001Good evening. Welcome everyone to the start of our new school year. We're glad to see everybody here. We have some new faces who we'll get to meet later in the meeting. Um but at this time, I'd like to call us to order with the reading of our equity statement by Liza Kelly. 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 Asheville City Schools community. We will model our commitment to equity through our practices and decisions. 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, Liza. All members of the board are present and
002in person tonight, and so we have a quorum. And at this time, I ask that we all stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America >> and to the republic >> for which it stands, >> one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Um, at this time, is there a motion to approve the agenda? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. All in favor? I. >> Any opposed? Okay, the agenda is approved. At this time, I will turn it over to Kim Deck for our good news. Good evening, board. After last week's legislative update, I felt like we needed a lot of really, really good news. Um, and you're going to see tonight why Asheville City Schools
003is the best and right fit for all of our children. We have amazing things happening and we're going to kick it off with um the fact that we're going to be able to provide all of our students with free breakfast and lunch for the upcoming school year. This is in collaboration with Tartwells. Thank you to the board and Dr. Burman and Tahadi and her team for supporting this. This means our families won't have to pay a fee or complete any meal applications and that all students are eligible to receive free breakfast and lunch at no cost and that is capital AL all of our children. Ashwa High School and Silsa Wind Symphony applied and was accepted to be the featured ensemble at the North Carolina Music Educators Convention, performing on November the 10th. There are
004only two high schools in North Carolina that are accepted to perform. The last time the Asheville High Band was selected was in 1999. Also, mark your calendars for October the 4th. The President's Marine Band will be performing at Asheville High School. This is a huge honor and testament to the dedication of our band students and our and their directors. We are incredibly proud to announce a monumental achievement for Asheville City Schools. Our district has been ranked number two in the state for FASA completion with 77.4% of eligible students successfully completing their financial aid forms. That's huge. This remarkable success is a testament to the tireless work of our high school counselors who go above and beyond to ensure our students have the support they need to pursue higher education. Together we thrive. This week will
005be our sixth and final together we thrive um session on Wednesday from 4 to 6 on the William Randolph campus. A huge shout out to Melissa Het and her team and Kim Robinson and her team for putting this together. Um, we have been able to feed uh approximately 150 to over 200 students and f and families every week for the past five weeks. Um, we have had support as I mentioned last week from Mana. We've also had bountiful cities there. Um, we have had a lot of community partners. uh Kim Robinson and her team have been able to open up the resource center and provide uh food resources, supplies for cleaning, medical supplies, blankets, clothes um to families who have came um and requested those items. This week will be career and college ready and
006a thank you to Strada and Twisted Laurel um who are going to be donating the pasta for this week's meal. So, if you haven't had a chance to come by, please come by and see all their amazing work in action. So, the Ark Award Awards, congratulations to Asheville Middle School EC teacher, Miss Callie Crowder, for being recognized as an educator of excellence at the Ark of Bunkham County's appreciation lunchon over the summer. The Asheville City Schools Foundation, and Copeland is here with us this evening, was also recognized as an organization of excellence. Thank you, Mrs. Crowder, for embodying our three promises. And thank you to the foundation foundation for doing whatever it takes to support our students, staff, and schools. Thank you, Copelan in real life after school and works project. Uh, a huge shout
007out to Greg. I got a chance to talk to him on Saturday about all the amazing things that happened during this um camp and I was like I was ready to sign up and go next summer. I rail afterchool students have lived a curious life this summer. In partnership with Bunkham County Works Project, middle school students have been introduced to real life skills that ignite their curiosity and passions. Just a few of the activities they participated in this summer have been beekeeping, paddle boarding, masonry, cooking, basket weaving, biker repair, fly fishing, woodworking, and so much more. And I also got to hear about the tadpole collection. So, thank you to Greg and the foundation for all their work on making this opportunity happen for our students. And Josh, sorry. [Applause] summer programming. It has been
008a summer packed with lots of program uh for our students. And so a big thank you to Mallerie. Mallerie ran the uh elementary program and Eddie Gibbs in collaboration with Ann O'Brien ran our middle school program. Our summer programs at Asheville City Schools provided enriching and engaging experiences for students across all grade levels. From elementary explorations to middle school leadership initiatives, the summer was a huge success. Young learners went on a unique journey of discovery with each grade level traveling to a different continent. The program culminated in a learning expo where families were invited to celebrate students genius and see all that they had learned over the summer. We are incredibly grateful to our community partners for all of their support in this programming, including Book Harvest, who generously donated 880 brand new books to
009our students. So, our students at Dixon got a backpack, all of the books were laid out, and they got to go through with their family and pick out 10 books to take home to help build their classroom library. It was pretty awesome. Middle schoolers and rising ninth graders also had a fantastic time at AMS this summer where they explored themes of social emotional learning, steam, and identity. We are proud of these students that they launched crew activities uh during the summer and so they're ready to kick off the school year um jumping in with crew. So, they've kind of got a head start, which is great. PreK summer programming. Our youngest learners took their steps into the world of education this summer at preschool. They built a strong foundation brushing up on their ABCs, their
010colors and numbers and setting the stage for a success in school year in the school year ahead. Thank you to Susanna Smith and her team for leading this foundational program and having a lasting impact on our future Cougars. [Applause] AVID summer programming. The AVID summer bridge program immersed students in college life where they spent a week on UNCCA's campus diving deep into habit building and what it takes to be a successful to be successful in higher education. Students participated in professional development hosted by the UNCCA staff, Builtmore Estate, and Outwardbound. Through dynamic lessons on teamwork, leadership, networking, and comprehensive college readiness, the week concluded with a banquet, and the students were able to present their final projects. Um, a huge thank you to the AVID teachers and Mr. Jerome Hughes for leading that powerful week.
011[Applause] This evening, we have Joe Hooton with us. And this summer, he organized a hugely successful guitar donation drive for Asheville Middle School. Thanks to his efforts, over 100 guitars and other instruments were donated, which he has been delivering to students. The outpouring of community support highlighted the importance of music as a tool for self-expression and skill building, bringing joy and a new sense of confidence to young musicians over the summer. Thank you to Mr. Hooton. And if you'll come up and we're gonna get a picture of you at the board and for inspiring our students to express themselves through music. Come on up. [Music] [Applause] That's a huge accomplishment. 100 guitars is no small task. >> Yeah. Thank you. Last week, our partners at United Way organized a school supply drive providing fully packed
012backpacks to children across our community and ACS student volunteers helped pick up, load, and organize 275 donated backpacks in the William Randolph cafeteria. These incredible volunteers sorted the backpacks by grade level. So, we had 75 for elementary, 75 for middle and 125 for our high school students. A huge thank you to the United Way for organizing the school supply drive and to Alana Wagner um for pulling the students together, the volunteers to help with this um supply drive. So, if you see Alana, please give her a huge shout out. Um, Tama Williams, Asheville City Schools director of SEAL and well-being, represented the district as a speaker at the Center for Safer Schools. They hold an annual summit, and she um this is where school safety professionals, educators, and community partners come together to discuss best
013practices. and Thomas has shared how Asheville City Schools is enhancing school safety and student support through MTSS, which focused on how using a multi-tered system of support improves school safety and builds student relationships. Thank you to Tama for sharing our district's strategies with our broader education community. Thank you, Tama. Dr. Dr. Ferman is going to introduce these um folks later on in her presentation, but we do we do want to say we're excited to extend a warm welcome to our new principles, assistant principles, and employees for joining the Cougar crew. Today, we had our new employee orientation where we had almost 30 new employees come and learn about our school district and they had lunch. and we will kick off the school year with our annual convocation on Tuesday the 19th uh where all of
014se almost 700 employees will come together uh to kick off the new school year and we're really excited about that. Um as always we want you to be a champion for public schools. Um you saw tonight why Asheville City Schools public education is the best fit and the best choice for our students. Please follow us um on our Instagram and our Facebook page so that you can see all the great news every day throughout the week of all the great things that are happening. So that concludes good news. [Applause] Thank you, Kim. Next on our agenda is public comment. Um Lisa Bishop, um I don't see anybody signed up for public comment. if you'll just check and there's nobody online so there is no public comment this evening. Um I'll just note that we always
015welcome public comment and want to hear from folks. I also think it's a nice sign that this seems like a very stable start to Maggie's third school year and there's some comfort in that. So, >> and Sarah, can I can I point one thing out about good news if you don't mind since we >> um and I know this isn't the one the there's plenty to highlight. Um but one of the things that um Kim showed us was the FAFSA completion. >> Um that was 77%. Is that correct? So, my future NC has set a goal for the whole state by 2030 the completion rate should be 80%. So that the fact that this district is am I right five years like ahead of the curve getting to that point right now the the completion
016rate across the state is 55%. That is significant. So again there's lots of things to highlight in that good news but that's like a data point I wanted to uplift. So that's that's great what's happening at the high school and >> thank you George. We turn now to our consent agenda. And I I'm going to just walk through it with everybody. And I have two just minor modifications that I don't think affect much, but you can let me know if they do. We have the draft minutes from our June 2nd um meeting. And there is a correction at the end where it says there's a motion to adjourn the meeting and go into close session. Um, and it should have said there was a motion to go into close session. So, just clarifying that. Um,
017also on the consent agenda are close session minutes from June 2nd, our regular minutes from June 9, our special called open meeting with close session on June 24th, close session June 24th, student releases. Um, second note is on the contract that's on the consent agenda for the train TR RE contract. um that is subject to board attorney review just to clarify that that has to to happen still. Um and then you see listed the policies for second read as well as the personnel report. Um so is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> I move that we approve the consent agenda. Is there a second? >> Second. Thank you. All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Passes unanimously. So at that time, at this time, we will move to our one
018action item this evening, and that is the feasibility study recommendation. And I'll turn it over to Maggie. >> Um just a just a refresher for the board. Um, this proposal is for Asheville City Schools to engage um to complete a feasibility study that will help support our strategic planning for long-term success of the school district. How do we utilize all of our capital resources? Understanding what our enrollment changes might be, looking into the future, um the condition of facilities of facilities that we have, um and just helping us make some helping the board actually make very well-informed decisions on where we need to be pushing capital investment, where we potentially could be um you know, smaller, make a smaller footprint for our district. Um so that that is the proposal that is in front of
019the board for consideration and discussion. We discussed this in depth last week but want to allow time. Does do any board members have questions before we vote? I I don't have a question, but um in in reviewing our previous meetings and discussion, um I noticed that we had or I had marked in my notes to revisit the idea of waving out of district enrollment fees as a as a potential for boosting revenue um in pu in the form of per pupil funding. Um, and I I just wanted I don't want to lose sight of that the potential for that discussion, especially as we're considering, you know, building capacity. >> Yeah. And that's one once we um get the contract approved, there'll be a meeting with the vendor to set more of a scope and hear
020from the board on some of the particulars that you're very interested in looking at and then we'll discuss that with the vendor at that time. >> Okay. Thank you. Can I ask a follow-up question because I do I appreciate that and I remember from the work session naming that we can pass this with the bid and then there'll be a process where we can review scope and it may change the cost which we would have to then would would there come a time where we have to vote again or does that just we work that out? >> No, we would just work that out without right. Any other questions? >> I notice uh a couple things um that stand out to me. Um, this proposal specifically excludes the review of Asheville High that the Silsa
021campus and I I just don't see how we can um effectively get the results that we're looking for excluding that campus. Um, I am also concerned that it specifically says that they're going to use the existing enrollment study, which my understanding is that it says if we keep doing what we're good doing, we're going to wind up where we're heading. And so echoing what Liza Kelly was asking about, um I think that it is part of our our work as a board to talk about um what we're and part of your staff's work to figure out what we're looking for when it comes to um uh occupancy numbers. um what kind of facility use plan is reasonable for the district. Um and um I think that um this until we've done that work entering into
022this agreement is premature. Um, I'm also concerned about the um the 30% uh capacity number that was presented to the board related to the closure of Mford Northstar Academy. Um, I know that I had asked you to correct that with the media. Um, and I was uh surprised to see a slide that the school board hadn't seen prior to the presentation to the county commissioners being inserted back into the slide deck that had that 30% number and noticed that AMS their capacity or occupancy number had been changed to 30%. And so like I'm just wondering how we're going to validate. And it looks like this proposal doesn't include validating numbers. And so if we're moving ahead with this, what I ask is either a formal process or an informal process to give feedback on the
023data that we're handing to this group um so that they can assess um more accurately uh these the the data. I don't want to do garbage in garbage out. I want them to be able to um really give us a comprehensive view. Um and then I guess my last comment is um again I think engaging with an economist. Uh one that comes to mind uh is Susan Casque who spoke at the county commissioner's meeting as a Bunkham County parent. Um I had the fortune of having her as an economics instructor. she's done economics uh forecasting assessments for uh National Park Service for example and I think having somebody that we at least have a conversation with even if it's a um asking them to give some feedback on what direction so that we can look
024at what we can do to impact enrollment and uh provide some of that uh economist lens tmi Hi. C >> can I ask a question? I'm just curious, Pepe, about your the previous point, not the economist, but the one before. Do you have an idea of who you like how we would validate that data before giving it to the company to validate? Well, we know that the 30% number um was based on the fire marshall occupancy and not the actual occupancy for students. We talked about that year year and a half ago, you and I. Um, and so, um, having some I want to make sure that the information that's going out there isn't and that the this group is depending on because they're they're saying in their in their uh, proposal that they're going
025to rely on what already exists. And so whether they're doing the validation, whether they're examining it, I don't want them to depend on something that I know has errors in it. >> So you So to clarify, so the fire marshall's numbers are wrong. >> Well, the fire marshall's numbers are the number maximum number of people in a building for Mumford for the William Rand >> I would assume. >> Yeah. So if you've got an event going on in the auditorium, you've got parents coming in, you've got students and parents, you've got a community event, that's one thing and that is different than the number of students who can be effectively instructed in a classroom. And so when you say when we've got a number of 30%. But we know that um the school itself was
026near its maximum allowed enrollment. You know, there's just there's a disconnect there. And so maybe it's not our place to validate, but I definitely want this whoever is doing this study to be looking at Asheville High, that campus, I want them to be looking at our enrollment numbers and data that we've been working with and question it. And I don't want um I don't want us to be going with assumptions. And I I guess I still take to heart our CFO's point about um we need the enrollment more than we need the out of district fees, which was something that was said a while ago in an open meeting. Um, >> yeah. I sorry, Pepe. I don't mean to interrupt you, but I I want to go back to the point that like what I'm
027hearing is that the numbers that a the fire marshal, a a person who's gone through the training to understand what a building's capacity is for safety, that that's an assumption. That's that's the that's what I'm hearing you say. And so at some point there might be a number that you don't agree with but it's still given by an expert who's got the training to say this is the level. So I guess I'm wondering is there is there an endpoint for you at which point you can say yeah this number I don't agree with and yet the the experts have given it. >> I don't disagree with it as a maximum occupancy for the building. >> Okay. But that but you've you've said >> well what the school board was was told was that the um
028we were only serving 30% of the students who could be served in that building and that was a misinterpretation of that information and I believe it may have impacted some decision-m I don't want us to make decisions based on numbers that are not apples to apples. I'm going to offer that what we have before us is a proposal to hire a particular firm to do a feasibility study. Enrollment is a piece of it. And it's my understanding we went and scaled this back to save costs which are important to our district. And I am hearing you say, Pepe, that you have concerns about the enrollment data and you would choose different data. I'm hearing this and I think it may be that during our um meeting where we set the scope of the work, we
029would decide as a board if we want to spend, you know, what the priority is on that and what the the price tag that we're willing to study on that. I mean, I'm hearing your concerns. What is before us is a feasibility study that covers a number of things. Um Maggie has let me know Asheville High is included because of construction going on on the campus. Some of what's going to be studied there is more limited but it's not been excluded. And this feasibility study, yes, it looks at demographics. It also looks at the physical condition of the school buildings. It looks at educa educational adequacy. It looks at improvement options, prioritizations. It's very broad. And again, we will have a chance to talk more about the scope of the work. So, I think what
030I'm saying is I appreciate your comments. They are heard. We understand you have concerns about the enrollment data. And ultimately what we're voting on is whether to hire this company to proceed with this work at this present price tag as described in the letter dated August 1, 2025. So I I don't I I hear what you're saying. I don't know that it's going to people are going to vote on this and I'm not sure we're we're at a place where we're going to decide that yes, we agree to relook at enrollment data. I think you've made your points and we've heard them and we will proceed with the vote um at this time. >> Thank you Sarah. >> Yeah, Jesse. >> Hey Sarah, did you say that asphel high and sisle will be included with
031the amount that is shown on here? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> I I think somebody at some point is going to correct me, but my understanding is some of what we're this study does to certain of the school buildings is is broad in scope. And when you get to the high school, it's more narrow in scope for a variety of reasons. I think we'll hear more about that. I don't think it's excluded like we're saying. We're not looking at the high school, but I do think the scope of the work at the high school is more limited than in other buildings. >> And I I stand corrected. I was looking at uh where it says consultants and engineers are anticipated for evaluations. Uh however, due to the size and complexity of the site, the proposed
032fee does not include engineering assessment of Asheville High School, but may be added as needed or warranted. So, there's other assessments that will happen on that site. And I apologize for my confusion. >> And I also clarify this is the same organization that worked on the auditorium project for Asheville High. Thank you, >> Jesse. Did your question get answered? >> No. No. Yes. >> Okay. Okay. Any other questions before we proceed to vote on this? Is there a motion that we approve the feasibility study recommendation in front of us? >> I move that we approve the feasibility uh study recommendation in front of us. >> Second. All those in favor? >> I request a roll call vote. >> Okay, we'll start with you, Pebb. >> I vote no. Okay, Jesse. >> Yes. Yes. Yes. >>
033Yes. >> Okay. Passes 6 to 1. At this time, we will move to the superintendent report. All right. Good evening, board members and members of the audience. Thank you all for being here tonight. Um, let's see. Okay, so first off, um, our facilities team has been very, very busy this summer. So, I just wanted to share an update on all the things that they have accomplished. And that's a fun little picture of your team up there, April. Um, Lucy Herring, this whole I mean, the whole school basically got a beautiful faceelift. The new the HVAC system across the whole school is new. They have brand new windows, a remodeled front entrance to have that double entry security vestibule is there. Um they've updated the paving um out out front. They've touched up painting and then
034they're also reconstructing the field where all the construction equipment had been um held during the construction period. So lots of beautiful things. Excited to welcome our students and staff back at Lucy Herring. Um lots of things as well at Asheville High School. Um the elevator project, flooring, the arts building got a new um HVAC system. Our baseball lights are in the process. They're not 100% finished yet, but they are getting there. Um window replacements um at the baseball press box and the field um the parking lot right by the baseball field was also paved. Um new metal um building, they're building a little metal building by the tennis courts for some storage. Um, some new HVAC rooftop units were installed and then they did some striping at the on the bus lane. Um, Claxton, they
035did uh completed the chiller replacement, some new flooring across Claxton, a speestous removal and abatement. Um, also paving. And because that building is now over a hundred years old, the first floor was starting to kind of be unlevel. We were initially concerned that that might be some structural issues that would be quite costly, but it ended up just being some some addressing things that were not as um what's the word? Um foundational. Uh so then they just did some new flooring there. Um Jones got new fencing around their back area. Um new floor in the art room. And then they are really right now starting some new sighting at the media center. Um, Hal Fletcher is now going through a phase of some upgrades. They'll get that upgraded vestibule for security. Um, and some other
036upgrades throughout the school system throughout the the school building at Hoff Fletcher will begin um throughout this school year and roll into next summer and potentially if things get delayed may go into the following school year. Um, and then lots of painting happening over the summer at Asheville Middle at Isaac Dixon. Um, and finishing up the painting project at the CTE building. on. Um excited to share we had lots of opportunities over the summer to engage with our leadership team for learning and leadership development. In June, we held our school and district leadership camp where we spent days collaborating with schools and their principal teams to make sure that they were clear and we understood what needed to be supported for their school work plans. And then just last week, we had our beginning of
037the year district retreat where we helped uh or we shared legal updates, policy updates, updates from our departments so that our principles are ready to jump into this current school year and share any any big updates with their staff and move smoothly through all these legislative updates and any changes in the law. So, two really great leadership opportunity, leadership development opportunities for our staff. Thanks, Lisa. Um, and as Dr. Decket shared, we are launching student crew. The other big learning over the summer was groups from each team each uh teams from each school collaborated and built their lessons for student crew and what the training is going to look like for staff so that we are ready to roll student crew out on day one. Um and as you know I shared at the work
038session we have our updated portrait of a scholar with our six characteristics and we are working with our students to unpack those. What do those look like, sound like, feel like for our students and then we'll be sharing more about those as we kind of roll through the year. So every month we'll have a focus on a different characteristic, sharing that information with our community and um excited for that to be a focus for us. did want to spend a little time sharing with the board um some of the work that I've been doing with the United for Youth um team. So, I've served on the United for Youth leadership team with United Way and they have set this bold community goal that by 2035 all Asheville City School in Bunkham County students will graduate
039from high school ready and fully prepared to pursue their goals and their dreams. And then below that, it's small on this chart, but what it says is that they have created this big strategic goal, this big bold community goal. And then there's three columns there. And one column is for the United for Youth leadership team, the work that they do. The blue column, let me even get that bigger on my screen, is for the backbone team, and the backbone team is the United Way and their leadership team and their staff. And then the red column is work for what they're calling impact teams. So impact teams is the next phase of this work that they're doing for United for Youth. Um and they're going to start forming four different impact teams. They're asking for community
040members. They're asking for experts in the community, partner organizations, representatives from the school systems um to help serve on these impact teams. Um and then th those groups will be doing work independently and then reporting back to the United for youth leadership team and the backbone instit institution to help move this work forward so that we can as a whole community accomplish this bold community goal. Go to the next slide and what is this bold like what are these action plans? So I want to share that um what they've done is they've divided up their work into age groups. So that first one is from birth to 5 years old because this bold community goal we know is going to have to start from cradle to career. So from zero to birth they are going
041to focus on helping support parents helping support parents and caregivers to access resources within the community to make sure that they have um nurturing and healthy environment for their children. They're also looking at how we as um school districts and partners can work on career pathways um for early education and how we can develop a broader availability of early educational opportunities throughout the community. in grades six through uh kindergarten through sixth grade. Their focus is going to be on making sure that our educators across the county are highly trained in foundational reading skills and can bring all students to grade level with reading in grades four through nine. The focus there will be on culturally reflective and adult and nearpeer mentoring and mentoring opportunities and guidance to support youth in grades four through nine. And
042then the last column is after 10th grade moving on, how do we make sure our students are plugged into internships and apprenticeships and that they are guided to the resources that they need to get them into um the college or the higher education level of their choice. So they're going to be asking for members of the community including board members. So this is an opportunity for you to think of if you are interested in working towards either the mentorship team, the tutoring team, the early education team, or the internships team. Um if you're interested in that, they'll be putting out a call to community. So I encourage all board members to think through that. Um look at what the commitment is for those different impact teams and if that's an area of your interest or
043your passion to sign up to serve on one of those impact teams. Um and then someone from United Way um will be chairing those teams and helping move that work forward um to help support and move towards this achievement of their big bold community goal. Do want to welcome our new principles. So we have Dr. Julie Frank. She is joining us from Michigan. Um we're excited. Her experience um is vast and deep. Um she does have experience here in North Carolina um working at several districts and in a county. Um, and then um, up in Michigan, experience at the school level, community college level, and at the state department of education level. Um, so really excited for the wealth of experience and knowledge that she's bringing to us here in Asheville City Schools. Dr. Joan
044Buussy, aside from being a Steelers fan, is also just has a wide deep experience in education, literacy, and really impacting student achievement. um when she was sharing with me her work as a school principal um in a elementary school and then in a K8 school, I was just blown away by her ability to connect the work in a way that's meaningful for teachers and impact student achievement in a significant way. Um and then Dr. Jeremy Gibbs joining us, Dr. Buucy is at Isaac Dixon and then Dr. Gibbs will be joining us at Silsa. Um and Dr. Gibbs is a a West Carolina native, born and raised in Henderson County. Um, and now lives in out in Breard if I'm correct. Um, has three kids, two kids, two a boy and a girl, a boy and
045a girl. That's right. Um, I saw their pictures in his office the other day and I was like, "Oh, look at that." Um, well, anyways, Jeremy has experience from teacher, um, principal. He, um, also experience in a variety of different school system sizes in North Carolina. um also working at the district level in Transennsylvania and various departments HR and curriculum and instruction um and then working at the state level as well. So having someone with these experiences of all three has really upped our game in our principal um group and we are excited to welcome them and see the great things that they accomplish this school year with our team. So we want to welcome our three new principles. [Applause] So, any questions, comments, or um topics for discussion? >> I got one. I didn't
046see the academy as one of the buildings that are being um maybe remodeled, taken care of, and everything. Are we working on that during the I mean, I didn't see it listed. Was it listed? >> No, there weren't any projects this summer uh going on at the William Randolph campus. >> Oh, there wasn't none. >> No. Oh, okay. Thank you, Maggie. That was a great presentation and we appreciate all the information. We're really glad to have the new principles with us. There's new assistant principles throughout the district, new teachers, and it's very auspicious start to the school year. Um, I would point your attention to the announcements in the agenda. First day of school, Monday the 25th. Labor Day holidays. Um, our next work session will be September 8th. Uh, regular meeting September 15th. >>
047Oh, right. Um, and folks, you got an email about this. This is board members on September 18th. It's our half-day board retreat. Um, 8:30 to 12:30. So, you should have gotten that um, email. So, that's on the 18th and 12:30. >> Yeah. Um, >> and that'll be in this room and open to the public. >> I think we're not sure yet where it's going to be held. We'll give >> That's what the announcement that we got. >> I'm sorry. >> The message that we got was that it would be in this room and it would so it can be open to the >> I think I think the location has not yet been decided. I think that's just the regular Google Meet that went out that >> Yeah. And it defaults to that. So, we're
048still trying to consider the benefits and burdens of where to have it. So, we'll we'll let you all know soon. It won't be far if it's not here. Um, so that is all that I have. Excited for the new school year. Um, is there a motion to adjurnn? >> I move that we adjourn. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. Any opposed? All right, we are adjourned. Thanks, everyone.