001Good evening. I'll call to order the Lincoln County Schools Board of Education monthly meeting for Tuesday, April 8th, 2025. All right. So, if you will join me in a moment of silence. Thank you very much. I appreciate you all being here tonight. Um, we have a packed house, lots of recognitions, a lot of really great things going on here at Lincoln County Schools. So, we're going to go ahead and start our meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance. I have some really, really special guests here with us tonight. I don't know that we've ever had this happen, but we have four siblings. Um, two from Pumpkin Center Intermediate and two from Pumpkin Center Primary. And I never do this, like I never read straight off the paper, but I'm always given a sheet that describes our
002kiddos. And their description was so sweet. I'm going to read it. Um, so we have Miss Nelly. Will you stand up for me? All right. So, this is Miss Nelly St. Jean. and she is in the fifth grade and she loves playing volleyball, listening to music and learning all the words to the songs to sing along. Adventure is in her DNA and she would ride the tallest roller coaster with her big brother any day of the week. Um her favorite subject is social studies and what is your favorite color? She said it's green. So she is here um as one of the oldest siblings, but y'all have how many other siblings? How many of How many of the y'all are there? There's nine total. See, as a parent, we're all like, "Yeah." Is that mom?
003Are you mom? I love that. Thank you for being here, Mom. All right. So, up next, we have Elvis. This is Elvis San. And he is in the fourth grade. He loves life and smiling non-stop. He plays soccer. He jumps on the trampoline. and he loves any other activity that keeps him busy. He's the biggest animal lover and nurturer and has the bigger has a heart bigger than humanly possible. His favorite subject is math. He loves math and his favorite color is blue. Up next we have Winnie. Can you stand up Miss Winnie? Love that. So this is Miss Winnie St. Jean. She's in first grade and she loves playing volleyball like her big sisters, reading anything her eyes come across, playing with her siblings, and doing anything that involves art. Her favorite subject is
004what's her favorite subject? Art. She loves art. And her favorite color is orange. So, up next we have Skipper. This is Miss Skipper. And she is in prek in Miss Gates room. and she loves being the center of attention as the youngest of nine. She um so every dog she's ever seen and she loves playing outside coloring with Winnie and she loves to snuggle. I love that she loves listening to music and books and making people smile. Her favorite thing to learn about is science. And what's your favorite color, Miss Cooper? Green. That's so sweet. So, if y'all will join me in standing up for the pledge of allegiance. Let's give them a big round of applause. Okay, so up next we have our Lincoln County Schools mission statement. I'm actually going to pass it
005off to Mr. Kevin Sanders. He's going to lead us in the mission statement this month. All right, feel free to come along with me on this. It is on the wall. 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. Thank you, Kevin. I will entertain a motion to approve the agenda as presented. I move that we approve the agenda. I have a motion by Miss Heavner. Is there a second? Second by Miss Flung. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Those opposed. We have an agenda. I will turn it over to Dr. Allen to provide us with some um superintendent updates and information items. Thank you, Miss
006Sutton. So, um our audience in the crowd tonight, a couple of things I want to take time to brag about. Um that's going on in Lincoln County Schools since our last board meeting. This week has uh been defined as bring your legislator to school week from uh the ideas of Raleigh coming to the school systems. This week we were able to host Representative Heather Ryan um and she visited GE Massie and School of Tech. Always appreciate the opportunity to uh to showcase the work that our kids are doing and um opportunities to to speak, ways that she can advocate for us in Raleigh. This is also assistant principal appreciation week across North Carolina. We want to recognize our 33 assistant principles and deans that do the job each day to make sure our schools are
007safe and our kids are where they need to be and have what they need. Also want to recognize tonight's Miss Clancy's first official night in our board meeting as our director of communications and and director of media. So glad she's here tonight. I'm sure Miss Dinger is retire uh enjoying her retirement somewhere sunny right now. But glad Shanti's in this role. Um, next week for all those need to know, um, our art show begins at our Lincoln Cultural Center. Um, it will run from the 14th through May the 2nd. Stop by the cultural center to check out all of our all of our kiddos artwork in and middle, elementary, and in high school. I'm also want to take time to recognize, look out for some social media postings going up um after spring break. will
008be highlighting our of the year top three um winners or uh top three nominees in all of our nine categories and we will recognize our uh winners of our those categories the week of May the 5th that is teacher appreciation week. Want to recognize too our LinkedIn high school uh quiz bowl team. They won our county competition last week and uh and definitely showed off their their their um their IQ and their brain skills um in in that competition. And last two things I want to recognize uh one selfless teacher, Lonnie Kuster. If you've seen the headlines, if you haven't, check out WCNC, which is TV36. They did a story about Lonnie. He was recognized as the hometown hero through the Hyundai car program, and they surprised him at North Lincoln last week with a
009brand new car. And so he had somebody nominate him, people voted, and you get the idea. He won. And so that's a really big deal. And Lonnie Kuster has is definitely a valued employee for Lincoln County. And then last but not least, I want to recognize the kiddos at Battleground Elementary. They did a loving Lincoln County project this year and they raised over $13,000 for our Lincoln County YMCA and they presented that check last week to help with offsetting summer camp cost and after school cost for kiddos that need to go um to the YMCA. That's all of our updates, Madam Chair. Thank you, Dr. Allen. So, we're going to go ahead and start with our special presentations and recognitions. Um, I know last month I had said that um I was passing this off
010our senior spotlights, Miss Heavner, but um I have a special connection to two of our to our two senior spotlights uh this this month. So, I'm actually going to ask Julius Lane and Zoe Taylor to meet me up at the microphone. Zoe's freaking out a little bit about her picture right now. She feels that's not representative of her at this current date. Okay. All right. Right. So, I'm going to stand in between y'all and I'm going to hand this off to Julius. So, this is Julius Lane and he is a senior at Asbury Academy and um this is Miss Zoe. And so, I want y'all to hear a little bit about them and a little bit about their story. So, um Julius, tell the board about some of the things that you're involved in at
011Asbury. Um, I'm in the leadership team and that's basically where we just try to do things around the school that the kids want done that are reasonable. Okay. I like that. It's kind of like being a board member. Okay. So, Miss Zoe, tell me about your favorite memory um while at Asbury or with Lincoln County Schools. Um it's definitely when we went out we went and we like painted around and it was for um what was it? Miss McKe did it. Oh y'all went to um up to I want to say the Hess house. Yeah. We went and we painted for the homeless and it definitely helps. I mean it was I mean it was getting out of class so it was kind of easier and I was like I'll go off course. But you
012took one for the team. It was definitely my favorite part. Okay. So tell me about a challenge that you faced. Um, I've always challenged to want to be in school, but definitely Asbury helped. I did drop out and then I found them and then I reenrolled and I went back to Asbury. But I definitely think it helps. It's less people. It's less stressful and they're very communicative. So, it's definitely helpful to talk to people and there's a lot of teachers around. How do you feel about the staff at Aspberry Julius? Do you have a favorite? Uh, no favorites, but they're I like the staff a lot. They're all very nice and understanding. So, tell me about a challenge that you faced. Uh, getting to school. Going to school. Attendance. Attendance. Yes. Yeah. It's a struggle.
013Um, so tell me about someone that has been super helpful or had a big impact in your time here at Lincoln County Schools. Uh, my teacher or my principal, Miss Elely. She she's the one who introduced going to Asbury to let me graduate on time because of my absences. So yeah, that's awesome. What about you, Miss Zoe, who has made a difference? Um, it would definitely be Miss Gates. Um, so tell them who Miss Gates is. Miss Gates is our social worker at Asbury. She's definitely very helpful. I see her at my job and that's when I came back. I was failing because of attendance, but it definitely helps when they have you there and they make sure to communicate that if you don't go, they're just going to keep pushing it and pushing it
014and pushing it, so it doesn't matter. So, you're going to be there. It's small so you don't get lost in the crowd. Yeah, it's definitely helpful. And at Lincoln High School, Mr. McKe was very helpful. Um, the class was always a great class, great community, and I feel like I learned a lot. That's great. So, you mentioned your job. Where do you work? I work at Chick-fil-A. Yeah. Okay. So tell them what you got today. What was your win for the day? I got a scholarship. Um it's for this semester. It pays it and then I can go for another one next semester through Chick-fil-A. So tell everybody what your plan is after high school. My plan is to find a college that will that has a heavy machine operator course and take it and
015do something in that field. Maybe even work for the state or the county. I like that. All right. I know we have one of our county commissioners in the room. So, right here's your future employee. All right. So, tell me your plans after high school. Um, I definitely just want to go through college and I want to try to get through it and then I want to go for nutrition. I like that. That's a great plan. We are so proud of you, both of you. I'm proud of you, Zoe, for coming back. So, I met Zoe about three years ago, and she is full of personality, and she is the most honest child I've ever seen in my entire life. She'll tell you how it is and doesn't even care. And I I really have
016always been super impressed by that. And I was so excited that you decided to come back because it takes so much courage after you've after you've dropped out of school. It takes a lot of courage to come back and you were so close and so I'm so excited to see all the great things that both of you going to do. Julius, you have lots of names at Asbury. Everything from King Julian to Jesus because y'all didn't know it, but he used to have about seven more inches of hair. So, we Yes. As you can see as you can see in the pictures. So, I am so proud of you both and I know Asberry is so proud of you. So, we um can't wait to see what great things you do. All right, let's give
017them a hand, y'all. So, board members, if you'll join me around front. [Applause] So, I have the privilege tonight of acknowledging our students and staff that are being recognized for being leaders within Lincoln County. And this is called the Lincoln Leads portion. So, we're going to start with Pumpkin Center Primary and ask for Miss Emily Costa, their guidance counselor, to come up. So, Miss Costa is being recognized for her hard work and achievement of receiving the RAMP designation, and this stands for recognized ASA model program for Pumpkin Center Primary. This designation recognizes schools committed to delivering a datainformed school counseling program in accordance with the ASKA national model, a framework for school counseling programs. And something really interesting is that Miss Costa is the first guidance counselor in Lincoln County schools to receive this designation
018for her school. So, we are very proud of her and the PCPS RAMP team for this wonderful achievement. [Applause] Okay, next up is Pumpkin Center Intermediate and this is a student, Miss Rachel Britt, who is in fifth grade. Rachel, according to her principal, defines leadership inside and outside the classroom. For the last year, along with the support of her parents, Rachel has researched and presented to the administration the need for the increase of availability for recycling for students and staff. She works with her dad to ensure that the containers get emptied so that her efforts of recycling can continue with the staff. She's bright and determined and that makes her principal very proud. [Applause] For Asbury Academy, we have a teacher and a student. We have Miss Kathy Cook, who is an ELA teacher, and
019Logan Robbins, who is an 11th grade student. So, Asbury Academy embraces the spirit of Lincoln leads, and tonight we're celebrating two individuals who have demonstrated what it truly means to lead at Asbury. Miss Kathy Cook, a dedicated ELA teacher, and Logan Robbins, an exceptional 11th grade student, took the initiative to pursue North Carolina Purple Star designation for Asbury, ensuring their commitment to supporting military connected students and families. When Miss Cook faced a serious injury and had to take medical leave, Logan didn't hesitate. He put first things first and stayed focused on the goal. While Miss Cook continued to offer guidance through email, it was Logan who took full responsibility, completely submitting the final application. Because of their leadership and perseverance, Asbury Academy is now proudly recognized as a Purple Star School. Their dedication embodies the
020Lincoln Lead's mission, showing that when challenges arise, Asbury leads with commitment, resilience, and a determination to see things through. Please join us in honoring Miss Kathy Cook and Logan Robbins for their outstanding leadership and achievement. Hey, good evening. The North Carolina Association for Middle Education is a state level professional organization that is dedicated specifically to supporting middle level educators in North Carolina, which also includes a state level awards process. At the 2025 conference in Charlotte last month, Miss Maddie Reid from Lincoln Middle School was recognized as the beginning beginning teacher to watch after multiple nominations from across the state were reviewed. So, this is not just by region, it's across the whole state. And so, I'm going to recognize Miss Maddie [Applause] Reid. I happen to know Miss Reed actually received multiple nominations from Lincoln
021County Schools, well respected by her colleagues. And in those nomination um essays, her sense of urgency and ability to read her middle school students was absolutely highlighted, as well as a a classroom culture of respect and care where she encourages high expectations as well as balancing that with student ownership and not only the of those high expectations that she has, but also that they should have of themselves. And remember, Maddie is only a BT. How many years, Maddie? two second year BT. So absolutely exciting and I have no doubt that she will be a future teacher leader for Lincoln County Schools. [Applause] Good evening. I would like to uh ask Heather Spicola to come forward. And we would like to recognize Heather. She is a ESL teacher at Lincoln Middle School and this is her
022first year as an ESL teacher. Um and she has been accepted into the Fullbrite Hayes Project in Wajaka. Did I say that right? Mexico. I've been practicing. It's not spelled that way. This project focuses on developing K12 educators understanding of diverse language and literacy practices. Miss Pakola will be in Waka from June 28 to August 3rd, so six weeks or so, uh, for the summer studying Spanish and working on projects to enhance her teaching. So, congratulations to Heather Spicola. [Applause] Next, we have some very exciting announcements for our Battle of the Books teams or some recognitions and announcements. Um, I'm going to start by asking Union Elementary's Battle of the Books team to come forward. This Battle of the Books team is sponsored by Miss Tammy Allen, Miss Anne Dixon, and Miss Katie Lynch. And
023the students are Darcy Brewster, Addison Christophersonen, Emma Collins, Clint Delinger, Addison Hefner, Faith Hy, Gunner Hull, Olivia Jenkins, Luke Kester, Josh Propes, Lacy Wilson, and Lane Wilson. And this is their second year in a row winning the district competition. And the exciting news is that they just competed in the regionals on a on April 7th and they won third place. [Applause] One at a time. And now I'd like to welcome North Lincoln Middle School's Battle of the Books [Applause] team. North Lincoln Middle's team is sponsored by Annette Heavner, Don Reese, and Jenny Lewis. And the members of the team are Abigail Alvarez, Haley Baker, Charize Caldwell, Elise Kavanaaugh, Jonathan Croll, Morgan Lawing, McKenzie Lewis, Abby Linberger, Hi Matheni, Sarah Beth Puit, Anna Schmi, and Owen Wilkinson. So all of these team members have read all
02420 books with students becoming experts on selections of books by reading them more than three times. So that must be working. They have worked hard as a team and made lasting friendships. They are going to compete in the regional competition this Thursday, April 10th, and we wish them the best of luck. Okay. Next, we'd like to welcome up West Lincoln High School's Battle of the Books team. This team is sponsored by Tam Tammy Johnson and Hannah McKe. And the students that are on the team are Monica Monica Adane, Magalie Duran, Lily Henson, Melissa Nava Tjo, Reese Richard, Saraphina Shut, and Jaseline Walker. Within the past eight years of the competition, West Lincoln won seven of the eight in the district competition. So, they are strong readers. Um, they did compete in the regionals on April
0251st, and Miss Johnson wants them to know how proud she is of how hard they worked. [Applause] Next, we would like to invite members of the Sunrise Resource Center to the front. So, Sunrise Outreach through the Sunrise Resource Center provides free and vital support for moms, kids, and families in the Sunrise community. Currently, there's 50 students in second grade and higher, 17 students in kindergarten and first grade, 22 infants and preschoolers, and more than 25 moms being served by this program. Their goal is to offer programs that help our students succeed from early literacy to elementary and middle school tutoring and even support for parents through classes and resources. This work's so important because access to quality education is key to overcoming poverty and creating bright futures for our students. The program is seeing real
026progress with students and tutoring programs showing significant growth in reading and math. By building relationships and providing consistent support, Sunrise Outreach is investing in our community's well-being and educational access. All right. Now, we we will have sports recognitions. First up, um Jackson Dollar. He is here. I saw him. There he is. All right. The Jackson dollar made the North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association all district first team. District 10 is made up of Gaston, Cleveland, Kataba, Lincoln, Burke, Rutherford, and McDow counties. Jackson uh led the team with with 20 wins this season and he averaged 15.8 points a game, 7.8 rebounds, 6.1 assists, three steals, and two block shots per game. He had over 65 dunks on the season. And so he is a tremendous athlete who's being heavily recruited in major college level in both
027basketball and football. So congratulations Jackson for such a great career. [Applause] together. Okay, that's fine. Okay, thanks, Jackson. I just want to make sure we got the picture. We got Jackson, come back. [Laughter] All right, next. Sorry, Jackson. Next is Emma Moneri. Emma is a as a guard at East Lincoln High School. She averaged 18 points a game, 6 point rebounds a game, 4.1 assists per game, and 4.6 six steals with two block shots a game. She was named the 2025 3A Western Foothills Player of the Year. She's been first team all district twice the last two years. She recorded her thousandth point on December the 6th and recorded her 500th rebound on February the 18th. She has collected so far four division one offers in in college basketball. uh just recently College of Charleston
028uh University of North Carolina Wilmington Lasowl and Stson. Congratulations, Emma. [Applause] That goes the team. And then next one. All right. Next, I'd like to welcome up the uh Lincolnington High School basketball team. [Applause] Okay. The Lincoln Wolves men's basketball team had a remarkable 2024 2025 season, finishing with an impressive record of 24-6 and 12-2 in the com in the conference. Uh the Wolves shared the conference title regular season with Maiden but uh beat them in a thrilling victory in the conference tournament. They beat Maiden Blue Devils uh which was a a great game. Uh so congratulations there. Uh the season team's success didn't stop there. They also had uh they went deep into the playoffs to the third round and marking it the first time in nine years that the Wolves reached uh such
029a deep playoff run. and there's going to be a lot of people back for next year's team. So, congratulations there. Uh, congratulations to Kaba Valley 2A Conference champions and tournament champions, Lincoln High School Wolves. [Applause] Go ahead and give it to him in the red. Yeah. After they take the picture. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, we're going to take some more pictures, but because I got some more stuff to say. All right. Y'all stay up there. Okay. Now, I'd like to talk about Kataba Valley 2A Conference Player of the Year, and that would be LJ Smith. He is only a sophomore, and he managed to break the single season sophomore scoring record with an impressive 960 points just this season. It'll be a milestone that is expected to stand for many years down the road. He
030uh let's see, LJ finished the season averaging just 33 33 and a half points a game, 9.4 4 rebounds a game, 3.3 assists per game, and 2.7 steals per game. Uh, currently LJ is ranked the number one uh, point guard, or excuse me, combo guard in the state of North Carolina, uh, and for his class. And last year, ESPN had him ranked in the top 25. Uh, not only is LJ conference player of the year, but he also made district 10 player of the year and also made the first team there. Gaston Gazette, first team and second team all state. He also was from other teams, but I don't have all the time in the world to to say all of them. Uh, but you know, another thing that's so impressive was his GPA is
031over 4.0. So, not only he's excelling on the basketball court, but more importantly, he's excelling in the classroom. says congratulations again to LJ Smith. We're good. Now, I will say I haven't seen um North Lincoln men's basketball team. I know a lot. Yes. Come on, Ty. Uh, but the whole team, a lot of them play other sports, so that's why they can't make it. Uh, I think you were voting best looking, too. So, yeah. You take everything. All right. Since since I they they uh couldn't make it, I am going to read a things about the the team though. They were the Western Foothills three conference regular season and tournament champions. They won 16 straight games after starting 0 and2 in the conference. This group of young men's tied the school record for wins at
03222 wins for this season and that's the second year in a row they've done this. So congratulations to the Western Foothill 3A Conference champions the North Lincoln basketball uh team. Now I'm going to read about Kellen Carr. He I know he plays baseball so he's they have a game tonight but he was named the Western Foothills 3A Conference Player of the Year for the second time his junior and senior year. He's also all district first team. Uh he's an all-time leading scorer for North Lincoln High School with 1,656 points. He also had 1,161 rebounds, 575 assist, 284 steals, and 128 blocks. And and he will go on to play college baseball at Coastal Carolina next year. And then the best looking guy on the basketball team, Ty Sanders, he was he was named to the
033all district second team. He finishes his career with 1,233 points, 220 rebounds, 321 assists, and 95 steals. Uh he was named also the Western Foothills Athletic Conference Tournament MVP, and he will play college basketball at the University of Lynchber. So congratulations, and we wish you the best uh when when you go play basketball next year. Congratulations. So good here, and we'll get your picture. All right. if the women's North Lincoln High School women's basketball team. There we go. [Applause] North Lincoln High School women's basketball team. They also won the Western Foothills sur conference tournament and the conference championship. Uh they scored over two they scored 280 points during the season which averaged 67 points per game. They won four home playoff games, made it to the final four round in Wake Forest and won 29
034games in a row. So that that's very very impressive. So I would like to congratul congratulate the North Lincoln High School women's basketball teams. [Applause] Congratulations. Sorry. Uh also, um Ally Smith, she was named to the all district first team. Uh this year in basketball, she scored 608 points this year. She averaged 19.6 points per game. She had 140 rebounds, 112 assists, and she led the team in steals with 117 steals. She also hit her thousandth career point this well this year as well. So congratulations Ally. I think you're just a sophomore. Yeah, that's pretty impressive. Thousand points already. So congratulations there. You want to go and take pictures now? And coach Carr was named Western Foothills straight conference coach of the year in her first season. North Lincoln went 14-0 in the conference and
035went 29-2 overall. Uh again, first year as as the head coach. Congratulations, Coach Carr. And that is all. Yes. Board members, we do not have anyone um who requested to speak before the board per board protocol. So, we will move on to close session. Um I will turn it over to Mrs. Lopez. Thank you. Uh, the board will adjourn into close session to prevent the disclosure of privileged information under North Carolina General Statutes 143-318.11A1 to discuss matters that are confidential under North Carolina law pertaining to personnel and student matters under the Family Educational Right and Privacy Act and to discuss matters that are protected by attorney client privilege. Thank you. I will entertain a motion to enter into close session. I move that we go to close session. I have a motion by Miss Heavner.
036Is there a second? Second by Miss Brandy Wyatt. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Those opposed? Motion is carried. We are now in close session. We are now back in open session. No action was taken. We'll move on to our first action item, which is the day treatment services. The administrative staff is requesting um that the board approve Rockwell Development Center for Day Treatment Services beginning August 1st, 2025. I will entertain a motion as presented. Have a motion by Miss Heer. Is there a second? Second by Mr. Sanders. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Those opposed. The motion has carried. Up next, we have our consent agenda items. We have the approval of minutes from the work session from March 4th, 2025. Special
037call board meeting March 4th, 2025. The board meeting March 11th, 2025. The budget amendments, personnel recommendations, extended field trips curricular, the approval of policies which stood open 25 days for input as presented in the agenda, the approval of bids, the new line televisions, mowing service contract, garbage collection service, Love Memorial School flat roof repair, Union Elementary School flat roof repair, Estray Louderder Elementary Paving, and the GE Massie the elementary school bowler replacement. I will entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda items as presented. Move that we approve the agenda item. I have a motion by Miss Heer. Is there a second? A second by Miss Wyant. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Those opposed. Motion is carried. So board members, we have our reminders and announcements. Um, April
03814th to the 21st is our spring bait for students and staff. I think everybody is absolutely ready. And we have our May 6 work session. May 13th monthly meeting. And you'll remember that uh, Miss Linda Matney has set up our Google calendar for us and you can find other events um, and upcoming activities that the board members have been invited to on that. So with that being said, I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. Make a motion to adjurnn. Motion by Mr. Jenkins. Is there a second? Second. I have a second. M. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Those opposed. Motion is carried. We are now adjourned.