001Good evening everyone. Thank you for being at our February board meeting. Glad to see everybody. I'm going to call us to order with the reading of our equity statement. In Asheville City Schools, we are committed to equity and anti-racist policies for all students and staff to learn and thrive. We recognize that our positions come with power, responsibility, and public service for the entire ACS community. We will model our commitment to equity through our practices and decisions. And during this meeting, we invite a pause if harm has taken place, a moment to name the harm, and space to practice repair. Thank you all. Um, all members of the board of education are present. So we have a quorum and we will uh now hear the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge of allegiance to the flag
002of the United States of America >> and to the republic >> for which it stands, >> one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And we will now hear from Kim Deck with good news. Good evening, board. Dr. Ferman, I come to you with lots of good news. Um, we're going to start off with this is school um counselor appreciation month. Last week was school counselor week and we want to thank all of our counselors that serve our students in grades K through 12. If all of our counselors will stand while I I talk about all the amazing things you do. So if our counselors that are here, if you'll stand, we are so proud to honor the profound and life-changing impact you have on the trajectory of every student's life in
003Asheville City Schools. You provide the essential social and emotional support that champions our students success. And we are incredibly fortunate to have such a compassionate team making a lasting difference in the lives of our students every single day. Thank you. Today, our executive director of student services, Kim Robinson, made a very special announcement. And on behalf of Kim Robinson, I would like to recognize Dr. Gibbs to come up and say a few words at this time for clarity. I was not the subject of the special announcement just in case you wanted to know. No, I have the pleasure of introducing Silsa's council. Come on up here, Mr. So, Miss Robinson and her leadership team visited our lovely school today and awarded Mr. Smith here. Um, the high honor of being designated as this district's counselor
004of the year. So, congratulations. He He's thrilled with being recognized. You can tell. Um, but I point out some things to you. So, when I arrived at Silsa in Janu in July, it was me, Miss Washington, and him. No other. That was the only people whatever work that was going to be done it was going to between of us and he probably took an inordinate amount ofly well and in fact in thinking about you know what he has brought you know any is going to really enrich the school's program going to help make all of the plates keep spinning no matter what. But in looking at the district's portrait of a scholar, it really dawned on me as we think about communicator, critical thinker, curious and creative, crew member and continuous learner. He's all of
005this every day since met him. I'm very thankful for him, but I know our students are very thankful for him. Just that he embodies all of those portrait of a scholar details and that above all he really is a crew member and he helps our crew keep rowing in the right direction together. So, it's really an work with people just like Brandon team at Silsa um is very appreciative of him and once again congratulations on your honor. Do I need to do anything else? Asheville City Schools proudly celebrates Black History Month by honoring the legacy and lasting contributions of black Americans who have shaped the culture, economy, and the spirit of Asheville. From Stevens Lee High School to the block, black leadership and innovation continue to inspire our schools and community. While we celebrate black
006excellence yearround, February offers a special moment for our reflection and pride. Across our district, classrooms are engaging students in learning and celebrations that honor black heritage, reflect our commitment to equity, and uplift every student's story. We want to congratulate Ken Walker. he couldn't be here with us this evening um due to something that he was having to take care of, but we he's watching. He assured us he's watching. So, we want to give a huge shout out to him. He serves as the PE teacher at Hall Fletcher Elementary, and he was recently named the Mountain Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. A veteran with Asheville schools for 15 years and a volleyball expert for over 35 with over 35 years of experience, Ken coached the Asheville Middle School team during the 2024 season and was
007named varsity coach in 2025. Under his leadership, the team not only thrived, but also secured the conference player of the year award and five allconference player selections. Hall Fletcher principal Sha Benfield had this to say about Ken. He is a kind, creative, and innovative educator who consistently works hard to engage students in meaningful physical activity. His lessons are thoughtfully designed, promote teamwork and confidence, and create a positive environment where all students can succeed. A huge congratulations to Ken. And if you see him, please make sure you give him a shout out. Let's give him a huge round of applause. We are proud to celebrate a powerful example of community collaboration. The AVID Cougar Career Expedition to help bridge the gap between high school and career. Asha's AVID juniors partnered with the Land of Sky P20s
008work local initiative this past December. Guided by teacher Amanda Galvin, students completed career assessments and workshops before interviewing AVID and Asheville City Schools alumni. From trauma nurses to tech entrepreneurs who proved that worldclass opportunities begin in Asheville City Schools. Representing the project tonight are Miss Galvin. There's Miss Calvin. if you'll stand up. Um, it Garcia Ruez, Anthony Freeman, okay, and Avid Juniors. A special thanks to P20s Emily Nicholson and Erica Gurmer for coordinating the workshops and to the Asheville Schools Foundation for its support. We also have our amazing AVID Middle School teacher with us this evening as well. So, let's give all of these uh individuals a huge round of applause. Hoffletcher Elementary and IRB Jones Elementary have been selected to participate in the USDA Fresh Fruits and Vegetable Program. This federally assisted program provides
009students with free fresh fruit and vegetable snacks during the school day, expanding the variety of produce they experience and supporting healthier eating habits that can benefit their long-term health and academic success. A huge thank you to Melissa Allen and the principles for your hard work in securing this grant, which will no doubt have a positive health and learning impact on our students. In January, Asheville High School proudly inducted 26 former athletes and coaches into the inaugural Asheville City Schools Athletic Hall of Fame. Their achievements, character, and lasting impact have shaped our strong tradition of excellence. To honor our full community story, four distinguished athletes from Stevens Lee and Lee Edwards High School were also inducted. These icons of character and achievement remind us that the excellence of our past continues to inspire future. You can
010join us in celebrating this historic first class. You can find all of the details, a list of all 26 individuals on our website under the news and announcement section. Let's give those individuals a round of applause. This is so exciting. I think Silas and Riley are here with us this evening. Okay, if you'll stand up at this time as I talk about all that like this amazing story. Um, didn't even know this was possible. Uh, congratulations to Silus Davidson and Riley Toby, seventh graders at Asheville Middle School who have been selected from more than 70 nominations statewide for the Bell Scholarship. The Bell Scholarship is awarded to hard-working, financially deserving seventh graders from across North Carolina. They have agreed for me to share their accomplishment with all of you. The scholarship established by College Foundation
011supports high potential students with limited financial resources, encouraging them to pursue a college education. These are middle school students who are getting a college scholarship. This is huge. They were selected to receive $2,000 per per year and it's renewable up to a maximum of $20,000. Let's give them a huge round of applause. If you'll come to the front and have a picture with the board. When Maril Lee shared this story with me, I was like, "What? Middle schoolers are getting a college scholarship. Like, I never knew this was possible. >> Player. Oh, let's let's bring up Blair. It's also love the bus month. And during love the bus week, we celebrate our Ashel Sea School's bus drivers and our transportation safety assistants for all that they do. Every morning and afternoon, they greet students by
012name, ensure their safety, and bring nearly 400 years of combined experience and care to the roads. For many students, our drivers are the first smile they see at the beginning of the day and the last caring face they see before they go home. Thank you for the heart, safety, and dedication you bring to our schools every single day. If you see a bus driver in the next couple of weeks, please give them a hug, a shout out, lots of love this month. Uh Amanda and her team are doing uh different things to recognize their hard work. early mornings, late afternoons. Uh we're very grateful for everything that they do. So, make sure you give them a a big thanks. And as always, we these this is just a sampling of all the great things that
013are happening in Asheville City Schools. And we encourage you to get out your phones, follow us on Instagram, Facebook. Merrily does an outstanding job of put posting all the great things that are happening stu with our students, our staff. Uh it's important that you are a champion for public schools and we need you to have a strong voice and advocate for our schools. And that concludes good news for February. Thank you. That was a really great report and we appreciate everybody being here. Um board members, you will have noticed that I forgot for us to approve the agenda. Sorry. Um, so at this point, could I have a motion to approve the agenda, which will include the giving of the good news that has already been given? >> So moved. >> Is there a second?
014>> All those in favor of approving the agenda? >> I thank you and I apologize. Um, at this time, we will hear public comment. Um, and the board of education greatly appreciates everyone's interest in the Asheville City Schools and we welcome your comments to the board. We ask that you be mindful of the guidelines in policy 2310. As a reminder, personnel and student matters are confidential and are therefore not appropriate for public comment. If you have a concern about an employee or a student matter, please contact or see the superintendent after the meeting. And I have one speaker and that is Chris Gordon who we are always glad to see. All right. Good evening everybody. Um board members and Dr. Maggie. Um it's always great to hear the good news from the from the district.
015Um, I'm a retired um, Asheville City Schools employee, so I love to hear about the good things that are happening. Uh, unfortunately, uh, sometimes I have to bring this back to reality. Uh, and I do want to talk about a a matter I've talked about several times before, which is the number of suspensions of kids of color. Uh, this weekend, the state released their 2025, 2024, 2025 data on suspensions. And once again, um the numbers are way out of whack. Uh just to read some statistics, uh out of 81% of the suspensions are districtwide are of kids of color and they're only about 37% of our population. Uh black kids made up 60% of suspensions while only being 18% of the population. Uh these numbers haven't changed in years. Um it's unfortunate. I know that
016there have been some efforts uh to improve it, but um this we're losing kids left and right. And when we're suspending them from school and not having him where we can influence them, we're doing them disservice. And looking at the data even further, um, three elementary schools accounted for 103 suspensions, um, which was about 80% of the suspensions in elementary school. One elementary school didn't have any suspensions and one only had eight. So something's wrong there. Our middle school had 127 suspensions, which is 19% of the student population. again. Something's out of whack. Um, I know we can do better. I want us to do better. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Gordon. That is the only person I'm aware of for public comment. At this time, board members, we have in front of us
017the consent agenda. There are draft minutes from our January work session and our regular meeting. Just for um clarity, there was a typo in a ACE um whatever you call that. It's not an anagram, the abbreviation. Um and uh Pepe noted it and it's been corrected. Um just wanted to say that we have our budget and expenditure report, the budget amendment um that we looked at last week. two policies on second read. Um, two contracts for our approval and an additional two that are for our approval but still pending attorney review. And last is the personnel report. Um, so at this time, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> Sarah, can I ask before we ask for that motion? Um, given what Mr. Gordon has just said, given the equity statement we
018read at the beginning, um I just want to acknowledge that there was those numbers indicate harm to our students, our black students especially. And so just want to take a moment to pause before we move on to the next item of business. Thank you, George. >> Uh, and then if I could just to offer, you know, as we move through the rest of the school year, um, I I hear Mr. Gordon's comments as a, for lack of a better word, challenge to this board to figure out, you know, how do we how do we start to repair, right? And so I would love to see make sure those are part of our conversations as we go forward. >> Thank you, George. And just because I guess I can say it now as well as at
019the end when um the board chair comments at the end, I was going to mention that Maggie and I met with Commissioner Al Whitesides a couple weeks ago and everyone up here got a link to the materials that were shared because Al Whitesides has routinely said your discipline data and your academic outcome data is disproportionate and it's egregious. Um, and so I I realize I'm this is not really on the agenda, but it is important for all of us to look at that data and it is disturbing and um, Al was appreciative of receiving it in all its ugly candandor and of hearing of the things that are being done to address it. So I don't offer that in any way to say that we've fixed the problem. I offer it to say if you
020all would like even more data about it, it was all shared to with you all in that link I think maybe two weeks ago. >> Just Yeah, the data is not good and what's happening is not good. >> Um I appreciate George doing that. I do tend to just move along and I'm sorry for that. Um is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? I move that we approve the consent agenda. >> Second. >> Thank you. All in favor of approving the consent agenda. >> I >> Any opposed? Okay. The consent agenda passed. Thank you all. Um, we have two action items in front of us this evening and I want to introduce the first one with some background. Apologies, I made some notes here. Um, we have in front of us tonight the
021proposed funding formula that has been developed between the Bunkham County Commissioners, the Bunkham County School System, and the Asheville City School System. We've had two board meetings where we've spent a lot of time looking at this. It has been refined and clarified over the past few months. Um, I just want to I want to put on the table things we already know just to have it out there. This funding formula is for the county's local funding appropriation. This is nothing to do with their state funding or our federal funding. Nor is this about the capital funding we get from the county. And it's been said, but I just want to say again, it has been made clear and this funding formula makes clear that our article 39 funding will resume for the next school year
022as it used to be. We had a one-year um taketh away. Um but that was the only year. So the article 39, it is part of this proposal that that is back. Um we've had three rounds of public comment. Um, we I'm going to try to just put this all out there so we don't have to um do it again, but we've heard that it brings stability and predictability, an opportunity to parti to participate in revenue growth, growth, sorry. And we believe, but don't know for sure that the funding number will be greater um for the coming school year than it has been for the last two years. We can revisit this annually by December 31st of each year. Um we have heard from board members and facts and others that we need to continue
023to advocate for the funding our schools need. Working collaboratively with the county to advocate at the state level, working with Bunkham County Schools on advocacy efforts and advocating at the federal level. Um, this past week, as we do each month, Maggie and Rebecca and I met to plan the agenda for this meeting and the meetings for the rest of the school year. And we did discuss this advocacy funding and how it would fit in well with strategic planning um, which will be presented to us in May and it will be sorry, April. It will be an opportunity to see what's been identified as the goals and the needs of our district and it will because we're also in budget season be an opportunity to see what needs are being funded and what needs are not
024being funded. Um and we feel like that'll give us a touchstone of you know we've spent a lot of time on strategic planning. These are the goals. This is what we can't pay for right now. So the thought process is probably at our June work session. I mean stay tuned. will work on this, but that we will take some time as a board to talk about funding and advocacy efforts and what we need to do. I think we are all agreed we're not passing this formula tonight. I'm patting ourselves on the back and not thinking about it again that there's a continued need for advocacy about funding. So, I just we've all said this. I'm not I don't take credit for anything I just said. I just wanted to put it all out there. Um,
025and so where we are tonight is having a funding model proposal in front of us. I'm not going to take any time to walk through it because we did that last week. And um, I think if there are specific questions at this point and otherwise we can move to a vote. I don't have a question. I just want to say thank you um to Heidi and Dr. Furman and Rebecca and Sarah, they have spent many hours on this um negotiating with the county and with Bunkham County Schools and I really appreciate all of that work. >> Did you? >> Yes. >> And my understanding from our prior meeting is that this is still this is seen as a ceiling. say, I'm sorry, I missed the word. >> This is seen as a ceiling for what
026the county will give us, not a starting point, not a floor. >> Okay. I'm not sure an accurate description. Uh that's the concern that I have because I still imagine that we will need to advocate for additional funding. And so I'm weighing, you know, the the certainty of this versus the idea that we can't advocate for more funding. and the Can you help me with that? >> Um the if this funding agreement is approved by all three bodies and just so you know the commissioners have already approved it although they approved a prior version so they'll need to revisit it. Um and Bunkham County Schools because their meeting last week was postponed due to weather. They're meeting right now also. Um if approved over the next few weeks, the numbers will be finalized from the
027prior year and we will be we will all know what 37.76% of that number is and our you all know this is just um me using generalized numbers but roughly 15% of that will come to us. we have to deduct out for charter schools and then that is what we will receive. Does that end our conversation with the county? No. Do we think they expect us to go back this spring and ask for more than this number? They do not expect us to do that. That is this is their funding just as in prior years they come up with their number and they give it to us. I mean it that apart from the way we got to the number that process hasn't changed. Can community members show up and talk to the commissioners about
028advocating for more funding? Absolutely. I think they have said they want to be part of that. Should we expect that we are going to go back to the county this spring and ask for a bigger number? I I do not expect that that from them. I mean, they may help us with state asks, but >> so if I were to vote for this, does this bind my hands as an individual board member for advocating for additional funding or funding for say preschool or anything else or is that still on the table? >> Sorry. >> I mean, you can't speak as a board member, but I think you can speak. >> I can't speak as the board. Excuse me. >> I I w I wouldn't be able to speak as the board, >> right? I think
029let me let me process that. I think you have the right to go to public comment first amendment right and talk to the commissioners. Um if you want to identify yourself as a board member, you could, but you're speaking without the board asking for something in any official capacity. Um I mean Anna Gillespie is not here but I think you have first amendment right to speak. I mean I would ask you to be mindful of the fact that we are a board. I I and I I know that's a we act as one about things and so if you think there's a better way to get money from the county and you cannot support this model that's something that you get to vote on. But I I think it's the county has been very clear
030that this is how they will fund us. And so if you want to go ask for I think they would probably love to hear more about um early childhood education. I don't know that it's in their budget, right? I I don't know how it's in their budget and you could speak of that. I'd welcome Maggie or anybody telling me that's not you don't agree with my interpretation of that. Um, just by analogy, I I mean, when I go speak as a as a member of the US Attorney's Office, right, as a federal employee, I have to be very clear when I speak that I'm speaking as an individual, even if I'm speaking in a context in which everybody knows that I'm there as an A USA. In other words, I wouldn't have been invited if
031I weren't a member of the US attorney's office. But I am still very clear that I do not represent the US attorney or the US attorney's office in that moment. I'm speaking as an individual and I always say that that I'm here as an individual. I am not representing the organization. So if it were me and it were my preference as a member of board, I don't think we should really um necessarily even identify ourselves. But if we do, it should not say, you know, it should be very clear that you're speaking in as an individual and not as a member of the board. >> And and I'll say, Pepe, when I've heard you speak, I feel like you you do that. Like you'll say, I'm the board member, but of course I'm speaking on
032my own behalf. Um, thinking about the proposition you just put up, whether you vote if voting for precludes you from advocating a different way. I'm thinking about for myself and I am just telling you right now, I am going to vote for this. I mean, I understand it's not perfect. Um, but I also think it's a it's a good way to move forward. That doesn't mean that if some conversation gets started over the next few months, just because I've voted yes doesn't mean I can't then go and and use my voice um on behalf of our community to say, you know, here are some opportunities, right? So, I'm not I duh I'm not offering that as legal advice or whatever, but it's just like what I'm thinking is yeah, I'm voting for yes and yes,
033if I have an opportunity to speak to commissioners or other powers that be that hold some purse strings and advocate for something, I'm going to do it for sure. So, I don't know if that's helpful to you. >> It is. And the responses that you've given. So, I have mixed feelings. I'm thinking that I may vote for this in the next couple minutes, next few minutes, but I also expect that I will continue to engage with county commissioners to encourage, you know, we're talking about the pie slice, but to encourage that there's enough pie. >> Yeah, >> I think um I think the county commissioners would welcome that conversation. And I don't I think they are I don't need to say more. I wanted to just just ask into this particular room. Um in the
034event that the calculation for the first dispersement of this according to the formula comes in and the gross revenue is significantly lower than it has been projected and it's not going to cut it for us. Then can we go back and say you know look after Hela everything was we didn't hit the target then you know for that initial year could we as a board ask for the meeting the gap with the knowledge that in future years once things stabilize hopefully um that we would adhere to the formula. I think um here's what I think Heidi would say. I don't even know is Heidi here. Um the county has been keeping track again the numbers in a rears right through March 15th and we're like almost 11 out of 12 months. So I I I'm
035just I understand that your question. I just want to say I think we don't anticipate that. But if for some reason I I believe that the way this agreement has been discussed, everybody including the county anticipates that the number will be greater than it was last year and the year before. And I I think that in good faith if the people were crunching the number on March 16th and they say, "Holy this is really not what we predicted on February 15th." I think they would come to us and say this because we've all moved forward on the supposition that this is going to give us a bigger number than we've had. So Liza, I don't know. Do are they obligated to? No. But I think it would be so unexpected that they would come back
036and revisit it with us. But I can't promise that. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, >> that'd be fine. All right. I'm going to move that we um adopt the proposed what is what am I calling it? Um intercounting. Thank you. agreement for schoolboard funding model between Bunkham County Board of Education, Asheville City Board of Education, and Bunkham County, North Carolina. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Okay. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Okay. Any opposed? I think not. Thank you. It passed unanimously. Um, I really appreciate everybody for um doing this. I I will tell you I had a phone call this afternoon with um a fax representative who expressed particular appreciation for um the um the manner and the deliberation with which the administration and the school board
037has, you know, looked into this to we didn't do this lightly, so I'll pass that along. Um okay. The next item on our agenda is the 2627 school district calendar. Again, just for perspective and then we can talk about it. Um, this board unanimously approved this calendar a year ago. Since then, Bunkham County Schools uh implemented this is the school calendar for 2627. Bunkome County Schools later voted on a calendar with a different spring break. We now know that their reason for that spring break was to align with Avtech. We brought this back last week for discussion. We said we wanted more input from the community which we've received and that is in front of us. And I guess I'm just saying we we can have a discussion about this and then the anticipation that's
038a little dramatic. Um my expectation is that there will be a vote to amend our calendar for 2627 or there'll be a vote to sustain to keep the same calendar but we will make a decision tonight. So with that um are there questions information you don't have that you would like to have? >> Do you want me to review the results? >> Oh yes. I'm sorry. Apologies. I'll let Maggie do That's okay. Um, so on the board's request, we did send a survey out. Um, and here are snapshots of the survey data. So we got about 632 responses and you can see the various schools that the individuals are linked to. Um, we also asked for them to identify what role they play. So you can see overwhelmingly about 75% were parents. Um, you also
039see the breakdown of ethnicity with the overwhelming percentage being about 80% of the respondents were white. And we asked them how disruptive is it for the Asheville City Schools spring break to not align with the Bunkham County break. Um, and the you can see the data here. So, five being not disruptive at all, three being neutral, and one being very disruptive. Um, so you can see the data there. Um and then u my recommendation to the board is we had a calendar committee do this work, create that calendar. Um we've gotten information from our community that it's the majority of our our folks are not finding it extremely disruptive or disruptive. Um and that um noted going forward um making sure we understand when AB techch spring break is so that we can decide if
040that is the need to align it or not to align it but making sure we use that as a touch point to go into to incorporate in our decision- making going forward questions. Shall I start? >> Sure. Uh so I'm concerned with the approach of the original survey having an apples and orange question where the spring break that was decided by AB Techch and Bunkham County schools wasn't in the list but instead there was an item that says align with Bunkham County schools. Um, a majority of the people who voted in the initial survey voted against because of the way the survey was uh done where you could make one selection um voted against the dates that we um that wound up being the final dates on the approved uh calendar. So it that makes
041it inconclusive to me. Um and then these results show that 54% don't care and what is that 30% do care in the latest survey number one is at what percentage >> what is it? Okay. So just over 30% this is very um uh disruptive for and I think that when we are looking at what is disruptive when you have that large of a number that's telling you that something is disruptive it's something to pay attention to whether you know and it's less important that 54% don't care. So, for me, this is um while I like the dates uh the existing dates better for a slightly cheaper vacation because it's one week off of the peak season. Um, having the same dates as Bunkam County Schools and AB Tech seems to be uh important to um
042if not a majority of people, still a lot of our parents, families, and staff. Oh, and the other thing I I think we got a good response from Amanda Riggsby uh right at the beginning of the meeting via email. Um there are concerns with uh the mismatch affecting transportation. Uh my understanding is we have two mechanics in the um in Bunkham County schools that take care of our yellow buses and our white buses. We have somebody who takes care of tires and somebody who takes care of refueling. And the workaround is going to be using some of our staff to do fueling if we move forward with this and having a mechanic stay on for the spring break week and then I guess be off on a different week where they might be needed. So
043I'm just looking at all of this as creating extra chaos that we don't really need for our families and staff and for our transportation department. other board members. >> Maggie, could you share with us your rationale behind recommending keeping it the same, please? Um because the work was done on the front end with our calendar committee. So, we have a calendar committee, they lean in, they do this work, they bring that to the board for consideration, and then that's the recommendation. And then based on the survey results which the board asked that we do, yes, there's 30 about 31% that say it would be disruptive and that's the data I gathered. And to me it just doesn't seem like should we change all the things that we've already put in place. Um it just to
044me it didn't seem like an overwhelming reason to go back and change our calendar. That's just my opinion. >> Um I'll just observe if I may that we had 632 responses. That is fewer than 25% of our families and only 30% and I will also respectfully suggest that those who actually were going to be really upset by the non-alignment with Bunkham County would be those most likely to respond to the survey. So, um it seems to me that the number is probably well less than 30% as a raw number in terms of folks who are um going to be bothered by it. And I don't want to minimize, by the way, um the disruption that that is for some families. I know that's significantly disruptive for those who either teach and have their kids here
045or teach here and have their kids there. That said, there is a there is a solution to that if that's hugely disruptive, which is to have your kids in the same county that you teach in. Um, the other thing I'll note is, and I'm not sure, Pepe, that I understand the apples to oranges thing. In the original survey, it BCS alignment was one of the options. So, presumably for those for whom that really matters, that would be the option they would choose. They wouldn't choose one of the others. and that was 25% that chose that option. So while they didn't there was not um a choice I guess for the week that BCS is actually going to have their spring break BCS alignment was an option and I think that that would in fact be
046the driving force for those for whom this is really inconvenient and again I do I am distressed that there are families for whom this is really inconvenient. I know that there are also lots of other reasons um work requirements and you know conflicts that always can make various spring breaks um difficult. I think we should respect the calendar committee's autonomy here and the process that they went through and I fear that having the board come in after the fact and just saying well you know we got a letter and we know a few people are going to be upset disrespects the hard work of a lot of folks. Um, so I I would vote to keep it as is with true um compassion for those for whom this is a hard thing. >> Other board
047members, Jesse. >> Thank you, Amy. Uh, well done. I uh I do agree because of um we are as city school. We are just as important as Bunkham County and also with the um um AB Tech. Uh Bunkham County had the opportunity to come and spend the time I mean spend their spring break align with ours, but they chose not to because of their uh calendar committee. They saw fit to have it different. So, um I will keep Well, I'm going to suggest that we keep it the way that we did. I do appreciate our calendar people for putting up uh what they spend a year putting this together if I'm not mistaken or they did put time in on it. So um it's not so we are as for city schools so I guess
048that um we should just keep it the way it was keep the way it is. Um, I'll weigh in and because I think a piece that also hasn't been uplifted in this part of the conversation is one thing that's also happened is the calendar committee started a new process of planning more than one year at a time. And when that happened, we got some great feedback of people saying, "This is really helpful." I know when I was first on this board, it wasn't uncommon to hear from parents that they were so frustrated at how long they were waiting to find out what next year's calendar is going to be. And so I think the reality of public service often is you're never going to thread the needles perfectly. And so put in place good processes
049and do the best you can. And it would I would be hardpressed to go in and make changes to the work of the calendar committee. Um, we will probably learn that when we want to do multi-year planning and all the upsides that come from that where we may learn other things to take into consideration. When can we find out what AB Techch is going to do because it seems that's what the county wants to follow. Um, but I I remain I don't think it's the precedent I want to set that we would go in when a group has worked and we're not even taking into consideration all the benefits that people were grateful for around the multi-year planning. So that's that's where I am. I I noticed that on on the original request for stakeholder
050feedback that um the week leading up to Easter Sunday was not an option and that in recent years um I I recall our spring break typically falling the week before Easter. Um, and so that gives me pause. And the other thing is I I just look back at the survey from a parent facing perspective and maybe it's just me, but on the question, how disruptive is it for you in the ACS spring break does not align with BCS spring break? In my mind, I think five would be most disruptive, but the way that it was put, it was one is most disruptive. And I I'm just I'm concerned that these survey results may not be accurate the way that it was presented. Um, I will speak just as a board member and Liza, just to
051your point, I know Pepe's been on the calendar committee. I was on it for years, too. I will, what I recall is we've had our spring break before or after Easter. It's always tied to Easter before after. It has to do with how early Easter is. So, I know that this year Easter is in March, in 2027, excuse me, Easter is in March. And so I know that the calendar committee often heard from teachers about trying to break up blocks of time. So there have been there have been years that it's before Easter and years that it's after it, you know, when Easter is at the end of April, they I I just offer that for um whatever. Speaking for myself, I'm somewhat ambivalent about this topic. I realize it created issues when Bunkham County
052didn't do as we did. Um, do we change it because of that? I don't know. Um, I'm I'm not persuaded by a about AB Techch because I don't know how many of our kids it probably impacts more of Bunkham County schools than it does for us. And um, I am sure there have been years when it didn't align with AB Techch and I don't really think the calendar committee needs to make personally AB Tech's calendar the thing that ours hinges off of. Um, so I just share that as my own perspective. My my main concern is educators who work for the other county and you know not only would child care be a a major sticking point but you know expecting that they could make other plans for child care that kind of dismisses how
053underpaid our teachers are. Um, I can't afford a babysitter for my kids for a week. Um, and I I guess all all that to say, I'm in favor of moving our spring break a week earlier. Um, I feel like, you know, it's it's a year away and there's there's plenty of time to adjust it. Um, and I I do feel strongly that being in alignment with both Bunkham County Schools and AB Tech for our kids who will take exams at both places um, you know, and and our educators who have an interest in the other district um, or parents. Yeah, >> I want to say one last thing. >> Yeah. Um I I want sometimes my mouth gets ahead of me and I want to apologize for suggesting that um families who've chosen to have
054teaching maybe chosen or not chosen anyway have teachers in one and students in the other there's an easy fix. That's not an easy fix and I apologize for saying that. I think um I agree that with the child care um that can be really hard and teachers don't make enough to um nec well I don't I don't know who does child care is very expensive and it's also really hard but anyway I still I still land on the side of the calendar committee and I think that um I think we should we should keep it but I sincerely apologize for suggesting that it would be easy for families to fix if they had folks in different places. There are good reasons to send your kids to whatever school you've chosen to and I certainly wouldn't
055question that. So, my apologies. >> So, um are you going to say something? I mean, everybody's had a chance to talk. So, I tell me what you wanted to I'm going to give you a little bit of space here and then we're going to have a vote. >> Okay. Um I I think we've heard we all know the issues that Jesse, did you want to say something? >> No. >> Oh, okay. Um there is a strong reason to ally with Bunkham County Schools. I mean, we we all get that. >> We have a calendar committee that took input from lots of people and created this. And I will and Pepe, you look do you are not on the committee, but I have every confidence that the committee did a lot of work. So all I
056want to be clear about is this board is setting aside what a calendar committee brought to us a year ago and we approved. I just want people to understand that's what the folks that are favoring staying the course. There are reasons for that and there are very legitimate reasons for saying it's a year in advance. Let's realign those. We know all of this. I don't see a benefit for us continuing to talk about it. So, I would entertain a motion one way or the other about changing our calendar or keeping it as it is. >> I I don't think it is accurate to say that the county calendar committee deliberately decided to have the spring break different than Bunkham County Schools or AB Tech. it just because we were doing it a year in advance
057of when everybody else was doing it and when we have done it in the past. So, it's one of those things where we've tried something new and now we have an opportunity to adjust based on the realities of doing it. >> Thank you. And so I think that that that we really need to think about that. And I look at the data that we've got and it's just not conclusive except we know that it will have a negative effect on some families and it probably won't matter to most. And so, you know, harm to some, no difference to others. That's what I'm seeing. And I don't think that that's the way we move forward is we can harm a minority as long as the majority doesn't care. And that's what it feels like to me.
058So, I know that's a little polarizing language, but this is one of those things where I just think it's important to to have a pause if we're willing to do harm to the people who have spoken up and said this is harmful to us and we're what we're going to value is the people who don't have um a preference. >> So, I appreciate you saying that. I'm going to respond to that by saying I do not think it's that black and white. So I think that's not really fair that if we voted one way it means we want to cause harm. I I disagree with that as the um bifurcated choice that's before us. I think it's more nuanced than that. I just would offer that Jesse and then I did hear somebody else. Interesting.
059U maybe for calendar year 27 28 maybe all the people that doing the calendar from Bunkham County and AB Techch maybe they can somewhere somehow form a work session together and probably start getting everything on the right track. If that's what the community of the county of ABTE and ASO City School would like to see, they can get together and then they can start forming a calendar so that we all could be off at the same time and for 20 27 wait 20 >> 26 27 school year >> somebody over here. I just didn't hear who it was. >> It was me. I think that I just wanted to also offer that I don't I don't agree with that characterization that that this is a choice between harming a few um I don't think anybody's
060trying to create harm and that's an unfair characterization. I think what we're trying to consider is the way forward with always imperfect information. The calendar committee had imperfect information. We have imperfect information. That's we're going to use the information that we have to make the best decisions that we can. And I think that setting the precedent that the board will come in and undo the work of committees who put in a lot of work to make choices and decisions is harmful as well and not something that I feel comfortable doing. To just offer that up. >> Sarah, do you mind if I now weigh in? And I'm I'm going to say this recognizing that I think I'm just being difficult. um looking at the time that we spent on this um and thinking about uh
061wanting to really kind of practice our courageous conversations, recognizing the the 80% of the respondents in this in this most recent survey, almost 80% are white folks. the amount of time we spent on this um like this could get me in trouble, but I really don't care at this point because we spent so much time on this thing. How much time do we spend on things that impact others? I just want to I I recognize I'm being difficult and I'm just creating more whatever, but uh however the majority votes, I'm going to vote. like this feels to me pretty inconsequential when we go against everything else we as a district have to be facing. >> Okay, I need a motion and I I think I'm going to not say anything else. >> What's your motion?
062I make a motion that we approve a change to the calendar shifting spring break to align with Bunkham County Schools and uh AB Tech spring break for 2027. >> Okay, second. There is a motion and a second. All those in favor of the motion, please say I. >> I. >> Okay. And those opposed? >> No. >> Nay. So the motion does not carry and so is there another motion. >> I move that we sustain the calendar set by the calendar committee for school year 2627. >> Is there a second? >> Okay. All those in favor >> I >> and those opposed >> Nay. Okay. Five to two. So the calendar will remain as it was and we regret the inconveniences the calendar causes to families and I am positive this will inform the work as
063Jesse said of the calendar committee going forward. So thanks everybody for that. Um at this time we're going to move to the superintendent report. All right. Yes. Good evening. Two things to share some updates for the board this evening. one is some updates on the progress we've been making for our reform policy and then some strategic planning updates. So, just to refresh the board's memory, um in September this past year, um we reviewed as a board the policy 3000 goals and objectives of our educational program. Um the board gave feedback on what things you liked in that, what things you thought might need changed. Um so I worked on drafting a change based on the board's input. um d gave that draft to our educator advisory committee. They reviewed that, gave some additional suggestions and
064then after that was tweaked a second time by their input, I gave it um asked um them to complete a survey. So I want to share the results of the survey. Um the first one was paragraph 2 and you have a copy of this um in your email. So, I wasn't going to go through this, but just showing you that the edits in there um there is strong alignment that um what's in paragraph 2 um communicates that we have high level of a that our schools have a high level of autonomy to plan and do their work um that matches their school and community. Paragraph 2 also um talks about our theory of action as a framework to implement change. And there also is strong agreement from EAC on that that does show our staff
065and our schools that our theory of action is that um framework for change. Um overall policy they feel strongly that overall the new newly written policy provides a clear description of the goals and objectives for our program. And then I asked them more particular questions. So there's a a lot of like statements in the policy and those are the statements um that I'm asking them do you feel like um this is really helping our students to succeed in life and beyond um for this first question. Um and you can see there's strong agreement that the descriptors that we have included now in our policy do support that um our students will have the opportunity to learn skills and attributes that ensure success in life and beyond. And those include that um our school they have
066the opportunity that learning is both challenging and promotes joy um that is based on ac grade level academic standards and allow students to grapple with demanding and meaningful content elevates student collaboration voice critical thinking and reflection and develops a world-class academic career and technical skills. The next question asks to what extent do you agree or disagree that students should have the opportunity to engage in a curriculum? So digging into what type of curriculum do we want our students to experience and you'll see there is strong agreement between 95.6% and 100% of agree or strongly agree um with the descriptors that a classroom where materials reflect diverse perspectives a wide range of voices and lived experience. Instruction is alive with discovery, inquiry, critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration. So students can engage um with com this
067says complete. It meant complex issues, text and problems. Sorry for that typo there. Um, that all students feel like they belong and work with teachers to become effective learners and ethical people who contribute to a better world and students reflect on their own learning, setting goals and tracking their progress and that students acquire the skills needed for techn technological literacy in a rapidly changing world. The third um part here that was uh more specific is to what extent do they agree or disagree that a welcoming classroom environment includes these things which includes being responsible for and accept the consequences of one's conduct and academic performance. Demonstrating respect and appreciation for cultural and ideological diversity and differences. Develop the ability to be productive in a team environment. learn and acquire skills necessary for a life of
068continu lifetime of continuous learning and the ability to adapt to changes in the workplace and society and develop the capacity to examine and solve problems. Again, strong agreement there between 100% and 95.6% um agree strongly. So, the next steps for this will be to put the full draft of the updated policy on first read for March so that you can really dig in and and get to know a little bit more and have the opportunity to ask questions. But I wanted to share that I felt like at this point we have strong enough agreement from the staff that it's ready for the board to review for the next time. >> Maggie, I do have one question for you. uh describe what we learned today about the um amount of students that be in suspension mostly
069um students of color. Where would that be? Where >> that would be a different policy that would be um whether it's our school discipline policy or that this this is mostly about what are the goals and objectives of our academic program. >> Okay. And there's some way we can implement none of that. not in this. Is this the goal for every single student to have that type of >> educational programming? >> I mean, I I have I appreciate you lifting that up, Jesse, and I think one of the things that is tied to that to me is like on the the first question um is both challenging and promotes a joy of learning. Kids that are in that that right space of challenge but not too challenging and who are feeling joy about being at
070school are less likely to be suspended. >> Yes. But I was also thinking about the scraptor being responsible for and accept the consequences of one's conduct >> and academic performance. >> That is one I was looking at. Um, but Kelly, I do I do see where you was coming from also. >> Yeah. And I'm I'm noticing not not the one that you just mentioned, but some of these questions where there are the the 4.4% that are disagree or strongly disagree. Um, I think those outliers are really important to look at. I think too, Jesse, I appreciate you bringing it up because I think it's what we need to be thinking about with literally every policy that we have. What will be the impact on our disproportionate outcomes and how can we be thinking about that
071from from the earliest possible moment and thinking about with our reform policies and I think this one as well. It's setting the stage for us to do for us as a district to have more understanding, not less, of how things happen in our district and how they impact kids. And so the when I you look at these and you think I love the challenging and and the promoting a joy of learning and like how do you do that for all kids, not just some kids, right? and to yours to that to lift up that like being responsible for and accepting the consequences. Well, that's that's for all kids, too. And we've talked here and we've studied and we've looked at it's not like the rules don't always get applied to all kids equally. And this
072to me feels like another place for us to go in and make sure that there aren't certain kids who skate by and break rules and they don't get in trouble for it and then some kids who get harsh consequences. So h how this gets implemented is very much a part of our equity work the way I see it but it's this is the starting place this is what it is this is the standard and then how will we know if it's being implemented through an anti-racist and equity lens is is the work that comes next >> I think also um thank you Rebecca I think I echo all of that um also there's all students feel like they belong um and work with teachers to become effective learners. There's also the um the one about
073demonstrating respect and appreciation for cultural and ideological diversity and differences. I think all of that speaks to kind of um how we how we start to unpack why the discipline data is so different in terms of you know Liza I I sort of I instinctively agree with your comment about let's look at this 4.4% 4% or whatever. But when I look at the ones that that those folks strongly disagreed with, they're some of my favorites like >> and it was just disagree. And I do have that individual's comments cuz she did disagree. It was one person and she said it's not that I and I'll share them when we look at the next round when you actually look at the full policy and I'll share what the text is. >> Okay. Yeah. because the the
074the gist of them seem to be the ones that are a little more loosey goosey like you know learn and acquire skills. Anyway, um I so that's helpful. Thank you, Maggie. >> I I hear you, but I feel like this is a pretty good if we followed all those things and then adapt our disciplinary policy perhaps or whatever. >> So, what's the rationale of of having a survey with 24 responses? What was the context? >> It's our educator advisory council. So they represent the staff at their schools. Yes. >> Just that. >> Um I would also speak we've heard a lot today about the um disturbing discipline data and we all know about disturbing differences in academic outcome data and I think that informs all of these reform policies that Maggie has been working on.
075Um and you know 300 goals and objectives of the educational program was this one and um I look forward to more reform policies. All right. Um some updates on strategic planning. Um excited to keep moving this plan forward and developing all the logistical pieces. Um hopefully soon you will see yard signs across our community with our new you can get it all in Asheville City Schools. We've it's a more simplistic version because we while we love the photos of our beautiful children, we know that that in a yard sign isn't always as effective, but we are using that graphic for flyers and mailers and stuff like that. So, you will and like a big banner, those kind of things. Um, just a reminder, we are in phase three and four kind of continuously um moving
076forward with finalizing our vision. And we do meet with the student advisory committee on March 4th to have them establish what that baseline vision would be for then some board input on that. Um and then that will be work uh work the board will complete on March 19th and then our um action planning teams have continued to meet meet with stakeholders do focus groups do some action planning. Um so I want to update you where we are. Um so we are at about the point where we're about ready to finalize our strategy map. Our groups have been taking a lot of time to review all the different current initiatives that we have in place. I will tell you once they started to like list out all the things. I was just completely overwhelmed with the
077just immense amount of initiatives and things that are in place. Um and then also understanding that we don't do a very good job of return of researching and understanding our return on that investment. Um, so knowing that we have some good data on whether these initiatives are actually moving the needle, but a lot of them we don't. A lot of them we can't even say we know that we're implementing them effectively. Um, so there's still a lot of work when we evaluate current initiatives before we make any decisions on what we can offload potentially going forward. Um just FYI, April work session, the um teams will come and do a pretty extensive presentation on the content of their plans and share all the different conversations and summaries about stakeholder input. Um and then if the
078board has no feedback or no recommendations, it can go up for vote as early as April. Um if not, we will take time between April and May work session to do some updates, bring those back to the May work session for hopeful um of action for the board no later than um May. Uh we did send out a a stakeholder survey to get some feedback so that our action planning teams could have a little more direction from our community. We did several pushes for this. Um, we did have about 459 responses and you'll see as we go through this, not everyone responded to every question. Um, but what I was excited to hear is that the the action planning teams have actually then taken that data and start to you started to meet with smaller
079groups being very intentional to make sure we're outreaching to our black community um partnering with Christina K Christina Avery um as a trusted partner as well. So doing some very intentional work to make sure that we are not missing voices as we move forward with this. Um so what the survey asked respondents to do was to rate different um statements on whether they feel like prioritizing them for what they think our strategic plan should address. And when you look at the overall rankings, you're going to see a mean. Um so the mean would be on this first one, it's 2.32. And that means if it was everyone agreed that that was the number one thing, it would be a mean of one. So it's telling you that there is some variation on how many people
080selected that. But overall it's the top number one across the board is that we focus and these were student outcomes um that the respondents feel like we should address. And first and foremost is addressing our overall academic in um outcomes. Number two is that we address our academic disparities across racial groups. and number three that we address and reduce student discipline disparities. So you can see our the respondents are very much in alignment that the achievement gap opportunity gap gap and discipline um disproportionality is an area that we need to address as a district. Um the next uh question was about employees. Um and these are things that our respondents felt we need to address regarding employees. And you can see what's very keen on this one is the average number one all staff earn
081a living wage. And that mean is probably the closest to a one that we get across the board which means that there is strong agreement from our respondents um that this is something that we need to address as a school system. Um number two on them for them was improving staff retention. Um and the third was um staff are respected for the jobs they perform in support of teaching and learning. Um and then there's other ones about respecting the rich diversity, improving diversity in our um teacher and leader positions and then developing a um teach a leadership pipeline. Uh the next question asked them to rank areas regarding culture and climate. Um and overall the top one here was building trust between school district leadership, staff, students and families. Um so that is a top
082one. Uh number two, making sure that all students, families, and staff have a strong sense of belonging. And third most was building a clear accountability system where we can measure how we're doing and regularly share that with our community. Um improving our responsiveness um was another area and last on that one ranked u district communications, which I actually was proud that that came last because I know that that was an area of need prior. So I'm excited to see that all of these that one is low. Now, we can always improve communications, but I was actually happy to see that one coming in last. Um, the next one was about cult uh curriculum and instruction. Um, and you'll see some similarities in this and some of the language that's in policy 3000, the recommended updates.
083Um, so here we asked families to rank um or all respondents to rank what what we should prioritize when it comes to what we offer regarding curriculum and instruction. Um, and this one also you'll see number one um is a as a nice it's closer to one actually closer than the living wage is that we offer students a rigorous curriculum coupled with engaging and innovative innovative instruction that prepares students for their future. Um the second most um prioritized one was that learning happens through hands-on opportunities where students are um solving real world problems. Third, we use a balanced assessment program to measure students mastery of knowledge and skills supports and support students creating high quality work. Um, and then four, five, and six um are lower, but also still important. Students have the opportunity to
084participate in work-based learning. We graduate with a detailed plan to know where they're going after high school and that technology really came in last. So, that speaks some, you know, gives us some information as well. And I'll tell you, I think because our students are already so adapt in technology, I know the parents are like, they've got this. We don't need to do that. But um feel like that was an interesting piece of information. This one they had eight um things to prioritize. Um and these were about um regarding our student outcomes um that we should address in our strategic plan. This was a second student outcomes one. Um and then the top one here with students uh we develop students that think critically, analyze, evaluate and synthesize complex ideas and consider multiple perspectives. Um
085that we also develop students who are effective learners and develop a mindset and skills for success in college, career and life. Um that we have opportunities to take courses for students that speak to their interests and talents. Um valuing and appreciating the respect and differences within our community. Um and then you can read those um the other ones there as well. Um so those were some of our surveys. Um student outcomes when it came to facilities and operations. Um overwhelmingly our community feels like the most priority is to make sure that our classrooms have the necessary technology, furniture, um and things to create an environment where all students can thrive. Um also enhancing safety measures. Um third was making sure we're maximizing the use of our facilities for long-term sustainability. Um and fourth was fac
086um investing in facility improvements to ensure energy efficiency. Um the final one related to financial stewardship. Overwhelmingly um the priority they felt that we need to make sure we focus on is that we develop and manage our budget in a transparent process. um pursuing additional sources of revenue um other than our taxes um to make sure we can meet the funds meet the funding needs of all students um and that we are um good responsible stewards with our taxpayer dollars um continuing to commit to distributing our resources equitably and then make sure that we recognize and meet the meet or exceed standards um in accounting and reporting. So that is the data that we have collected. Um like I said each outcome team is now taking that data doing more focus group more intentional um
087g collecting of perspective and feedback um particularly with those that we don't always hear from to make sure that we are elevating the voices of um members in our community that are typically marginalized or not able to come to the table. So I'm excited with where we are and where we are going with our strategic plan. Um we're making really good progress and looking forward to um the presentation in March. Any questions or comments from the board? >> I just really appreciate that you're reaching out to others. Not because I disagree with these, but there are some where the priority to me wasn't as high as I would like it to be in terms of elevating our students who um historically have been underserved by this school district. And I think that um you know
088I I I want to make sure we uh that we're getting those voices. Um but yes, so thank you a lot of work and really appreciate it. I'm a little baffled by the methodology. Not that I don't understand it. it's that um the mean for all the questions any answer would seem to be very close to the results for almost all of these. So it looks like I mean these are if you've got four items to choose from or are these part of longer larger lists? It was a question and the basic what what the respondents were asked to do was here's a list of things that we collected through the initial data collection process. So we didn't just pull these out of the air. We looked at the data that we collected and what
089was important to stakeholders as we went through that data collection phase last year. >> And then what we asked them to do is we can't prioritize everything because if you try to do everything well, you do nothing well. Um, so we said really where should our focus be as we build the strategic plan. What should be the first things that we address? Not saying that we wouldn't address all those things eventually, but we have to set a priority so we can start getting the work done. Um, so we were just assessing what should we prioritize in student outcomes and curriculum and instruction and operations and facilities and finance just so we knew and with employees to help these groups have a little better direction and understanding of we could look at all these things. But
090really what this survey helped us understand is where should we start? What should our first priority be? And so they were ranked order. They could shuffle them in an order where it was like 1 2 3 4 and they could move them up and down. >> Yeah. Uh it looks like some pages like the first one it's more definitive what the priorities are but other pages the the means are clumped together. >> And so I'm thinking about when I look at this can we do yes and and are there places where we can't just do them in order? Yeah, we have focus groups. That's why they're talking with staff, parents, students. They're doing the focus groups to get to more of a um definitive response on hey, you was really close on these three. Is
091there actually some discrepancy or difference on what you would think? >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Thank you, Maggie. That was a very comprehensive report. appreciate you sharing that with us. Um, last on our agenda are some relatively brief board chair comments. Um, just to bring you all up to speed on things that I've been doing outside of board meetings. Um, we've been talking about the South French South French Broad High School marker memorial um at South French Broad High School and um our board has already voted and committed to do that. But we um I have been in conversation with the chair of the Stevens Lee Alumni Association, Rita Waters. Um, I've talked to Explore Asheville and we are getting ready to have a meeting at Asheville Middle with the
092individuals who signed the letter in 2020 that first came to the school board about the South French Broad marker. And it's, I think, very exciting. Um, Tiffany Delhagen at for secondary education is going to work to support I think it's the history teachers in eighth grade if they're still here um to do a um expedition and I don't have the right words but the expeditionary learning process about the history of the high school with the eighth graders at Asheville Middle. Um so still working on the the actual marker itself but a lot of conversation and student engagement on the bigger topic is going to happen which is exciting. Um, these are in no these are in chronological order just so you know as I present them. But I also just want the board and others
093that are listening to know that in January on Martin Luther King weekend, our own Jesse Warren was awarded a community service award um for his work to the community. Um, and his dedication to the students and young people of this community was recognized and we are grateful. Nope, you don't get to talk. Board comments. Um, third, I alluded to this earlier, but Mag, and you all know this because you saw the email, but Maggie and I met with Commissioner Al Whitesides a couple weeks ago, it came out of the county commissioner meeting in January where, as Commissioner Whitesides always does, he says, "Look at your outcomes with academic results. Look at the discipline data." And he had real concerns. So Maggie reached out to him and we set up this meeting and you all saw
094it. She shared all the data and it's it's disturbing and she shared it with them. She shared with them where there's some highlights where we're seeing improvement in third grade reading. Um shared with him the initiatives that are being done and he was really appreciative. Um he took it back. He shared it with the rest of the commissioners and he asked that we continue to update them. you know, I saw that throughout the um the survey results that we do have an obligation for accountability to our um the people we work with. So, it you know, it's never good to look at that data, but I do feel like it was a productive meeting and Al appreciated all the information being shared. Um let's see. I owed you all an update. There's a meeting this
095Thursday the fax group is um putting on about EC education. It's at a church in South Asheville um or somewhere and it I heard from the people organizing it board members are just sitting in the audience. We're not participating. So any of you are welcome to go. I don't need to manage your attendance. Um try not to sit together. Um there is an MCC meeting on Wednesday of this week and as we did last time we're rotating board members through to sit and observe that meeting. Um, so that's happening this week. Um, I just so you know, I talk with Rob Elliott on the Bunkham County School Board a lot about ways to have joint advocacy and things that are affecting our schools. So, that's going on. Um, so that's it for me. >> Who's
096attending the MCC meeting this week? >> Um, I think that it's going to be um Rebecca and myself and Amy this time. Um, let's see folks. I think that's it for me. Um, I would point your attention to the parent teacher conference work session regular meeting in March. Please remember, I'm sure it's on all your calendars, that we have a half-day board retreat on March 19th. Um, and at this point, I would take a motion to adjourn. on that half-day board retreat that starts at 8 am >> at a location. We're not going to have any um streaming from that meeting. Is that correct? >> Right. We don't usually stream our retreats. >> We have at some times, but not in recent history. Um and it starts at 8 a.m. Is this something that Liza
097Kelly is going to be able to do on a Thursday? Well, just on that note, we changed it for the next year, right? This one had already been on the calendar. I mean, I we did have a conversation about moving it to the afternoon, but that will be for next year's strategic planning. This one had already been in place. Um >> I'm just wanting to check in to make sure that everybody can attend if they so choose. >> Yes, >> I will be there. >> Great. >> Thank you, Pepe. >> Is there a motion to adjurnn? >> So moved. Second. >> All those in favor? >> I Any opposed?