001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Good evening everyone and welcome to our Monday, May 18th, 2026 regular scheduled meeting. Going to go ahead and call this meeting to order. Meaning that a majority of the board is seated, we have determined that there is a quorum. Board, if I may make a motion to amend the agenda to add a number seven as board comments. >> Second that motion. >> All right, we have a second from Mr. Johnson. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor indicate by saying aye. >> Aye. >> Those opposed, nay. Ayes have it. The agenda is approved with said amendment. We will now have a moment of silence and board invocation led by Vice Chair Wyckoff. >> Let's have a short moment of silence. Heavenly Father, we gather tonight for this meeting. Let
002us pause and give thanks for students, our teachers, and our staff, administrators, and the families of our school community. And we ask the Lord for peace and encouragement and focus for all the students that they begin their EOGs this week. Give them confidence in the work they've done and calm any anxiety or nerves that they feel. Bless our teachers and school staff who have worked tirelessly to prepare and and support them. And we also celebrate this season for graduations. We are thankful for the accomplishments of our graduates and the dedication that brought them to this milestone as they begin their new careers and their different lives and chapters in life. Guide them with wisdom and courage and compassion. And we ask that help us with this board to make uh um good decisions with integrity
003and wisdom. And we ask these things in your name. Amen. >> Amen. >> Please stand for the presentation of colors and the pledge of allegiance. >> Left. Left. Honor guard, halt. Left face. Present arms. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag 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. >> Honor guard, they are armed. Right face. Mark time, march. Left. Left. Forward march. Left. >> Thank you to Drawn High School's Fire Academy led by Chief Tony Crouch. At this time, I believe board members are to move to the floor. >> Good evening, Madam Chair, Vice Chair, members of the board. I want to thank you for taking time this evening to recognize some students who have some great
004achievements. I'd like to start off by recognizing our elementary art show award winners. On April 21st, we had a reception hosted at the comma. Uh the following students took first place in that competition. First place overall two-dimensional art representing Drexel Elementary, Paisley Black. COME ON DOWN, PAISLEY. >> [applause] >> FIRST PLACE OVERALL IN three-dimensional art representing Mountain View Elementary, Jean Lee Gonzalez Ramos. >> [applause] >> Our Superintendent's award goes to Mountain View Elementary student, Carolyn LeBlanc. >> [applause] >> And our Director's award goes to Drexel Elementary student, Kira Petaluna. >> [applause] >> I'd like to invite Ms. Kirkpatrick to come and do our secondary award winners. >> Good evening, Madam Chair, Mr. Vice Chair, members of the board. Thank you for the opportunity to share some of the awards from our district art show that
005was in April. Students, if you're here, please come to the front when we call your name and stay standing for a group photo. In the middle school category with first place in overall 2D art, Madison Travett from Walter Johnson Middle School. >> [applause] >> With first place in overall 3D art, Gabriel Simon from Walter Johnson MIDDLE SCHOOL. >> [applause] >> WINNING THE SUPERINTENDENT'S AWARD, Genesis Montano from Walter Johnson MIDDLE SCHOOL. >> [applause] >> LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST IN THE middle school directors award category, McKenzie Mendoza Mejia from Walter Johnson Middle School. >> [applause] >> Now for our high school category, in first place for overall 2D art, Lydia Dupree from Freedom High School. >> [applause] >> With first place in overall 3D art, Maddie Bennett from Freedom High School. >> [applause] >> Winning the
006Superintendent's Award, Marvin Cristobal from Freedom High School. >> [applause] >> And with the Director's Award, Charlotte Wilson from Patton HIGH SCHOOL. >> [applause] >> CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR STUDENTS. >> [applause] [applause] >> Good evening. I would like to recognize the 2026 Robotics Competition overall winners this evening. This year the theme was animal conservation and in this competition student teams from each of our elementary schools were asked to complete compete in two programming challenges and a STEM challenge. In the STEM challenge teams were given a theme or a problem um to design and create an a build that involves different components of programming and robotic features. Based on scores from all the different categories, we calculate an overall winner and I am pleased to announce that this year's winner was George Hildebrand Elementary School. So
007students and coaches, please come up to get your certificates as your name is called. For the programming team A was Nova Duckworth. Faithfully Fortenberry Clara Powell >> [applause] >> Madeleine Wilson Brody Britton Luke Hudson Cole Leonard >> Ethan Wisnant And for our STEM team, it was Kenyon Barnes. Anson Moore Ben Rodriguez Taken Stamey And our coaches were Abby Powell and Olivia Marik. Thank you. >> [applause] >> I have to say it's always a good thing to have to bring out extra chairs when we're um recognizing the excellence that is Bertie County Public Schools. So, um thank you board for allowing us to be here this evening and present our um elementary Battle of the Books and our middle school Quiz Bowl competition winners. And so um I would like to commend First I want to
008start with the elementary Battle of the Books. Commend the remarkable group of students that is with Icard Elementary for their dedication, their teamwork, and the love of reading that they demonstrated throughout the year. Each team member committed to reading 16 high-quality titles representing a wide range of literature. Along the way they collaborated with one another, engaged in thoughtful discussion, sharpened sharpened their critical thinking skills, and developed an even deeper appreciation for books and reading. Over the course of the competition the students challenged themselves not only to read each title, but to spend countless hours practicing, analyzing themes, and recalling even the smallest and tiniest details of those novels. Each student recognized here tonight has shown exceptional commitment, perseverance, and an enthusiasm for learning. Their accomplishments will extend far beyond the competition itself, reflecting both their
009growth as readers and their strengths as teammates. So tonight I would like to recognize Icard Elementary students for their first place um win of the Battle of the Books competition for our elementary schools. So students if you will please come forward when I call your names. Brooklyn Evans >> [applause] >> Aubrey Grinstead Destiny Johnson Sutton PEACOCK >> [applause] >> AYN ROMERO MAYBREE Siegel >> [applause] >> Paisley Zeigler And our coaches, Ms. Tonya Smith and Ms. Britney Watts. >> [applause] >> AND TONIGHT I ALSO HAVE THE privilege to recognize our middle school Quiz Bowl team that won first place. So, on Friday, April 24th, five our five middle schools joined at Liberty Middle for a second annual Quiz Bowl competition. For those of you who are not familiar, Quiz Bowl is an academic team competition where
010participants answer questions on a wide range of subjects including history, literature, science, fine arts, philosophy, religion, mythology, current events, and popular culture. The rounds and questions are intense, and for those of you who had the opportunity to attend this year or last, you know what I'm talking about. Um I would like to commend this group of scholars for their dedication to practicing and their pursuit of knowledge. Each student recognized here this evening contributed to their team's success, and they have demonstrated teamwork, quick thinking, and all-around academic excellence. I'm sure we will see some of them one of them on Jeopardy one day. Um so, for the second year in a row, please congrat- join me in congratulating Liberty Middle School Quiz Bowl team for their first place finish in our middle school Quiz Bowl competition.
011Students and coaches, come forward when I call your name. Nora Olson. Anaya Hudson. Elliot Gratton. Ada Clark. Kerrigan Suttles. Redding Shannon. Avery Hennessy. Naman Jones. And our coaches, Ms. Crystal Hirsch. And Ms. Amber Richardson. >> [applause] >> All right, we'll continue with the theme of recognitions tonight. First, we're going to recognize our middle school and high school robotics competition winners. Um just a really quick synopsis of this. Our PLTW students are a heck of a lot smarter when it comes to technology and robotics than I am. I love going in there and seeing them put together through the round robin sessions, their competitions, and team-building sessions what exactly they're trying to accomplish. So, uh kudos to them and their coaches. We got quite a few recognitions, so what we'll do is we'll go through uh
012middle school first. Uh first place was Heritage Middle School. And as I call you up, students, please come up, and the coaches, I'll also call you as well. Jonas Johnson. >> [applause] >> Gabriel Platt. >> [applause] >> Jude Ward Joseph Zamardi and coach Kevin Lynn. Next we've got East Burke Middle School. Iker Rodriguez Brentley Watson >> [applause] >> Maddox Brooks Cassidy Gladden and coach Andrea Gladden. And to conclude our middle school robotics recognitions, we got the judges award, which was Table Rock Middle School. When I call your name, come forward. Grayson Gordon >> [applause] >> Sophie Ann Smith Colton Brooks >> [applause] >> Trinity Davis Parker Heap and coach Maria Queen. And so our middle schools filling up finishing up, I I think it's appropriate to recognize all the hard work that our students and
013their coaches put into this. The enjoyable part for me, also dealing with athletics, I get to see the teamwork and time commitment that they put in to these competitions as well. So, I I think that's uh we're really proud of Heritage, East Burke Middle, and Table Rock. I just thought our students can go home tonight and thank everybody for here for their hands being tired tonight. I feel like you guys have clapped like a thousand times already. So, but that's a great thing. Uh next we'll move on to high school robotics. Same thing. Uh it was held at Draughn High School this year. The team building, the round robin sessions, the competition. Uh it was just it's a it's a great thing to experience and be able to be able to watch. Uh first place
014in high school robotics this year uh Draughn High School team five. We had so many that we had to have multiple teams on each other and these are in pairs of two. Uh so, first place Ben Fortune >> [applause] >> Chase Yambor. >> [applause] >> The other team that came in there with them was another Draughn team. So, Coach Fortune, I'll let you come up whenever I call all yours since you coached both teams. Uh next from Draughn, team eight, Michael Pace. >> [applause] >> Keegan Carswell. And the coach of both teams, Darrell Fortune. >> [applause] >> AND OUR JUDGES AWARD FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL competition went to East Burke High School team one. Juliana Underwood >> [applause] >> Sophia Von >> [applause] >> Mr. Fortune for the hat trick Daryl Fortune, head coach. >>
015[applause] [applause] >> And our last recognition for the evening, chopped competition. So, if anybody's seen the show uh it's very similar to the chopped competition they have. Cooking contest, plating contest, presentation contest, taste contest and it's it's really uh an amazing thing to watch. It's it's very much like the show. We appreciate the partnership with Chartwells. Uh they do a fantastic job of providing things for this competition. They do a fantastic job of organizing and helping. Uh so, it's really a competition it is in year three and it continues to grow and we look forward to the future success of the CHOP competition. We also had an administrator, and a board member, and we've had previous board members, Mr. Beck participate this year in judging. So, it's really turned into a the big deal not
016only in Burke County but throughout the Northwest region. We're the first of our kind to do this in the Northwest region, which is 13 counties surrounding this, and we've actually had some some counties come by and take a look at it and and hope to emulate emulate this into their programs. So, first place winner this year Freedom High School >> [applause] >> Elijah Brown >> [applause] >> Ava Cook Sarah Randall and Brandy Ramirez Bernardo. And the coach Miss Heather Smith. And the second category from CHOP competition was our taste test winners from Patton High School, Hunter Dale. >> [applause] >> Alex Diaz Elaine Doyle Guadalupe Rojas Ramirez >> [applause] >> and Elliot Wilson and coached by Mr. Ron Blancaflor. And with this amount of recognitions, it's important to recognize we got a lot of administrators
017in here tonight who are coming to support their teachers and coaches and student athletes and students. So, we appreciate everybody being here and the extent of your clapping is almost officially done. Appreciate you guys and appreciate everything our students do. >> [applause] >> For staff recognitions, >> [clears throat] >> it's my honor to recognize Ms. Holly Thomas, who was recognized as a Discovery Education National Educator. She was one of five total teachers or science educators chosen across the country. Uh so, this was a terrific award. The reason she's being recognized is for her outstanding ability to foster academic growth. And rather than emphasizing memorization, Holly guides students to observe, question, and explain real-world phenomena, helping them to develop a deep conceptual understanding through discussion and evidence-based reasoning. Congratulations, MS. THOMAS. >> [applause] [applause] >> ALL
018RIGHT, I AM THE LAST ONE, SO IT'S ALMOST OVER WITH. Group recognitions. But, I'm recognizing some community heroes. Probably heard this on Let's Talk Burke County, possibly. But, I'll rehash it for you. On Monday, May 4th, uh members of the community, a truck was beginning to catch fire and pulled into the Mull Elementary School's parking lot, where the vehicle quickly burst into flames. Thankfully, two members of the community were nearby and helped immediately. Stephen Cook was passing by, the first one to notice. Also, Chelsea Granstaff, a member of the PTO at Mull, was in front of the school dropping off items for staff appreciation. Stephen alerted Chelsea and both acted quickly to call 911 and help assist the victim. Both remained on campus until emergency personnel arrived. They helped move vehicles out of the way
019and ensured safety of others. Their quick thinking, teamwork, and willingness to serve during an unexpected day emergency was greatly appreciated by Burke County Schools. I'd recognize you both as community heroes, Stephen Cook and Chelsea Granstaff. >> [applause] [applause] >> All right, moving on in the agenda, we have public comments. Vice Chair Wyckoff, do we have anyone signed up? >> There's nobody signed up tonight. >> All right, we have no public comments tonight. Next, we have board comments. We're going to go ahead and start this off with the Mr. Camp. >> I just wanted to say that as this is the last school board meeting of this school year. Uh the year's winding up, graduation's in a couple weeks. And um I just want to reflect on we have about 60 of our uh staff from
020this uh this district who are retiring. And I think I can speak on the part of the board that we are on behalf of the board that we are so thankful for all your service. I wish for those 60 folks that we're we're talking principals, district office staff, principals, teachers, uh custodians, uh staff in all kinds of places. And uh I wish I had all the years of the hundreds of years that you all have uh have served. If there's any here who are retiring or there's any who watch this who are retiring, we want to tell you we are so thankful to you. And uh and I just want to say personally, I just uh occurred to me um that we haven't done any recognition. We've just recognized all these wonderful kids and and
021students, all these folks in the community. And we haven't done anything that particularly to recognize our retiring staff. And I'm going to I promise you I'm going to uh uh to try and do better next year as a school board member so that we recognize our retiring staff before this before the school year's gone and and they leave us. And uh so again, count on that. I'm sorry those who are retiring now. But for next year, those who are retiring, you can count on that on the part of me and I think on the part of the board. We are so thankful for all that our retirees have done. >> All right. Are we good to move forward? Okay. Moving on, consent agenda items. We have open session minutes from April 20th and April 27th
022as well as closed session minutes from April 20th and April 27th. Do we have a motion? >> Motion to approve. >> Motion by Mr. Beck, second by Mr. Johnson. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor indicate by saying aye. >> Aye. >> Those opposed, nay. I's have it. The consent agenda items are approved. Next, we have the personnel board action report 0518202. Do we have a motion? >> Motion. >> Excuse [clears throat] me, second. >> Motion by Mr. Johnson, a second by Mr. Beck. Uh any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed, nay. I's have it. Next, we have item B, uh the Board of Education meeting schedule for 2026-2027 school year. Do we have any discussion or do we have a motion? >> Motion
023to approve. >> Second. >> Motion by Mr. Wyckoff, second by Mrs. Rocket. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed, nay. I's have it. The Board of Education meeting schedule has been approved. Do we have a need for closed session? No need for closed session. Do we have a motion to adjourn? Motion by Mr. Beck. Do we have a second by Mrs. Rocket? Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor indicate by saying I. All those opposed, nay. Eyes have it. This meeting is adjourned. Thank you, everyone.