001flag 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 I'd like to thank everybody for being here today we have a full group representing the school board here today I appreciate everybody coming out to support us Dr Wright we're going to turn the time these first three items on the agenda over to you for these recognitions thank you sir we'll start with a recognition of the BR student of the month and we'll do an order from the Elementary School Mr Grace if you'd like to introduce your student of the month good evening so our student of the month I have our two teachers if y'all want to come up here to introduce your student of the month our student
002of the month for the elementary school is David horn come on in baby [Applause] is a really hard-working kid and he's very kind and sweet and he's one that every teacher wants to have in his class in their class and I have them for Math and he's always positive and happy and I kind of almost told him that he was gonna we're gonna see him later and he said oh not yet he's okay and always helpful with everybody Mr Webb I failed to mention that our plaques were supposed to be done yesterday and then the machine broke so we'll get that black to the young man and the rest of the recipients of all the awards later this week absolutely so David David is very deserving of this award he's probably one of the most
003polite kids in the building he's always happy he's always smiling he's always willing to help with whatever you need and he never talks it's amazing he'll sit there and he'll he won't talk and as soon as you start talking to him it's a full-on conversation which is which is great so very deserving congratulations Dave [Music] [Applause] we call him chip I'm so excited thank you for the Junior High Mr hubmeyer Evelyn Cortez is our student of the month of the junior high this month and she is uh she's part of the student council uh but she is she also is very quiet and she um in fact one of her teachers says she is the sweetest and most unassuming young lady she keeps her head down and works hard she's kind to others she shows
004great attention to detailing her assignments and another teacher said she is so kind thoughtful and respectful she works hard seeks to help wherever she can she is a great example to every Blue Ridge Junior High student just a super young lady so another very deserving student this month I wish she was here to hear all the great praise about her because she's she's just an incredible kid thank you thank you foreign High School you are our student of the month is also not here he's actually in homework with the varsity basketball team so Napa Diaz the high school student of the month and he was recognized nominated by his teachers he was recognized to have somebody who is always kind and has a heart cares for all kids all students and he's wherever he is
005he's he's going to be helping somebody and he was also nominated recently as the rotary student of the month as well so napadi is a great great student to have on campus and he's a great basketball player too so if you want to see some good basketball come out and watch the games he's had several times so far so one of our one of our better players out there so nepadilla thank you Mr Webb [Applause] I watched the ball game and he dunked the ball twice in one game this is exciting to have somebody that can just one step dunk I loved it we have we have two BR star recipients uh this month the first one is Justin Bernardino and we'll have his supervisor come up and talk a little bit about Justin before
006she does that I just want to say that Justin does an outstanding job of keeping all these vehicles running he's the first one to pitch in and help and I appreciate your help Justin foreign he comes in the morning and gets everything turns on for us he watches after our drivers and their needs he makes sure that everyone is there for me so I don't have to get up way early when it snows he comes in starts all the buses to ensure that they all start he volunteers to help anyone he drive when he drives when I need him he is always there he makes sure that all the trip buses are looked over and safe for our drivers he brings fun and laughter when he when we needed the most he always is that
007he is he always is available to take a call and answer all our questions most of all he loves his family and he talks about them often Justin is truly the best mechanic that Blue Ridge has ever had well in the 19 years I've been here he also loves serving others to those who are in need and he's just a fantastic employee thank you [Applause] [Music] I bet it's a challenge to keep those buses running when it's zero or started I should say yeah congratulations that's awesome our next BR star recipient for the month of January is Mr Mark vest [Applause] ions so Mr bastis he's within our social studies department at the high school he teaches AP Gov or AP History and he does governing economics and he does dual enrollment with that as
008well as AP with the government and so our kids are getting a great experience by taking his classes and also coming away with college credits too so we're super grateful having mark on staff and in addition to what he does in the classroom he's also the sponsor for National Honor Society and he helps the kids with their it it really is a kid Mad program but they do depend on Mr best and what he does to help guide them but it's it's great having somebody who's willing to help out volunteer he's also at all of the dances extracurricular activities anytime there's a need for a chaperone Mr vest is there and that's true dedicated Asian when you're there all day with kids at the high school and then you come to the events and you
009don't leave until midnight so it's it's like an on time with Mark so we're truly he really is a be our star and we're grateful for what he does too for Blue Ridge [Applause] thank you Mark appreciate everything you do we should also add that Mr and Mrs vest have a high school student that is a semi-finalist for the road the Merit scholar so exceptional parenting is what we think he'll come on now teachers of the month that's right thank you Dave for the elementary school Mamie Jackson teacher of the month [Applause] so it's hard to find a few just a few things to say about Miami she is one of the uh our third grade teachers which as most of you know is one of the hardest jobs in elementary school is to teach
010third grade she's our third grade team lead she she does a phenomenal job keeping her team on track her classroom kids are up and learning and moving around it's full of Engagement she's everywhere she needs to be she's always helpful and she's a massive asset to our campus we wouldn't be where we're at in third grade without Mimi being there for our kids so uh congratulations [Applause] I think Miss Hoffmeyer did Miss Cortez is she now here okay let's recognize Miss Cortez come on up honey let's let's talk about all that good things now that you're here absolutely so I would love to introduce everybody to Evelyn Cortez she is our Junior High student of the month and so while you're here I just want to tell I'm going to we I'm going to tell
011everybody one more time all the great things about you okay so Evelyn is the sweetest and most unassuming young lady she keeps her head down and works hard she's kind to others she shows great attention to detail in her assignments she is so kind thoughtful and respectful she works hard and seeks to help wherever she can she is just a great example to every Junior High student and a super young lady so she was nominated by a couple different teachers so again congratulations to Evelyn [Applause] thank you our other teacher of the month is Dr Teresa dick I didn't see Teresa here so they're they're actually working on their next project is the footless production so the drama's already in the next phase of what we're doing here at the school and it's one of
012the reasons that we're recognizing Dr D is because she's so involved with in so many different aspects at the school so we're grateful for what she does with the orchestra class the choir classes the different groups that she works with there and then also our drama production those of you that were able to come and see chip and and Bell and the last production that they did was amazing and we were waiting for great things with this next production so we're super grateful for Dr D and all the talent that she brings the patience and the long long hours that she dedicates to Blue Ridge so she's well deserving as staff of the month foreign think she's special because she's a Buffalo Bills fan of avid Buffalo Bills fan you don't want to cross her
013on that okay the next item on the agenda is item 1.1 and this is to organize the board with the president vice president and a secretary um this is open for discussion open for a nomination or whatever you know I been doing this for the last couple years you nominate Dave is there not going to be any discussion is there no other nominations no that's okay we can get over tonight so we have a nomination by Diana and as second by Chuck all in favor looks like we're here yeah I think that's it they don't want me they just don't want to do it themselves okay I I am I'm I'm going to nominate Chuck walaldo for vice president any discussion on that he said don't leave it though I have a second from Jennifer
014all in favor all right then we have a secretary we need to uh nominate a secretary who would well we've we've always acted as Mary never mind she's she's a paid employee she's going to stay when we're gone so yeah we appreciate Mary Mary keeps things running and uh keeps me online and going in the right direction I appreciate her and everything she does and in her willingness you know I drive by here eight o'clock nine o'clock at night and her car is still here or I'll come in on set I'll drive by on Saturday or Sunday evening and her car is here and I'm thinking Mary you gotta get a life you can't work here all the time or you look at the time of Texas and you know yeah right and she yeah
015that's right 5 30 in the morning thanks all right next item on the agenda then would be um item 1.2 resolution authorizing the approval and execution of funding proposals grants special projects vouchers warrant salaries and other expenses be signed between board members Dr Wright or yes sir Kimberly would you like to this is a an annual request that the administration makes the timing of the business doesn't flow in in alignment with the calendar and there are times where we have to approve business then go back and have the board approve it and so this is the same thing we've been doing for years it's an annual requirement so we'd ask that you would enable us to continue to conduct business between board meetings essentially are there any questions or comments on that I move we
016accept item with 1.1 as presented a second 1.2 I'm sorry item 1.2 I have a second from Margaret all in favor that would be unanimous okay item 1.3 yes this is uh conflicts of interest Dr Wright yes if anyone that has a potential conflict of interest can just submit it in writing to Mary that's all that's required if you're not sure go ahead and note it and send it to Mary so that's that's all that's needed a paper inside yep Mary will send you a form complete the form just list any and all and any potential conflicts and then as you know and have done in the past if an issue arises in any of those areas you don't participate you recuse yourself and we're good so Mary we'll get those to you before the
017next board meeting right we'll say this week thank you Mary okay there's nothing to vote on that we just need to make sure we take care of that I had one point for you a directive to of annual investment reinvestment in all monies within the school district service funds uh who would like to explain that for everyone why don't you handle that there you go for his office they're essentially our bank and then the treasurer's office invests their money um as they invest all the county money and this is just a redo that it's an annual thing just say that they're that they're gonna um have our money yes and without that authorization we can't invest it so we need the authorization for Kimberly and I to be able to invest money that so can
018accrue interest so it's just a authorization for you specifically in Kimberly specifically yes sir okay okay we have a second Move Motion by Diana second by Margaret all in favor also unanimous okay 1.5 governing board delegation of purchasing Authority this would be an IGA this is a another annual requirement in order for us to move and do business according to board policy we're able to a certain limit purchase items for school use and so as required is by this code the board has to prove that every year and designate specifically for this purpose only Kimberly and myself uh would be able to to make those purchases what we seek annual board authorization do you have anything to add Kimberly to that no it's just an annual requirement January business so any questions or comments about
019that not can we have a motion for item 1.5 as as indicated in the agenda have a motion from Chuck I'll second that all in favor that also is unanimous okay item 1.6 establishing meeting dates for the next uh 12 months after looking these dates over are there any conflicts that we might need to move just the only one I had Mr President is uh October 10th the last last day of the fall break and so we would respectfully request the meeting be moved to October 17th what's up we need to do it before we're having some conversation from the junior senator from Wyoming she reminded me the AFR has to be done by the 15th by the 15th of October this would um we didn't move this up a week or we could do
020it even like the 11th 12th um Wednesday or Thursday of that week when we return okay we could do the administration do that if it's acceptable to the board October 12th thank you Kimberly good catch and that way we don't have to change it in September because I think we had to move it three times last year because of me [Music] the regular basis no ma'am we could do the management were open during the first week of October if it works for the board in this month we could do that if it helps you Margaret the closest to the 15th the better it doesn't work for Kimberly that's a nice way of saying it thank you okay do you want us to have the media on the paper no we can um we will keep
021that on the 12th I just noticed that the February meeting is scheduled on Valentine's Day I don't know if that's I was doing that to save me from having to take them away from dinner chick now our cat's out of the bag so February we need to move that what date should we move that too we could do it the Thursday if you'd like the 16th I mean look at that is that the same day no the town meetings are the first and the third right or they're the second floor anyone else have a conflict so what what day should we move February meeting to the 16th got a Thursday the 16th pull your mind down I can I can't even hear and I'm 16th 16th because we care about Dr Wright taking his wife
022out to dinner for the Valentine's Day just wait she'll have a concert or something you'll have to go too I'm okay I'm okay with that February 16th 15th 16. so we have revisions to from February 14th to February 16th and we have October 10th to October 12th are there any other other conflicts if not should we vote on this calendar I have a motion by check second by Diana all in favor okay I was just thinking now it's up to Mary to make sure we get we we're there thank you again Mary all right next item on the agenda is the consent agenda are there any items after looking over the consent agenda that members of the board might want to take out and vote on separately consent agenda just for information is about payroll
023vouchers about personnel resignations hirings District I mean travel outside the district anything anybody would like to so we have a motion to accept the voucher items 2.3 I mean 2.0 basically 2.1 through 2.65 yeah you have a motion by Margaret hold on just a second we're still in discussion did you want to take out Personnel I didn't know if anybody yeah we don't have any all right okay okay so we have a motion for a Margaret a second by Chuck all in favor okay item 3.0 um this item 3.1 is a recommendation to approve the sex education curriculum the superintendent requests that the governing board approve the sex education curriculum program choosing the best way grades 6 through 12 beginning school year 23-24. Dr Wright do you want to explain that yes sir after listening
024to the public feedback and taking into account the administration's perspective the choosing the best way is the abstinence approach and we felt this better fit perhaps for our community and again this is an opt-in if parents don't want their children taking any of it they don't have to they have to opt in meaning they must have permission prior and those that do not want to opt in will have next fall when this is initiated they'll have an alternative activity so that's the uh that's the request of the of the administration is to choose that program and will you seek board approval just my own question for information this was a program supported by Navajo County no sir that was a comprehensive one that's one comprehensive and we did not want a comprehensive program the administration
025felt that the the choosing the best way was sort of a middle ground and it was based more in abstinence and a slight I guess that was slightly favorable in the eyes of the public and all things considered that's our recommendation any questions or comments board all right so we have a motion to accept item 3.1 a motion from Chuck second from Diana all in favor at B unanimous okay item 3.2 recommendation to approve the IGA intergovernmental agreement [Music] from transit for transition from school to work this is with the the Department of Economic Security yes sir this is led by Mr Schimmel we've had this in place for several years and we're finding very good we have good results with it um this is Greg chimore this is Greg schimel yep he runs a
026program help getting kids transfer our transition from high school to work it's within our exceptional needs student population and we've had pretty good success with it and so it's our hope that we can continue on with board approval for this program can you go over the funding for this oops sorry can you review the funding yes um there's a um Grant through transition to work from Department of Economic Security that's part of what this agreement is about um and they fund that program does this part of Mr schimmel's salary come from that yes okay any other questions we have a motion then to accept item 3.2 a motion from Diana second for Margaret all in favor that against unanimous okay item 3.3 we have a superintendent's report Dr righty yes sir ready to talk to
027us for the next two hours yes sir there are good things that are happening a couple of cod Hot Topics or all the water breaks that you have water breaks so a couple of as a matter of announcement and just just to remind the community we have had a lot a significant number of trees taken out throughout the property at the as part of the forests the fire department's attempt to reduce forest fires and so part of that program is a fire chief will come in with their crew and these are the folks that are expert in how to reduce the spread of fire in the in the event that they it occurs they also will remove trees that have Beetle bark beetles and so all of that has been done it wasn't just something
028we decided to do for Aesthetics it was to preserve the forest and to keep it healthy and to follow the fire department's Direction on how to how to keep us safe so that that's one the next is we had a main water line we've had two leaks in 30 days the second one was most recently at the high school here and that was repaired and restored fairly quickly we had a sprinkler on a riser that is part of the fire suppression system at the elementary school that had a significant leak so we had to send our elementary kids home early today thankful with the help of thankfully the help of Transportation Administration we got the word out we got the kids home safely we're working on getting that fixer has it been repaired already Roger
029it's done and ready to go okay you have this very quick and so the we're working to get both of those items well both of those have been fixed I will say the focus here at the high school we can anticipate because of the infrastructure is 55 60 years old brez was more of a surprise because that's only a 15 year old facility we don't anticipate any more of those but when they come our rationale as this is we we must do what the fire department asks us to do in terms of safety and we always try to give parents as much lead time as is possible and so we understand the need to have those youngsters supervised and I come in the administration and also Roger and his team and working so fast and
030to get that corrected are there any questions on the two leaks especially that we had or any concern to that it was that it was in the it manifests itself I think in the playground area but Mr Grace has the location of the Riser and can talk about that it was a subsurface leak it started leaking underneath the ground and started pushing water out into the playground and what it was it was the line that runs into the Riser room that feeds our fire suppression system and so we had to cut the water to the fire suppression system in order to dig it up and find the leak so as soon as we got everybody off campus we were able to cut a water to it they dug it up found the leak and were
031able to start the repair on it and it turned out to be corroded bolts that were holding down uh a flange so those have been replaced and we're good to go I have a question about uh funding for take care of the repairs can we ask the state for reimbursements in this in that regard and for the regard of the the uh well our our infrastructure for plumbing is probably the old galvanized pipe that's going to be splitting for the next until it's all replaced is there any way we can Lobby them to get Monies to do that we have part we have a large project the last time we had it bid was is a dated bit of probably four years was 2.3 so we probably have an excess of four or five million
032dollars of problems that we have with the river that comes in front of the high school when it floods during the monsoon there's a lot Mr Walters informed me of all the wiring and the hodgepodge of stuff that is underneath that parking lot in this case is there for the fire Riser is there a building emergency Grant basis do we get any support with that or is that just a straight m o repair Roger okay and if we had damage we do have insurance as far as an infrastructure thing we'd have to have a bond or some other funds in order to redo that type of instructure I don't I don't think the state would do that however I will say this I will add this caveat with the new governor governor Hobbs there has
033been talk of significantly increasing the grants received to maintain our facilities recognizing we're receiving a fraction of what's needed we have approximately 000 square feet and we have about eight hundred thousand dollars to do that to maintain all of that plus by buses books computers all of those things it's it's a it's about a tenth of what we need but hopefully we're going to see some of that restored back the capital renewal the capital lawsuit that was initiated by Glendale which Blue Ridge was a part of in terms of witnessing on behalf of the percentage is that the one you have to testify if it goes to court that was when I scheduled testify was canceled and so the governor stepped in and said we have a new attorney general a new governor because of
034new Administration the court agreed to cancel that trial and so now the the state's back with uh is going to negotiate with the plaintiffs essentially all of the districts are going to be will benefit from that Glendale led the charge on that so A Long Way of explaining I think we're going to see some of that Capital funding come back and I do believe the new governor will keep the uh State Facility boards feed on the fire to get things to get things done and also the legislature to fund it because it doesn't matter how hard you push the sfb if the funds are inadequate to make the changes you know it's meaningless so I think a combination of those two over the next year and a half I think we'll see some relief generally
035we were fortunate to have had our school buses purchased in 2017 and the downside was the 17 that we purchased are all in the same year we will need some new buses and frankly we'll have to look at is 2023 at some time something that the board would be wanting to and open to looking at and override and 23 of some amount and some percentage we'll need to look at it I guess my early advice would be let's see what the new Administration does try to understand our resources first and then take it from there the uh along any other questions on facilities before I move on to another topic the discipline and we've had some issues at the high school the last 60 days we've been working on and they'll be assembly this Friday
036addressing bullying and attention when there are fights that breaking out kids are videoing it and the students need to understand everybody around that fight contributing to it will be held accountable and we're working hard to also Implement those programs that are already in place to enforce what's in place to make sure that we have a safe environment for all students we continue to crack down on vaping and marijuana we've had three expulsions this month because of it and we'll continue to Monitor and manage that closely and we we don't have a tolerance for that and we'll continue to take the appropriate action when encountered when students are just using the vaping that's an ongoing issue with every school our Administration is working hard to try to manage that and we're certainly not looking the other
037way any questions on those issues the VR Hall of achievement and we're going to launch very shortly it may have already launched in social media I haven't looked at I need to talk to Paul I'll get him on the counter this week but Our intention is to look back until 1963 forward and start recognizing be our graduates that have made exceptional contributions to their Community the state and the country we have a lot of them to be our family his wide and Broad I went to Switzerland around somebody that's a blue Hertz graduate so it's kind of cool I've got went to Hawaii and ran into the guy eggy was the kid's name and kid to me he's probably 35 running the boat he graduated from here so our our reach is is wide and
038we have a lot of incredible stories to tell we're going to try to do a better job at doing that in the upcoming year we'll start with a certain number and we'll continue on every year we also are going to have a recognition for the substitutes and volunteers we're going to have a lunch in the spring to recognize them and bring him in and thank them for the hard work that they're doing volunteers and substitute keep us keep everything rolling and we want to make sure that they feel valued and that we understand their contributions are important I don't have any anything else to share with the board unless there are any questions I can answer in these areas okay just just to thank you I know you're running 28 000 miles an hour some
039days and appreciate that and I'll let you do appreciate everybody in what you do the entire staff here and administration it's uh we wouldn't function without you and you're the top of the line appreciate everything that you do it's great okay next thing is item 3.4 a call to the public we'd invite individuals that would like to address the board to do that right now we'd ask you to limit your comments to about three minutes we'd like you to come to the pulpit state your name and given your address to Mrs Ford and uh just note that you can't see see that to anybody else but I appreciate hearing from you let you just adopted one thing it can I get an idea of how many kids are in your District how many students are
040in the district about 1750. [Music] and at the high school level it's roughly 700. what about the junior eye junior high is about roughly 300 280 300. okay okay short this week I know he's a very valuable I am very disappointed that you guys did go ahead and um sign into and approve and vote on the curriculum and the reason is is because you're talking almost a thousand students with Junior High in high school because this is the the grades it would be 6th through 12th grade again I went to almost every single one of those meetings that you had for families and stakeholders so about 50 to maybe 100 people kind of participated in those meetings and hearings and stuff and it's just sad because it's a thousand students but with only 50 people
041of feedback you guys went ahead and decided to go ahead and vote in it so that to me makes it very disappointing because the one thing is again I know it's an opt-in I get that but the whole thing is I think Maury should empower the parents and had a workshop for parents because if the parents are the ones that want their kids to have a sex education then they should be here to go ahead and learn a little bit more about it instead of teaching the kids to teach the parent so thank you you guys have a good night thanks thank you um [Music] next item on the agenda is uh it's an item that probably is best discussed in an executive session we have a motion to go into executive motion from Chuck
042second from Diana all in favor all right we will adjourn now and go into an executive session which is private to discuss this matter and we'll be meeting in that room right back there when that is over we'll vote to leave executive session we'll come back in here to make the rest