001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> to our Monday, April [clears throat] 27th, regular meeting. Being that all board members are seated, we're going to go ahead and call this meeting to order and determine a quorum. Um, board, take a look at the agenda and let me know what your pleasure is. Motion to approve. Motion by Mr. Wyckoff. Do we have a second? Second. Second by Mrs. Taylor. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed, nay. Ayes have it. The agenda is approved. We will have a moment of silence with Mr. Wyckoff, followed by board invocation by myself. With sad news, we want to let everybody know about um uh the mother of Dr. Swan. Uh um she passed away on Friday. That's why she uh he is not with
002us tonight. So, uh whenever we do our moment of silence, please remember Dr. Swan and his family. Heavenly Father, we come before you with heavy hearts as we lift up Dr. Swan and his family during the loss of his mother. We ask you to surround them with your comfort, your peace, and your strength in the days ahead. Grant them the rest and assurance in your presence. As our school enters the end of grading period and testing season, we also pray for our students, teachers, and staff. Give them clarity, focus, and perseverance. Calm anxious hearts, renew energy, and guide their efforts so that each student can do their very best. Lord, continue to watch over our district, our leadership, and our community. Give us wisdom, compassion, and unity in all we do. Amen. Now, we will
003have the presentation of colors by East Burke High School's JROTC led by Sergeant Major Doyle. 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. >> [applause] >> At this time, if all board members can move to the front for staff and student recognitions. Good evening, Madam Chair, sir, Vice Chair, members of the board, and our community. Thank you for the opportunity to present an award tonight that highlight the all-in attitude that we are working to instill in our students. Just like we prepare our students to be all-in with academics, our coaches also push them to be all-in on the field or in this case, track. Tonight, we would like to recognize Josiah Reed
004from East Burke High School as the 4A state champion in the 55-meter dash. Congratulations. >> [applause] [applause] >> Thank you, board, for the opportunity to be here this evening. For the past several years, Burke County Public Schools has celebrated Disabilities Awareness Week, a special week where all students learn about disabilities, the power of inclusion, and pledge to accept, respect, and include all students. For now the second year in a row, Mr. Dwayne Brown, art teacher at Walter Johnson, has volunteered his time and efforts toward a district-wide collaborative art project that you'll see up here beside Dr. Auten. He created and painted the shape of our beautiful Burke County showing off our mountains and Lake James. Each school selected a student to draw the school's logo or mascot, and Mr. Brown lined them up perfectly across
005the county. As you can see, the result is so impressive and will be proudly displayed in the gallery of the new central office building. Thank you, Mr. Brown, for your leadership with this project and for creating a beautiful piece of art that will last for many years and truly shows Burke County Public Schools' commitment to creating inclusive and welcoming spaces for all students. Mr. Brown. >> [applause] [applause] >> Good evening. Take a moment here to recognize individual who represents the best in our school system. Officer Alan Young, resource officer of the year. Officer Young consistently goes above and beyond the call of duty, dedicates countless extra hours to support our schools, works behind the scenes to ensure things are taken care of often. What sets him apart is what he builds relationships with students. It's
006not uncommon to see him in the hallways asking kids their future plans, helping them find jobs, or even helping them find vehicles. He takes time to connect, listen, and show he genuinely cares about students. Please join me congratulating Officer Alan Young, School Resource Officer of the Year. >> [applause] [applause] >> Wooden Legacy Awards are presented annually by the National High School Basketball Coaches Association in partnership with the John Wooden family and the Wooden Foundation. Each year, one male and female coach from a state who is a long-time active basketball coach who also serves as an outstanding educator and who through their excellence on the court and in the classroom, community, and embodies the characteristics of Coach John Wooden: excellence, longevity, character, leadership, and service. Uh I've had the privilege of working with this year's recipient
007for over 20 years, uh fellow classmate. Um I think it speaks an awful lot that she was selected by her peers in the state of North Carolina, and I am fortunate enough to call this person a colleague and friend. Coach Amber Reddick, thank you for your contribution and investments in your students >> [applause] >> and the women's basketball program at Freedom. Congratulations. >> [applause] [applause] >> All right, good evening, board. >> [clears throat] >> This time, we are going to go ahead and recognize all of our teachers of the year from each of our campuses from across the county, and then we will wrap up with the Burke County Teacher of the Year after that. In order to be eligible for Teacher of the Year for each school, teachers have to have a clear license
008and be within at least year four or higher, and they cannot have served as their Teacher of the Year in previous years, um consecutive years, let me clarify. So, as I share your name, if you will please come forward, we will start with elementary, we'll do photos, and then we'll transition to secondary schools. So for our elementary from Drexel Elementary, Erica Benton. >> [applause] >> From Forest Hill Elementary, Karen Breedlove. From George Hildebrand, Abby Powell. >> [applause] >> From Glen Alpine, Lisa McGee. From Hildebrand, Don Goforth. >> [applause] >> From Hillcrest, Rebecca Thomas. From Icard Elementary, Christina Rucker. >> [applause] >> Mountain View Elementary, Kayla McNeal. Mull Elementary, Joey Daniels. Oak Hill Elementary, Emily Crawley. >> [applause] >> Ray Childers, McKenzie Row. >> [applause] >> Salem Elementary, Jamie Dell. Valdese Elementary, Jessica Cole. >> [applause]
009>> And from W. A. Young, Tamber Duball. >> [applause] >> So as they're finishing shaking hands, >> [clears throat] >> you can see folks get a certificate, but they also have a blue envelope that is a gift from our school board, so we greatly appreciate that. >> [applause] >> All right, and we're middle schools. For East Burke Middle School, Kieran Smith. >> [applause] >> From Heritage Middle, Caleb Smith. >> [applause] >> Liberty Middle, Angel Barnsback. >> [applause] >> From Walter Johnson, Greg Layle. >> [applause] >> If Mr. Layle has an extremely large smile on his face because he is celebrating retirement. Congratulations. >> [applause] >> From North Liberty, Jeffrey Duckworth. >> [applause] >> Albern Academy, Steven St. Louis. >> [applause] >> Draughn High School, Victoria McDowell. East Burke High School, John Row. From Freedom High
010School, Cara Shelton Harper. >> [applause] >> And from Patton High School, Deanna Minatola. >> [applause] [applause] >> All right, and finally, if I could have Mr. Jonathan Morgan from Table Rock Middle, please come forward. >> [clears throat] [applause] >> So once all of our schools submit their teachers of the year and they submit packets, those those go to review for the committee. From that, a select select few folks come to interviews, and we wrap those up, and then we sit and we think about who can serve as that Burke County Public Schools Teacher of the Year. So after a few days, in this case it was about a week, Dr. Swan and Dr. Auten surprised Mr. Morgan at Table Rock Middle. A little bit about him. He is a graduate and native of Burke County.
011He came through Patton High School. He lost his way. He went to McDowell County. Okay. But he saw the good and he came back and we're very very grateful for that. So with that said, I do think Mr. Morgan, correct me if I'm wrong, I think your support crew is here as well. So if you want to make your way through and get some congrats from the board, and if your your family wants to come forward for some photos, that'd be wonderful. So Mr. Morgan, congratulations. >> [applause] [snorts] [applause] >> Mr. Kirkpatrick just shared FYI, I believe coach just came from the ball field. So we we appreciate >> [snorts] >> Just say you >> [clears throat] >> All right, at this time we're going to go ahead and move into public comment. Vice Chair
012Wyckoff, do we have anyone signed up? Yes, we do. So let me read something real quick. Persons will speak in the order in which they have signed up to speak. Each speaker during public comment section of the board meeting shall have a maximum of 3 minutes for his or her comments, at which point the speaker will be politely asked to bring comments to a close, followed by a thank you. School board policy, state law, and federal law have established separate and distinct procedures and forums for the resolution of employee grievances, employee complaints, against employee against individual employees, pupil suspensions and appeals, and political campaigns. To avoid circumvention of those separate proceedings and ensure fairness to all parties concerned, no person shall speak regarding one, a filed grievance, two, pending employee complaint filed with the school
013district or outside agency, three, complaint against individual employees, four, employee disciplinary action, suspension, or termination, or five, pupil suspension or appeal which may ultimately reach to the Board of Education. Additionally, prior to elections, no person who has publicly announced or filed as a candidate for public office may speak during public comments concerning his or her candidacy. The board chair or designee may terminate any presentation as not in accordance with these uh with this criteria. Except limited by the previous provisions, public comments will be allowed during the public comments period on any subject that is within the jurisdiction of the board. And uh we have one speaker, which is James Cosby. So, when do you start the timer? I got to unlock my phone first. I'm I'm kidding. Um So, thank you again for letting me
014speak. Um I just wanted to come up here um on behalf of myself and some of the other people, thank you all very much for choosing I just want to thank the board as a whole and each of you all individually for choosing to vote on this issue and um again, thank you for doing that. That's what everybody was hoping for from the beginning, but we really do truly appreciate that. Um There's um I wanted to say one thing um and unfortunately, I don't I didn't I lost my notes, so that might be a good thing, might be a bad thing. Um The one thing that I wanted to say tonight was in this whole process, we have created factions and taken sides and in the process of doing that, sometimes we end up this
015might be bold hyperbole here, but we end up vilifying one another one another. And really smart person told me one time that and this is hard, when somebody cuts you off at a red light, assume they're on their way to the hospital. When somebody cuts in line, assume that they're just really hungry. Assume good intentions because when we put intent on actions, a lot of times we mischaracterize them. Some parents have asked like the simplest question like, okay, who's going to coordinate and chaperone going to the bathroom? In no way, shape, or form, and I know some of the parents who have said this, in no way, shape, or form is anybody wanting somebody not to be able to use the bathroom. Um all of us are parents, and we've all been on those long
016car rides when you walk into a store and say, "Can I use Oh, it's up for public, you have to buy something. Okay, I'll buy a stick of gum. Now, can my 4-year-old use the bathroom?" So, we I mean, we completely get that. I think that was just when something's unknown and it comes fast, fear is always like the the knee-jerk response and it's like it's all about this That was all about a safety concern. Are is there going to be chaperones? Cuz I'll just tell you, you put 10 boys in a bathroom, nothing good's going to come out of that. It doesn't matter, they could be the perfect kids or or high high-strung kids. You know, you can I've had Cub Scouts and we had to take them three at a time, that's all
017one adult could handle because it got chaotic, but I just wanted to say from my standpoint, my challenge to everybody, parents, everybody in the room is assume good intentions and um we appreciate you all being here. We know that this is a tough vote. We know that this is something that you don't take lightly. Um I have confidence, you know, we elected you guys to serve the kids, serve the the administration, serve the teachers, and the kids that are in the school, the future kids that are coming in the school, and to serve the community at large, and I just again want to say thank you. I'm watching the timer, so it's kind of freaking me out, but um I just again want to say thank you all for choosing to vote on this issue,
018so thank you all. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Cosby. Please public comments. All right, thank you, Mr. Wyckoff. All right, moving on in the board business, um we have the discussion of the final decision by the Board of Education to relocate Halliburton Academy to Draughon High School for the 2026-2027 school year. Any discussion? I've got discussion. Um I think that I'm not sure if there's other ones or not, but I'm just going to go through and and speak my my piece and my views. And uh I want you to know that I'm not I'm not supportive of the move, and before someone villainizes my view on that, I want to give you some background information. I want to tell you where I'm coming from. Um and give you the details on that. I want you
019to know that I do care. I care very deeply. Um fellow board members can attest that I've been pretty passionate about this and how this is very important and it needed to be a board decision. We we needed to take it on that it was important to members of the community, it was important to the faculty, it was important to the staff, and very important to the students. When you go to changing a um standalone school that's been successful, even even today, they were acknowledged for their academic growth, been successful for over 30 years, this is a board decision, without a doubt. I'm passionate about this. Um my care and concern comes from early ties to the Halliburton Academy. My father was a retired principal from there. I had a close personal relationship with Harry
020and Mil- Mildred Halliburton. Um I was actually in Pat Draughon's class when Jimmy C. Draughon passed away that year. So, these schools, these communities, these employees, they mean something. I love them and I love um how you know, how we rally and and make sure that we've looked at the details when it comes to those decisions. So, first off, I feel that what we have with the Halliburton Academy here at Burke County Public Schools is is something special. And for over 30 years, this program has been successful as a standalone school. When we go to changing this setup, we're risking the possibilities of regression with how far this Halliburton Academy has come. Just today, like I mentioned, the Halliburton Academy was acknowledged for academic growth and uh meeting their goals. This is a big success
021and congratulations, Ms. May. Congratulations, Halliburton Academy. Each year at our board conference, um I've had board members from across the state come up and ask about our our academy and how it's set up and how they want to come up here and sit and uh tour and go through that. It's something special. And uh they would say, you know, "Boy, I wish we had that in our district. I wish I wish we could do that." I want Halliburton students to be able to privately correct their actions, have a chance to make plans for their future, free of stigma, free of judgments. I don't feel this will happen with putting them back on a larger campus. I feel like putting the Halli students on a larger campus will actually be more restrictive than what they have
022had in the past. One of the other reasons that I'm I'm not supportive is in regards to the middle school population. This has served middle school students uh for Halliburton referrals when um your your local middle schools would send referrals if for as long as I can remember. I can't remember exactly the start date, but um I would say it's probably been over 20 years as well. As the mother of a middle school student, I would have a hard time agreeing to send my daughter to be on the campus of a high school. Um what you know, if she's 6th, 7th grade, maybe at the end of 8th grade, it might be okay, acceptable, but um when you're going to put in middle schoolers on a on a high school campus, I do have some
023concerns with that, with safety and that that sort of thing. If for some reason that plan is changed or is due to change, um and the Halliburton or the referrals that would be for the middle school population uh to the Halliburton Academy, and they're not sent on to be on the Draughon campus, then that would mean those students would be back at our local middle schools. And so, would we um would we assign additional duties for someone to have them in ISS all day, or would we end up hiring different positions to be able to fulfill their needs um at the local levels? Um when it comes to savings, I have I have a lot of um re- regression, I guess, about that. So, the estimated renovation to expense Draughon is $250,000. That's what we
024were heard in our meeting. Um so, you're not really going to be saving anything even the first year, but I I don't think we're going to be saving anything the second year. It may be closer down the line, maybe maybe third or fourth year, but um if the school sits and it goes up for sale, let's say the Halliburton Academy, you move um the Halliburton students out, they go to Draughon, you've got a school that's sitting there. How long do you leave it? If we end up leaving it and we put a time frame on it, and we're saying, "Well, if it doesn't sell by this date, then it's going to be demolished." You're looking at another cost of estimates maybe around 450,000 or upwards for that cuz it's a two-story building and an older
025building. Um with the res- the anticipated annual anticipated savings that we received as a board, I do have some um regrets about that. I looked looked at this and looked at it in detail, and so there's there's five positions that are said to be saved, but these are positions that were already cut in the last year and a half to two years' time. So, that's not anticipated savings, that's savings that has already happened and already been cut either by um you know, retirements, attrition, or or the position itself. Those those have already been done. Even the custodial positions mentioned on here, I was I'm under the impression that those will be pulled from another school to cover the Halliburton Academy, which is really not cutting or saving anything. We're actually just, you know, shuffling around
026to be able to cover the need. And there still would be a need for cleaning services, custodial services, all the other contracted services, everything like that until, you know, either that building sells or that it's no longer there. I'm not sure how we can call it a savings once the move takes place. If you add up all of those and the salaries, that gets you to 331,797. That's already, you know, close to most all of what is said to be saved. So, um the other savings for the utilities, I'm guessing those are best guestimates and with the increase in utilities and water and all that with Bowties, you're you're going to be putting more over there than, you know, is that going to go up at Drone? Um Burke County schools will also still be,
027you know, I guess assisting with transportation for the day treatment students. Is that right? Somebody know? Um I know that they go, yeah. So, we take care of them through the year and then in the summers, they're they take care of their own transportation, correct? So, there'll still be bus stops going to and from to Halliburton Academy for those day treatment students. And then also, you know, new bus route going to Drone for the students that would go to the Halliburton or would have normally gone to the Halliburton Academy. So, that's still an expense there. Regardless of the the numbers, the guestimates since I would I would rather know that we save the futures of a hundred kids a year in this program that has been successful than to save $350,000. I would. Um One
028of the other flashy selling points that came across was the CTE. Now, I'm a It's nothing against CTE. I'm a big supporter. Um I think there's a misconception with that. You can't use that as a selling point when, um you know, they're they're saying that the ones that would only be eligible for a CTE at Drone is the credit recovery students. And then it was said the minority majority of the students at Halliburton that were there for credit recovery were already juniors and seniors and then they would have had a CTE their freshman year. Furthermore, they have the option of the 22 credit diploma to where they didn't even need CTE. So, this move would actually limit, I feel, opportunities for CTE and classes like that for the Halliburton students, whereas before they at their
029own building, they had a CTE. They had, you know, I guess culinary, woodwork and stuff like that. Then all the students at Halliburton would have had access to it. Not they won't when they move to Drone. And so, I'm I'm for all students having access there. Um I had another um problem with last week where we were told that, you know, there's a declining enrollment. And then the very next day I see that, um transfers have been closed from one of the feeder patterns schools, Heritage Middle School, for the seventh grade. So, then that leads to other questions as to why why if if your enrollment's down and your and your enrollment's down in your feeder patterns, then why would you close off transfers from one of the feeder patterns? That that makes no sense
030to me. And um I want to I want to pause and I want to, you know, say no on this right now. I want to take further look into how discipline action is documented in the in the handbook. I feel like we've got some things that, um one, we need to we need to know about, we need to learn about, we need to ask about. And then the numbers, um from well, I guess for transparency, I'm hearing that, um teachers put in their write-up on the discipline issues and then the principals come back and change them. That's a big problem because that's going to affect your Halliburton referrals and then who goes to get, um you know, the hearings on that. So, these are my reasons on not supporting it. Um you know, there's still
031a lot of questions, a lot of things up in the air. And I appreciate the board hearing me out and hearing my my reasons on that. Thank you. Any further discussion? I do I have something to Sorry, I can't seem to get my throat clear. Um So, this has been the I said to somebody earlier today, this decision, this topic tells me that the honeymoon's over being on the school board. This has been weighing heavily on me. I have researched, I have talked to people, I've listened to people. Um You could >> [clears throat] >> put me on a debate team right now and pick either side of this and hand it to me and I could argue a great case for it because I can see the benefit of staying as we are and
032then I can also see some benefits of merging or moving the Halliburton Academy into its own area at Drone. Um I think that First of all, my biggest my biggest concern and priority are our students and what's going to serve our students the best, what's going to serve our Drone students the best and what's going to serve our Halliburton students the best. I personally know many five, maybe six, maybe seven graduates through the years from Halliburton and I've seen what a wonderful program that is. I've seen what, um the students that apply themselves and really understand that they've got a second chance and um No no, you know, when they've been given a second chance and they look at it and they say, "Okay, I've got to I've got to hold on to this now."
033And I've seen that and I've seen those graduates through a lot of years and it's such a successful program. Even if they're not winning awards, which they actually did. Um I think they got it today, if I'm not mistaken. Um It's it's still a phenomenal phenomenal school. It's phenomenal program. We have a great team that works there and I'm I'm so happy that we have that and the last thing I want to do is harm that program in some way. The first thing that I want to do where Halliburton's concerned is to help that program in any way we can. So, I say all that to say, I have put so many sleepless nights and so much thought and so much concern into this and honestly sitting here right now and I will tell you,
034I am still not 100% sure of what I'm going to vote in 2 minutes or whatever. Um But I hope that the community will will rally around whatever this vote is and help us help us make it what it is. And the other thing I want to say and then I'll be finished, I promise. Um If I got to choose on what we were voting for, I would make a third suggestion and I would vote for us to table this topic, do a reset. Instead of trying to implement it in the 26-27 school year, try implement it if we choose to implement it in the 27-28 school year, make everything completely transparent, start from the beginning. We've all had our um oh my gosh moments and what are they thinking and why did it come
035out and they're they're done, they've already made a decision and we've all had all our the shock and all of it all. And if we could reset, I feel confident that we could do this thing that everybody involved would be happy with it. So, that said, I personally, if this vote passes, promise that I I I don't mean promise, but I will have my eyes on what's going on with this. Um Even if it doesn't pass, we've still got to keep our eyes on it and we've got to make sure that things are handled appropriately and things are transparent and we all see and understand what needs are where and when they're met and how they're met. Um And I hope that that this school board gives us I mean, that that you guys give
036us the room to do that while still telling us, what you're seeing and how you're feeling and the way it's coming to you because that's what our job is. And our job is to make sure that every student is safe and has a good basis and a good place to learn and get a good basic education. And that's what we need to be focused on. And we we don't need to There's a certain level of confidence that you give this school system, this district when you allow your child to go to public school. And we need you to continue whatever this vote is, we need you to continue with that confidence in us and know that we we will be on top of this and we will make sure that whatever the vote is, that
037it happens the way it needs to happen. Madam Chair, I'd just like to echo a little bit of what, um Sonia said. I think, you know, the the priority, of course, is the children and their safety and everything. And I think that's what everybody wants. Congratulations to Halliburton on their award. I don't believe [clears throat] that a a building causes that success. I think that's the the students, the the administrators, and and the people that's put into it into that program to get that award. I don't think I think any place you put that in as long as you had that support, you're going to you're going to see more awards like that. Um Having said that, like she said, I do um I do think that there's been a lot of sleepless nights, a
038lot of um questions asked. I know a lot of administrators have put into a lot of um looking into these things in the past that some of this stuff didn't come to light till later on because, you know, wasn't sure if this program was going to work or was even going to come to this point, but and I do appreciate all their work, and I do appreciate everybody on the board's um looking into this and um passionate about it cuz it really is important and that is great program, and um just we need to support it along with every other student. That's all I got. I'd like to >> [clears throat] >> I don't have anything written down or anything, so I might ramble for a minute, but uh we're stuck here until until we're
039done. Um I am going to vote no tonight for uh multiple reasons. I think that um like Sonia said, we need to um give Halliburton as much support and stuff as we can. Um I think that some of that would start off with um giving them their two teachers back that they've lost since last year, their ISS teacher, their behavioral specialist, their teacher assistant, the social worker that they now only have for 3 days out of a week. Uh would like to put them back I think we need to figure out a way to put them back full time. Uh front office uh assistant and uh finding a teacher for Apex. Uh the the the the biggest thing to me has been I think that it has been made abundantly clear that um and this
040is probably going to make people mad, but it is what it is, that the community at Halliburton I mean, the community at Drone High School is not going to welcome these kids. What I do not want to see is that we take those kids and then that we move them to Drone High School and those kids feel like they have um they want to go to a ballgame or whatever because, you know, Drone High School's, you know, their school now. Um whatever we want to say, yes, Halliburton is still be its own school, but but those kids are going to feel a sense of community there, and what I don't want to see is um these kids going to a ballgame and being picked on by um members of the community, um possibly staff and
041students. I don't want to see um one of these kids um just being treated bad um because they're Halliburton student. Um so I don't want to see um I'm not saying that this is a a wrong move. I think maybe it's just the wrong time. Um maybe it is a we look at it in a year or two type of thing, and um have more community input and stuff like that before we just surprise it on people. Um but with the lack of transparency that I believe has been had in this process from this board and administration, um I don't want to see those kids be affected by it. Anyone else? Yeah, um just sort of like what Sonia said, I think everybody up here's had a many sleepless nights over this um cuz this
042is the big decision, and um and I and I understand that, you know, parents have concerns about what's going on with this, and I have a child who's going to be at Drone myself in just a few years. And so I understand that, but we I know myself I've put in I can't tell me how many calls I've made to admin and stuff over the past couple weeks, you know, just whatever comes to my head, I'm picking up the phone and calling. And uh I just want to say thank you to those guys who's been there and picked up the phone every time we've called and and answered the questions um when we needed them. Mr. Camp, do you have anything before I say [snorts] my piece and then we move into a vote? I'll
043just say this um this whole thing started with the um with the projection from the state that we were going to be what, 4 and 1/2 million dollars short. It wasn't something we we intended in the beginning, but um uh that is what we got from the state. Every every school district, every county got it from the state, a shortfall. And we got it just like the rest did. And um ever since that shortfall was first uh projected, the I know our district administration and and has been working with their their principals and all the rest on what can we do to cut costs. Anything anyone can come up with, any ideas is welcome. And they've been doing that all year. Uh this is not new. They've been doing that all year. Uh we talked
044about it in the fall. What can we do to cut costs? What can we do to uh to be able to keep our our good programs, to be able to keep our teachers, keep our staff? Um because they're the heart of the students. It's um our our our teachers are the ones who are there for the students. They are the the front line. They're the ones who inspire them and teach them and prepare them for the future. And so what all can we do? And so they came up with all kinds of of of ideas, and we and in the process of all of that, somewhere in there, Halliburton the the move of Halliburton to another facility was was um looked at uh along with all the other ideas, and what can we do? And
045uh and it it was started that I'm sure looking at cutting costs, but it's also, you know, what kind of facility are they in um on the Halliburton campus, um uh an old building that was was really nice 70 years ago, but um it's it's it's a difficult setting now, and uh the idea when you you get see, if I was a business owner, and I was um and I had a business, and I had a little location, and someone offered me um honestly a much nicer location, I said, "No, I'm going to keep where I'm at because I like this place. I'm used to it." And would turn down a much better location. That doesn't make a lot of sense. Um the uh the Halliburton staff is still the same staff. They're still still
046the ones who are there day to day, minute to minute with those students. And wherever they are with those students, it's still the the the staff, the teachers, the principal, and the students, um no matter what setting they're in. And uh but honestly, it's it's just a so much better better setting. And there are other opportunities that those kids are going to have that they haven't been having lately. We talk about CTE classes at at Halliburton, well, not for the last 2 years. Um they got lost. Uh one of them got lost, and then they both got lost. And so now they have no such opportunities. And with the budget the way it is, who knows when they would ever come back. But if we could if we had the time, if the state would
047just give us another year to uh to soak up that 4 and 1/2 million dollar shortfall, that would be great. The state's not doing that. They're not giving us another year. Uh it's coming to us whether, you know, no matter what we do about it, it's coming to us. And what are we going to do with it? And how are we going to um how are we going to be able to keep our our quality education and our kids and our with our teachers and and all the other staff? Um So that's kind of the way I see it. Echoing much of what has been said already, um >> [clears throat] >> many dare I say hundreds of hours has went in [clears throat] to meeting, to discussing, to talking to DPI, to talking to
048the State Board of Education. I mean, we're still, to my knowledge, reaching out to see what options are available. Um but at this point, um as Mr. Beck has already alluded, um Halliburton is already missing a lot. And these kids under North Carolina law, and based on oaths that we took, have a right to a sound basic education. And what they're receiving right now is not a sound basic education. I'm just going to say it. And me saying that does not mean that any of us dislike or view Drone kids lower than Halliburton kids. That's not what that means. I have a kid with a disability. I have a kid without one. The kid with a disability gets a little bit more attention because he needs it. Doesn't mean I love my other kid less.
049And so at this time, Halliburton is in a critical need from my point of view. Um I understand, I hear uh the request to pause for a year. And to use the word transparent, I don't understand what is going to change in a year. I don't think the feelings are going to change about it in a year. I don't think the circumstances are going to change in a year. If anything, they may get worse. So, with that being said, um unless someone has something else to say. Yeah. Yeah. That woman back there, if if we are not providing those kids an education that they deserve, that is on that is on this board, that is on our superintendents, but that woman has done everything that she can do with what we have given her. And
050I think maybe didn't mean it this way, but I think that it is a slap in the face to sit here tonight and say that that woman does not do everything that she No one said >> That is I'll let you finish. I think that that is absolutely ridiculous. She got an award tonight. We should have been standing up and clapping for her. And that's all I can say without cussing. I mean not [clears throat] one time did I say that Halliburton isn't doing amazing things, that Ms. Sain isn't doing amazing things. Well, we're not providing them We are not. If you're saying that they're missing CTE whether it's us, the boards before us, whoever it is, it's not happening. So, we have to rectify it. is what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. We
051don't get to just leave it the way it is because it makes some uncomfortable. We have to fix it. Let's I think we fix it by leaving her where she's at and giving her what she needs. Is that I don't think that's possible. And if it is, then it would have already happened. I truly don't believe that if we had the means to do it, our admin would have not provided that resources those resources to her. I don't think they would have withheld that. >> I'd much rather give her a CTE teacher than put TVs in the central office. >> That's right. Isn't that coming out of two different budgets? It's true, but I'm serious, it's all about perspective. >> wanted to make sure because I mean that's the stuff that's going to Taxpayer dollars
052is taxpayer dollars, but you're making the insinuation that we can just use different pots of money when we can't. I mean that Now we're going to have people on Facebook sitting here saying, "Well, move the money from the central office to keep Halliburton." We can't do that. So, We We can't. In In just to put my two cents' worth in this because I just really want to. Um I have zero doubt that What's a CTE teacher? What What are we talking? I mean I'm going to be 100,000? 100,000? 60,000? What are we talking? 100,000 dollars? I guarantee you if you would hand me the budget for the bucket that that comes out of, I could find that 100,000 dollars and probably save you a a a ton more money, too. Guarantee it. So, we don't
053need to sit here and act like we are the the Scrooge of the school system systems in this state. We have We have um We are too big. There's no way that the people that oversee our budgetary expenditures can know and understand and for lack of a better word, police every penny we see spend. So, so to have a disagreement over whether we can or cannot afford one salary is a little bit is a a little bit off topic, a little bit off course. The fact of the matter is if we we can do what we need to do wherever that teacher wherever that school that academy is, we need to be able to do what we need to do. So, if that's the only thing that is causing us to have a debate about
054this, sign me up. I will find that money for you. I will find it in the right budget or in the right bucket, as as they say. Um But it's more than one or two salaries. Yeah, there were two CTE programs at Halliburton, then then one and now none. But if they were to be at a a Drawn High School, have a program there, then all the CTE programs can be potentially become available to any student from Halliburton. That's more than just a salary. That's It's But it's not. It's already been said that it would not be available to any to all Halliburton students or any you know, Halliburton students. It's not accessible for all of them. It's only accessible for the ones who would be or >> Right. possibly be in need for credit
055recovery. But like was said before, the majority of the ones that are there for credit recovery are junior and seniors. So, they've already had their CTE freshman and sophomore year if they need it. Or if they're doing the 22 credit diploma, there's not even a need for the CTE at that point. >> and just you can get it in your freshman and sophomore And some of our students take more than one CTE. Like if they're messing in a program, they'll take several of those courses. So, it's about finding that fit for that kid. >> kids who need it the most. And just to clarify, I met with Dr. Mr. Lawson again today just to review the savings and we still stand behind we're pretty confident there will be a savings in year one and and
056that and even in year two and three it should increase. So, just to clarify that point. Okay. I was at the last board the board meeting that was mentioned and whenever I heard that, that was, you know, may not be a savings at all the first year. No, I think there still will be some, but it won't be as great as year two and year three. And we're spending out the 250 or would spend out 250 for the renovation of Drawn. Is that still the estimate? 250? For the renovation? Okay. 15,200? Right. Yes. Thank you for that. So, just to clarify and then we're having empty building to maintain. Any further discussion? All right. Hearing none, we're going to proceed with a roll call vote. Uh Brad, what is your vote? This is to to
057move the Halliburton students to the Drawn campus. To relocate Halliburton Academy? Campbell? I did That's the motion. Yeah. The motion is to Are we making the motion? >> motion second. Yeah. >> So, the motion is I'll make the motion to relocate Halliburton Academy to Drawn High School for the 2026-2027 school year. I'll second. Okay, we have a second. I made the motion, Brad Camp seconded. See if there's any other discussion. Any other discussion before we close it? Hearing none, Brad, what is your vote? Uh I vote yes. All right. Sonia? No. Okay. Jamie? Yes. Tiana vote yes. Aaron? Yes. Leslie? No. Reed? No. That is a four to three vote. All right. Moving on, we have consent agenda items. We have our open session minutes from March 23rd, March 30th, and closed session minutes from
058March 30th. We need to fix >> [clears throat] >> the March 30th minutes. Um Ms. Taylor voted no to extending the time and we have her voting yes, but if we go back and watch the video, she asked me to if I would amend my amendment or whatever to five minutes and I said I would not. Ms. Taylor voted against, but we did still carry the motion. Can we go ahead and have that amended? Sweet. All right. And so with that amended uh March 30th regular meeting, was that it? Uh yes. Okay. Um with that amendment, do we have a motion to approve the consent items? I'll make a motion. Motion by Mr. Beck. Do we have a second? Second. Second by Ms. Taylor. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor indicate by
059saying I. I. Those opposed, nay. I's have it. Next, we have the board amendment budget revision with Mr. Lawson. Good evening, members of the board. I would just like to say I very much appreciate and respect the decision. I know it was very difficult for all of you and I appreciate the decision you made. Uh I would like to request approval of the items as presented to you in last week's work session. Uh action items A, B, and C. All right. We have um a request. Do we have a motion from the board or do we have any questions? I move we approve Motion to approve A, B, and C? Yes, all three. By Mr. Camp. Do we have a second? Second. Second by Mr. Wyckoff. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor
060indicate by saying I. I. Those opposed, nay. Nay. Nay, I's have it with a nay from Mr. Beck. With a nay off. Thank you. All right. Next, we have a personnel board action report with Mr. Recker. Board, I request your approval of the April extra report, please. I make a motion to approve. Motion to approve by Mr. Beck. Do we have a second? Second. >> Second by Mr. Johnson. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor indicate by saying I. I. Those opposed, nay. Eyes have it. The personnel board action report is passed. Thank you, Mr. Recker. Next, we have the second reading of board policy 6322 student assignment to buses. Thank you. Are there any any feedback on that policy? If not, I request a motion to approve. I so move. Do I
061have a second? Second. Second by Mrs. Rocket. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor indicate by saying I. I. >> Those opposed, nay. Eyes have it. Passes. Do we have a need for closed session tonight? We have a need for a very short closed session pursuant to 143.318.11A3 >> [snorts] >> to discuss matters covered by the attorney-client privilege. I so move. Do we have a second? Second. Second by Mr. Beck. All those in favor indicate by saying I. I. Those opposed, nay. Eyes have it. We are now in closed session. Thank you, everyone. Are we staying in a minute?