001good evening everyone good evening good evening the Durham Public Schools Board of Education monthly meeting is now in session at this time we wish to extend a warm welcome to everyone who is joining us this evening the purpose of this meeting is to inform our parents staff and constituents about the work aligned with our mission to embrace educate and Empower every student to innovate to serve and to lead the interpreters for tonight are Martha Romo iguires and Marty Ramirez thank you all for taking the time to join us the first item on our agenda is a moment of silence um I'd love for us to consider In This Moment of Silence unfortunately our country is dealing with yet another mass shooting in Charlottesville Virginia and those students and Community is impacted as well as us
002right all of us are dealing with this tragedy to a Love In This Moment of Silence if we could take time to honor that community thank you the next item on our agenda is celebrations Mr setter good evening Madam chair members of the board superintendent mobinga uh we have a great night tonight and I'd like to start things off with the recognition of the Durham Public Schools principle of the year I'd like to invite Dr William Logan in and Dr Pascal movingka to come down to the podium Dr Logan ladies and gentlemen um Dr William T Logan transform transformational leader of the historic Hillside High School has been in this position before in 20 uh 2014 he was Durham Public Schools principal of the year and he was chosen once again to be their own
003Public Schools principal of the year in 2022 he is wearing a brand new jacket our uh Human Resources team has decided that we need to class up the joint a little bit the master the master at the Masters you get the green jacket in Durham you get the blue jacket um Dr Logan is uh educator with 25 years in the field he served Hillside as its instructional leader for a decade and an administrator for 19 years Hillside is an amazing school when you see all of the uh at the end of the year the Scholarship office offers that our students have received year after year after year Hillside is way up there at the top of the list Hillside has an on-campus Bank it is an international Baccalaureate and advanced placement um School an avid
004School of Distinction recognition under its belt so many great things happening at Hillside at a school that is that happens to be celebrating its Centennial this year and you may have seen a lot of coverage in the last week about the Centennial timeline that Dr Logan spearheaded at the school we are proud that he is our principal of the Year we're proud that in front of his peer principles he got to uh put on and off put on a jacket not really knowing what was going on every future principal of the year now knows what's up uh but we are honored to recognize him here today and I will turn it over to superintendent Dr ravenga Who has a present a further presentation for Dr Logan all right that's a log and we are really
005proud of you the work lets you do a Hillside High School I cannot imagine being in that school for 12 years you've done amazingly well you are respected by your peers central office as well the entire community the hillside Community Law of data login so with that as a person of the year we have a token that we're going to present to you a gift of two thousand dollars I'm gonna pass the match to you to say a few words then I want you to come and run and shake hands to our board members here wow great evening uh this is uh certainly an honor and a pleasure to be able to serve Durham public schools in this capacity um whoever however it was done the nominations uh that process I just want to thank
006those individuals for nominating me um especially coming out of covet a lot of times when we go through the nomination process we're thinking about the things that has happened up until that point and so with it being such a tough year or a tough few years for all of us um I just thought it was uh profound that you know my colleagues would tap me uh for this particular opportunity and so I'm very very very appreciative of the principles here in Durham Public Schools um I can't think of a final group to work alongside um so selfless so willing to share their expertise their talents their know-how with all of us amongst ourselves it's just it's just amazing uh what we can do when we collaborate the things that we do when we are able
007to collaborate um I also want to thank the board of education for giving me the opportunity to serve and not just serve this year but to serve Durham since 2004 and while many of you are probably on the board at that time I'm just really grateful that I have been able to uh find such favor uh amongst board members uh among superintendents and the same thing holds true with Dr mobinga being here this evening uh he is unwavering in his expectations they're high they're ambitious they're motivating and they're the things that we need you know to drive our work and I will say you know I'm so appreciative of his support as well as the support from his administrative team here at DPS um everybody's just been really really tremendously supportive and that's the only
008reason why I'm standing here uh because without that kind of support I wouldn't be able to do the things that I'm able to do for our students faculty and staff at Hillside High School and so to all of you I just want to say thank you so much and uh I'm going to do my utmost best to try and work my way through this process to show all of the amazing things that are happening here in Durham Public Schools so again thanks to all of you foreign hello can take a step to your life right here first there we go our next recognition of the night is the Durham Public Schools student of the month and for the month of November that student comes from what was once called new Tech High School and is
009now Durham School of Technology I'm excited to present to you assistant principal Lamont Dixon who will introduce you to the Durham Public Schools student of the month good evening it is certainly a pleasure to be here to introduce this young man who is a fine individual uh we've had Charles at Durham School of Technology formally new Tech High School for four full years and he has definitely lived up to the building um again it's truly an honor to stand before you today to present Durham school of Technologies student of the month Charles King Charles is a young man who in my opinion has an extremely bright future he is exceptionally kind intelligent and polite he currently has a 4.2 weighted and a 3.9 unweighted grade point average Charles has been an exemplary student at our
010school since his freshman year I came to understand his Brilliance when subbing in his English forecast until the new hire had cleared the employment process I immediately recognized in his writing and class discussions how intuitive he was I remember thinking wow this is an exceptional young man they don't come that often you know packaged like Charles in an effort to understand more about Charles I wanted to sit down and have a brief discussion with him his interests are economics reading watching biographies on historical figures and video games Charles also loves CNN one of his greatest influences is his grandfather who taught him how to conduct himself and how to be a good person Charles is on track to earn a diploma and software development upon graduation in 2023 in closing Charles's message to all students
011of Durham School of Technology don't forsake opportunities you never know when and if they may come again being in the right place and doing the right things is vitally important to your success board members and guests I present to you a very kind young man and gentleman Mr Charles King uh I'd like to thank the board thank you for nominating me thank you Mr Dixon for that wonderful speech and I'd like to thank all the teachers who taught me from k2k all the way to 12 to 12. sorry about that um if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be where I am right now thank you all right before you walk before you walk the red carpet we have a few things for you um first of all I'd like to present you with the
012Durham Public Schools spark symbol symbolizes a lot of things but the spark pin specifically salutes people for leadership qualities and service to our schools and to our school system I hope that you will upon occasion wear this spark pin with pride as a mark of our respect for you thank you very much sir foreign I have a certificate of uh recognition for you um that we're happy to present to you we also have another certificate that comes with a gift from The Raven Family Foundation a 500 scholarship and but wait there's more and finally from our friends at triangle e-cycling we have a laptop computer for you that we hope can go with you um to graduation and Beyond yeah if you could if you could let Miss Mr Dick hold those for you um
013Mom if you would join your son down the red carpet we'd like to express our appreciation the certificate thank you last but not least I would like to introduce our executive director for human resources uh Michelle Hayes who is about to present this month's teacher and employee of the month for Durham Public Schools foreign good evening chairman Umstead members of the board Dr mobinga and cabinet members as always I am pleased to bring two recognitions to you tonight a teacher of the month sponsored by North Carolina Central University's tennis team the top side chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated DCL Consulting LLC and the veils cares Foundation as well as our Employee of the Month sponsored by the office of Human Resources both recognitions will be brought to you monthly and we congratulate these
014high performers I know our November teacher of the month is Sarah Wilson a fourth grade teacher at Hope Valley Elementary School students thrive in Miss Wilson's fourth grade class both academically and emotionally students feel warmly supported by her with her enduring patients they are able to meet academic goals due to her encouragement and her consistently knowing each student's exit ticket assessment data and following up with a small group or individual support all students in her class grow and succeed regardless of their subgroup and Miss Wilson students EO and Ms Wilson students EOG performs consistently places her in the upper echelon of North Carolina teachers her classroom environment is Rich with anchor charts and growth mindset and it reflects her genuine care for student learning Miss Wilson consistently communicates with families and the and they love
015having their child in her class once again congratulations Miss Wilson November Durham November Durham Public Schools teacher of the month good evening board and everyone um on Tuesday I had the distinct pleasure of visiting Miss Wilson in her class my assistant coaches and I uh to surprise her for this wonderful achievement and recognition and I can tell you that it was refreshing to see just the enthusiasm and excitement from the Student Center class it was clear that they really really love her appreciate her and uh and that was really nice to see this evening so we presented Miss Wilson with flowers a cake and a little bubblies for after hours to relax and uh and so this evening on behalf of DCL Consulting we'd like to present Miss Wilson with the check for 100 for
016our achievements at this time you can go ahead and walk the red carpet I'm back a November employee of the month goes to Andrew Blake Halsey our Safety and Security emergency management coordinator Blake Halsey goes beyond above and beyond assisting and supporting our Durham Public Schools community in the area of Emergency Management DPS is one of the few in the state to have an emergency management coordinator to assist K-12 he is a huge asset not only to our department but to the district and is so deserving of this award and recognition Blake has committed and dedicated himself in ensuring that DPS Community is equipped to prevent prepare respond and recover in the face of emergencies and disasters our Safety and Security team is responsible for their own daily tasks and responsibilities but can often be
017found supporting and assisting each other to ensure that we meet our goal of serving the term Public Schools Community to the best of our ability it is difficult to put into words how dedicated and valuable he is to Durham public schools and specifically to our team congratulations to Mr Halsey Durham Public Schools November employee of the month you may walk the red carpet okay thank you executive director Hayes and that concludes our celebrations for the evening thank you Mr ceterith and congratulations to all our celebrity celebration Award winners I will say it's wonderful to watch the eyes light up as our students and families hear about the scholarship opportunity as well as the computer and it's really a testament to all the really great things happening in our district the next item on our agenda
018is the superintendent's update Dr mobinga Madam chair board members good evening the first thing I want to do is issue a public word of thanks to miss Mackenzie Scott the national philanthropist will notice our work here in Durham Public Schools our commitment to academic excellence social and emotional support and equity for all students always surprised when representative for Miss Scott contacted us to let us know that she was going to make a donation in support of our students in our schools and this week we receive confirmation of one time 18 million dollars Grant is this unexpected good news and we must be careful and strategic about how we can best prioritize this funding so I asked our community patience as we work with this board to deploy this grant in a way that follows Durham's
019values and align with our strategic plan I'm going to say this I'm going to go off squid a little bit here we've received several emails folks super excited about this 18 million dollars I'm going to I am super excited I was a part of this conversation about two months ago I thought it was a scam and we had to put all the measures in place to make sure that we're not going to hurt our district thank you to our Tonys everybody that's been involved in the process but I'll say this this kind of funds comes once in a lifetime let be patient I know some folks want to know the plan in a week or two we're gonna make sure we're gonna involve all our stakeholders in this conversation I'm gonna start with our board
020I'm gonna work with our cabinet we're going to work with a superintendent student Advisory Group we're going to work with our representative from our principles and our teachers as well we really want to make sure These funds is going to have a long and lasting impact we have 32 000 students we really want to make sure it's going to impact all these students let's be patient it may take two months it may take six months this was not a font that was appropriate for this year let's be patient to get it right I really wanted to go off my notes a little bit too elaborate on that speaking of a strategic plan I'm excited about our continuing work to chart our course for the next five years through developing the 2023 2028 strategic plan we
021continue to seek input from our families students and broader Community about what's priorities and concerns are so that our steering committee may make recommendation to our boards that again follows Durham's values and ignites the Limitless potential of every student links to our strategic plan survey are available on our district website and on social media please take five minutes to share your ideas we really need your input only five minutes but finally I want to invite all of Durham families to attend the DPA Showcase of schools this Saturday November 19th from 10 AM to 1 pm at the Durham Convention Center downtown this is more than just a magnet Fair the Showcase of school provides families with the opportunity to explore what makes DPS the best choice for children to learn and grow attendees will have
022the chance to talk with teachers principles and other DPS staff about neighborhood schools application schools and other special special programs plus all attendees will receive a free book from book Harvest we look forward to seeing you all there thank you madam chair that concludes my remarks thank you Dr mabinga exciting things happening in Durham public schools and I really encourage families to make sure you come out to the Showcase of schools on Saturday the next item on our agenda is the gender review and approval Madam chair I would like to add an item for discussion after the consent items a new item nine a discussion of our draft lgbtq plus and gender support policy second been moved in second in the other discussions take a motion oh excuse me I'm sorry we already had that
023all those in favor please say aye aye aye any opposed please use the same sign passes unanimously so we have amended our agenda um the next item on our agenda is Board of Education monthly meeting minutes October 20th 2022. the move approval of the minutes from October 20th 2022. second they've been moved and properly second any other discussion all those in favor please they are any opposed please use the same sign it passes unanimously the next item on our agenda is general public comment I will read our rules before we get started uh please state your name is speaking for organization please state your name in the name of the organization second speakers are asked to present their comments in three minutes when the yellow light comes on you have one minute left to start
024winding up your remarks when the red light comes on it will beep which indicates your time is up complaints about name staff students or parents should not be voiced in Open session however we are very interested in hearing your concerns with regard to public education safety of students or to the operation of the school system finally the Board of Education will listen carefully and consider the comments but we do not engage in a discussion with speakers our first speaker is Ron Baron um thank you for having me today my name is Ron Baron I live at 208 North driver Street and I'm the proud father of a non-binary kindergartner whom you got to meet us a couple of week a few weeks ago I was glad to see that Parkwood um is doing a training
025uh to help teachers support our lgbtq and gender non-conforming students but such training should not be organized by non-profits they should be organized by the district and they should be required for all teachers and staff we need uniform enforceable policy and training as a matter of urgency it provides safety and support for our lgbtq and gender non-conforming community at DPS I look forward to hearing about the new policy this evening and I hope it is implemented in short order thank you thank you the next uh public comment speaker is and him Street the Cowie industry good evening board members I considered staying home tonight and not coming and sharing with you this uh this evening but I'm glad I'm here because I am glad to hear that um I will get to listen to what's
026um what's on board with the possible policy my name is Anne sakawi hemstreet my pronouns are she or they I am the founder and director of rainbow Collective for change I'm a white queer mother of two young children um one of whom uses they them pronouns and live here in Durham with my wife Allison since March I along with many others have been advocating for a board policy that provides clear direction for supporting lgbtq and gender diverse students and staff a board policy that will protect lgbtq and gender diverse students now tomorrow and Beyond this Administration and board I recognize that a board policy is only the beginning but a policy is essential for setting a strong Foundation from there DPS can form a task force that hopefully represents the wide diversity of people who
027identify as lgbtq and gender diverse including black and brown folks neurodiverse folks Spanish-speaking folks parents Educators and students this task force will be essential for creating a comprehensive approach to implementing and enforcing this board policy throughout the district an approach that includes quality intersectional and ongoing training for all DPS Educators staff and administrators an approach that engages families and discussions about self and family identity diversity and solidarity an approach that includes support for including lgbtq and gender inclusive books and lessons in the classroom from K through 12. this week is transgender Awareness Week or in some circles transgender resilience week Sunday is transgender day of Remembrance in honor of the many transgender folks who are killed every year simply for being who they are so far in 2022 at least 32 transgender people mostly black
028transgender women have been killed because of who they are imagine how different their lives might have been if they grew up in a society in a family went to a school that believed in them and affirmed them for being who they are you have the power to get a foundation in place so that our community's children might have that childhood my kid might have that childhood and in a different and a different future they might grow up to live a long happy life and be surrounded by people who value them for who they are please consider doing the personal work and the work across the district to make this a safe and affirming place for all children thank you thank you right that concludes our public comment the next item on our agenda is our
029consent items we have several items that have been sent to the Board of Education in advance and have been reviewed ahead of tonight's meeting four move approval of the consent agenda second been moved by Miss Rogers seconded by Miss uh fire any other discussion all those in favor please say aye aye any opposed please use the same sign passes unanimously the next item on our agenda is the draft uh lgbtq policy uh that was added by Miss buyer do you want to start from there thank you so much Madam chair I come with um enthusiasm for the work and the conversations that we've had and the heart that this board unanimously shares for working on this issue that is so so important I left our last conversation thinking that we have a lot of aspirations
030and we have a lot of work to do and I think we're unanimous in that but I also feel very strongly that policy is what is needed we have guidelines that are strong but I I Aspire for this board to codify that in policy it's not going to be perfect policy but it's going to be a starting place and so to that end I worked with Miss validaris and Ms Rogers to draft a policy that I sent you all on the 3rd of November and so if you'll indulge me I'd just like to read that into consideration and um tell you that I I based it kind of from our gender support guidelines from model policies by glsen from language that's already kind of codified in our race Equity uh policy so it didn't just
031come from nowhere and it it had feedback from colleagues and I'd just love to appreciate y'all um considering it this evening as a starting place I don't know because I don't know if I shared it with it's yeah if I'm reading the version from November 3rd I can afford that China Nicole are you the one projecting no I didn't think so um so I don't know how I don't know about the tech but I do want to just at least this is rather than me running on about my thoughts I just thought I'd just read it into conversation for uh-huh I just emailed it to you um I mean I there's been a so if we can have this forwarded to Miss Smith she'll make sure that we can get it up I also think
032this we like to try to make our create our agendas in advance so that we can have those materials included so if you can read it as well miss buyer and then send the version that you are reading to the boards we all make sure yeah I just did yeah thank you that is great so we all can make sure that we're on the same page it might take a while for Miss Smith she's not running the it so it might take a while for that to get on but if you can go ahead and start reading thank you the Durham Board of Education respects the dignity and worth of all students and staff and is committed to Safe welcoming and supportive School environments for all students staff and families deserve curricular materials and lessons
033that include the rich diversity of our community School administrators must seek inclusive training for staff that encourages lgbtqi plus and gender inclusivity students and staff must be free to be their authentic selves without fear of bullying harassment or intimidation students and families may work with school staff to submit a gender support plan to their school the school's administrators Educators and staff shall take all reasonable efforts to comply with the gender support plan or with the plan student and staff rights are protected by federal and state laws as well as board policies and guidelines Title IX is a federal education law that protects students from discrimination based on sex including sexual orientation or transgender status existing board policy provides clear protections for lgbtqi plus students and staff including transgender and gender non-binary students and staff every
034Durham Public Schools employee should follow these board policies and the DPS gender support guidelines consistent with all applicable U.S constitutional rights civil rights federal and state privacy laws rules and regulations this policy provides a starting place for our school district and must be expanded quickly to incorporate best practices that will ultimately make schools safer more affirming and more inclusive for transgender and non-binary students particularly those who are black brown latinx indigenous and or people with disabilities who have the same rights to education as their peers the Durham Public Schools Board of Education will convene a task force of local stakeholders to recommend additional policy language for the board's consideration this task force will consider recommendations from glsen the national Center for transgender equality safe schools in C equality in C the Tyler Clementi Foundation model
035policies from Exemplar school districts and other sources this policy is a living document and is designed to be reviewed and updated on a regular basis so I hope that that is um language that this board can support in some form maybe on first reading tonight maybe on second reading in a few weeks um and consider adopting this or something similar to to actually just put a flag in the ground a marker to say yes we have gender support guidelines on in our website yes we expect everyone to follow them and we look forward to working with our community to move the the this to best practices as quickly as possible so I appreciate y'all's consideration and thoughts this evening thank you Miss Byron for starting the conversation I would love um that uh we I
036sent this over to our attorney Mr Malone just to get his thoughts we want to always make sure our policies have been reviewed by staff and the attorney so I wanted to see if you had any comments on that Mr Malone so I did have a chance to review it um I guess I certainly understand the concept and what you're attempting to do from a policy perspective um I'm not sure that I would call this a policy um I I think that um I mean the guidelines that you have are probably closer to policy I mean this is like aspirational maybe a statement from the board but I don't know that I would necessarily um included in the policy manual I think that we could um you know if you like your guidelines we could
037certainly you know take those guidelines and and maybe make that more like a policy although it in its current form I do think that you should know that it it's it is effectively a policy at your current guidelines um they're just not housed in the policy manual but we could certainly take your current guidelines um update those a little and bring that back to you and you could make that a policy I think that that's set up more as a policy than than this I mean this is this is a great statement this this would be like a great resolution for the board to adopt uh more in the form of a resolution stating that these are your goals these are your plans this is what you're interested in doing um I just don't I
038don't necessarily think that that this is as it reads currently is really a a quote-unquote policy if that makes sense thank you thank you Mr Malone I also want to remind us in um Dr mobinga I think talked about this in his statements and in our previous meeting we talked about putting together a task force to really dig into our guidelines as well as the policy I think that's been our practice when we did our student code of conduct there was a group and a task force that was put together we convened people from all across our community we did the racial and educational Equity policy we also did a similar process where we convened folks from all across the community to get together do some research and revisions and write and develop our policy
039and so I think we had earlier our board had agreed and we've already started thinking about names and individuals who could serve on that task force to be working on and strengthening our strengthening our guidelines are a policy whichever way we would need to go we also have committed to doing training and so we have been looking for and thinking about who the right training trainers might be for that task force as well as for the board I feel like I'm missing one more commitment that we made that but those things are happening so I want people to hear also in the community that we are moving forward making um starting that process and wanting to be able to present something really soon so that we can start moving forward um I see your hand
040is fired ours thank you our chair Bettina Umstead and colleagues and also you know our administrators I know that this has been it's not new um we have emails going back uh sometime and I want to thank especially uh Miss Tanya Giovanni soon to be Dr Tanya Giovanni um thank you for the work that you've done I know that you sent us um and Dr mobanga as well you know with Dr mubenga's I guess uh approval you sent us uh Buncombe counties and Orange County's policy that we were able to review and we were able to look at in October October 12th um and my my only thing about this first reading is that while we can we want and the intention was to develop our own Durham policy um we are very aware that
041this is about civil rights this is about every student being able to look at the policy book and see themselves reflected in that policy book it is not okay to do a search in our policy manual and to search for some of these important designations important ways that our students identify and not find anything that it speaks to their rights and so I want to remind us that the federal government is doing that but there's federal law there's also state law there's also local municipalities and we are a local Education Agency and we can write policies and so I I hear the hesitation and I definitely appreciate um you know therington Smith for letting us know um Mr Malone you you let us know about you know just recommendations based on how we wrote Our
042Own in-house one but my recommendation tonight is that we start somewhere and the start is let's take the policy from Buncombe am I pronouncing it right yeah it's my second language so okay Buncombe County and Orange County we have had time to review that we've we've got that you know in emails going back you know from our community Advocates who sent it to us and we actually have looked at it we've had time to review it we've had time to you know go through the language in it and that is that is that has passed in more than one County and there should be no reason why 2017 and 2020 these are the years Orange County passed it in 2020 but bunk home passed it in 2017. it's 2022. it's time it's 2022 and it's
043time Durham it's time Durham it's time for us to catch up and I think that you know 2017 and 2020 these other Counties have done it let's just take that solid policy that's already in these counties and let's change the name if we have to but we have to start somewhere but Durham public schools and let's do instead of BCS DPS and make sure that we have um whatever relevant things that need to be formatted that is a start and I'm so grateful for the work that has happened I know that we have a wonderful Chief of Staff who has worked with board members here we've we've all had just a lot of appreciation for the task force and the names that's going to take some time but we're not going to wait a year
044we're not going to wait two years um the important thing is that when we look at our policy manual it needs to be comprehensive our policies our policy manual we shouldn't have to look for a guideline our families are not going to quote a guideline they're going to quote the policy and so it needs to be in a policy book where we can say policy number 4022 because I don't think we have a 40 22. so 40 22 policy 4022 says and then we ensure that everyone is represented in our policy book um we know that this is about civil rights but we also know this is about serving our families they are taxpayers they are the reason why we are here they want to make we want to make sure all our students all
045our students understand that this work of Education means access inequity for all and there are ways that even highlighting all the different pieces whether it talks about discrimination whether it talks about bullying whether it talks about the way our students identify whether it talks about the diversity all of it is speaking about our diverse constituents and our families that come from many different backgrounds national origin language sexual orientation gender there's so much that we can learn and I know that this District's going to be learning about civil rights and about the ways that we ensure that everyone has access that every family feels welcome in Durham public schools that this is a school system that works for everyone and as I'm speaking about this I just want our community to understand that we know that
046there's a lot of questions we know that there's a need for training we know there's a need for more robust conversations around this we are willing to support and that is part of the conversation about bringing in trainers vetted trainers who can come and work with our with our admins and Dr mabenga you have committed you know to training you have committed to ensuring that we have all the resources that we need to support all our families and so all these pieces are moving along but the policy cannot wait the policy can be revised we can start somewhere and being that we heard about our in-house policy having to wait a little bit let's start with a policy that is already vetted that has already been put forth in other counties and Durham let's not
047fall behind on this and thank you all so much usually I don't get involved when it comes to policy that's uh their work will fall or board but I just want to give my two cents here uh are strongly support policy to make sure that everybody's protected everybody's supported but if you recall probably about a couple weeks ago we sent you welcome Connie policy right so pretty much like Miss vadero said you just want to change the name and all that as superintendent I'm good but when I hear you aspiration about things that need to be done that's why I'm going to tell you I want everybody to hear my voices it will work we're going to be cautioned we have 32 000 students that's why the task force is really important so you can
048hear the voices of all these folks are where the bank of County policy I'm good with that but when it comes to things that we have to enforce to make sure training is happening across the board we got to make sure task force where everybody's representative on the table because that's where they work you guys going to hold me accountable to enforce I really want to enforce your policy but let's hear those voices as well policy very supportive I said this before I'm supporting it but the enforcement of the work of the training that need to be done with all our teachers all our staff my two cents we gotta be careful we gotta be careful whatever impacts positive negative is going to be is not going to be on the superintendent any other disc
049discussion I do um also can I just ask a clarifying question you're talking about Buncombe has guidelines as well right as so can I just so just so we can be clear the Orange County materials that you've received are in those are the rags that go with the Orange County policy that is very similar to the policy that you have everyone has the kind of non-discrimination policy what orange did is they they created gender support guidelines that are in the regs that are then on their website in the policy so when you go to the policy manual and you search it searches both the policies and the wrecks and it grabs that there so you could likewise either starting with the Orange County version or the I haven't seen the Buncombe one but uh Eva
050duberson in my office I did mention to me today that the um the orange one and the bunkum one are very similar so they they probably are very similar um so we could you could easily um take the Orange County version or the Buncombe County version and create your own Rag and have that then posted in your on your website one of the advantages in a rag compared to a policy kind of once is established is the superintendent can be more Nimble with rags in terms of making changes if necessary because they don't change us to the regs don't necessarily require board approval so there's some flexibility there obviously you would be notified of any changes um but that would get it in the policy manual which I hear the importance to you and the
051others about being that people can find it with ease and then that would also if you start it with one of these models you would be starting with with one that has at least been reviewed by lawyers that do this work I know the lawyers for the Buncombe County schools and obviously our firm is in Orange so my preference would be to start with the orange one because I know Eva spent a lot of time looking at this one and is very familiar with it but But whichever one you choose to start with is fine um and and it's something that you could easily have at the next board meeting for review if that's if that's the pleasure of the board is the one the guidelines that we have currently wasn't that fashion after the
052one from Orange County originally your current guidelines were done I don't know five-ish years ago um we did take a look Eva did take a look at those recently um when this issue was brought to me by Miss Giovanni um and and those guidelines could be updated I mean we were thinking that this process would lead to some conversation around either updating those guidelines or or doing new guidelines as you work through this issue but those those guidelines are good they're just they could use a little tweaking um but but certainly if you wanted to kind of abandon those so to speak as part of adopting a different model the orange one is certainly a good starting point absolutely or bunkum I mean I'm not either one I'm just to be clear I want to
053clarify just um so Durham LED with gender support guidelines in I believe 2015 and the board attorney at that time Mr kinsu worked with Durham Administration in 2015 and lead and so they were kind of the beginning and so a lot of what you're seeing with like orange and Buncombe could potentially maybe have been based on Durham what Durham did but that's just kind of the clarity so when we updated it the reason that it didn't just jump to bunkums because I already had what the board and Mr Sue had worked on in 2015 and then again in 2018 and so Dr Bullock and I were working on that and again with Mr Matt Hixson that's what we were basing it on and so you know when we're looking at that that's why we are
054wanting more input and kind of guidance from the board and then just to clarify and because I I can never take credit for something I didn't do thank you Mrs for your kind words but debunking policy was shared with me by Miss Millicent Rogers and then I forwarded it on so thank you Miss Rogers thank you Miss Miss Chavez um we're being over overly polite over here um well thank you all thank you to my colleagues who worked on this and um I think um where I land with this is I guess I want to say a few things one I think we should um I mean I think moving this into policy is important I think um I do look forward to the full process we will have with the task force that I
055think will flesh out some of the the some of the areas that I think are maybe unique to Durham um I want to I I would um say let's move forward with um moving the Orange County with some you know mix of the Buncombe guidelines uh or the bunkum policy let's go ahead and take that as a first read and then go ahead give some feedback um my thoughts about like implementing it well there are a couple like in the policy this is what I want to maybe have more discussion and feedback with um with maybe a small group over the next few weeks is um one about how parents are included um in this Pro the processes of supporting lgbtq students I am aware that Durham is a special place and I love that
056about Durham and we are um you know we're just unique we're not Orange County we're not Buncombe I do think the models that they have put forth um perhaps based on what on ours is Ms Giovanni said um is I think they're very useful and um and I want to be um and I've said this but like very intentional about the intersectional um lens with which we create this um I am it racial equity and lgbtq plus inclusiveness are not separate they cannot be and so um with that I'm yeah that's one area that I want to look into how we include notification with parents to you know there are some things in here that I just had questions about we do not have the exact same wording around parent parental um inclusion or um
057things separate from parents as are in these guidelines and I want to be aware you know in our County in our um in our district which is um 80 black and brown um students of color there are ways in which uh black and latinx parents especially are um not always um and this is just a bigger historical issue made to feel included in our schools and so that's something that we talk about so I want to be very intentional about how we you know uh thread these together so that's one thing um the other thing I'm aware of is the um the labor that it puts on our staff and I am very happy that we are at this point I've been in education a long time this has been something that I have worked
058on um since I you know got into education um fighting for our lgbtq youth and it's very important to me I'm very excited to see this through and I want to be aware of the process by which we do that this is a process and I've mentioned this before of you know whether we want it to be or not changing hearts and Minds in in some way and um and giving people a chance to say the things that they need to say and ask you know I think in Durham it's a lot of times people are don't feel that they can ask certain questions but we need to give that space so we can move forward and understand everybody can understand why including queer and trans students in an intentional way is essential to meeting
059our academic goals and our goals to to empower all of our students to reach their Limitless potential so that's going to take time and um and I hope you know all of us as we visit schools talk to other people you know we keep this in mind this is not just what we talk about up here this is something we should you know be mindful of as we um engage with our community and with our schools and with our students and our staff so that's what I would say um I think it won't be a big difference to put the guidelines into policy at this point um I would not there and I also want to be intentional about letting the process happen and we don't have to flesh out every single thing right now
060because that task force is going to move forward and do that and if there are pieces that are that we're not sure about I would say leave those out for now because we're going to work through them and um and make sure we get to a consensus that feels good um to our community thanks uh Miss Rogers so thanks everybody for working on this and talking about this and really working through this um and the drive policy you presented Ali thank you I do want to make sure whatever policy we decide to go with the Buncombe or the Orange County that we are keeping the piece about the Durham Public Schools Board of Education will convene a task force that whole paragraph because we want um everyone to know how important this work is and
061how important the community is to be involved in this work I know that boards previously have held task force prior to implementing policy but we are Durham public schools and we believe in restorative practices so as we implement this policy we're not implementing this in an effort to be punitive towards any staff member but to really find out where we are across the district and go from there and grow from there because there are different people different people are different places and this will give us an opportunity to really gauge where we need to have more intentional training and support for our people because everybody's our people and we need to make room for that I also want to acknowledge where we are after this current election and how difficult things could be for us
062going forward so it's important that we move quickly in implementing such a policy before hopefully it won't come a time but before there's a time when we can't Implement such a policy because this is important to us and it's important to include everybody in our education spaces here in Durham so is that of order in some ways to go ahead and move forward with policy it's not what has been done historically but we can pivot we can change and we can be the Durham Public Schools we need now even though we haven't traditionally done that and I hope that we can go ahead and move forward with this policy and really include the task force as part of that uh Mr Malone you had some so I understand the task force and the decision to
063to want to keep that I think that you can have the commitment to the task force in your motion to approve the policy but I wouldn't actually put the task force language in the policy um but yeah I mean I certainly think you can make that you know part and again I think this reads great as a resolution of some sort you know it really does kind of state the board's commitment and it could be a great resolution if you wanted to do that also separately but we could we could easily get you a draft policy based on what I hear to be either orange and or bunkum for review at the next meeting and um and then again I would I would not personally put this language in the policy but it could be
064part of the motion approving the policy would be to make sure that as quickly as possible you can be in a task force blah blah so we can we can help script a motion for that too if that if that helps well now let me make sure everyone has a chance to speak before we Circle back around any other comments Mr Sears oh no um it's five dollars thank you so much just a follow-up um our policy book my goodness this is not our policy book but I this is represented we just just understand like all the policies in here did not require a task force I just want to make sure we clarify like we have policies in here for everything you need this is comprehensive I've looked through our policies we do not
065have how many policies in total I mean I know Mr Bonnie you've been helping translate these to Spanish since I've been on the board you've been working diligently to translate and I know there's so many policies and we have not had a task force for every single one so I just want to make sure that we're mindful of that that the task force is a great thing I do believe it'll help us towards refining but in reality it is not a precursor and it is not something that is a requirement in order to pass a policy um the other thing I just wanted to say is that I am very much appreciative that we're gonna do that step of taking that language and I can understand that we will reference the task force without going
066too into it because I know that the task force itself is being developed and as we develop it and as we figure out but one of the things that I do here from my colleagues especially Emily Chavez I do want to give you credit you have been an educator in Durham public schools and this has been a topic that you have definitely LED in in so many different ways and that that call to include parents the parent voice um one of the things is that the task force needs to to have directly affected impacted families and you know we have all kinds of stakeholder representatives in there some of us will be on there so much in terms of the task force including our admins but the parent voice is going to be very important
067um the last thing that I'll say is that you know uh I am so grateful that we're at this point and um the guidelines themselves are great because the guidelines will continue to to guide maybe that Durham aspect of this policy right now we're taking out a cookie cutter you know we're taking something that is standard language that has already been passed in other counties but the work that we're going to do with the engagement with more of of the work that is happening in what we're getting from task force will help refine that will help us get to where we need to get to get that Durham uh piece in there so I'm I'm very grateful and I thank our community for engaging us I think the number of voices one of the things
068that I do want to make sure is that on that racial component we have heard from stakeholders diverse stakeholders and I particularly have been super grateful to understand the sacrifice it takes for families to come here on in on an evening many of whom work and take time off of work to show up um students that have shown up so we've had stakeholders like students families and representatives from all kinds of races and I'm also there with the the racial Equity aspect um the intersectional aspect um most of all civil rights we we have that foundation and we need to make sure that the policy includes the rights of all our families thank you Miss Lewis um thank you to the colleagues that came together to draft this to drive this policy for us to
069review and have further conversation from where we began the conversation um it's super helpful to have this to have um thank you Ms Giovanni for sharing the history and where DPS began the work and how you were able to pull in Orange County and Miss Rogers for pulling in Buncombe County so I just Echo so many sentiments um I think I've shared this before when we talked about it last we have our guidelines in place we have Title IX in place we have an equity policy in place and we continue to hear from the community that lgtb Coupe plus policy is what's needed I really like what you said um Miss Chavez changing hearts and Minds I've had the opportunity to sit on several different task force and that's the end that is what it's
070for when you have a policy that there's a range of understanding there's a range of um just accepting and knowing what it means for their families for their students for us to have clarity about what it means from the Administration staff faculty um it's important that we convene this task force is where I continue to lean in we are DPS and we do things differently here we want to hear from our community we want to hear from the diversity of voices and stakeholders that are involved those are our values so when we have something that we know that there are parents in different places students in different places and understanding on what this means changing hearts and Minds is important and to me that's the heart the work that a task force does I hear
071you Dr mabenga the board says policies for governance the way that is executed is up to the superintendent and the administration and that's where we need more understanding um more education more training and I hear that and that is why again I stand behind the um task force being formed and I think you um even Mr Malone thank you also for sharing that our guidelines are strong in the way they are I don't think this is any different than what we already said we were going to do is to have the guidelines um strengthened to become policy this matter you know which comes first and when it is my preference at the task force has some work in it um and bring this to us a really clear policy but at the same time is
072strong if it could be stronger and we can pull it as a regulation under a policy I can support that with it knowing that we're still pulling his task force together for what the implementation looks at like for changing hearts and Minds bringing people closer to the middle uh Miss buyer this has been a fantastic discussion and I appreciate all of you for um bringing your heart to it and your um you're centering it in our Durham community um Mr Malone I I I've been listening for consensus and I thought I heard good consensus of proceeding in some way hopefully at our next meeting with the with something similar to the Buncombe or or orange and that language I think I brought back from a safe schools and seek you know conference years ago so
073it's predated my heart I've always loved it if this board could unanimously support that in a couple weeks that I would be thrilled um to have that as an important um starting place and I heard just enthusiasm for that um and I appreciate all the other ways that that we are bringing Community together on this issue so um I I don't take your critique of of my draft at all as a problem I've I've been I did not want a critique no please I would give you a red pencil to tear it up if it would move this issue forward it's so much in need of of in my heart being raised to the policy level so that it is clear where this board stands and and where this Administration leads from um so thank
074you so much for your help getting us there in the coming weeks and again it is a really good strong statement it was well written um I want to make sure that that's clear well well understood Mr Malone it is a great statement that has been written I um I think I've uh thank you all for engaging in this conversation I think I've heard clear end goals of what we want and I know that we all value making sure that every student and family here feels valued feel seen feels heard I think that how we get there is where we are here the difference on our board and I it's interesting we talk about our Durham values and to me our Derm value also has including Community hold community members into the process I think
075we get a richer policy when we include people from all across our community people who are live folks who have close experience experience folks who are experts and I think it allows us to bring people um with us as we implement the policy I think I um appreciate the clarification around orange and Buncombe and Durham I think I would want us to look at Durham and what is missing before we just move forward with that I think we need to look at our own guidelines if they are similar to Orange where do they need to be strengthened like I don't I I would personally prefer that versus just adopting someone else's without doing some of that analysis first um yeah and I think we need to clarify what our work needs to be and I
076think even in having this discussion today I think we all might have a different idea of what happens moving forward in my mind a task force with a policy can help us clarify what the work needs to be in our schools and in our district moving forward I think it also provides um the superintendent his administration more Direction um than kind of I agree this is beautiful language it feels I'm not sure what happens next right so having a task force that really flushes out a clear end goal of working on policy strengthening our guidelines and looking at the policy together creates a clear end goal and thinking about what implementation looks like so that's that is kind of where I'm sitting in this conversation I'm um yeah look we could take the draft policy
077as it is written as a resolution since it's not really considered a policy and we are moving forward with the task force we know these things are in action we could also direct our Administration to look at um our gender guidelines as they currently stand and strengthen that with the language looking at Orange versus just adopting another one without kind of going through the process of having Community to look at it and respond and that kind of thing I think those would move us in the right direction I think it's important to make sure we have an opportunity for people to see and respond an Administration to work through what we want to adopt I have a question clarification and maybe uh there uh Mr Malone can you would you help us um is it
078a can we make a motion to pass uh a first draft of policy based on Buncombe and orange and then put it for a vote if we can move forward with what we I think most most of the board members are on the same point that we don't have to wait for the task force to finish their work whether they take a year to actually get bare bones policy in our manual and I heard from many of my colleagues that we are ready to move with a Bare Bones cookie cutter policy that has been adapted by other counties that has already been vetted that we have had time months to review for so that at the next board meeting we do a second reading and we can actually pass it um versus completing all of
079it with sorry I apologize um my hands kind of move a little bit but versus completing all that with the work of a task force it's going to take time we we understand that our policies are not written in stone we can always revise it we have processes in place to revise a policy my question is what can we do in terms of a vote to see where we're all at whether we can move forward with a policy um this is a first read and we we know that the policy that we presented needs some work so we're going with Buncombe and Orange County Orange County policy I do want to add that this was added to the agenda as a discussion item so it was not added as a read first read or anything
080like that I just want to remind us of that um but Mr Malone go ahead so what I would recommend um would be that the board by vote direct the administration and the lawyers to bring a draft policy if this is where the board is to bring a draft policy based upon the orange and or bunker model to the next meeting um I think that at the next meeting if the board reviews that policy and you find it acceptable I think the the cleaner option would be at that point to waive second reading and to adopt it immediately then I don't like the idea of the board approving something that you don't actually have in front of you tonight to look at um so but I think I think you could certainly direct the lawyers
081and the the lawyer in the administration to bring that to the next meeting and then if you like it waving second reading would be the better way to proceed that way it would be on the website the community can see it everybody will see it and know what you're reviewing ahead of time and then you can waive second reading if you so choose at that meeting or you can um is it 30 days or you could shorten it to two weeks and approve it at the following meeting but you could still you know stick with your process and I think the community can tell about what you're doing tonight and what you're talking about doing over the next couple meetings that you're committed to this issue we can make a motion tonight to approve it
082for to to direct the administration to bring a draft policy at the next board meeting that we will read and we will waive the second reading or we can we have the option to waive the second reading and pass it then you would not right but let's wait and see the document review the document you discuss it among yourselves as a potential policy for you to adopt if you then read it and you like it then you could certainly wave second reading my only thing is we've read it and we've had it literally we're changing DPS and so we're only changing the name we're saying that we're going to adopt the structure that other Counties have passed and I think what we've talked about is We're not gonna we're gonna let the task force do
083the work of giving us the Durham richness and the value the Durham value but we're talking about policy that has already been vetted we've had time months to read it we've all read it we've all discussed it I've had many conversations and we've all had conversations and so the thing is it's not that it's a new thing I mean we have had this policy in our possession and it's public also online everybody has seen it so it's nothing we're not doing anything different other than taking a policy that exists in Orange County and Buncombe County and being able to adapt it so that it actually fits our name durum schools or DPS and I'm so the motion can the motion go on because I can I can pull up the document actually sent the document
084to um with with the name change and I sent it to everybody so we do we do have a document but that's why it does I want to be clear it's important that when we are passing policy that we have it on an agenda that we have an opportunity for the public to see it before it gets here and that has been sent to us as a way to vet like we have had in the past our policy committee sat down and vetted all of our policy we had a task force of vetted policy and that while it has been emailed to us we have not added it to an agenda for an action item so I think we need to uh the urgency are here and it's really important I want to note that
085there's an urgency in this moment and I also want to make sure that we are moving in the right Spirit of the way our board with a governance board right and how what our roles and responsibilities are clarification can we make a motion for the to direct the administration to bring a draft policy does a question yes or no tonight November 17th so November 17 2022 can we make a motion for the administration to bring a draft policy at the next board meeting I know I mean you certainly could make such a motion but I also think that the administration and the lawyer understand that you expect us to be on the agenda next month and it will you will have a policy for consideration whether you make a motion or not but you if
086you prefer to make a motion that's perfectly fine but I could promise you there will be it there will be a policy on the next agenda and I think there needs to be Clarity are we talking about our guidelines are we talking about something completely new I I personally don't feel comfortable asking for Something Completely from scratch in the next two weeks right we also have a holiday that's in between there I just want to be clear about the ask I would like to see our gender guidelines compared with orange and strengthen and bring that to our next meeting but I think we just need to be clarifying what we're talking about and that's I just want to clear it up because we've been you using the language interchangeably so we have reviewed the guidelines
087and your guidelines and and would make would propose changes to them that would get them kind of closer to Orange so it's it's just I mean either way you probably would end up closer to Orange anyway I mean you have good guidelines they're not that far off I mean it's so we're not this is not apples and oranges I mean you've got good God minds they're just some things that we would probably tweak to get it closer to the orange version if yeah so I I don't think that you would notice that big a difference honestly um and then and then this will be um and then these will be guidelines or regulations that would go in the policy manual is what I understand again it's not technically going to be a policy it would
088be Rags but it would be housed now with the policies um such that one would find him there that I think that thank you for that Clarity that's really clear about what our next steps need to be and I think as you know we will continue to have conversations about the task force so we can solidify that group I think the goal would be at our what's today November 7th that we could also bring that draft list in our December meeting of the task force folks so they can get started you know I know there's task force in Durham that work for 18 months and 24 months we can put a time limit on our task force um to ask them to work on six months and I think you know and being a part
089of the racial and educational Equity task force we were able to get it done without it being 18 20 something months so we can put a time we can go from there so I appreciate that help clarify where we need it to go do we have any other I'd like to make a motion we don't need emotion I I know I know we don't need it but doc mister I want to call you doctor I want to call you all doctors but Mr Malone you just told us that tonight November 17 2022 we can make a motion to direct our wonderful administrators you know our Administration to bring and I know that hey this is not about trust we we know how hard you work but this is more about there's a community of folks
090who have come and engaged us for months for years um Educators even on this board who have also done this work and I don't really see a reason for us to act like we don't know what we're doing because in reality this is not rocket science there are people who are waiting on our leadership to make sure that our policy manual is inclusive of all our families and so we already we're saying we're gonna go start very basic we're only going to do Durham Public Schools DPS on policies that have already been vetted we have had time to review and so I wonder if the motion can be General I I could do that emotion I move uh to direct the administration to bring forth a policy at the next board meeting um an lgbtq
091gender supports policy um for the next board meeting based upon the Orange County model second Obama's buyer any other discussion all those in favor please say aye aye aye any opposed please use the same sign passes unanimously right and with that I'll take a motion to go into closed session I'm like a motion that we go into closed session for recent stated on the agenda and pursuant to journal statute 143-318 2011 A8 to formulate and adopt the school safety components of school Improvement plans second has been moved and seconded any other discussion all those in favor please say aye aye any opposed please use the same sign passes unanimously we are now back in Open Session Dr mabenga thank you madam chair let me check this printer for our privilege here to thank our community
092for the support for the bond that has passed um so we are very grateful so we're gonna make sure that we're gonna meet the timeline of all the projects and thank you community for the support with that board I'm here to seek your approval for the personal reports as discussed at a closed session approval second the move approved it's been moved to approve the Personnel report for November 17 2022. and to move the second any other discussion all those in favor say aye aye any opposed please use the same sign it passes unanimously with that we are adjourned thank you all