MGSD Board Meeting - March 3, 2026

001ation meeting Tuesday March 3rd 2026. Uh at this time I would like to have a moment of silence. Thank you. Um, as we begin our meeting this evening, I want to recognize that it is National Reading Month, a time to celebrate the joy and the power of reading. Across our schools, students and staff are engaging in activities that spark imagination, build knowledge, and strengthen literacy. I want to thank the educators, the families for fostering the love of reading every day. And in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday this week, I share this quote. The more that you read, the more you will know. Thank you. Uh, pledge of allegiance. >> Yes, sir. We have two um students that will be leading the pledge of allegiance tonight. So, I'd like to ask Charbell Aad and Cayenne Witherspoon

002if they will come up to the front at this time. Whenever you guys are ready to start, we'll start with the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. That sounded wonderful. >> All right. Approval of the agenda. I'll entertain a motion. >> I move we approve the agenda as presented. I have a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Do I hear a second? >> Second. >> I have a motion and a second. All those in favor? >> I. All those opposed? >> Motion carries. Approval of the minutes from the January 6, 2026 meeting, the January 27th, 2026 work session, and the February 17th, 2026 work session. And I will entertain a

003motion to approve those minutes. >> So moved. >> I have a motion to approve the minutes of those three uh meetings. I have a second. >> Second. >> Have a motion in a second. All those in favor? I. >> All those opposed? >> Motion carries. Thank you. Student of the month, Dr. >> W. Gotcha. Gotcha. All right. Good evening. Um, tonight we had the honor of having two students as our student of the month and pledge leaders. So, first I'd like to call up Charbell Wad, student at Rocky River Elementary School as our first pledge leader. Trevor was nominated by the was selected by the administrative team at Rocky River Elementary. And here's a little bit about what they had to share about him and why he was nominated. We are so proud to recognize

004Charbellawad as our as the MGSD student of the month. He consistently demonstrates kindness, thoughtfulness, and a genuine love of learning that shines through everything he does. From an early age, he has shown an impressive thirst for knowledge. He is inquisitive, attentive, and deeply engaged in his learning. In first grade, he began participating in our dual language program after it became evident that he had a strong desire to speak more languages than just the two he already was fluent in, Arabic and English. This curiosity and drive continue to motivate him as he takes responsibility for his own learning each day. Beyond his academic dedication, he is a supportive and helpful classmate. He willingly assists others and contributes positively to the learning environment. He especially enjoys sharing what he's learning with Miss Nhard and Miss Cayamba whenever

005they visit the classroom or they see him in the hallway. He also demonstrates strong character outside of the classroom. At school events, he's attentive and caring towards his younger siblings and consistently shows respect towards his parents. These qualities reflect the values that we hope to instill in all of our students. We're incredibly proud of his efforts, his positive attitude, and his strong racer spirit. He is truly deserving of this recognition. Please join me and congratulating Charbell as our student of the month for February 2026. school of the month. >> It was from February from the snow. Let's give another round of applause. All right, for our next pledge leader and student of the month for March, I'd like to call up Cen Witherspoon, a student at Park View Elementary School. Let's give him a round

006of applause. >> Perfect. Kine was selected by Miss Starns, a teacher at Parkview Elementary. And here's what she had to share about him. K exemplifies the very best in what it means to be a Parkview patriot. He consistently demonstrates kindness, safety, respect, and responsibility in his daily actions. K arrives to school prepared and eager to learn. Approaches challenges with determination, and perseverance, never allowing a difficult task to stand in his way. What truly sets him apart though, and the reason he's being recognized as a standout student, is that he truly has the heart of a patriot. His compassion and integrity, which he models towards others, is like no other. Without being asked, he has taken it upon himself to support a classmate who faces some physical challenges. Each day he helps his friend pack and

007unpack the his belongings, assists with putting on the coat and hat for recess during the colder months, and offers his hand while walking through the hallways to provide an extra balance and reassurance. These acts of kindness are not prompted or expected. They are simply a reflection of his character. His thoughtfulness has been an incredible support to both his classmate and his teacher. And even more importantly, it has provided a student who sometimes struggles to make connections a genuine friend and trusted companion. His actions demonstrate empathy, leadership, and a strong sense of community. He is a remarkable role model for his peers and a true embodiment of the values that we hope to to instill in all of our students. Cayenne is without question a truly exceptional and one-of-a-kind student. Please join me in congratulating our

008March student of the month, Cayenne Witherspoon. school district of the month. done with it. >> Give another round of applause. All right, we also have two artists of the month to recognize. Um, we're going to start with our artist of the month from February. So, tonight we have the honor of recognizing several students of our artists of the month. First up, we have Miss Everham's first grade classroom at Rocky River Elementary. This class was nominated by Miss Nelson, teacher at Rocky River. And before I share a little bit about them, I'll ask them to come up front at this time. Okay, perfect. >> You can tell they're excited to perform for us. a little bit about you and then and then everyone will get to see you perform. Okay. >> All right. Miss Abraham's class

009has been selected as the artist of the month for their creativity, teamwork, and joyful commitment to the performing arts. >> Over the past several weeks, these students worked together to bring a story to life through expressive acting, careful listening, and the thoughtful use of classroom instruments. They practiced their parts, supported each other, and learned how to function as a true ensemble. Many of these students were also dedicated members of the acting club where they consistently demonstrated responsibility, cooperation, and a genuine love for performance. Their storybook theater presentation reflects not only their growing musical and dramatic skills, but also their willingness to take brave risks and share their learning with others. We are proud to celebrate their hard work, and we are excited to present Miss Abraham's class as our artists of the month. Let's give

010them a round of applause. Oh, yeah. He's on. All right. While I'm walking back over here, I also want to announce it's music in our schools month during the month of March. So, make sure you thank a music teacher sometime. >> All right. And with that, we are going to get started. Once upon a time, upon a nest beside a lake, there lived two ducks. A mother duck and a father duck. There were five eggs in the nest. Mother duck sat upon the nest all day and all night through howling wind and driving rain. Looking after the eggs, all five of them. Then one bright morning, the eggs began to hatch. One, two, three, four little beaks poked out into the sunlight. And one, two, three, four little ducklings shook their feathers in the breeze.

011But the fifth egg did nothing. >> Said father duck. >> Said mother duck. Father, motherucking. >> And sure enough, she did. Go ahead. >> Said father duck. >> Ruby, >> said mother duck. >> Roffus, worry, Rosie, and Rebecca ate whatever they were given. They ate anything and everything. But Ruby ate nothing. >> Said father duck. >> Said mother duck. Father is worried. Motheruck and sure enough she did. All right. Roffus, Rory, Rosie, and Rebecca swam off wherever they were able. They swam anywhere and everywhere. But Ruby swam nowhere. >> Will she ever swim? >> Said father duck. >> She will, >> said mother duck. >> Father duck is worried. Mother duck is fine. And sure enough, she did. >> Roffus, Roffus, >> Rory, Rosie, and Rebecca grew bigger. And Ruby grew bigger, too. Her feathers

012grew out and her wings grew broad and beautiful. And when Roffus, Rory, Rosie, and Rebecca began to fly, Ruby flew, too. Roffus, Rory, Rosie, and Rebecca flew far and wide. They flew out across the water. They flew up among the trees. But Ruby flew farther and wider. She flew out am beyond the water. She flew up above the trees. She flew anywhere and everywhere. She stretched out her beautiful wings and soared high among the clouds. Mother duck and father duck watched Ruby fly off into the distance. My mother, my mother, >> said mother duck, said father duck. >> And sure enough, she did. >> Mother duck is worried. Mother duck is fine. What about the little in her own time? The end. >> How about that one right there? Okay, that's all >> done. >>

013She was tell. All right, let me go to this side. The Morrisville School District Board of Education recognizes Miss Taylor Everham's first grade class as the artist of the month. Board of Education meeting March 3rd, >> Congratulations, guys. And I have Oh my goodness. Maybe. >> Yeah. Don't take that with you. >> Thank you so much. All right, we have our next artist of the month. Our next student to be recognized as artist of the month is Mary Umbberger, student at Park View Elementary. So, we'll ask Mary to come up front at this time. Let's give her a round of applause. Mary was nominated by Miss Jones, teacher at Parkview Elementary. And and while I'm sharing a little bit about you, you can hold your artwork so that everybody can see it. Okay. Mary is

014a joy to have in visual arts class and the art club at Parkview Elementary School. In addition to her artistic talent, she exemplifies what it means to be a Parkview patriot. Mary consistently shows kindness towards others and demonstrates respect for teachers, peers, school property, and herself. She also is highly responsible in class, completing assignments, and managing her time effectively and following directions with care. The artwork Mary showcased this month is inspired by Mexican amate paper art. Through this project, Mary and her f fellow second grade classmates learned about this as a traditional and ancient art form made from the bark fig bark of fig and malberry trees. Students explored how to how the process remained largely unchanged for thousands of years, involving soaking the bark, boiling it with lime, and beating it to a pulp

015to create paper with a distinctive rustic texture. They then used bright, vivid colors to paint, depicting the sun, birds, flowers, and scenes from daily life. As Mary's art teacher, I'm very proud of her artistic growth and her accomplishments in earning this title of artist of the month. I hope she continues to use her creativity and talent to express herself through art throughout her entire life. Please join me in congratulating Mary as our March artist of the month. Now, Mary, if you're okay with it, we're going to keep that and we're going to hang it up in our central office so everybody can see it. Okay? Then we'll get it back to you soon. Let's give her another round of applause. All right. Each month we also have the honor of recognizing a district employee who

016goes above and beyond demonstrating core value of our district. So this month we'll recognize two staff members as we missed our February meeting. So first off we will start with Ella Donahghue, instructional assistant at Rocky River Elementary. Miss Donahghue is nominated by the administrative team at Rocky River Elementary. I'd like to ask her to come up front at this time. Let's give her a round of applause. Here is a little bit about what they had to share about Miss Donahghue. What a ray of light Miss Ella has been since her arrival at Rocky River. We needed a special individual to join one of our significant population classrooms. And she continues to bless us with her spirit, love, knowledge, care, and willingness each and every day. With students who change minuteto minute, Miss Ella doesn't miss

017a beat with her supervision and teaching. Her bright spirit shines when she welcomes her students off the bus. And boy are they just as eager to see her. She has quickly learned each child's interests, patterns, triggers, and needs working alongside her colleagues and through the guidance from her teacher. Miss Ella strives to further her education to work with students with special needs and is gaining a better understanding with her current role. Her calm and positive demeanor helps her students thrive in the learning environment. And her approach in working with students is wonderful to see. Miss Ella has so many talents and wonderful characteristics. Our students in school are better because she's a member of our team. We are grateful for her commitment to our students and staff. Her professionalism, care, and attitude is appreciated and

018does not go unnoticed. Please join me in congratulating Miss Donahghue as our February 2026 ABCD AWARD WINNER. SCHOOL DISTRICT RECOGNIZ. February 2026. Congratulations. I know you do it >> every day, all the time. All right, for our next ABCD award, ABCD award for March, we will call up Kiana Foy, TSC instructional assistant at Parkview Elementary. Miss Foy, if you come up, Veronica this time. Miss Foy was nominated by the administrative team at Parkview Elementary. And here's a little bit about why they nominated her. Miss Foy serves as the instructional assistant in our TSC classroom, but her impact reaches far beyond that role. She's a true example of authentic relationships in action. From the moment a student qualifies for TSC and is scheduled to transition, she begins preparing a welcome and supportive space. She collaborates with

019the teachers and the administrative team to review student information so that she can understand their needs before they even walk in the door. When students and families arrive for their first day at Parkview, they are greeted not just with a plan, but with genuine care, warmth, and intention. Miss Foy immediately begins building rapport with students using thoughtful strategies to help them feel safe, supported, and part of the school family. She reaches out to parents, opens lines of communication, and fosters ongoing problem-solving partnerships. Because of these efforts, students and families experience success rooted in trust and connection. Her work reflects our district's core belief in creating an environment that is welcoming to all, where every voice is valued and every person knows they belong. Miss Foy is deeply invested in each students growth and their ability

020to transition back into a full classroom environment. She doesn't just support students, she ensures that they are seen, valued, and truly connected to our community. Beyond the classroom, Miss Foy willingly steps in to assist in other areas of the building and is always willing to lend a hand during school events. Her presence, positivity, and willingness to serve wherever needed further strengthens the sense of community that defines Park View Elementary. Please join me in congratulating Miss Foy as our March ABCD award winner. Great school district. ROUND OF APPLAUSE. ALL RIGHT, NEXT UP we have two groups to recognize for our spotlight on people. We will start with our Morrisville graded school district national board certified teachers. Tonight we have the opportunity to proudly recognize and congratulate MGSD educators who either attained or renewed national board certification.

021So when I call their name, if you'll please come up to the front. Jesse D. Francisco from Parkview Elementary. Cynthia Hamilton, Selmer Middle School. Angela Johnson, Selberg Middle School. Allison Joy, Mortal High School. Tanya Keley, East Mores Intermediate School. Lindseay Sters, South Elementary School, and Deborah Wellburn, Park View Elementary School. As part of the certification process, these candidates have to build a portfolio that includes student work samples, assignments, video samples, and a thorough analysis of their classroom teaching. This is a year-long, lengthy process, as they can all attest to that requires a significant investment of time and energy by each participant. Certification by the National Board is considered to be the highest credential in the teaching profession. Please join me in congratulating our National Board Certified Teachers as our SPOTLIGHT ON PEOPLE. THE MORVILLE GRADE

022SCHOOL district board of education recognizes all you wonderful ladies at your various schools for demonstrating continued teaching excellence and efficiently achieving national board professional teaching standards certification status board of education. March. Nice. Congratulations, ladies. Give another round. All right. Next up, we have Morrisville High School's competitive cheer team, North Carolina High School Athletic Association Invitational Champions. So, I'd like to ask them to come up front at this time. All right, the Moresville High School competitive cheer team had a record-breaking season. They won first place at two regional competitions in Concord and Greensboro and the D1 large varsity division, securing bids to two different national competitions, one in Texas and one in Florida. The team accepted the invitation to Orlando and had the opportunity last month to compete against top teams in the nation in the

023D1 large varsity division at Disney's ESPN Wild World Sports. In addition to their regional wins, the team also won the North Carolina High School Athletic Association D1 Large Varsity Division at the annual Invitation event, bringing home Moresville High School's first ever championship at this event for competitive cheerleading. This team overcame many obstacles this season with several injuries, the invitational or being canceled and then rescheduled due to a fire, redoing routines for nationals, then missing some key practices due to snow leading up to nationals. These girls have risen to every challenge they have faced and done it with a positive attitude and determination to prove they are the top. They are at the top of their sport. These athletes have worked hard every week since June to perfect their craft. And that drive paid off this

024season with many victories and firsts for Morsville High School competitive cheer. Please join me in congratulating the competitive cheer team as our March spotlight on people recipient. >> Okay, I know your coach is all the way on the other end. Ready school district board of education recognizes high school cheer teams a champion board of education meeting March 3rd 2026 congratulations ladies made us proud you guys I'm gonna hand this to your coach Mhm. Ladies, go away. That's >> All right. Next up, we have two different schools who will be sharing school highlights, but first up will be Rocky River Elementary. So, I'll call them up front at this time. Thank you, Board of Education, Chairman Whipfield, and Dr. Gardner for having us here on on March 3rd um and allowing us to have a few

025days off in February to enjoy a beautiful blizzard. I know we all appreciated that. It was a beautiful moment for us here in Moresville. So what we want to talk about today is uh we want to highlight our maximizing achievement school improvement goal and it is rooted in the understanding that our fluency often lends to our ability to comprehend a text. So if we're constantly trying to break up a word, even as we're if we were studying higher level university text, then we're not comprehending what we're reading because all of our brain power, at least for me, is going to try to figure out how to say the word. And in the last few years in North Carolina, we really shifted our focus to the science of reading and letters, which was appropriate and is

026still appropriate. Our students have to be able to read the words before they can comprehend them. But in doing so, we maybe let that pendulum swing a little too far over and we dropped the ball on comprehens comprehension um if we were to be honest. And we saw that our data for that is seen in the beginning of grade test for our third graders at MIS and EMIS where the beginning of third grade began to dip a little bit. So we have to respond to the data even if we don't love the data we're looking at. And so our school district decided to adopt a reading comprehension program across all three elementary schools for reading comprehension and that is reading ready and that's what we're going to present to you today. So at Rocky River

027we wanted to increase our students oral reading fluency using the Dibbles test which is a state test that we use in kindergarten through fifth grade honestly um but really big in kindergarten through second. That's our main data point for reading. And at the beginning of the year, we had 16 students or 12% of our second graders meeting endofear expectations for second grade. And we plan and we will get at least 94 students or 72% of that grade level to endofear expectations by the end of second grade. And so our plan to do so is by getting our students in grade level text. And that is where reading ready comes into. So reading ready allows for our students to have their eyes every single day on grade level appropriate appropriate text for second grade. They get

028to actually hold the book that we have here and we'll share with y'all in a minute. Um and have their eyes on the text, use good reading strategies with their fingers following along along below the lines of words. Um they can whisper read it. They're building their stamina. Some of these passages are longer and some are shorter. And then also having that independence within that text and having confidence because not only do you need to be able to read the words on the page to comprehend them, you also have to believe in yourself. So the more you experience something, the more that belief is built. So, our um instructional coach got a little competitive in pickle ball and so she is out recovering from an ACL tear and so she recorded for us an overview

029of reading ready. Yeah, don't play pickle ball. It's not that serious. And um Rob, >> so she has recorded herself to give everybody an overview of this program because it does look a lot like the old textbook that many of us grew up with, but it is so much more than that. It's it's purposeful in what it's having our students read. It's exciting text. Today I watch um classes read about a puppy named Benjamin Franklin. Um at first I was like, "Wait, we're going back to President's Day." But no, it was a dog. and um they just really get into it and they enjoy the students enjoy the text. So here is Miss Wall-E. The North Carolina standard course of study calls for rigorous reading instruction and ready reading is designed to meet those expectations.

030Ready is our core curriculum used for whole group literacy instruction in second grade. Data shows our K2 phonics instruction is strong. Ready reading was selected to strengthen fluency and comprehension so our students are better prepared as readers. In Ready, students read complex text across a wide range of genres, including bothformational and literary text. Text selections are relevant and include realworld formats to build authentic reading experiences. texts are intentionally chosen to help students grow in vocabulary, background knowledge, and comprehension. Reading selections are thematically organized to build content knowledge and science and social studies. As students read and write within these themes, they develop academic vocabulary and domain specific language. Ready integrates reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language standards through connected task. On the next slide that you'll see, we have two teachers, Miss Godbold, who's actually

031here tonight, and Miss Sito, um, showing examples of guided support during the ready reading implementation. So, check it out in action. >> I'm confused, Dakota. I don't know what's happening in this picture. What could I do to help me figure out what's happening in this picture? What should I do? >> What do you think? I'll give you a hint. It's green. >> Can you read the green? >> Read the green. The green is called a caption. That's right. It says, "A Pablo made of >> clay." That's a lot of clay. >> Okay. Then we have our next one. H. We don't know what's happening here. Eston, what's happening here? >> It's a long cow made out of poles and tree and bark. >> How'd you know that? >> He just read the caption. >> Oh,

032Daniel. He just read the caption. That was really smart. Now I know what's happening in this photograph. All right. So, we have bark, right? See where we got bark from? A wig wham made of bark. >> Wood. So, what other material should we write here? >> Wood. Perfect. And I'll come back for PBLO when you're ready. Perfect. So now let's read number eight. Start thinking. And next we're going to hear some testimonials from our newly teacher of the year, Miss Clark, and two of her second graders. >> I like all of the cool features and all the cool facts about the stories. My favorite part about ready reading is the challenging stories and hard questions. >> As a former third and fourth grade teacher, I really love ready reading because it helps prepare our second

033graders for what's coming ahead and gives them exposure to instruction that they will see in the future. And then the additional piece is this unanticipated bonus of the writing development. So, of course, we're focusing on fluency. We're practicing comprehension, but now this writing has just really organically matured and developed um with this program. Uh looking at the slide that you have in front of you, you can see how we started using graphic organizers and then how it's progressed into more written pro um organizers and just their writing in general has become such more independent and much more mature. Um the books that you have, so I've tagged three different parts. the orange just kind of where we began at the beginning of the year. So you can see the graphic and organizers. You can also

034see a lot of doodling and some drawing and some just, you know, maybe unsure of themselves. And then if you would flip to the blue tab, you're going to see how students are starting to annotate and use strategies to help them select their answers or cross out answers. And then the pink is going to show you kind of where right now currently with their written response. And so just this natural progression that has organically occurred with our writing through using this program. I shared this at the last board meeting back in 2012 when I first moved back to the United States to teach in Moore County. I had a colleague um I teach in fifth grade and I had a colleague say to me um you can have students who are great readers but not

035great writers. But you will never find a student who is a great writer who is not also a great reader. And that has really stuck with me um since 2012 which is a long time ago now apparently. uh and that is the unanticipated joy of this program is that we have students writing now again and I I want to give um a lot of hope and encouragement to East Moresville and Moresville Intermediate that we are sending you some very strong readers and comprehenders and I think you're going to have a lot of fun with what's coming your way next year. Thank you. Thank you. >> Any questions? Thank you very much. So inspiring. >> Thank you. >> Progress is amazing. >> And look, parents, books. They're writing in books. >> Love it. >> All right.

036Next up, we have Parkview Elementary. We'll be sharing a little bit about turning I Ready Data into Math Gray. We were going to bring Snard. He's in my office, but we just thought that might not be a good idea. Seeing that that step right there keeps taking people out. >> Got to get a ramp over there. >> He really is in my office. But we had a whole conversation. Maybe we could stand here and talk about it, but we decided against it. Not that was a good idea. Do we click? Okay. All right. So, last year we did kind of introduce you to we are springboarding into I Ready at the K2 level. Um, and one of the things that we really focused on at Parkview was getting our students engaged with it. Um, so

037last year we really did a lot with trying to get them excited. what is I Ready? how do we use I Ready? their lessons path um passed and just kind of tried to get them involved in understanding what I Ready was for this school. Um this year we kind of shifted that focus from the students and really kind of focused it back on the teachers and them learning more in terms of digging into their data. Um so that's where we're kind of focusing on that. These charts right here are looking at the domains and the looking at the percentages where the kids should be falling into their skill scores. Um, of course, you know, with the greens and the yellows and the reds, you we know that means where they are progressing and, you know,

038meeting those expectations at grade level. So, just wanted to kind of put that in there so you would know the different areas that they're they're working through on those domains. All right. So, in our PLC when you come there in our PLC rooms right outside, we still do our student um data wall where um our teachers come in when they come in and they actually still color in those charts showing that their classes are getting their lessons passed. We still have going around. The kids still want that stuffed animal in their classroom. They don't want to give it up. Um and then this year, Miss Granger has added um we still have our weekly announcements and the kids can come to her classroom. She's added a spinning prize wheel. Um, and then she also has

039a treasure box. So, and the teachers actually get to change what they're looking for each week. So, it's not just about whether or not they're getting their lessons passed or they met a certain goal. Um, they can also talk about most the growth that they're making. So, the teachers can kind of submit those names in and that way they can also it's they can make different progress throughout the week um the weeks that they're being called up. Um, but what we've added this year is the next slide. This kind of shows we have the bulletin board outside for the students and then inside we have this individual student data wall and this is just for our teachers. So as you can see we have our kindergarten our first grade is in the middle and second

040grade is on the end and our teachers actually filled those cards out at the beginning of the year. Miss uh Granger actually went to a PD workshop on it um and learned um there's on the cards there's information for each of the students that they have to fill out when they took their BOI assessment and then in MOI they move those cards. So you can see that movement you see yellow cards in the green that's because those kids have moved and that's their growth. On the back we have some information on those cards if they're if they have um e if they're EC services if they're receiving ML services. So, just a quick visual as we're coming in and we can just kind of see that progress um over time. So, that's just those quick

041visuals so the teachers can kind of see what we're doing. So, now I'm going to have these ladies. These are two of our PLC activators for first grade. Kind of gave that away and kind of talk about what we're doing when the teachers are coming into their PLC's and digging into that data. Well, going back to the other one, um it's was such an awesome thing to see the growth. Like when we first did it, you see it, but when we got to move and actually see, wow, look at all those reds that have moved up and look at all those yellows who are now green. Um just seeing the visual of it, like really brought it in perspective of how well these students are moving and how much they are growing. I need the

042mic. I need the mic. I'm not as loud as her. And excuse our appearance. We just came back from a field trip at 5:00 pm. >> Dedicated. >> Okay. So, at midy year, each grade level sat down and we kind of talked about um which students are meeting the typical growth, but we wanted to dig in deeper of our higher kids also, how can we have them show growth. So we looked at which students are close, which domains are barriers, and what instructional adjustments are needed. So we really looked at each of the four domains that I Ready has, which are numbers and operations, algebraic thinking, and measurement and data, and geometry. And then we adjusted those students who weren't in the domains that they're not like at the first grade level in those domains.

043or maybe if they are above the first grade level to move them into a higher level so that to challenge them so that we would see growth with those students. So we opened it up we opened up their eye ready um and we looked to see exactly the lessons they had passed what they had been doing what their upcoming lessons are what they are actually doing in the program. Um, so often we let these programs take over, but we don't really dig in and see what the kids are doing. So, our goal this year is to really dig in and see what these kids are doing, see what adjustments we can make. Oh, you're not um you're not slated to make your typical growth. Why is that? Is it because you haven't seen any information

044on measurement and data, but that is one of our test points? Well, let's move some things around and get you some measurement and data to see if we can increase your score in that section. Um, so to make sure that we are hitting everybody, we've created this um, doc. And so every week during PLC, we spend 20 minutesish. Our goal is to hopefully get two kids picked out a week to really dig in, make sure they're on the path that they need, if some adjustments need to be made, adjusting those paths, and then we mark what we did. So that way when they go back and take their next um growth monitoring, we can see if those adjustments worked to see if we need to maybe tweak some more. And it's so funny because my

045kids um when they pop up on and you've changed some path things, you've had to assign lessons, they get a blue box instead of a green box. And so now my kids are like, "Where's my blue box? I want a blue box." Like, "Your blue box is coming, you next week." Um so they're excited to get those blue boxes and really try hard when they get those blue boxes because I think there's something really really special. So if you look at the image in the top right where it says monitor domain progress if you see those blue lines and where the circle is that's where the student is on those lessons. So if you look at this student this student hasn't had any lessons in measurement and data or geometry in the grade one level.

046So we can adjust it so that they are exposed to those and they can meet those goals cuz they won't get to those domains until >> they have to go >> they get to second grade in the other domains. Any questions? >> Thank you. >> Sure. >> Okay, we're in the middle of this meeting, but uh announcement for the next regularly scheduled meeting will be April 7th, 2026. That will be here >> be located here. Public comment. >> Yes, sir. We have one person signed up. Annia Jones. Mr. Jones, if you as you come up, just let you know you've got three minutes to speak. Mr. Necamay will keep your time over there. When you get to one minute, the light will turn yellow. Uh when it gets to red, it'll be time is up.

047U ask you reserve your comments to general comments, not attack anybody or doing anything indirect directly. and um we fine. Thank you. >> Thank you. My name is Ana Jones and I'm the parent of a student athlete at Morrisville High School. On February 13th, before the varsity girls basketball game at Lake Norman, several player several members of the girls basketball team made non-consensual physical contact with members of our cheerleading squad, including my daughter. I know our athletic director, the principal at Lake Norman, and the NCHSAA were informed of this incident. That same night, two other incidents occurred and the district has acknowledged them in some fashion. What I cannot understand and find acceptable is a district silence towards its own families. One of those incidents involved an opposing player being injured during the game. That

048matter was acknowledged. Contact was made with the students parents. Protocols were followed. I want to know who decided that the incident involving our athletes did not warrant any level of acknowledgement or communication. Who made the determination that an out ofd district student was more worthy of care, communication, and protection than the young women in your own school? I am deeply disheartened by the minimization of the situation, the lack of communication, the lack of acknowledgement, and the lack of demonstrated concern for the well-being of our students. Your silence was not neutral. It was a choice. And the message and the message it sent was our children did not matter enough. As a military transplant, I understand small town dynamics exist. What I do not understand is prioritizing the protection of reputation over the protection of students.

049The incident was witnessed and was reported. Yet parents followed the district's own guidance. See something, say something. Yet, you did nothing. Your inaction communicated to a group of young women that being touched without consent is something that are that they are expected to tolerate. That what happened to them did not rise to a level of importance. You may not fully grasp the damage of silence. you may not fully grasp the damage that silent causes. When students report something inappropriate and receive no response, they learn to not report it the next time. That their safety is negotiable and that this district cannot and if this district cannot address what some may consider smaller incidents, they cannot be trusted to act in more serious ones. The erosion of trust is on you to repair. I'm able to

050stand here tonight because I am not from this town and I am not afraid of retaliation or any type of retribution, but many parents are. That alone should sound an alarm as well. Those within this district were informed. Those within this district who weren't informed made a decision, whether intentional or through neglect, that it was acceptable for students from another district to put their hands on our children without consequence or direct acknowledgement. As a parent, I will not allow my child to think that she should tolerate inappropriate behavior to protect someone else's reputation. I will always act in the best interest of my child and by extension her peers. That meant going beyond this district to ensure accountability via the sheriff's office. The line between right and wrong is clear. Protecting our children is not

051complicated. I'm asking formally and publicly for followup and that the district explain it silence, outline actions taken and commit to ensuring that no student within this district ever feel dismissed or unprotected. Our children deserve better. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Jones. That's that's all we have. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Items for information, Dr. Gardner. >> Yes, sir. Um first up, we have our skills for the future update with Mr. Ribick, Dr. Wade, and Mr. for oral. Okay. Good evening, Chairman Whitfield, board members, Dr. Gardner. One of in our strategic plan, one of the goals for MOA is to develop interpersonal skills aligned to portrait of a graduate. And that's exactly what being a part of the skills for the future pilot is helping us to do. It is helping us train our students

052and educate our students in the durable soft skills that are aligned to portrait of a graduate and we're very excited about this and very excited to share with you about our progress this evening. So what is this pilot? It is uh about cultivating and measuring durable skills for sustained success in work and society. and it is part of a $4 million funded initiative. We are in a partnership with NCDPI, ETSS, Patel from Kids, ASA, and the Carnegie Foundation. And what we really like about this pilot is that it's focused on the porch NC porch for graduate. As I said, skills that we want our students to have when they graduate. And as you'll hear later on, are skills that our business leaders are asking our students to have. Our students are not just a number.

053They're not just a test score. Our students are beyond that. And we want to show that they can achieve these skills and will with this pilot. So, right now, for the first semester we just finished, the emphasis was on student collaboration. So teachers brought into their lessons and their work having students collaborate to achieve goals and to complete their assignments. And we are hoping that this will prepare students for a wide range of post-secondary options. So as I stated that this pilot is aligned to our strategic plan. It's part of the state's focus on durable skills and as I said, portrait of a graduate. It prepares students for future readiness. As I said, it's what our local businesses are asking for. And you'll hear more about this later on. It will enhance our district's career

054and college readiness goals to enroll, enlist, and employ 100% of our students. And as I said, these skills will help students achieve that. And it builds not only our students capacities but our educators capacity. It's helping our teachers to grow as well. It's helping our teachers to be able to focus on as I said more than just I'm just worried about my scores because we know we want more than that. We want our students to graduate ready for their secondary careers and we want our teachers to be able to help our students prepare for that. So components of the pilot program include professional development. Our coho cohort participants are required to attend the co the kickoff event and the two virtual sessions. The first session talks about where they learn about the rubrics from the

055portrait of the graduate and the second virtual session is centered around the performance tasks that are aligned to the uh performance or the portrait of the graduate. as well. There are weekly office hours for our participants who are just have questions or they have or they're struggling with something. They can hop on the the office hours there and ask those things. In addition to that, there are network opportunities where the cohort participants from all four districts can come together and share the great things that are that they're doing that their students are doing and ask questions about h about best practices and how to implement this within the work that they are currently doing. The next thing is there are some u community partnerships. The next one is March 25th. If you are interested in

056being a part of that, it's March 25th from 5:30 to 6:30. Those are virtual and they during those they invite business leaders to come in to hear what our students are currently doing so that they are aware of the things that we are trying to get our students to be able to do for them. There's artifact development which there's two parts to that. That is some of the um the artifacts that our students are uploading that Dr. Wade will talk about in a little bit. Um, but there are also coaching and P and PD materials that our non-classroom participants can can upload as well. And finally, this is the goal is to create a future ready transcript that communicates our competencies from our students in the durable skills. So, the work of the pilot program

057right now is focusing on our grades 9 through 12 students with the semester 1 work focused on collaboration. As Mr. Rubik said uh the teachers they collect and submit the artifacts and then they use the portrait of the graduate rubrics to provide feedback on those artifacts that the students get. And the cohort participants are also eligible for up to $1,650 worth of stipens if they com if they complete all the components to all three all three semesters that they have the option of working. Finally, this slide right here, um, this lists our participant, uh, our pilot participants. I would like to point out that these cohort members include members from tested and non-ested core subjects as well as both performance and career-based electives. And before I turn it over to Dr. Wade, I do want

058to say that a couple weeks ago, I was at a um the NCED Connect Symposium and I went to the Skills for the Future pilot session and our staff members and students work was highlighted through that that entire um session. So, it gave me a sense of pride being a part of Morrisville and seeing the great work that our students and teachers are are putting out there for this pilot. >> All right. So you've heard a little bit about what this looks like as a state level. I'm going to talk a little bit more about what's actually happening in our classrooms and spaces as part of our Morsville involvement. So like Mr. Rubik and Mr. Oral mentioned, what our teachers are doing are designing experiences that incorporate both their content and the durable skills. So

059think of it like an Amazon box, right? So the box itself is the durable skill and what's inside the box is the yummy content that we want all of our kids to learn. If you ship an empty box with just a skill and no content, when you get that box, you're like, "What do I do with this?" Like, it it doesn't help me, right? It's the package together that has to make it work. And so, we don't want our teachers stopping instruction and saying, "All right, we're going to do a collaboration project today." We want our students to see that their academic skills and their durable skills go hand in hand and they are not siloed, right? That you use those durable skills to learn and engage with our content. And that, as Mr. Mr.

060Oral mentioned was why we were intentional in making sure that this will work for EOCC classes, CTE performance-based classes where we have state test accountability because we all know that if it doesn't work for that, it probably is not going to have a long-term future in the state of North Carolina based on our state's current accountability model. So thinking about what our teachers have created, they have worked very hard to make sure that they are incorporating not just the portrait of a graduate skill, but the particular focus areas underneath each skill. So for example, under collaboration, one of the things that they need to work on is being able to develop an effective team norm and team contract. Who's going to do the work? How are we going to work together? So, it makes it

061a lot more concrete for our students and for our teachers because they're really digging into those portrait of a graduate skills. And as part of that, we are also tying into the work that we've been working on for several years now with our portrait of the graduate um being embedded in our daily curriculum. It's also part of our strategic plan measurement. You have heard about that previously in our survey about how often our students have the opportunity to work together, etc. So, our teachers are doing a great job of being um very reflective about what worked well. Some of the big ahas they've had, for example, are, "Oh, I just assumed my kids would know how to give feedback." Well, guess what? They don't. And so, we have to explicitly teach routines and procedures for

062how to give and then also how to receive feedback as well. So, those are just a couple examples of the things that our teachers are doing. This image is of um Shakespeare sock puppet um theater and it, as Mr. Mr. Oral mentioned has been previewed in many places across the state. As an example, this is from Miss Phillips, an English four teacher. So then our students Oh, the stress of the remote. Thank you. What our students are experiencing is how to work in teams similar to what they will have to do in whatever workforce or um college or um military environment that they go into. These are skills that transfer for all future pathways. And so as part of that um work, they're not just doing the work of learning the content. For example, this

063project from M Parks' class was examining different industries within North Carolina and how that contributes to our economy. So relevant to them in terms of where am I going potentially in my future, but it had elements built in throughout the entire task that touched on different portrait of a graduate skills. And then within that once they finished, this is an example of the evidence that was uploaded by uh one of the students. So they uploaded their project and their own reflection of it. And so through that process, our students are also developing the portrait of a graduate skill of learners mindset which is understanding how do I learn, where do I need to grow, what are the steps that help me become better and where am I where am I um strong and where do

064I need to maybe work a little bit more. So, our students are seeing that and and the nice thing about this is that um our our researchers who are developing this eventual transcript are really getting a wide body of work. I will say that when we first started this, some of the reflections from our students were perhaps a little weaker than we might have hoped. So, as I mentioned, we're teaching that reflection skill separately as well as how do I reflect on my work? How do I grow as a learner? Um so, this process has been um very iterative. I think that's a great word for it. um as we have learned through it. So you saw on the list of pilot participants that there are some non-classroom staff that includes um counselors, media coordinators,

065instructional coaches, central office staff, um administrators and so they are not working directly with students in the classroom although that is an option for them. Um most of ours have decided that they are going to develop u materials that will build capacity among our school for the people who are not yet participating um or who are working with the teachers to help them use some of the procedures that we want them to use to teach collaboration or to teach critical thinking. So for example, we have developed a lot of PD around um critical thinking skills as part of our um school improvement goals on rigor in the past couple of years. And so we're now incorporating those in providing that PD both through PLC's through optional PD. We have a March Madness um optional PD

066going on at the high school this month and of course through our uh require PD days as well. And so the other path for our non-classroom staff was to help students add their outof school experiences representing that our kids have a lot more to bring to the table than even what happens within our four walls. So helping them recognize how does my internship that I have through CTE teach me collaboration? How does my experience doing job shadowing um help me learn about um myself and what my strengths and and my weaknesses are? How do I build the personal responsibility of even reaching out and and figuring out what my career path um might look like? And so it's really important to us as a district that we represent all of those pieces. Our kids are

067doing amazing things both inside and outside of school. and we want them to have that record and that pathway of things that they have done that prepare them for those high wage careers that we want all of our graduates to have access to. So, in terms of the timeline, as Mr. uh Oral mentioned, we started this in the fall. It was a a maybe a bit of a rocky start as as they have said a couple times, they're building this plane as they fly it. And so, there were quite a few delays, but we really got rocking and rolling around October. And so all I think every one of our cohort one participants who is continuing on finished all of the requirements from semester 1. And so we were very pleased with that. And this

068follows a similar process. So now those cohort one teachers are now um in second semester and they are coaching our new cohort who is just starting this semester. And then this semester's teachers will coach in the fall when we have another group of um of educators start and also potentially coaching outside of our district with some of the other school districts that are working in there. So there is a a plan for sustainability and for this to move beyond the work within our district and to um further spread uh these skills to all students. This is you. So where we are right now is that for the first semester we had 10 staff members in the first cohort that were trained and have been uploading their artifacts. So the second semester will have 12 staff

069members, 10 of them being teachers to start with cohort 2 and they had their training last month. We had 182 students involved in the first cohort and 349 artifacts uploaded. So, as we said, it was a interesting start, but we know as we ended the first semester, we've seen a lot of success and we see our students are very much benefiting from the work that they've been doing aligned to the the collaboration. >> All right. As uh mentioned again previously, this project was a great fit for us because it is already connected to what we are hearing from our other partners and community partners and business leaders about what they want our graduates to be leaving here. uh leaving Moresville with. And so we have, you know, gotten a lot of feedback from our CTE

070internship supervisors, from our CTE advisory council. Um and all of those groups are telling us the same thing that they need these skills that they need to be able to um they can train a lot of students in or future employees in particular skills, but these soft skills are something that they are expecting them to come already having in hand. And so we are really proud that our CTE program feeds into our local community as well as uh many of our other graduates who choose to attend college or serve in the military and then come back here. And so we are excited that those skills will help develop Ayardo County as well and to be into being a great place to work um live and learn. And so we have been intentional about recruiting additional

071partners to work with us on this task. Um Mr. Mr. Rubik and I spoke to the Irale Economic Development Council in December and put out a plea for our business leaders to consider partnering with us. Um some of the barriers that we've heard in previous cases is they they can't commit to a long-term or a full highcale thing. And so our our key message there was there are ways to help us that are very minimal and very small. And if we can package a bunch of those together, it could really make a huge impact. So, for example, as a guest speaker, would you be willing as a data analysis to come and talk to our math classes who are part of this pilot about what my job involves beyond math skills? What do I need

072in terms of communication and collaboration? That could be a 45minute one-time investment if you were to come and speak to some of our students. And any career would work. So, I'm going to sell this. Also, I hope anybody listening online or in our newsletters like we would love to have you parents. We have amazing parents in this district. If you could spare us any amount of time and come in and talk to one of our classes about how you use these soft skills in your career, it helps our students understand the why behind um what we are preparing them for. Same thing with mentorships. That doesn't even have to be in person. That could be done and handled virtually. So, if you're interested in working with a young student and helping them develop some of

073these skills, but you maybe travel for your job and aren't able to come into um the school building, we'll work with you. Same thing for job shadowing. um you don't even have to do anything. You just have to go to work. So, for example, if I had a student who was really interested in learning empathy, maybe they would like to um job shadow Mr. Woodfield for a day, for example, and see all of the different types of things that happen as as a lawyer, right? And so, no extra work on you. You just need to we'll we'll get them there. We'll bring them home. We'll give them lunch. You don't have to do anything. It won't cost you anything. And so we've been working really hard to try and recruit those partners to come um

074provide those additional experiences for our students and also to make sure that as we're doing that, our students are then recording them in that online platform and that um that experience list um so to speak of of how that helps them grow and be prepared. So I have the final word. They always let me go last, right? So please, please, please, if you are interested in helping us even on the teeniest, tiniest little level of anything related to jobs, careers, or any of these soft skills, please reach out to us and we will get you uh hooked up. It's a great opportunity to be involved in your local schools. Are there any questions? >> How did um the the um collaborative event that y'all are going to have online where you talked about what businesses

075are coming in to watch what what we're doing? What kind of response have you had from our community? Do we have like I'm thinking chamber members like county commissioners, town people because often you'll walk out in the community, they don't teach the kids this at the high school and they don't really understand what we're doing. So >> what kind of response have you had from them? >> So we have not had a ton of response yet. Now remember that was December and it was it's a longer process sometimes with businesses than you know we would like or people went on um holiday break and maybe forgot about it. But the IRL EDC has been a great partner for us and has put um that information in their newsletters that they send out to members as

076well. But we also know that the best way to get someone connected is through a personal outreach. And so if you know somebody and say, "Hey, I'd love for you to do this." If everybody in in our community or every parent in our community, even just our high school community, asked one person they know, we could have a whole slew and we could we could >> The online event is it like an hour or two? like what what happens during that like >> so I think there's two different things that we're talking about we have one type of online event where the community members and business leaders come in and meet with the people who are leading the collabs and talk about business involvement and how can we get involved and some of our leads

077have come from those events of community groups coming in and participating in those virtual events those are an hour typically I think they're either five or six o'clock at night the other piece that I mentioned that we are looking to create experiences for our Moresville high school students could be a virtual experience where you drop into a class. It could be 10 minutes. It could be an hour. Our classes are 82 minutes. We'll take you for as long as you would like. >> I think some of our tested subjects might object to maybe giving up that much time and probably no one wants to hear 82. >> But the first event you're referring to, would that be more of like an education platform for a business to learn about this pilot or not? >> Yes,

078absolutely. And so those events, they're called um there's a networking event and then there's a community partnership event and that one is I think March >> 25th. Thank you. Um, and so anybody could come to that. Um, you don't have to be part of the pilot. >> If we had a business and they were like, "We want to learn more about this program." That's where they would go. >> Would you like a flyer that you could share? I'd be happy to give you a flyer that you could share. >> Absolutely. >> I think if you shared a flyer, >> I mean, and that's not Moresville specific, right? It's about the program as a whole. >> It's about the program as a whole. And so there will be representatives from the other districts that are also

079um part of this pilot. Iard states was with us in the first cohort. Um and then second cohort included Canapapolis Caldwell as well. >> And maybe that could get the community excited about the potential for what can happen here if they're seeing it on a more national >> scale. I'll be happy to get you a flyer u for invitations for all of those things. >> Please. And and also if you can get like a direct contact who who the individuals should be contacting. Was it you? Um, >> so again, it will depend on the event. If it's a local school event, it would probably be me um for the high school. And then if it's the community collabs or the networking um community events, we have a registration link that um usually Mr. Oral receives.

080Um so we'd probably send those to him. >> Thank you. >> And then too, I just want to mention what a great growth opportunity for our own staff, right? we focus on their growth and um learning to teach their own and then the possibility of learning to you know teach people on a national level in other districts is really >> and that is so fascinating too we did a PD at one of our schools on how to give and receive feedback and as part of that they had to incorporate part of their feedback into the second round of response and we had teachers who were saying well I didn't really want to incorporate that feedback because I didn't agree with it and that was such a teachable moment right there of like see this is

081why we have to learn how to do this because we even as adults struggle to to admit that we you know need feedback for growth or consider potential changes. And so it it like proved the exact point of what we were trying to do. >> And I think when you look at it, you know, we we go back to the slide. I think you said 100% of all students just getting opportunity. You know, how do we celebrate how all students win? You know, how do we win together? I think when you we've talked about this as a board like we do a lot of stuff for athletics, but how can we get that CTE component to where we celebrate kids getting jobs, kids getting opportunity to make money and do great things that eventually when

082that ball does stop bouncing, they have a plan B. So, I love it. I think it's a great opportunity and I hope the community does invest in this opportunity. I understand that this is a pilot that's focused on the upper grades, but are we as a district looking at ways in which we can in a purposeful way um you really start um building these same kinds of skills with our younger children? >> Absolutely. So the state has created portrait of a graduate skill rubrics and I can those tools that I referenced for all grades K through 12. And we've already done the work um in in both elementary and secondary and incorporating that into our instruction. Our gateway um projects for example are um strong evidence of that as well where we have to explicitly

083teach those. Um, for example, one of the things that I'm doing as part of my project is training our instructional coaches in middle school and now they're going out and leading that PD with their teachers. So, it'll be a bit of a trickle down. I don't believe that the um state intends to move that down because of the focus on the transcript as the outcome, which doesn't apply for K8, but um that is already a part of our work as um you know, Dr. Gardner is deeply committed to that work and and we are very clear that that's an expectation in our instruction. I think we need to start lobbying Raleigh um intensively to look at especially kindergarten um we're missing strategic times in the development of a child to build these kinds of skills

084and it will not just help them with job readiness but um their pathway through school. They'll be better able to um participate and and learn. and we're we're we're missing the boat by pushing the academics as hard as we are. And I know I'm preaching to the choir where many of you are, but we've got to get the state to revisit that. It's >> and I see nationally there's a lot more discussion about this. I think people are realizing um that we are doing a grave disservice to our youngest students. >> Yeah. I will add that last week we had the opportunity to go out to the Carnegie Foundation this group here and uh we looked at a couple school accountability models and it's interesting for example Pennsylvania as part of their accountability model has

085the academic piece but then they also have a piece that is around um career and future readiness and so they are rewarding those things like CTE credential attainment and participation in workbased learning and so I do see that that is happening in other states which gave us a lot of hope that maybe someday we will see that here in North Carolina as well. And to your point, if we are able to do that in our lower grades and and focus on on the play, that's where they're going to learn things like cooperation. Like cooperation in a kindergarten classroom looks like, you know, sharing your favorite color marker, even though I don't really want to with my friend, you know, and and that >> skills. >> Learning that skill there is >> is what we need.

086We need our kids to develop those skills early so that we're not still trying to teach that when they get to high school. It's too late by that point. I agree. >> And then one thing I I I see in potential of this program is also recruiting our alumni to come back. >> Absolutely. >> That's going to be huge. We have a lot of great people doing great things from Moresville and they don't get a chance to come back and speak on things. >> I don't see this being a bridge of that. So that that'll be great. >> Shout out to Mrs. Royal who actually maintains a list of our alumni who are willing to come back and speak. And so that would be another easy platform for us to send out a a plea

087um based around whatever work you're doing and how you incorporate some of these soft skills. >> Exactly. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Great stuff. I'll be happy to participate. >> See, your plea worked. >> Yep. Commercial. You didn't have to do that. >> All right. Next up, we have some of the same individuals, but uh Mr. Rivik, Dr. Wade will be joined by Miss Connley this time. Y >> um to talk about our summer instructional program. >> Okay. Chairman Whitfield, board members, Dr. Gardner. It's hard to believe, but we're going to be talking about the summer and some of the summer programs we'll be offering to our elementary and secondary students. And I'll let Miss Connley, Dr. Wade talk about what opportunities we will have for our students. >> We started talking about it

088when it snowed. We were ready. >> Yeah, we We're ready for it. But yeah, >> good evening. It's great to see everyone. So, we're going to share a little bit about some of the summer summer programs. Most of these are will be review um a lot of the same programs that we have offered for multiple years, but going to start off talking about some of our elementary programs. We're going to be hosting again our Y readers program that will be serving our current kinder and first grade students. Super excited because we are going to be actually adding a class though. So, we will have five of those classrooms. We went from three to four to five. So that's great news because we'll be able to serve more of our students. Then we will that will

089be a six-week program. Then we'll also be having our read to achieve program which serves our second and third grade students. Um that is a five-week program really focused on our 72 hours of literacy instruction and we will be having six classrooms um for that particular program. So hoping to serve between 80 and 100 at our Y readers and 100 to 120 uh students for our read to achieve programs. So those are our two elementary and I'm gonna scoot over for Dr. Wade. All right. So we will again have a traditional high school summer school which will be focused on uh credit recovery and that will take place both at uh NF Wood's My Way program as well as at our main campus due to the change in state policy. One thing that you will

090not see us doing this year is makeup time because that no longer is a is an option for our students. So that is a change there. And then we will have a secondary jump start as we have done before. We see that when students transition to secondary school where they are being mixed up a lot more and with a lot more teachers and new friend groups and big buildings that those students really need an opportunity to build connection and community spirit. Um and so our web and our link programs I would say are unrivaled in terms of creating those opportunities and experiences for our students and we will again offer that to those um students transitioning at the secondary grade level. a little bit of a logistical information as well. So, we will be offering

091transportation for all of our programs. We will also be offering breakfast and lunch will be provided at at those sites as well. Uh, camp will run from Monday through Thursday to follow our summer schedule. And, um, one of the pieces too is that we want to highlight that all of our programs will be um, will be led by a certified teacher. We are so blessed in Moresville to have not only wonderful teachers, but wonderful teachers that are willing to work over the summer. And so I just want to give a shout out to all of our elementary teachers because we have a ton that are interested in working. So that's a great problem to have. So as Miss Connley mentioned, we are transitioning our uh summer school at the high school as well. We have

092in the past used Apex, which is an online um credit recovery platform, and we've had a teacher, a certified teacher facilitator in the room. Um but when students finished, they were able to leave. And so we've had a lot of conversations with the counseling department and the administration at MHS about um students potentially recovering a lot of credit and not as much work and also feeling like students who are doing the online platform are maybe not getting the the skills that they need to be successful in the um future class. And so we are moving the high school to be a um face-to-face fully teacher-led uh summer school credit recovery um component this summer at the main campus. And uh you'll also notice for our date that we have moved it up a week because

093we now have the ability to retest for high school students during the school year as we did in December. Um everything except for English 2 will be back by that point. So um we're hoping that maybe uh moving it earlier in June will be a little bit more inspiring for some of our students. Dr. Marsh, I think you have a question already. >> Yeah, obviously they can't get we can't offer the opportunity for every course offered. So what can >> sure >> students at the high school take? >> So historically we have offered uh graduation requirements only first of all. Um then we have in the past prioritize certain content areas that were based on promotion requirements but that is no longer English is no longer a promotion requirement. It's it's solely credit based. Um

094so currently our plan was to offer um the the same amount of of classes we uh a little bit maybe unlike elementary, it is harder for us to staff at the secondary level. And so currently we do not have um teachers who are interested in teaching in the summer for social studies, but we are still going to offer biology for science because that is an EOCC area. Um and then we will have the full math and English. And there are some requirements that students have to meet to be able to go to summer school, both um by how many points they did not pass the course by because you can only recover so much content in that two-eek period. And so if a student, for example, were to have a 30 in the class, there

095is too much content for us to honorably award credit after only seven days of instruction. And so those students will take credit recovery during the course of the school year. So, there still will be an opportunity, but um we typically have not had a ton of students take us up on on summer school. So, the other times are on there as I mentioned. Um everything else pretty much stays the same. Uh special shout out to um Woods. They do almost a month-long summer school that helps our new enrolles into the Woods program get ahead, get adjusted, um start making those relationship and connections with parents and teachers. And so that is really instrumental um for those students who are coming in. And they also uh are very helpful in getting a lot of summer grads

096for us. You saw summer graduation on the previous um uh slide there as well is June 25th. And that um partnership between our main campus and our Woods campus really helps us keep our graduation rate high because we're able to to get a bunch of um students working with our teachers over that entire five six week period. So um we feel like we are prepared for that and excited to see what we do this summer. Are there any other questions from you? >> Thank you. >> Good. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. items for approval. Dr. Gardner. >> Yes, sir. We will start um with our 2627 MGSD budget. >> Good evening, Mr. Whitfield, Dr. Gardner, members of the board. Um so you have in your packet the proposed local current expense and capital

097outlay budgets for uh 2026 27 school year. Um, this was covered in the uh, board of education work session on January 27th, so hopefully you've had time to review it. Um, there are a lot of unknown assumptions in this budget. Um, it does assume a 4% salary increase across the board, which um, may we be so lucky. Um, it also assumes a 25 a.5% retirement rate. The current rate is 24.67%. Obviously, until the general assembly takes action, we won't know what that rate's going to be. It also assumes an $8,650 per employee health insurance matching. Right now, it's $8,500 for employees. So, again, we we won't know those exact numbers until um hopefully the general assembly passes the budget for next year. Um there are no new positions that are included um in this local

098budget and we are budgeting approximately 1.4 4 million right now in fund balance which again um we try to be very conservative underestimate revenues and overestimate expenses. So um I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you may have and if not um we just seek approval at this time for the proposed budget. >> Any questions? If not, we have a recommendation to approve the 20 2020 2026 2027 MGSD budget which includes uh current expense the current expense fund and the capital outlay fund. I'll entertain a motion. >> So move >> and a second. >> Second. >> I have a motion and a second to approve the 2026 2027 MGSD budget as presented. All those in favor? All those opposed. Motion carries. Thank you, ma'am. >> All right. Thank you. And I believe Miss

099Davis is going to stay at the microphone for our BASP and STARS rates for 2627. >> Yes, sir. Thank you. Um, so we are also requesting some um additional pricing components. Uh, first for our before and after school program. Um, as you all know, it's a self- sustaining program. Um, so watching costs are very important. Um we would like to propose a fee for full day care on the teacher work days. Um typically what has happened in the past for before and after school care is um they have asked for parents just to sign up if they plan to send their child for full day care on teacher work days. Um the problem is um our before and after school care program will staff according to the parents that signed up and then maybe half

100or less than half will actually send their child. Um, so this obviously causes a little bit of um a strain on their budget. Um, so we would like to propose a fee for full day care on those days and it's a minimal fee of $20 um just to ensure that the care is utilized as they sign up for it um and after staffing commitments are made. Um also with this increase we are asking um for the STARS program um just to help keep up with the increase in rising costs. Um the current rate that we have is $575 per month, which is a great deal >> um for for child care. Um but that has been the rate since July 1st, 2019. >> Um and of course, we've experienced a lot of increase in cost

101and employee matching benefits um and costs that the districts um has to cover. So we are going to request that the proposed rate for the STARS program be increased to $650 a month. And if approved, both new rate structures would go into effect uh July 1, 2026 for the 2627 school year. >> Okay. We have a recommendation to approve the uh before and after school program and the stars rate increases. As previously discussed, $20 a day for the teacher work days. Um, and as it relates to the STARS program, increasing the current monthly rate from $575 per month to $650 per month. This this uh these new charges going into effect effective July 1st for the 2026 2027 school year. I'll entertain a motion. >> So moved. >> Second. >> I have a motion and

102a second. All those in favor? I. >> All those opposed? Motion carries. >> Thank you. Right. Next up, we have our board policies for a second read with Miss McClean. >> Good evening, Chairman Whitfield, Dr. Gardner, and members of the board. In January, I brought to you um a large group of updates for our your board policy. Um and tonight, we would like for you to vote on them unless you have any questions. I'd be happy to answer those. >> Thank you. >> Any questions? >> No. Okay. We have um a recommendation to approve the board of education policies as presented. Um I'll entertain a motion. >> So move >> second. >> I have a motion and a second to approve the board of education policies as presented. All those in favor? >> All those

103opposed? >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. >> And Dr. Gardner, it looks like um the next item is a uh possible representative for the legislative committee for the North Carolina School Boards Association. >> Yes, sir. So, there's some information in your packet. Um the North Carolina School Board Association forms a legislative committee that um our board has the opportunity to select a representative for. That needs to happen in open session via vote. Um if we have someone on our board that has interest, >> I'd be interested. I've done it before, so I can it you'll enjoy it. >> So, we have a um a nominee. >> Any anyone else? If not, I'll entertain a motion to uh nominate Miss Bender. >> So, moved. >> Second. Have a motion and a second to nominate Miss Bender.

104>> All those in favor? >> I. >> All those opposed? Motion carries. Thank you, ma'am. >> All right. We'll invite Miss Davis back one more time and she has some budget amendments. >> Okay, Mr. Whitfield, Dr. Gardner, members of the board. I'll be brief since this is standing between us and closing. Um the budget amendments in your packet um include some state budget amendments. Our career and technical education did cash in 14 months of employment to dollars to use for students. Um we also received our summer reading summer reading camp funding for summer 2026. Um Dr. Albert and her team were busy getting some more developmental day grant funding. Um so that was also received and we did have a small reduction um in our um EC allotment due to some EC headcount transfers. So

105those are the state amendments. In our federal we did receive additional grant year five supplemental allotment funding um for CTE preschool title one and the idea grant. And we did have some small reversions totaling $95 um for grant 4 funding um that expired September 30th, 2025 and that was in title 3 and preschool. Um so if you have any questions, I'll be more than happy to answer those. If not, we seek approval for these budget amendments. >> So if an EC student leaves, let's say between the t December headcount and the April headcount, that costs us money. >> Um actually they only do one headcount now. >> Okay. So, it's just one, but it is the the last headcount and the newest headcount if there is a child that transfers out >> red keep the

106kids the money for the kids who leave, but we don't I'm just just saying. Okay. >> Absolutely. >> Yes, ma'am. >> So, I have a recommendation to approve the budget amendments as presented. Um uh this is a budget resolution for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 2026. I'll entertain a motion. >> So move. >> Second. Second. I have a motion and a second to approve the board amendments at excuse me the budget amendments as presented. All those in favor? >> I. >> All those opposed? Motion carries. Thank you, ma'am. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Well, it appears that it is that time uh for us to go into close session. Is now I will now entertain a motion to go into close session to prevent uh the disclosure of information that is privileged and confidential

107and for the additional permissible purposes listed in North Carolina General Statute 143- part 11. >> So move. >> So I have a motion. Who's that? Alibabe. Seconded by Rake. All those in favor? >> I. Motion carries. All right. Motion to approve the personnel list as recommended by the superintendent. >> Some moved. >> Second by somebody. >> Second. >> Same thing. All those in favor? >> I. >> All right. No further business. I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> So move. >> Okay. That'll be GP and M. All those in favor? >> I >> Okay. All those opposed? Motion carries. It is 8:30.