001foreign [Music] County Board of Education agenda 780 today is October 11 2022 as we prepare for our pledge and moment of silence I ask that you please remember the family of Richard Brooks who passed away this afternoon Mr Brooks was a 30-year educator in our school system and served as superintendent from 1994 until his retirement in 2002. if we'll stand for the pledge in a moment of silence thank you you may be seated is there a motion to approve the agenda so move second we have a motion in a second any discussion all in favor motion carries seven to zero recognitions DR Horton thank you madam chair at this time I'll call on Public Information officer Dean Jackson to bring you recognitions Mr Jackson thank you DR Horton our first recognition tonight is our Core
002Business uh and bringing us our example of classroom learning tonight is a Blake bass Middle School we have several bass students and teachers with us here tonight so I'd call on principal Cindy Bennett to introduce foreign good evening board members and superintendent Horton and Dr Guy and thank you for allowing bass Middle School to present at the board meeting tonight I am Cindy Bennett principal at Blake bass middle school and I've brought with me tonight four of our eighth grade teachers and five eighth grade students recognizing that the five-year school system strategic plan emphasizes and measures student learning we've identified creativity and collaboration as a point of emphasis in our school Improvement plan for the 22-23 school year as part of the focus in this area bass Middle School engages students in the learning process
003with opportunities that are real world focused and student-centered Miss Dawson Mr Bouchard Miss Humphrey they are the 8th grade team leaders with me tonight and they are going to share an example of the amazing work that's being produced by our students to help us accomplish this goal and now allow me to introduce my superhero team yeah a little bit taller good evening I'm Ashley Dawson recognizing the importance of students being able to apply their knowledge and learning in real world situations our eighth grade team focuses on creativity and collaboration across the core classes in order to master one of our standards in physical science students were provided with the learning activity we would love to share with you this evening using students knowledge and the elements on the periodic table students designed and created superheroes
004or villains to explain the relationship between chemical and physical properties of elements on the periodic table and where they belong in said periodic table the goal was to provide students with a situation in which they could use their knowledge gain from their academic classes to collaborate and solve a real world problem 8th grade teachers created a hypothetical situation where students were being scouted and challenged by elements of the universe a division of Marvel and comic book publisher to create and pitch a new superhero or villain for an educational line of comic books the company wish to create hi I'm Avery the 8th grade students at Bass Middle School were tasked by elements of the universe a division of Marvel with creating superheroes or villains based off elements from the periodic table the challenge was not
005only to create a superhero or villain but for each student to develop the qualities of a super student each of our four subjects built these qualities with engaging Hands-On experiences while challenging students to fulfill the requirements laid out by the company and the teacher-created simulation hello my name is Brooke in science class we researched a specific element from the periodic table and created a superhero or villain based on the specific characteristics of that element we were then tasked with making connections between the superhero or villains characteristics to the traits of the element based off of the periodic table this part of the project pushed us to explain the relationship between chemical and physical properties of an element and where they belonged on the periodic table researching our element let us explore its purpose in our
006world today with our research we designed and created capes for our characters which we are modeling for you tonight the qualities that we researched for our element and its history provided us with the basis of our character's origin story hello my name is Olivia an English language arts rewrote A Narrative of this origin story of the element based off the research and science we were challenged to build our character and the narrative by creating a historical backstory that matched the research completed regarding element Discovery we were then tasked with creating a sample comic strip to illustrate the character's storyline my element was neon and I created a super villain around its characteristics I designed the star logo to represent my villain since neon is found in Stars neon is also found in traffic lights which
007I which is what I based my origin narrative around foreign in math class we've been studying Transformations with similar and congruent figures we designed a logo to represent aspects of the element as well as the atomic number for our hero or villain we then graph the element on the coordinate plane and transformed it across each plane as the element was translated rotated and reflected it simulated how video game designers programmed the images as they move throughout the game others dilated their logo to show an enlargement and demonstrate scale factor we really had to amp up the creativity to add characteristics of the element to our design and related to the character we created in the narrative thank you hello my name is Andrew and in social studies we examine the costs and benefits of being
008an entrepreneur and weighted the opportunity costs of taking on a new business venture an important part of making a pitch to a group of investors would be having a visual about proposed superhero or villain using the design created in science as an inspiration we created a 3D model out of various materials about character using this 3D model I'll keep our narrative and our transformation we were able to pitch our idea to the company elements of the universe successfully lessons like this one prepare the students of Blake bass middle school for endless opportunities outside of the classroom by creating a super student a student with creativity collaborative decision making skills and a strong work ethic all right great job guys great job incredible what you've learned I learned something tonight I did not know that neon
009was in traffic lights so that's awesome thank you for for teaching me something tonight then one other thing tonight just want to mention this the state school superintendent uh Richard Woods recently named 31 members from All Over Georgia to serve on his parent advisory Council this year as members of that Council they're going to meet at least three times with superintendent Woods discuss education issues in Georgia this year's slate included 16 brand new members to that Council and we want to recognize that Elm Street Elementary School parent Carly force was also nominated to serve and was chosen to serve on that Council this year Miss Force couldn't be here tonight she had a prior family obligation but we wanted to recognize her appointment to that board and to graduate congratulate her in Elm Street and
010that's going to conclude our recognitions is there a motion to approve the minutes of the September 13 2022 meeting a promotion to approve second we have a motion and a second any discussion all in favor motion carries 7-0 and is there a motion to approve the called minutes of the September 23rd 2022 meeting second we have a motion and a second any discussion all in favor and we okay we have six in favor and one abstention action items in that motion passes action items group one DR Horton thank you madam chair the first item I have for you in group one tonight is to approve the FY 2223 non-discrimination Title IX and equity in sports compliance coordinator I recommend appointing Dr Mark guys a non-discrimination Title IX and equity in sports compliance coordinator for the
011coyote County County school system for the 22-23 school year Madam chair recommend approval you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent to appoint Dr Mark guy as the coordinator for fiscal year 2223 for the non-discrimination Title IX and equity in sports compliance is there a motion to approve so move so we have a motion in a second any discussion all in favor motion carries 7-0 the next action item I have for you in group one is to approve early payroll for December 2022 if approved the December payroll will be issued on December 16 2022 it's the last working day before the Christmas holidays in the end of the year Madam chair I recommend approval you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent to approve early payroll for December of 2022 payroll would be issued on the 16th
012of December if approved is there a motion we have a motion in a second any discussion I'd just like to say to Mr Chapman and um to and all of his team Mr Latimer I know it's a lot of work that you all do to get that payment out on time so really appreciate that any further discussion all right all in favor motion carries seven to zero the next action item I have for you in group one is to approve a multi-site lease dark fiber w-a-n solution agreement with Wow approval is requested to enter into a multi-site lease dark fiber w-a-n solution to network 41 School District locations the year one monthly recurring cost thirty six thousand a month for a total of four hundred thirty two thousand years two through five the monthly recurring
013costs will be 23 23 800 per month for a total of one million one hundred forty two thousand four hundred dollars and the total for years one through five is one million five hundred seventy four thousand four hundred dollars Madam chair recommend approval you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent to approve a multi-site lease for the dark fiber w-a-n solution agreement with wow and the total package is for one million 574 400 is there a motion to approve so move second we have a motion in a second any discussion in the event that wow fails to perform I'm looking at the severability clause in the contract can we get out of this without penalty Miss mink I would be operating on an assumption without having the opportunity to research the agreement further I do know
014that attorney Lee approved or or approved the agreement before my signature and it went through that so I would assume that this agreement would be subject to any other requirements that we would have as far as specifically to severability I I'm not going to speak to that without having the opportunity to research it further could we delay the vote on it until we determine that because residentially they're having some significant issues I'm not aware of that I mean the I believe the the motion is on the table and um you know again I I called yesterday to see if there were any questions you didn't return my call um everyone else had the opportunity to have their questions answered so emotions on the table I have all the information there for you we have a
015motion in a second any further discussion all in favor any opposed motion carries six to one the next action item I have for you in group one is to approve a contingency change request to clear and grade a site on Newnan High School property east of Armory road to receive excess dirt from bp3 approvals requested for contingency change requests to use excess dirt from bp3 to construct a site on school system property east of Armory Road the approved bid to grade the bp3 site included hauling excess dirt off-site current proposal will provide a credit for the shorter Hall distance of the excess dirt proposal has been submitted to clear a portion of the site east of Armory Road and use this excess dirt from bp3 to provide a level site including storm water management to
016be used for future construction the site east of Armory Road has a significant amount of trees that were damaged from the tornado which need to be cleaned up the import site for the excess dirt will clear approximately four acres of the damaged area the net cost struck the site is three hundred fifty thousand thirty four dollars and fifty one cents the change order proposal and supporting documentation is attached Madam chair I recommend approval you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent to approve a contingency change request to clear and grade a site on the Noonan high school property east of army road to receive excess dirt from bid package three the net cost would be three hundred and fifty thousand thirty four dollars and fifty one cents is there a motion to approve we have a
017motion in a second any discussion all in favor motion carries seven to zero the next action item I have for you in group one is to approve a change order proposal to install the shield system in the Newnan High School gymnasiums bp2 at Newnan High School approvals requested for a change order proposal to provide the shield system and the new and existing gymnasiums at Newnan High School Shield system was approved as an ad alternate in bid package three total change order amount is 205 286 dollars change order proposal and supporting documentation is attached board members it just didn't make sense when this was brought to me for us to have the shield system and every other building there except for the two gyms so that's why I'm bringing it to you tonight so I recommend
018approval you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent to approve a change order proposal to install the shield system in the Noonan High School gymnasiums under bid Package 2 at noon and high in the total amount for the change order is 205 286 dollars is there a motion to approve second we have a motion in a second any discussion all in favor motion carries seven to zero the next action item I have for you in group one is to approve a request from Elm Street Elementary School to install a concrete sidewall the Elm School Elm Street Elementary School request approval for the PTO to purchase the installation of a concrete sidewalk to extend to the walking Track the estimated project cost is 5 395 dollars requirements of board policy FEA have been met supporting documentation is
019attached and this project will be funded by the Elm Street Elementary PTO Madam chair recommend approval you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent to approve a request from Elm Street Elementary School for a installation of a concrete sidewalk to be funded by the Elm Street PTO is there a motion to approve so move we have a motion in a second any discussion all in favor motion carries 7-0 in the last action item I have for you in group one is to approve a contingency change request to upgrade roof access on the noon high school gymnasium approve was requested for contingency change requests to upgrade the roof access to aluminum roof stairs between the different roof levels on the gymnasium at Newton High School upon review of the plans for bid package 3 it was requested
020that the vertical ladders provided to access different levels of the roof be changed to aluminum stairs for safety reasons the ladders on bp3 were changed pre-bid it was determined that a similar condition existed on bp2 the cost to upgrade the ladders on bp2 is 74 335 dollars change order proposal and supporting documentation is attached Madam chair I recommend approval you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent to approve a contingency change request to upgrade roof access on the Newton High School gym under bid Package 2 a total of cost for the upgrade of the ladders is 74 335 dollars is there a motion to approve second we have a motion in a second any discussion Madam chairman I would like to just uh anytime I see contingency change orders especially repetitiously I will call and ask
021and I appreciate DR Horton you spending so many much time with me this week explaining that to me and uh and and and as you said this is such a project to go ongoing going into after a tornado trying to see what we have going on I see some of our contractors here um and so it is important for me to always understand where those changes come from so you guys did a great job maybe explaining it to him to explain to me but I appreciate that and thank you for the time you took to address those questions I appreciate it thank you I do have a question um in the notes and the material that we were given it does make a comment that with this change that they cannot guarantee the roofing materials
022can support the weight of the stairs how does this impact our warranty can can someone please address that one of our contractors please I have one the gentleman from Paris here to answer that question I'm Corey the parish um I turned that contingency request in uh and Then followed up with that the roof manufacturer did give me a compression strength and it does it'll allow the strength of the the steps okay so the statement that is correct yes ma'am uh first when we made this change my uh my assumption was let's talk to the manufacturers real quick before we place those stairs on top of that roof membrane because over 30 years we don't need any abrasion that with the weight as well for the the compression of our insulation board which I didn't want
023to degradate so but I did confirm that it's fine excuse me could you ask them to confirm that and writings because the statement that they made in the documentation what you're saying is contrary to what they're saying in this in this memo yes ma'am it had to go actually not from just the manufacturer but to the engineers too of the design team Southern Amia has uh they're calculating the weight of the steps versus the compression strength of the iso board okay so I'll put that to you my only concern is is that in the event that something should happen and it is does become a warranty issue I think the statement needs to be addressed and corrected so if you could hand us that that would be great yes ma'am thank you all right appreciate
024it foreign discussion um Madam chairman I'd like to say this all right I've been around on some roofs at my workplace um and it's similar in height to uh being on a roof at a gymnasium and we've got different levels and anytime you have stairs as opposed to the ladders um as someone who's been on these ladders and stairs is much more um comforting to go up those stairs to access a different level than to go up the ladder so I see this as a vast Improvement anything that's related to safety I'm in favor of so uh good job to Ronnie and Architects and everybody so I appreciate it any further discussion all in favor motion carries seven to zero there are no bids so we'll move on to action item group three trips DR
025Horton call on Dr Guy to bring your troops Dr Guy thank you DR Horton uh the principal at East Coweta High School requests permission for the junior reserved officer training Corps Rifle Team to conduct a program trip to Washington D.C from June 4th through June 9th 2023 each summer the JROTC program is required to conduct a one-week Cadet leadership course that reinforces curriculum learning objectives there will be no school days missed and there are no there's no cost to the school system the principal at Noonan High School requests permission for the Noonan High School drum line to compete in the winter guard International World Championships in Dayton Ohio the proposed dates for the trip are Wednesday April 19th through April 23rd 2023 students will miss two days of school there is no cost to the
026school system the principal at Smoky Road Middle School requests permission for the chorus students to travel to Nashville Tennessee from April 3rd through the 5th 2023 the purpose of the trip is to provide students with the performance opportunity and music exposure and experience there's no cost to the school system and no school days will be missed each of these requests does meet our out-of-state field trip guidelines Madam chair recommend approval you've heard the recommendation of the superintendent to approve the field trips to east east for East Coweta Newton High and Smoky Road Middle is there a motion to approve so move second we have a motion and a second any discussion all in favor motion carries 7-0 superintendent's report superintendents report DR Horton call on Mr Chapman to bring your budget report and your sales
027tax Mr Chapman budget report we've completed 25 percent of the year we've expended 24.7 percent of our budget through September we are 29 566 dollars under budget sales tax continue to see good numbers there just under 3.1 million dollars for the most chromos thank you Mr Chapman this time I'll once again call on Dr Mark guy to bring you staff and student attendance and your board goal report Dr Guy thank you DR Horton for the second attendance reporting period the highest staff attendance in the district goes to Atkinson Elementary School in the program area highest student attendance was Central Educational Center in the elementary school area highest attendance was Northside Elementary School highest middle schools student attendance Madras middle school and the highest student attendance for high school home of the Vikings Northgate High School
028for your board goal report this month I'd like to share with you Coweta County School System overall uh on time graduation rates for 2022. this is a bit lengthy but this is really great news the percentage of Coweta County School System high school students graduating on time Rose to 90.5 percent for the class of 2022. that reflects an increase of 1.2 percent in coweta's four-year graduation rate over that of 2021. according to a graduation report released by the Georgia Department of Education last Thursday October 6 2022. Coweta County's four-year graduation rate was more than six percent higher than the state of Georgia's 2022 rate which also increased from 2021 to 2022. individually East Coweta High School posted a 2022 four-year graduation rate of 91.7 percent Noonan High School a rate of 87.7 percent and Northgate
029High School had a rate of 90.6 percent the adjusted cohort graduation rate more commonly known as the on-time graduation rate measures the percentage of students who enter high school together as freshmen and who then go on to earn a diploma within four years since the state began the on-time graduation rate calculation the Coweta County School System graduation rate has remained consistently above the state average during that same period despite having higher standards for graduation than most Georgia school districts because of our block scheduling system Coweta County School System high schools have used a number of strategies and supports to increase graduation rates throughout that time including relevant and challenging instruction by high quality teachers individual graduation plans for each student which are closely monitored by faculty online credit recovery opportunities for students who encounter difficulty
030in classes Saturday school opportunities tutoring before and after school student Support Services outside of the classroom including counseling staff advisors and Community mentors a partnership with Elevate Coweta students which works with the most at-risk students emphasis on Ninth Grade Readiness and careful scheduling of students Innovative scheduling opportunities including literacy and math Focus as well as accelerated and advanced learning opportunities through the central Educational Center dual enrollment opportunities and work based learning content nights for parents to encourage family awareness and support for students graduation requirements High School scheduling and academic contents focusing on short-term federal funds made available to Coweta County in recent years into additional teaching Personnel tutoring and other initiatives that have addressed learning loss and increased student support thank you Dr Guy and board members if I may just make a couple of
031comments um culminates in high school but I I try to remind our employees every chance I get that a graduation rate that's over 90 percent and that has been climbing in recent years is a result of a lot of hard work pre-k through 12. that is a that is a whole system goal so you saw tonight an example of a middle school that is providing rigorous work relevant work real world application for our students so that they can learn materials so that they are engaged that's going on in our elementary schools it's going on across this system from pre-k through 12 and and the culmination is kids that are that are graduating on time and they're ready to enter into our community as productive members of that Community whether it's into the workforce whether it's
032into the Armed Forces whether it's into two-year or four-year college and that is a system-wide effort that we undertake each and every day with that end goal in mind so just want to want to say right here I'm just proud of all of our employees proud of our kids and the work that they do each day the job I tell our principals I told them last month at the principal's meeting the work is not easy but when they walk across that stage it is worth it it is always worth it so that's what drives us every day so with that I will move to the facilities and construction report Northgate High School still on your list there we actually are finishing up some five final work on the fire alarm there but the project is
033substantially complete the addition is complete and occupied just waiting on some closeout documents Newnan High School gym you've heard a little bit about the shield system there tonight replacement facilities bp1 demolition is complete underground utility relocations have been completed uh I was actually buying Newton High this afternoon if you're by there you will see that on the old building the old main building area the slabs are now being demolished in in ground up we'll begin getting that site to grade over the course of the next few weeks the the new gym that is being constructed you will see that we've added additional retaining walls back there that is substantially on grade and my guess is that it won't be too long before we'll start to see some steel going up on that one so the
034project there is is coming right along everything seems to be on schedule final Fire Marshal inspect action scheduled for this week at Smoky Road and CEC on those fire alarm Replacements and we're doing some surveillance camera upgrades to various schools and Facilities so that we're actually all on the same server system so a good bit going on in your facilities and construction report with the majority of that work being at Noonan High School one last update that I have for you is an update on proposed 2023 and 2024 and 2024 2025 calendars you may recall we put calendars out for input last month Mr Jackson put those out and over the course of the last month we have received some feedback from our teachers and staff with a request on the the staff calendars for
035the next two years these changes will not affect students at all the student calendars would would remain as they are but what what I would like to do is on each of the calendars for employees I would like to take yesterday the holiday we had yesterday on each of those calendars is a teacher work day teachers have requested that that become a holiday and that teachers get an extra day of pre-planning at the beginning of the year so it would give us four days of pre-planning for teachers at the beginning of the year to help them get better prepared for the start of the school year and then yesterday would remain a holiday for students but it will all say also become a holiday for teachers instead of a work day and wanted to go
036ahead and bring that to you tonight nothing else about those calendars will change calendars are still out until the beginning of November for public comment and feedback but wanted to go ahead and make that adjustment as we listen to our teachers and try to try to make things as as easy for them to start the school year as we possibly can so with that Madam chair that's all I have thank you DR Horton we set aside 45 minutes at each of our monthly meetings for public comment and I would like to just read the um public participation policy that we have and just to the the guidelines and the the the rules that we adhere to as far as the policy regarding public comment and I would just like to read these so that we're
037all all on the same page here and each person who is signed up to speak has signed that they have received and will abide by these these points here each speaker will be limited to five minutes the Board of Education will listen to each presentation without comment after the presentation is made each board member May respond if he or she wishes to for a period of no longer than one minute each only citizens of Coweta County or employees of the coyote County School System may speak in the public comment portion of the meeting no grievances will be heard concerning any specific Personnel action or any specific County employee except through the grievance procedure set forth in the board's Personnel policy no one will be allowed to discuss any matter involving threatened or pending litigation with
038the Board of Education during the public comment portion of the meeting in the need to preserve order in the meeting no person attending the meeting will be allowed to boo hiss cheer clap or otherwise show approval or disapproval for any speaker in any manner whatsoever no signs or placards advocating any action or position will be allowed at the meeting no personal personal attacks on any person will be allowed the chairman or other presiding officer will be responsible for enforcing these rules no citizen or system employee will be retaliated against in any manner whatsoever for speaking on matters of public concern at the meeting any person not recognized within the allotted time period for public comment will be rescheduled to speak at the next meeting and request to speak during the public comment portion must be
039received at the Board of Education Office no later than three hours prior to that the particular meeting being called to order and with that I'll have I'll call your name as you've been signed up and we have the timer set to five minutes first on our list is ziamara Castro foreign [Music] to all we don't teach CRT but we strongly believe in equity over the past two months I have met with high-ranking administrators of the Coweta County Schools all who agree that Equity is the Equal Opportunity given to all not the equal outcome in fact we've heard it here from the public as well and I had a board member laugh at me so here's a definition given by the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the Georgia Washington University while the terms equity
040and equality may sound similar the implementation of One Versus the other can lead to dramatically different outcomes from marginalized people equality means each individual or group of people is giving the same resources or opportunities Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome Equity is a solution for addressing imbalanced social systems and if that's not enough here's Merriam-Webster's Dictionary equality means the state of being equal and Equity as the element of Justice or fairness it's possible that equal treatment does not produce meaning outcome Equity when conditions and circumstances are very different the national PTA which two of our schools are a part of Arbor Springs Elementary and glanton Elementary State the following about following about Equity our mission requires that diversity equity and
041inclusion Dei be Central to our work and use in our day-to-day decisions and actions in the PTA local leadership guidance on Dei and their intermediate stage focused on inclusion in States expect members of dominant groups examples white english-only speaking middle class straight Christian Etc to acknowledge and work to reduce barriers to the success of underrepresented groups and the PTA membership demographics reflect the diversity of the community community served and race ethnicity languages income religion gender identity sexual orientation Etc and on your website for professional learning there are links for the national Staff Development Council and another one that is for standards for professionals both take you to learning forward and speaking about the new standards that replace the 2011 standards the website says when system increase systems increase the stakes for students by demanding High
042Equitable outcomes the stakes for professional learning increase as well learning forward has long position transformational professional learning as a pathway to equity with this planner practitioners at the state and local levels have a framework and Powerful tools to integrate high quality instructional materials and standards-based professional learning to significantly accelerate essential learning outcomes for students this is by Denise Glenn borders the learning forward president and CEO and then in a June 2022 article for teachers it states at a time when it is unpopular to publicly stand up for Equity diversity and inclusion learning forward demonstrated its unwavering commitment to ensure Equitable outcomes for all students by centering equity in its newest iteration of standards for professional learning the standards articulate the foundational truth that Equity is both an outcome and aspect of professional learning together the
043standards challenges to think of professional learning as a vehicle for transformation then it continues and I quote cultural confidence competence requires one to see different and embrace the truth that difference makes a difference when trying to attain excellent educational outcomes for all students engaging in critical self-reflection about one's social identities and its interface in classrooms must become a regular part of Educators practice we recognize that community of practice members needed to First increase their knowledge of themselves and recognize the presence of patterns of privilege and power historical biases and institutional racism within their educational settings we refer this to as the Inside Out approach the equity drivers standard not only challenges Educators to understand their own biases but also clarifies how their own socialization connects to institutional Arrangements of power and privilege that create and
044perpetuate systemic inequities does the school system the board members do the district administrators truly understand what Equity is and how it is being used in the classrooms can you in all honesty tell me that we don't have opportunity to teach CRT when we are focused so much on diversity equity and inclusion even to the extent of directly providing teachers with materials that teach them how to implement in the classrooms allowing two schools to be part of the national PTA following accreditation standards from cognia and this does not include the race equity and Justice action plan committee from November 2019 to May 2020 for which nobody seems to want to provide record records of so thank you and have a great week thank you next we have Jasmine Meehan good evening everybody um I was going
045to talk about cognia this evening and the more I thought about trying to share the information that I believe most parents and Guardians are not familiar with the more I kept thinking about transparency or in our case the lack thereof I would urge parents and Guardians to research cognia and the performance standards that they list on their website considering that our taxpayer money of 82 000 plus uh went to this company over 2020 and 2021. um transparency so I have a very dear friend who at the end of last school year asked to join in on an SEL lesson with her child's classroom at Arbor Springs and she was denied she was informed that observations during guidance time affect students privacy and confidentiality where was the transparency there well part of an SEL class could
046be so confidential for a third grader that a parent is unable to know what was discussed um I've done multiple searches across the County's website for curriculum and you sure don't make it easy I've yet to be able to access any full curriculum information only pieces of and some of the pages when you click the links are lost upon entry or nothing pulls up at all I've heard many stories recently about why families have pulled their children out of our County schools and moved them to a charter private school or as I did we've opted to homeschool it's too bad none of those families will come and speak out about why they left because I've heard a lot of really crazy things but they all have one thing in common and that's trust trust was
047broken somewhere during their children's time within the system so if you still do not understand or recognize that we are all in the middle of a spiritual battle then I can't help but feel sorry for you um a time will come though when we are going to have to pick a side and I believe that time is now um parents are gonna have to wake up and fight this culture of Marxism that is creeping in on us because it is everywhere now I've been making my attempt to share at these meetings that I believe the Marxist agenda is coming um I believe it's here I don't know to what extent it's here but we have absolutely dipped our feet in and it got worse when we accepted federal covid funds and the lack of transparency
048makes it difficult to understand it fully but then again that lack of transparency leads me to believe we are further invested in the destruction of our youth uh more than we imagined we need more Brave parents teachers administrators and even students to stand up for what is right is for what is right and good if we do not uh we are lost if we don't fight for what is good and we are our only hope um who knew that speaking about protecting our children from explicit materials would be so controversial I sure didn't uh what I'm most surprised about is the Silence from the most of you guys um when this obscene uh when these have seen in explicit books were brought to attention most of you denied that we even had an issue um
049I had expected you would all jump to investigate it ask more questions on how these books came to be in our media centers maybe even simply acknowledge the truth of the matter it would have been a better look for you all as a whole but that is not the path you chose we still haven't received any updates on the several books that are currently pending review and if we don't have obscene materials and what are we reviewing um I heard something at a conference recently that I would like to share books not taught not being taught or not banned I would like for you all to think about that statement books not being taught are not banned there's only so much room in a school media center that do not have all the books that
050have ever been written does that mean that all of those books are banned I would say no I would say those books are just not that are all not already in the school media center are not relevant for our youth this is how I would say most parents and Guardians feel about the obscene and explicit books they're not needed in our schools and they're not relevant to our children um are you aware of a Rasmussen report that was published on October 3rd of this year regarding explicit content 69 of the voters believe the books containing explicit sexual depictions of sex acts should not be present in public high school libraries so one would assume if they're not appropriate for high school then they are definitely not appropriate for our middle schoolers and there have been
051a few references here at the Board of Education regarding certain Bible verses and how they're the same if not worse than some of these excerpts that have been read here and shared on social media I read all those verses and they do not compare I find it a silly argument and a last stretch to try and compare the Bible to explicit materials such as tricks by Ellen Hopkins while also making attempting to make a jab at Christians if you are a Christ follower then you should be on the ready we have a lot of work to do and it does not end here at the Board of Education thank you next we have Julia Lugo good evening members of the board superintendent Gordon my name is Delia Lugo I'm a senior at East covida High
052School I've been attending coyote County Schools since fourth grade and I've had a positive experience since my time here the school system has a very diverse community of students and that makes it very easy to find and feel comfortable with a group of people that you feel and connect with it's very easy to fit in but one of my top contributors to my experience is the steps the staff specifically my coaches so I started playing sports through school in seventh grade played basketball at Lee Middle School and now I'm a track runner and I'm a basketball cheerleader at UC they've believed in not just me but all of my teammates and have gotten us to work our hardest none of their coaching has stopped at simply coaching it always carries further my Cheerleading Coach Miss
053LaTasha Washington who was also my food and nutritionist teacher at EC is a prime example of this she's one of the most loving and caring people ever she checks up on me outside of school and she makes sure that I'm doing okay and she also wants me to be the best in the sport that I do she listens whenever I have something to talk about and because of her I feel that I have a trusted adult in the system that I can go to I've seen this quality and a lot of other coaches as well and I'm sure that I can say for a lot of our student athletes in the county that we as student athletes we have our coaches to go to if we need something to talk about so I just want
054to say thank you guys for all of your hard work and the time and effort that you put into approving our coaches and everything and it's greatly appreciated thank you thank you next we have Caleb Mize good evening my name is Caleb Mize I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to you this evening and why I believe the Cowardly County school system is one of the best in the state my granddad has a saying he tells me all the time make a difference today Grim boy so tonight I'm going to tell you why the Coweta County school system has made a difference in my life I'm a senior at the East coward high school and I'm a member of the student ambassador 9sos I play football for the school as
055I am going through my daily routine I counted how many people impacted me during a typical day just on the East Coweta campus from teachers to administrators to coaches and even the ones simply serving my lunch all of them taking time to try and impact us as students in a positive way they make a difference in my life every day and many go unnoticed people are so quick to point out the negative today's world so I just want to take my time tonight and share with you how great our school really is our teachers truly care for us for the time I started in Coweta County School System I've always believed my teachers cared about me and some have literally watched me grow up for example Miss pater was my kindergarten teacher and now she
056is my third block teacher in my senior year so you so you could say that she's been on the bookends to my school years teachers around here are just different yes they teach the material material but they go above and beyond to make classes fun and engaging and make sure we truly understand so we have a solid foundation to move forward but that is not all they are interested in who we are and what is going on in our lives I can't tell you how many times one of my teachers took time out of their day to come watch me play football and were one of the first ones to come up and say good game and let me know how proud they were in me so Noah teacher cares about me as a person
057and wants what is best for me is a good feeling it makes me want to work harder and to do the best I can there are many teachers that after the end of the school day continue to impact Us by spending their time as Club sponsors and coaches because of their time this has allowed students like me to become part of something more something that is bigger than them something they can be proud of like I said I play football for the high school our team motto is I love my teammates if you look at a photo of our team you will notice we are all different we all come from different backgrounds and we have different family structures at home however I love my teammates they are like an extension of my family our
058coaches have taught us to work together and always stick up for one another the season will eventually end and people might not remember the score but they will always remember others character and lessons they have learned from the coaches in this great game some things are bigger than the game of football and I've learned it is more important to support others and make a positive impact and this is all because of the teachers coaches staff of East Coweta and believing in US supporting us encouraging us to be the best and love one another each day like I said earlier my granddad always challenges me to make a difference every day so tonight I wanted to let you know the teachers at East Coweta have made a difference in my life I will go forward each
059day to also try and make a difference in others life lives of others because making a difference each day and just one person's life can change the world so many people believe our teachers and staff are just doing their jobs I believe it is more than that they are making a difference in the lives of each and every one of the students at our school so while I approach the end of my time as a student here at Coweta County School System I know I'm ready for the next chapter in my life I know I can handle the class load of college because my teachers invested in me and prepared me academically for the next level they haven't made a difference in me and I will always be thankful and proud to be a part
060of the EC family and of course I think it would only be right in my time this evening with a quote from our principal if no one has told you today I love you thank you thank you next we have Alan Brady good evening ladies and gentlemen thank you for the opportunity to speak uh as it's been about a year or maybe more since I first appeared before you I thought it was about time to recap what has transpired in the last year and what needs to be done going forward what follows is based on my observations and understanding if there are any areas of fact please educate me as always it's meant to be constructive for nearly a year I and others have pointed out problematical material present in our school libraries in the
061curriculum and ask you is the ultimate authority over the local public schools under the doctrine of local control to please deal with this issue regarding our concerns about divisive materials present in the curriculum there was a huge cry from a number of prominent local individuals that there was no such thing and never will be as I recall there were some similar pronouncements from members of this board there was even a page added to the school system website to rebut any such claims yet within that web page there was clear examples of its presence the state legislature was concerned enough to pass a new law prohibiting it those of us concerned about the issue will continue to be diligent as a fine American from Years Gone by once said trust but verify much more has been
062said about the presence of a relatively handful of literary works with sexually explicit content in the middle and high school libraries there's not appear to be any question that this content were presented to a minor by an adult outside of the school would be grounds for that adult to be criminally charged as I understand it under the former review process one such book has been removed from one Middle School library due to lack of interest in it if there's been more progress on this issue I'd be interested in hearing about it My Hope and I believe the hope of others as well was that once you were informed of the situation you would step up and instruct that these materials be removed from the reach of minors sadly that has not been the case our
063superintendent to his credit has expressed concern about the issue I especially appreciate this comment regarding these materials which as I recall was the question is how did they get in there in the first place I've tried to answer this question in my past comments but I don't want to take up time with that now I believe since this issue has been brought directly to you on a number of occasions and by a number of different people he's waiting on direction from the members of the board I believe one member of the board clearly understands the problem with these materials and we vote to direct removal or at least restriction to access to them where possible to do so another member has expressed concerned about the general degradation of our society's moral fiber but at the
064same time has said there's nothing that can be done with about the problem with the library material since we can't go Banning books as an aside as I've said I don't believe in banning books either but I do think certain things should be kept out of the hands of children one member is not commenting on what I would turn the original list of questionable materials but has come in at length expressing approval in another somewhat less blatantly explicit book that was not in the library but was used as a class reading material I believe that another member may be somewhat conflicted about the issue but is as of now unwilling to comment on it publicly or Express an opinion that is not in line with the vocal supporters of these materials remaining in place I
065hope that changes I also hope that the rest of the board will consider their positions and make them known I hope that their silence means that they may be at least conflicted about this issue as well none of us knows when how and by whom the full and truthful history of this time will be told it appears that the truth of the events of the last couple of years is coming out much faster now I imagine it ever would perhaps it'll be 10 years perhaps 100 or perhaps a thousand but someday what you do here and now will be made known to a much wider audience and just a handful of people who attend these meetings and watch them online I ask each of you to consider as we all must what will my story
066be did I do what was in what was right in the eyes of God even if it was not what some of my contemporaries wanted me to do and even if it risks the wrath of those under the spell of the spirit of the age if so then you will be blessed with the words of our lord well done good and faithful servant if not well at least there's still time to do the right thing the clock is ticking thank you thank you are there any board comments tonight yes Madam chair I I just wanted to say to uh Julia and Caleb thank you all so much you do not have to be here I know you have studying to do um just now really appreciate your comments um it's not always easy but uh
067those comments really made my day I actually really made my you know school year I mean really really appreciate it um Dr Guy to your uh presentation on the graduation rate I mean if that's not why we're here if they're not while we're here then why we're here so just just wanted to say again thank you all so much look forward to visiting y'all when I come to East Highway to send I would also just like to add a big welcome to the ambassadors at EC and it was so sweet that you acknowledged your elementary teacher as well and she did move up with you um and that's that's fabulous and so it's so good for us to hear from you guys because you are the reason we are here and it is our job
068to protect you and that is why we are here and so I'm thankful for you guys you guys are just amazing I love to see you at the school um also to shout out uh when you did say Dr guy about our graduation rate it is it goes back to kindergarten first grade second grade um we have great Elementary School teachers in here tonight Miss Angie Murphy sitting in the back she graduated from high school with me and um she is one of our star teachers very proud to know her and all the hard work that we do K through senior year to increase those graduation rates and that is our goal is to see students succeeding and I thank you guys for being here appreciate that and appreciate those comments I'd like to comment
069and also that our students that are here from East Coweta High thank you so much I really appreciate and and please come back definitely come back we want to hear more from you we'd love to hear from our students but I'd like to go back to the comments that were made by Miss Castro Miss Meehan Mr Brady uh there's a lot of concern going on right now with regard to the changes that are coming through Title IX and DR Horton if we could get an update maybe at the November meeting on the review that is going on with some of the media summer Center material that would be great do you think that would give sufficient time for there to be a an update on that absolutely I'd also like to add a comment to
070the students who spoke EC great for being here and I want to challenge look at the camera Northgate and Noonan students challenge you to to come speak uh at some time uh we'd love to hear from you the the young lady that spoke about her coaches um you know that's great uh I don't want to say that your coach is Not Unusual because every coach in this county is unusual but I see that same loving caring you you said it best it goes beyond just coaching and the young man that spoke uh clubs and and other things um I attendance midi sporting events as I can cram into a calendar uh and I see it from all the coaches at all the sports at all the schools and one final comment on the on the
071graduation rate and uh DR Horton and Miss Dees and everyone put it uh perfectly that it starts in pre-K but you all as students have a role in that too and you may never realize it but the atmosphere at those schools the way you treat your fellow students you never know that back in middle school that that friend that you know was thinking I can't wait till I you know can turn 16 or whatever and and withdraw from school you make a difference too so you know keep it up you're doing great thank you uh um Mr chairman I have I have one thing I wanted to um just give a shout out to Mr Willie Gunn uh it came to my attention that he was the Grand Marshals at the Newton High School homecoming
072parade he's 96 years old he's moved back to Newnan at some point he was a teacher at the old building on Jackson Street we didn't even have was at one time where the Veterans Park is now he started his teaching career there in 1949 he taught for 17 years here and the school system he moved to Newton High on LaGrange Street which is no more either um and I just thought it was um the New York Times Herald in the Saturday October 8th Edition if you want to read his whole story please do because it's an amazing story where he came from what he did and I would just like to thank him I don't know if we'll get back to him maybe I can find a way to contact him just want to thank
073him for what he did for the students that he served in the school system for 17 years and impact he made not only in coyote County but in this region and really in the world he was a World War II veteran um he was in at Okinawa and just an amazing man and just wanted to thank him for all his years of service to our country and this community any other board comments all right is there a motion to approve to enter into executive session to discuss Personnel real estate and potential litigation second of a motion in a second any discussion all in favor motion carries seven to zero we're adjourned