Orange County Board of Education Regular Meeting - February 16, 2026

001We'll call this uh meeting to order. The Orange County Board of Education pledges to its citizen to conduct its business in a courteous and productive manner, showing respect for fellow board members, staff, and its citizens. The board asks its citizens to conduct themselves in the same courtesy towards both school personnel and each other. A moment of silence will be observed before each meeting. In addition to the moment of silence, the board will recite the pledge of allegiance. The board asks that you check your cell phones and other electronic devices to be certain they are either turned off or on vibrate to avoid interruptions of the meeting. For the safety of all participants, please refrain from bringing or eating any food items containing nuts or nuts products. All right, we'll go ahead and start with the

002pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right, we'll go ahead and take a moment of silence. All right. Good evening everyone. We'll get started with our recognitions. Good evening, Mr. Chairman, Madame Vice Chair, members of the board, Dr. Jones, cabinet, and community members. Black History Month, celebrated each February, is an opportunity to honor the profound contributions and achievements of black individuals throughout history. It serves as a reminder of the struggles and triumphs that have shaped the black experience, not just in the United States, but globally. The month also allows for reflection on the ongoing fight for equality and justice. The roots of Black History Month trace

003back to 1926 when historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History established Negro History Week. Dr. Woodson, also called the father of black history, chose the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of two key figures in black history. President Abraham Lincoln on February 12th and abolitionist Frederick Douglas on February 14th. The goal was to educate the public about black history and its vital role in shaping American society. Black history is more than slavery. It's more than segregation. It's more than struggle. Black history is innovation, creativity, resilience, and triumph. Black history is world history, and it cannot be contained. Black History Month allows us to reflect on the achievements of black leaders, artists, scientists, activists, and everyday people who have made history throughout their resilience

004and innovation. It encourages people to explore the often overlooked stories and legacies of black individuals globally, nationally, and locally who often serve as role models such as James Baldwin, Barack and Michelle Obama, Kla Harris, Dr. Charles Drew, and Shirley Chisum. Black history cannot be limited to the shortest month of the year. Yet, it stands as a vital reminder to continue to uplift black voices, advocating for equality, and decolonizing our perspectives today and always. Black History Month emphasizes the importance of continuing the work towards a more equitable society, acknowledging the ongoing struggles against systemic racism and discrimination. As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Black History Month, we not only recognize the incredible contributions of the past, but also commit ourselves to continue the work of building a future where equality and justice thrive for all

005people regardless of race. Let us honor the legacies of those who came before us, learning from their perseverance and strength to inspire the world today and tomorrow. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. Next we have um All right. Good evening. Uh today marks our want to recognize our Orange County Schools uh resource officers um for their unwavering dedication to safety, mentorship uh and the well-being of our students and staff. Um to the SR officers that are here and may be watching, we want to thank you for your commitment to building positive relationships and fostering secure learning environments that make lasting impacts for our schools. We sincerely appreciate your service and the difference you make each and every day. And so on behalf of Orange County, we want to thank our school resource officers. >>

006Thank you. >> Good evening everyone. Good evening. >> Um, I apologize for not being Connie or Rhonda, but I am taking their place tonight. Um, I do want to share that in these weeks of the Olympic season taking place in Italy right now, I am extremely pleased to be here to talk to you about some local champions that we have. For 30 years, national board certification has been a gold standard for teacher excellence. Teachers need to demonstrate expertise of subject matter and professional practice through submissions, written reflections, and or test to obtain or maintain national board certification. Certification brings with it recognition and of course a 12% increase in their state salary. Um, national board certified teachers can renew their certification every five or 10 years. Our goal in Orange County schools is to ultimately

007be classified as a distinguished district, signifying that at least 20% of our teachers have obtained national board certification. According to the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, students of National Board Certified Teachers gain one to two months of additional learning compared to their peers in other classrooms. We have a a banner crop. Uh today we have 22 uh individuals who have either obtained their national board certification for the first time or successfully renewed it. What our first what I would like to do is to recognize our nine national board certified teachers by calling out their names. Um some of them are here with us. When I call out your name, please join me at the podium. Um we have our our firsttime national board certified teachers are in a host of different uh areas from

008agriculture to EC to multilanguage to um English language arts. Our first these these people that I'm names I'm reading now are our folks who have gained national board certification for the first time. Melissa Hatmaker from Cedar Ridge High School. Caitlyn Kates from Orange High School. Clancy Russell from Orange High School. Cole Watkins from Orange High School. Jessica Pada from Orange Middle School. Joy Alvis from Pathways. Robin Smith Lner from Pathways. Ataya Abdal Kalak from River Park Elementary School. And Jessica Sensbach from River Park Elementary School. Can we give a quick round of applause for our first timers today? Hang here for just a minute or two. Um, we have 13 national board certified teachers who have renewed their status for another five years. Our list includes Claire Caps from Standback Middle, Chris Casey from Cedar

009Ridge High School, Sarah Van Horn from Cedar Ridge High School, Sher Caligan from Efflin Cheeks, Ashlin Spare from Effin Cheeks, Lauren Mayer from New Hope, Rebecca Solar from New Hope, Justin Vagas from Orange High School, Selena Massie from Orange Middle, Mark Harrington from Orange Middle, Billy Markham from River Park, Laura Casey from River Park and Lisa Mccertie from River Park Elementary School. Can we get another round of applause, please, for our Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. And congratulations. >> Congratulations. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Oops. Congratulations, people. >> Come on in. Come on in. >> All right. >> Keep going. >> Thank you everybody. Thank you board members. You're doing great back there. a couple more. >> Thank you. Congratulations. >> Congratulations everyone. Good evening. >> Good evening. >> Um,

010I am here to recognize our school social workers for school social work week, which is a little early. Um, but I am presenting today on behalf of Ava Barn Strange, who is our lead social work coordinator. Um, but did not feel well. Um and so I had her to stay home today. Um social school social workers are the heartbeat of our educational community. They hold a vital and irreplaceable role in our schools providing essential services to students, families, staff, and the entire school community. Every single day, these dedicated professionals invest their time, training, and expertise to break down barriers to learning and open doors to success. Our school social workers collaborate with teachers, administrators, parents, and fellow educators to deliver coordinated interventions and thoughtful consultation, all designed to keep students engaged in school and thriving.

011They help families access the supports they need to promote student success. And they stand as advocates for our most vulnerable learners. Orange County Schools is incredibly fortunate to have 13 passionate, dedicated, and absolutely exceptional school social workers who give their all. They don't just show up. They pour their hearts into the work they do across our entire school district. Day in and day out, they navigate complex challenges with grace, compassion, and unwavering commitment. Our school social workers unite our community, students, families, educators, and community partners to ignite positive change. They foster connections, advocate tirelessly for equitable access to services, and drive the social and emotional growth that helps every student reach their fullest potential. This evening, we want to acknowledge and celebrate all of our school social workers for the extraordinary work they do. We

012recognize their dedication, their resilience in the face of increasing mental health challenges among our students and their profound impact of the lives of the young people and families they serve. Therefore, it is with great pride and deep appreciation that we recognize March 1st through 7th, 2026 as school social work week sponsored by the school social work association of America. Happy school social work week in advance to each and every one of you. We see you. We value you. We appreciate you. Thank you. Good evening to each one of you tonight. It's February and I'm so honored to be here in February. February is career technical education month. Um, this year, like our previous years, our governor, Governor uh Josh Stein has signed a proclamation uh for career technical education month stating that CTE does prepare

013students and young adults to succeed in academics and careers. And it empowers students to be successful citizens, workers, and leaders in our global economy. And so, how honored we are to be here to recognize Mr. Avery Pipkin, woodworking teacher and skills USA, CTSO advisor from Cedar Ridge High School, who was honored in December at the North Carolina Homebuilders Association as the construction trades teacher of the year. Holly Ficaro, who is the president and CEO of the Homebuilders Association of Durm, Orange, and Chadam, should be standing right here tonight, uh, recognizing Mr. Pipkin. Uh, but she had a prior commitment, so you get me instead. Um, but Mr. Pipkin um, has led our summer careers academy, building our future since it began. um he stepped into that role uh learned NCCR which is the credential that's

014offered to the students and he has succeeded in getting many students through our fasttrack short-term credentiing program that we've offered these past summers. Um Holly sends these words I just want to send a note of sincere thanks to Mr. Pipkin for the heart and the passion that he has put into Summer Careers Academy, for his work in Skills USA, and all he does for his students. It was an honor for me to nominate him. It was a very competitive year and I was thrilled that they saw what we have seen in Mr. Pipkin all along the way. And so tonight, I'm I'm pleased to stand here beside Mr. Pipkin and I'd like to give him the podium to say a few words. Well, I'd like to start off by thanking Holly for nominating me for

015this award. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her and I also wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Shannon Braxton and the entire Orange County School CTE team, including the Cedar Ridge CTE team and the summer careers academy team as well. There's so many people that come together to make the my program successful. I'm just the face that shows up in all the documents and everything and in the news, but there's I don't know 20 30 people that come together to do all of this. Uh, teaching woodworking throughout the school year and teaching the summer careers academy has allowed me to see the best of the future tradesmen that and that there are some very talented students entering the trades. This past year, I was able to have a student win the Skills

016USA state conference. And that allowed me to travel to the National Conference where I got to see the top students entering the trades, actually compete. There over 17,000 students at the Skills USA National Conference competing in over a 100 different categories. And it's mind-blowing seeing how many talented students there are. at nationals this year. We actually got to see Mike Row speak and he had a great comment and he looked around at the entire stadium of students and he said, "I'm I'm confident that we could build an entire city with the students standing here." >> Oh yeah. >> And during the contest, there's a contest where they actually have to build a house on site with four students. >> And it's incredible seeing what they can do. Uh, we'll actually start off the competition year

017on Thursday when my students and I travel to Hendersonville for our first woodworking contest of the year. I was thinking about inviting y'all to that, but I know that's four hours away. But luckily, there's a our state conference is in Greensboro on April 16th, and I would like for anybody to come see that because you'll see over 3,000 students competing in over 140 contests. And you'll get definitely get to see the best of what CTE offers. And at this contest, you will also see that the future is CTE. Thank you. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. Thank you everybody. On the count of three. One, two, and that. Got it. Thank you. Hello. Good evening. >> Um, we had hoped to have a a large check presentation tonight and they were unable to come, but I want to

018remind you that Orange County is the recipient of two amazing grants. The first one is uh a $55,000 teaching fellows pilot grant where we're going to have some grow your own program and we're really excited about the stuff that's happening there. And then also we got um a digital learning grant impact grant um that's $95,000 a year for three years that we're going to transform some innovative teaching in our schools with with technology. So, uh, sorry that we don't have the big production tonight, but, um, we're really excited about the work we're going to do and and we'll be back soon to show you where we are with some of that work. So, thank you. >> Fantastic. >> All right. Um, next we have the agenda adoption. I'm aware of item number five, capital investment

019plan uh request to be pulled and item six uh the design services to be pulled and also um item uh 7210 uh staff invol involvement and decision-m had been requested to be brought back to policy committee. So, we're going to go ahead and pull that. Um, do we have a motion to approve the agenda with said changes? >> Motion to approve with said changes. >> Second. >> Okay. Uh, we have a motion, a second. Any further discussion? All those in favor? I >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. All right. Next we have our um public comment. >> We have any tonight? >> Yes. >> We will now hear public comments. Speakers will call in order in which they signed up. Each speaker will have three minutes. Yielding time to other speakers is not permitted. If

020a speaker has written materials they would like to share, please hand them over to board clerk Mr. McHune sitting over here and he will distribute them to the board. The purpose of the public comment is for board to hear from members of the public, not to engage on back and forth discussions. Per our policy, board members will not respond to speakers during the public comment session. The board greatly values public feedback and welcomes all comments regardless of viewpoint. However, please be reminded that children are often present at these meetings and that our public comment policy prohibits profanity, vulgarity, and personal abuse of any person. We ask that all comments be civil, respectful, and free of personal attacks. Any speakers who violates a public comment period or otherwise exceeds the bounds are order and uh decorum

021will be given a warning. Continued violations may result in speaker being ruled out of order in which this point will be removed. We will move on to the next speaker. Tonight's speaker is Mr. Edward uh Brian Edwards. >> Good evening to the board. I wanted to speak today again about SRO Recognition Day. In 2006, I was a senior at Orange High School when a gunman entered our campus. That day is something I'll never forget. There was fear, confusion, and uncertainty. But there were also people who ran toward the danger instead of away from it. Teachers like former Highway Patrol trooper Russ LeBlanc and our SRO, Deputy London Ivy. They didn't hesitate. They acted to protect us. As we recognize National School Resource Officer Appreciation Day, I want to make sure we remember that school safety

022is not just a policy or a line item in a budget. For some of us, it is deeply personal. School resource officers are more than security. They're mentors. They are role models. They are steady presences in moments when young people need guidance and reassurance. I hope we never lose sight of the human element behind safety. The individuals who show up every day to build relationships and if necessary, stand in the gap when it matters most. Deputy Ivy's actions that day changed my life. They shaped how I view service, responsibility, and community. So tonight, I simply want to say thank you. Thank you for honoring our school resource officers. And personally, thank you to Deputy Ivy and all the other school resource officers for their courage and commitment to protecting students. It matters. Thank you. >>

023Thank you. >> And that concludes our comments. >> Thank you. All right. Next, we have board comments. Um, we'll start with uh let's see, Andre. >> All right. So, I uh real quick, I just want to congratulate all the um teachers that were recognized during recognitions and also to all the social workers and most importantly to the school resource officers. U Mr. Elvis, he he nailed it. Um, a lot of the words that he used I was going to add also, but school resource officers, they are more than just a school resource officer. They are counselors, they are coaches, they are friends, they are teachers, mentors and sometimes even parents. And I had that opportunity and privilege for I'd say maybe 15 years to be a school resource officer here in Orange County to our

024students. And that was the most rewarding job I've ever done within the sheriff's office. And finally, I um I want to thank my parents and um Miss Brenda McCormack for teaching me about black history. My parents taught me about the struggles that they went through as they were coming up and they taught me told me about all the stories and I am truly thankful for that information and it's made me who I am today. >> Thank you Andre. >> Well, thanks Andre. That was really wonderful. Um, I I'm going to just join Andre in thanking our SRO's who are um really, you know, when you're in our schools, you realize how much they're part of a school community every day. And it's a it's just beautiful to see that. And of course, our national board

025certified teachers. I really should shout out to the district also for all the help they provide to our teachers. It's a pretty difficult certification to get and we do a lot to help teachers get it. Um, let's see. And the grants always nice. We don't care about the big check. We care about the the money. So, thank you for for that work. Um, and um just I was disappointed to to miss the Black Heritage Showcase, but so grateful to miss to Dr. Lir's words um which really beautifully explained why black history is so important to us every day. So, thank you for that. really touched me the way you framed it. Um, I did get to attend our bus driver appreciation breakfast. Um, and special thanks to Sheriff Char Charles Blackwood and his team for

026providing breakfast to our bus drivers. Apparently for doc for Sheriff Blackwood, it's a family tradition that dates back over 50 years. His mother used to do the same. Um it was 9:30 in the morning and a great reminder that our bus drivers start at 6 and a wonderful opportunity for me to speak to our drivers, learn more about what they do and the intentionality and experience that they bring to build trust with our families. One highlight for me was I got to shake hands with uh driver Kay McFersonen who has been driving an Orange County school bus for 47 years. You know, it was really really incredible. Um, also CTE, always in it for CTE. If you haven't, I would encourage everybody to listen to the um, states to Mo Green, Superintendent Mog Green's press

027conference on CTE. It was pretty impressive to see the level of commitment that North Carolina is giving to CTE. Um, and grateful always to Miss Braxton and our CTE program, which is something to be very proud of. On behalf of the board, I also attended the Family Success Alliance Coalition meeting. Um, it was a good discussion about transportation in Orange County, including the county's recent decision to move to fair-free buses. For our families, one of the most interesting services is what's called Mobility on Demand. It's kind of an Uber-like service where you can go anywhere in Orange County for $5. And um it's a it's a fantastic service um that many of our families use, but unfortunately there's only one vehicle. And we learned that that's because there's not enough drivers. Sound familiar? So um

028if you have a a CDL and um are looking for a part-time gig, you might want to go talk to Orange County about being a mobility on demand bus driver. Um that would be great. But I just have to add that my very favorite part of the meeting was one of one of the FSA navigators did a shout out to Dr. Dreer and her team, our social workers who we recognized tonight and our family liaison for a couple of things. This was for work that they've been doing and these are with our most underserved families on IEPs and on um helping one of our families who lost their home to a fire. So, when you're sitting in a meeting and there's 30 agencies participating and the the shout out goes to our our people, that

029was really wonderful. Um, I think that's it. Thank you. >> Thank you, Bonnie. Um, and >> well, I too would like to add my congratulations to all the teachers um that were recognized tonight. I've worked with enough teachers to know that going through that national certification is not an easy thing and every time you do it, you you got to keep it if you're going to keep it up, you got to renew it. And so they it's a continual process. And so uh big shout out to them tonight for that large class um of recipients. also to our social workers um who do a phenomenal job uh every day. You just you have to be in a school to see all the work that a social worker actually does every day with kids and families.

030Um, also I always shout out to our SRO's for their great work and um, it's just amazing what they do to help our kids. And it's like Andre said, a lot of them are counselors um, to not only the children but also the parents in some cases because parents need help and SRO's have good advice. So, thank you to them. Also to Mr. Pipkin and um his phenomenal job. Absolutely wonderful. So, thank you to all of them. I also have to say that I attended the Orange High School production, I think it was last Monday night, of a studentled production of uh written by students, performed by students, um directed by students, and it was um it was a little different, but it was wonderful. And I applaud those students for taking that on and

031for um really just their teacher as well for giving them the ability to do that. Uh it was a learning experience for them all and so congratulations to those at Orange High School and Mr. Johnson is here today. So congratulations to him on his uh theater department. It is it is an outstanding department. So, thank you to all of them tonight and thank you to everyone for being here tonight. >> All right, Sarah. >> Thank you. Um, well, the first thing I'll say is if you have a CDL and you're looking for a part-time job, Orange County Schools is always hiring bus drivers. So, go there first and then you can talk to Orange County. Okay. Um, but, uh, yeah, just a few things. Um, one, um, another one, as long as Mr. Johnson is

032in the house. Um is as a parent I went to the parent night for transitioning eighth graders to high school. Um and Cedar Ridge does this as well, but I happen to be at the orange one this time. Um and I would just encourage anyone if you're at that point where your children are going to head up to the next grade level. It is such a helpful, informative, reassuring event to go to the school and hear the counselors talk about the academic offerings and talk to the students and teachers about the clubs and um it's, you know, a lot of work gets put into those transition moments from elementary to middle and middle to high school. And I, as a parent, I really appreciate that. So, thank you. Um uh and um yeah, so much

033gratitude to our social workers and school resource officers. our school communities would not be what they are without all of your work day in and day out. Um, and then finally, the the other thing that I wanted to mention is I went to the Black History Month event um, hosted at Orange High School um, last week. Um, and um, there were wonderful performances, students read poetry. It was it was terrific. A real highlight for me though was getting to hear Dr. Dudley Flood um speak um and come to that event and um Mr. Adams before that sort of did like a little timeline. For people who don't know, Dr. Flood um is a true hero in the school integration movement in North Carolina. He and a partner um essentially went around the school the state

034on behalf of the Department of Public Instruction to help districts with school integration. um and and he had a remarkable sort of impact on the state statewide. Um and one of the things that I learned um through an old article in News of Orange County um is that one of the places that they went was Orange High School um and that they that in the 70s they went to Orange High School to uh and they talked to a group of students. It says in an attempt to help them understand how to survive unpleasant incidents and to work for harmony in the school. Um, and so to have him sort of full full circle moment come back for this Black History Month event, um, was really special. I'm I'm glad we have a chance to honor

035people who did that important work while they are here. Um, and so just appreciation. Um, uh, that was a real highlight for me of that event. Thank you. >> Thank you, Sarah. Um just to add on to a little bit what Sarah was saying um I was really excited as well that um that Dr. Dudley Fled was recognized at Orange High School last week and he is in his 90s and still leading the color of education conference in Raleigh every fall and um he's just um really a hero and an inspiration. Um, so I appreciate um Orange High School continuing to to host that event and how um how Black History Month events have um have grown in Orange County schools, it seems, over the past number of years. Um I think they help us

036be more inclusive as a district. And um I also wanted to to give a shout out to the listening sessions that Dr. Jones and her team um have been hosting regarding our new strategic plan. Um I've been able to attend all those so far. I know I'm going to miss the the last one, but I was especially appreciative that the the last one at um New Hope Elementary um was in Spanish and um you the opportunity to have a translation like I did. I was trying to keep up. My Dolingo hasn't quite gotten me to where I can listen without translation. So that was but I just I'm just glad that we are are working those skills and making that more um more um I hopefully hopefully something we do more often. So um and

037also shout out to our new and renewing uh board certified teachers. uh multi-year process um a lot of work and also as people were sharing I just want to repeat some of these um recognitions because I also um have really valued the the SRO who have been uh kind and loving to my family all all these years that my kids uh were in Orange County schools and um also Mr. Avery Pipkin and the CTE team and we have a lot of good stuff going on in Orange County schools and social workers showing up for kids and families. Um there are just some really special people putting a lot into our schools. So I appreciate everybody. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Hello everyone. It's so hard to follow you guys. Um but I'm glad that

038we are honoring and celebrating social workers SRO and celebrating Black History Month. and I'm so glad we're able to do that. I would like to share something. We are currently navigating times that are often unsettled. Uncertainty can feel heavy and difficult to see the path forward. It is the feeling that tests staffs, teachers, students, and our community as a whole, causing anxiety to creep into our schools in our homes. I believe that even in the most difficult times, uncertainty is not permanent. It is a phase we must go through to make us stronger. When we see when we as a community work together, we turn that fear into something far more powerful. Hope together we will persu uh persevere. Thank you. That concludes my comment. I I did do a lot of community work and

039I know I said I just concluded my comment but I felt that it was a need for me to remind everyone it is hard but we can do it together. So thank you. >> Thank you. >> So I would just also like to thank all of our national board certified teachers. I know it's a lot of work and we appreciate everything you do each and every day. Um, and also I appreciate our HR department that supports those efforts and I'm glad we do have some benefit. We give back to our teachers for that. Um, I also want to thank all of our social workers and everything they do every day. Um, is very appreciated um, from all of our students, family, and community. Um, SRO's, thank you all. Andre, thank you for all your service

040you've done for our schools as well. Um, thank you for being a partner with our teachers, our our staff, and our community. Um, I've seen it firsthand where they help out in the schools way beyond the day-to-day. So, thank you very much on that. Um, just a few items that, um, I also wanted to bring up. Um, had the opportunity with Dr. Jones to go on the hill to talk about our wonderful school results. It was uh good to hear our community being interested in some of our um results activities and how we're supporting our our teachers and staff. Also, I got the opportunity to be on the hill with Miss Braxton to talk about our worldclass CTE program in light of the CTE month. And um along the CTE vein, I just want to

041say thanks to Mr. Pipkin. Um he did invite me last year to the Skills USA and it it is it is overwhelming to see the magnitude of events, the students engagement, uh the challenge, the excitement and to see our students placing in those events and getting that opportunity. And that's what it's about. and hearing about students getting full-time job offers when they get out of school for just being there. And those are the kind of things that I think really gives us that worldclass CTE programs here. So, thank you all CTE teachers and staff that help support that. Um, I did get a chance to go see um Rodent as well, that Orange High School play. I just wanted to say to Mr. Mr. Johnson. Mr. Blake does a wonderful job. Uh especially he had

042a play that he brought to all of the elementary schools which was wonderful to have them go to the elementary and have the students engaged. Uh really heartwarming uh play as well. the kindergarten registration. I was really impressed with all of our schools being out there, being engaged, and having an opportunity for our families to come in and actually speak to the staff and learn about Orange County schools. Uh it's very impressive. I I personally didn't realize the magnitude of that event. So, thank you everyone who participated. Um also got the opportunity at Orange Middle School to see their play. uh wonderful and funny to see early drama and the students engagement, excitement and the families and I went both days and uh was a full house in all of those. Um just a few

043updates for the board. Uh we did have our uh joint collaboration of the chairs uh with uh Dr. Jones and staff that helped us with that meeting. Uh just a quick few updates. uh we talked about mental health and looking that as not just individuals but as uh really a district and with the uh Orange County as a whole. Um, one of the outcomes of that was each group's going to go back and look at what are our intakes, what are our challenges, where do we see opportunity, and then to come back and share that with the group once staff gets to talk between each of the different areas. So, Chapel Hill with Orange and then orange with the county as well. Um, I think this is a um a good start to a collaboration

044on many topics. Um, we also talked about nurses. Uh, we've talked about this several times as a board and in our budget about looking at nurses not being provided as one per school, but looking at the student population. It's really challenging to have an elementary school around 400ish, then going to a high school that has 1,200. Um, so we definitely want to work with the county and see how we can change that to get more realistic number of nurses. Uh, so that's a early conversation. Um, also, uh, Chapel Hill had a chance to discuss, uh, the school closing process and just share what they're going through. Um, they are having some difficult conversations with their community. Um but it was good to hear some of their challenges and sharing how they're approaching. Um we talked

045a little bit about the bond talking about us uh moving forward, a little updates that we've already had on our timing. Um we talked about uh a little bit about the change in funding model. Uh the county did share with us they're starting off $21 million short in their budgeting process. So they will have many challenges looking at how they're going to approach uh those challenges. Um we had some conversations about this funding model change and the impacts to the schools. Uh the county had shared with us that they are not planning to implement this this change all at once and we shared that we would like to have this conversation as a full collaboration and also talk about impacts of any changes prior to that being agreed upon from the county commissioners. Um we

046also talked about uh demographics. Um the county has a report coming back in March. We requested that that report be put into the joint conversation with all of us. Um I had a chance to talk to the superintendent about the report and also ORAD will be talking to the demographics group as well just to make sure we're understanding the data when it comes before us as well. Um and I believe that is all my comments for tonight. Thank you all for uh you know hearing about all of those items. If anything I can follow up on, please let me know. And when we come to our next uh county joint meeting, I'll pull the board again to see if there's any additional items for us to have considered at that meeting as well. Thank you

047all. All right, Superintendent Dr. Jones. >> Good evening everyone. Athetherton, Vice Chadia, members of the board, members of the community and staff. Um, first I'm going to start by talking about something no one else wants to talk about, snow days for next year. But um, seriously, I want to thank our uh, families and our community members for your patience and understanding as we did experience recently several days of school cancellations. Uh we know that changes to family schedules were impacted child care arrangements and work schedules and we don't take those decisions lightly. Um just to sum it up um NCDPI North Carolina um Department of Public Instruction, they establish clear requirements for instructional hours that school districts must follow. Even with the days that we have missed, Orange County Schools remains that we remain within

048the instructional hour threshold. And so in in part this is because when our calendar committee went back to review our calendars that we're currently in now, uh that committee advocated to remove early release days. That allowed us to regain some instructional hours. We also take full advantage of start and end time days for our calendar as the law requires. And so that gives us a lot of time to play with. Still, even though we're there, we wanted to bring students back uh as quickly as possible. And so that's why today was a student day um for everyone um because we know that students need consistency. They need their routines and families needed to come back as well. And trust me, we work much harder when we have to be out to bring the students back

049in um than we do to when we have some consistency. And so, we were just as excited to come back together and bring the students back. But I do want to thank everyone. Um I want to thank our teachers for quickly being able to turn around lesson plans, for being available for students and their families when they needed help and guidance, and just really for checking in with them because those are long days at home. So I really appreciate their work and their principles for supporting them and guiding them and our um CNI teams for doing the same. Second, we are still in the we engage phase of building our 26 20 uh 31 strategic plan for Orange County schools. We want to thank the many families and community members who have attended sessions and

050shared their feedback. Your voice is critical to this process. We have one final in-person opportunity to participate in this phase. Our last uh neighborhood session will be held on February 24th at the Orange Grove Community Center. There's no registration required and all are welcome. Um you can find any additional information on our website. I'm deeply thankful for everyone who has provided in uh their feedback thus far and grateful to our board for their commitment to developing a truly communitydriven plan and for those that I don't know if I've said it publicly but I'm also visiting each school and so where I'm getting feedback from uh fourth and fifth graders in elementary and our middle schoolers and our high schoolers and um surprisingly they want the same things we want, right? And so we are excited

051to bring all of that into the fold along with the um feedback we've received from we we've received from um our um surveys and that we're receiving in person. So, in um when we've asked for everyone to give input and to help shape the future of Orange County schools. Um but what we're truly shaping is something far more special. It's far more greater than just a plan. Uh we're shaping the future of our students and we're really working to strengthen this community. Um, every voice that has spoken, every idea that has been shared represents the belief that our students deserve more than opportunity. They deserve excellence. And so I'm deeply appreciative for everyone. Um, and those voices include our students as well. In March, we will enter the Wii Challenge phase, a pivotal moment where

052we begin transforming our community's feedback into a focused, intentional, strategic direction. As we move forward, I encourage us to think beyond where we currently are. Think beyond isolated metrics and daily operational measures. Those measures matter and will remain part of staff's accountability framework. But this work calls for us to think bigger. Our new strategic plan must capture who we are at our core. A teaching and learning organization committed to unlocking the potential of every student. It must serve as a clear road map, one that reflects our shared values, our high expectations, and our unwavering belief that every child can succeed. What I am hearing from our community is a call for purpose, clarity, and commitment. There is a shared desire to ensure that every school reflects academic rigor and belonging, and that students and families

053fully understand the opportunities. available to them so they can make informed choices that position their children for a strong and successful future. That is the vision we must carry forward together. I am energized by the work and excited to bring forward a draft plan in the spring that reflects the voices of our community and shapes a future that is worthy of the students that we serve. And so I just again want to thank everyone. I'm sharing all of that early. You'll probably hear some of the same words again. I'm going to keep that energy going until we get to the spring because I'm really excited to bring this forward. So that because this is what drives our work. This is what drives how we move every day. And it has to be anchored in the

054things that we believe in. and we have to be able to pull that all together with the voices from our community to give our students what they deserve. And so again, just thank you to the board for your commitment to doing this work. It is and thank you for my team because we have been on quite the journey and that's why I'm bringing that energy back today so that we can finish up these rounds of engagement. We have one more session. If you haven't had a chance to come out, please consider coming out and then we'll be back to work and starting some writing and bringing a draft and then you'll have an opportunity to give some feedback again. But again, thank you. This a a lot of organizations pave someone to do this work

055for them. But we have intentionally engaged in this way so that we can hear it firsthand and we can talk with our families and talk with our students and really truly understand what it is that they need from us and what we need to do for them in return and how we do that together. Um, that concludes my comments. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Jones. All right. Next, we have the consent agenda. Can we have a motion to approve? >> Motion to approve. We have a motion to second. Any further discussion? >> Hearing none. Uh all in favor? I >> I >> opposed. Consent agenda is approved. Uh first item we have after the consent agenda is item five, the uh CIP plan, capital investment plan. Am >> I doing? >> Well, we'll wait

056till you have Mr. Davis up here. Go ahead. >> Good evening. Um, thank you so much. Um, first I wanted to thank you for the information and I pulled five and six together and the only six is the design contract with the new consultant and I only pulled it as a reference point. I actually read the contract. It's very good. So, thank you for the thoroughess and the sensitivity to communication and engagement. So, that was great. Um, so and so my questions are about the plan and honestly we've had some discussions about the plan. I'm not as concerned about the plan as I am about the new reports which I have a little trouble following. So I thought you could help me and others understand it. So it's kind of communication transparency questions. Um, first

057of all there's two pages. one is um the current phase in and then the alternative phase in and I was curious what the difference is. >> Yes. So that document that Miss Hower is referring to is the county is working with us on how to finance if you may have mentioned we may have discussed this in financing capital um the different forms of funding mechanism and how the county um projects that cash flow and basically it's a big credit card and so to Miss Hower's question about the alternative plan basically um not to get in the weeds of funding but there's a funding gap around $2.4 $4 million that they will spread across uh the 10-year plan. And so really that means nothing. Means that we have already started to plan for that small shortfall.

058Um but they are just being transparent and showing us uh where they may try an alternative funding mechanism. And so the uh the overall summary is that about a 2.4 4 million over 10 years. Uh we may have to adjust um our projects or the scopes of those projects. >> I I hear that. I'm I'm not seeing it that way in in the plans. It it looks like and something that I'm personally quite interested in, but it looks like they shifted $40 million from our bond projects to something called major projects on I presume that was high priority. Um and and it got pulled from one of our bond projects and I don't mind that, but it looks like they changed the project structure and what's being funded. Um, so it's so there's a there's

059just a shift in the um in the way they're funding and and just for the general we all know that the only thing that's really the most important part of the capital plan is year one and in the alternative they pulled um it pulls $3.3 million. It pulls our PGO um from year one. So I wonder if the alternative is something that they're serious about or is the current phase and you know so I'm just worried about losing that money and what what it might mean. >> We are taking all that in consideration and we are worrying as well. >> Okay. But our plan is what is called the current phase in >> correct. So in the alternative phase there's about $2.4 $4 million that is spread across 10 years. So, you're correct if that

060math maths that 40,000 may be different in year one or year three. That's because they spread it out over the next 10 years. But um we're confident um that the priorities that this board has set um to match the funding with those projects uh will be delivered as long as the funding is there for those major projects. And we are being transparent along the way uh through financing capital through community engagement uh through just overall educating the community on how capital improvement projects are planned, designed and constructed. And uh we feel very happy uh where we are with the county finance department. >> Okay. And then one other question on on this report and that's the on the current phase in a little cons confused about how the cash flow is showing on the top

061because it's not a year-to-year cash flow and I just wasn't sure um what it's saying. I I just didn't follow it. >> So, we will uh continue to educate the board on how um construction capital planning works with the county finance department. Um, we have some agenda items that we will discuss in detail in our next upcoming financing capital. Uh, and so I think we think that's the best way to continue to educate our community and the board uh, as it results in uh, financing for capital improvement. >> Okay. Well, we could take it up there. I also uh, you know, the $60 million is just a reference point for me and something to think about because again, I'm going to say it again. I have no question about the work that's being done. It's

062truly extraordinary and new for us. It's been a long time since Orange County built a new school. Um there's a tremendous amount of money that's flowing through our books that we're not used to. We're not you. So these reports are new and providing and developing a reporting framework that's intuitive, transparent, and easy for people who don't who who don't understand it is is kind of what the reason I'm asking about this. But the contract says that it's uh I'll tell you what the number is. The contract says um $47 million for design and construction of the new school, but the budget is 60 million. And so and and I'm, you know, just wondering if there's a place that people will be able to go to understand what's behind the 60 million and then as these

063contracts get awarded, how they stack up against the overall budget. >> Yes. >> Yeah. So, we'll have that because we we really need to have some transparency about how that money is being spent. Um I that are my main questions. Are there others? >> All right. Do you want to motion both of the items? >> Yeah, I'll I'll I'll motion both of them. I did have actually one other quick question and that's on the plan and something to think about. It shows obviously we're building a new school, but it shows a elementary and middle school renovation and our board hasn't really agreed to do that. So, I don't know if it'd be better to represent this as project one, major project one, major project two. So, you know, it's just confusing to me because then

064people come to us and say, "Well, we heard you're doing blah blah blah and and so we're not, you know, that we there's that's not >> I I feel like we have stated those as the next two projects. We haven't gotten into a lot of detail with it, but there was a resolution. And I don't know if we passed it or the county or everybody did that sort of stated these are the three planned projects >> back in the Walpert days when Walpert came out >> for like at the at the point where where they were going ahead with putting out the bond. I think that's basically what you described our long time ago. So, but we're not you know we we haven't even when we started talking about the renovation to the middle school,

065we stopped that. We, you know, there's not been much work on that. So, it's not something that we have a plan for. It's a placeholder for sure. Um, so that's all it's a it's a placeholder. We don't have specifics on on that. So it's um not a big deal because I'm not sure if it was >> I think I'll just share that once the bond was approved, we had to submit to the county three major projects. That's that's what was our ask. That was in 2024, right? >> So we submitted new elementary school um uh elementary school renovation. At that time, we named Central Elementary or another elementary school to be determined. And I think we still we kind of said we'll determine that as we take a look at our data and um continue

066working with Mr. Davis as he was really newly coming in. But this is um this was uh believe May of 2024 when that happened. Um, and then we also named Orange Middle School as a new building. Now, transparently, I think we had some concerns as to whether or not there was enough money to do that with 125 million. And I think the orange middle has now turned into a renovation, right, to be more realistic. But those are the three major projects that we have carried forward since the 2024 projects were asked for the county commissioners. And so I think we're still operating under that. Now, we have not flushed out any details because our main project is right before us with the new elementary school, but keeping to a 10-year um CIP. And if you

067look at our CIP plans from the last last year, even it will have the um middle school and elementary renovation placed on them within the 10-year CIP. So, I think the board has had some conversation. I mean, it's still up for discussion because right now we're mainly focused on the the new elementary school project. >> Yes. Yeah. Thank you. >> But that was established by the board. >> I remember that we've had we've had the public come to us and say, "Well, wait a second. You're closing our school. You're doing this to our school." And so people, you know, that's all I'm just don't want to confuse people that we've made any decisions that we're doing something when we still have work to do. So that's all I I just didn't want to confuse anybody.

068>> All right, Savannah, you have a motion for both of these. >> Um I will I will make a motion um to approve both uh the contract and the CIP. >> Okay, we have a motion. Do we have a second? >> Second. Okay, we have a motion, a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Uh, can we have eyes for approval? >> I opposed. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Davis. >> Thank you. >> All right. And now we're on to work session. Uh, so our summer programming update. Good evening. It is hard to believe that I'm back here tonight to talk about summer programming right after all of our snow and ice closures. It just doesn't feel right. But I'm happy to be here um and to represent the curriculum instruction team in this endeavor

069to put together what we believe are some great offerings um for our students this summer. Um, next slide, please. Thank you. As you can see here, there are many programs that we have compulsory law to provide. Um, and those are listed on the left here for you that include read to achieve, credit recovery, exceptional children services, um, or extended school year services um, for our students that qualify for those. But we also have a lot of additional options that we are putting on the table for students here in OCS this summer. Um, many of these are repeats from the past. Um, some of them are expanding or shifting just a little bit. Um, and we'll dive into each of them a little bit deeper as I go through this presentation. So, the first one that

070we're going to jump in with is Read to Achieve. So, as you all know, Read to Achieve serves our current second and third grade students who are um not yet demonstrating proficiency with reading foundational skills based on the Dibbles 8 assessment that we give each year. Um our third grade readers have multiple opportunities to demonstrate proficiency through other good cause exemptions and assessments as well. Um and this is, you know, one of the camps that we're required to offer each summer. One exciting fact is this summer we are going to do one read to Achieve camp that services all seven of our elementary schools here. Um there's a lot of reasons that this is exciting. One is we're just going to do it and be all together and we're going to have all of our

071resources in one building. Um and we're going to have all of our attention devoted there to support those students. Another benefit is now the students at Hillsbor Elementary School will also have a chance to participate in the arts programming that I'm going to speak a little bit more of in just a moment. This summer we will be at River Park Elementary regardless of where the students attend for their home school. All students will have access to bus transportation um to and from school as well as free meals um available during camp for breakfast and lunch. Um, as I alluded to, we are continuing our partnership with the arts center this summer. We're actually expanding it, which is super exciting. So, when I wrote these slides, I told you that we were going to have three

072different artists, and that is now updated. There are going to be four artists, um, which is super exciting. We're going to add an artist. The fourth artist is actually going to be ceramics. I'm kind of hoping that I get to go and learn some things alongside of our scholars this summer because that's really exciting to me. Um, this will provide a chance for our students to be in a smaller class setting when they're in the arts programming as well as during their academic time during the day. So, so thankful to our partners and the donors and the grants that they have been awarded that make this partnership possible. The next camp that I'll speak of is our multilingual STEM camp. Last summer was the first summer that we offered this camp and we are doing

073it again. Um this will be available for our current fourth through seventh grade ML students or multilingual students. Um the students are going to spend their day um doing some hands-on fun learning activities. There'll be some partnerships with area universities and it will also give these students an a chance to see um and experience some STEM related careers. and they'll have a field trip where they get to go out into um one of the museums in the local area. This camp will take place in June um at AL Standback um which is the same location that we used last year for this camp. So very excited to be offering this again this summer um to provide some additional support and help build the confidence of our multilingual learners um in connection with their content from

074the school year. Additionally, as alluded to previously this evening, um our transition programs for middle school and high school students, yes, there are parent meetings that are happening now, but in the summer in August, we actually bring the students in. Um and so middle schools will host a middle school 101, high schools will um host a freshman orientation. The dates will come out for those events, but they will be in August. Um we don't have the specific dates quite yet. The next offering is our multilingual high school bridge program. This will be our third year with the bridge program. Um it has continued to expand and we learn every year from what we're able to offer, but this is a great opportunity for some of our um rising ninth and there is an error on

075this slide. It's now corrected and will be fixed after the meeting. Um the orange section of the lettering here says rising eth. It is actually rising ninth and tth graders. The section on the right side in the box is accurate. Um so it's rising ninth and tth grade students as well as multilingual newcomers um that are going to benefit from this opportunity. This is a great chance for our students to build confidence um to see themselves as leaders in the classroom to build their language skills um and also just experience success in a setting that's less like the traditional classroom setting. Um and so they've really done a great job of trying to tailor this experience for this demographic of student and I'm excited to see for the third year what exactly happens. Um, Emily

076Lewis does a great job and is so passionate um about serving these students. The next camp that will be offered or opportunity for learning this summer is high school credit recovery. As you all know, this is a chance for our students to um recover credit towards graduation. One thing that is worth noting here is that students do focus on specific deficiencies that are needed um for necessary course completion. And it's not like they have to focus on the whole course content. There's specific things that are identified um where the student has to do additional work to demonstrate competency. Um with that these dates um will be in June through July 3rd. That is a shift this summer. So in the past we've offered kind of a session one in June and a session two in

077July. Um, so you have probably picked up there's a little bit of a theme and that we're trying to do as much summer programming earlier in the summer as possible. Um, and we'll continue to monitor that data and impact for our student participation as well as the lasting impact as we come back into the school year. And that will happen at Cedar Ridge and Orange High School. Sorry, I didn't mention that. Next up is our career and technical education offerings. There are multiple opportunities here on the page. Some items are still being fleshed out, so there's more details to come, but there will be summer careers academy, which you're accustomed to hearing about. Um, super exciting with our partnership with Chapel Hill Carbara City Schools and our homebuilder association. Um, Mr. Pipkin is part of

078that program and we've celebrated him this evening um with the woodworking lab at Cedar Ridge and they will host that in June at Cedar Ridge. In July, the students will be at their on the job training and then in August they will have the summer careers academy graduation and that will take place at Cedar Ridge on August the 6. So mark your calendar so you can be there. Um we will also have student interns again through CTE this summer, but those will continue to be unpaid. I think we made that shift to unpaid internships a couple of summers ago. Um, but having the opportunity for these students to work alongside here in our district as well as other community partners is amazing. Um, so we're happy to still coordinate and provide those opportunities. Project Lead

079the Way, Engineering Explosion with Durham Tech. Um, and futures camps will also be offered this summer. Those will take place in June at Orange High School. and um Miss Braxton is still working on a health science camp and the details of that. So, that one's in the works, but everything's not quite finalized. So, we'll bring you more up um info and updates as we know more. As I mentioned, exceptional children's programs um do provide extended school year services during the summer. Um, eligibility for these services is determined by the IEP team annually and they will be offered in July. So July 7th through July 30th, it'll be half day in the morning, 8:30 to 11:30. If a student is prek through 5ifth grade and eligible for ESY services, they will go to New Hope Elementary

080School. sixth through 12th graders um will go to Al Standback Middle School and any middle school therapeutic summer programming will happen at Grally Hill Middle School. So all of our camps um are currently in the planning and program approval process and there's lots of things that go into that and we wanted to be transparent about some of the priorities that are used when determining staffing. Um, as you all know, we're offering fewer opportunities across our district than what we have sometimes in the past. And therefore, we want to be transparent about transparent about how staff are selected for these few um opportunities that we do have. So, we look at teacher effectiveness data. We talk to principles and ask about, you know, performance and attendance and dedication to all the things. um their current position

081that they serve in school as well as their certifications that they have, performancebased bonuses that were received during um the previous year and participation in professional development offerings that are um given both within our district but outside as well. And other logistics that we wanted to share with you this evening include that transportation will be provided to and from all of the program offerings um based on the students home doicile in infinite campus. We cannot provide transportation to the aunt's house, the grandma's house and all the different child care centers. So we follow the same transportation guidelines that we use during the traditional school year. Students that will attend afterchool programming will have a bus offering from River Park to Pathways. I'll speak to that just in um a little bit more in a moment.

082Breakfast and lunch will be provided um for the students free of charge and the paid afterchool as we had last summer through the YMCA will continue to be available for our read to achieve camp participants. Um and I'm going to speak to that as well. Um, we will also be leveraging the internal talented ed application system, which is how you apply for jobs in Orange County schools every other day. Um, and so we use the same system, but there is an internal application process as we prioritize our teachers, um, our teacher assistants, our bus drivers first. Um and so we will be leveraging that system in a partnership with the um HR team who are also always readily available on standby to help support folks in that process. So so as I mentioned we will

083continue our partnership with the YMCA Camp Crush. So they will offer a full day camp. Um it will take place at Pathways Elementary School. It's available for any students ages 5 to 12. They do not have to be Orange County school students to go to that camp. Um but you have to enroll via the link at the um YMCA of the triangle. This is not something that you sign up for with Orange County schools in particular. We just have an agreement with them um to provide our afterchool services and we will provide the bus transportation to and um to that program after the end of RTA camp. Um, so we have provided the link here for families so that they can sign up and register if they choose to do that. Um, the dates that

084that camp will be available are June 15th all the way through August the 7th and it will run Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. And again, that's at Pathways. All right. So, that was a lot of information about a lot of different camps, but I'm happy at this time to entertain any questions that you may have about our summer offerings here in Orange County Schools. >> Questions from the board. Sarah, >> thank you for all of that. Um, exciting to see all of the different options. Um, and, uh, just a couple of questions. One is um on that last point on Camp Crush um I understand it's a paid program but is financial aid available to families who um may want to do that for example after the read to achieve camp or

085something like that. >> They have um a means where they determine the appropriate fees and they also accept vouchers from certain programs. I am not um versed at all the inner workings of that, but definitely their team um can answer all of those questions. >> Okay. Um and then the um the transition camp or program for um ML students for high school, I noticed that one was only until 100 p.m. I mean, some of them are only part day. Um so it maybe is a broader question than that, but that one in particular kind of stood out to me as a um like that feels like that could be a barrier for some folks. um because kids at that age aren't driving themselves yet for the most part. Um h have we found that timing

086to be a barrier in the past? Have we explored the idea of having sort of like other options available for students after 1:00 p.m. to something more like 5 or 6 or something like that? >> Um I believe that those are the hours that we run credit recovery and so the buses and transportation are all in alignment. Um, and I'm not aware of issues in the past with that being limited um for students or limiting for students. Okay. >> As it kind of matches that whole um program structure for that grade level. >> Yeah. Um I think it I would love to I would love to understand whe what the factors are like I know a lot of these offerings are offered to a lot of kids and in some cases like only a few

087like a smaller number take advantage of them or have taken advantage of them in the past and I think it would be helpful for us to have some way to understand like what are the barriers that are keeping them from sending them their students to these programs that we think could be really beneficial. Um because maybe then it would be worth it to like find an ex extended enrichment thing for example for that group in the afternoon you know. >> Thank you Sarah. Other questions. >> Thank you. Thank you for the details. Um I I'm glad that you're going to we're going to offer an art program and um the question that I have is you answer how we're paying for this art program. How are we paying for the afterchool program? I'm glad we

088have it, but how are we covering the cost for that? And when it comes to reading, are we partnering with other people in the community or or >> after school program is paid for by parents? Um that's the same as the afterchool programming that we provide during the school year with the YMCA. >> No, I'm sorry. the the uh at the afterchool program, the summer program. >> Is there one in particular? >> You said we have a reading program, right? We're going to have a reading program. Are is this How is that going to be paid? Is the community parents paying for that? Is that a free service? >> No, that is a free service. Um all of the camps that I mentioned other than the YMCA Camp Crush are paid for through district, state,

089or local funding. >> Okay. Thank you. There's various funding sources allocated for the different camps. So, when it comes to the reading, are we partnering with any other people in the community that have reading services and are willing to help? Are we doing that or >> No, the reading camp uh read to achieve is funded through state dollars that are allocated um as well as the grant that we have in partnership with the art center and and so if you want to talk a maybe it will help. It's we can't it's not just um our reading program. It's like legislated that there are guidelines that we have to follow and there are certain number of hours that we have to meet and so it's hard to bring someone else to come in to do that.

090They have to be certified teachers. I don't know if that might help if you're asking about bringing someone in to support students. Um, >> yes, that's what I was kind of asking, but I wasn't asking it, I guess, correctly because there's a lot of people in the community that are willing to help and we are constantly being told, "How can we help? How can we help?" And we we have people that want to help and we're not using those resources. So, I just wanted to find out how we were getting the help. >> Yes. Let me speak to a couple things there. So, Senate Bill 387 does require that we offer um a summer read to achieve camp for our students that are in second uh currently in second grade and third grade that do

091not meet um benchmarking by the end of the year. Here in Orange County Schools, we choose to base our eligibility on middle of the year data. So, we are already running the eligibility letters to go out to families in the next week um letting them know that their children will be eligible for this free camp in the summer. The legislation then goes on to tell us that we have to provide a minimum of 72 hours of direct intensive reading instruction. That doesn't count any transition or additional programming that are provided during the camp. Um, and so I've worked diligently with the art center to ensure that that programming is aligned with our literacy focus. Um, and that it's an extension of those students reading time. Um, and that they have the opportunity to express some

092of their learning and comprehension through the art and gives them another outlet to show what they know. Um, we do bring in volunteers who can read with students. Um but again we have to be so tightly um and so tight and intentional about what is happening literally every minute of every day with those students that that time is limited. Um, we have high schoolers who come in, um, who intern with us during Read to Achieve Camp. And we do have some community volunteers that come in and read as well, but there's not like a larger community organization or something like that that we've partnered with other than the art center. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Does that answer your question? >> Yes. >> Okay, perfect. >> Bonnie, >> yeah, thanks for this just great programming.

093Am I crazy or did you expand the ML programming this year? Was it the >> um it is the same. It's I think we're looking at um more places where it's being offered. >> Great. Great. Thank you for that. And it but it looks like you're you tweak it every year and which suggests a continuous improvement approach and and that there's a lot of an you know it's not like here's the program. has a lot of behind the scenes stuff and and I was wondering if you have any metrics that you're using that you might share with us at some point on how these programs are working, what you're liking. I know you've accelerated the notification on read to achieve. That's terrific. But are there things you know what's working and and you know what

094you're learning from the programs about how >> that's definitely information that we can bring back to you? Um because as you mentioned, we are diligent in our reflection and analyzing what we've done and continuing to improve and expand what we're able to do for the students here in OCS. >> Yeah. >> If I if I could just add um I just want to commend the team. These summer programs are very high quality. I visit them as they go throughout um as they're presented throughout the district. um any type of programming that extends learning through the summer is going to benefit students whether it's academic their social skills and so um we can bring you something or share it with you but um we're we're happy to do that but anything that we do educational wise

095to extend the year is going to benefit students um secondly I do want to speak to our limitations s they're real like we we have teachers aren't working in the summer for free nor do we do we expect them to right um and so some of our the way the programs are structured maybe the the times that they're cut off is due to our limited budget and so if we could offer additional activities that extend into even hours evening hours I'm sure we would but we have to pay for that. And if we did that, we would have to offer less programming. The only, and correct me if I'm wrong, but the only program that we receive state funding for is the second and third grade. The others, we have grants. And even with the

096second and third grade program, we've had to pull back some and we have to supplement a lot of that as well. And so, we're not fully funded there. And so there's always a want and desire to do more and we want the same and to expand but it's difficult when we have limited resources. Um and in any of our programs if anyone wants to support and volunteer please have them reach out to Miss Wilson. We will gladly um help train them in whatever the area is. And I just ask that folks are committed to doing it. and that they show up for our students and that they accept that role and and help us um throughout the the duration of the time and if there's some other way to partner and I've been approached by

097others to partner with summer programming and but sometimes it comes with we have to provide the transportation which is a limiting factor for us and I you know I just I want us to be transparent as we're planning. We want to do all things, but as our budgets get tighter and tighter, um these are the areas we have to look at. So, just wanted to to share a little bit of that and and just again speak to again metrics that staff review and in that uh cycle of continuous improvement, anything that we offer our families are going to um support their well-being and help them to retain material. Any other questions, comments? So, I just wanted to add a a couple of items that have been talked about and Dr. Jones, thank you for bringing

098up the supplement. Um, a few years back, um, we talked about parents would receive their notice in June to attend a camp in July when parents have already planned their vacations, their where their students would be, what they're going to be planning. And then we had the conversation of why aren't we doing this at middle of year? And that's when we said, well, the state only covers who gets eligible at the end of year. And the board came together and said, no, we want to look at middle of year knowing that there's going to be some challenges, some improvements, but you know what? If those students at middle of year would need a little help, a little help at the in the summer is going to even make it better. And so knowing that not

099all students will take advantage of it um we make an investment in ensuring our students are getting that opportunity especially the students of need. So that's why it's changed. And the other thing that I commend the team for doing is trying to line this up as quick as possible so that the summer camps for other organizations like the wreck department here that does their famous uh summer camp that we're getting notice out to the parents as quickly as possible. So they're not committing to the Orange County Wreck. But the Orange County wreck also has agreed that if somebody needs to cancel their camp, they're not going to penalize them, especially if they're coming to a reading camp for us. But anyway, I wanted to provide a little background on that because it it has evolved.

100And the other thing that may not be as obvious is when we did have ESSER funds, we did extend that to other areas and we were able to do a much larger number and and an additional grade we included. Um, but since we do not have those ESSER funds anymore, we couldn't do it, but we agreed that we still wanted to do middleofyear assessments. So anyway, I thought I would provide that because there's a lot of moving parts on this. And I also appreciate one other subtle thing that may not be obvious is we used to have two different camps, one for Hillsboro and then one for everybody else, but this has moved back to where both can be accommodated, which I know will save us funding and logistics as well. So that is recognized.

101So thank you for figuring out those logistics and helping save us some money and being able to use it in the program as well. So, thank you. All right. Thank you. All right. The next item we have is the North Carolina School Boards Association Legislative Committee application nomination. All right. We all received uh a notice from the North Carolina Legislative Committee um that they are taking nominations uh to be on their uh potentially to be on their legislative committee. Um, and the way that it works is if the board decides to nominate someone from our board, it will then go to the North Carolina School Boards Association where the president will review in our region one person from all the school districts to be on that legislative group. So it isn't I don't want anybody

102to think that just because we put them into this nomination that it's actually they can just go through. There's a secondary process as well. >> And I believe Miss Doyle you you went through that process too, right? As well. So we have this we Orange County have done that before and um it's come up again. So, I will step back and see if there's any discussion on this. Uh, any thoughts as well? I know Miss Hower, you've uh said you're interested and I would be interested in serving as well. I don't know if there's others. Um, but >> can I just some comments? I actually am am really happy that this has come up and not just for the nomination but every year just for the public's benefit every year every board member is asked

103to fill out a survey from the North Carolina School Boards Association that shows our priorities for legislative action but we we as a board don't discuss it and so every time I fill it out I sit there and go well this is what I think but I don't have the benefit of knowing what my colleagues think. So, we miss the opportunity to operate as a board and so um and I think it's a great time for us to um explore that whether or not we get the nomination, but I think it would be really helpful if we as a board set a leg our legislative priorities. Everyone on this board is active politically and is always talking to legislators and others. And it would be really great if we used that opportunity to say this

104is what's important to us because we'll learn from each other. Um if we got on the board, um it would be really great to learn from other school boards about what how they're working with legis with legislators. And from my anecdotal conversations, um, other boards, including boards in conservative counties, are do are working closely to with their legislators to advocate for teacher pay, school calendars, and more. And if we had some of that background, it might help us be better advocates for our students. So, um, that's all I I would love to be the, you know, obviously it's a selection process and we're a little district in a big state. um you know I know I have well that's all I would love to represent us but I think no matter what it um we

105should with the nomination also create I would love us to create an intention to spend time as a board talking about our legislative priorities >> any further comments or questions from anyone >> I just want to add that I like that idea I think discussing the legislative priorities is a good idea. Um, and yeah, that's all I have to say about that. >> Just to piggyback on that, maybe that could be a board retreat topic. >> That's a good idea. >> All right. Um uh to move forward, we'll need someone to nominate someone to be on the group and then vote or is there any recommendations on how to move forward? >> And Mr. Otherton, there's there's a couple of ways you could do this under the Robert's rules. You can have a motion to

106nominate a specific person and then vote on that motion. You need a majority to carry. The other way, if there's more than one person interested, you could vote by written ballots as you do for chair and vice chair. >> Okay. >> Entertain motions. We could just come up with some ad hoc paper ballots. Uh the the the advantage of the written ballots is, you know, you don't there's no advantage to being nominated first. You get the names out on the table of anyone who's interested and then write them all down. >> Two options. >> That's a great idea. Uh is there a preference? um whatever the board would like. >> Written ballot to me sounds probably the way to go. >> We don't have ballots prepared, but if you all would just, you know, um

107grab a piece of paper, we could do it that way. And I'd suggest we just do it the way we do. Chair and vice chair, Mr. McHune can collect and count the ballots. >> That sounds great. >> You need a majority. You You first have a nomination process, I guess, right? So entertain nominations from the floor. When nominations are closed, everyone vites writes writes down the name of the person who they vote for. So it' be two-step process. >> You're gonna >> you're going to put down a name and then you'll pass it. We'll have a nomination first before before writing votes or or or was it understood? I mean, I I heard Mr. >> Mr. Adton and Miss Hower sounded >> who all wants to >> be a part of it. >> It was

108it was clear from the discussion Mr. Athetherton and Miss Hower were interested. >> Anyone else? >> Make sure there's no one else interested. If not, then you consider nominations closed and just vote. >> Okay. >> We'll get better at this since it's our first one. So, okay. Yes. Thank you. All right. Okay, we have uh we have three votes for Mr. Ratherton and four votes for Miss Hower. That concludes the election. >> Excellent. >> Congratulations. >> All right. So, we'll we'll need a a motion to uh because it does require board action. So, uh can we get a motion? >> So, move. >> Uh second. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> All right. All in favor? I >> I Congratulations, Miss Hower. I'll fill out the paperwork and send it in. >> Thank

109you. All right. Um, next we have a optional second close session which we do not need. Um, and last on our agenda is adjournment. Do we have a motion to adjurnn? >> Motion to adjurnn. Second. >> Second. >> Have a motion. Second. Any further discussion? >> All right. All those in favor? I I opposed. This meeting's adjourned. Thank you.