment. I was honored to be a part of this selection. I appreciate uh Mr. Moore's leadership on this and giving everyone uh it it was nothing really wrote nothing nothing Everybody Everyone there had an opportunity to voice their opinion. Great to be a part
080of that, and um I'm glad we came to this decision. Thanks for your leadership, sir. Thank you. And I like the fact that it sounds like we're going for a local firm here in here in Hickory. Yes, sir. It's had a long business relationship throughout the county, and I've heard they've done good work. They have. We look forward to the continued partnership. Fantastic. If nobody else has any more comments or questions, uh I seek a motion for approval of construction management at risk or CMAR firm, Hickory Construction Company, for middle school additions and renovations project. Mr. Chairman, I 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. >> Thank you, Mr. Moore. Uh next up is discussion of
081next steps in disposal of real property declared surplus. Uh adoption of resolution of the Catawba County Board of Education initiating the upset bid sale process to dispose of surplus real property along with Little Mountain Road. And that will be presented by Jonathan Slink. That's right. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Last month at our February meeting, the board daily passed a resolution declaring that [clears throat] tiny sliver of property along Little Mountain Road right across from Balls Creek Elementary as surplus. We [clears throat] always like for those resolutions to be clean and separate and apart from uh the step two, which is before the board for consideration tonight for prospective adoption, which is, "Okay, let's trigger the actual sale." There are multiple ways to do a sale of real property that's already been
082declared surplus. By far and away in these situations, what is used uh is the upset bid sale process. Uh in your packet is a simple one-pager that says exactly what the board would be doing if this resolution is adopted, and um that's one you're naming that you would be selecting the upset bid sale as the process you're going to use to actually dispose of that little sliver, which in the words of Dan K. Moore are smaller than a baseball infield, and he's exactly right. And then number two, uh that district staff led by Dr. Stover is to work uh with me and and contiguous property owners who have already shown interest in the property, not at some high uh monetary value. Again, this is a tiny sliver of land, which even real estate professionals say
083is not worth very much, but to enter into that initial contract. Uh that contract would be publicly noticed. Uh there would be a 10-day upset period, and then after uh there were no upset bids, that sale would be finalized and disposed of. Since there is no further use for that, being y'all have already declared that as surplus property. So, that's that's the resolution before the board for consideration. Thank you, Mr. Slink. Is there any uh further discussion or any comments or questions for Mr. Slink? Uh hearing none, I seek a motion uh for adoption of resolution of the Catawba County Board of Education initiating the upset bid sale process to dispose of surplus real property along Little Mountain Road. Hearing a motion, is there further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor shall raise their
084hand. That is unanimous. Thank you, Mr. Sink. Next up is a nomination of one Catawba County Board of Education member to serve as a at-large member of the North Carolina School Board Association Legislative Committee. One board member came forward, my colleague uh Ms. Teague asked if she could fill that role or apply to fill that role, however the process works there. Uh I have no issues with that if anybody we could go ahead and there's no other comments or uh nominees, I suggest that we make a motion to nominate Ms. Teague for the Catawba County Board of Education to serve as a at-large member of the North Carolina School Board Association Legislative Committee. Hearing a motion, any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor shall raise their hand. That is unanimous. Thank y'all. Uh
085next is closed session in accordance with General Statute 143-318 .11 alpha. Purposes to protect confidential or privileged information, to conduct consult with an attorney to protect current client client and privilege and personnel matters. So, at this time I seek a motion for closed session. So moved. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor shall raise their hand. After a 10-minute recess, we will enter into closed session at 7:40.