001oh good evening everyone we're so glad to have you here with us this evening at this time i would like to call our meeting to order anyone make a motion all right at this time we will um have our new members take the oath of office and i believe it's going to be judge keenard with us today tonight get myself all right can everybody hear me all right do you want your family to come up or anyone to hold the bible you can do that one chance to get on television all right very good now uh can everybody hear me and all right for some reason this is shorter than i thought it was i've done this before over in our joining county um what i'm going to do is i'm going to say a
002line when i say i and after that i'll say state state your name and you'll just all together say your individual names it'll sound a little funny but then i'll wait and i'll go and we'll just do praise by phrase and you just just repeat after me okay everybody ready raise open left hand on the bible raise your right hand i state your name do solemnly swear that i will support and maintain the constitution and the laws of the united states and the constitution and laws of the state of north carolina not inconsistent therewith and that i will faithfully discharge my duties as a member of the burke county board of education so help me god congratulations [Applause] uh oh great it's done mm-hmm congratulations to all of you i am so happy to be
003serving with you i really am thank you all right at this time um i would like for you to take a look at the agenda and if someone would make a motion a second okay all those in favor of approval of the agenda please raise your right hand that's unanimous thank you at this time we'd like to take a moment of silence thank you all please stand for the pledge of of the allegiance states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay at this time i'm going to turn it over to miss debbie jennings and she is going to present our continental middle school science fair winners good evening board on november the 18th the continental burke county middle school science
004fair was held this evening we would like to recognize our first place winners in the physics category from eastbourk middle hunter mass croft [Applause] hunter's project was splish splash study on the effect of plumbing layout on water pressure and flow in the chemistry category also from eastbourk middle school seventh grader luke borders [Applause] acidic or basic what's your water a study of ph values of drinking water in the biological science category from table rock middle school bryant airwood capture the pest a behavioral study of ants these young gentlemen will be competing in the regional competition in the next few weeks let's give them all another round of applause [Applause] at this time we would like to hear some public comments i'm going to turn it over to mr johnson all right public comments time i'm
005going to read a few things real quick persons will speak in the order in which they are signed up to speak each speaker in the public comments section of board meeting shall have a minimum maximum of five minutes for his or her comments at which point the speaker will be politely asked to begin comment bring comments to a close followed by thank you school board policies state law and federal law have established separate distinct procedures and forums for the resolution of employee grievances employee complaints against individual employees people suspensions and appeals and political campaigns to avoid circumventionally separate proceedings and ensure fairness of all polity excuse me party's concerned no person shall speak regarding a filed grievance pending employee complaint filed with a school board school district or an outside agency complain against individual employees
006employee disciplinary actions suspensions or terminations or pupil suspension or appeal which may ultimately reach the board of education additionally prior to elections no person who has publicly announced or filed a candidate for public office may speak during these public comments concerning his or her candidacy the school board chair or designee shall terminate any presentation that is not in accordance with any of these criteria except as limited by previous provisions public comments will be allowed during the public comments period on any subject that is not within its jurisdiction of the board our first comment will be from gene gouge i'm sorry gooch we'll have five minutes let me just say thank you to the school board for the privileged opportunity just to be able to speak just for a few minutes and uh what a joyous
007it is i didn't realize i was going to get in on the swearing-in of the new board members and so that is that is just a little bit of an added extra benefit and uh just say that i'm so sorry for the loss of your your colleague i think the last time i was here mr eckerd was here and so i'm so sorry for the loss of your friend and your colleague and i'm sure i'm sure he will was very much loved and i'm sure he'll be very much missed my name is jean googe and some of y'all y'all know me uh i'm i've been a citizen of living burke county now for about 38 years and i pastor a church in burke county been pastoring there now for 40 40 years and um i'm
008here tonight to speak to you about the books the literature the material that is in the schools through the library and encourage the school board to act immediately upon this i've brought i've brought two books with me here tonight and of course one of them laid their hand on it tonight and was sworn in and of course this is the bible this is god's word and this book has literally 47 years ago transformed my life i never got over and uh this book has probably transformed many of y'all's lives but i also brought another book and this book right here it is the name of that they hate the hate you give and this book right here also has transformed and is transforming a lot of lives in burke county not just burke county but
009in north carolina public education schools and this book was checked out by one of my teenage girls and my church this book was recommended as reading to one of my teenage girls this book right here and this book is pure filth mr wyckoff's going to bring you some more books and but this is an example just a small example i thought about reading some of the extra i thought about reading some of the the words and the passages that are in this book and i guarantee you if i did i guarantee you i would be sit down because you would not think that this would be appropriate to read to an audience of adults and even small children here tonight but yet this book is recommended reading by teachers north carolina burke county and if
010i was to read some of the words in this book it would shock many of you now i'm thankful i'm thankful that the mask mandates have been eased and thankful for the school board i think the last time you eased it you lifted it you changed it me myself i believe forced forcing making children a wear mask six eight hours a day number one's inhumane i mean if you thought if you was to make a dog or a cat wear a face covering over their face for six to eight hours you'd probably be arrested for being inhumane to animals and it's not sanitary for you to breathe your air for six or eight hour and it also dehumanizes the children children learn from the expressions on the face and if you do not see their
011face and they do not see your face then they are not going to be learning the way they should but these books these books right here they don't just affect the face and the breathing these books affect the heart and words just like words of this book as an effect words of this book also has an effect and books like these have no place no place in any county school burke county school school libraries has no place being recommended by teachers to be read by young people in burke county now i encourage the school board i've been to about the last three meetings and all i've heard is the mass the mass the mask i want to tell you now it's time to start dealing with this we need to start dealing with this and
012actively immediately and aggressively start addressing this issue now change the policy if you have to change a policy change a policy if you have to change a review board change the review board any any review board who would recommend this to children and young people to read should not be on the review board so this needs to be taken care of and it needs to be taken care of immediately i regret the passing of mr rockard and but i want to make a recommendation uh to fill his seat until an election can be made and i asked mr swan if it'd be okay and so if you get mad you have to get mad at him uh i recommend i know i have known mr jamie walkoff from the time he was born jamie loves
013burke county jamie loves the kids of burke county and i recommend to the school board to let him sit in the seat of mr eichard until an official election or whatever has to be done thank you for letting me see thank you sir thank you thank you pastor gage next we'll have mr wyckoff thank you and again you'll have five minutes good evening first i want to thank opportunity to speak and say congratulations to the new board members i'm sure you guys will do a great job last month school board me not addressed the reasons why a revision of the media policies needs to be done i didn't plan on speaking tonight on the matter you know i've kind of felt that i made a pretty good case so far but there's been some more
014titles that has come up in the high school libraries it's on a different topic as you may know last week the wake county public schools made national news when several parents address our school board over their disapproval of explicit transgender books in their school libraries and i'm afraid that right now we're facing the same issue there's five books four of which is in the same school felix every aft felix ever after freak boy beautiful music for ugly children if i was your girl and being jazzed felix ever after is one of the newest newest titles has 15 instincts of drug and alcohol use over 400 vulgarities it only has 354 pages and includes 221 words or 221 uses of the f word alone the book also contains once again minors engaging in detailed sexual acts
015you'll see that in your handouts i can't read them out loud tonight all five of these books have one same very dangerous notion they recommend irreversible amputations of body parts and hormonal treatments for teenagers i realize it may be an individual's choice on what gender they wish to perceive however i believe it's unwise to provide materials to teens as young and as young as 13 and 14 years old it suggests and praises medicalized gender transitioning kyra bell is a real life individual whose situation mirrors our book's main character she believed it at 14 that she was a male after reading books and articles on the internet she began to take puberty blockers hormones and eventually had her breast amputated she said after it was done she made a mistake but it was too late she
016stated the consequences of what happened to me are profound possibly infertility loss of my breast and inability to breastfeed permanently changed voice and facial hair i made a brash decision as most teenagers do trying to find confidence and happiness but now the rest of my life will be negatively negatively affected the medicalized gender transitioning was a very temporary superficial fix for a very complex issue so far on these books i've not seen any of the authors of these books address the major issues that comes with these gender reassignment surgeries for teens over half contemplated suicide in the united states just in 2020. thousands of doctors and surgeons the american college of pediatricians even the world health organization all say that medical's gender transitioning is extremely dangerous practitioners have resigned from such clinics specializing in these
017procedures have cited issues suffering by these teens who sought help such as sexual abuse trauma parental abandonment depression anxiety being on the autism spectrum and having adhd at the end of the book beautiful music for ugly children the author adds a note which says in case you're wondering doctors have been helping individuals match their brains to their bodies up to the the early part of the 20th century then she goes in explaining to the students how all the treatments and surgeries are done i don't know why it's become necessary lately for the media centers to begin to provide such crude and socialized materials as students as you read from your handouts these materials could be read out cannot be read out loud in the classroom they are deemed appropriate in the libraries the books that
018have brought before the board for reconsideration are all supportive materials on social issues such as critical race theory and now transgenderism according to the police policy if you provide materials on social issues or you are to provide materials on both sides of the issue and this has not been done there also seems to be this idea that schools must provide materials on social issues such as this i disagree it is the parents responsibility and the right to teach their children about these types of issues and what they deem is appropriate not to school's libraries i'm not the only one who feels this way tonight i'm going to leave a copy of a petition that will remain open and that last count was signed by over 2 200 people these people feel the same way that
019i do that our media policy must be changed thank you mr wyakov thank you mr whitehouse next we'll have marshall jolly and again mr jolly you'll have five minutes that should be sufficient thank you members of the burke county board of education my name is marshall jolly and i live just two blocks away from here in downtown morganton before i begin my comments in earnest i want you to know that i joined you virtually at your last meeting as you honored rl eichard's memory i joined your ongoing prayers for his family and friends and all who loved him i was honored to know r.l briefly in the community from some of our shared work and it is an understatement to say how sorely he will be missed i'm here to speak with you tonight because
020of my fourth grade teacher at paris elementary school in paris kentucky miss ethel jones and she herself has now gone on to her rest she taught me that education is about discovery it's about the life of the mind and ultimately it's about participating in and offering yourself to your community in the coming weeks the duty will fall to you to select an individual to fill the now vacated seat on this board after many conversations prayer reflection i offer myself to this community my wife elizabeth and i moved here to morganton in 2015 when i was called as the 26th rector of grace episcopal church since our arrival we have devoted ourselves to serving the community and especially those in need elizabeth does it every day at broughton hospital where she is a licensed clinical social
021worker and coordinator of the forensics program i'm fortunate to serve the community in my role as a member of the clergy but also as a member of the community and a community leader in 2016 i was appointed to the board of the burke county department of social services where i've been chair since 2017. during my tenure as chair i led a successful nationwide search for an executive director in 2020 i was honored to be appointed by north carolina state supreme court justice sherry beasley to serve on the north carolina faith and justice alliance steering committee which partners with faith communities in the legal community to offer legal services to marginalized and underserved communities due in part to my work with dss and with the north carolina state supreme court i was tapped by the community
022foundation of burke county to lead their homelessness task force earlier this year i was elected to the board of the unifor foundation which is the largest philanthropic fund in the four county unifor region i believe deeply that accessible high quality rigorous public education forms the backbone of every civilized society and i believe it because it has formed the backbone of my own life i became the first member of my family to attend college and graduated laude from transylvania university where i earned a ba in american studies and from there i went to emory university where i earned both a master and doctoral degree in theology i've worked as a teaching assistant a guest lecturer and as a member of two faculty search committees i published more than 30 scholarly articles essays commentaries and book reviews
023and publications ranging from the journal of appalachian studies to yale university's glossolalia journal among others i would literally not be standing before you had it not been for the public school system in paris kentucky who instilled in me the values of education leadership and service i would bring these values and commitments and experiences to this board should i be appointed thank you that will conclude our public comments section now we're going to move on to some action items first we're going to talk about our mask policy and if there's any modifications that um we would like to do to that is there anyone that would like to make a motion that will conclude that will get us through until january when we meet again a motion to continue as is okay see you one second
024a second second so we um we have a motion and a second of keeping our mask optional or at least through to january when we meet again all those in favor oh i'm sorry sure i'm sorry i'm sorry doctor himself we get some discussion we do i apologize about that school nurse here yes sir can we get a comment from her give us kind of the update on where we are thank you dr hempstreet yeah i think that's just what we i forgot good evening um so i do have an update as of six o'clock tonight um just to give you the update from the week of 11 29 to 12.5 where we kind of closed out with that we finished with 35 total positives for students and staff 283 student and staff exposures of
025those 51 students and staff did not have to quarantine due to exemption and then last week 12 6 through 12 12 we have 15 total positive for students and staff 197 student staff exposures and 46 of those did not have to quarantine due to exemption that last week we'll continue to add numbers to it probably through next week to be more accurate okay so if we had the 283 there were quarantined is that right the week of 11 29 to 12 50. 51 didn't have to be quarantined of the 283 yes so how many had to be quarantined and the 51 that didn't why were they not happy why didn't they have to they met a quarantine exemption of either having coveted in the past 90 days or um being fully vaccinated there could have
026been a few in there we still have some students and staff that are wearing their masks so some of them did meet a mask exemption but right the majority were from fully vaccinated or having had coveted so these children are out for they're out for how how much class time do they lose they're 10 days from their last exposure so when these kids are out they're out of class for 10 days that's right right well it weekends are factored into that so 10 full days are these numbers going up they have gone up um the week of 11 29 to 12 5 it did start to rise that is post thanksgiving um things so the week 11 15 to 11 21 for example we had let me go back 11 22 to 11 28 we
027had 16 student i'm sorry 62 student exposures and three staff exposures for that week 11 15 to 11 21 we had 84 student exposures and three staff exposures so it has risen um in the last couple weeks but it's going up and i think part of the concern that i have is with new variant that's coming and the the and what we're all getting to do is getting together for thanksgiving and christmas i think these numbers the problem is it's not what you see right now it's what you're going to see in what two to three weeks in an incubation period where this the problem comes so i think we need as a board to really be listening to some of these numbers i know the children are out but when you take the staff
028out that really starts to change the ball game because that puts additional pressure on who's left so i think we really when you really need to watch the numbers what was the week of 12-6 numbers again 12 6 to 12 12 we had 15 total positives and 197 student and staff exposures of those 46 met exemption those numbers don't really total out and because we're still getting information in so usually by the mid to end of next week under the following week we would have more accurate data actually okay i'm glad we're looking at it every month because that's the way to do it we shouldn't spread it out but it looks like things are kind of elevating a little bit i was asked by a doctor at burke primary care today to give an
029update from their office experience with testing in november it was stated that the numbers were between of the tested people they were between 2 and four percent were positive uh last week it jumped to nine percent is that just from those tested in their office uh yes i believe so you know how many were tested i'm sorry you know how many were tested no i'm sorry i was not given that information we're testing now though aren't we are we testing the kids we are able to do individual pcr testing for students and staff in the schools for those that have symptoms what determines if a child is going to if they're gosh everybody in town's got a sniffly nose now yeah stick this up but you don't want every kid coming in and have to
030get it but what's the criteria for testing anyone that has symptoms can get tested it is with parent or staff consent we don't test anyone without the consent of the parent thank you is mr scalise here thank you thank you is there any other further discussion all right again thank you dr him straight for reminding me i'm still learning my my role here all right at this time i think we're ready to take a vote all those in favor of staying mask optional if you please raise your right hand all those opposed thank you it's four to two all right uh next we're going to talk about the personnel report um was there any discussion on that and remember if you have anything to say you need to speak in a number do i mean
031does anyone want to make a motion to accept the personnel report i make a motion we accept the personnel thank you dr ham straight is there a second second thank you jane all those in favor of the personnel report please raise your right hand thank you all right let's look at consent items um are there any is there any discussion or questions someone make a motion to accept the consent items as is a motion to accept consent items as is okay is there a second second all right thank you all those in favor please raise your right hand okay six thank you okay dr swan at this time do we have any reason to go into closed session all right okay thank you so that brings us to adjournment does anyone want to make a
032motion to go into adjournment our motion to adjourn all right thank you jane all those in favor of adjournment please raise your right hand thank you