001yeah good evening good evening everyone and welcome to the Monday March or February 5th meeting of the Burke County Board of Education uh thank you all for taking your time to come and be with us tonight couple of house uh keeping items now would be a good time please to silence your phones so it doesn't interrupt uh the meeting and I have to say that to myself as well um restrooms are just outside the store and uh if you feel the need to have some conversations feel free to step outside right here have your conversations come on back in we'll probably still be here for a while so we have a lot to do tonight we'd appreciate your patience so uh as we get started um Miss Huffman appears all the members are present and
002in place and let the minutes reflect that we have a quorum present we'll proceed in regular order you were emailed um the agenda suggested agenda that uh will entertain any uh changes or uh alterations Mr chair I have a something I would like to add under G the Personnel report I would like to move number two to a separate vote and also request that we go into Clos session okay well I'll tell you what let's um what I'd also like to do without objection is move item number G the Personnel requested board action under item number seven which would become the new item number eight any objections to that so item G is moved to the new number eight and as we get to that uh Miss Craven we will attend to to your request
003thank you sir any other comments or additions all right hearing none all in favor the changes as proposed and kep by saying I I all oppos no eyes have it so indicate Madam Secretary uh Dr hre would you invoke us tonight please sure let's bow our heads holy and gracious God in you we live and move and have our being we pray you grant this board wisdom and discernment to make the decisions accordance in accordance with your will for the common good of this system and in this community so we lift these prayers in your holy name amen amen amen if you would ladies and gentlemen if you'd stand with us as we receive drawn High School color guard and remain standing until they retire the colors left left left left H left face I
004pled 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 right face mark on Mar left left left forward Mar left [Applause] left yeah okay yeah with the um I'll turn this over to uh the vice chairman just a moment we need to make a decision uh on comments thank you Mr chair the comment section for tonight we have a total of nine speakers and I'd move to extend or change the time to four minutes allowing everyone and going over our board policy of 30 minutes to 36 minutes is that form of a motion sir I make that motion I'll second all in favor any discussion all in favor indicate saying I I all oppose no I
005have it carried thank you four minutes just over two years ago following a review by our staff this board was notified by the superintendent that there were some very inappropriate books in our media centers as time went on our leadership group dug deep to find out all we could about these books some of these books have been on our shelves nearly 11 years and many have never been checked out I won't rehash all that has occurred since that time but suffice it to say that this board took this task as we do all tasks very seriously out of thousands of books in our centers we have removed or temporarily suspended checkout on over 30 books Burke County Public Schools created one of the first if not the first comprehensive policy addressing this matter by further
006defining the criteria used by staff and putting parents at the Forefront of guiding their own child some have complained why did this take so long the law says that books cannot be removed based on Viewpoint we recognize the serious nature of this matter so due diligence was required so that this policy would withstand the test of time this policy was thoroughly researched discussed with legal Scholars and we have listened to much input from the public and our teachers hopefully our community will get as involved and reject the nastiness on the internet and social media unfortunately during course of this policy development some very harsh and untrue things have been directed to and publicly said about our teachers many of us sitting here tonight are the products of public education as a son of a public
007school principal and teacher mother and having directed through schools myself I well understand the sacrifices our teachers make I'm not sure what exactly happens in other school districts around our state but I can assure you that our teachers do the most wonderful job in teaching our children I and other members of the board are in classrooms often and I can bear witness our teachers understand that educating our children is a shared Duty between parents and teachers one without the other seldom Works our teachers need to know that we as parents appreciate and recognize what they do and how well they do it how can parents support teachers they can meet regularly with them just Reach Out and when a teacher reaches out to a parent call them back finally I too am a parent I
008like everyone else have a choice we've had school choice in North Carolina for decades this is nothing new my informed choice is Burke County public schools because I simply know they are the best option for my child's education as it was for our other two children and ladies and gentlemen I expect much more great to be coming very soon thank you now um Dr Wilson we have some student recognitions and I'd ask the board to join me in front of the de please chairman Hutt and members of the board I appreciate you taking time to recognize these students tonight on Wednesday December the 6th at old rock school the following students came and represented their own schools and competed across the district we had the following first place winners we are going to open the
009opportunity for these students to give their speech if they would like although it's been about a month and a half so if any of them say I don't want to do it that's okay we forgive you um first from the pros category representing Maul Elementary Judson [Applause] Wilson he had the hiccups in the category of poetry representing m Elementary aah Clark representing the original composition category from wa Young Elementary Paisley [Applause] Fike good job and in the category of notable speeches from Oak Hill Elementary Sam [Applause] subtle you [Applause] good evening board members and chairman hunt on the afternoon of Wednesday December 6th at old rock middle school students participated in the middle school speech competition tonight we are honoring our first place winners from Walter Johnson Middle School we have two winners and that
010first one would be William Ortiz Basquez in interpretive poetry in the category of interpreted pros from Walter Johnson Joselyn menu tax from East spk Middle School Brennan spec in original [Applause] oratory in the category of recited oratory Leah Hamilton from Liberty Middle from East bark Middle School our interpretive Duo is Zoe Taylor and Becket [Applause] Brittain good job let's give all our speech contestants another round of applause [Applause] hey come back where you going have you ever heard a story of two kids who killed a radio host with the end of a mop you sit you sit well you sit down right there and let me and my partner tell you all about it this is on the air by Kim Bradbury told by Becket Britain and Zoe Taylor would you watch what you're doing
011you nearly put my eye out hey this ain't my thing mopping floors what a lousy job look we want easy job for the summer and I apply at the radio station all we got to do is come in early in the morning mop a few floors and we've got the rest of the day free you call this a radio station one dis jockey in hick town it's a it's a job now shut up and keep mopping and watch that handle you're dangerous so when's he getting here who the dis jockey dude oh shoot there he is now quick get your corner scrubbed my corner yeah it's oh is my corner hurry up he's coming up the walk hi there this is whik in Hicksville coming your way with some of the worst music this side
012of morning boss yeah we're just finishing up he's here watch that mop oh no you killed him you killed him with your mop it wasn't even loaded this is awful what are we going to do I guess we'll have to mop it all over again you idiot what time is it time to get out of here 1 minute till Air Time shoot I'm going no way this station doesn't go on the air and they'll know something is up we got to stall until he comes around stall how are we going to stall 30 30 seconds come on come on there's got to be a switch here somewhere come on do something what are you doing I'm putting water on his face I saw it on ER idiot uh what time is it idiot 10 seconds
013oopsie Daisy idiot so no this is you yes it is put water on his face idiot oh 10 seconds he's got one awful knot on his head forget it forget it we got to go on there there it is good morning and welcome to wh the voice of Hicksville this is boss redond with the latest in news weather and sports and now here's uh stro blansky with the weather strobe huh the weather give them the weather I don't know the weather look out the window you idiot the weather is and here comes the weather the weather is just fine temperature pretty good and today's forecast more the same and there you have it today's weather hey we'll be right back after this hit from Tex Angus and the short horns this is awful what are
014we going to do how is he sort of moving from Red it's purple quick we got to think of something I wonder if there's any coffee you are no help you know that you are really no help quick uh find the sports where I don't know make something up and now here's spote D magio with the sports Spike uh there is a lot of ball games played yesterday yes and uh here are the scores New York 3 San Francisco 6 Chicago 18 great how about basketball Nutter Dame beat William and Mary and three other guys 92 to 12 say sounds like a great day in sports and now a word from our sponsor quick I need a commercial look I just came in to moop the floor I'm going to mop the floor with you
015are you feeling run down yeah worn out uh-huh not you you you idiot oh does it seem like everything is just crashing down around you then maybe it's time you tried Aunt Martha's tning spot and full body massage Aunt Martha she does that quiet at Aunt Martha you find just the thing you need to keep your body back in shape and now a testimonial from a satisfied customer Aunt Martha has cold hands but gentle gentle except for when she gets that hammer out and remember you heard it here on wh i k and you know I think it's time for another song Here's Randy Rascal is he coming too I hope not I'd hate for him to hear what you're doing with his station uh what's next on the list oh no it's the call-in
016show we can't actually let people call in or they'll find out we don't know what they talking about if they don't already know the and they're dumber than we are is he breathing I ain't getting close that guy's big and mean looking whoa whoa short song and hey guess what it's time for our call-in show and we've got our first caller on the line this is Miss Mildred kneecaps from over on lock jaw Street Mildred are you there come on M this is she uh what's on your mind today Mildred I forgot uh why did you call Mildred uh I I lost Betty last night you lost Betty who's who's Betty my cat she just wondered off and what does Betty look like mild she's dark green and weighs around 97 lbs that is some
017cat mild yes and I love her very much in spite of her weight problem well if any of our listeners looks like a small 97 Honda well we'll certainly be even has her on headlights and turn signals be careful she eats small dogs and that's about the end of our call-in show folks and uh I think it's time to wrap things up for this segment oh no hey he's coming too oh no but remember for the latest and news weather and sports do something what we got to get out of here it's w HK the voice of Hicksville should I hit him [Applause] again okay good testing okay hey guys I'm doing a speech on what it was was football by Andy Griffith and I did this cuz there's some important people at my school
018that wanted to do this so here we go it was back last October I believe it was we're holding a tent service off this college town and we got there about dinner time on Saturday different ones of us thought we ought to get to bite to eat before we set up to tents so we got off and we follow these people through these small patch of woods and I came up on a sign that said get some deep here and I went up and got me two hot dogs and a big orange drink and before I could take a mou mouthful of that food this whole WRA of people got around me got me up like and I dropped my big orange drink I did well friends there wasn't much I could do but commence
019with them so we commence through all these doors and Gates and I don't know what all and I looked up on one and it said north gate and not long after I came up on a boy that said ticket please and I told him friend I don't have a ticket I don't even know where I'm going and he said come out as quick as you can and I told them I'll turn around the first chance again so went out going and everybody parted and I could see pretty good it was this whole green pretty cow pasture that somebody put white lines and drove postas into it and I look down there and I see five or six convicts run up and down blowing their whistles and I look down there and I see these pretty
020girls wearing these itty bitty short dresses and they dancing around and I looked down there and 30 or 40 men came running out of a big out house down there and everybody around me got up and started hollering and about that time another 30 or 40 man came around with another big out house down there and the other bankful got up and they started hollering and I asked this friend right beside me I said friend what is that they're hollering for he walked me on the back and he said buddy have a drink I told him I'll have another big orange drink so I got it and I sat back down and they got I look down there and they got two huddles full of man down there and they voted one man a piece
021to go to the center of the cow pasture and shook hands like they haven't seen one another a long time and a coni came where there was a standing and he took out a quarter and he commenced to the odd man right there after a while I found out what the odd man was a maning for it was this funny little looking pumpkin to play with they did well they couldn't eat it because the whole evening they kicked it and it never busted and well friends that evening and I saw the awest fight that I've seen in all my life they' kick one another drag drag one another down stomp one another grind their feet in one another and I don't know what all and as fast as one of to get hurt they tow
022him off and run another one on and they done that as long as I sat there pretty soon the boy that said ticket please come up and told me friend you're going to have to leave because you don't have a ticket I told him all right and I got up and I left Tuesday day I don't know what they was doing down there but I've studied about it and I think it's some kindly of a contest to see which Bunch full of men can take that pumpkin to one end of the cow pasture to the other without getting knocked down or stepping in [Applause] something chairman Hut that's relatively difficult to follow but we're going to do so we're going to move forward uh chairman Hut board we are at this time going to recognize
023our outstanding achievement for those recipients for teachers in Burt County public schools that just renewed or receive their national board certification so we're extremely proud of those folks and their unring dedication and completing their National endorsement in the teaching profession they are as follows Miss Amber Lackey at mole Elementary please come [Applause] forward Jennifer mul she is one of our EC instructional coaches in the [Applause] county Monique St Louis wa Young Elementary School you're welcome Tim Barnes backck Burke Middle [Applause] College Megan Snider Burke Middle [Applause] College Eric gramer East Burke mle Nancy Kelly East Berke middle Isabella peer Forest Hill [Applause] Elementary Kelly Baker Freedom High School Brent Baker Freedom High School Crystal mckenny Freedom High [Applause] School Stephanie Bridges Heritage Middle Susan bushel Mountain View Elementary an Morris she's an elementary instruction coach
024for ber County Public [Applause] Schools Don Baker Patton High School Robin Bas Patton High School Misty AER Elementary instructional coach for County Public [Applause] Schools Kendall Hensley Val's Elementary Lauren Huffman assistant principal drexal Elementary Tina MCM Walter Johnson [Applause] Middle and McKenzie R from oakill Mckenzie was our loone teacher that applied and received her national board certification so McKenzie [Applause] congratulations just [Music] [Applause] yeah thank you chairman hunt members of the board before we begin I'd like to read a little letter we received from the North Carolina state board and Department of Public Instruction dear superintendent Swan greetings from the Department of Public Instruction as Educators sometimes when we get letters like this this start out like that the more we read we get concerned we are pleased to offer our congratulations to your entire
025district for your school's performance during the 2022 23 school year in close you will find graduation and growth award certificates earned by the hard work of your students and Educators they left out the parents in the community so I do want to recognize the parents in the community whether for academic growth or graduation rate these certificates get showcase the dedication to acade academic achievement in your school system of students Educators and parents however you choose once again I want to congratulate our principes our students our teachers our support staff most importantly our community we cannot do this job without you uh we need your continued support uh the support from our Board of Education as I call your name please come forward Burke Middle College outstanding graduation rate of 100% Jimmy C drawn outstanding graduation
026rate of [Applause] 96.2% drexell Elementary exceeded academic growth [Applause] award eastberg Middle School exceeded academic growth award George hilderbrand Elementary exceeded academic growth award Glenn Aon Elementary exceeded academic growth [Applause] award Heritage Middle School exceeded academic growth [Applause] award hild br Elementary exceeded academic growth award Hillcrest Elementary exceeded academic growth award what's that Liberty Middle School exceeded academic growth [Applause] award Maul Elementary exceeded academic growth award Robert El Patton exceeded academic growth award Salem Elementary exceeded academic growth award Forest Hill Elementary academic growth award Freedom High School academic growth award iard Elementary academic growth award Jimmy C drawn academic growth award Mountain View Elementary academic growth [Applause] award Ray chers Elementary School academic growth [Applause] award V's Elementary academic growth award wa Young Elementary academic growth award Walter Johnson academic growth [Applause] award congratulations recipients
027okay let's do Elementary first please [Music] congratulations SCH [Applause] e [Music] [Applause] it's always a pleasure to recognize our staff and our students so congratulations once again I do have one more recognition that I'd like to recognize uh Dr Melanie honey cut was chosen by her peers of the Northwest Risa Northwest technology director of the Year recommendation so to kind of put it in perspective within Northwest region we have approximately 14 counties um and every one of those Counties have a technology director um and we're broken up the state of course is broken up into multiple different regions so Dr Honeycut will be representing Burke County Public Schools uh in the upcoming month um to hopefully bring back the Northwest technology director of the U award so congratulations Dr [Applause] Honeycut St [Applause] than okay
028and standing behind all these principles and administrators are some very very good teachers and teacher assistants and staff so item number eight new item number eight the Personnel report um before we get into that just a a note to everyone out here um I believe we're going to have need for a short uh closed session y'all stay where you are we're going to since there's more of you than us we're just going to walk down to the small room down here so while we're gone I don't anticipate it would take too long but we do have a matter we need to deal with and uh as soon as that's done we'll be back in here so just try to be as comfortable as you can and we'll um try to be as quick as we
029can all right so with uh that said Miss Craven do you still have a desire to go into close session I do all right well then I'll uh I'll move then um let's see here pursuant to uh North Carolina General statute 143 Dash um- 31811 subsection a 1 and six for the purpose of considering confidential Personnel matters um that uh can I have a second please second all right and properly seconded uh Miss H that we go into to close session any additional comment hearing none all in favor so indicate by saying I I I all oppose no eyes have it and we'll be in close session and we'll be back as soon as we can thank you all right ladies and gentlemen we'll be back in session I make a motion to go back
030into Open Session please second uh I moved Miss pacher want to call you Sims again I'm sorry seconded going back into Open Session any additional discussion all in favor say I I I I'll oppose no we're back in Open Session to the Personnel action item uh Miss Huffman for the record item item number two on the um Personnel report will we will be pulled for a separate vote so that item is on the floor at this point what is the pleasure of the board for personnel action of position number two forgive me Mr chairman H are you asking for a vote now yes um approve is that what is that a motion motion to approve motion to approve that yes is there second I second all right it's been moved and seconded um to uh
031approve position number two on the Personnel report any further discussion or comment hearing none all those in favor so indicate by raising your hand all those opposed like sign but him Street you vote Y which one which way accept accept accept Okay so the vote's six to one now for the remainder of the Personnel action report we have that before us uh so I move that that be approved is there a second second okay it's moved and seconded approval of the remainder of the personnel report as distributed any additional comment or remarks hearing none all those in favor Syndicate by raising your hand thank you all opposed like sign motion is carried 7 to Z thank you Mr Vice chairman thank you Mr chairman now it's time for our public comment section tonight's board meeting
032before we get started um persons will speak in order in which they have signed up to speak each speaker during the public comment section of board meetings shall have have a maximum of four minutes for his or her comments at which point the speaker will be politely asked to bring 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 the resolution of employee grievances employee complaints against the individual employees pupil suspensions and appeals and political campaigns to avoid circum circumvention of those separate proceedings and ensure fairness to all parties concerned no person shall speak regarding a filed grievance pending employee complaint filed with the school district or an outside agency complaint against individual employees employee disciplinary action suspension or termination
033or pupil suspension or 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 a public office may speak during public comments concerning his or her candidacy the board chair or design May terminate any presentation that is not in accordance with any these criteria except as limited by previous Provisions public comments will be allowed during the public comments period on any subject that is within the jurisdiction of the board our first Speaker tonight Mr Brad camp directly to you um for everyone to hear but I just want to thank the school board for the good things many good things you have accomplished over the last year I do want to say that uh I consider myself a part of the group
034uh that is dissatisfying with uh that over the last year has been dissatisfied with the pornography and theity in in our materials particularly in supplemental materials I.E library books and uh Mr H you said one thing about this uh about folks who are not happy with teachers and and I want you to know that the folks I know have no U problem with our teachers we do uh support and feel our teachers are great folks doing a great job and so there is no dissatisfaction for the teachers County our dissatisfaction has with B County School Board and with the uh the lack of attention on the subjects that people been brought have brought to you over the last year because of the pressure of the uh public uh you have done made great strikes with
035the uh with the issues of pornography andity and for that but I will say there are many who think that it still has not gone far enough and there's more to be done in fact in thinking about that I have a simple suggestion that's really all this is is a suggestion in order to address the reasonable concerns of the citizens and parents of BR County within the following Schoolboard policy I recommend the following statement uh great place for that would be policy code uh 3200 selection of instructional and supplementary materials uh section B2 simple thing would be that a third paragraph which states the following the bir County School Board is opposed to all forms of pornography and Oben in our schools therefore when it is found the bur County School System will remove all
036pornography and graphic ofcity in any form including library books from all schools and put in place a procedure to prevent the introduction of obene materials into schools in the future a system for public monitoring of such materials books videos Etc will be developed under the direction of the superintendent that's my recommendation I think that would reduce some of the uh unhappiness with the community and with uh with parents um so I recomend you call that I'm going give this Dr thank you thank you Mr [Applause] Camp our next speaker Mr Jeff Barrett hey good evening come I'm going to POS a question I'm a teacher I'm going to POS a question to the folks out here you guys have had a positive influence a teacher in your life that inspired you to go and do
037great things you know in the last few years I this last few years you know especially since Co guys I'm not running the political office I promise you that last few years though teachers have been basically the whing boys or girls I think you know U and guys I want to tell you you know you know my colleagues and I've got some of my heroes in here and I use that word right I come from the military 20 years in the military and two of my three of my heroes are here tonight Ashley Jackie Clark and Danny Clark and these guys have worked hard in this job you know I retired I I was planning on I'm 60 I was planning on going to 62 and uh but in the last few years I've seen
038discipline in the schools go down downhill a lot of times as a teacher my my my feet were cut out from under me when I disciplined the child and it wasn't for stupid stuff like a no h it might be for disrespect it might be for you know other things okay and a lot of times in fact uh and guys I'm not beating up on the ministration or anything like that and some of you guys Keith record you know me I'm kind of blunt to the point I don't mind teing people either but you know sometimes our our feet have been cut out from under us could be the county and it could be the school guys in the Marine Corps we have you know failure is not an option and and it shouldn't be
039Unfortunately today though we promote failure I've got eighth graders I'm grade social East M SCH 21 of my 22 years I love it I didn't mind getting up at this I didn't mind getting up 0500 morning coming in at Z6 that was that was me anybody knows me knows I like I love my job but unfortunately today guys you know yeah I get it some of the things we're concerned about people running for school board and all these other posts I get it but guys what are we going to do when you have a high sco that can barely second or third grade level guys we promote and I and I understand why we don't hold kids back guys but we are promoting kids intentionally failed everything I've had them in the classroom we try
040I try to motivate them but they're not getting the motivation if I can't motivate them they sure as he Ain getting it at home and that's what we need we need parent involvement we need people to get their act together and be parents I tell my kids I say I got 50 seconds not 50 minutes I tell my kids every year the world owes you nothing if you want something guys you got to work for it everybody will be a leader everybody when you become a parent you're a leader law enforcement military whatever classroom you're a leader so uh guys any closes we're not in we're here for your kids you know next time your little darling gets in trouble don't call Mr Barett or M re there m re sorry but uh don't call
041this read cussing out you know your your kid might be a darling at home but they're a devil at school thank you a you thank you sir thank you sir next speaker Jackie Clark my husband and I are proud 25 year veteran teachers for B County Schools we work with the finest teachers in the state I work with the absolute finest school and County administrators who are supportive and treat their students and staff as we have an active School Board who has helped us to implement a strong and fair cell phone anding policy as teachers we see this positive impact on our students on a daily basis and we thank you for your hard work as part of this educational community I can assure you that we have and encourage parents support on the County
042Schools website there's a link to sign to be volunteer please check that out we send home papers and newss voicemails digital material every year encouraging PTA involvement and asking the Proctors for testing we encourage parents to sign with school and scho accounts to be informed daily for their students progress we call parents and have parent teacher conferences all parents and community members have access to State curriculum so that we can work parents as a team to ensure Student Success we know that support is essential in the success of an individual we spend our professional life in pursuit of this goal we hope that parents will come and be active partners with us in their child's education that teach I want to let you know children we wor about them we pray for them we work
043tirelessly to help successful students in people out there who would suggest that we don't care or we're trying to push some kind of alternate agenda that may be harmful to students these outside sources would have the good citizens of B County that we are providing something other than quality education for your children it's just not true do not be persuaded by their rhetoric come and see come to our schools talk to your teachers come and see anyone who suggests these negative opinions any significant time in count they have not witnessed guidance counselor students who might feel sad they not seen teachers and administrators work to make sure that students have what they need to be successful they have not seen teachers purchasing materials clothing shoes Christmas presents out of own Pockets or spending time checking
044on students do an adult and their to care for them on a daily basis we are Partners we are proud to be a part of the B County Public School System where we serve all children we are parents we teach our own children in the school system and we would not ever support or Implement any curric program or agenda that would be harmful to our children my challeng retired teachers anyone who has a child inol and anyone who our to do your research don't be deceived by outsources come and join us as we continue to thank you [Applause] Miss thank you m par next speaker Ashley good of I app coms made um especially Mr Barrett Clark I've worked with them for many years at East B Middle School I my name is Ashley good
045I am a product of bur County Public Schools I went to I Elementary all of my years I went through East myself where I met my husband who also went County Public Schools we graduated from Eber High School in 2001 we have two children one of them has already graduated from eastberg and the other one is currently a middle school student at East Middle School so when I say that this community means a lot to me I mean and in every aspect of that my history my kids history potentially my friend kids history it matters to me this is the first time I've ever signed up to speak at board meeting and it's because I feel that I can no longer sit silently and not voice some of the concerns um I'm here on be
046on behalf of the teachers um my colleagues even people that I don't know that that that are in the same vat as me um I'm extremely concerned about the stes that we have been experiencing not just in County but in other counties and and Statewide and Countrywide I don't know that Outsiders like people that are not in the system I don't know that they fully realize what is done what has already happened but it's a drop in the bucket it's a tip of the OSB we've seen nothing yet as far as what's coming if something doesn't change in the society we have of Veteran teachers who are hanging on by a thread to make it because they're just too close to walk away but their mental health is suffering their physical health is suffering and
047they can't do it anymore I'm among them I'll be honest I never saw myself walking away earlier than 30 years but I just don't know I can do it and there are many more like me what is the problem why what has changed I understand that Society has changed I get that we can't fixet in just little County but what can we do what do we have the legal power to do to increase student motivation to increase parent support we feel like it's us against them we feel like that that's that's how it's perceive and it shouldn't be it should not be that way it's us working with them and we do everything we can to try to help them understand that but it's just not getting across um so what can we I know
048what the statistics say about retention and all that but my question is if we keep passing them are we helping them we're we're failing then and that is my problem and that is many of my colleagues problem is that we know we're part of a system that we're stuck in and we have no power over continuing to Pass and Pass and Pass because we want our graduation rates to look good or whatever the reason may be is not helping them it is crippling them and when they go out to the workforce which we are currently seeing they can't handle it because they've never been held accountable they have never had to actually show up they have never had to answer for their behavior or for their lack of work ethic or work completion so I
049don't know what the answer is I don't know the laws I don't know the legal system well enough to know but I know that somebody in this County does we to what those options are is it real summer school when they're not it's not optional is it Saturday school is it I don't know what it is but I know if it doesn't get fixed this County better start looking at what they're going to do when you literally do not have the staff for school because it's coming it's coming fast um we we do love the students we love your children we care if we didn't I sure wouldn't be right I sure would be saying and working two extra months out of I'm not getting paid for so thank you for your support and thank
050you m good thank you Miss good our next speaker Mr Kenneth carco good evening um speaking this evening on the availability of obscene sexually explicit materials in Burke County uh Public Schools the first I wanted shift gears go to the big picture all across America educational institutions at all levels even K through 12 are emphasizing diversity equity and inclusion known as Dei which could rightly be called discrimination exclusion and indoctrination advancing the mantras of oppressed versus oppressor and systematic racism and are pushing a new morality on our kids normalizing diverse forms of sexuality gender variations and transgender ideology denying the reality of two Sexes to our children all under the heading of lesbian gay bisexual transgender queer plus lgbtq plus now have I gotten everyone's attention about this as it relates to America but if
051not I wish to give you a concrete example of what I mean according to the Arsenal article in national news on December 25th of allay incoming Fairfax County School SCH board chair Carl frish took his oath of office as he placed his hand on several pornographic books held by his male partner now the community and pastors of Burke County are passionate that Burke County Public Schools will never take this path and I pray the same will be true of this and future boards now but you say wait a minute that won't happen here over a decade ago obscene materials were reportedly both available and assigned as homework in the Burke County Public Schools one parent a mother who is well known stood against the school system caused a uproar but emerg Victorious more recently another
052parent Jamie wof approached the the Board of Education repeatedly about the availability of obscene material in the schools which fortunately prompted revisions in the policy and uh procedures getting parents a greater degree of control over the access to such materials an important though from development however the eventual goal is that all sexually explicit upse materials are fully REM removed from the schools which my understanding is to some degree the Board of Education still resist now um since I'm a clinical psychologist now retired I would like to mention before I read the challenge that in my practice I noticed that early exposure to obscenity led to distortions in personality development disturb sexual behavior some of criminal and gender confusion so it's a big deal now why so this this is my Challenge and my question to
053the board why is it essential why is it essential to have obscene material available in the media centers of our schools if you believe that then I would like to see a public Declaration of your position and if not the other way thank you Dr Caro pardon me thank you that was your four minutes okay if if I may make a closing comment um in America we have a belief in God remember our national motto in God we trust which is our creator and has granted us unalienable rights and issued the command to not cause our children to follow [Applause] than thank you Dr carero our next speaker is Shanda Atkins I'm sorry ma'am okay thank you our next speaker Mr Pastor Paul deal for tonight we want to say first of all before I
054speak I want to say that I thank all these teachers that have spoke while ago and I want to let de know that we support you 100% it's not easy being a teacher and I appreciate what they do it's hard to with some of the laws that we have what I want to say tonight is for many months we have been coming before the board trying to convince you to remove pornographic books that our children have access to this battle has not been a personal battle against any one person individually but against the system of ungodliness and wickedness that's pling our our County our state and our nation in this journey of standing for truth and standing for right we have not wished any ill will or misconduct toward you as board members and individuals
055in any way we would never do that our Focus has been and will continue to be the request the removal of any obscene and pornographic material in the books we've been careful in the Endeavors to purposely not make this a personal attack on any one person or group with that being said over the past few months I've had mult people that have come to me and said that not all but certain ones on the board have made statements to them that Pastor Paul deal and winklers Grove Baptist Church had better be careful because the Internal Revenue Service may be coming after them I'm concerned that within weeks of those statements being made my church received a certified letter from the IRS notifying us that we are under review from them based on anonymous tip is
056this coincidence that multiple people came to me and said that different ones on the school board made the statement to them that we may have IRS problems maybe it is coincidence but it certainly is a strange coincidence I hope that no one on the board would stop to the level of attacking a church with the weaponization of the IRS amen if one of you on the school board did this just understand God's word says God is Not mock what a man s that [Applause] I'm not quite sure I'm not quite sure why one would take such a stance because all we're trying to do and all we're standing for is against the ungodly pornographic triple X content in the schools I can't understand why everyone could not stand with us against that I want the
057board to understand one thing and I'm going to be very very clear in my statement today no matter what comes our way as a church we continue to stand for the safety and wellbeing of our children not just in birth County but the surrounding counties you need to know that we are not backing down or are we going away that's right people may attack me personally as a pastor and that's okay but just know when you attack the Church of God which is the bride of Christ you get in trouble with God really fast amen we're praying for you because you don't want to get God mad at you you need to understand that God is Not on the side of those that would evil and stand for evil to be promoted but God is
058on our side and he'll stand for us just so you know our attorneys informed us that we're in good shape and aren't guilty of anything and everything's fine let me close with this about the books it's strange that we fought for months and months to get a few books removed but all of a sudden since we're coming up on Election they suddenly begin to disappear on every hand even at the expense of violating your own policy you been removing books don't take me wrong I'm glad I'm glad the books have been removed but I'm confused if you can do it now this close to the election why couldn't you do it months ago and I want to conclude by this if you were to run as a conserva stop governing like a [Applause] liberal thank
059you Pastor deal our next speaker Carla Odum I wanted to thank you for what you've already done in removing some of the pornographic books from our school libraries we pray pray you continue to remove them all until the dangers they POS the children on and after these pornographic books our give them a book of Hope give them the word of God and hope for today and for tomorrow I've been listening to these wonderful teachers they hope our children hope country we all Jesus's hope for all men women boys and girls John 3:16 Says for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believeth him should noten put the word of God back in the bur County publico Libraries and classrooms and set a for others to do so let
060them know they are loved and cared for and they don't have to take their own lives because of the hopelessness they according to the CDC is the third reading cause of death in ages 15 to 2 our nation 50,000 people in America that pornography robs their minds their future hope gives them peace and joy in the worst of circumstances give them Jesus and they won't leave police and security guards on campus I've been listening in these meetings to the problem that exist in our schools and among our children suicide mental health issues addiction anger and violence and I've watched you earnestly work to find solutions to help our children but you are missing the most important element you are trying to fix the Fallout without getting to the RO of the problem and the only
061true solution Jesus amen if you didn't care you wouldn't hold the positions you hold and when we care we want to give our children health and hope some years back to our shame we allow prayer and the word of God to be removed from our classrooms and the educational material that was used in the classrooms and now we have violence and suicide and law enforcement and de priv in our schools I challenge you to search the word of God in your own hearts for the truth and be a part of restoring what's been lost completely REM all pornographic books that greatly harm our children in our society forever and give them the book that changes lives God has brought each of you this with the authority you've been given begin Revival hope in our schs
062one burdened heart can change a nation I told the Lord let stand on and tell every child in America that Jesus L for you and I and that's what our children need in all schools not just all schools across station our children [Applause] need thank you Miss s Mr chair at this time that concludes public com section for tonight's Meek thank you Mr Johnson we'll uh move uh on to what is now item nine a the uh external audit Mr Lawson's not with us tonight Dr Swan I uh so the requested action is is a formal acceptance of the audit as was presented that is correct all right uh what's pleasure of the board then in regards to the 2022 2023 external AIT that was presented at the work session to accept second it Mr
063Johnson moved M Craven seconded uh acceptance of the external audit as was previously discussed at the work session any additional comment or discussion hearing none all those in favor indicate by saying I I I all those oppose no I have it the motion is carried and Madam Secretary indicates such item number B the brook County Public School internal external audit contract for 23 and 24 Dr Swan do you wish to be heard on that no sir okay so you have um you had that before you uh what's the pleasure of the board in returns uh in regards to the next year's audit contract is there a motion to I make a motion to accept it I'll second M Craven move Miss Taylor seconded um accepting the audit contract is had been indicated for 23 and
06424 four any additional discussion or comment hearing none all those in favor Syndicate by saying I I I all those oppose no I have it the motion is carried and accepted uh the budget resolution for 23 and 24 that was discussed at last week's work session Dr Swan you wish to be heard on that yes sir uh is there a motion to accept that budget resolution please I'll make a motion to accept I'll second Miss Taylor move Mr Johnson seconded approval of the budget resolution that had been previously presented for 2023 2024 additional discussion or comment hearing none all in favor sen saying I I I I'll oppose no I have the Motions carried um Dr Alton can you describe to us item number D this potential sale of uh property at 103 Bay chis
065yes so in your packet you do have a GIS overlay um this is a056 acre um lot that we have um owned previously we're paying about $4,000 annually in HOA fees um for that lot of land it's in M Holland and we've been given an offer of $50,000 which is the exact amount that we paid for that lot um so we'd like to ask the board to consider that offer Dr Swan you wish to be heard on that yes uh that that lot was purchased of course preco it was in the the mall and development as our construction classes were going out and Building Homes as they normally did uh with Co those real prices home prices began to Skyrocket uh and that that the the structures of those homes were a little overwhelming uh
066to to look at those so we we recommend the sale of that property and Mr chairman that money would go back into the CTE program that money stays in the CTE program so if we could just make the motion subject to final legal review and let us just take one quick look at it make sure that the money goes back where it needs to but Mr Lawson is well well acquainted with these issues any questions uh for Dr Swan or uh Mr Camp You' like to dispose of it this evening if if so this motion to approve subject to final legal riew approve the sale yeah subject to final legal review subject to final review thank there second second M Taylor moved Mr Johnson seconded approval for the sale of property pending final review at
06710 103 Bayon Crest in additional discussion or comment all right hearing none all those in favor indicate by saying I I I all oppose no I have it the motion is carried um item number e the the Burke County Public School proposed calendar for 2024 and 2025 Mr Recker you wish to be heard again on that sir questions or comments for uh Mr Rec exams will be before Christmas okay thank you for making that change in March as well we've heard a lot of good comments from parents teachers staff um on the changes with this past Year's calendar and I think you know continuing on with what you've built um be positive it's good outcomes for our our teachers and for students so we appreciate it and I'm I'm very happy that Dr Swan has
068agreed to change and close all the schools on election days too um this way we know that there are not going to be people on our campuses that uh would normally not be wanted like pedophiles and so forth and so I'm glad that our schools are closed on those days so that we don't have any chance of anything happening to our students our 12,000 kids that we care deeply about make a motion we approve the calendar as presented M Taylor moov Mr Johnson second at approval of the proposed calendar as uh have been presented and discussed for 2024 2025 any further discussion or comment Mr chairman I'd like to make the comment that it still troubles me that local systems can't control their old calendars and the these calls are made from the state is
069that correct yes sir and and so that's something that's been taken away from public schools right yes control of our calendars yes approximately 2 that's a troubling Trend that we see but uh I certainly applaud what you guys do and what you do within the system but uh I I think individual schools systems ought to be able to call their own calendar agreed here here any additional comment concerns all right hearing none all those in favor of the calendar is discussed so okay by saying I I I'll oppose no I have it the motion is carried the proposed calendar is uh set Dr Alton second reading and final action on policy amendments yes so at our work session we did um Bel labor and review details especially uh concerning 3200 3200r and 3210 but I
070did want to point out one additional change in 3210 in section c uh we did we did delineate exactly what the dmac committee the district media advisory committee what that would consist of or who that would consist of so we want to make sure that that was clear in policy so we did make that change Mr Campbells anything you'd wish to be heard on uh no nothing unless the board has any questions the dmac will involve two parents on that committee okay good good so what is the action request of Doc dton here so I'd like for you to consider a motion to approve these um policies in the second reading this evening to the second reading is there any that require final action yes did you this will be this will be final action
071as second final yes sir Y and if any board member wants to take any of them out you can but you can certainly vote on all of them with a single motion okay it's pleasure of the board so moved that we accept these policies as written second that yeah uh Movic moved Miss Craven seconded uh action as final action on the policy amendments that had been previously presented Ed and discussed any additional comments or concerns hearing none all those in favor of the requested action indicate by saying I I I I'll oppose no I have it the motion is carried thank you do [Applause] do I'd bring to your attention the uh consent item is I would move that the consent uh items be uh accepted and the second is not required is there any
072comment or discussion all right hearing none all those in favor approval consent item Syndicate saying I oppos no I have it motions carried thank you and uh so Dr Swan we have need to go into close session for two that's correct okay so I would move uh uh pursuant to North Carolina General statute 1433 18.11 subsection A1 and six for the purpose of uh considering confidential Personnel matters is further defined by North Carolina General statutes 115c 319 321 and pursuant to subsection A3 to receive information protected by the attorney client privilege and pursuant to subsection a and five to discuss the potential acquisition of real property is there a second please second second properly moved and seconded to going to uh close session any discussion or comment hearing none all those in favor close session
073I any kep saying I I I all oppose no eyes have it ladies and gentlemen we'll be in closed session and we do not anticipate U any action once we come out we'll come out a Clos session and I anticipate adjournment so thank you for coming tonight