BOE Meeting 6/1/26

001So, we'll go back into open session for this board meeting for the Ash County Board of Education for June 1st, 2026. The board has been in close session to evaluate the superintendent as well as some personnel items. So, opening back up and open session. We'll start first. We've got Dr. Cox there on Zoom and I know Dr. Mochen's available to help as well. So, Dr. Cox, Dr. Mochen, I'm going to turn it over to you all. >> So, first of all, thank you everyone. Uh, thank you for being patient with me as I am here via Zoom. Um, I wanted to say hello to Feliz and Addison. I will be there tomorrow. Uh, and I know both of you, hi, both of you are uh on our guest list um for our best of the

002best students. And of course, that dinner is tomorrow. And we're excited to uh host our students and their guests of choice um for an evening of celebration of the academic successes of the students in Ash County. uh the graduating seniors of Ash County. That is um also in the room right now and I want um to uh recognize um is uh uh Wes Young uh there Dr. Mochin. >> Yes. Excellent. [laughter] So what what I want to do first of all um you see on the uh the not not I see on the front row I don't know if there's there may be a row in front of them um however uh the Raiders team um from Ash County High School and Ash County Early College. I'm not sure if uh which if they all

003attend the high school or if there is a mix in this group. However, this co-ed team has been highly successful um throughout the entire year. They've been to many regional competitions and have come in first place on numerous occasions. And um uh if their teacher uh Wes Young could go to the podium and introduce each of them, um we would appreciate it. And I think we need to take a time take the time to honor each of these kids for their outstanding achievements. >> All right. Thank you. So again, I'm Colonel Young. Um I've been in Ash County High School for two years now and I have the pleasure of working with a great group of high school students and I'll first recognize our Raider team captain Gavin Goodale. Gavin, go ahead and stand up.

004Gavin has already enlisted to go into the army reports in a couple months and he got assigned to Fort Bragg to be an airborne infantryman. Then uh I'll go ahead and do Nathan as well. Nathan Allen has also enlisted and is going to be infantry. Doesn't yet know where he's going to be assigned. See Emily Lewis, if you'll stand up. All right. She's going to Le McCrae to run track and cross cross country and continue her athletic pursuits not too far away. Let's see. Autumn Zimmer, if you'll stand up. Autumn was an ad this year to the team and um really helped us be successful because sometimes it's hard getting the right combination for a co-ed team. Let's see. We've got Sam Hes. He's a rising senior and he's going to be next year's battalion

005commander and Raider team captain. So, he brings a lot of experience to that that he has gotten from three years competing with the Raider team, I think. Okay, let's see who else we got. Cohen Hendry, who's a rising senior. He's not been in the program for but two years. So, he's going to be what we call a net three. uh he's going to be our supply officer on the town staff next year and still with us. Then we've got two rising juniors, Logan Greer, who's been this is his second tier second year competing what I'll call varsity basically with the competitive team. Thank you. And Audi Powers rising junior also second year competing on varsity co-ed team. [clears throat] Aie I didn't miss anybody. We do have some others who aren't with us uh tonight.

006Um we compete with nine people at a time, four women minimum for a co-head team and we've had a mixture. Um there's some again couldn't be here. Probably 12 or 13 total that have competed throughout this year. And uh we have taken first place overall in all three competitions this semester and one of them in the last semester once we kind of got things rolling and figured everything out. Uh, and I lay that at uh their their feet. Uh, because all I did was drive the bus and pay for uh Asian buffet after [laughter] that was my role that was really up to to those folks right there, especially the leadership of Gavin Goodell team. Do I have any questions? Well, Dr. Cox, I appreciate you inviting us to be here to be recognized, I

007think they definitely deserve that. >> Absolutely. I, you know, anytime that we can give students opportunity to showcase what they're great at and the things that they love, um, anyway, I think that's a great thing that we can do. So, congratulations to each of your students and uh thank you uh uh Colonel Young for making it happen for them. So, also in the room I believe we have is Brian Hampton there. Um >> no, I don't see him. >> Dustin Farmer. Um do we have Jude Tilly and Gracie Finley? >> Thank you. You do have Gracie. You got Gracie. >> Got Gracie. >> Okay. Excellent. Okay. So, um a couple of things I want to say about these two outstanding athletes. Um they are phenomenal student athletes and uh this year um Jude Tilly um

008is a state champion for Shotput and Gracie Finley. If Gracie, you can stand and come up and uh shake the hand of the hands of the board members, let everybody see you. Um she is a state champion, two times state champion, uh indoor track and outdoor track um for the pole vault. So, congratulations uh Gracie and uh shows that we have well-rounded students in um in Ash County u but they are outstanding athletes and to uh come ac come uh to the end of the day as a state champion is something that very stu very few students have the opportunity to be able to say that they have done and uh Gracie there did it did it twice this year. So fantastic. And I think uh Gracie, correct me if I'm wrong, she was a

009state champion uh last year as well. Correct. >> That's correct. >> She said that's correct. >> Anyway, congratulations uh congratulations to them. So, in addition, uh we have uh quite a few things uh that we have been uh celebrating over the past month of May. Um Principal Scott Grub of Westwood Elementary School was selected as our district-wide principal of the year. And so, congratulations to Mr. Grub. um not only does he have uh the respect of the students and staff at his school um but also of his fellow um uh leaders uh in the district. So congratulations to Mr. Grub. Um, Principal Sherry Hines of the middle school and Mitchell Rei of Blige Elementary School successfully completed uh the distinguished leaders in practice program through the North Carolina principles and assistant principles um association. Dr.

010Mochin went through that um a couple of years ago and this is a year-long leadership program uh recognizing um principles who are committed to continuous growth and excellence to make their schools stronger. So, congratulations to both of them. Uh, we had middle school students, uh, Corbin and Carter were both accepted to the Oakidge National Laboratory STEM Summer Camp in Oakidge, Tennessee. Uh, there are 13 states in the Appalachin region and each state is limited to two designated participants. So, Corbin and up to three alternates, which was Carter. And so congratulations um to them for being selected um for the program. Um Ash County Middle School does have um fantastic uh teachers that help to support and make this possible for our students and that summer program will be um it'll be exciting to hear um

011from both of them as they come back and share um what uh their experience was like. our May employee of the month, uh, Jimmy Black, um, who is an instructional assistant at Blige Elementary School, and Laura Lipford, who's a math specialist at Westwood Elementary School, and they were selected by their peers as their district-wide um, employee of the month. During May, we also recognized our school principles, our cafeteria professionals, our school nurses, and of course, our wonderful teachers that we have here in Ash County. We're thankful for each of them and the many ways that they contributed to the success of our students and of course our staff. Um so uh lots of things to celebrate in the month of May. uh the annual Heart of a Husky uh took place and we had 410

012student athletes uh between the middle school and the high school who were who participated this year uh to not only have their free physical and EKG. Um and this is one of the best turnouts that we've had to date. Um so they had health checks, they had a parent and student um educational event. Thank thanks to um Amy Walker and Jamie Little and a lot of our partners um throughout uh the community uh such as Blige Energy and Ash Memorial Hospital, Ashmed Medics, App Healthcare, Ash Mental Health Forum, Seven Peaks Family Medicine, Western Youth Network, Ash County Department of Social Services, Jodie Providence Counseling and Gear Up um among others contributed to the success of our uh most recent Heart of the Husky event. Uh, and thank you, uh, uh, Amy, uh, Walker for pouring

013your heart into that event every single year, not only so our students can have a free physical, um, but so that we can take care of, um, noticing oftentimes for the first time, um, any type of, uh, heart anomaly that a student might have. We also celebrated our beginning teachers. So we have 38 beginning teachers in their first, second or third year of teaching and um each one of them has made tremendous growth throughout this school year. Um a special congratulations to those who finished um that third year of teaching. Hannah Barker, Courtney Binder, Jennifer Blevens, Alicia Bro, Andy Cerillo, Parker Doula, Marley Eller, Taylor Harky, Alexis Henson, Kristen Krider, Alicia Roen, Sher Shepard, and McKenna Wilson. Uh, congratulations to them. And if you didn't know that they were uh be u beginning teachers, um

014uh you'd probably be surprised because some of them have um are just truly outstanding in the classroom and have made growth. you would think that they were veterans and have been for a long time. Um, we had graduation walks uh last week on May 20th or was that the week before? Um, the class of 2026 returned to the hallways of their elementary schools where their journey first began. Uh, and it was so heartwarming to see the kids reconnect with their teachers that helped put them on that path. And so, congratulations to all of our 2026 graduates. And of course, graduation is coming up here on the 12th of June. And so from field trips and special projects to student showcases to awards days and exams, it's a very busy time of year. And we still

015have quite a few things that we're going to be doing over the next uh uh two weeks. And last Friday, most exciting, you can see the picture behind me is of let me see if I can move a little bit. There you guys. You can see the uh picture in the background of the new Ash County Middle School. Uh phenomenal site. They're making great progress um that has lots of um amenities that um we don't have in the current middle school, including not only a full-size gymnasium, but an auxiliary gymnasium. Um it has uh fields that um our student athletes will be able to enjoy um for many years to come. But my favorite part about it is going to be the classroom wing uh where the classrooms surround a three-story media center and we

016make literacy uh the center of focus for Ash County schools. And so it's only fitting that this this new middle school will also have uh that new media center. And I just want to say um thank you to the board of education who has supported this vision uh for a phenomenal school that will be uh there for years to come uh starting in hopefully the fall of 28. And uh thank you to I think Allison Kemp Sullivan is there as well, our owner representative who's been helping to uh ensure uh that not only are we making uh great progress, but it's staying within budget and then helping to get the meetings together. so that our teachers and leaders and others can give true impact on what that final um school will look like when we

017do get to open here in another two years. So um those are some of the exciting things uh that have been happening recently um in Ash County schools. And of course we do have a lot of upcoming dates. Um we have a uh best of the year dinner tomorrow at Timber Rivers with our top students from Ash County Early College High School and Ash County High School. Uh we've got senior awards that are coming up um on Thursday. Uh we have awards and promotion ceremonies starting on June 8th through the 11th at all of our elementary and middle schools. Um and then of course graduation at 2 o'clock on June 12th and at 7 PM um on June 12th for the high school. And then of course uh our summer camp begins on June 15th.

018And so we're really excited for the things to come and the uh program celebrating the 250th uh um celebration. um all of our camps um are themed um to be a part of that celebration. So kudos to our teachers who are keeping it together and making that happen for our kids. >> May I add one date, Dr. Cox? >> Yes, absolutely. [clears throat] >> After graduation, both graduation be ready to do it all night long. We've got project graduation coming up and I see a lot of young people here who helped us raise money for that project and I appreciate you their help. I think with the help of these guys I'm looking at right now from our OTC was the best beginning to the fundraiser we've ever had. They were a phenomenal help there

019too. Not only can they run and compete, they can follow orders and do stuff that without having to be told to as well. So we appreciate these. Well, and if they haven't been to Project Graduation before, they're in for a real treat. And I'll say, I've said this before and I'll say it again and again, there is nothing like it anywhere. It is one of the most outstanding events that any school system anywhere that I've ever seen holds for their graduates and a way to honor them, uh, celebrate them, and keep them safe, uh, postgraduation. So, thank you to all of the volunteers that helped to make that happen. Uh it's truly phenomenal. And then um really from a a student uh perspective, excuse [clears throat] me, and a superintendent comments. Uh the rest of

020mine are um during the body of actions. So, uh, that's all for me except, um, Josh, we have two student, uh, representatives and I think you're going to give them their certificates. >> Yeah. Do you want them to go? We can go ahead. You have some updates for us this time. So, if y'all want to come up and then come on up, we'll do that. >> [laughter] >> once you get this done. >> Well, good good evening everyone and tell us who you are. >> Tell everybody who you are out there. >> Oh, yes. I'm at Dollar. I am the senior student body president at Ashkan Early College. I'm excited to share with everyone a few highlights from the early college this from April and May. Our seniors had an incredible spring. During our senior

021awards and scholarship presentation, the class of 2026 was offered more than 3.4 million scholarships or any scholarship with over 534,000 accepted so far. And a special congratulations to our Addison Williams who is selected as a recipient of the teaching fellow scholarship and will be be attending UNCC Chapel Hill in the fall. At our Wolves community graduation, we earned 26 associates degrees, five diplomas, and 23 certificates. A special congratulations to our Graden Shepard, a junior at Ther College who served as a WCC junior marshal during the graduation ceremony and to Michelle Toledo and I for receiving the president's excellence award and Sia Green and Isaac Osborne who received the outstanding student achievement award in the associates of arts program. Um, our students also logged more than 3,600 community service hours with 11 students completing over 150

022hours each. Additionally, 16 of our 30 seniors are CTE computers and the highest number that this has been in school history. Last week, our seniors enjoyed a successful trip to Washington DC as well. We toured the capital, visited monuments and museums, explored the Arlington Cemetery, and attended a Baltimore Orioles game. My favorite part of the um vacation or trip [laughter] was visiting the Holocaust Museum and going up in the Washington Monument. I'd like to congratulate one of our teachers, Mr. Green, um for being the Ash County Early College Gearup Innovator of the Year, and I wish him luck as he interviews next week for the App State Gear Up Innovator of the Year Award. This year, eight AEC juniors and seniors participated in the program Dig Miller Youth Leadership. And our theater club successfully hosted

023its second hint, a mystery dinner night where students are able to write scripts, make costumes, and perform. And [snorts] we look forward to seeing to celebrating our graduates at the AC graduation again on June 12th at 2 p.m. in the high school auditorium. And hope to see all of you there. And [clears throat] thank you again for your continued support of the early college. Good evening board members, um, administers, administrators, and guests. I am Felis Sue and I am, uh, the senior class president at Ash County High School. And some updates from April to May. Um, we held our prom on April 18th at Timber Rivers, uh, New Timber Rivers, and the theme was Night on the Bayou. It was a beautiful evening, and everyone enjoyed the venue. Um on April 30th, we had our

024hiring fair um welcoming over 60 employers and postsec secondary partners offering full-time, part-time, summer, and future career opportunities to our students. And that's a huge thanks to Miss Bragg who organized this um hiring fair. and some student showcases. We have the art showcases. Um we we put arts the students arts in the library and our band concert and the theater uh produced the um the show the queens and um on May 20th we've already went over this but Nathan and Gavin um were in the army elistic ceremony [clears throat] and We also had our senior grad walk on the same day and the blood drive was also also on the same day. [laughter] Um and um on May 29th we had our senior cello which was our senior break. Um it was awesome to see

025everyone come together to help uh make it possible. >> You're going to have to explain what was it. >> Oh it was just um us having a rave in the common area in the high school. So That wasn't it. [laughter] >> We also had a sign called senior in the front of the high school. And >> that wasn't it. [laughter] >> There was a lot more to it. Um, our JPC had their um, awards ceremony on May 13th and our and we had a couple of college visits to ASU, ETSU, and Le McCrae. And we had our Europe workshop and students visited museums um like the Builmore Estate and Grandfather Mountain. And moving on to athletics. This is a lot of accomplishments. So our women's soccer team um had a historic season. Keslin was named

026Conference player of the year and coach Lori Durham was named coach of the year and Caleb set single season goals record of 41 goals and Dakota allowed the fewest goals in a single season with just 21. The team reached the state quarterfinals and outstanding run. All region honors went to Tequa, Mahaley, Dakota, Keslin, and Tequa, Dakota, and Keslin all earned all state recognition. And for our track and field, Gracie um was state championship, a state champion in Pvault for the third time. And Coulter won the regional championship in Pole Vault. Um it was also a record-breaking season. School records were set by Gracie in the triple jump, the long jump in the pole vault, and Coulter in the pole vault, and by Logan in the triple jump. In softball, pitcher Abby struck out an impressive

027125 batters this season. In baseball, Jordan reached 200 career varsity strikeouts, 100 career varsity hits, and set the career home run record with seven. and Gavin reached the milestone of 100 varsc strikeouts. We're very proud of the baseball team and soccer team and track and field. It has been an extraordinary year at at at the high school. Thank you for your continued investment in our students, our staff, and this community. Go Huskys. before you come around. So, >> get the microphone or nobody will hear me >> on there. So, before they before they leave, they've been our student reps for the board and we've got a little certificate for both of them here and then we'll get Claire hers later. Okay. Um on there it just says in recognition of your leadership and dedicated service

028as student representatives on the Ash County Schools Board of Education during the 2025 2026 school year. So we've got those tonight presented to Miss Addison Dollar. Thank you. [laughter] >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> All right, Raiders, you all don't have to stay for the rest of it. If you don't want to, that's up to you, Colonel G. >> [laughter] >> Thank you for coming. >> Thank you. >> We had public comment on the agenda next. We did not have anybody for public comment for that. So from there, we'll go into new middle school updates. We got to spend some time with Allison Friday up there at the time. So exciting to see all the work going on and I found out a hard hat caught. Thank y'all for making it up there Friday. Was

029excited to see everybody there. I'm glad I don't know if everybody got to make the walk around and through the building or not, but um that was helpful because I don't feel like pictures convey everything that you need to see. Um and I have to pick and choose to share with you. So anyhow um hope you enjoyed it. Um, as you I feel like I'm telling you things you already know, so bear with me here. But the graining contractor has begun working on the bus connector road behind the high school softball field. Um, the fire and domestic water lines have been extended into the building footprint. Um, and area B [clears throat] slab on grade um is completed to the firewall and the loading dock foundation is in place along with the structure [clears throat]

030metal deck decking that covers loading dock. Um structural steel erection has advanced into the dining and food service wing. Um the monumental stairs are being installed along with the stairs facing the north side. Um the exterior wall framing in classroom wing A is basically complete and they're waiting on a shipment of structural sheathing panels to arrive so they can begin escort skin on classroom A. the [clears throat] plumbing contractor continues to work on infrastructure between the floors setting carriers for the fixtures and the group toilets. Um I wanted to share with you I did in the report um the purpose of and use of the mockup panel. Um I don't know if anybody noticed that on the site but it is um it is being used um to vet the exterior materials and how they

031come together. And it's a way for the team to work out the materials, the constructibility, to see how things work together. And um all the materials are not on on this mockup panel yet, but one of the things that has gone on to it is um some brake metal and um we have seen it go on, the contractor seen it, and it has revealed some issues. And so I have asked Clark Nixon to go back to the drawing board on that. Um I shared it with Jay asked him to come look at it too. And so we think that it's going to be issue specifically on the window seals. And so um they are looking at that again and are going to come back with some different ideas. So just that's just wanted you to

032understand that that's some of the things that we do. That's the point of the mockup panel. Um they still have to put the brick on it, the siding, the metal siding, etc. So, it's a process. It's one of the things that we do. So, just sharing that with you. It's nothing to be alarmed about. But, um, what we're looking at instead at some of the windows is a blue seal, blue stone seal instead of a metal seal. So, just information I'm sharing with you at this point. So, um, so that pretty much covers everything. Anybody have any questions or from the walk through? Don't know. >> It was really exciting for for me to stand where the media center was going to be where the classrooms were and to look out at that fantastic view

033that they're going to have from there. It was really neat. >> I know I've looked at the plans and studied the plans, but to actually stand there really made this seem like, hey, we're going to do this thing. We really are. >> So, uh we appreciate the uh >> the topping off ceremony. That was pretty cool. Um that and it allowed us to see things that I had been wanting to see. >> You know, everybody stopped at those stairs. I'm like, you got to keep walking. >> I know. >> You need to keep walking through. So, >> yeah, it's Thank you for doing that. And uh are you going to be on here late? Is she? >> I am. We do have more to talk about. >> Yeah. You'll be back up in a minute.

034>> Yes. >> I'm just really glad to see it moving well and it it is and it's really good and it's huge. >> Yeah. Janet, you asked me the best view. There's really I couldn't answer that question. Well, so we were up there private. So, >> got a good view of the bluff. I can >> Yes. >> Yeah. All right. We'll see you in just a little bit. Next on the agenda, we are going to action items. First is our consent agenda which includes the minutes. The middle school coastal trip license agreement for after school and ch summer child care extension or the annual approval of the uh NCSBT errors and omissions general liability fund child nutrition request to approve updates [snorts] the C approval for the 2627 school year and the inter agency agreement

035for Head Start. those all fallen under the consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> I make a motion that we approve the consent agenda. >> Okay. Thank you, Miss Eldri. Do I have All right. Thank you, Miss Lord. >> Any other questions, comments? Hear none on those? Raise your hands to approve. All those in favor? That's good. Next, we've got the Alice, you shouldn't went too far. Um, we've got the change order for Clark Nexon for the Ash County Middle School. Um, similar to the last change order, um, when doing our deep dive through shop drawings and metals, it allows us the opportunity to see if there's any additional savings to be had, um, but also to see if there's any other coordination. um to do and we evaluate

036constructive building where and where the project remains as far as evaluating it with the original design intent. So some of these revisions address those conditions where we were able to do field coordination and also address safety and technology coordination. And kind of like the mockup that I mentioned earlier, we always continue to look at long-term maintenance and if some of the details address the best situation for long-term maintenance. So I know there's several things on that list. I'm happy to answer any questions that y'all may have. So, um, eight different revisions in this, um, change request. Um, there's also the, um, request from Port Nexon. One change event that had to do with, um, redesign on upgrading the generator. They had to do with adding the, um, four of six telecoms, a generator, and also

037adding the elevator to the generator. Um, we do have contingency. Um, and all of these are already baked into the budget. So, it's not an add to the budget. This is all covered under contingency. Looking at the contingency balance and the size of this project, are we in a good what would you describe as our condition in terms of are we going to make it through without major additions? Do most of these kinds of changes occur at this point or do we expect more later? >> We I do expect more later. Um I do know some others coming down the pipeline. Um you know what worries me is what I don't know about. >> Okay. So to be completely honest about you, but you know we have 3% basically of our budget for you know

038for contingency and you anticipate these kind of things. So do I see anything that's going to bust our contingency? No. It's what I don't know about that I >> Okay. Thank you. I was being honest with you. Um I mean we have other places where I see we might be able to borrow from. So, I'm very conservative, Janet. [laughter] >> Yeah. So, um I feel okay right now if that makes you feel better. >> Yes. >> Looking at the size of the building and just reading some of these technical things that I'm looking at here. >> I'm really Are we going to need additional maintenance uh personnel? I don't I mean, our I think our folks are doing a good job, but they've got a lot to do. And are we going to need some

039additional people to help maintain this stuff? Because we we've written it out for 50 years. I was reminded on Friday. So, are we going to need additional help there, do you think? Um, >> well, Jody, you might be able to help me on this. The size of the existing school is I'm going to say about half of the size of this building. So, I mean, I don't know how many people exactly you have at the middle school now, but it's basically double the size of the existing middle school. And what you have at the middle school now is a boiler. You don't have a chiller. And now you're going to have um rooftop units instead of a boiler and a chiller. And I think that in of itself is going to require more maintenance because

040you're going to be changing more filters. Um the equipment's on the roof. It's not inside a mechanical room buried in a basement. So, I think just the you're going to help me with this too because you're more on the maintenance side of it. I think just the um nature of the equipment maint. >> So, where's Amanda? We need to start planning for that now. >> We've had conversations about what the means are going to be. Until we go closer, I don't think we can really shake out how it's going to work. There might be some savings with Sharon across people with the high school. There's ways we can look at it differently. Make it work. >> Well, I know that the rest of our buildings are aging and we we really do need to keep

041this new building maintained very make sure that things are done. And then they've got all those other responsibilities going on and a lot of projects. And so, um, I I hope we can find a way to to make sure that we're not overworking the maintenance folks because we're getting ready to add to their plate. >> I think it's smart to be planning for it and to be budgeting for it, but I'm I'm not on that side of the house, so I've got to I guess stay in my lane. Okay. >> You're in construction. >> Well, well, >> I mean, I did I did some of this when I'm not on my job, but I'm not getting paid to do that now, right? Those are good questions for y'all to be talking about. >> But so

042there's two things that I do need to um have approved by the board is the change request for Benoi, but also there's the Clark Nexon request for design amendment. I'm not trying to ignore you Diane. >> No, I you answered the question. >> Okay. But um just to just make sure. Yeah, just to be sure it's two different things have to be approved. >> I make a motion that we approve the two things that Allison mentioned. >> Okay. Thank you, Miss Eldrith. Got a motion for those. Do I have a second? >> I second. >> Calhoun seconds that. Any other questions, comments for Allison? All in favor? Raise your hand. Motion carries. >> Thank you, John. >> Thank you. Next we've got for the board is to approve the strategic plan on there. Dr. Cox,

043I think that's your and I'm going to share my screen here in a minute um for the strategic plan. I do want to say this that um we've been through a uh quite a process in order to um bring you this strategic plan. Uh we've had uh input um from every we've been to every school and had input from all of our teachers and and um quite a few staff members. Um we've had our principles uh to sit down and really um uh take a look at um what the feedback is. We had some community sessions uh where we invited um uh members of our community to come into the uh annex where you all are right now um to provide some feedback uh with our key partners. And then at several different uh parent

044meetings um most recently including our title one parent meeting um families had the opportunity to um provide us with some input and feedback on that strategic plan to bring you um what you have before you today. what you have is a public-f facing version. And of course, once we um have the board's approval um for uh the board's strategic plan for Ash County Schools, um we will uh bring that back to our teachers and um any stakeholders that have um a uh that are responsible for the formal execution of that particular portion of the strategic plan. uh so that we can have their stronger input on the um strategies that we use in order to make that happen. And so um that's where we are with our strategic plan. We are working toward um uh

045finalizing all the documents including the two that you have um in the um two that you have in the board document. And so I just wanted to share with you let me get here play from the from the start. So this is sharing uh with you what this vision of a strategic plan is um from starting now and we've already taken a deep dive into some of this already um uh but the tagline that was agreed upon was strong foundations limitless futures and we want to continue to inspire and prepare our students to live their best lives uh through strong foundations of [clears throat] learning character opening that those limitless possib abilities. And so, um, that of course is our vision. Um, our mission did shift a little bit within Ash County Schools based on

046what we do daytoday, and that's Ash County Schools empowers every student through strong relationships, meaningful opportunities, highquality learning experiences that build character, inspire purpose, and prepare students for life. And of course, the motto, strong foundations, limitless futures. And this is for every single student every day. No exceptions. That is our northstar and that's what we want our northstar to continue to be. This wheel represents um the strategic focus areas. You'll notice that four of them are the same, but one was added. So, we still believe that uh growth mindset, engagement, relationships, and personalization are those ways that we should focus, but we've added instructional excellence and future readiness. And the reason why that one was added is so that we make a concerted effort not only to invest in our teachers, but for our teachers

047to invest in their professional learning and then of course the future readiness of our students. And that takes time and it takes a lot of investment. And so I want to encourage us as we're investing uh in this promise for every single student uh that we put that promise into investing into the teachers that we have uh in our school district. We want every single student to be known, challenged, and prepared to thrive in a world that we just can't imagine right now. We also define those strategic priorities. So rather than just saying relationships and personalization and growth mindset and engagement, we wanted to make sure that we had the same uh language that we were using around it. So with the relationships, that's building consistency and depth across all schools. Uh so all students

048experience belonging and trust and leadership and connection. Relationships are really number one for us. Empowering students to take ownership of their learning. So pursue their passions and set goals for the future. Instructional excellence or delivering that highquality instruction and experiences that build skills and confidence that students are going to need once they graduate uh ready. That growth mindset is building resilience and purpose by embracing challenges, learning from mistakes and growing through ef effort and perseverance. And that's the type of thing that we want to set up for our students so that they can grow. And then engagement. Engagement of course continues to mean partnering with our families, community, and local organizations to create those real world opportunities that expand horizons and strengthen our county. And part of that um like I said we're already uh

049delving into we've doubled internships this year already which I think is a fantastic way of connecting our students with learning with purpose and what that means for them as they um go on throughout life. We also define those building blocks of excellence. At the end of the day we're teaching and learning. So all of our um what we do um those foundational skills are ex are extremely important. So reading that explicit systematic instruction in phonics and vocabulary and comprehension. Writing daily and purposeful across all content areas. Mathematics, we want our students to be fluent in computation, reasoning, and real world problem solving. Um and I'm not talking about problem solving. you know, Sally has 36 watermelons um and then she gives two away. How many does she have? That's not real world. We want our

050students to ensure that they have experiences where they're going to be able to put their learning into action. Civics and character, uh you have responsibility and respect and service as essential skills. And so we want to be able to provide those opportunities as our students move from preK all the way up till uh they till graduation day. And then those STEM, those strategies that engage minds, those hands-on problem solving that promotes that critical thinking and analysis that give students opportunities to collaborate and be adaptable. And so we believe that when students read and compute and communicate with confidence that they will be prepared to innovate and lead once they leave us. And so I I I think about all the things that we are doing right now including those showcases of learning and partnering with

051our communities so uh children have experiences. We want them to adapt and think and lead. That's what future ready really means. And so that means navigating change with confidence. Things are rapidly changing right now, but we want our students to be able to um navigate that with some real experiences. We want them to use technology responsibly. And that means we have to model that for them. Solve real problems with others. And so nothing's done in isolation in the real world. And we want to make sure that our students have opportunities to collaborate and solve problems together. And so we want to prepare our students not just for today but for a world that will continue to change and something that we cannot matter. Those skills are really important. Our portrait of a graduate really are

052students as communicators, as problem solvers, uh students who are responsible users of technology so that they can create and research and innovate ethically, which I think is extremely important. Uh they're persons of character and you know we have um leader and me in several of our schools and we have PBIS in other schools. We want to intentionally um teach students respect and sound judgment and how to be responsible and what that means in their daily life. We want them to be strong learners of course and that's um the bulk of what we do is that uh reading and writing and um mathematics but we also want our students to be ready ready to contribute to learning and opportunities with the skills that they've gained to the real world. And so that means we want to

053set them up for that success. And that also means we need parents and our community members to continue to help us to provide those uh opportunities for our students. What that means for us um by the end of 2031 uh we want to see reading, math, and science growth across all areas. Um we want that to improve. We want all students to graduate with at least one credential. documented in their portfolio. So, our teachers were really um they were pretty outspoken on the portfolio and have something a body of evidence that students could take with them. And so, we want students to be able to say, "Here's what I've done. Here's what I've learned and here's what makes me ready for when I graduate from high school." student led conferences. Of course, uh the one

054of the most meaningful things that we can do is help students to be able to articulate what they have learned to set and share their goals and their progress with their families. And there's nothing better than a student being able to share with you what they're learning, how they're learning it, and what they want to improve on uh later on. That portfolio completion and then uh the future ready plan completion. And of course at the 10th and eighth grade levels, that future ready plan is required. But we want all of our students, especially our seniors, to graduate with a plan that showcases their strengths, that has their goals and their own personal next steps to show what they've learned and why they're ready for college, career, military, whatever is next for them. And so what

055this means is uh some daily work. We're launching it this year once the board approves the strategic plan. Um but we want this to show up in our classrooms, in conferences, in the portfolios, and partnerships. We want to see people talking about our graduates in a positive way. We will implement it uh starting next um well, we're already implementing it now. Um but we will build um some of the things like student le conferences and portfolios. It'll take some time to build that before we are implementing everywhere. Uh we'll expand it and then of course measure it um all along throughout this process. So each one of our focus areas has um at least four goals. And so these are milestones um that will allow us to build trust and belonging and leadership authentically across

056every school. And so things like student led conferences and trusted adult check-ins, character and leadership development and community partnerships. Under personalization, we have clear feedback systems. And we've been working on feedback um from teacher to student, from principal to teacher, um from us uh at the district level to uh the schools so that we can all grow in that way. Goals and portfolios I think are really important that everybody is setting goals and and exhibiting um where they are going with those goals and what they've accomplished so far. Studentled reflection, which is really important. And then of course helping students to personalize those pathways so that they can set those academic goals that they have for themselves, connect them to something in the real world so that they walk away from um Ash County schools

057with something that is empowering to them. instructional excellence, um, high lever practices, which we've done training with all of our schools on those high lever practices and have been implementing, and our teachers have done a fabulous job with those already. The future ready plans. Um, like I said, we want all of our seniors to have this outline uh for what's next. Transferable skills. I think we've talked before, I've shared with you about the McKenzie skills. Those 56 durable skills that um include collaboration and critical thinking and problem solving across all content areas. Those are really important. That's what our employers are wanting. And really at the end of the day, those are the things that matter more than an EOC or an EOG. And then readiness evidence. We want our students to have that rigorous

058coursework um credentials and real world experiences. We certainly want them to have that and we want to be have it documented for every student so everyone graduates with high school with the things that they need for what's next. Growth mindset that's been on here since our last strategic plan as well. Um, we want to intentionally teach children resilience strategies. That common framework for a growth mindset manifests itself in things like grading practices and how we set um goals for ourselves. And so we want to intentionally help build that confidence in our students. And then of course academic growth. Um, you know, we've had our challenges here in Ash County Schools, but we want every student to grow at least a year or more every single year. So, we want to see that growing um within

059our test scores as well. And then, of course, engagement. Um, this is where a lot of our community comes into play with all those strong partnerships that we have. Uh, the students mentioned earlier about the uh 60 um businesses that showed up at our hiring fair. So, it's not just about here's what we have in our community, um, but here's what we have that's, um, available right now for, um, students to get engaged within their community. Um, we've increased the number of credentials and we want to continue to do that and then design solutions for students that they can actually partner with our community to solve real world challenges. Not Susie has 36 wa watermelons, but if a business has a need, uh we want to help help train our students or give our students

060opportunities um to delve into those problems and um uh create a pathway forward so that they know how to think about things that they've never thought about before. And of course, we'll do that with student showcases as well. Strong foundations, limitless futures. And so we want every student to be known, challenged and prepared, known through those relationships, challenged through high quality learning, and prepared for college, career, and life. Um that's really important to all of us, and that is our promise uh moving forward. And um we are putting this out there a little bit more simplistically uh for our community that shows exactly what this is, what the success really means for us. um all of our goals. Of course, it it looks a lot bigger blown up um than it does on this screen,

061I'm sure. Um but these are the goals for um each of the focus areas. And what we need from the board is a continuence of what you're doing. Um this plan becomes real when leadership choices stay aligned to the promise. So stay focused on uh the priority areas to help us to make those decisions. align resources u through policy and budget and staffing for the strategic plan. Um monitor progress. So we're going to review the progress on each of these goals annually and ask what evidence what the evidence actually tells us and then tell the story, help share student successes across Ash County. There are a lot of student successes. We heard um a lot about that earlier today from our own students. Um, but as we see more successes, as we see students opening

062their businesses and earning credentials and gaining scholarships uh to put them on the pathway to what's next, let's continue to celebrate them. And that is the strategic plan in a nutshell. So, what questions do you have for us? questions. >> You're waiting on me, right? >> Should we ever have any? >> I do have one. I love I like what we're saying about especially about problem solving and critical thinking and all of those. I just it's very ambitious. I worry about time. Uh, and I think that's a concern of some other folks that I've talked to is and I'm hoping to I can't wait to see it broken down so that we can see how it's going to be implemented because it sounds like a lot and it should be. It's a five-year plan and

063I like I like what it says, but I'm really interested to see how it's going to be implemented and how we can support um our our teachers as they they're the ones that's going to have to implement this with support from us. So, I'm interested to see what that's going to look like. >> That's right. And that and that's why Diane, we took the time to get input from every teacher and to see where they were on this particular plan. Um uh the portfolios were a hit. That was one of the things that we're going to take time to develop. Some of the things that um that are in this plan, we are already doing, but we're doing them in pockets across the district. And we'd like to have consistency so every single student has

064that opportunity and has that ability to showcase what their strengths are. Um I think we're in a deficit-based model with what the state does already with um the EOCC's and EOGs. They focused too much on things that at the end of the day um as long as a student can read and do math and communicate uh what their score was on a one day one test really doesn't matter. >> Amen. >> Now I'm saying this is we're in the middle of it. You know teachers and others get bonuses um based on the strategic plan uh or not strategic plan but based on the accountability model. Um there's a lot of high pressure uh that happens this time of year and schools are so much more than that. Our children are so much more than that

065test score and I think it's about time that we showcase that. give them real skills that are going to carry through, not a one day, one test. And again, I think it's important uh reading and writing and mathematics and um you know, social studies are all very important and we will continue to build those foundational skills, but they don't really matter if they don't have if they can't do anything with it. So, we want to give them those opportunities so they can build that confidence and ensure that they have additional skills that employers are asking for. Um, and colleges are demanding as they move on from a K12 experience. And so, Diane, I agree with you. It is ambitious. I hope so. Um, and if we need to adjust, that was one of the key

066words in there is adjust. If we need to adjust as we go forward, we can adjust as we go forward. But at the end of the day, um, if a student walks away with a credential, they walk away with a self-articulated skill that they have, whether it be in communication or with collaboration or some sort of a durable skill that employers in our community are really asking for from our kids. Um if they can do that and they can uh showcase a credential like um uh OSHA 10 is one of the credentials that they can earn or um there are several in early childhood there many in welding. We want our students to have those skills and leave high school with them while a they are free under us and b while we have the

067opportunity to nurture them as they grow before they're out on their own in the real world. We want to make sure that they have that. And so at the end of the day, if that happens, I think we we will have accomplished what we set out to do. >> How much trouble would we be in if we just decided not to do a whole lot with the EOC's and just let the kids take the test? >> Well, I think I the I would rather us not test prep and we have a couple of schools that like to test prep. I would rather us not do put all that effort in. Obviously, students need to be exposed to um uh the structure of the test. A lot of it stamina to be able to take a

068test of that length and of that um >> three hours at 8 years old. >> I it it's ridiculous. Anybody sit down? It is highly stressful. Um so I I think it's important that we continue to teach in the foundations of learning more than emphasize a test. I've always said that and I think that we we need to continue to push for that. At the end of the day, we are judged by um how our students do on those tests, but I want to give people more than that. The tests are one thing. Nobody ever is going to ask an eight-year-old what they got on their third grade EOG when they're 22. They don't care. It's not going to matter at that point. But they will care if they um can't look somebody in the

069eye and shake their hand. They will care if they can't write and they can't put put together a resume or fill out or read enough to fill out an application. We need to ensure that they have those foundational skills that they have the opportunity to um delve into problems that teach them what to do when they don't know what to do because we can't possibly teach them everything in school. But I want them to have that showcase so that body of work, that body of evidence that they can carry with them for life. But more importantly, I want them to have those foundational skills and the confidence to go into life knowing that they can accomplish whatever they set out to do. That's really important. And I think a strength-based model um will serve us

070well. And maybe, just maybe, we can convince our general assembly that all of this testing is really nonsense. That at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. We need to trust our teachers that they know if a child can read or write or compute because our teachers know what they're doing. If we h come up with this opportunity to showcase that kids are so much more than a test score um by their body of work, I think we will have done a really good thing for um our kids in Ash County, but also to as a model for uh the rest of the state. I would like to say that the um this strategic plan aligns a lot better with my philosophy of what education should be doing than past ones that I have

071seen decades ago in my education and I would like to thank all the stakeholders. This took a lot of collaboration and a lot of input and I want to app uh let all of those stakeholders that were involved know how much I appreciate your hard work. >> Thank you. I have one other question. It's just a clarification in one place I'm reading and this was the information you gave us a while back that we will start the portfolios in kindergarten and then another at school it's third grade. So would you clarify for that for me please? >> Um it's actually it's actually prek. So our prek already does a portfolio. They've been doing a portfolio for years and teachers are doing the portfolio. It's not a self portfolio. So, by the time they're in third

072grade, the students are going to be more self-direct obviously more self-directed at that age versus younger. Um, but it's important that we they those are formidable years in building that skill. And yes, teachers are going to have some work uh to do in order to decide um what goes in that framework, but the teachers are going to help us to create that framework. That's not done yet. And so what that looks like will really depend on what we come up with as um as a group which will include um a lot of feedback from teachers. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions, comments? >> Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion to approve the strategic plan. >> I move we approve the strategic plan. >> All right. I've got a motion from Janet Ward. Do I

073have a second for Miss Jane? That's what I thought. All right. Thank you both. Any other questions, comments? All those in favor, raise your hand. Motion carries. You're good till 2031 right now. Um there. >> Next, we've got on the agenda. >> Oh, we've got personnel. Next on the agenda. >> No, I don't. >> CT. >> Oh, sorry. >> I got CTE. Sorry, Earl. You stood up and then sat down. Sorry. >> No, my eyes. Unfortunately, my screen's a lot smaller than it usually is on this side, but we're good. Um, so CTE, Mr. Pennington. >> All right. Well, it's that time of year we bring our highlights and accomplishments from CTE, and we're just going to continue the move that's already in the room. We heard from our students. We've heard from Dr. Cox

074on a strategic plan. We've heard a lot of different accomplishments and they all have a common theme and that's success of our students. And so, if you will, I know there's a lot in the packet and uh over the next 40 minutes, we'll go over [laughter] the next change, but I do want to go over the highlights. if you will. I'll be working with the CTE education data uh breakdown chart as well as the meaningful progress. We'll just touch on that just a moment, but I want to go ahead and start and the correlation is if students are a CT completered, they're going to graduate high school. Um we get what we call unmasked and masked data. They they release mask data and they just say greater than 95%. That's a that's education protection law.

075just like you wouldn't want to identify a group of students that were 10% of this. So, that's been that's been that way for the last seven years that I've been in this role is if you if we can get students interested, we can get them in a in a completion role in in earning everything that comes with that, there's a greater chance that they'll graduate. The state graduation rate is 87.9%. Our graduation rate, when I say our the completer graduation rate in 24 was 97%. as soon as they unmask that data sometime in the fall. I'll share that with you as well too. But our proofs of learning, that's the that's the equivalence to the EOCC for CTE. There's three proofs of learning. Um it's a performance-based measure where students work on a rubric of

076different skills and activities throughout the year. There is the CTE state test. We have a few of those left. Um and then it's the earning of the credentials. And each each course is different in that. But again, we just if you look at the data breakdown, you'll see each year that continues to stay steady or improve. Now, why does it drop? Sometimes that when we go into field test, um CTE will rewrite curriculum about every 3 to four years in conjunction with business partners across the state. So, it's like any other test that put it out one year still test. So, in an area we were super super strong in the next year, we don't get to count that data. So that that that will allow for a little bit of fluctuation, but not a

077lot there. Um our numbers just continue to increase. Um although we're we're missing a couple of the pathways that we've had in years past. You can see there on the data breakdown that are consistent. Anything with 2026 um is an estimate. We don't have anything official until the state. That's just a that's just a little deep diving into the data to try to pull some [clears throat] try to pull some numbers for comparison. Why are the credential numbers down? Um again, as the proofs of learning change, um sometimes the credentials change that opportunity to not offer is there. The thing I'm looking at more so than the number which is very important is the number of opportunities the students have. What is the attainment rate? And that's something that four years ago we we we

078really drilled down into and my team and myself we we identified where there were opportunities for growth and we've capitalize those on those. have um I don't have that exact number. We will we will continue to earn credentials through the summer. For example, our nurse aid students, nursing fundamental students, they tested last week. Some have their skill portion and written test back. Sometimes uh they sometimes they test in June. We don't get those back for a while. And a lot of that's due to third party vendors. We're relying upon another company to provide us that data. They have a deadline this summer. I look forward to see what that is. Each year at the state conference, they always release the top 10 attainment rates. And I don't like being like 68 or I don't like

079I don't like being in 68% and our neighbors getting 85. I like I want to be in the 80s. So that's one of our goals that we've written for our plan that we'll share here shortly. But um again, you can see that I'm very pleased with the number uh the number of increases that we're seeing. something that we added this year uh to go right along with the strategic plan because this is something that students can earn what I call graduation plus one and that is the national career readiness certificate. These are students, these are 12th graders that are completers. That means they've taken a pathway taking level one and level two of that and then they've [clears throat] taken the national ACT work keys test. And what that is that doesn't have it does

080have to do with reading and writing, but it's more workplace documents. It's it's what is your fit based on your uh based on your um readiness certificate. What is what is your fit for a job? And um we're seeing more and more students take that seriously. did a boot camp with it this year before and I'm pleased to see the numbers that turned around and are coming off of that. Those are still estimates, but they're really, really close. Um, in the accountability model for the high schools, it's the number of work keys credentials that are silver or higher. But for this, if you earn bronze, you earn the you earn that. So, there's a little bit of difference in the numbers there, but still both very positive as you look and see the percent scoring

081silver or higher. We talked a little bit for learning. And then I'll wrap this little section up with talking about the internship participants. Um again, you can see the data. We were in single digits and we went to double digits and I thought that was great. Then we got a few more the next year and now we're close to 80 and I believe talking to Miss Bragg, I think there's close to 90 students interested in inter doing internships next year. And that's both at the high school and early colleges. So we serve everyone 912. Again, that's just some that's some good data I like to share out. CTSOs, Mr. Ro, just for you, that's career and career and technical [clears throat] student organizations. Thank you. >> Uh clubs, if we want to call it that.

082This year, we expanded out and I have to commend the students and the teachers for taking that extra effort, staying after school, going going to competitions, and we had folks compete at the state level in Skills USA, carpentry, electrical, and welding. our team participated in Greensboro back early on and I think it was March and uh again we're seeing steady increases in that and it's just given students extra leadership extra hands-on and I'm very proud of those folks for that expansion of programs if you take a look at Whoops back up and talk about meaningful progress this is one of our federal indicators that we're measured on um those numbers come from the those numbers come from the through the state from the federal department and what they do they basically look at our they

083basically go in and sit benchmarks and then compare you to the state benchmark as well um to meet to have what we call adequate progress or meaningful progress you must meet 90% of your benchmark each year last year I was excited we met all eight benchmarks this year we met seven of the eight the one that we didn't meet was this is a tough one it's called non-traditional program enrollment and that is getting for example getting young ladies into the wick and doing the carpenter class fin classes and getting young men into the teaching education and health science classes and there's some other carryovers there but um that's something we've written a goal but I've looked at other uh districts data and we're 15 out of 16 and I'll take that I'll take that most

084any day because we did meet it um we did meet it the year before and those um what that's a pre-slated group of that's pre-slated determined I guess is a better word is predetermined which pathways and what that non-traditional participation and how that's defined. Now, on to the good stuff. What are we offering? This is another area that I'm super proud of. We work hand in hand with Brooks Community College to offer students not only in addition to what we're doing at the high school levels, but what can they take um have not not only are we looking at what can they do in addition to, but what areas can we offer them something that we don't have? And that's what we have this fall coming up is we're expanding on an EMT academy through

085Brooks Community College as well as HVAC. So our students with interested in in hands-on skills like that they can leave with carpentry they can leave with electrical and now they can leave with some HVAC experience which both carpentry and electrical carry into that grow into that HVAC and support that. So that's the type of work that um again I think is showing progress as we're offering more and more. You'll see some of that um you'll see some of that uh on the girls community college page there. The CTE CCCP will alleviate too for career tech education and CCB's career college with promise classes and uh students can take these some of these they can take under certain conditions starting next year in 10th grade as well but this is open to our 11th and 12th

086graders and you can see you can see the wide range some of these we offer every other year like fire academy and EMT we're going to be competing for the same students a lot of times in that um so you may see it offered every other year but I wanted to give you a wide Right. I want to give you a view of of everything that is offered there at the bottom. And this is new and this is it's not new. It's new for me presenting. It's been it's been there, but I wanted to share this out. And these are the high school to community college articulated credits. So what this means is any student taking a CD10 Adobe visual design class, if they make an A, they earn the credentials and they meet the

087the criteria of the overall grade, then they earn a college class credit and that can count. That's something M. Williams and myself in the community college were done maybe last year, year before in looking at how can we get students articulated credit so they don't have to take six classes, they can take four classes and they can earn that pathway completion in high school and earn that certificate in in in the community college. And those are indicated by the light blue on your on your chart there from the community college. Um, a lot of students don't know that. They don't understand, hey, look, I'm actually taking this class. This is a college level class. Um, all of our welding classes are like that. Our Wy classes, some of our horiculture classes, the OSHA 10 certificate

088that I believe Dr. Cox referred to earlier, that's a lifetime credential. If you get that, that carries with you. And it's amazing the number of students come back and say, "Hey, can I get a copy of that?" So, we're trying to shore up our bookkeeping because employers are looking for that and employers are wanting to work with students because a lot of times that's a requirement. the page in real colorful blue there. These are the this is a sample of the credentials that students can earn. Um you see there that I didn't publish anything from except for 2425 because that's official data but you can see retainment rate and the members there as well too. Um >> from this you need their approval correct >> that is correct. So, [clears throat] um, as we go

089through this, the last two pieces, the last two pieces of information, um, are the focus are the goals. And again, there's two parts to this. One is the federal indicators, and those are passed down from the state, and we base those off of the data that we receive. And, um, the local needs assessment, that's like the strategic plan. This is where we gather information from our stakeholders. And, uh, we have written goals. And I say we, that's our that's our CTE support team, CTE leadership team and written goals around that. And then the last thing in the packet is is the asurances from the from the board of education and from finance and from CTE program saying these are the rules that we shall spend the money by. So with all of that, um, I'll

090take some questions if you have any. And if not, we will I'll ask commission to uh continue to implement this two-year plan to uh plan to utilize over the next two years, and we'll come back next year and do an update with the success of it. >> Mr. Pennington, I was very surprised to see that we have 11 juniors graduating this year that would typically be a junior. Is there some way we can get the And I think that's awfully early. Is there some can they get credits from CTE that's usually reserved for older students? Um I would like to see them stay in school and get some of these skills longer and you know know they're ready to move on. >> There's always that opportunity. There's always that opportunity. I did a when we

091did a breakdown of this, I looked at students that graduated early and what did they get and surprisingly many many were completers. Many took the work keys. Many earned the national career certification. Um, and [clears throat] some say that I was thinking some maybe at community college I say that. >> Diane, I'd like to also say our our counselors do counsel them to stay in as long as we can uh keep them. um you know they're supposed to have a plan in place in order to be able to graduate early uh with those 22 credits and uh they have mastered those credits. Uh most of them uh do have a plan like Earl said um but we do try to keep them in. What I want families to know is that if they are enrolled

092through us they can take those community college classes for free. So, they can enroll in the health sciences or the cosmetology or the welding or whatever it is at the community college um through Ash County High School or Ash County Early College High School uh for free. So, we do encourage them to stay in um so that they can um help their parents pocketbook uh for one um but also give them a little bit longer before they're out in the real world. Well, I've seen courses that I wish I had an opportunity to take that I think would help me with some um interest that I have, but you know, someday when I get time in my old age, I'll probably might do that. But, uh, I mean, it's really there's a very varied offering

093and I was glad to see we added some extra stuff. Hback is really exciting, too. You can't get anybody to work on your stuff if you need it. So, we've got some career opportunities here. And so, Any other questions, comments? I'll entertain a motion to approve this local CTE plan. >> I make a motion we approve this plan. >> I second. >> All right, we got a motion in a second. Any other questions or comments? All those in favor, raise your hand. You're good to go. Motion carries. >> Thank you. I had a signature page with you. >> All right, that's fine. >> Mr. Pennington, I'm glad you didn't make us read that whole thing that you downloaded one year. Thank you for that. >> Oh, you're welcome. Wouldn't have had to uh change it

094up a little bit. >> Next, I'll go back where I started. Personnel by accident. So, you've got the personnel agenda in front of you. Any questions or anything? If not, I'll entertain a motion to approve the personnel. >> Make a motion we approve the personnel. >> All right. Thank you, Miss Calhoun. All right. Thank you, Miss Jones, too. Any questions, comments? All those in favor, raise your hand. Motion carries. All right. Next, we've got the North Carolina Driving School contract approval. >> We put the driving education contract out of that for RFPs and we were hoping to have more than two, but that's all we've got. in secret school. He does probably over half the state. And then um Mitchell driving school out of Sur County the proposal in MC driving school still came in

095a little bit cheaper than Mitchell did. So Lean and Travis and Richardson and I sat down and we went through the proposals and wanted to make the recommendations and continue grad school. Do I have a motion to approve the contract for the NC driving school? >> I make a motion we approve the NC driving school. >> All right. Thank you, Miss Calhoun. Do I have a second? >> A second. >> Thank you, Mr. Ward. Now, any questions or comments? >> Well, I have some concerns about the NC driving school. We've we've always had issues with them getting our kids through. You know, those kids want to be done by their 16th birthday. and and I've talked to parents recently that that's not happening. So, um >> parents really need to be speaking um myself or

096Travis Richardson is our um designated person at the high school. We can't do anything about it unless the parents speak to us and we had a um Zoom call with MC Driving School to talk about some of the concerns we had um with just kind of some classroom management type things. and he he assured us he was going to get his staff together and talk through things. So unless I know I can't take it to Mr. Smith and get it corrected. We are going to be doing a combo of in-class instruction and Zoom classes still. I think Mr. Farmer was more comfortable with that than you know all or nothing. I think it was this contract. There was something about my note, but it's it was really weird. I've never seen it in a contract

097before about the cost of living or something in that contract. Let me see if I can find it. I got a note here somewhere. But it was really strange. I'd never seen it in a contract workers. No, that's always up here. It might have been another one, but I think it was this one where they were saying something about the cost of living >> and contracts been pushed through in the last six months with Jody [laughter] >> probably. So, I can't find it now, but it was it was just really concerned. I'm glad to see that we're going to address the special ed situation because some of the kids really struggle with the classroom part of that. It's always been a part of NC driving school contract. I just had to make accommodations. I think

098we just filled it out a little more clearly. >> I'm sorry I didn't mention it. I don't see it. >> Any other questions, comments? >> Diane, the cost of living is in this contract and it's for um any renewal of this contract that that could be take that the cost could increase. So it's uh the board of education has the option to increase the price per student by percentage that will provide a cost of living increase. And so if we wanted to increase what we were charging students as a part of this then um we could um in this contract >> do we charge students for >> Yes, we charge them ago. >> It's minimal. We do not charge the maximum amount like a lot of districts. So, um I think ours is what 25.

099Is that what it was? >> 40. >> That's reasonable. >> It would. Yeah, it's 40. >> But do we not how often do we renew this contract? >> Um this is one of the contracts that you can notify within 30 days and it just roll continue to roll until we do an RFP again. So, but we would know about that cost of living if they decided to implement that in the contract. >> Now, the cost of living is not for them. It's for us. Is that not right, Dr. Cox? That's for the board to decide if the board decided to charge more. Well, the from the section that I was reading, I just looked up cost of living really quickly in there and yes, it was for us to decide. But of course, um when

100anytime we renew a contract, you know, they have the option of uh increasing, but that doesn't mean we have to go with them either. >> Oh, I'm not crazy. Okay. Thanks. >> Any other questions, comments? Just for the record, so people know if they have questions, you're here at the central office, Ash County Schools, and then Mr. Richardson's at Ash County High School. So folks out there that have any issues, call them. [clears throat] >> All right, so we got a motion in a second. All those in favor, raise your hand. Motion carries. Thank you much. Next, we've got uh child nutrition. About jumped ahead again, Tammy. Sorry, but I didn't. Good evening, board. >> How are you all doing? >> Happy. >> Me, too. It's been a great day. So, um I'm before you

101again to request for um the approval of the bid for the groceries for next year, the groceries, supplies, and the produce from US Foods. >> Do I have a motion to approve? >> I make a motion we approve it. >> Thank you, Miss Calhoun. Do I have a second? >> Second. Mr. Jones, thank you. Now, questions, comments, hearing none, all those in favor, raise your hand. You can go buy some groceries. >> Thank you for next year. >> Next, we've got the 4,000 policies. Those are the ones that the board looked over at the last special called meeting for those. Dr. Cox, anything you have to add to that? >> No, the all the corrections were made. It was just general language. no longer says notwithstanding the forgoing. So other than that um uh they

102were just minor commas and things like that. >> So do I have a motion to approve these 4,000 motion motion that we approve the 400s >> 4,000 400? >> Yeah. All right. Thank you, Miss Jones. Do I have a second? >> Thank you, Miss Elvis and Miss Calhoun. We'll take both of them. Any other questions, comments? Raise. All those in favor, raise your hand. All right, those are approved. Last thing under action that I've got is the endowment fund grant winners. The summary for that >> Chadam is our chairman, our president. So >> So those are not made public yet, I would assume. Or are they? Um these are um they have not been shared with teachers yet but they do require board approval. Um the list is um uh well it it is there

103until um unless the board decides uh something different. >> All right. So you got those in your packet in your agenda there. Do I have a motion to approve these grant winners? >> I move we approve the grant winners. >> All right first. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Well, okay. I think I've heard from everybody right now. So, all right. So, we'll take >> If you if you have questions, I'm on that committee. I was at this meeting where uh we discussed these um grants. Uh we did not have the number that we normally have. Um some of them did not follow the guidelines. That's the zeros that you might see. They did not follow the guidelines as set forth by the bylaws. Those are the ones that were not funded. We

104tried to fund everything we we could. And the golf tournament will be September the 11th. So, we need everybody to come out and play golf that day and have fun. It'll be at Jefferson Landing this year. >> Any other questions, comments? All those in favor, raise your hand. Motion carries. Next, we got updates and discussions. Mr. Jody, I think we got you up first for facilities and project updates. >> Buddy, uh, as we wind the school year down, it seems like the facility side certainly picks up because certainly been win on our team, myself. uh just kind of dig into some of the projects that we noted before. We've we've uh started we pretty much finished up the NX storage space that we a lot of money for. Now we got Amy's storage space downstairs

105and some other space for blast and much better space. Um did the flooring ran electrical and AC unit installed down there. I'm really happy with the end product. It was kind of nice and addition to the space that we're able to uh keep our storage of anything that's in that space a much better climate and you know less hazard for mold or any of those things which was a nice touch. uh some bigger things too um with as we move through the LED project at the high school. Um we've just kind of seen one month of it u but it was about $2,100 worth of savings from the high school comparatively uh from this year to the last two years uh with LED savings. And I I suspect that was at about a 50% completion

106uh with lights done at the time. Right now we're about 77% completed. We we're we're hammering down on finishing out the remainder of what we've got scoped in there. Um I'm really excited to see what the savings will be after we've got the LED refit. Uh the chiller install also is is a nice addition to it because those chillers are not going to pull to the same power that we had in the old chillers, too. So that that up and running has been really nice and I and I hope and feel fairly confident to say that we'll have some energy savings there going forward so we can manage dollars wiser and put it back into our facilities uh and our students in a better way than you know just kind of paying the energy bills

107that we all know they're unfortunately going to climb in the future. So those are those are nice to see and and move forward with. Um, with that said, I kind of sandwiched some things um with moving wood projects. Um, we've stepped back from that. We're going to replant uh the CTE bathrooms. The vendor um we had reached out to it pretty much over three months becoming unresponsive. U so going back out to try and find additional quotes. uh we would be looking at um it was approximately around 40 42 to 47,000 I think was the project cost originally but the next step was around 62,000 so it was a pretty significant jump uh from bids to the next bid we had on hand so I think mindful that we go and look for another vendor

108and we've actually got one scoping to work right now um from what I understand historically it's been been a struggle to get that uh job scoped and um moving forward, but I I'm continuing to work to try and get it uh under contract and then we'll get it forward and get it worked on. Um [clears throat] I will say um not not listed here, we were able to sign a contract uh with JCI and Buller Masters to schedule uh the pump work that will be done at the high school over the summer and then into September that we talked about for the total school buildings money. Um, and that was done over the last couple weeks. Um, where there's some hurdles with the contracts and stuff, but those are nice nice wins to start to

109get scheduled dates down for that and contracts moving forward. So, uh, we we they're we looking forward to doing that. Um, some areas have paused. Uh, the CT or I'm sorry, the FEMA tennis court project has slowed. Uh we we've worked to try and bring Fred Johnson into the conversation and we're continuing to try and navigate to find answers uh to resolve um what was submitted for quote and what what is being a part of the conversation there. Um but we're continuing to try and work for it and work with Fred to find options. Uh, I will say that we will negotiate and look look at different parts of projects because we know we need to put bids together. We actually met earlier this week and we have a meeting tomorrow with FEMA uh to

110get a better idea and we're going to start scoping the um the building that will go down there that we need to put a uh contract scope out for and then get bids for that. Uh so that will be coming up and some of those may uh not be tied together financially but they would uh may pivot off of the same resources as far as getting into the space because it's the same geographic locations trying to get heavy equipment down there. Um which I have some vendors looking at as well. um which has been a little bit of a juggle, but we're moving to uh plan the best approach to get the dollars behind it in the right spaces. Um if we need to go reach out other places, um is a possibility too. Um

111see uh we are um as as the closing out here the uh fire hydrant project uh um design at Westwood was uh we should be seeing um the final design for that here very soon. It was scoped to be at the end of last month which again we're just in the first day of this month for the workday. I reached out to them earlier this morning. I haven't heard back, but I should be seeing the final design for the hydrant plans, the building uh for that very soon. And then my my plan is to meet with a town, our team, local vendor, and the engineer along with uh we'll invite Josh uh >> thank you uh as well. where I send him the plans for review just make sure we're set up for success uh

112and then the hope is to have that u to you next month which would be the end of this month uh for review um and then submit that and then possibly get it in front of the town of West Jefferson depending on what we can coordinate uh for an easement request from them because the building will go on their property. Um so that's that that is the current plan for that that project. Uh we did uh we are working to perm up. It sounds very positive this the sewer wastewater refurbishment. I got uh confirmation of that conversation last week. Um and we have set dates um looking to do end of the beginning of July. um toward around the 24th of July, we would be working on uh Blige sewer waste system. Uh Blige will

113not have bathroom use at that time. So they we coordinate with Mitchell and whatnot there. So where uh we know that's a dirty job, but you know, one of those things that's got to be done. Um I think if uh um once we get a little more conversation going with the vendor, we'll be set up for success. Um, but I feel like we're in a good spot with that conversation last week. Number of moving parts. I don't have it listed here, but again, just a reminder, we do have the roof uh project kicking off here very soon at the middle school. So, moving forward with that. Um, and that will be something that we've all been talking about for a long time. >> Anybody have any questions for Jody? Just wondered if there was a

114deadline for FEMA. That's probably an Amanda question as well. So, as long as >> No, >> that's FEMA. >> Yeah, there's a number of good things and bad things about both of that because of some of the pauses we've hit along the way. Yeah. I mean in an ideal world obviously forward movement always would be what we would want but right now we're not winning in all those circles but we have we have some very solid projects to look behind for it's good >> have money but tennis court is just negotiated out >> and what about the swimming pool are we getting any further with that process >> Dr. Cox might have a little more Dr. Have you talked to Fred anymore about the swimming pool? >> So, have I talked with him about it?

115Yes. Uh, do I have any new news or answers? No. Um, I think June 1st, um, which was today, uh, but I did not talk to Fred today was a was a particular deadline. >> Any other questions? >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Yes. Next, we've got on here for the it is the July meeting, but it'll be held on the last day of June 30th. Uh need to discuss the time for that meeting. Does the board have a preference on what time to start? Do you want to be >> I would prefer it to be after 5:00. We can >> Well, we could keep it the same time as usual. 6 PM. Is that fine? >> Yeah. >> Just to do that. That work, Miss J. If a if a closed session

116is necessary at five then >> that is in substitution of the regular monthly meeting. So that would keep it the same consistent for that being an evening meeting. Well, and it keeps it consistent because we do need an end of the June meeting for budget purposes because we have a contin continuing budget. >> Yeah. Well, those two things. Maybe we won't have to meet in July. We get a month off maybe >> on that. Um not seen anything else. I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. >> What time is it? >> July. Oh, the July 15th. >> March 18th. >> He's talking June and July. What date? >> June. That's policy. >> May 15th. >> She said July. >> Yeah. Sorry. June. >> June. >> So, we're meeting three times in case anybody's board wants to

117come. We'll three times this month. So, now entertain your commitment to policy. >> There we go. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? >> I make a motion we >> All right. Do I have a second? >> A second. >> All in favor? >> All right. Thank you much. >> Thank you all.