001Amen. All right, if we can stand for the presentation of colors and the pledge of allegiance. 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. Thank you to Draughn High School's Fire Academy led by Chief Tony Crouch. Uh with that, board members, I believe we are to move to the floor. Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board. Thank you for giving me this time this evening to recognize some really great student achievements. This time I would like to introduce Mr. Ed Phillips, who is the CEO of Discover Burke, as well as the chair of America 250 for Burke County. Thank you, Dr. Wilson. The America 250 Flag Challenge invited fourth-grade students from
002across North Carolina to design county flags that reflect their unique perspective on the place they call home. This initiative encourages students to think critically about their county's history, culture, and geography by expressing these elements through symbolism and design. At the same time, it strengthens connections between local families, school systems, and county organizations. The student-created flag designs and accompanying essays showcase creativity while capturing a meaningful snapshot of each county at this moment in history. Through participation, students contribute to a lasting community-centered project that will be shared with the public. To commemorate their efforts, both the first-place and second-place flag designs will be preserved in the Burke County time capsule, housed in the Register of Deeds office, and scheduled to be opened 50 years from now in 2076. At this time, I'd like to recognize the runner-up
003with the Burke County flag, Kennedy Chapman. And if that size doesn't fit you, we can replace it. The district winner for Burke County for the North Carolina Flag Challenge was Clara Powell from George Hildebrand Elementary. Clara's These flags will be entered in the statewide competition. They had almost 100 entries from across North Carolina, many of which I have reviewed online, and let me tell you, we have a fighting chance for Burke County to be the state flag in this competition. So, thank you guys very much. On Thursday, March the 5th, 2026, we held the Elementary Science Fair at Old Rock School. The following students were our first-place team representing Valdese Elementary. Please come forward when I call your name. Parker Craven, Emmett Sheeran, and Anderson Sigmon. Congratulations, students. On Wednesday, February 25th, we held the
004Elementary Math Counts competition. Our first-place winner in individual competition is Shang Feng Yu, representing Mountain View Elementary. And our first-place team also representing Mountain View Elementary School, Liam Uceda, Arizbeth Mendez Garcia, Lucas Saavedra, Bentley Stevens, Hessler Tamaj Crisostomo, Olson Vick, and Shang Feng Yu. Congratulations, Mountain View. Our next award goes to the National Wild Turkey Federation winner. We have a Burke County uh prize winner here, fourth place in the poults division for turkey calling, representing Salem Elementary, Boone Miller. Boone, come on down. >> That was what we're listening to. What do we call? Is it a yelp? Is it a gobble? A plain yelp. Okay. And Burke County's public schools archery programs were well represented at the North Carolina State Bullseye Tournament in Winston-Salem as 16 different schools were represented at the elementary, middle, and
005high school levels. Competed in both team and individual competitions. We had a first place elementary girls winner, Miss Bailey Bartlett, representing Icard Elementary. Good evening, Madam Chair, Vice Chair, and members of the board. Thank you for the opportunity to present the most outstanding achievements from secondary this evening. First off, we want to recognize our East Burke High School archery team. The East Burke team competed at the state tournament recently and brought back individual and team wins. Placing first in the high school boys division is Luke Duncan. Congratulations, Luke. The East Burke High School team also showed out with an outstanding 22-person team that took home first place in the high school division. When I call you by name, please come forward to receive your certificate and stay standing for a group photo. I also want
006to go ahead and share that Dr. May said we have a lot of athletic events um happening tonight, so we apologize that some of our students may not be here. Hudson Lance Aubrey Garris Bree Hubler Luke Duncan Seth Ward Lacie Farino Carter Seagle Jayden Yang Natalie Bale Madison Payne Bailey Hildebrand Zane Taylor Riley Woods Easton Hiler Carly Mace Spencer Miller Abby Goebel Will Loman Chris Lippard Caroline Cox Joseph Beltran and Lavaya Bryson. And of course, this success of this team would not be possible without the support of our two coaches, and we would like for them to also come forward, Coach Ashley Loman and Coach Michael Kirby. Congratulations again to the East Burke High School archery team for all of their hard work. They will now be moving on to national. Let's give them another
007big round of applause. Congratulations, East Burke High School. Our next recognition of the night is our 3A state champion in pole vault. We are proud to recognize the hard work of Anna Kate from Draughn High School. We have one more achievement from Draughn High School tonight that we would like to recognize. They recently competed in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Cheerleading State Championship. And Draughn came out victorious in the small varsity D2 game day division. When I call your name, please come forward to receive your certificate and stay standing at the front for a group photo. Caitlyn Colella Ella Reiford Nadia Short Ella Cosby Heather Holman Madison Bowman Nala Lee Denaya Hart Cali Absher Riley Bridges Adaya Greenlee Kaylee Denton Madelyn Reed Mallory Byers Landry Pritchard Gloriana Epps We would also like to
008recognize their coaches as well, who also helped to make this achievement possible, Coach Macy Dula and Coach Olga Dula. Congratulations, ladies. East Burke High School also competed in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Cheerleading State Championship and brought back the first place trophy in the medium varsity non-tumbling D2 division. Please come forward when I call your name. Isabella Crisco Jordan Aldridge Olivia Villegas Reagan Austin Chloe Stocks Ara Berculture Aldrena Buchanan Carson Coffee Cora Morrison Skylar McConney Ava Odom Kinsley Ingle Aphrodite Blankenship Kaylynn Jolly McKenzie Wynn Tanai Wilfong We'd also like to recognize their coaches as well. Head coach Sabrina Baker and assistant coach Emily Reese. Congratulations, ladies. In addition to all the student recognitions tonight, we also have one staff recognition. And in January 2010 somebody at Freedom High School and somebody in the
009county was smart enough to hire Tim Smith to take over the automotive program. In that time, 16 years, I've been fortunate enough to witness Mr. Smith do things for kids that not everybody gets credit for, whether it's an apprenticeship, an internship, uh whether it's getting admission to CBCC, Western Piedmont Community College, whether it's getting a job at the local automotive shop, or the Ford place, or Chevrolet dealership. Been able to witness it firsthand. And so, over those 16 years, Mr. Smith has demonstrated truly the meaning of being an educational leader. And CTE is very lucky to have Mr. Smith. Freedom High School's very lucky to have Mr. Smith. He's one of those guys that your school, your program, your community, and your county are proud to have as a representative. And as I couldn't I
010could stand up here and talk about him for an hour. He's one of the best people I know. He's one of the best advocates for kids I know. And on that, I'm going to call Mr. Tim Smith up as being uh this year's CTE Teacher of the Year, Mr. Smith, Tim Smith from Freedom High School. And Free- Freedom High School had uh had this wrench done for him. Dr. Swan may want to tell the story about the whipped cream uh that he got pied in the face uh his first year as principal by Mr. Smith during the pep rally. But uh we're lucky to have him. Congratulations, Mr. Smith. Ms. Shuffler, at this time um you might have to hand your camera over to somebody. Uh we do have another staff recognition. Uh Every year,
011the North Carolina School Public Relations Association honors Burke County Public Schools for excellence in communication with 10 Blue Ribbon Awards for outstanding and effective communication. We were one of 35 school districts statewide to receive awards. The six gold, two silver, and two bronze medal level awards were for excellence in writing, special events, electronic media, digital media engagement, and photography. Our public relations officer relations and communications team is made up of public relations officer Sheryl Shuffler and child nutrition marketing communication specialist Ms. Bethany Duncan. Please come forward. >> [clears throat] >> All right. And with that, we will go ahead and begin public comment. Uh Vice Chair Wycoff, do we have anyone signed up for public comment? Yes, we do. Awesome. While they're getting that set up, let me read something real quick. Persons will speak
012in 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 their comments to a close, followed by thank you. School board policy, state law, and federal law have established separate and distinct procedures and forums for resolution of employee grievances, employee complaints uh 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 district or an outside agency, three, complaint against an individual employee, four, employee disciplinary action, suspension, or termination, or five, pupil suspension
013or appeal, which may ultimately reach 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 that is not in accordance with these criteria. Except as limited by the previous provisions, public comments will be allowed during the public comments period on any subject that is within jurisdiction of the board. And with that, the first speaker that we have is Mayor Dennis Anthony. Madam Chair, I would like to ask that we forego the 3-minute time limit and allow people to speak as long as they would like. We have a motion. Do we have a second? I'll second. Seconded by Mrs. Taylor. Any further discussion? Hearing none.
014Make it 5 minutes. A 5-minute max. A 5-minute a minute or two. >> would not like to I will not amend my amendment or whatever. I would like to see people talk as long as they would like to. All right. And with that, all those in favor, indicate by raising your hand. All those opposed? That is 4 to 3. Ms. Pam, do you have that, or do you want me to go ahead and roll call? All right. For the yeas, it was Mr. Beck, Mrs. Taylor, Mrs. Rocket, and Mr. Camp. The nays was Mr. Johnson, myself, and Mr. Wycoff. All right, it passes. You can speak as long as you need to, Mr. Mayor. Well, I am mayor, so you know that could be a while. No, first of all, what I would like to
015thank you, Madam Chair and board for letting me speak here tonight. What I would like to start off doing first of all, for the benefit of Mr. Beck and Mr. Camp, uh I am a retiree of the Burke County school system. I was head custodian at Drexel Elementary and Heritage Middle School. I served about 13 years with the school system. And I served under quite a few uh quite a few of principals. Actually, I I served under Dr. Swain, Dr. Alton, Dr. Sain, Ginger Stinson, Mr. Keith Record, and Shane Mayes is the one that hired me to start with. So, that's I just wanted to kind of give you guys a little background on where I came from or where it is. And now I I am here not to speak as a parent or
016as a concern with that. I am here to represent the town of Drexel. There has been some things going on or not going on, but some things been said and stuff been talked about that I want to set out clear to the board and anybody here in this room to understand. Uh first of all, I would like to say that I was here last Monday for the meeting with on the 23rd. And uh a couple days, I'm not sure if it was Wednesday or Thursday of the the the prior week to that, Dr. Sain called me and uh talked to me and he was informing me that he was considering to move Halliburton Academy to Drexel High School. And he was wanting me to know that and be aware of that in case of who
017knows, you know, what may be going on. But as I told him, uh what him and the school board does with the Halliburton Academy and the school system is not a part of the town of Drexel. We do not own that building. We do not own that land. It's all Burke County schools' land and property. We have no interest in that land. We have no interest in the building. There has been rumors and stuff that we want to take this building and put stuff in it, apartments in it, all kinds of other stuff in That's not so. We do not want this building. The main reason we don't want this building is because we have spent $12 million on 100 acres of old Drexel furniture site that we are have developed and are getting ready
018to bring at least one to two industries to town. Don't know what they are yet or when, but we're close to finishing phase one and phase two will be to bring an industry. So, anything that anybody says that the town of Drexel wants that town or wants that building, wants anything, no. The only thing we ever got out of the Halliburton Academy was utilities, which was electricity and water. There was no tax break, you know, taxes or anything from them cuz it's all school property and you know, we didn't they didn't pay taxes and stuff. We didn't have to pay taxes, so let me put it that way. So, but that is kind of what I have to say, that just that there was one thing that the uh that was brought up last week
019and I I kind of want to not necessarily clarify, but get a little bit better of an understanding. Uh it was about the SRO O SRO officers coming to Halliburton from different areas. Uh I would say 90% of the time or more, our Drexel police officers were the first on the scene unless the SRO officer was there or closer by. But I think our response was anywhere between two to three minutes to get to Halliburton whenever there was a situation there that needed their help. And they they served that well. They done that well. And they also done regular checks and stuff on that area. But please, board and people and anybody that please understand the town of Drexel does not want the Halliburton Academy. We have We do not have any interest in it
020and we do not care Well, it's not that we don't care, it's that uh we don't need it and we don't want it. So, it's I just want to say thank you for letting me speak tonight and just I just wanted to clarify that the town of Drexel has other bigger prospects in in mind. So, thank you. Thank you, Mayor. >> [clears throat] >> Next is Steve Starns. Steve Starns. Third is Jackie Clark. Good afternoon. My name is Jackie Clark. My husband and myself, we've been teachers in Burke County for close to 30 years now and we're really proud of that. Um I have lots of friends that are teachers, lots of friends that are family members and we are truly proud to be a part of Burke County Public Schools. I have some letters
021here also from some teachers who were not able to come tonight. And I have those if if you guys would like them. Like you, I care very deeply about doing what is best for every student. We truly believe that Dr. Swan and his leadership team have approached the decision to move Halliburton Academy to Drexel High School with a genuine focus on students. It is clear that they spent a great deal of time studying the data, looking at the needs across the district, and trying to make the most responsible decision possible. We've heard a great deal about communication concerning this matter. Dr. Swan and his team consistently provide information in a timely manner. Communication and transparency are the hallmarks of this administration. Conversations about budget shortfalls have been in the works for almost the entire school
022year. We've known that we have a reduction in enrollment and that funds are being cut. This is not a new topic. If it's new to you, I challenge you to stay a little more informed. It's been said that if we want to save money, um we need to consider all options. From a financial standpoint, the reality is hard to ignore. We're facing budget pressures, declining enrollment. This consolidation offers significant savings, resources that can stay in our classrooms and support students directly. When we talk about saving equal to almost 10 teaching positions, it really makes you stop and think. Where else would those funds be cut from? And how would that impact our kids? At the same time, we are encouraged by the vision for Halliburton Academy. This isn't about taking something away, it's about strengthening
023it. The plan to keep the academy's identity intact while giving students access to better facilities and resources, not just a makeshift classroom in the back of a gym. Just as importantly, this plan respects the uniqueness of both schools. Students will still have their own principal, staff, and identity with thoughtful scheduling to ensure appropriate separation while sharing the same space. To us, this feels like a rare win-win in education. Supporting students while also being good stewards of taxpayer dollars. We also believe in trusting the leadership that we put in place with Dr. Swan. He was chosen to lead this district and decisions like this fall within his responsibility. Stepping in to override that leadership could set a dangerous precedent moving forward. At the heart of all this is something bigger. Who are we as a community?
024We recently celebrated an all-inclusive talent show and it was a great reminder of what we stand for. Inclusion means making room for everyone, especially those that need us the most. If we begin to draw lines based on fear, perception, or discomfort, we risk losing sight of that mission and grace. Every student in Burke County deserves the best opportunity of support and a chance to succeed. I think that's something we all agree on. And on honesty, we should have done this a long time ago, budget or not. We simply ask that you continue to support this plan and trust the process that has brought it forward. We respect so much this board and we appreciate the responsibility that you carry. Thank you for your time and your consideration. Thank you, Mrs. Clark. Mrs. Clark, um when
025it's convenient for you, could you give those letter Yes, ma'am. Um you can give them to uh Dr. Swan and he'll distribute at an appropriate time. Thank you. Uh next is Kim Baker. My name is Kim Richie Baker. I was a child of the Burke County school system who has been in all my family for all these years. Uh I was a teacher at North Liberty School for 30 years and did uh 12 years homebound services for special needs students. Uh that school, North Liberty, was beneficial for those students to be able to learn in their own specialized environment. As to the students at Hall Burton Academy, their educational, emotional, and social needs are best met in a special learning environment. >> [clears throat] >> I can visualize the future for the students that their
026needs won't be met at Drone. I can visualize the drop out the attendance rate decreasing as well as a decrease in the graduation rate. These students also have special needs. I foresee problems with Hall Burton being brought into Drone. Is $325,000 worth the risk of the board to have much larger deficits? As you're dealing with me, it's the dollars you've dealt with before. The Earth Alternative School has worked for 30 plus years. Why change this successful program now? I mean, $325,000, that's a drop in the bucket compared to what you've dealt with in budget deficits before. This should be a board decision with much thought and exploration of the thought the of these students. Please keep Hall Burton Alternative School for the students' sake. Public education Public education should be here for all of our
027students. They do have social, emotional, and educational needs. I beg you to consider the options. Thank you for allowing me to speak. Thank you, Mrs. Baker. >> Susan McGee Thank you, Madam Chairperson and the rest of the board for allowing these open comments. Uh I'm sure there are times that school systems can allow that, but we do appreciate you all allowing us to speak. My name is Susan Petit McGee. I am a 32-year resident of Valdese. I am a 12-year resident of Drexel. I am a 25-year educator in Burke County Public Schools. And most importantly, I'm a grandmother of 6-year-old Meredith and 3-year-old Maverick who also live in Valdese. I am one of you. An audience, I'm one of you. Out of the 25 years I have been a part of Burke County Public Schools,
02815 of those years were spent at Drone High School and at Hall Burton Academy. 10 years at Drone and 5 years at Hall Burton. I left Drone only because I was offered my dream job as an online educator at Hall Burton Academy. My heart was in in online learning. I absolutely loved teaching at both schools. Drone was the second safest school I have taught in and the first safest school is Hall Burton Academy. At the beginning of each day, all students surrender their phones for the entire school day and then they go through a metal detector. In my 5 years at Hall Burton, the worst thing I saw was a vape. Hall Burton has gotten a stigma over the years of only being for the bad kids. I'm so sorry that we as a school
029system have allowed that stigma to remain. We should take credit for that, not the community. Hall Burton is no more a place for bad kids than the School of Math and Science is for the smartest kids in Burke County Public Schools. The large majority of Hall Burton kids are behind on their credits. A traditional high school requires 28 specific credits to graduate. Hall Burton requires 22. That cuts out a lot of the elective courses for these students. The only difference in the two diplomas is that the Hall Burton students must go to a community college or a technical school before they go to a university. Two Hall Burton students stand out in my mind. One girl worked third shift. She went home to shower, change clothes, and came to Hall Burton for her education. She
030went home and slept only to start over again that night. This next young man, Leslie, you're going to know who I'm talking about. Another student, when Mr. Klontz handed him his diploma, collapsed crying in Mr. Klontz's arms. He said his other school said he would never graduate. Not only did he graduate, but Hall Burton became his safe place and his home. I could give you countless more success stories, but I will leave you with the most important one. In a few short years, my grandchildren will be going to Drone. And if Hall Burton is housed there, I am 100% confident that they will be safe and well educated. I would never ever send my kids anywhere I don't feel they're safe. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Susan. Becca Stevens Good evening. My name is Becca
031Stevens. As a parent, I did not receive a letter. I did not receive a call. I found out about the relocation plan from teachers who were shocked that major changes were being placed in front of them that were going to directly impact them. That alone should concern every person in this room. And since I want to be sure my words are not twisted, let me be very clear. No one at Drone thinks that they are too good to teach a Hall Burton student. No one said that and no one believes that. What people do believe is that their words will be twisted because we watched it happen in real time on Monday night. And when that happens, people stop talking. Not because they don't care, but because they don't feel safe and because they don't
032trust the process. This process has been rushed and in my opinion, unprofessional and very poorly communicated. The first official discussion to our community by Burke County Public Schools was a Facebook post. A Facebook post is not leadership. That is damage control. And when you try to make a move this big in under 90 days, it sure doesn't feel like it's all about students. It feels like it's about a budget. Now, let's address what was completely misrepresented about my community on Monday night. Comments were made that shook me to my core. So, I went home and I looked for facts. This so-called comment came from a Q&A that was organized by Drone parents because sadly, we had no communication from our school system that they had made any move to have one in the future. No
033one No one called a child a circus animal. What was actually said was concern and a question. Concern about how it would feel for a Hall Burton student to be separated, escorted, and put on display as they have to walk from a segregated hallway across to a lunch room or other areas in the school. The point was that it would be harmful to those children. No one called a child an animal. So, let's stop twisting that into something ugly because it sure wasn't. And let's stick to some facts. You want us to trust you? Then show up. Show up authentically. Not quietly in the back of our room through your Q&A with second-hand voices. From people from family members and administrative employees. Show up. And thankfully, we have some board members that did that authentically
034and stood and introduced themselves. Be honest and answer questions because let me tell you who this community really is. This community is filled with parents who show up with food and clothes when families are struggling. They provide Christmas for kids who don't have it. They circle students home and pray for them when they experience the greatest loss of their lives. They open their homes to children who need a safe place. They don't just love their kids. They love all kids. >> [clears throat] >> Unlike the twisted narrative that was portrayed last Monday night, I will not stay silent while other people use a microphone to paint us in anything less. Our community was misrepresented on Monday. Our concerns are valid and this process is being rushed. This community will always love children and they will
035support them all and they will welcome them all. This is who we are and but we will not forget how we have been treated and portrayed and we will not exhort ignore the lack of leadership we are seeing. This should absolutely 100% be a vote regardless of the outcome. That's the beauty of this. We don't all have to agree. But frankly, this awful backhanded narrative is unreal. Regardless of the outcome, you see true transparency, true transparency requires time and requires a voice. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Becca. >> Thank you. Trinity Lambert Hi. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Trinity Lambert. I'm a teacher, a coach, and a 2018 graduate of Draughn High School. The thing is, most people in this room do know me. Whether you're one of my
036principals or my ADs when I was a student or an employee, a fellow teacher, or even a friend. And many of you have approached me sometime in my past 3 years at Burke County Public Schools and told me you can tell how much I care. How much I care about my kids, about my job, about my community, and my school. And the thing is, you're right. I do care. So, when my concerns about this and every valid point I make is met with a perfectly polished rebuttal with just enough detail to discredit me, but not enough to make me feel secure in the plan, it's disheartening. It's even more disheartening when hearing that anyone who opposes this plan doesn't care about Halliburton Academy students. That's not true. That's not fair. And that's not based in
037fact. So, what I would like to present to you tonight is based in fact and in reason. For someone who is in a classroom with 30-plus students every day and will be directly impacted by this decision. First, the numbers. Last week when asked why no other options were being presented, it was stated that other schools were full and this conversation was quickly moved on from. According to the 2024-2025 ADM numbers from NCDPI, Draughn has 657 students, Patton 755, East Burke 865, and Freedom 1287. Yes, Draughn is the smallest, but not by a margin that explains why we are the only option. Patton has 98 more students than us and correct me if I'm wrong, but 2,000 more square feet. So, how is it that 98 students makes a school go from having tons of room
038to completely full? How is it that East Burke has 422 fewer students than Freedom, but is not even being considered as a possible location? How is it that these lines are drawn in the first place where one side of the county is consistently underpopulated? These are fair questions and they've not been clearly answered. Further on the numbers, when we look at classroom capacity, it was stated that 24 out of 36 CTE classrooms have room. And I want to be clear about something. As a teacher with a class that technically has a capacity of 36, I can tell you when I see that number on my roster, I dread it. It doesn't matter how great the students are, how motivated they are to learn. Simply put, from someone in the classroom every single day, it's too
039many students. Labs become difficult, sometimes nearly impossible. Group activities are hard to manage. Giving timely, meaningful feedback becomes harder. Just because more students can be placed in a classroom does not mean they should. If you ask any teacher, specifically CTE teachers, who are in hands-on classrooms every day, they'll tell you the same thing. Adding even one more class one more student to an already full class is hard. And this is not meant to be demeaning to Halliburton Academy students. The reality is educators at Halliburton who have dedicated their careers to working with alternative school students have also recognized this is not a good solution. These students need smaller class sizes, stricter instruction, and more support. Instead, they'll be placed on a hallway, told to stay there, and separated from the rest of the school while
040still being expected to function within it. They will watch as other students go about their day, whether that's outside the window on the blacktop, in shared spaces, or in classrooms they may not be ready for. And that raises another question. What happens to those shared spaces? Specifically that blacktop area that will be used for school drop-off for the Halliburton Academy students. Are they taken away from Draughn High School students? Because those are heavily used by PE and science classes. These students may be pushed into CTE classes they are not ready for, which will set them back even further. And yes, this does not apply to every single student, but when making decisions like this, we have to consider the majority. And for the majority, it is not a good fit. I also want to address
041the idea that most of these students are there for credit recovery. While that might be true, it is not something teachers take lightly. I have taught many students myself who eventually have made their way to Halliburton. They are often chronically absent or when they are present, they refuse to work. They are not disruptive. They are not disrespectful. But they are disengaged. I've had students sit in my class for weeks and do nothing despite every intervention I try and I try everything. I try to redirect them. I try to talk to them. I call home. I meet with counselors. I talk to administration. I collaborate with other teachers. I print extra copies and I pull them during my planning. And eventually, I'm forced into a position where I'm either continue pouring my time into one student
042or focus on the other 30 in my classroom. So, when I hear they are just there for credit recovery, I hear they are covering their credits because they weren't there to complete it the first time. So, why would we disrupt a system that might be finally working for them? Yes, there are students who are there due to trauma or illness or life circumstances and I would gladly take on more to support those students. But the reality is that is a small group. So, why would we upend the learning environment of 600-plus students for a group that could still access these classes through transportation that has been stated that's been done before. And finally, the plan itself. This is a major decision that's supposed to take place as soon as the next school year. And there
043are still so many unanswered questions. What's the exact plan for lunch and PE schedules? Not just on a normal day, but on delays, on half days, for early calls, for late calls, for testing days. What's the plan for safety situations like evacuations and lockdowns? What's the plan if a student from either school enter spaces they are not supposed to? Because that will happen. What's the plan if the SRO officer is needed at both schools at once? What's the plan for the counselors, for the split teachers, for the staffing? How are we saving positions, but not actually reducing staff? And one thing I keep hearing is we just know what the plan will look like, so it's easier for us to understand. But if we had the details, we would know what it looks like, too.
044If we had the details, we could understand. But right now, the details are minimal and yet trust is fully still being expected. And that's not how a decision this size should be made. So, board, I urge you to hear me, to truly listen, to take this vote into your hands, to give it more time, to give it more thought than it needs. Because if this passes, these questions won't disappear. They'll fall on teachers to figure out in real time. It'll be a year of trial and error, a year of unknowns, a year that that that probably won't happen. And when it does, teachers and students will be the ones left to deal with it. That's not fair to anyone involved. Because in the end, our students deserve more than a plan on based on uncertainty.
045They deserve a plan built on answers. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Lambert. Mark Smear Good evening, board. I thank you for the a few minutes of your attention just to kind of get some things straight. That was covered so thoroughly, it kind of knocked out some of my agenda for comment as well. But some of the things that I am concerned about that is still out to be decided on is the ostracization of some of the students that are going to be moving from Halliburton to Draughn. I mean, it's human nature that you're going to have some conflicts and you're going to have difficulties moving together. And that concerns me that these students are already challenged and already working to try to make things come together for themselves in their life and their family and
046that that really weighs heavy on me. The other thing that I'm concerned with is how incorporated are the instructors, the teachers as I just heard, you know, maybe not as much, but particularly for Halliburton who work with these students and I I drive a bus. I filled in I have spoke to several of the instructors as well and I'm familiar with them. I'm familiar with some of the students that are also going there. Um the other side of that is I've also met some of the family members and I know that that's going to be a concern for them to get through all of this. I would like to see uh a little bit more embracing of these people to make sure that they have an opportunity to be heard. Uh as I've heard there
047was not a a bulletin that would go out to address this earlier. I'm concerned that that is something that needs to be addressed at some point. Um as I mentioned uh a lot of the comments have already come out and that I had on my agenda as well, but those are the short ones. So I didn't want to go too far with it, but I wanted you to know that uh you know, one of the things that you want to consider is the students for sure, the parents for sure and of course the educators. I myself am a retired educator. I've been doing that for over 20 years. So I know what it is to be out of the loop when the administration makes decisions like these. Uh I thank you for your time. Appreciate
048it. Thank you, Mr. Smith. James Callsby. >> [laughter] >> So, Madam Chair, board members, Dr. Swan, administration, thank you for allowing us to have this comment tonight. I want to especially thank Mr. Beck cuz I try to keep this under an hour. So No, I won't do that, but I um I wanted to read something before I even start because you know, why do we speak? Why do we do this? Where do we come from? So and I'm going to try to breathe cuz I get excited and you get it nervous and then I'm going to say but a thousand times. So um and my daughter's here, so I got to make sure I don't mess this up. So in James chapter 1 verse 27. Give me a second. Um pure and genuine religion in
049the sight of God the Father means caring for the orphans and the widows and not letting the world corrupt you. So in times like these we start looking at money. And it's not about money. So I'm going to tell you the question that I got asked. And it's how this whole situation got introduced to me. My daughter for the fourth time came home from school the fourth time came home from school and she said Daddy what's going to happen to my school? Now that's four times. In 2011 I was here during a very rushed very contentious, very divisive, very poorly communicated consolidation plan. Um what's going to happen to my school? Um and I don't have my dates and I apologize and I might be all over the place tonight, so just give me a
050little bit of latitude here. Um when she was in elementary school, she came home and she said Daddy, what's going to happen to my school? Rutherford College, we have to close that. It's going to cost us almost a million dollars. So the roof won't leak. It's going to fall down. It's old. I get it. We educated kids during the Great Depression in that building. I get it, but it's still standing. They burned down and the community rebuilt it. And they're still, you know, I I'm part of a family that's had four generations that went to that school. We had to close it. Um then COVID, which is I mean, I understand the board didn't get to decide that. I mean, but what's going to happen to school? We all said that and we all kind
051of buckled down and figured it out and we we made it through. And then the other day I didn't get a I got three phone calls from the school system that day saying that we're locking down the school. Everything's fine. We're locking down the school and then okay, it's all clear. That's the phone call we got that day. And I got an email that day. I did not get and still have not gotten a phone call or an email from the school talking about we're using really cool words now. I don't know. Consolidating is the word I'm going to use two schools into one building and keeping their identities different and and and I and I get that, but my daughter came home from school that day and said Daddy, what's going to happen to
052my school? I didn't have an answer cuz I didn't even know it was happening. That's how it was communicated. That's not the way you do business in my opinion. We can do better. I'm sitting here reading a sign that says igniting learning for a brighter future while we're talking about turning the lights off in a building over what is it? $300,000? A couple weeks ago we had an agenda consent item for 2.8 million dollars. There was we weren't worried about spending that. Our school system, our county commissioner said that's what these kids need. I'm not going to talk about which school cuz I don't want to create division. That's not why we're here. But we spent 2.8 million dollars and we didn't bat an eye so that the kids had what they needed. So there
053are things that we have to look for. There's a smart guy that's a lot smarter than me who said and I got to look at my notes now. So that's All right. Those who cannot remember the past and remember it says cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. So we've been down this road before as I told you three of the times by our own choice. Um we have I I have not super researched this new proposal because honestly I haven't seen one. So I don't have anything to look at to say yeah, I agree. Yeah, I disagree. But in May 17th of 2011, Mr. Lawson may remember this. We did hire an outside firm to talk to us and give us advice about consolidation. These are professionals. I'll give this to you
054if you want it. Um Rives and Associates. They agreed with our methodology. They agreed with the numbers. They agreed with everything everybody was saying. But they gave us some advice. Here's what I'm going to read it to you. I'm going to leave some things out because for context, but we recommend that the district hold on closing schools effective immediately until more detailed data analysis and adequate public hearing can be implemented and take the next physical year as a planning year to decide what the best plan is going forward. There appears to be a lack of definitive planning data, which I hear that in every comment. As to enrollment, school capacity, these issues should be seriously considered before consolidation and closing of schools. And again, May 17th Rives and Associate, it was a outside third party
055that looked at the benefits of closing school because the unfortunate thing that we learn from our history we save $5 over here and then we spend $10 on asphalt to pave a basketball court so that we can park buses on it. So and Mr. Lawson, correct me if I'm wrong, I do we not think we can spend CapEx dollars to pay for positions. Uh he gave me a really cool class like 15 years ago. Line items on the budget, you can't cross them over from one another. So you can't take paint money and pay teachers. So it's not buildings or teachers. We believe in our teachers. We need more teachers. So you're you've got my support there. So um as a dad, you know, I'm concerned about safety. I'm not saying it's going to be
056unsafe. But I want somebody to look me in the eye and say I have a plan and tell me what that plan is. At Halliburton Mayor Anthony came up here and he said the first person on the scene was Drexel Police Department. I've talked to not the current chief of police, but I've talked to the former chief of police about these and he's told me that you know, they had certain number of staff and they were one of the first on the scene at Drone, but the staff at Valdese Police Department is dramatically reduced now. We are told we're not going to get another SRO. So I mean, there's a lot of questions and I'm not going to enumerate all the questions cuz you know, I want to respect your time, but I still want
057to see a plan. In 2011 we got a court consolidation plan from Cornett Associates, which was the architect then. I think they've changed names since then. Have we asked an outside party to look at this who's professionals at this and say, "Okay, we have our ideas. You come in here, you look at all of it. Give me your recommendation." I own a business. There are times when I have to be challenged and allow myself to be challenged because I'm looking at it I'm looking at the jar from the inside. I need somebody to come outside the jar and tell me what the outside of the jar looks like. And there are people who at the superintendent's office, there there are people who will do this for free. We don't even have to pay for it.
058Um I may be wrong, but at the time they they would do it for free, so um and again, I haven't researched this immensely. Um when we closed Rutherford College, this is I did research this. I called the new headmaster of Rutherford College today for Christ Classical Academy. We were told when we closed the school it's going to cost $700,000. It's going to fall down. It's condemned. We can't do it. And the board had to listen to those recommendations. Well, I have actual dollars now because we did it. We bought the school for $367,000. Then we spent $70,000 to shore up the roof and put a new roof on it make the school safe. End of story. So, it was going to cost $700,000 and they and the you know, a private school came in
059there which they're great. My daughter went there for some time. She's now she doesn't go there at this time, but there's the actual data. Again, we got to look at the historical facts. And some and it's okay to challenge them. It doesn't mean I respect Dr. Swann. But but I want him to allow me to challenge the data and ask the question. The Robb's report says have public hearings. And not just get everybody up here to tell you how wrong you are or how right you are. Um so, Halliburton Academy, let's talk about that for a second. Let's talk about the orphans. They're our number one responsibility. I'm not here to sit here and tell you why not to bring the Halliburton kids into Draughon High School because it's going to upset the culture at
060Draughon. The kids at Halliburton have a self-contained winning They got I mean, we have data. Somebody just stood up here and told me how awesome these kids are doing. But we're going to take them and jerk them up by the roots and plant them in a pot that wasn't made for them. And say, "Now grow." And if they don't fit, what what is option B? We can't move them back to an inclusion situation where they've got they're you know, and those comments that were got repeated about circus animals and all of that stuff. No, this was we were talking about I was there. We were wanting to say, "What about these kids at Halliburton that are doing so great right now? What if they don't perform well in this situation? What are we going to
061do then?" So, that is what happened at Rutherford College. I got to put my glasses on. I'm sorry. Um in 2011 we were facing a $12 million fund deficit at that point in time. And I'm going to tell you I know this is not Keith's. I mean, he did a great job. Um we were told we were not going to survive if we did not close half the schools in the county. I've got good news for you. We didn't close half the schools in the county and we're here. We survived. So, something was wrong with the data at that point in time. We survived. Um so, I'm all over the place and I apologize. And some of these things have already been spoke about, so um one of the questions was asked of the administration,
062"What new programs, how are we going to better what we're offering the Halliburton students? What new resources are going to be brought to bear? We're going to move them to a new school. It's going to be better. So, what new things are we going to offer them? New programs, new this and that?" No. No, we're just moving them. We're not going to give them anything better. We're not offering anything. Now, granted we're we're going to give them back the CTE classes we took away from them, but that's not really giving them something new. Um the great takeaway from all of this is there's fear, there's mistrust, and the lack of facts, there's gossip. I I've got great news for y'all. I heard this today. Dr. Swann, I heard you changed your mind and you were
063moving it to East Burke. No. I'm not trying to be flippant. I apologize. I'm a little sarcastic and I apologize, but that's great. I mean, everybody gets so excited. But not the people at East Burke. You know, then you just change the characters. So, we need a plan. And I mean, it's a valid question. What about East Burke? What about Patton? What about Freedom? I mean, you heard the numbers then you know, this school has the lowest enrollment, but it also has the lowest capacity. So, you have to you can't put but so much water in the bucket before it starts to overflow. And you got kids that don't You know, and the thing is is we got a whole lot of square holes with round pegs that we're trying to say, "Oh, it'll work.
064It'll work. It'll work. It'll work." Trust me, it will work. No, it's I'm not going to trust you. You get my kid for 8 hours a day. So, I'm going to challenge you and I'm going to ask you some hard questions. We've heard and nobody said this today. There's probably about 50 people with their fear and their mistrust and their questions because they're not being answered looking at transferring their students to somewhere where there's a clear pathway. It's not because they don't want this to happen. There's something Okay, they're not changing anything. And I'm just going to let you know I work in a world where my customers at retail see what I'm doing. Different is always bad. You know, people don't like change. So, the only way you're going to give them something different
065is you're going to have to explain something to them and make get buy-in. If I walk out on my production floor tomorrow and change everything, it's not going to be a good day. But if I go out there and say, "Hey, what do you think? You got any ideas?" and get the buy-in of the people who work for me. And on that note, I want to say one thing. Um and this is my hot button. I employ success stories from the alternative schools programs. Um two of them. And I mean, they're they're success stories and without having these options, they may have not been success stories. And and here's the thing that I want to say before I close. They may have been. But we have a recipe that works. Before we throw the recipe
066the recipe out and say the cake's going to look just like it, we need to make sure and the thing is if you go to Avery County, go to McDowell County, you go to various counties throughout the state, they have tried this. And it does not work. It's not working. And most of them say we're going to go back to the what was working. So, that's our history. We got to take our history lessons. We got to look at it and say, "Hey, is this work Is it safe? Is it what's best for the students? Are we Show me some success stories where cuz the thing is is 15 years ago we were doing this and it wasn't working. And now we do this and this is working. And these kids at Halliburton more so,
067and I'm going to say this, more so than most of the rest of the population in Burke County's public school because this is their last option. They deserve that we give them the absolute best possible chance for success. So, when I when I went through this, you know, there's a lot of questions. The parents, the community, yes, they deserve better. Our educators, some of them spoke tonight. Some of them are scared. They need to have a venue for them to speak. And honestly, I don't think there's like threats or anything like that. It's just fear. Because if they say something bad and you know, you hear this, we're going to reduce force, we're going to lose teachers. Well, they don't want to poke their head up and say, "Hey, look at me. Let me tell
068you all the things I'm mad about." I mean, I understand why they want to stay quiet because they don't want to get the negative attention. But most of all, these children who don't These children can't come and stand at this podium. They need a voice. And most of all, they deserve better. So, let's give this the time and the due diligence that it deserves. And we have a handbook. We've paid for this in the past. Let's pull out the old handbook and say, "Hey, we messed this up in the past. What does it recommend that we do?" But I trust the board to listen to the the town, listen to the community, listen to the parents, listen to the teachers. And I thank some of the board members who did come to our little impromptu
069public meeting. But and if we have another one, we'll make sure that we invite all of y'all. We would love for y'all to be there, so and again, thank you for letting me speak and I'm under 3 minutes, I hope. So, thank y'all. Thank you, Mr. Cosby. Becca Zimmerman. Good evening. Um I am Becca Zimmerman. I'm high school behavior specialist for Burke County schools. Um I support all the high schools and Halberton and the day treatment program. Um so Halberton Academy um has a long and well-documented history of welcoming students who found it difficult to assimilate into a larger group setting making them feel a part of a school community. If you don't believe me, then you've never had the fortune to attend a Halberton graduation. At that event, you see the Cinderella stories become
070true. The ones that should not have made it achieve the first of many great milestones in their adult lives. Our team strongly agrees that there is a place for an alternative education program in Burke County schools. We know that for too many reasons to name, some students are unsuccessful in traditional high school settings. Often, those reasons are tied to gut-wrenching stories of hardships that no one would choose on their own. And while students' outward behavior often begins that sticking [clears throat] um becomes that sticking point of of success, discovering the why behind a bad choice is the first step of starting the journey to a better next opportunity. That is the secret of Halberton Academy. In Burke County Public Schools, we remain all in for all students. We focus on purposeful instruction to build relationship
071skills, self-awareness, social awareness, and self-management skills while promoting responsible decision-making. We identify students struggling with behavior early so our behavior services team can support them in least restrict in the least restrictive most effective setting, the general education classroom. Through strong community partners partnerships, um we provide school-based mental health services, improve communication with providers, and ensure students receive the support needed to stay on track. We've also implemented real-time discipline data systems to help administrators quickly identify trends and intervene early at any level. While ADM at Halberton has decreased, discipline data has as well, reflecting stronger collaboration among staff, families, and the community. Our goal is not to reduce placement, but to reduce the need for it. And that is something to be proud of. Much has been said about the caliber of students at Halberton Academy.
072We would guess that the folks speaking the loudest have never set foot on that campus. Our discipline data reveals that nothing has occurred on Halberton campus that has not occurred at any other campus. Much has been said about the number of calls to law enforcement. When a student has a seizure or medical um process at Freedom High School, law enforcement doesn't have to be called because there is an SRO already there. When a student possesses a THC vape on Patton High School's campus, law enforcement doesn't have to be contacted because the SRO is there. When a fight breaks out at Draughon High School, law enforcement doesn't have to be called because they are already there. When a student has a mental health crisis and needs support to get to the emergency department at East Burke
073High School, law enforcement doesn't have to be called because they are already there. If we log the number of times our SRO has had to intervene with a safety concern, pursue a charge on a student, or respond to a general emergency, you would clearly see that Halberton Academy is no different. Halberton represents second chances. Every day, we help students rewrite their stories and realize their potential. And that is the heart of BCPS's all in promise. A $4 million budget shortfall has a real impact. Burke County Public Schools are not wasteful, but if we are truly in for all students, we must do what's right and reallocate. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Zimmerman. That concludes public comments. Thank you to all of our speakers tonight. Moving on in the agenda, we have the consent agenda items,
074which contain the February 23rd work session minutes as well as the March 2nd minutes. We also have the revenue reclassification of capital projects as presented by Mr. Lawson at the last meeting. Do we have a motion? Any conversation? Make a motion to approve. Motion to approve by Mr. Beck. Do we have a second? Second. Second by Mr. Wyckoff. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed, nay. Ayes have it. The consent agenda is approved. Moving on to the board discussion and action items, we have board amendment budget revisions with Mr. Lawson. Um I'm not going to read all of those. Very similar to what we discussed last week with one exception. Now, rather than just an A and a B, we have an A, B, and C.
075And then Miss Rocket's request, we had removed item number two from board amendment number 08033026. That became eight number one. And then eight number two was the central office line item that I think you all wanted to vote on separately. Um then we had our uh third and final revision uh from state uh repair and renovation funds. I'd like to speak about >> item B. Yeah. The the central office. So, um in the discussions I've had with um finance and um the superintendent about the central office um additional funds needed for that project. Um I've been I was really concerned about it. I felt like there was um a lot of padding in there and I just wanted to know what that was. So, we sat down and we have gone through it several times.
076Um And I just want to we came to kind of a happy compromise, which is this item B line two central office, which totals $870,994, which is down from 1.1485 million. Is that right, Keith? Mr. Lawson, 1.18 1.485. >> 1.148. Okay. Um And while that doesn't sound like a lot of reduction, um it is because there were there these line items were once we started digging down, digging into the dirt of them, there were a lot of things that were well, we might need or it could be or whatever, but but I want to I want to explain something to the board before you vote on this. Um This $870,000, it still contains a lot of it contains a good amount of padding in it. Um the audio-visual equipment for central office was dropped from
077$95,000 The other 68 or the other amount of that is for the um training center that is not part of the central office proper. It is it is an add-on to the side. Um $27,000 is still a huge padded number for that. If you think about I have been assured that central office is going to take all their um displays that are working that they have now. They're going to take theirs those. They're not going to replace them with um new uh uh displays or TVs. So, uh for the offices alone, we should not need anywhere near $27,000. But for the sake of compromise and for the sake of just in case, that's where we're at. The topographic survey, it was the original ask for that was 13,000. We've actually already spent 20,000 on that.
078So, so we needed a little bit more there. And then the testing agencies, the original ask on that was $62,000. The actual spend on that was $16,000. So, there was a huge amount of padding in there that we just felt like I just felt like we needed to make sure that we all knew about it and we all understood where that number was coming from and and why that number was there. Um And then the final thing in that was possible contingency cost of 33 $333,000 and change. Now, I have been assured by our administration that not a penny of this money of this $870,000 will be spent just because we approve it. If we do not need it, we will and I might have the wrong terminology here, but we will allocate it back
079into our coffers. Correct? Sorry. Okay. So, um with that said, I I would very much like to um make a motion to approve this 870-464, but I also want to say on the um on the back of that that this m- for me, looking at these numbers and looking at what we need, this will be the only thing that I will approve for extra funds for the central office proper um because there is about $56,000 of fluff in this $870,000. And I have spent We have spent a lot of time together, haven't we, friends? We have spent a lot of time together. So, I feel confident in what I'm saying and confident in the numbers that I'm looking at. And I I know that you guys haven't had the luxury of having those meetings and
080and seeing those numbers, so I wanted to share that with board. And um and just say And I want to say one more thing. The training center Superintendent Swan, you correct me if I say this incorrectly. The training We did not ask for the training center when we had the architecture company come in and do our plans. They found this space and they said this is a this is a great space for a training center and we should add that on and we were like, yeah, sure. Is is that a true statement? I believe it's a true statement. Okay. We we run out of space here in the county. It this will be in this space tomorrow as a our district leadership, our principals will be meeting here uh full part of the morning. Uh
081and this is our largest space that we have in the county by be- being able to have a larger space at our new central office. That's what we want. Okay. Um thank you. Yes. I just didn't want to say that incorrectly, so. Um and that the only other thing in my mind that I wanted to say about that was I feel like that training space is a good space to have, but it's kind of a it's kind of a I want it if we can have it, if we can do it. Um but I have asked very respectfully that they pull that out and they any any additional funds they need for that space specifically that they present to us for that explicit reason, for that explicit spend. Okay. So, that's it. I just wanted
082to share that information with you guys. I've got one little question, Mr. Lawson. I don't know if it's my IT inabil- inabilities for sure, but when I click on the uh link for our for this, you click on it, the 830-26 line two, central office. When I pull it up, it's titled board amendment 830 uh 830-26 number two, Helene. Why is Helene on there? Helene is the first budget line item in number one. That was just the way I titled it. >> out? That was still the 2.6 million we received in the state Helene grant for the H fact project at Freedom High School. That's line number one in the original number eight. So, I just kept the naming nomenclature and just made it the two. But nothing from Helene's No, ma'am. >> stuff. Okay.
083No. So, it's just Okay. Yeah, mine was pulling up Sorry if that was confusing. >> That's all right. I was just making sure it wasn't your user error here. Okay. Any further discussion? Hearing none? I just want to say Sunny, thank you for looking into this so closely. All right. For item A, do we have a motion? I make a motion to approve. Motion to approve by Mr. Beck. Do we have a second? Second. Second by Mrs. Rocket. Any further discussion on item A? Hearing none, all those in favor indicate by saying I. I. I. Those opposed, nay. I's have it. A passes unanimously. Item B. Do we have a motion? Motion to approve. Motion to approve by Mrs. Rocket. Do we have a second? Second by Mr. Wyckoff. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all
084those in favor indicate by saying I. I. I. Those opposed, nay. Nay. I's have it. Mr. Beck is in the negative. Item B passes. C. Do we have a motion? A motion to approve. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Mrs. Rocket. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor indicate by saying I. I. Those opposed, nay. I's have it. Passes unanimously. Next, we have the personnel board actual Thank you, Mr. Lawson. Next, we have the personnel board action report with Mr. Recker. Again, if you have any questions or concerns, please use the number affiliated with the employee. Madam Chair, if no no questions, I ask for your approval tonight, please. Do we have a motion for Mr. Recker? Motion to approve. Motion by Mr. Johnson. Do we have a second? >> Second.
085Second by Mrs. Taylor. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor indicate by saying I. I. I. Those opposed, nay. I's have it. Passes unanimously. Thank you, Mr. Recker. Next, we have the second reading of policies A through T with Dr. Auten. Asking for approval? All right. Do we have a motion? Motion. Motion by Mr. Johnson. Do we have a second? Second. Second by Mr. Wyckoff. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor indicate by saying I. I. I. Those opposed, nay. I's have it. They pass the second reading. Thank you, Dr. Auten. We do now have a need for closed session. However, I do not have um the legal to report. The motion would be pursuant to general statute 143-318.11A3 to consult matters covered by the attorney-client privilege. All right. I make
086that motion. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Mr. Wyckoff. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor indicate by saying I. I. opposed, nay. I's have it. We are now in closed session. Thank you, everyone. >> Mhm.