BOE Meeting 3/15/26 - Policy meeting

001saying the same thing just turned it down. It's okay. I just turned it down. I think Amanda should be good. This will be Okay. Yeah. Let's do it. none of these were ever the new policies. So we did everything else we already have. That's one 326. That's 32. That's none of those have. It's actually required from They recommend into one of them for the other one technology program and what I suggest. It has. Let me turn the sound back on up there. So, the board's been in session since 11:00 this morning. Went on recess till 1:30 in close session for an appeal for the board. And so, now we're back in open session. We've made a day of it today. So, seen several of you, a lot more of you as times went on. So,

002thank you for being here. We're going to rearrange the schedule just a little bit on the uh discussion information items that we have leaving a meeting with the commissioners. We want to talk first about the roof, current roof at the current middle school um on there. So, we're going to do that first, then work on the 3000s policies that are left there, and then we'll have strategic planning gallery walk after that. Those are the three items we've got under discussion there. So >> my teacher self here takes one and pass it down. Make sure I get the right. >> It doesn't matter which order. >> All right, Dr. Amanda, I'm gonna let you all >> let me chair so I don't know. Okay. >> All right. So, um let me explain to you what we

003have there. Amanda um graciously came back and worked to get this uh to you. So, let's start. Um this is talking about funding for the roof. So, you have two different documents that are funding for the roof. Don't look at the green um sheet there yet. That's for a different conversation. So you have the um Ash County Middle School Ruth Project. That's the shorter one. Okay. Um and it has a total estimate cost of the project. This is $2,216,170. So that is the the the bid plus the engineering that's already underway plus the 5% contingency because once they start doing stuff um it's got to be within the project initial initially. So this was in the spring of 2024. Um it was committed by the um commissioners and the board of education. $500,000 is what

004the board of education committed toward the project. At the time, we didn't have any bids or anything like that. We just had an estimate from a roofing company um that did not take into consideration, didn't really come out and look at it at that point in time. That was just an estimate um at that time which was just a little over a million dollars or right around a million dollars. So um we shared at that point in time if you remember back to to then um we shared at that point in time we had $500,000 that we could commit um from the public school building repair and renovations fund from the state. the balance. Um, so that was $500,000. The balance after the engineering costs um from the project so far is $352,797 um uh

005according to the commissioners and paying half of where we are at this point in time. Correct. >> No, no, no. I'm sorry. That's not even us. >> 352,000. That's how much we have left to put toward the 2,100. Well, it would be the >> No. >> Oh, yeah. There you go. It would be toward the 1,18,000. We We have um a shortfall of $255,288. >> So, we really don't have the 500. That's >> No, we've already spent part of it on the engineering cost because that's a part of that's how you have to do that. So that's not part of the $2,216,000. >> You got the total cost, got the commissioner's portion, >> right? >> 500,000 we committed, >> right? >> And then the balance of school building money. You subtract all that out that

006comes up 250. >> So we're short $255,000 from that. That's if we do have >> Okay. If a question of Amanda um as this is going to take 150 days to complete and hopefully there'll be a budget for the next year um will we have funds that can finish paying for it that we can count on going forward hopefully prayer no major. So I think we need to look at this one first. There will be other a lotments um but we need to keep in mind if we spend every dime of our public school building money there is no money for those emergencies. And we have qu and we have quite a few of them as well for a building that we'll be in for two years and we are you know we already replace

007at 68,000 this year. >> So if you look at this the public school building and renovation funds. So this is these are the project specifically and about 40% of our funds is that about 40% is that what we said has gone toward the middle school >> 35 okay 35% of the funds from capital have gone toward the middle school >> in the last year >> from what we spent 35% fullment of what we spent >> is 35% of that has gone to the middle school >> so this is of a lotment that goes toward board um capital projects that Jody has on a yearly basis. The majority of it's going into because we have seven buildings. Um well, we have more than that, but of the six buildings that we instructional buildings. >> That's right.

008>> Of the six instructional buildings, 35% of it has gone to one. So 35% of the capital that we have has went to the middle school >> of the capital that's assigned that Jody um that we get on a yearly basis. >> And how much have we spent at the high school? >> I don't have that number in front of me. We were I did these numbers loosely a while back talking about what we were spending. There is going to be some cattle needs that we got approved earlier. Just off the top of my head, these larger projects we're talking 180,000 or right now >> to the high school. >> Yeah. >> But again, things pop up like that sinkhole that we had unfortunately which I appreciate the commissioners completely. They couldn't go >> right

009school. But >> but the broiler is in part of that, right? >> Well, they boiler loom needs to be repaired and we we presented that. you got us through that and then um there was a lighting project that >> so so if you look at um the top there it says 2021 through December 2025 aotment that's how much we've been allotted from the state that's when they started this uh capital building project fund for school districts to help out local uh entities so we've it's been 2 million 38 $8,763 is what we've received um from that aotment from the state. Um Amanda is great with the funds because we actually get those and then we can put it in to gain interest. So we've had another $165,455.99 in interest that we have earned off of

010those funds. So we're >> Okay. Well, Really? Yeah. That's right. It goes to the county. But anyway, so there's there's interest in there that the county has as a part of these funds. That's what I'm saying. It's local. We have it. So, all right. Well, I thought it was like >> It's ours. But so what happens with these funds, the county has to sign off on it and um the uh board chairs. So the commit uh Todd and Josh have to sign off on these funds and most of them in if it's you know if it's over $50,000 obviously we bring it to you all. If it's under that we have discretion within the budget um to be able to use it. And then some of them I'm like there were some that you that

011are in process now that you've recently said yes go ahead and um do because they were out of instead of taking them to the commissioners we could take them out of these funds. Um, can I ask a question of Jody? How close are we to the five-year plan for 26 to 30 being completed? >> Good question. >> So, we have an idea of what we're facing. >> Really like to be able to give you a better answer. I don't have an answer right now. DPI is not giving me any update on when that's going to be ready. We got to lose something, but I I I would not want to present it to you until with your DPI soon. So, >> I mean, they've been telling me for five months that it's been ready >>

012and we've and we've were proactive and got the assessment done before then. And so, new things have popped up since the assessment was done that we have not expected. >> There there are coolers that are aging. >> There are parking lots that will need to be done. There are roofs that will need to be looked at. Um, >> how many gym floors are we facing? >> Two gym floors in the top of my head right now. >> Okay. And plus all that lighting that we were talking about for the fields. >> Yeah. >> Different possibility. >> Well, and the lighting has been purchased, right? The light >> talking about the sports fields. Lighting. >> Yeah. No, not the sports fields. That's not in there. That's not at all. >> So, >> oh, I know that's

013not in building, but we still it's not part of this, but it's still one of the pots of money that sometimes can move around. So if you look at the projects under there um that have come out of those that total of 2,38,763 that's what's in the middle. So that's $487,315.95. So ACMS roof the the different terracon uh pieces we still have um this include all of the terracon. It does not have more. Okay. So, um we have more teraccon that's not in that. Um we have the the boil boiler replacement at the middle school that we did. I mean that was um six almost 68,000 um you know carpet uh in in tile at Blue Ridge and you know some of that was original to the building. Um that's come out of it as

014well. um flooring replacement um at the middle school. Um auditorium carpet at the high school, Westwood um auditorium lighting, if you remember how dark it was in there um before then. uh the composite tile um installation that was in uh the the well it says voced here but this was at the high school um the hot water heater at Blue Ridge that was another 61,000 over almost 62,000 um the Westwood bathroom partitions that were so needed um is in there and then if you look at the bottom these are the committed projects that none of them are wants their needs. So the CTE restrooms that we had so many complaints about if you remember even students complaining about it that's almost 50,000. Um the early learning center air conditioning in the media room 36 thou

015almost 37,000. The flooring at the early learning center in just two classrooms is 8 over 8,000. the Blue Ridge sewer repair, which um that's a huge project right there. Um that we cannot not do. Um that's $71,146. Um the the pump system upgrade at the high school. So those are the bo downstairs. Um and if you want to see pictures, I have them from a couple years ago. They were >> working. What >> are they still working? They're leaking like s. It's just a matter of time. >> Well, and that's 101,37. And then um the uh high school converting the the interior lights um which uh is $82,000 and all of those have been um committed. And so the total of that amount is a lot. I mean, you have all the Westford water project

016600 over $600,000 which we have to do and then of course the remaining um less the engineer prompt so far is $414,000 um from that 500,000 but part of that is of course going to go to Teraccon for engineering. So it quickly go the money quickly goes away on projects that are not ones. I have another question then. If we if we do the silicon coating and that has a warranty of up to 10 years, >> they won't warrant. >> They won't. >> What is the What would you consider a probable look at the uh amount that is going to have to be because of moisture removed and rebuild under that coating before the coating can go on? Am I understanding correctly that that's going to be required? Well, that's that's where the difference in

017preventions have kind of split where they looked at what's been there. The roofing company that I took didn't feel like there was a major amount of removal needed for the coating. >> Okay. >> Not with seasonal roofing, >> but there was a 10-year warranty. He said >> 10 year warranty on the coating. Yes. >> We can afford to do that, but we just don't. The Terracon folks told me after the meeting, I walked downstairs and they were walking with me and they said there was two roofs on that roof now and that silicon would not be warranted at it wouldn't be warranted because there's two levels. It's not good. And we've already tried that. >> It was not as extensive as the whole roof, but we did a lot of it. It did not work.

018It made the problem worse. >> When I was a roofing engineer, I'd say the same thing. >> Yep. >> So, I'd get your business. Maybe so, but you know, >> we have got to do something. We've got to put the roof on the building. >> We've tried probably in a little bit more about the history. We've tried portions of it. We haven't done the whole >> less years. >> So, the workmanship is two years on on the silicone. I'm not saying either way, but the the workmanship is two years. And then the the coding is 10 years. Correct. Is that is that the way to say it? >> I know the coding is 10. I have to go back and look at the language on the workmanship. >> We just have to watch what they

019put in it very carefully. >> And how long would it take to do this if they were to do the coding? Like the other one was 150 days. >> How so? How long would this take? So again, I just want to be transparent on what I've been working on. I've not gotten this through DPI yet. That needs to go through DPI. I've been working on getting the paperwork to set up to go into DPI. So it need to be submitted to DPI. I don't know if we how the bidding process would work with it. It's at the point dollar amount that might need to go out to bid a 250 >> 250 for we have to get the answer for that. And then when I talked to the DPR rep, they said four weeks. >>

020Four weeks to do the job. >> No, six weeks to do the job. >> So that could be done a summer project. >> Yes. >> Correct. >> But this amount that you quoted us this morning, that's the that's the complete job in itself. Complete. >> I would request for that and a contingency a 5% contingency of that. What real assurance do we have that they won't have to take off some of the other roof and that's going to increase the price and and do all of that for a limited amount of warranty. The problem folks, whether we like it or not, someone didn't do their due diligence earlier. They did not take care of that roof like they should have. It's not any of us, but it's still our responsibility to make sure that these

021kids are in an environment that is conducive to learning. And if we have to find the money somewhere, we need to find that money. And I think the commissioner said they might even allow us to have that other 300,000 to go on this project. That roof needs to be fixed and fixed. Well, if it were my house, I wouldn't be putting a stack gap stop gap kind of thing on it. And we've let it go so long. And it's not I when I say we, us and everybody else in the past history since 20ome years ago, it should have been replaced. But this would work for the kids and the student or the teachers to we were out of there for two years. >> We tried that. >> But we tried that. It did not

022work. It made it worse. We tried it. >> We didn't put a coating on the entire roof. This would be entire coating system. This would be a company doing it. That's a roofing expert versus our maintenance people who work. If it don't work on part of the roof, what makes you think it's going to work on the whole roof? >> Something to do with. So, my my concern with commissioners, I know they have money. My taxes went up. I >> said I know they have a fund balance. We're going to be down two years and they're going to use the building for the next 30. My problem is we should pay our $500 and they should pay the rest because they have plans for that building. They're gonna use it. >> Parks and Recck's going

023to get a lot out at the gym. Um, and they listed a lot of different things they could do. I suggested we should keep the building and rent it. But we can't do that. Uh, but I I think we should fix it too totally if the commissioners would pay their due diligence and let us pay our $500. That's all the money we have. Otherwise, we should fix it for the two years we're going to be there and then they can pay the whole 2 million. But then it' be three. >> Yep. Yep. That's >> I mean, you know, I'm trying to say that pretty clear to them today, but I don't think it hit them. >> I mean, I think that's fair. If we're going to use it two years, we shouldn't have to pay

024hype off it. But it doesn't fix it. I agree. So, one of the things that um we had um shared and shared um with Adam as well um that the um percentage of um the roof uh that would be our fair share um if you take that total amount starting with mid in February um we should pay about 12 and a half% based on the length of time of 30 months that we will be in the building and then the other And how many months? Um, let me pull it up. >> 210. >> Um, >> it's a 20 year already. >> 210. Um, with a 20-year life on the roof would be 87 and a half% of the roof itself. That's the total cost. When we say 20 year life, that's what we would put

025on the asy. We met six years ago to fix that roof and it was we had an agreement and I don't know why it didn't go forth. That was six years ago that we met with the commissioners and they agreed we needed a roof and it was never followed up on. And so, you know, to say that we are only going to use it two more years. That still doesn't fix the leaks down on the folks heads. And I'm uh people are if we don't care any more about our students and our teachers than that. >> Saying we don't care about the students and the teachers. Diane, you keep saying that. We're trying to come up with a solution here. >> A solution that we've tried that didn't work. >> No, you haven't tried this

026solution. You've done patchwork and patchwork does not hold up like a whole silicone coating. So that there is a significant difference and it will last for a while and I agree with the statistics that Dr. Cox presented to the commissioners that we're if we're looking at our share of the cost, we shouldn't have to be paying half of the total bill. >> Correct. And it's none of our fault that this whole situation has been allowed to go like this. But it is difficult with taxpayer money to >> and like you said, it's been the past six years. Where where was everybody else the past six years to do it? I wasn't here. >> You were here. >> I was on here six years ago. I didn't come until July of 2020. >> You were at

027the meeting that we did, but I have to commission. So the the only meeting that the commissioners committed the money to was in 2024 in spring of 2024. >> And there may have been some um unofficial meeting and talking going on, but that there was no official meeting um prior to spring of 2024 where that was discussed and money was committed. >> But I just don't appreciate you saying that we don't care. You keep saying that and that's not true. Um, well, I I've got some parents that would disagree with you there. >> Okay, that's fine. But I'm trying to come up with a solution. Where are we going to get that other million dollars? Where are we going to get it from? >> A million. >> What's it close to? >> It's closer to

028half a million. >> Okay. Half a million. Where are we going to get that from? >> Well, we have a fund balance as well. >> But if we used that fund balance during Hurricane Helen, nobody would have got paid. >> Correct. Why is that? Would someone explain that to me, please? >> Because every payday, we have to take the checks to the bank. When I was going to the bank in the middle of the hurricane, the bank shut down. Everything closed down. But the payrolls were already set to go out because it's an electronic file. checks that I needed to cover it I had with me and I couldn't get them deposited and it was Wednesday and we had to take them to Wils County. >> I took them to Wils County to get them

029deposited for then but everybody got paid >> and and the reason why everybody got paid is because we have money in fund balance. We should have at least >> and we have to have at least that amount in there just to cover payroll for an emergency basis. And right now we have that plus a little bit and we're still floating money for FEMA. >> We have to float money for FEMA. We have to float money for Gear Up prek. Um the US Department of Ed grants those are not >> title one where they don't give us money up front. We have to ask for that after we've made the expenditures. So we have to have that money in our bank on a regular basis in order to be able to do most of the programming

030that we have uh within our schools. So, it's not like we have the money just sitting there and you take it out and it's good. We have to make concessions for that. And it's a large chunk of money that goes back and forth that the state just doesn't give school districts. And for good reason. I mean, we've got school districts that have struggled with their cash and um cash on hand and um it's inflated certain values, we do it the right way. But if we were to do a complete roof, we wouldn't be able to get it all done this summer, right? Because it would take >> go into the fall. >> It'll be into the fall. This goes into the fall. >> So that would go into the fall. So would you allow kids

031to be in there during that time? >> What? >> The silicone he just said would take longer that >> Yeah. Yeah. The abatement current staging objective for the roof would allow students in based on the abatement procedure of the new roof because we were a bait we were doing the underpin construction and demo first which is where it causes the issue with asbestous. So we were doing we were the schedule that we planned was do all that first that way they can start installing the roof afterwards where there would be work going on while students were in there but it wouldn't be the work that would be loud and causing you know the asbestous to fall. So the asbestous would be done while nobody is in the building because I wouldn't I wouldn't put my

032own child in there with with a best asbestous abatement or or adults in there while asbestous is being abated. So following um we've had mold testing done three separate times and um >> yes and if you can make that clear because some parents have asked that has the mold been tested or has it been tested >> three separate times on three separate separate >> third party >> um I see several advantages to this that the the commissioners have forced us into a position where there's no money and we have to have rainy day fund backup for the kinds of projects that we're facing with all the aging buildings we have. It gives us the advantage of getting the whole roof temporarily sealed so that leaking will stop for the 30 months were left most likely.

033I I don't think there's very likely that there'll be but anything minor leaks that might have to be uh fixed after the silicone. I I I'm assuming that that's the case. I would say that was, you know, and and I would say after you do a new roof, it could leak in certain spots, too. >> I would say this morning when they built Ash County High School, I was in there for the first two years of the brand new building. There were trash cans in the hallway. There were trash cans in the classrooms, the roof leaked. We But then they fixed it and and it went on. But a new building leaks it. You don't know till it rains, unfortunately, or you get ice. And with your report that there's not a lot of moisture,

034we have the money to do that if there if you know it the I don't saying that you said that but that the the people that came and looked at it we can afford this more than we can afford a whole new roof and we will only get 30 months benefit out of it and then once we're out of there they don't have to worry about students in the building till they get a new roof up there. um and then it ceases to be our problem. And in the meantime, we've been able to educate our students with less water in the building and meet our budget and still having money for the emergencies that we know are going to come up with our aging buildings >> and a 10-year warranty. >> And I just don't

035see how we have a choice um because of the commissioner's decision this morning. >> I just want to make sure I agree. There is moisture in the roof. that was tested. So, I won't I won't disagree with what Tercon, like I said this morning, Tercon's been a good company to work with. They're doing a great job. I think they could drive us to to a good roof when it was inst if it's what chooses to be installed. I only presented this other option because that's the way my mind works. And if we didn't have that conversation, we didn't have this option right now, how much more strained would the system feel in my opinion. So I think it's better to have some kind of option because I wouldn't want to be put in a situation

036where you have to come up with $900,000. That's going to squeeze everything out of what we do. And that's not fair. >> That's not to me that's not fair to the rest of the system. And I and I want it to be fixed and I wish we had the money, but it's you got in my mind, you got a plan for A, B, C, and D. >> Yeah. >> If we go a different route, what happens to the terracom contract? We still have to pay them the remaining. >> Okay. >> How much is that? >> Um, my total contract was 136. So, we paid 87 88. Oh, so we'd had to eat that much. >> Well, it's not really eating it because they've done the work. >> It just use that work until you That's

037right. >> That's not wasted. >> Okay. >> You'd have to have the engineering done regardless >> of who does it. >> There is some concern about using public school building money for buildings you're going to vacate soon. I'm trying to get that clarified from DPI. Um because to them this money is to protect our investments that we're staying in. And if we're not staying in it, why would money? >> But we want to make sure that it's a better situation than they're currently in. >> I mean, we want it to be dried. So we're trying and we we go forward using whatever funds that are not local first always. So that includes um the uh state providing the public school building and renovation funds. If it can be taken out of there like parking lot

038could not. So that's why you know we wanted to look elsewhere. But um if we can use public school building and renovations we're going to use that um before anything so that we can be good stewards of taxpayer funds here. It's been it's been wonderful and I'm very thankful for the general assembly in continuing to provide those funds to us because I mean look at all the projects that we've been able to complete without putting a strain on the commissioners or on our county because of that. So that's been really really helpful. >> Just a quick question. This list here in between the middle part is there anything that we could eliminate from that that doesn't >> Those are done. That's what we spent. Ones at the bottom are committed. They're the ones that have

039been approved >> either previous work sessions or this last work session we had. >> Gotcha. >> And they have to be done. It was >> correct. Commission have to. >> Um and these buildings are all projects completed is on the DI website. Anybody can go mean doesn't mean they do. >> No, it doesn't consistent. >> Well, if you'd like, we could actually send this to the commissioner. We do have as a part of the um we're still working on the documentation to send forward to the commissioners and we typed it and we typically include this and we did the same thing with the esser dollars. We spent most of our er dollars on one time expenditures. So that for a good chunk of our was a onetime expenditure so that we could take the lift

040the heavy lift off of our commissioners for like the air conditionings at the different schools and >> uh Chromebooks and other things that would have come from the commissioners to begin with. So we we we've tried to do that all along >> since we've had access to this funds and that's all been since 2021. They realize all the money that you that we you know that we have saved by doing extra funds and all the grants these ladies have written that have made possible things in this county that our children would not have had if we had to depend upon the commissioners to give it to us. Think about it. I mean how many I wonder I'm wondering one year how many how many million dollars you ladies have gotten. >> Oh it's been over

041100 million if you include the middle school itself. Are they aware of that? That we say that much money talk they got money. >> Our commissioners have been really good to us and I want I want I want to say that our commissioners have been really really good to education in Ash County. I'll just put that out there. Um they've come to the table in the last several years for some things that you know we don't get everything. Um but the things that we've truly needed they've been they've been good to us and and I'll I'll put that out there. Um, but there's so many things that should be funded by the state that aren't. >> I know that's a problem. >> And I think that's part of the major problem. We are so state

042centric and they've been pushing on our local commissioners and tax and tax base more and more and more. The squeeze is getting tighter. Uh, things that you don't even see. So, for example, Amy's not here, but if you think of the infrastructure that no child ever sees, that no parent ever sees, it's not but it's required. things like gaggle and um things that are behind the scenes that protect our children from predators and others. We're talking about, you know, six figures of dollars that are spent on that every year. You know, we could have a a a teacher in the classroom for that amount. When you think of a teacher, um the cost has gone up. If you take a 45 a a teacher that makes $45,000 a year, which is our beginning teacher, and

043then you add on the benefits, which we're responsible for even more every year, we're talking about $72,000 in retirement, 32% and insurance is $8,500 per person. So when you think of and that keeps increasing and so all of that doesn't you they give they might give us this similar amount from the state but they're expecting local so our commissioners our county our small county to be able to pay more and more and more. So what happens is off of all those little PRC's that we have, we have to take a couple thousand dollars here, $100,000 there off um of what's available for things like a teacher or a a guidance counselor or an assistant principal. And then they don't even fund us in hold for any of those things. None of our schools would have

044an assistant principal if it if we did not use other funds. Jody, I was just asking Josh, so to get into a roof this the coding, do we have to pay to get into a contract or anything with them? >> There's not an insurance fee right now. U I needed to submit to DPI that would just be a contract to install the roof. >> That's what I was just asking him in DPI before if it's under a certain amount >> 500,000. If I'm not So, we've talked about delays. If I'm not mistaken, some of our delay in the past was DPI >> because it we were told as a board that because it was havesies and havves supposed 500 and 500 that it was below the $500 threshold for a con a architect to be

045involved. But then DPI came in. We waited on them forever. They finally got here. First thing they did said, "It's over a million dollar project. Why'd you call us? you've got to get it and bid it out to architects which completely delayed the whole process again going through the state regulations to get that done on there. So when you said that that made me remember that that was part of it that we went >> had pause and that's why I bring >> that is a long pause but what's a part of it but again just finding a plan B was a part of going through all that together too. So is it is it a viable plan B? There's some holes there. Yeah, I can admit that. Well, I mean, >> cost is too much

046of a difference to not share, >> right? >> You know, it's not one million or, you know, 1.9 million. >> Yeah. >> 2.2, >> right? But but I'm saying the coding is not 1.9. So, it's like it's got to be shared because it's such a dramatic difference. Now, there are risk in a different way. So, >> what's the risk in the different way? >> Well, I've got to get through DPI and we got to get out to bed. That way we can get it >> another delay. >> Ordered >> another delay >> ordered the product order to get the install done within the time frame that we want it done. So that's that's a >> with working with DPI. Is it something that could possibly be done during the summer? >> The good thing is

047they've already looked they already have the designs for the roof itself. Uh yeah, they I mean they they don't do the detail that that was done submitted through teron. So I'm not an engineer. I will I'll work to get everything together to submit it. I'm getting close to having everything. I don't I wasn't going to submit it because I don't know if it's going to be approved, but uh it's closer to being submitted. They told me four to six weeks. So if I can get it out four to six weeks, we'll be running right up against when we would need to do it. be tight. There's not a lot of flood, >> right? So, do you think that would be complete before fall if everything went? Um, >> if it were perfect, we'd probably squeeze

048it in, but I don't know if it's that. >> So, you'd probably still be into fall. >> So, you don't think we could do it during the summer? >> Oh, we could do it during the summer. >> But if you could do it, we can get I mean, there's holes there. Man, it's done more deep than I have. So, I I can't say that. Again, I don't want to put a lot of faith in them. >> I know they don't have to be bid. We need to pull those documents out, make sure >> I did talk about bid. Again, >> depends on price point. I'll have to look at the documentation. Repairs has a different price point than construction. Oh, yeah. So, >> yeah, >> just have to be careful with that. >> So, I'm

049just creating as much gap in case it comes down. That's a win. And that's what we tried to do not knowing what this conversation was going to be today with the commissioners. Um we our people there need to be dry staff and students. >> Totally agreed. >> And I mean poor Julie was a teacher at the middle school when it was dripping and that's been a long time. >> Since there bug sitting up then >> it's been it's been leaking since 99. >> Yeah. trash cans. >> It's got a flat roof. Is there a way that Amanda and Jody can get some answers to this and how quickly it'll move forward and whether what we have to do so that we can make a final decision and maybe an emergency called meeting or something because

050I think there's some gaps we don't know right now that we need to know. And >> I know that Amanda tried to call um DPI right before this meeting um just to see if we could get a hold of somebody and she left a message so I'll tag team on that one and then we can come back to say okay where might it could come from if that's not a possibility I mean clearly something needs to be done. >> Can I ask a plumbing crazy question? Miss Hines don't get after me. Plan C. Plan A, we don't have the money. Plan B going to take too long or something like that. Would there be a possibility of a plan C >> potential? >> Meaning that you would move seventh and eighth grade till the new

051school got built. I know she's going to fall over on me on the bank. >> Well, I mean, other schools had to do it during Hurricane Helen. It's not ideal. Um, but at least they would be dry and we could come up with vacate building early and let them have it. Paul would have to obviously would have to approve that plan too. Um but we can look into it. I just >> I mean I just that's really way out there in left field. But >> I don't you know that that ceases the roof leaking immediately. >> You'll just be in different buildings, but you're going to be spread out. I don't know that that's not >> there. No. >> No, you would have to you'd have to put I don't even want to speculate. Um

052but but we we would be in at least two different areas more than likely our current schools and another location. >> High school students. >> What's that? >> The high school is built for 1200 students. >> Um yes, but not all of the classrooms make it individually um possible to do that because that would be joining classes together. But again, we we can look at um that would not be ideal, but we might have a possibility outside of that. >> Is there classrooms in the bottom of the basement? I mean of the high school. >> Oh, >> maybe there was. >> But there there are there is potential because we do have space in other other schools, but we haven't explored that because we were really hoping that um get the room. you know, we

053would have a rule, but we can we can absolutely do that. >> Yeah. So, can you just get us more information and that'll help us um on that end? And then I think Well, we're meeting >> the 30th again. So, I mean, two weeks. So, maybe by then >> you'd have that. If it lines up, I would ask for the board's approval to submit the project to DPI. If I can get it, if I can get the information in that way, it's already running that route. It doesn't mean we have to choose that path. It just means whether or not they're going to approve the work. So, >> good with that. I can submit the paperwork for the cost. >> No, does not. I I move that he proceed with the paperwork so that um

054we have less lost time. >> Okay. So I have a motion for Miss Ward to proceed with the paperwork on coding with DPI. Do I have a second? >> I second. >> Thank you, Miss Calhoun. Any other questions, comments on the motion? Hearing none. All those in favor raise your hand. Any opposed? Motion carries. So, we'll let you work on that. Anything else you've got on that? So, they approved the the Mr. Farmer here. Okay. Okay. Well, they approved the sinkhole. So, fix that. I was going to give him the good news. So, all right. Next, we've got 3000's policies. >> So, Dr. tell us where those thoughts. >> So if you look in similarly um I put the content this was directly from um schoolboards association at one of the last meetings that we

055had where we considered these policies and yes we've looked at each of these before. Um these were policies new to Ash County. Some of them actually replace policies that we have in the 10,000 series or combined. Um but um the ones that um Amy shared um are ones that we could do now and it's not that significant of um uh of change or lift from what we're uh currently doing um are um listed in the supporting documents. So you can see uh 3220 technology in the education program. Um they say it's optional but re recommended. We have um that's one of the ones uh that is listed under the supporting documents separately. Um that is one that we recommend um moving forward with. It does have some added um language um even including um uh

056AI that was added um uh back in the September months. um from a schoolboard's association standpoint. Um the second policy is 3226-4205 which is internet safety. Um this is one that we also need um to have. Um this is dealing with ebate. So we have a policy um in the 10,000s that's um similar to this, but this is the one that um specifically addresses it. And of course um with - applicants were required to have an internet safety policy documentation. This one is the one that uh the school board's association recommends. And so that is also included um separately under the supporting documents. Um the 3227 webpage development I don't think is is relevant. It says it's optional. Um, but we don't have teachers any longer creating their own websites or anything like that to

057put on like they used to, you know, 15 years ago. Um, so, um, that's really not something that's, uh, necessary at this time. Um, uh, 3228-73 7323, personal use of technology to conduct school business. Again, this one's strongly recommended by the school board's association. It puts employees on notice about what obligations might flow from using personal technology for school business. Um and so we have certain procedures and rules that we have in place um from that standpoint, but we really need um this particular policy so when things change um we can easily update it and have guidance from them because our language is not um not exactly that in the 10,000s. and that is one that's called out down there, use of personal technology to conduct school business. So those are the three that are

058um specific to technology that we really feel like um will be done. Now there is um the other policies listed were also in there. One of them is student promotion and accountability. It's optional but strongly recommended. Um we don't have to look at that today. um we follow our state and most of that's on the tr school transcript or in um a an existing policy um when it comes to promotions. Um religion in the schools also is not required but it's recommended. Again, we don't have to do that one today, but this one will eventually provide parameters from um constitutional issues that can arise uh with religion and schools. Um again, um you know, we're pretty open with our our families. You know, if somebody has an objection to something, they just have to let

059us know. Um all of our teachers know that. Um uh so anyway, and that's how we've been acting for years. Whenever we've gotten any type of question and most of it comes down to a book that we're using or something like that. Um and then the last one is title one comparability of services. That's 3565-8307 and it's optional but reflects the legal requirements that we have from a title one funding part A of the ESA. Um and anyway, Julie, what do we use to show that we have um policy documentation that's in a different space? >> Yeah. So, every year we have to I have to do three reports. Um, one is called ES which small E s and I have to enter and he helps me with that because it's based on free and

060reduced >> um which is a little different now that we do CP look at it differently then we have to do an equity report and a comparability report and those are all due to the state usually by consumeris >> and so that last policy is the comparability of services so we're operating under that it would be helpful if this was passed um specifically so if ever we were asked to have board policy submitted we would have it. We do the reports every year but that doesn't mean that um that would necessarily comply. It has so far with our audits um but that's why the school board's association recommends a separate policy. So you want to start with 3220 technology and the educational program. So if you look at 3220 technology and the educational program um

061uh I had Amy to specifically um look at this. We've also looked at policies um from other school districts and most of them have adopted um this specific policy from the school board's association and um essentially it um follows what our state requirements are integrating technology into the curriculum um and uh essentially so that students can be successful college career beyond. Um it's also new technologies required in our testing right now. So regardless of how we use it in the classroom, they are required to test on um at the end of the year. Correct? >> Yes. Okay. Um so uh essentially um the strategies that we use to incorporate technology um uh that we actually do that there are several things that we have to incorporate um into technology and I can provide you with

062that and these are mostly um by grade level standards and so they are already within the curriculum um within our schools and then we have um our media specialists are the ones who carry out most of that um technology um integration or extra lesson so to speak. Unfortunately, we used to have um tech facilitators um in our schools. Um but that's another squeeze that the state does not provide for us. It comes out of PRC O7. We get about five or six positions out of those funds for our and we have 30. So counselors come out of there. Tech facilitator facilitators would come out of there. U media specialists come out of there. What's that? >> If they're licensed, they come out there. >> If they're licensed, they would come out of there. Um psychologists

063come out of there. So it's a hodgepodge of things that we only get six, >> five or six positions. I think it's six. for that one. We get six positions and we have about 30 in our district. So, we have to cover that in other areas. So, um unfortunately um the the formula no longer works. I don't know if it ever worked years ago, but the formula no longer works for our school districts, especially small districts who rely on that ADM. Um but anyway, so I wanted to bring that up because I know it's an issue. I would prefer to have tech facilitators as well in our schools. It's just not um it's just not possible anymore unless we cut and put more teachers in or more students in classrooms and I certainly don't want

064to do that. Um >> are there any um grants that we might write for that? >> I have not found a grant for a person other than older mental health. We've I think lasted about all of our mental health hour that we can write for. Jamie writes for every mental health grants. I Yeah, sorry. Lake and Amanda writes for every mental health grant that we can and we're pretty successful in getting them. But that's to hold together. It's a glue to hold together the services that we provide because again five counselors that would be all that PRC7 takes care of. And we have, you know, one at each elementary school, one at uh middle school, we have one at the early college and three at the high school. I'm sorry, two at the middle school

065and >> three at the high school. So that's nine. And we only get six. And we have media specialists. We have uh tech, you know, we don't have tech facilitators anymore, but we have school psychologists. We have all those other positions that I named before that just is exhausting thinking about what we need but don't get it actually makes me a little angry because we deserve better. Our teachers deserve better. Our kids deserve better than that. Um so the technology uh technology resources um a lot of the hardware um tablets uh laptops uh Chromebooks that we have within our district. Um you know I think we do a really good job of getting the best price um that we can um for all of those things. against things like the backup access that we're required

066to have um for everything. The redundancy um is expensive and you may not even use it in a couple of years. You know, you might not have to, but when you need it, you need it. It's required. Um anyway, so that's part of this. And again, we're following all those procurement um and uh we're following all these steps. Uh the deployment of technology in the schools. Um we have uh our Travis still here. Um we've got um uh our technicians that help with that. Uh our principles help with that. Of course, this is under Amy's um direction um for the deployment and the refresh plan. And so, um, anyway, we we've got one in place. We have even a plan. We've been using Esser dollars for the last two, um, refresh cycles. So, now we

067have to get back to the to a new, um, plan, which we're going to have to eventually take to the commissioners, um, because there isn't funds from there aren't funds from the state. They've been talked about. They've been talked about, but I'm not sure that that's the direction that they are going to go. But even still, you know, they have a requirement that every student takes a computer a computer programming class. Well, you can't do that without computers. Um, uh, the bring your own technology initiative, um, we do not currently have have it in there. So, Amy changed the wording on there to explicitly say that we do not currently have it. Um but anyway the uh there is an exception that is added if you can see exceptions to this policy may only be

068granted with the express and written approval of both the superintendent andor the technology director and that was to give us an out in case there was a um legitimate reason for that exception. um a couple of years ago, we've had some issues at the um specifically at the early college with um courses and getting onto their system. Uh obviously, we want kids to be able to do their work. However, um you know, some of their some of their courses may require something that we don't uh necessarily have um on hand. Um it may be um something that's uh different because of a student's AP. I don't know. Most of the time we provide that technology um but it's in there just as an exception in case um but that's not the norm and we want

069people to know that's not the norm and it's for their protection um as much as it is ours. Electronic communication with other collaborative tools. Um again these uh it mentions things about social media sites, blogs and wikis. It's not meant to be an exhaustive list. Um but it does um reference the policy of employee use of social media um which we will be addressing um later uh but we currently have in place. Um the section on generative AI is um the newest thing to that particular policy. um it is two paragraphs long and I don't think that there's anything in there that is um it's generic enough that it addresses that there is u generative and um AI or artificial intelligence um but um and we have a plan that's on the currently on the

070um district website of how um we use generative AI but certainly we don't want second graders um using generative AI but There are testing programs that level students up or level them down. That is AI. And so it's not that we're not using it or that students aren't using it. They're not using it to produce their documents. Clearly, we want students to be able to read and write on their own without somebody else doing the work for them. And there is limit. But, you know, a fourth grader, for example, needs to know the difference between something that's real and something that's not. We have adults that can't figure out what's real and what's not online. And we need to explicitly teach students this is real, this is not. This is how to look at a

071source. This is how to um not be fooled by something that's pretty good online. And of course, we even take those for us. Um and this is not necessarily AI. Um, but we do the no before tests with all of our staff and that's so that we can learn, okay, well, this is somebody who's trying to take advantage of us and boy, it looks it looks like it really was from Amazon, but it's not. Or this looks like it was from the superintendent, but it's not. Um, and then of course, um, all school system employees and students should be AI literate, and that is to have an understanding of basic AI principles and applications. the skills to recognize when AI is employed and awareness of its limits. That's part of what I was um talking

072about. So, we need to develop that comprehensive AI plan. There is one already in um online um specific from um well we use the the state's AI plan in order to develop that um for us but we want to be able to start doing um more widespread um education of our teachers and staff so that they know how they can be efficient with AI and u really know it its limits and then put some parameters around it so they're not using it in ways that are um like you know putting private student information on the worldwide web because we certainly don't want to do that mainly it's a safety issue and then the part G down there uh technology related professional development and that's essentially what um uh this addresses there is a and this

073was employed probably in 2018 the state um started a mandate essentially of all teaching staff and administrators on how to utilize digital tools. It's required. It's in the curriculum. In fact, um teachers have to you have to earn um every how many years um credits in uh tech or used to have to earn credits in technology. they've made a lot of assumptions that they um uh maybe know how to use technology, but technology has grown in the last year and a half, two years tremendously. And so we want to make sure that our teachers are up to speed in ways that um um can help our students not just learn best, but understand the impact on future jobs because that's that's really a um that's really scary right now. I I have two um children

074myself in their early 20s who are getting ready to graduate from college and um there are a lot of jobs that are changing as a direct result of AI. Um there are many in the IT industry that are being laid off right now. Um who have people who have computer science degrees that are no longer um they're they're just no longer needed because AI can do those jobs for you. So we need um we need to actually know what it is and be able to uh ensure that our young people have the tools and the skills that they need to critically think around it. And I think part of this will be providing that professional development to our teachers. So that's essentially what that policy is. Um and it's like I said, it's pretty generic.

075Um but it's allows a basic awareness. um loss of basic awareness and that like I said that's been that's essentially the policy other than changing uh that we already have our B bo uh device essentially that's been the same one um that that has been in there since October. Any questions? >> Everybody good with that one? Like it is? >> So the next policy is 3226-4205 which is internet safety. And um again um this particular policy um talks about things like the children's internet protections act. Um we uh this is how we um provide um a lot of the safety issues at our school district. And some of this is behind the scenes that using things like gaggle um uh to um and some of the what's the our firewall called? I don't know what

076it's called. And the firewall well zcaler and something else. Thank you. Um that protects us behind the scenes. um so that we are not um so our information is protected and student information is protected um but also uh blocks things so that kids don't see things that they shouldn't that might come through um from an outside source. So for example, we block student email so they can't get email from an outside source on their school email. Now they can get it on their personal email but most of those are things that they can't access from school. So what we can control um we try to protect as much as possible. Um this talks about child pornography and others. Again um uh we want to make sure that um our kids are safe. Um inappropriate network

077use. So all users of the school system technology resources are expected to comply with requirements in other policies. Um and so um you know it's against packing and against uh dislo unauthorized uh disclosure or sending um information regarding minors um to others um from an education supervision and monitoring standpoint. That's in part E. Um it talks about compliance with uh which is important. Uh student safety on the internet and some of I mean there are websites that we block when something gets through because websites are coming up new every day. Um you know we work to make sure that our kids are protected as do things like Zcaler and Barracuda. And um it also says that um uh students um are required to sign the network internet safety agreement to uh that they understand that

078and and that would be every year. Um and we do that our parents sign off on it as well. >> Any questions there? No made the changes I requested or we as a grouped. So I'm fine. >> And then the last one um is the use of personal technology to conduct school business. Um obviously there are um you know limited limits to this but this is what we do not have. The board recognizes that employees may use a variety of personal technology devices and accounts in their personal lives. Um at times it may be convenient for employees to use their personal technology devices and accounts to conduct school business. Um but essentially uh this limits it. So school business related ex uh including text messages and emails should be uh received by an employee on

079a personal technology device or account may constitute public records uh requests which this is all in the law. So um and that includes the board. you know, if you have a personal device that you're using to access um your school email, um it could be foyered for a public, you know, records request if you're using it for business, not just personal use. um limitations on use unless otherwise authorized. They're expected to use the school controlled technology devices. So, they don't need to be using um their own devices in order to conduct school business. So, personal email should not be used to access um a school account. So, if we have a Google Doc, for example, that sometimes if you're if you're not signed into your um school email or your school Google account, then it'll

080flag you as you don't have access. You shouldn't use it um to um gain access. It needs to be all on the system. And that's a lot of that's for your protection meaning all school system uh people personal technology devices uh it defines it and what that looks like for personal accounts. So uh personal account means account is not under the control of the school system. Um anyway they're prohibited from using personal accounts to conduct school business or to store business related unless specifically authorized to do so. Um so again we don't have this policy and and um we really need to have um some protection for all for all of us on that. And then um from an access to school business related on schools personal technology devices um any school business related stored

081on employees personal technology devices or accounts is property of the school system. So, if you have um something that you own that's on your personal device um and you're using it for school business, it's actually um something that we can actually access. Um and then of course notices and content consent. Um this is you know we would give this we give a similar but it's not this particular policy. This literally we don't have it. Um, but this is under the employee um, uh, social media and internet use um, policy, but it doesn't necessarily address personal devices as this does. And so that's essentially um, what this is about. And again, this is directly from the school boards association and very standard. So, those are the three that um Amy and of course her tech team

082uh that she's been working with. It felt like this was um fairly easy. They're aligned um to our current practices um but need to be sewn up in policy. >> Any questions on this? >> Everybody good? What about um what's the the one they use to contact the kids the um program that remind program >> um so anything that's on that remind property of the school system so while it's on their device the can access anything that's on there so we have access to anything that's on reminds Team Read should not be used. They should be using Remind. >> They should be using it. Okay. >> And so starting this fall, um it will be called something completely different. Okay. >> Um because Remind was purchased by somebody. >> I think it's Parent Square. >>

083Parent Square. Thank you. Remind was purchased by Parent Square and so that was the natural um stop point of all of that. So that includes our coaches. They'll be all using Parent Square and that's for their protection, too. >> Okay. Good. Yeah. And that'll start this fall when we make the transition to parent square. I know that Amy's had some meetings with Lake May, too. So, that was bought out recently. Um, by it is hot in here. If I'm hot, you know, it's hot. open. >> And so those are the three that um I think that um are pretty easy to do and we can have um as far as the other ones. The web page development, I don't think it's uh necessary at this time because do it and you guys ask if we

084don't have to have a policy to not do it. Um uh the uh student promotion and accountability um is strongly recommended. Um but this one is already within our systems. Julie, you want to share anything about that? >> Well, Earl and Casey were looking at this one this morning. Um again, it is to me it's almost like a summary of all the things that we have done. >> Yep. and that we are required to do because it mentions summer school, credit recovery, um, >> and some of those live in other places within policies, but this one puts it all in one from a promotion and accountability standpoint. >> So, it's a one-stop shop by demonstrating mass. It's a lot in that. >> So, if you go down to the policies new to Ash County, >>

085um, it is Yeah, there's they're listed. it would be 3420. So if you click on 3420, it's the third one down on that document. >> Okay. >> Um >> again, we don't have it. It's pretty uh and this one includes the footnotes, so it's a lot longer than the actual policy will be uh which is just uh a little over five pages um including the uh reference. But most of these are already um in our procedures. They've just never been defined in a policy before. >> I don't see any problem in this one at all. And neither did any of them. Like it's >> I had a question about the reading camps there. They said that you could charge for some reading camps. >> No, we would want to do that for sure. But >>

086I think was that to charge people outside of our system >> like if we want if home school kids >> does it say >> it doesn't say outside the system. It's it's for the students that aren't eligible meaning maybe they met their cost or maybe they are proficient but they still want to come. >> Okay. >> We'll all get we invite them all. >> I did not remember us charging the fear. I will say that has been in that law way backwarding enough money essentially and so they put that in there. >> It says at the top that we won't charge a fee. The first sentence the board will provide camp opportunities >> for students that do need >> and that's third grade essentially >> who are entitled to the intervention. It's free. >> But

087we may >> So, do we need to take that piece out that we >> That's actually part of the legislation. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> I don't think we can't. >> But at the same time, we don't >> like we find room for kids who need to be there every year because, >> you know, there's some kids that get a good good cause exemption that they really need more time. Yes. question I had about that with the faith. >> Yeah. >> And then religion in schools. Um again, we're already operating under this. Um it does provide parameters, but that's 30 uh uh 3515. So that's the second one down on that list. And essentially it just basically says that it's to protect the right of the individual to subscribe to any religious beliefs or no

088religious beliefs at all. Um there is nothing in here that I mean it's it's probably the shortest policy um that we have. It does have two things that are optional if you look at the footnote number one. So number one, if you um it says the board also recognizes uh the importance of the religious heritage of the United States of America and North Carolina respects the diverse religious beliefs of members of the school community. That's optional. I don't have a problem with that statement. Um and number two, any alternative such uh regulations may be incorporated into this policy. Um that is optional. Um, you know, we've been acting under this for as long as I can remember as far as protecting religion of people in our school system. So, all religions again, I I don't

089know why we wouldn't have one. It does. According to the school board's association, it says it's recommended because it provides parameters for employees. So that somebody couldn't come in and say, "Well, no, you you're not my religion." So, um, we can't do that. Again, I'm making that up. But, um, you know, it it protects everybody in this, right? And then the comparability of services um to that particular um policy um again we've been operating under it. um is I mean >> we have to we have to it's it's in order to get anyone any of those title dollars um we have to and that's the very first one on there and it essentially uh um says that we don't supplant it says that um we do the comparability of services which typically it's um Julie

090in in conjunction with AR HR um because we have to ensure that we are giving equitable services and people >> and accountability. That's right. That's right. Pearl too. Um to make sure that we are um taking care of all of our schools that receive title one funds equitably and then justifying if um if there's a decline and it's maybe it's because you've lost, you know, 50 kids in the school and that's why it's switched. But you have to prove that in the numbers um in order to receive the funds. But we have to because we rely on every dollar that we can. >> Though I remember you doing that just recently and sending us that report potentially. I I'd have to do it every year. And so we look at all those things as long,

091you know, the only thing that for us could potentially look like it's not equitable is beginning teachers. But in a large county, you can imagine how that would be. But for us, the teachers are secure where they are. So if Mountain View has eight new teachers and Westwood might have five and Blige don't have one or two, somebody from a large district might say, "Oh, Mountain View has all the new." But those teachers wouldn't want to move. They're already secure where they are. So they're reasonable in looking at things like that. So you can't just look at numbers. You just have to justify in a report. So otherwise very equitable within our elementary schools. Yeah. >> And then the bottom part is just the records maintenance which Julie is the one who keeps that record

092>> and so that one again there's nothing in there that any of us have seen that we don't already act upon. And if it helps us to maintain um the funding that we receive or to comply with it on paper, then I think we should even if we've already been acting on it. And those are all of the policies that are new to Ash County. And again, like I said, we've been looking at them. So if they seem familiar, been looking at them since October. and and you know if you want to if you felt good about it and want to just go ahead and approve them. This finishes us out completely of the 3000 series and then we can start fresh. The next time I'll bring the policies that need to be re removed

093which were mostly in the 10,000 series because this takes place of all of those and then um we can start the 4,000 series. I did have some concerns because we just got it this morning about a lot of the paperwork that Amy sent us this morning on 3220, I believe. Um, the one that has the AI stuff in it. Um, I like what it says in the policy, but I would like for us to keep up with those guidelines and stuff because that stuff changes a lot. Um, we have some parent concerns about some of that also. So, I would like to make sure we keep that that's going to be the guidelines that was posted today. I didn't have a chance to go over them completely, but I have been looking at the state

094guidelines for for those. So, we will >> mimics it. >> Okay. It mimics the state guidelines and those are I can't say that they're not changing because they have to update them every year and that doesn't necessarily keep up with what's out there. But I think the policy is generic enough that allows us to help keep up and then put roadblocks when we don't know if that makes sense. >> So you know again we don't want chat GPT being used by our fourth graders to write essays. They need to learn how to write an essay. You know what I mean? like that. That just to me is common sense, but they need to understand that not every thing that they see online is real. And we need to be teaching them sequentially what that looks

095like. And um I'll give you a sample. This is um this is Mountain View. And I can send this to you electronically because all of these are linked. I got it. >> Um but I can send you the document that you can click on each of these if you want to see these lessons. Um but it goes kindergarters went all the way up through sixth grade and um these are the things that are um required things like digital footprints um and that's in that's actually in first grade and th these are in the technology plan from the state of what um we deliver to our students. Some of it's embedded and some of these are directly from the media specialist um at this point in time. Uh there are some when it uh deals with

096uh um >> privacy and other things depending on what it is uh may be done or or a a different habit or whatever might be done through the classroom teacher because that's the lesson they're all doing at um that particular uh week or grade level. Um Jamie also has and I can send these to you as well. We've been really working on a um kind of a spreadsheet like this um that has all of these things that our um general assembly has put upon schools to teach kids. They're not necessarily intertwined in sixth grade math or fourth grade reading, but these are things like on Constitution Day, we're supposed to be teaching about the Constitution. Not everybody necessarily knows all of that. Um, but we've put it into a nice concise place and um have

097assigned some responsibilities. Most of them are lessons that are already pre-done that aren't going to take up a whole lot of time but allow us to be compliant. But most of these things are things that kids need to know. Like they need to know what a digital footprint is. They need to know um how to stand up to cyber bullying. They need to know um how to uh um what a fish is. P H I SH, not F I SH. So things like that are part of it and they may be a 15 minutee lesson. Um but what I think is fair to teachers because a lot of this is supposed to by our um by the state of North Carolina. Um all teachers are supposed to incorporate it into their classroom lessons themselves. They

098were designed that way in 2018. Um we've been fortunate enough that we've had people outside of the classroom that have been able to create a lot of this. Um but what we want to do is make sure that we have those roles assigned know where it is so it takes the heavy lift off of our teachers. >> So hence we've got that and we can send that to you so you can see what it is. Um but hopefully this will be very helpful across the schools and grade levels so that we're consistently sending the same message to our kids and we're not creating something different. some different opinions about AI are going to get implemented differently, >> which could easily happen. >> My nephew sent me a thing that I thought was very interesting. They've

099done a study from MIT on chat GPT. >> Yep. >> And they did actually EEGs on people. These are adults 18 and older. >> And uh they have you have after four months, everyone who used Chat GPT had less cognitive function. I was brainwise. >> Yeah. >> And that was a study from MIT. You know, there's all kinds of studies, but when it comes from MIT, I sort of tend to believe it more than some of the other stuff we've seen. So, you know, that set up a red flag for me because just the AI I use, I can't remember people's phone numbers anymore because I don't use them. I can't uh if I ask Siri to remind me of something, I don't remember to do it. Um, and you know, those kinds of things.

100And so, there's a caution there, too. I think that we need to have >> as a society that >> yeah it's more convenient. Yes, it's wonderful. I've seen some incredible things, but there's uh also some cautions that we need to take there. We we agree some of the generative AI and it's far beyond what we're even using like that is that is very 2023 according to um some of the tech experts as far as chat GPT but that's your average person's limit of knowledge of what AI really is. Um you if you think you know we're at war right now and the drone warfare that has taken place they have AI that are actually talking to each other and giving coordinates and um that is a very sophisticated level of AI that most people don't

101understand. So um how to appropriately use it how to ethically use it and we want our kids to be reading and writing and communicating differently but they have to learn how to do it on their own. That is a core tenant of what we believe here. Um before we implement anything that is AI related. >> Any other questions? Do you all want to approve the 3000s and have those done? >> Please, Lord, >> I hear a motion. >> I move I'll make the motion that we approve the 3000. >> All right, Jones. Thank you. I think I heard a second start. >> Yeah. the dead. >> All right. Thank you, Miss Elder. Other questions? All in favor, raise your hand. All right. Now, we can >> go from there. >> Do you want to take

102like a five minute break just to get air in here? >> That'd be fine. >> We'll do the gallery walk. >> Yeah. That give you time to set it up. >> Yep. We don't have to >> hear. She's teaching you. But the I'm sorry. to do. So, first of all, um as you all know, the last strategic plan um uh was started when I first came during the 2020 2021 school year. And in the spring of 21 um we took um our community through a process of designing a strategic plan. So we had um a couple of teachers, a couple of students, a couple of administrators, couple of district people, um two board members, several community members who looked at data from where we were. And of course, this is Matt. We were all masked

103and six feet apart and all the craziness that was happening uh during that school year. And uh we came together to do a mission and a vision and um goals um as a group. Josh was on that uh strategic planning committee. Um there are several people uh a few people that were in this room that were on the strategic planning committee, but a lot of them um from the teachers and administrators standpoint helped when it came to look at the strategies and other things that we were going to do to accomplish those goals. So during that time, um one of the things that uh the community said was our graduation rate was way too low, especially that of our boys. So it was about 76% of our boys uh were not graduating from high school

104that year which was significant well before then. So that was from our past data. And so that became a true priority and one of the reasons why um CTE we invested in a number of students and encouraged the number of students to take more CTE classes. Uh it's why we began some of the internships and trying to get additional partnerships with our community college so that we could grow in the opportunities for our students. Um it's one of the reasons why we actually started looking at our data on a regular basis so we didn't miss kids. Um, one of the things at the time because it was COVID, um, we had our, uh, community that felt separate from our schools and of course and that was I I think built over time, but co put

105a stop to all of that. Um, so things like our um, back to school blast was born the summer of 2021 and I think that's something that we're really proud of with all those community partnerships and something that I think has become a part of who we are as a district. We took our teachers and our administrators through um, some professional development on how to have more engaging not just lessons but how to have more engaging interaction with our families. So, our Title One nights have now become these um showcases of student work where students are actually performing and getting more and more uh families to the table. And kudos to all of our schools. Um Mountain View Elementary School has had several evenings where 100% parent attendance has been uh made at their school

106district. That's unheard of. So, a lot of work has gone into the strategic plan. um attendance. We know it's important for kids to be in school. So, we paid attention to our student attendance and our counselors and our social workers and others have put strategies in place to help with those students who are chronically absent a long time. Um, but then generally our administrators and our teachers have really worked specifically on how to get our kids to school and what that really looks like on a day-to-day basis and our attendance numbers have dramatically improved. Are they there yet? No. So, a lot of the strategies that we had in our old strategic plan are still things that we will continue to work on. However, we do know that we have things to work on and

107what is going to prepare our students best for what's next. And I think anybody who knows me knows that I'm not about test scores. If we could get rid of the EOCC's, my team knows this. If we could get rid of the EOCC's, I would be very, very happy. But I do believe in accountability. I do believe that we need to have a way of measuring how students read and where they are. But I also think it's more about it's more than just reading and writing and mathematics, although that's important. Our kids need the skills to survive in today's workforce. And that's a lot of the feedback that we've received from our employers around the community, not unlike employers around the world who are saying that this is what I need from our future employees.

108And some of it's as simple as showing up on time or know how to look somebody in the eye and have a conversation that's not behind a text. It's some of the interpersonal skills and communication skills that people need. And so we wanted to make sure that we were paying attention to this within the strategic plan. So, as you know, there's a been a little bit of a gap between the last strategic plan and this one. Last year we had a hurricane and so we knew better than to go through this um major process during a a time of such significant crisis within the community. Um but at the beginning of the year I think you'll remember we had Dr. Bill Dyet come for our convocation speech and uh to do some work specifically with

109about 60 teachers and some administrators uh throughout our district from every school to ensure that we have the latest and greatest on um what that really looks like not just from a technology standpoint but from a higher level learning standpoint. and he really believes in this quadrant D learning. And if you look took a look at that McKenzie report that I sent you recently um in an email, that McKenzie report highlights those skills that are not just your basic reading and writing and mathematics, but it's also the problem solving skills. It's the interpersonal skills. It's some of the skills that make or break you as an employee of a certain system. And so we want to make sure that we're not only giving our students opportunities to have real world hands-on experiences like the significant

110increase that we've had at the middle and high school of apprenticeships and job shadowing and other opportunities, but to actually apply those skills in real world situations. um from the time that they are working together in small groups in prek and kindergarten to the time that they actually have a real job when they're in high school and beyond. And so um we sent a survey to those 60 teachers and some administrators and received some feedback based on our previous strategic plan. So I think we were on all ingredients that we like consistency and so those four areas of um growth mindset, personalization, relationships and engagement were really important to us. And just about everything can fit under those four areas no matter what goal you have. But we felt like we needed to define it

111a little bit more than it was um during the first goound. So, we asked things like, "What are your hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the children of Ash County? What would that really look like to be competitive in today's workforce? What are those things that we need to hold true? Um, and things that we tell our community that we will deliver on for the students and for our community. So, we ask those questions and we ask to give feedback. what's working, what's not within each of the areas of the strategic plan. Is there a goal that we should have or a goal that we need to remove or something different? What should those priorities be? So after that um we took that information that was provided from those people who had been doing some specific

112um professional development around things like uh the McKenzie skills and uh the technology and some of those higher level thinking skills like problem solving and um creativity and others that they were learning about in this educational space and applied it to the strategic plan. What you see on the on the walls today is exactly the feedback that was received from it from then. I put it into an AI and ask it to give some themes of what we might want to think about as a result so that we could have some specific themes as well. These are some of the themes that emerge both from us looking at the data and from AI um telling us what those trends were. and we've developed some goals as a result. Right back here um is um uh

113the first page. Now, mind you, this is draft mode. It's why it says draft on it. The teacher saw it exactly as that. We've received their feedback and we'll have some more considerations as a result. largely um largely um some of the feedback that we received were to use simpler language for something that's community facing. So if it says the McKenzie Deltas, nobody really knows what McKenzie deltas are. they'll be referenced because that's where it came from. But we will have our own language that and maybe address it just as durable skills, something very simple um so that we know that these are or life skills that that our students need to have, but we will make sure that that language is clearly defined. High yield practices, our teachers really know what high yield practices

114are. For the last two years, we've been working on those high yield practices. all of our teachers um and all of our instructional staff have received professional development on high yield strate uh strategies and those are the ones that Marzano and um Patty have um said through their research years and years and years and years are um high yield strategies like think pair share turn and talk to your neighbor some very simple things that um maybe aren't as used because we're using a fancy tool or something else instead. But some of that is getting back to those things that we know really work um to leverage instructional practices. Um so we learned that some of those things um need to be made more concise through some of this feedback. We also um learned that like

115communication communication is a thread through all of that. What is it that we want our students to communicate and how clearly? So, we're going to have to define some of these things within the plan. Doesn't necessarily need to be in the plan itself. It may be in a strategy that we use, but we're going to have to have some definitions of some of these things so that we're all on the same page from day one. Um, our teachers also said things like keep the arts visible. So they really uh like that we are in an arts community and they want to ensure that we are um including and incorporating that within our uh within our learning. We have one that's an a one school that's an A+ school um but we have all of them

116that showcase their student work. So how can we incorporate it on a more regular basis? Um, back to the basics. Um, uh, as far as you'll see that through here. Um, we're probably going to have to change that language so it doesn't sound stale or that it's old school. We want to make sure that we are providing strong foundations. And maybe that's exactly what we say, strong foundations of learning. So, we know that we're talking about reading and mathematics and writing. Um, but we also want to make sure that we're preparing students for their future, not our past. And so what that looks like maybe is grounded in that essentials, but they're ready for whatever is next. And then of course, um, across all of our schools and teachers, they emphasize the importance of strong

117academic foundations, student relationships were really important, family partnerships, student ownership, and you're going to see that in the thread. student ownership and hands-on learning. So, that was a thread that a lot of our teachers um uh really said that they need to do more of arts and creativity and then of course preparing our students for a fastchanging future and I think this plan in general incorporates that. Um we do have some work to do as far as dates are concerned. So, there are dates on here. don't pay attention to them because we're going to have to say, "Okay, is this doable in year one, two, three, four, five." Um, we're going to have to look at, excuse me, we're going to have to look at how we implement, but there is evidence throughout here of

118these uh nine things for students. We want by 2031 according to this strategic plan and from the feedback we had from teachers that all students maintain a personalized learner portfolio and future ready plans. Well, the future ready plans is already in legislation. We're doing that um at least in the eighth grade and 10th grade. We feel like it needs to be more robust than that. I'd love all children to have from prek because they already do them in prek um a learner portfolio clear through till they leave us so they have that evidence of growth. If we really want to change the trae trajectory of our student um accountability system, which right now in North Carolina is largely EOCC's and EOGs, you know, more than half, I think 26 of the 50 states have already

119gotten rid of their EOC, EOG, whatever their state uh testing system. New York just u decided, they had that big regions program. They decided recently that they're not doing it anymore. Massachusetts who everybody's um compared themselves to for years, not doing it anymore. So, we want to ensure that we're providing a system that's not just relying on um the negativity of the EOCC's and EOGs because it really looks at student deficits. We want students to realize their potential and see their growth throughout their years from the time they enter um school with us till the time that they be bus. We also want them to demonstrate strong foundations in reading, writing, mathematics, science. That's really important to us. So, whatever accountability system that we have, we want them to do well. I think it's important

120that our kids are able to do as best as they can, but it's not everything. And ultimately, I think it's most important that our graduates, every single one of them, no matter who they are, whether they have an IEP or their AIG or anywhere in between, that they graduate with at least one life ready credential and real world learning experience and have evidence that they keep in that portfolio. I want students to take ownership and say, I'm a really good communicator and here's my evidence. Or maybe I'm not a good communicator and I choose something else. Maybe it is I'm really creative. Here's my evidence. I want students to showcase their best because that's what they're going to do later on. And why not highlight that so that they can get better and better and

121grow and really see their true value in what it is that they're learning. And it's not to say that we don't want kids to get better at the things that they're not good at because we absolutely do. that that portfolio will be able to show their growth, not just that they were proficient because they they might not be. We want all of our students to be at least proficient on any type of standardized test, but if a student uh is a 50 and they were at 20 before, that should be commended. So, if they've grown that much, okay, so what can you do next time? Let's help them set their goals and be a part of their own future by defining it, setting their goals and um ensuring that they are owning that success. From

122a teachers and classroom standpoint, we want consistent implementation of high yield instructional practices. So, we've been doing the professional learning already and we want to see that evidence on a uh regular basis. We want to see increased use of problem solving um and problem based learning. Any kind of STEM explorations and we're using it not just science, technology, engineering, and math. That's what you might have heard. These are strategies that engage minds. It's really the problem solving. It's what to do when you don't know what to do. You can't possibly teach students everything. But we want students to approach problems from a real scientific standpoint. Okay, what do I do next? what resources do I have? Who can I ask to solve that problem? We want students to be able to solve realworld problems in

123context and be able to not have to gosh look something up later or just to quit because they don't know the answer. We want them to persevere through because they know how to approach a problem. >> And of course, interdisciplinary instruction. you know, used to we'd be able to shut our doors if we were a science teacher or a math teacher or something else. Middle school is a prime example of who you and our early college, gosh, we have people at the high school, every school um that have interdisciplinary um uh projects that students are working on. And it might be a just last week we had um two teachers at our high school that have been collaborating on bringing uh English and and uh history to life through a a new way of teaching

124um uh next year. And I suggested, well, what if we could bring a CTE class into it? What would that look like? and they said,"Well, gosh, what if we bring a digital media class into it?" So, students are able to create different things as they are learning about history and um and English. So, we have lots of possibilities within this that I think um are on the walls that you see here. And we want a strong culture of feedback, reflection, and that growth mindset. So, we want to see the student grow, but we also want to guide them through that growth. And then finally, from our community standpoint, um we want every student connected to a trusted adult, whatever that looks like. I think we've done a really good job when we were given the

125panorama um surveys. You know, we were well over the the nation's average of of students saying they had a trusted adult that they could connect with at school. That was huge for us. But we want every child to have that trusted adult, not just a high percentage of our children having that trusted adult. We need strong bis partnerships with our local businesses, college, and community organizations. We're well on our way to that. We've had over 40 new um businesses that have um uh assist in a lot of ways with our high school and our middle schools and being able to have learning experiences in context in the real world. But we want to ensure that those learning experiences are multiplied so it reaches every child. And then of course increased engagement of families in student

126learning. And that's where some of the showcases of success continue. And that's why one of the things are the studentled conferences are so important. You'll see it through the thread and our teachers agreed um largely that they would love to see that. Um, and of course they want um to have a hand in what those look like. And I suggested why don't we do it during it during school. It does not have to be of an evening. It can be during the school day where students are sharing in sharing their learning and setting their goals and showing their parents what that looks like and the things that they're doing in school. So right here you have the um first page of the strategic plan. You can go in any order and it has some emerging

127feedback that you saw, some things that we might want to consider and just some of the definitions as is. We have a strategic focus area under personalization here. Um you'll see that there key strategies, there's some potential goals. Um there are some emerging themes that you will see that emerged out of the feedback. Uh back here you have growth mindset, relationships, engagement and then there's a fifth section and this one is specific and and I think largely the feedback said yes people do not lose this part. Um it is on instructional excellence and future readiness. So, this is where we invest in our teachers and professional learning and have that um excuse me, and have that on paper and defined what that really looks like. And the future readiness goes back to those McKenzie skills

128where you see the threads all the way through. But if we are preparing our kids to address the knowledge and not compare not preparing them with the interactions and the other skills that they need, we're leaving stuff on the table for them and probably doing a disservice. So, we want to ensure that it's written throughout our strategic plan so that all of our children have that opportunity to showcase their best um when they leave us and then come back and say, "Okay, I really was prepared for that real world." Um, back here is how it all kind of connects. Um, and again, this is what was given to each of our teachers. um you have some uh sticky notes and you have some a pen or something. If you can, you know, question, ask it.

129We have people from the team around to uh um uh to answer questions if you need it. If there's something that you uh like, put a check mark and a yes, an exclamation point, whatever that you like it or say, gosh, I don't know about this, you know, how is this going to work? We've done this with all of our teachers. we have all of the feedback already in a plan and um some of it is from an implementation standpoint, not necessarily um how it all works together. Um because I think that from largely um uh this plan actually uh um was largely the feedback was in the right direction. implementation is what we're going to have to work through. And of course, we're going to incorporate our teachers at the table as we decide

130what that looks like over the next several years and um have checkpoints all along to make sure that we're still going in the right direction. So again, we'll take your feedback and put it into the uh um put it in with all the other teacher feedback and then over the next couple of weeks, we'll be looking at that and say, "Okay, what what is this telling us? What do we have to figure out? Uh what is that timeline look like? Are those components in there? Or gosh, maybe we need to reconsider this and do something different." Again, it's a draft. Dates. Don't pay attention to dates, but if you have a suggestion, I think we're thinking about what that implementation could look like, but we wanted to have all of our input and our feedback

131on the table before we did that. >> Any questions so you have some time to go around and look at it and give feedback to us >> and input you if there's something missing. And you might have to see all of it before you find that it's missing because it may make sense to you that it's in one space, but it may be in another.