001foreign good afternoon everyone welcome to the October Asheville City Board of Education regular board meeting I'm going to call the meeting to order we do have a quorum uh our Pledge of Allegiance today will be from Miss Glenn Dennings third grade class at rrb Jones we could all stand I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all ah thank you very much next I would like to get an approval of our agenda but before we do that I need to make an amendment to the agenda it was an item that was left off of our action items it is unit ventilators at Hall Fletcher Elementary That was supposed to have been presented to us
002but we didn't have it so uh Miss coach will be going over that before we do any votes on that but can I have a motion to approve the amended agenda so I moved you'll have a second second it's been moved and seconded all in favor say aye aye aye any opposed all right next we have our good news with Miss April Dockery board members starter and superintendent Cosby thank you for this opportunity to bring some good news from Asheville City schools for the month of October um our at we had three Asheville high school students Virginia Griffin Sam radkin and Pierce ruch they have been selected to represent the school and our community as part of the 125 member All-American D-Day band the band will perform at the D-Day Memorial parade in Normandy France
003this summer the parade honors Our World War II veterans and our D-Day survivors being selected as an All-American bad member is the highest honor a high school musician can receive Mr Rodney Workman the Asheville high school and silsa director of bands was also selected as one of the 10 directors across the country that will serve on serve on the staff for the All-American band unfortunately none of these amazing individuals could be here tonight because they are with the Asheville cementity Symphony Youth Orchestra rehearsal but we want to give our big congratulations to both Mr work Mr Workman Virginia Sam and Pierce [Applause] Polly to come join me as Paulie comes up I want to introduce her as that Isaac Dixon she's a fifth grade student Polly crunchfield has won the Buncombe County I vote sticker
004contest this year Buncombe County election Services hosted their final their first annual I voted sticker contest where young artists from across the county were able to submit their best designs for the election sticker the community was able to vote on their favorite in poly one when asked about what inspired her sticker she said no matter who you are you should have all the rights you need everyone holding hands on the sticker represents that we can do anything when we work together Polly's sticker will be available to all Buncombe County voters in this upcoming election [Applause] I'm a bit nervous um thank you for all of this and um I was sorry and this is the picture this is the sticker right yeah uh I think this was I mean it was a bit not I
005mean I put some I put quite a lot of effort into it but I mean it's just a whole bunch of sick people holding hands um but I do know that there have been some difficulties with like working together and all these things in the past and all these problems so I just wanted to make a sticker of like reminding people that you should have all the rights you need and it's better when you work together [Applause] us to work together because we're all here to support our students and our families and that was a very important reminder and I love that there are Hearts yeah Polly if you your family and principal he's maybe come up real quick and take a picture with you on the board oh wow that's fancy Atlanta come on
006okay uh mama well we're going to just stand right here oh okay yeah that's true and that concludes our good news for this month thank you very much also congratulations to the Cougars on their win against TC for homecoming that's always a good one so all right next we have our public comment uh if you'll indulge me while I read our public comment guidelines the Board of Education greatly appreciates your interest in the Asheville City schools and we welcome your comments to the board please be mindful of the following guidelines unless otherwise approved by the board the total time for public comments shall not exceed 30 minutes for in person and 15 minutes for virtual speakers members of the public may speak for three minutes the time remaining is indicated by lights directly in front
007of you on the podium multiple speakers from a group who are presenting on the same topic may choose to elect one speaker for the group if a single speaker is used by any group they shall be allocated five minutes instead of three to address the board if your group chooses this option please identify everyone in the group when you sign up to speak if an unusually large number of people wish to speak the board may decide to a reduce the time allotted to each speaker and or B require the designation of a group spokesperson substitute speakers will not be permitted and speakers may not donate any portion of their time to another speaker please be respectful A disruption by any person or persons of a public meeting will not be tolerated and will result in
008removal from the meeting incorrect or misleading information presented by a speaker may be responded to at the direction of the chairperson public comment allows you to provide the Board of Education with your thoughts and or relevant information concerning the Asheville City Schools therefore board members will not normally respond to individuals who address the board except to request clarification in order to make public comment individuals must be present and make their comments in person or virtually online confidential student and Personnel matters may not be discussed during public comments and the board does not accept Personnel complaints through public comment if you have a concern about an employee or a student matter please contact or see the superintendent next to me after the meeting the board permits public comment on Rel issues relevant to and within the
009jurisdiction of the school district although an individual May identify themselves as a candidate for any public office no person may use the public comment portion of a board meeting to actively campaign for or endorse a specific candidate running for public office persons are not limited from speaking on issues relevant to the official business of the school district system for purposes of this policy active campaigning includes but is not limited to asking for support for a candidate running for public office and or stating what a candidate will do if elected to public office so our first individual this evening is Miss Wendy hayner welcome back Miss hayner and you will have three minutes good evening superintendent Dr Causey members of the board and guest my name is Wendy hayner and I represent the neighborhood advisory committee
010for this is for food for thought I would like to make a proposal to name the new playground facility at Ira B Jones Elementary School the grace Memorial playground Grace Community began in the county of Buncombe and was named after his grace the bishop of Francis Asbury back in 1800s as a new area grew businesses and churches took on the name of Grace such as Grace Episcopal Church Grace Presbyterian Covenant Presbyterian and even Grace post office Graceland Avenue just to name a few the pride of the community was centered around the grace High School where the football and the basketball teams won County championships on a continuous level the high school was built in 1914 and it was torn down in 1960. Ira B Jones was the principle there and this was during the 1931
011all the way up to 1963. and hence the naming of the elementary school after him which is araby Jones Elementary when we reflect back on this year of 2021-22 I also think of care for the staff for using the Asheville City Schools Wellness motto of Grace grounding and gratitude let me show you an image of that that you have prepared we can all share the importance of wellness and everything we do from maintaining a safe and supportive environment for all our children we need to be proactive in creating a culture that respects and values all children and fosters their understanding this playground will symbolize children and a yearning for freedom to explore learn and understand the world around them it's important to not forget Candace Pickens and Zachariah let's keep this park in memory of
012them by placing a memorial plaque in honor of them it is easy to get stuck in the tragedy of her death but we all believe that this is an opportunity to tell the story but let's do this with a plaque that commemorates her name she could have been a member of this community and done some wonderful and great things so let's let her name and memory to remember the good things it is important for the community to remember her Legacy because it changed the park forever everything changed the night she was killed she made us more aware of safety which is something we all need to consider we don't want to remember her for a tragic tragic event we want to remember her for who she was please name the park Grace Memorial playground thank
013you so much for your time and consideration thank you next I have Mr John Brigham and Mr Brigham you'll have three minutes um I want to start with this image the Carolina Panthers is a professional football team out of Charlotte what would it like to be a general manager what is the role of the management team over the Carolina Panthers managers might think that everything everybody will do what they say and that it all revolves around them but the manager actually has very little Direct Control this is any management job all the manager can do is hire the best people give them what they need to do their job leave them alone and let them do their work schools are all about the tiny universe of teachers and classrooms the teacher orchestrates a culture that
014is comfortable for the students and teachers this is a world that is created by the teacher and is very personal to him or her there's almost never a time to interfere with this little universe the principle of a school is told to go into a classroom and make sure that the teachers are focused on social and emotional learning principals are nice people and they're not going to be rude the principal might say well there's a lot of things to consider The Exchange will end with a confirmation on all sides that they have no idea the principal is going to think they have no idea whoever told the principal what to do is going to think they have no idea it would be rare for an experienced principle and I know there's some in this room
015it would be rare for an experienced principle to interfere with the teacher that it's actively teaching there's nothing the school board that can do there's nothing that the school board can do to impact the classroom that is not destructive the little Universe of teachers and students interfering is never not destructive never the Nashville city school school board is like a 12 year old they think it all revolves around them it does not the school board should be invisible okay so back to the management of the Carolina Panthers the management group of the Carolina Panthers has a hard job and a lot of responsibility but playing football is not one of them for for an accountant to walk up to a two to a six foot 340 pound tackle and tell them how to do his
016job or to talk to the coach is not appropriate you know like um given to you know whatever is it about the Caesar or whatever it is give it to Caesar what is I mean it's like everybody has the role in telling the teachers how to do their job is not part of the job of the school board and then um and then this is important if it's handled correctly the school board is a pretty cool assignment all the work and even the responsibility is delegated to persons who are competent in care and work hard and that's all thank you thank you Mr Brigham next I have Mr pepia sevo and pepe you'll have three minutes thank you board chair Carter members of the board um I want to thank board chair Carter and Dr
017Cosby for letting the candidates know for the school board that there's an upcoming North Carolina School Board Association training in Raleigh and that there are two two-day sessions that um whoever is elected will be encouraged to attend um I wanted to ask the Board of Education to provide public notice of the training and the reason why I think this is important is because the training itself affects decisions that the school board makes I will point out that four and a half years ago Campbell Shatley which is Asheville City schools law firm and is also the law firm for the North Carolina School Board Association uh provided a training here on campus for Pat Griffin James Lee and Joyce Brown and that was a meeting that was noticed and I was fortunate to be able to
018attend and I think it's really helpful for the public to understand some of the parameters around conflict of interest public notice the various roles and the limitations of the roles on the school board and to be able to have the school board discuss these issues and ask questions in ways that can change the school boards performance and engagement with future issues so my understanding is that anytime a majority of the Asheville City Schools Board of Education meets and is receiving information that affects their decisions that should be something that is subject open notice I understand that there is a more recent advice from Campbell Shatley that it doesn't necessarily have to be noticed so I guess I'm asking that the school board um consider providing notice and a means for the public to be able
019to access the same information that the school board would be receiving and that is it thank you very much sure Carter thank you that's all for our in-person comment uh Dylan we don't have any online we did not well um no he didn't yeah I know huh you can come up and speak we Mr Gates uh you will have three minutes thank you sir uh I won a first and foremost want to thank you superintendent and uh the chairman and uh Asheville City board for this opportunity and all my uh my some of my colleagues and my parishioners that are here with me and uh please forgive me for not hitting the cut on the uh signing on this sheet um I'm superintendent Ronald Gates I am the senior pastor of Greater Works Church of
020God in Christ here in the city of Asheville I want to share my concerns in the hearts of some of the other pastors what I'm sharing tonight is not their statement but a letter will be forthcoming to Val uh to validating uh this this statement uh these pastors are a collective of uh or collaboration of 80 churches and Associates with two Alliance defending Freedom ambassadors among the group I understand that the board has adopted the Title IX education amendment of 1972 prohibiting sex including pregnancy sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in any educational program or activity receive federal financial assistance my question is what is your position on allowing the indoctrination of sexual education on these following a CS CFS sex education which is K through 12 social change curriculum B gender person or unicorn
021sex education targeting K through third grade see gender affirming therapy functioning in schools defining by the World Health Organization as a social psychological behavior and medical intervention designed to support and affirm individuals gender after such indoctrination or teaching influence identity when it comes or when it conflicts excuse me when it conflict with the gender they were assigned at Birth in my closing if if this is your position as a board to allow indoctrinational teaching into the school system will you with transparency and accountability send memos to all the Educators and teachers alerting them if they choose to use the indoctrination then what schools what classes what time in turn will the teachers alert the parents of this being taught to their children in their class to alert alert you as the board as they superiors
022for transparency and accountability and then three the board in turn will alert us as local clergies so we will in turn alert the community I want to thank you for this opportunity to be able to share this information thank you Gates we had one other person who got here before the end of uh they could not sign up good evening board members and everyone my name is Shannon O'Connor I am the wife of Peyton O'Connor who's a board member um okay so um and I'll tell you a little bit about myself I'm a family nurse practitioner I own a private practice I also work in school-based health so I have a lot of experience working with lgbtqia plus youth in our schools um not only that but I am a parent of five children including
023two middle schoolers at Madison Middle so I care very deeply about the mental health of our youth um so I didn't prepare a letter today but I just wanted to share some information with y'all um you know I think first of all Title IX was was thrown out so I think maybe just some you know education about what Title IX is um is really it's a protection for our youth so that they have protection against um like a a hostile School environment and a hostile School environment is bullying which is often from teachers which is from other students and that actually requires those schools to protect those kids no matter what so I really I feel very just I feel like I need to stand up for a Title IX because it's actually really incredibly
024important um so and I'm happy to talk to anyone else about how Title IX protects our kids I've actually had to go up to Madison County schools and threaten the superintendent with the Title IX lawsuit to protect our kids who are lgbtqia plus who are being bullied in school so it actually is a life-saving law so with the rest of my time I'll just go ahead and read some statistics about lgbtqia Youth and why it's so important for them to be included and so that means knowing that they belong feeling like they matter like they're important and not that like it's some kind of disorder that needs to be corrected because that's just frankly not true I'm a healthcare provider and I know that and I'm also a parent of queer Youth and a queer
025one myself so um I'm just here to just kind of give my thoughts I mean I also am the founder of um the safe schools Madison County safe spaces Coalition and what we do actually is bring people together so y'all have a coalition we also have a coalition um in the county and and the north county of North Buncombe to really raise awareness about what um really the attacks on our youth the mental health impact um so I'm not sure how much time I have but I'll just say lgbtq youth are four times as likely to commit suicide than their peers um and also a protective Factor our schools that are accepting that teaches them it's not even teaches them about themselves but just about the diversity that exists which is diversity and sexuality diversity
026and gender identity diversity and race all of it we need all of it and it really is dangerous to our kids like and I understand the religious side I get it but you know we really had to make schools that open to us the public school system like it has our doors have to be open to all kids which means lgbtqia kids and their families that have identified in that way we have been so pushed out by the Madison County schools because of a lot of the attitudes of their religious beliefs frankly and my respect your religion but when it starts to get into like really putting youth at risk that's when I have to step up and say you know kind of enough's enough so I appreciate that y'all you know everyone really cares
027about the kids I think we're all here for the same reason um but I just think you know especially as a family nurse practitioner as a person who works in schools with youth that's it that's it that's all thank you for listening thank you for having me thank you I I got the nod from our buzzer she didn't Buzz loud enough so okay sorry no thank you I appreciate that uh all right so next thank you for all those who gave public comment um next we have our consent items on our consent agenda we have our work session minutes from September 12th closed session minutes from September 12th the regular schedule a regular board meeting minutes from September 19th the Haynes industrial Hall Fletcher boiler replacements and Child Nutrition approval of our new and renewal
028bid Awards can I have a motion to approve our consent items on the agenda so moved do I have a second second all right it's been moved and segmented any questions all in favor say aye aye aye any opposed all right next on our agenda we have our action items we have our Personnel report number three can I have a motion to approve Personnel report number three so I moved do I have a second second it's been moved and seconded any questions all in favor say aye aye any opposed bye so we have three yeses two notes okay next we have our comprehensive safe School plan can I have a motion to approve our comprehensive safe School plan so moved it's been moved do I have a second second it's been moved and seconded any
029questions all right all in favor say aye aye any opposed all right next we have the renaming of Jones Park could you just go over really quickly um the nature of the comprehensive safe School plan so folks know why they have not seen it and oh owlette I'll let superintendent Cosby do that yes the comprehensive safe School plan is a plan that outlines all of the different safety efforts of the school system it is required by the state of North Carolina it's very extensive it is protected under state law is privileged and confidential and is not available to the public because the last folks should want Senate and folks who might be trying to do something dangerous to children so that that's why it's it's not shared and saying because it's confidential by state law
030thank you for that explanation and thank you for bringing that to attention okay all right so we're to the renaming of Jones Park as we said at the last board meeting or the work session last week and what was presented at the city council meeting uh when the interlocal agreement was agreed upon by the city it was put into their minutes and into the motion that the naming of the park would be done in honor of Candace Pickens the the attorneys for the school board have for the district have talked to us uh this does not follow our policy for renaming uh for naming policies our naming policies are more for buildings and for actually things that we own um so again an example would be if we wanted to rename uh central office James
031Carter central office that would have to be that's the naming of a facility that we own uh not that that would ever happen no um I know so um what we have been advised that we can do is instead of utilizing the policy which is this is a gray area the school this does not fall into the policy that we uh can do it as a simple motion uh so I know we've we've had uh one person to speak in in favor of wanting to name it Grace Memorial playground or yes um but it's up to the board at this point so uh now does anyone have any questions or comments yes check check our um sorry who I just want to acknowledge that um Candace Jenkins I just wanted to acknowledge Candace Pickens mothers
032here miss Keisha Martinez um and she's in favor of naming the park after her daughter Candace Pickens I was going to also say that well I guess you beat you to it uh any other questions or comments in this regard and again this is um the the boards would would be making this decision so I don't know if the Administration has any no it's in time okay all right um I'd just like to say that I appreciate you coming forward um and and we heard what you said and we do appreciate you know that option um I think we've all discussed this prior to this particular meeting so you want to make the motion go ahead um I would like to make the motion that we name the park the Candace Pickens Memorial Park is
033that what we're going to call it Candace Pickens Park yeah turn your mic sorry so okay so yeah you're right okay all right so there's a motion on the floor is there a second so moved it's been moved and seconded any questions all right all in favor say aye aye aye any opposed all right next uh the addition to our action items I'm going to call Christy Coates up to give us a little bit more information on the unit ventilators at Hall Fletcher everyone should have a copy of this in front of them Christy good afternoon board members I am bringing to you tonight Hyatt Heating and Cooling can you hear me I'm sorry not eating a mic I'm so sorry can you hear me now unit ventilators to be replaced in the um I
034say the new addition but it's really not new because I was there when it was built um at Hall Fletcher we are replacing those it's individual units that are in each classroom there are I believe eight or ten don't quote me on that um these heat and cool those classrooms they are out of date they are original to the building so we are asking that the board approves for us to go ahead and move forward in putting those in we purchased the unit ventilators already this is for them to do the install it did go out for bid so you will notice in your packet that this did go out for bid we've received two bids and we have chosen the load bidder and we use the standard uh they're not 13 Smith that's not
035a law firm Shatley and Campbell okay I've worked with so many of them I get them confused uh contract format with us so they if it's what we normally do okay any other questions for Miss coats all right and when when is the project supposed to be done unit ventilators keep getting pushed and pushed out we did purchase them about I don't know approximately I don't want to say for sure approximately six to eight months ago but they do keep we were hoping to do this this past summer but we're unable to because they were not here um I cannot I'm so sorry I have two different things coming in I think this one's due to come in November 25th now somewhere in that area all right Miss cutson sorry just yes because it could
036come up um recognizing that the date on the original contract as August 30th yes um can you just um clarify the reason for the delay I mean I know it's not delay but just so it's can I be honest yeah I really want to be translated please do um I called Dr Kazi Friday and I thought this had already come to the board and I was like we've got to get this on the board report because we started we actually started with putting um their valves on each unit so that we would not have to turn the water off to the whole building because it was going to shut down the whole building so we started with that and we got to the electrical piece and we have some of the electrical already done I
037stopped the project because I wanted to speak to the electrician myself to look at the permit when we did that and I finally signed the contract myself I realized at that time I had not brought this to the board this is totally on me so that is why it's not on the agenda it happens just want to make sure that yeah that is that is the reason thank you so I've dropped tongue last year I said we'll get it done now and this just Falls right under the this would be a capital over the threshold though yeah it's just a little bit over what I could have proven what what could be approved and this is coming out of capital commission funds yes no Capital our local Capital yes any other questions all right uh
038can I have a motion to approve the unit ventilators at Hall Fletcher with Pyatt Heating and Air so the contractor so I moved you have a second I can it's been moved and second to turn on your mic uh any questions all right all in favor say aye aye any opposed all right thank you next I have Dr Cosby with the superintendent's report thank you Mr chairman I have several several things to tell you about what our different departments are doing in the curriculum instruction uh the beginning of the year testing for academics has been completed we're now digging into that data to determine where additional instructional support is needed and cni is using a new term right now if they're saying data should be used as a flashlight and not a hammer that's a
039kind of a different approach to how it's been done in the past so we're making that kind of a emphasis on it we've also been coordinating a range of professional development for staff in October which includes the letter training and all of elementary schools the social emotional SEL training literacy and Middle grades training the reading Apprenticeship Training in high school curriculum and SEL training specific to our instructional assistance next to learning training and training on learning circle which is our early warning and response system for school and District administration on October 13th which is required work day that's the first full day of letters training for elementary teachers and ice cream is going to be delivered to all the elementary school campuses a small token of appreciation for all the time that they're putting in
040on that that effort for state required literacy plan has been accepted with some recommendations for the state and cni is working to address those recommendations at this time all the answer grants federal grants have been approved for fiscal year 2023 uh reig staff hosted a series of parent information sessions recently both in person and virtual all of those went very well and were well received our preschool classrooms are all fields of capacity and the stabilization Grant application has been submitted to the state we're also preparing for a DPI monitoring visit for except for Children's Program on October 20th and we're working on Crafting a new vision and mission for the curriculum and instructional Department more along that motto you heard just a little while ago our maintenance program we're now working with 3m to install
041a safety film on all the classroom windows at Asheville middle school and the Isaac Dixon Elementary School and the front entrances of all our schools this will obscure the view into the classrooms during the lockdown okay 11 000 blueprint documents have been uploaded to the new system air Hub and all those are ready to use and accessible sections of the boiler stack that have rusted at Asheville High School are being replaced and a new cap will be put on to prevent future water from entering and causing it to rust the system will now run more efficiently than it has in the past we're working with energy print to view energy bills for possible cost savings and we're holding meetings with Duke power identifying areas where we are eligible for rebates and we're making application in
042all those areas where the system is eligible for rebates also just some really up to the minute uh announcement and George knows about this we've just received notice from the commission facilities commission that we've received funding for all three projects that we've requested funding for a total of 10 million six hundred thousand four hundred eleven dollars that will cover the cost of the renovation of the Asheville High School auditorium the renovation lights and floor at the Asheville High School varsity gymnasium and all of the work at Lucy Herring Elementary School so that's that's wonderful news for us yeah and I'd also like to encourage from HR that all the folks who visit careers page on our website especially folks who are interested in substitute teaching uh we get your application in we have places that
043we can put you to work so if you have an interest under operations we also finalized our crisis alert platform fuses with local law enforcement and that's where all of the cameras now will contact will connect with the sheriff's department and they'll have immediate access to be able to see live what's happening on all of our campuses in case of any kind of events I also want to and that's not announces I'm not even sure they know it yet but a couple of them are here uh part of the principal pay plan is in North Carolina includes a bonus provision and that bonus provision is called the 50 bonus which means if you your school made growth in the top 50 percent of the schools top half of the schools in the state there's a
044bonus attached to it and there's different levels depending on what percentage we have three principles that will be getting a thousand dollar bonus for being in the top 50 percent Shannon Baggett rafika Cobb and Derek Edwards and that will be in the October paycheck we have one principal who will be getting a two thousand five hundred dollar bonus for being in the top 20 percent in the state and that's through letter Hughes [Applause] it's like those folks and that's all I have well I see who's going to be taking people to dinner next month so congratulations and that's still a test you know it's just another Testament of the hard work that our principals do that all of our staff do every day so congratulations to all those who were recognized next we have our
045announcements and future meetings um as Dr Cosby said Thursday is a required teacher work day so there's no school for students on Friday October 14th we have parent teacher conference day so again no school for students there's late start for preschool Elementary and secondary students on Wednesday October 19th preschool will start at 9 30. elementary schools will start at 10 secondary schools will start at 10 30. there's an early dismissal for staff development on October 31st um K-5 will get out at noon and 6 through 12 we'll get out at one our close work session closed session board meeting will be Monday November 7th at 5 pm here in the boardroom and then our next regular scheduled meeting has been moved it was originally going to be on the 14th but because of the State
046School Board Association meeting that meeting has now been moved to Wednesday November 16th at 5 pm here in the boardroom again you can always find our meeting schedules online on our website if there is nothing else I do yes Miss Martinez was a little emotional at first can we have her come up and say something since we named the park after the daughter please thank you not going to take three minutes I'm just gonna just wanna just wanna take a few seconds just to uh thanks the thanks to the Asheville City um Council for the support for for them listening for my plea I especially want to thank internet Mosley for further support through all of this it's touched my heart and it's you've we're definitely going to keep in contact thank you from the
047bottom of my heart for the support um and I also want to thank the City Board the school board for for allowing of the renaming really deeply touched that's all I wanted to say thank you thank you thank you [Applause] all right uh can I have a motion to adjourn so I moved do I have a second second we moved and seconded all in favor say aye