001I'll call to order the Lincoln County Schools Board of Education monthly meeting for Tuesday, February 10th, 2026. If you will join me in a moment of silence. Thank you very much. I want to say thanks to everybody for being here. We have a lot of things to celebrate tonight. So, we will go ahead and get started. Um, if I can have my two Pledge of Allegiance students come up. While they're coming, I will let y'all know that they are from St. James Elementary. They'll come around here. Yay. We have a lot of St. James family in the house tonight. So, we are so excited. All right. So, I'm going to introduce I have Chancellor and he is in the fifth grade. And do you want to let them know um your home room teacher? >>
002Um Miss Batty. >> All right. And what is your favorite subject? >> Probably science. >> All right. That's a solid choice. And then I have Isabelle Kablanc. You are in what grade? >> Second. >> And who's your home room teacher? >> Miss Castillo. >> All right. Well, we really appreciate y'all being here. Um, if y'all will stand and join us in the pledge. And while she's taking their picture, I will tell y'all a little bit more about them. So, Chancellor, he loves sports and in his free time, he loves to hunt and he goes to church. Um he was also one of our student reps that participated in our strategic planning session. So when we roll out our strategic plan uh shortly he he had a part in that. So we love to get our
003student voice um in our big decisions. Um his teacher said that chancellor is truly one of those students that every teacher hopes to have. He is kindness and willingness to help others along with his positive attitude and enthusiasm for learning makes him a bright light in the classroom. and Isabelle, she plays soccer and dance and they go to church and she loves art. Um, her teacher said that Isabelle is a star student and an amazing young lady. She's a strong leader and is always kind to everyone around her. So, let's give them a round of applause for being here. All right. Well, every month we say the mission statement of Lincoln County School is just to reenter us and keep us focused on uh the job at hand and it is on the wall. If
004y'all want to join the board in saying it tonight, that would be great. So, the Lincoln County Schools will work together with students, families, and the community to ensure a quality, innovative educational program in a safe environment where students become responsible, contributing citizens and lifelong learners. Well, um, board members, I will entertain a motion to approve the agenda as presented. >> So, moved. So I have a motion by Miss Wyan. Is there a second? >> I have a second by Miss Long. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Those opposed. Motion is carried. And I will turn it over to Dr. Allen for our superintendent updates. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. A couple of things this month I want to draw everyone's attention to. Um, our school counselor appreciation
005week was last week and we definitely want to recognize um all of our school counselors for the work that they do to help our students and our staff and our communities to thrive um during the school year. February is also um labeled nationally as career and technical education month. And so I've got a few statistics that I want to um just uh give highlights for Lincoln County School CTE department. Uh last year in 2425 we had 2737 credentials earned. that is the 11th highest uh statistic for that in North Carolina by volume. Uh we also had three uh 1382 concentrators. That means those are individual students that concentrated in a pathway and completed it uh through their course of study. And that is over 39 different CTE pathways. We had 150 uh students do a
006job shadow program this past year and 114 internships. And some of the things that are still on the docket to be uh experienced for our CTE programs um in elementary, middle, and high school is the B Pro Be Proud uh traveling uh bus that comes around, our career on wheels opportunities for our fourth and seventh graders at our middle schools, the pink bus tour, manufacturing tours, future ready expo, and our summer camps that will be held at School of Tech in June. We also are um in the midst of Love the Bus Month. So, I want to also take time to appreciate our bus drivers for what they do to be the first um set of eyes and ears and and and greetings in the morning and the last set of um eyes and ears
007and uh in the afternoon when they go home. We also have uh coming up kindergarten registration opens online on February the 18th to register your uh new child into kinder for next year. And then last but not least, we are in the midst of getting ready to experience public school appreciation week. That is February 23rd through the 27th. And that is when North Carolina across the state, all school systems will be encouraged to celebrate the good in public schools. So we will be making sure that we celebrate the good in Lincoln County schools during that last week of February as well. >> Thank you, Dr. Allen. Well, board members, if you'll join me out front of the DAS, we will um have our special presentation and recognitions. Right. Good evening. I have the pleasure to
008introduce the winner of the Daughters of the American Revolution essay contest. This essay was to be written on any patriot from the American Revolution. And our winner from North Lincoln High School, Amy, wrote about Deborah Samson. Her essay won the chapter contest and the district contest and is now being judged at the state level. Would Amy please come forward to accept her award. We will make sure that she gets her award. Next up, we would like to introduce our coalition of churches who will introduce our Martin Luther King essay contest winners. Good evening to the board. We thank you for allowing us to come and to make these presentations uh to those students that have won. The students know that you are to come in the order in which uh you uh spoke for the
009Martin Luther King Awards so that way I will not get your financial gift wrong. Okay. Adelyn Thompson here tonight. Okay. Let's go over here. >> Haley Christopher Christopherson. I got it right. No, stay up there and step up because we're going to take we're going to take a group picture. >> Chloe. Uh, Teter. Uh, Chloe. Chloe T. All right. Clara Green. Lydia Catlin, >> Finley uh Fen Watson. Madlin Salter, Savannah Peterson, Ryan Ingram, This uh ends uh our presentation for that. Mrs. Mrs. Foster, this is her uh brainchild. >> On behalf of the um Coalition of Churches, I'd like to say to the board of education, Mrs. Sutton, Dr. Ally and most of all to the parents. We thank you so much for letting your children be involved in the Martin Luther King Jr. contest.
010Tell others and we look to see you always on the third Monday in January 2027. Thank you. Congratulations. Lincoln. At this time, we are going to recognize our We Are Lincoln winners. Our first is from St. James Elementary School and this is our Kids Hope mentors and mentees with a focus on coaching and growth. And here is what was written about them. The Kids Hope Student Mentor Group at St. James demonstrates an extraordinary commitment to our students through their consistent volunteer efforts. With 21 dedicated volunteers, each mentor spends one hour per week working directly with their assigned student, totaling 21 hours of impactful one-on-one mentoring each week. This does not include the many additional hours these volunteers give on weekends, painting bathroom murals, cleaning the grounds, and completing other projects to enhance the school environment.
011Their dedication both during the week and beyond creates meaningful relationships and a stronger, more vibrant school community. At this time, could we please ask the St. James Kits Hope mentor and mentees to please come forward? Our next we are Lincoln recognition comes from East Lincoln Middle School in Miss Belinda Redern's class, who I just found out won teacher of the year for East Lincoln Middle School. This recognition is in the category of student focused collaboration. in room 416 at East Lincoln Middle School. Not only do we focus on learning academics, but we also believe in building strong functional life skills and most importantly confidence. In room 416, our students work hard, help each other, and we celebrate every success, big or small. Our class has created East Lincoln Middle School's first school-based enterprise that offers
012various services to teachers and staff called Just Winging It. This enterprise provides services such as sharpening pencils, assembling packets, sanitizing desks, checking mail, making deliveries, and much more. Our crew is also in the process of creating a mobile snack cart that will be available to staff to offer convenient, accessible food options during hectic school days and to foster a sense of community by being more visible in hallways and incorporating inclusivity. The just winging it business acts as a practical learning environment that gives our crew hands-on practical learning to teach real world skills in communication, time management, money, leadership, and independence that reinforce classroom learning. Every day is an adventure for us and we appreciate every opportunity to learn, work, and soar with our Falcon family. Miss Redern, would you please bring your class up? And
013our last we are Lincoln recognition of the night comes from East Lincoln High School with the student life lighthouse team focusing on teamwork and culture. The student lighthouse team exemplifies the spirit of we are Lincoln through strong leadership, collaboration and a commitment to student voice. Through their work with Mustang Block, the student-led team re-imagined how success in the classroom is celebrated by intentionally incorporating student choice into the school day. Prior to launching Mustang Block, students reached out to teachers across the building to gather ideas for support. They also hosted a flex fair providing students with opportunities to see what is being offered and to request flex time activities that were not yet available. This inclusive approach ensured that students, staff, and the broader school community had all meaningful input in shaping the experience. Students who
014demonstrate academic responsibility and positive behaviors earn access to a wide range of Mustang Block opportunities, including academic enrichment, extracurricular experiences, and fun community building activities. This initiative has also encouraged staff members to volunteer their time by sponsoring sessions students may not have initially requested, expanding opportunities and strengthening relationships throughout the building. Looking ahead, the student life team is continuing to pursue schoolwide goals. This semester they focused on creating a master calendar of all club activities and facilitating inner club officer meetings to minimize overlap of events and fundraisers. Their work reflects thoughtful planning, collaboration, and a growing focus on systems that benefit the entire school community. The student lighthouse team's efforts serve a powerful example of studentled leadership in action and truly bring the we are Lincoln spirit to life. At this time, we would like
015to recognize East Lincoln High School's student lighthouse team. Got it. You're welcome. At this time, we would like to for you to turn your attention to the television monitors for our senior spotlight who will highlight two students from East Lincoln High School, Mr. Carter King and Miss Abigail Alvarez. My name is Abigail Alvarez and I go to East Lincoln High School. So at East Lincoln, I'm involved in the marching band, the concert bands, I'm involved with middle school bands, and I'm in the beta club and I'm secretary. And then outside of school, I work at sports page. So my favorite memory while being in Lincoln County schools is when we do all district band. We like all the schools come together and then play in just one big ensemble and we get to go to
016clinics all day for like two days and then we have a concert one of the nights and it's just fun to getting to be around everyone. So the most influential people to me during my high school career has been Miss Murdoch who has been an amazing teacher to me and just a mentor all over and Mr. Wallace who's my band director and who has really given me the tools that I needed to succeed past high school and like past normal school. And then Miss Beck, who's been with me since seventh grade, and she's taught me all the way up until my senior year, and she was the one who really taught me a lot this past season. The biggest challenge I faced during high school was learning how and what was important to prioritize like
017with my time cuz I did a lot of extracurriculars like with marching band and stuff like that. And even during the season, I would be taking like these AP classes like AB seminar and AP research and I would have to learn like how am I going to do all my work and still have practice until like 8:30 at night. And so like with the help of my teachers who gave me, you know, plenty of time to do all my work and like would work with me with deadlines and stuff like that if I needed extra time. And then my friends would help me. And then yeah, just the support of everyone around me really helped. So after high school, my plans are to go march DCI, which is basically, in simple terms, professional marching band,
018and I'm doing it with a core called River City Rhythm in Minnesota. So I'll leave like I think 2 weeks after graduation, and then I'll go do that all summer until about the first week of August and then I'll move right into Charlotte after that where I'm going to study music. So, what I really enjoyed about being in Lincoln County Schools for my whole educational career is that it really gave me the tools to be a good leader and to know how to be a good role model for the younger students because being drum major, that's literally all you're supposed to do is set the best example that you can for the entire band. And even like in the school, you're a big role because like you're the one leading the band. You know what
019I mean? And so Lincoln County has provided a bunch of great mentors and teachers. Even since I've been in elementary school, like from Union, elementary to East Lingan High School, I've had great teachers who have been nothing but supportive in my whole journey. Hi, my name is Carter King. I'm a senior at East Lincoln High School. At East Lincoln High School, I am super involved in all different sorts of extracurricular activities. Uh my favorite is prize soccer. I've been on the varsity team for all four years. Ever since my freshman year, it's been awesome. It's been one of the best things that's happened to me for sure. This past year and the year before that, so junior and senior year, I was the captain of the team. So really stepping into the leadership role was
020super super important to be able to help guide and develop our team and to make us into the team that went all the way to the state championship which was super super cool. Other things that I'm involved in in school are National Honor Society, Beta Club, Key Club, FCA, English, Math, Science, and History National Honor Society. And then outside of school, I work at the Whitewater Center. Um I'm also doing an internship this year, which is super super exciting. I'm a raft guide out there. So, every day I get to go in and have a ton of fun guiding all different sorts of people down the river. Um, people from all over the world will come in. Uh, I'll introduce myself, get to know them for a couple minutes, and all of a sudden they
021put all their trust in me, and we hit the rapids, and it's super, super cool. This past year, I got a promotion to become a trip lead, which is super cool. So, at any given day, I am managing up to 150 people and 12 different raft guides. So, constantly paying attention to them is super, super fun. And then this next year, they've offered me the chance to teach guide school. So, really getting into teaching people and sharing my love for rafting and my love for the outdoors, which is super, super exciting. I'm beyond stoked for that. My favorite experience throughout my Lincoln County Schools journey was definitely going to the soccer state championship. Um, it was so much fun. Over the season, me, my team, my coaches, we all worked so hard to get there.
022Um, it was one of the greatest things we've done. You know, the blood, sweat, and the tears that we poured into each game, each practice. Um, it really showed me the value of friends, coaches, relationships. I built so many friendships that I'm going to have forever, so many memories, and it's truly, truly important to me that it was just so much fun. So, more than the achievements of making it there and all the things we got recognized for as a team, it's the friendships that I created, the bonds I built, and the people that I'll have in my life forever is what really makes it special. The individual that has been most influential throughout my Lincoln County career is Mr. Dragoon. Uh, he's been my math teacher since freshman year. I've only had Mr. and
023Mrs. Draon teach me math which has been super great. But throughout my time here at Lincoln, Mr. Dragoon has been a huge mentor to me. Um he's taught me math obviously. He's been super good at it and I've been able to excel all the way to taking AB and BC calculus and AP stat. Um it's been super helpful. I've done really well in all his classes. I love the way he teaches. But beyond that, he's helped me become a better student. He's pushed me to take hard classes, continue to excel, get good grades, and then outside of school, he's the varsity girls soccer coach, but he also really helps with the boys, especially me being at games, being the he's normally the first aid person, but he's always there over my shoulder like Carter, keep
024working hard, keep your head up, um, keep leading these boys, you know, and that's really helped me become a better leader is following his mentorship. And it's really turned me into the captain that I was able to be my junior and senior year, leading the team and helping us get on this great run. um it was everybody, but it was nice to have a small piece of that and he definitely helped me kind of grow my piece of that a little bit, if that makes sense. Other important people in my life throughout my high school career has been my parents. They've been absolutely huge as far as supporting me, teaching me lessons, all different kinds of things. The main things they've taught me are obviously to be kind, um to work hard, excel in everything
025I do. You know, everything I put myself into, I'm gonna want to be the best in. That's kind of the way they raised me raised me. So whether that's soccer, work, school, I'm going to push myself to the fullest extent possible and I'm going to work really, really hard. So that's what they've kind of played a role in for me. And then I wanted to throw in my favorite TV show characters into this one. So my favorite TV show character of all time that's played the biggest role in my life is Ted Lasso. Um, some of his quotes and the way he lives his life is just super huge to me and I want to live my life kind of like him. You know, my favorite quote is be cur be be curious not judgmental.
026So every time I get in a raft with people from all over the world, I try to be curious and say, "Oh, like where are you guys from? I want to learn all about these different people and create new relationships." So that's one of the really really big things. And then the way he believes in his team and believes in himself, that's huge to me. I love that. Um, so Ted Lasso is just a huge figure that really helped me. And then Harvey Spectre is another person, uh, the lawyer from Suits. And he's all about winning and I also like to win. So I know that when I go out in my life, I'm going to win. I'm going to push myself and I'm going to work hard and I'm going to lean on my
027friends and stuff like that and relationships, but I'm going to go out and win. That's for sure. The challenge that I faced over my high school career was definitely my junior year all wrapped up into one. Um throughout that year, I took one high school class and then I took two APs. No, I took five APs and two Gastons. So, I was all in the college classes full in on school. It was really, really crazy trying to maintain all of those different classes. But like I said, I like to do everything as best as possible. So, it's hard to push myself in all of those. But on top of that, I was also involved in all those different clubs I talked about earlier. So, trying to manage those, get service hours was really tough. And
028then on top of that, I played soccer and did white water rapping. So, on the weekends, I would work nineh hour days, go in, rafted all day, have tons of fun, come home, do my homework, and then throughout the week go to school. So, I was go go go for seven days straight. That was the craziest part of my life for sure. But overcoming that um was definitely thanks to all of my friends, teachers, mentors, everybody involved in my life that I was able to lean on for some support. So, Mr. Draon, my parents, all my friends, it was so nice to be able to talk to them after class after our fourth period, Mr. Draon would just stay and chat and we'd talk about all the different things. Um, but being able to lean
029on other people is really what helped me overcome being so overloaded um and working hard. And so, that was huge for me is having all my friends. And the key takeaway that I kind of learned from this struggle throughout my life was relationships are huge. Um, more so than anything that you do, having friends to lean on, having mentors, all that kind of stuff. It's less about the experiences and more about the people you do it with. And that's what really makes the memories. So, those are kind of my main struggles. Yeah. After graduation, I'm planning on attending UNC Chapel Hill right now. Um, I'm hoping to major in accounting and finance. I want to do a double major. So hopefully thanks to all my AP and Gaston courses, I'll be able to double major
030in four years, no problem. But I am super super excited. After that, I'm hoping to go into a career of either managing a sales team or private equity. I think those would be super super fun, especially since throughout the day at work, I'm always managing people and I love being able to be around other co-workers and create relationships and manage people. So I'm really looking forward to doing that. That's what I'm most excited about. Some things I want to share about Lincoln County include how grateful I am for all the opportunities they provided to me. Um, all the AP courses and college courses that have let me excel, all the clubs I get to partake in, the internship chances I get really all shaped me into the leader I want to be. Um, whether that's
031leading the soccer team or leading clubs or helping other people in classes in the really tough classes, we all work together and helping lead groups there. It's really helped me become the leader I want to be and helped me to have the opportunity to get into UNCC Chapel Hill. All the AP classes and college courses have been absolutely huge to being able to open all these different doors for me to go and basically set up the way I can live my life and let me have all those amazing choices. So, Lincoln County has definitely provided me all those opportunities and on top of that, they've provided me so many great relationships. All the friends I've made since fourth grade being in Lincoln County. to all the teachers and counselors I've had that have helped me
032get into college and administrators. Everyone's just been so fun, so nice, and helped me create all these great relationships, which has been absolutely huge to my success. And I'm excited to make Lincoln County proud. >> Carter to come up and get his very welld deserved. Well, thank you to our senior spotlight uh students. Carter, you have no idea that like you have Dr. Allen's complete support because he is a giant Ted Lasso fan as all the staff members up here were laughing and I myself love Harvey Spectre. Just saying. Big Suits fan. So, well board members, we do not have anyone signed up per board protocol to speak to the board. Um, and we do not have a need for close session tonight. So, we are moving into our action items. Um, the administrative staff
033along with representatives from Holland and Hamri and Beam Construction presented uh the board with information regarding the Rock Springs edition at our work session on February 3rd. The proposed drawings and a not to exceed pricing estimate were also provided. At this time, I will entertain a motion to approve the construction drawings for the Rock Springs edition and the not to exceed price estimate submitted by Beam Construction. I have a motion by Mr. Sanders. Is there a second? >> Second. >> I have a second by Mrs. Wyant. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Those opposed. The motion is carried. Board members, we have our consent agenda items. Um, we have the approval of minutes for the board work session January 6, 2026. The special called meeting January 9th, 2026. The
034board meeting January 13, 2026. Our budget amendments as presented. our personnel recommendations, extended field trips curricular, and the board of education meeting calendar. I will entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda items as presented. >> So move. >> I have a motion by Mr. Jenkins. Is there a second? I have a second by Mrs. Wyant. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Those opposed, the motion is carried. Board members, you'll notice we have our combined work session on March the 10th. Uh we start at 1 with our work session and our meeting at 6 PM. Um we have other dates on the calendar for you to review. At this time, I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. I have a motion by Mr. Sanders. Is there a second? >>
035Second by Mrs. Wyatt. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Those opposed. Motion is carried. We are now adjourned.