Orange County Board of Education Regular Meeting - May 5, 2025

001Are they? Good evening everyone. I'd like to call this uh session May 5th session of the Orange County Board of Education to order. I need a motion to enter close session for the reasons so so stated on the agenda. So move second. All in favor? I Okay, we will move to close session. Thank you. Where did we go? Good evening everyone. I'd like to call this meeting to order. We are back in open session and we will start with the um public charge. Orange County Board of Education pledges to its citizens to conduct its business in a courteous and productive manner, showing respect for fellow board members, staff, and citizens. The board asks its citizens to conduct themselves with the same courtesy toward both school personnel and each other. A moment of silence will be

002observed 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 that they are either turned off or on vibrate to avoid interruption of this meeting. And we will stand now for the pledge of allegiance, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. And now we will observe a moment of silence, please. Thank you all. Okay, we will move into our recognition starting with Mr. Smith and our teacher appreciation week which is this week. Madame Chair, Mr. Vice Chair, Dr. Jones, members of the board, and everyone

003here in the public, and especially to all of our teachers and educators listening at home. We are so excited to celebrate teacher appreciation week. Uh, and what we hope you experience over these five days and definitely from now through the end of the school year is a lot less of hearing us, a lot more of hearing our students and our teachers. Um, if you've visited our website in the past 24 hours or so, you might have recognized that we are soliciting the voices of folks who are out there who would like to celebrate our teachers. And this is a fully crowdsourced activity. I'm going to share with you some of the first 10 uh thank you cards that we've received. There is a digital thank you card just waiting for anyone and everyone to send

004to any educator in Orange County schools. For instance, dear Mrs. Borland, I wanted to thank you for being my teacher of over two years ever since I had you for Bulldog Academy. AVID has helped me immensely academically and personally. I hope other students feel the same way. Thanks for being my AVID teacher. Or, omg, thank you for being an amazing teacher this year and teaching so much about sentences, grammar, vocab, and context clues. Hi, Mrs. Smith. It is amazing to see that you haven't stopped soaring. I was more than thrilled to hear you are being recognized for always going the distance for students and staff as Central Elementary's teacher of the year. You are more than deserving. Thank you for being who you are. Born to teach. Oh, and I miss you. I could go

005on, but why would I? Um, those are the first 10. We're ready to take on 100, 500. We will deliver those thank you cards digitally. There are over 20 different designs in English and Spanish. So many, many to choose from. Uh, and we hope that you and others will enjoy this. I mentioned we're going to be sharing some voices and um, our communication specialist, incredibly apt and able communication specialist Jayla Davis, went into the field. She and I went to a couple of our schools late last week to ask students, do you love your teacher and why? And these are some of the voices that we heard at Grady Brown and Central Elementary Schools. And hopefully Ryan I love Miss because she is kind and she's helpful. I love my teacher so much because she

006teaches us fun things and lets us do fun activities. I love my teacher because she always gives us candy when we do the right thing. I love my teacher, Miss Gully, because she is very kind, nice, and she always loves to make us happy. I love my teacher because he teach us and he play basketball with me and try his best to teach. I love Miss Ber because she has lots of activities to do and lots of them are fun. I love Miss Wman because she always help us with our work. I love my fifth grade teachers because they give us oneonone time and they help us out on a problem if we need help. I love Miss Joanne because when I go to her classroom, she always says hi. I love my teachers because

007she is so nice and she teach us how to do math and reading and science. I love my fifth grade teachers because they help me prepare myself for fifth grade and we have a lot of fun in fifth grade. So, we're just getting we're just getting started on teacher appreciation week. We're going to have stories of some of our amazing teachers like Selena Massie who was just recently recognized for a groundbreaking first ever award that's going to be coming up and so you please look for that kind of thing in the news of Orange. Obviously, our teachers of the year, the teacher of the year round table, Jeff Faulner and Christy Mabberry are out there breaking ground as well. It's a very exciting time to be here in Orange County schools and the best people

008to ask about it are our teachers and our students and we hope that you hear basically from no one but them all week long. So please stay tuned to the website, to your email, your text messaging and wherever you get your news about Orange County schools. Thank you very much. Okay, today is also school lunch hero day and I think Miss Pittz is going to talk about that. Our wonderful food and nutrition coordinator director. So, good evening OCS board members, Superintendent Dr. Jones, dedicated staff, and members of the public. Whether you're joining us in person or virtually tonight, I have the honor of recognizing a hardworking group of classified staff whose contributions are often behind the scenes, but are absolutely essential to our school's daily success. This past Friday, May 2nd, we celebrated School Lunch

009Hero Day, a federally recognized day of appreciation for the individuals who work tirelessly to provide healthy, great tasting meals to our Orange County School students. As the saying goes, not all heroes wear capes, but some of ours like to. At several school sites, nutrition staff proudly wore their capes as they served meals with a smile, embracing the spirit of the day and the heart of their mission. Last school year, our school nutrition program served an incredible 7,000 or 714,659 meals for breakfast and lunch. This year, we've already served 647,938 meals, demonstrating our commitment and our hard work in nourishing our students every single day. Tonight, I'm thrilled to be joined by one of our shining stars, Miss Carolyn Mcaharn, better known as Miss Mack at Central. She's here to share a few thoughts and reflections

010on what this work means to both her and her staff. Thank you all for having me. I um grew up in a family of cooks. My mother was a cafeteria lady at the school that I went to at elementary. And um during those years, I'm thinking um nothing to do with food. My mom was also a caterer and a bus driver and we raised a and we had a farm. So she was very busy lady. But um she taught us the value of what a good plate means. It's not just the food that you cook the love into the food. And they should be able to taste that. And we think the same thing at all our schools, all of our managers, all of our staff. We cook the love into the food because we

011want the kids to be excited when they come to the cafeteria. When they come by and they see the billboard, they see the board and it says nachos. You can hear it. We got nachos. We got nachos. And they're excited. And we want them to be excited. We want to be able to give them different taste, different values, different foods so that they'll show them what the world has to offer. As it turned out, I ended up becoming a trained chef and I came back to school foods. So, um, for a lot of reasons. One of these reasons is, you might be difficult to see, but this is one of the, um, notes that one of the teachers sent me an email from one of the children and it says, "I think macaroni is the

012best food because it is good with the cheese." I agree. is very good and when the lunch lady makes it, it's very good. This is why I think macaroni is the best food. And we got um a note last week from our staff and they said, "Dear sweet cafeteria staff, thank you for always being so kind and caring, not only to the students, but also to the staff. It is very apparent that you all put your love into your cooking. It's greatly appreciated the yummy nutritious meals you serve each day. Thank you for all you do to make our school a happy place. So our parents always tells us a happy belly is a happy person, you know, and um I get very emotional about that because my mom is going on to heaven. But

013I will never forget that. And so I always cherish that and I try to teach my staff that that what you give means something. What you do means something because that may be the only meal that child gets. Give it with love. Now sometimes we have to be a little a little um teacher a little respect in there because I'm an old school mama. had to teach you a little respect there, but I'm going to love you up while I'm telling you. So, next time you come to the school cafeteria, we want to make sure you've cast out all those notions of what a lunch lady looks like. We're not the mean old ladies with the hairetss, most of the time, but we do love what we do and we do love our children and

014we'd love for you to come by. Our kitchens are always open. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you for having us tonight. Thank you for your time. And um thanks to Miss Mack for her bravery and for bringing us all to tears. Thank you both very much. and Miss Mack, we will come by and see you. And cuz as a principal, I always enjoyed going to the cafeteria because I learned so much from the cafeteria ladies and I always had a good time down there every day. So, thank you for what you do and all of our cafeteria staff for the district. Thank you all. Okay, we move on to school nurses appreciation day which is May 7th this week and I think our lead nurse Sylvia Compton is here. Um I don't know whether Dr. Laneir

015is coming up or just Miss Compton. Okay, welcome Miss Compton. Good evening madam chair, sir, vice chair, school board members, Dr. Jones. Oh, sorry. Good evening everyone. Um, so this uh Wednesday, May 7th, is celebrate uh your national your school nurse day, national school nurse day. And what do school nurses do? With over 40% of school school age children affected by chronic um health and mental health conditions, school nurses play a vital role in improving attendance, reducing health disparities, connecting families to community resources, coordinating care to break down barriers to healthcare access and supporting student success. Having a nurse at every school and nursing support is essential to our student success. Currently in Orange County schools, we have 13 school nurses. That is one nurse per school, one float nurse, two health technicians. How do

016we all work together? The school nurses lead health services, create care plans, manage chronic uh health conditions that we train staff. The float nurse, she fills in gaps, and support schools on a rotating basis. Our health technicians uh assist with routine health care, help with logistics, and supporting uh student well-being as well. Together, we form the health team that ensures all students, no matter the school or their need, receive consistent and quality care with continuity. And I just have to say we have the best nursing team here in Orange County schools. Um, and they are sitting back there. But, uh, Miss Susan Vaughn here, um, is our float nurse, and I'm going to have her say a few words from her perspective because she's got a pretty difficult job that she does. Good evening. My

017name is Susan Bon and I have been a licensed practical nurse for 23 years. I hold a bachelor's degree in healthcare administration from the University of Phoenix and I have proudly served as the float nurse for Orange County schools for nearly four years. In this role, I provide support to all 13 schools across our district when a nurse is absent or when additional assistance is needed. My position requires flexibility, adaptability, and familiarity with unique needs of each school community. On this school nurses day, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to our school board chairs, Miss Purcell, Vice Chair, Mr. Richmond, and Superintendent Dr. Jones. all board members, Orange County commissioners, and district and school administration for recognizing and supporting the vital work of school nurses, school nurses in Orange County schools. I work

018closely with our lead nurse, Sylvia Compton, our dedicated school nurses, and our health technicians every day. Though we are spread across different campuses, we operate as a true team. United in our commitment to the health and well-being of our resident students. Our Orange County School's nursing team includes 13 registered nurses, one assigned to each school, two health technicians primarily supporting supporting our two largest high schools and existing districtwide one float nurse, which is myself, one lead nurse, Sylvia Compton, who also serves one of our schools in addition to her leadership role. As of now, 7,458 students are enrolled in Orange County schools. According to Arteria, a platform that analyzes population data, Hillsboro's population is projected to grow by 9.7% by 2025, well above the national average of 4.75%. With our district's proximity to world-class medical

019centers like Duke and UNC, we can expect both an increase in student enrollment and a rise in student with complex medical needs. To meet these growing demands, it is imperative that we maintain and retain our current nursing staff. This team structure allows us to equitably serve each student, promote wellness, and ensure students are healthy and ready to succeed academically. Our school nurses take a wide range of responsibilities, including but not limited to administering first aid and managing chronic conditions, supporting students with disabilities and behavioral needs, promoting healthing habits and managing immunizations, providing mental health support and emotional care, referring students to appropriate health care professionals, advocating for students and supporting families and staff. The nurses of OCS bring a wealth of pediatric healthc care knowledge, strong communication skills, and the calm, quick thinking leadership necessary

020to respond in emergencies. Our lead nurse, Sylvia Compl Compton, exemplifies these qualities and more. She is a strategic thinker who navigates complex situations with professionalism and care. Her leadership builds strong collaborative relationships and inspires excellence across our nursing team. To all our Orange County school nurses, health technicians, and our lead nurse, thank you for your dedication, professionalism, and unwavering commitment. Because of you, our students are healthy, safe, and ready to learn. Happy School Nurses Day. [Applause] Smith, would you like to take a picture up here with the nurses? Have them come up here. I think they're ready. You think they are? I'm coming. Thank you all for all you do. We know how hard you work. [Music] [Laughter] I can get you looking. Thank you all very much. All right. Okay, up next we have

021Mental Health Awareness Month and Dr. Dreer I believe is going to come up for that. Welcome. Hello members of our school board, Superintendent Dr. Jones, OCS staff, and our community partners. Good evening. I am honored to speak this evening on behalf of Mr. Daniel Karns Picket, our mental health coordinator for Orange County Schools, who unfortunately could not be here tonight in recognition of mental health awareness month. Each year, the month of May is set aside to raise awareness about mental health, reduce stigma surrounding mental illness, and advocate for policies and practices that support the emotional well-being of all people. It's a time to elevate the conversation around mental health, acknowledge the importance of self-care, and encourage open dialogue in our schools, workplaces, and homes. This observance reminds us that mental health is just as vital

022as physical health, and it impacts every part of our lives, from learning and relationships to productivity and overall quality of life. This year, Mr. Current Picket has made it a priority to promote awareness and provide actionable support for mental health in our schools. To kick off mental health awareness month, he shared resources and information districtwide, encouraging all schools to participate in raising awareness. Staff were asked to include mental health updates in weekly communications with families, make use of provided resources, highlight awareness activities on social media, and reach out to him directly for additional support. This week from May 4th through May 10th, we recognize Children's Mental Health Awareness Week and we're inviting everyone to wear green on May 8th in support of National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day for students. Mr. Dr. Karns Picket has

023helped build strong partnerships with three in-person school-based mental health agencies, Renaissance Wellness Services, Youth Extensions, and Upward Change, who now provide direct support to students within school buildings. Petemont Health is also assigned a therapist at Efflin Cheeks Elementary, and the hope is to expand this partnership to more schools in the coming year. In addition, Gaggle teleaotherapy remains available to all students, offering free virtual therapy. We ensure that counselors and social workers consistently receive tools and updates and resources to help them best support student well-being. We've al uh Mr. Karns Picket has also helped lead the districtwide imple implementation of Sparks, which is a trauma-formed intervention designed for students ages 12 and up who have experienced trauma or chronic stress. Sparks is now being used in all middle schools, one middle school and two of our

024high schools with plans to include the final high school next year. This year also marked the successful launch of teen mental health first aid which Mr. Karns Picket and I taught together at to all high school freshmen through their health classes at both Cedar Ridge and Orange High School. This initiative equips students with the knowledge and skills to recognize and respond to mental health and substance use challenges in their peers. It's a program we are committed to continuing every year with our 9th graders. For staff, we've provided a free access to virtual therapy through Gaggle, individual consultations upon request, and monthly wellness Wednesday newsletters. These newsletters cover a wide range of wellness themes each with educational content, self assessments, actionable steps, seal strategies, CU opportunities, and information about UNC upcoming events. They have access to

025mental health resources on our OCS website as well. The work of supporting mental health is not limited to one month. It's a year-round commitment. Mr. Karns Pickicket's efforts this year have been grounded in care, consistency, and community. On his behalf and myself, I want to thank the school board, OCS leadership, and our staff for your continued support and prioritizing the mental wellness of every member of our school community, our students, staff, and the community at large. Thank you. Thank you very much. That's wonderful. [Applause] Okay, I need um agenda adoption now. Do I have a motion to adopt our agenda? So moved. Second. All in favor? I I Okay. Agenda is adopted. All right. I believe that we don't have any public comments tonight. Is that correct? That's correct. Okay. No public comments. So, we'll

026move right into board comments. Um, Miss Padilla, may we start with you? I didn't mean for you to be to get you when you were taking a break. Okay. Thank you, chair. Thank you everyone for being here tonight and um and thank you all nurses and lunch staff. Um, let's see. May I know I was cut like wasn't quite ready. I didn't think I was going to go first. I'm sorry. Okay, so May is mental health as it was mentioned, also resilience and Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. So I just wanted to bring that up. Uh I had the opportunity this month uh to attend uh several events. Teacher of the year banquet, uh congratulations to all the teachers that uh ran for student uh teacher of the year and big congratulations to Mr. Josealgo.

027I also went to the wax museum at Pathways. It was uh phenomenal. I really enjoyed um watching all the kids re really a lot of them memorized everything they knew about uh you know Muhammad Ali or Dolly uh um Dolly was phenomenal. She had her shoes and her shoes and her guitar were just matching with glitter stuff. Uh I also attended a poetry uh reading at the Borwell School and the health uh wellness fair at Orange High School. Uh board training um over the weekend. And lastly, fundraiser for the Comp Compass Center. Proceeds went to uh domestic and sexual assault victims. And and one more thing that I did, I went to the governor Stein's inaugural ball and all the proceeds collected went to the um Hela efforts recovery. That's what I did this month.

028Thank you. Thank you so much, Miss Padilla. Um Miss Molly, um these were some great celebrations today. I love the idea of those cards. Um, so yeah, I hope everybody I'm going to write some tomorrow. Um, and encourage my kids to do that. And thank you to our nurses for coming out tonight. Um, you all are incredible. Um, a couple of exciting events. The teacher of the year banquet was wonderful. Just really appreciated um the generosity of the supporters of all of that. Um, as well as um a couple of artsy events. Um so I went to the um poetry event at Cedar Ridge. I think that's was after the last meeting, right? Um uh the um the where we named a new youth poet laurate and that was lovely. Um as always it's great

029to see how uh that's grown. Um there was a wonderful art show at Efflyn Cheeks. Um they had one room set up as like in black light and it was like under the sea and it was delightful. Um, and then also, um, went to see Peter and the Starcatcher at Orange High School, a play that was there that was, um, also a lot of fun. So, uh, very artsy kind of month. Um, oh, and I would love, um, to just on the mental health awareness, uh, month topic, um, it's great to see that we're expanding our access in school to, um, therapy. Um, and I would just love at some point to get a report on um, sort of how many kids we're see serving and if we have a sense of how that's grown

030over time um, and you know if we're see experiencing any like weight lists or things just a little bit of an update on that at some point. That makes sense. Thank you, Miss Dole. Thank you, Chair Purcell. It has been um, a lot's happened in the last month. um some of the high notes and and also shout out to our um cafeteria workers and our our awesome school nurse team. Um y'all definitely are a team and I love that. Um I was able to enjoy one of the student art shows um from one of our um IB students at Cedar Ridge and a tremendous show at a gallery downtown. Um I love that we do that um consistently. Um, also the night of poetry at um, Cedar Ridge High School represented by students across the

031district was fantastic celebrating our teachers of the year. Um and also um mental health has been on my mind um this month and you know we're we're seeing um federal grant cuts for student mental health, LGBTQ student um hotline access and um it's heartbreaking and students are aware students in my own classroom have told me how aware they are and stressed they are um about these shifts and so it's even more important um and I'm thankful for the leadership we've had in this district for a number of years um Dr. Dr. Dreer and and others um in building out um sense of belonging for students um conversation around mental health. And um to that end um we had a great community engagement meeting um at Orange High School uh recently and heard about some of

032the part community partnerships um that supports students um with substance abuse issues. Um, and also I enjoyed the health fair at Orange High School. That was incredibly welcoming. All the all the tables. Um, that was a lot of um, supports for students of wide variety of topics. And, um, I didn't realize we were also doing the mental health first aid for freshmen. Um, my school in Durham's doing that and I did that training and that's excellent, really timely training. So, um, I appreciate all those efforts and those um, that network of support. Thank you. Uh, Miss Hower. Yeah. Um, good evening. I'd like to add my congratulations to our teachers of the year and also to all our incredible teachers, our nurses, our child nutrition staff, our mental health professionals, and who collectively served 7,000

033students and their families every day. Um, honestly, I came in tonight expecting the nurses to bring me to tears, and never in my wildest dream did I expect our cafeteria leaders to bring me to tears. So, thank you for that. I'm also thrilled to hear about the expansion of our mental health providers and adding um mental health first aid for our teenagers. That's fantastic. I agree with Sarah. It'd be really nice to get a report on the level of service we're able to provide. I I wanted to add my uh special congratulations to um Orange Middle School teacher Selena Massie for being recognized as the outstanding North Carolina Holocaust educator for 2025. It is the inaugural award and last week I had the honor of presenting the award on behalf of the center and Miss

034Braxton and principal Jamie Bell Williams were there on behalf of Orange County Schools and the award highlighted Selena's use of personal accounts to spark student interest and understanding of difficult subjects such as the Holocaust. Miss Miss Massie and I interesting what what Mr. Smith was saying about showcasing the incredible things that are happening in our schools. And just to use Miss Massie an example as an example, um she she um she her students have heard directly from survivors of Awitz, survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima, refugees of Sudan, and they actually spoke directly with Dr. Christine Darden, one of the of NASA's now famous hidden figures. this is what is happening in Orange County schools. It is incredible and it's really nice to to be showcasing it. Um along with speakers, uh Selena uses books

035and other materials to teach students to respect and celebrate differences and to recognize and question for forces that challenge human rights and dignity. Um, Selena accepted the award with a powerful statement about the importance of Holocaust and human rights education to create a kinder and more just world. And I'll just close with a thank you to Dr. Laneir for our equity training this weekend. Um, and for moving the conversation beyond politics. You know, it's pretty charged words. Um but we spent Saturday morning advancing the our board's vision to asssure that each and every student has access to highquality education and resources that they need to be successful. We heard a lot about what students need and what high quality education means. This work has always been the board's vision and I believe it it aligns

036with the expectations of our community and I'm proud to be part of this work. Thank you so much. Thank you, Miss Hower. Mr. Athetherton. Yes. Thank you. First, I'd like to thank all of our teachers this week. Um, definitely it's a a week that should go all year round. And I'm I've been seeing all of the wonderful things that our community is doing to to show their appreciation for the teachers. Um, also wanted to thank the nurses especially for showing up. You always show up, so thank you. I know that you have longer than a 24-hour day and we appreciate that each and every day and I love going by and seeing your setup, how our students are doing and just hearing, you know, some of the challenges. So, thank you for always sharing that.

037Um, thank you to our nutrition workers. I know that you know every student in there. You know every ID. you know how each student's doing, what their family's doing, and most importantly, what favorite snack, dessert, breakfast, uh meal that these students want, and you always ensure they have it. So, thank you. Um, also I enjoyed uh going to the teacher of the years. Thank you HR for bringing that back. I also just want to extend a thank you to the Colonial Inn for their extreme generosity for everything they gave uh during that um event. Um loved uh seeing the the job fair and all of our candidates and all of our staff. Um seeing who would love to be part of the Orange County family. um enjoy doing mock interviews with uh several board members

038here at AL Standback. Uh it was very impressive to see how these uh students were prepared and their aspirations at such a young age. It's very reassuring to hear. Um also attended the health and awareness uh agree that it was wonderful to see all the supports out there and also get a few gifts while there as well. um the board training. Thank you Dr. Laneir for uh setting that up and definitely everyone on the board for taking the time to come together and have uh the discussions. Um one last thing I wanted to recognize is uh I did get the chance to go to um the Skills USA competition um which I will not do it justice. Uh it was overwhelming to see the magnitude of what goes on in that competition. You had everything

039from uh automotive, big rig trucks, diesels, gas cars, students working on them, competing, showing their skill sets, um engine repair, electrical, cosmetology, you name it, it was being done there right down the street at Greensboro. But of course, the most impressive was our woodworking team. And I'm not going to spoil any of that. I'll save that for later. But thank you, Mr. Pipkin, for your leadership for our students. You're the reason they're here today. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Afton. Mr. Richmond. Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, so I attended also the teacher of the year banquet, which was a wonderful banquet. um Colonial Inn. They did a wonderful job as m Mr. Athetherton mentioned with the hospitality for that. Um I also attended the Battle of the Books event at Graly Hill. um

040career day at Grley Hill and then our community engagement meeting which was um a wonderful presentation by ADAP um team which stands for alcohol and drug abuse prevention team and we have um that program at each one of our high schools and we're currently trying to implement it into our middle schools as well and that's valuable information for all of our students and our families. Um, and then finally, I want to thank all of our teachers. I think this is my time to say thank you to all of our teachers here in Orange County Schools. Um, I know this is teacher appreciation week, but as said earlier, all teachers need to be appreciated every day and I I I appreciate you every day for what you do. Um to our cafeteria staff, we have um

041the school lunch hero day and thank you to our cafeteria staff as well. I learned um early on there are some very important people in our schools. And that is your secretary, your custodians, and your cafeteria staff. And and the cafeteria staff is one place you do not want to make someone upset. Um, and then thank you to our nurses. I worked handinhand with our nurses. My mom is a retired nurse. I think you've heard me say this before and I'll say it a hundred more times. My mom's a retired nurse. I have a sister that's a nurse. And I love nurses. I grew up around nurses. So, I know how important it is to have nurses in the school. I I don't think we could we could do school without nurses, honestly. Um and

042then finally, mental health awareness um month is very important and it's crucial that we all play a part in that because we all have a role in in trying to help um with those issues. So that's all I have, Madam Chair. Thank you. Well, I would just like to say again um a a big thank you and a big welcome to our nurses, to our nutrition uh department, and to all of our teachers. Um you all are not recognized enough. And we know that. And when we can do something like this, that's a wonderful thing because schools would not run without you all. We would not we wouldn't be able to function. And I'm sitting here looking at the nurse at Pathways and she has a special relationship, I think, with my granddaughter who thinks

043it's awful um nice to go to the nurse to get a band-aid. So, um, it it's it's the relationships that all of you have built and continue to build that helps children each and every day that you probably don't even realize sometimes that you're doing, but you are building those relationships with those kids and teaching them uh, good manners, teaching them how to come and ask for something. just teaching them how to be friendly to a face that they don't really know so much at first. But we appreciate everything that you do and would love to recognize you more than what we do this week. Um, I would also like to thank Dr. Drea for her her information on mental health and everything that they're doing for mental health that is very important during this

044time has been especially since co and we all know that and aware of that and so I think as much as they can do to help our students um and I'm glad to hear they're helping nth graders uh in particular the in both schools this year um so thank you for all that you and u Mr. um Karns Picket are doing. I have also got to point out tonight while she's here um that we all pretty much attended the night of poetry at Cedar Ridge High School and that all happened because of the woman sitting over here on the corner, Mariah Morris and that was an absolutely fabulous night. Um students got up and read their poetry that was original poetry. um their parents were there. They they were just happy. They were a happy

045group of people and to hear them get up and recite what they had written was extra special for a lot of us sitting there and we really appreciate all the hard work that you put in to that for that night and for those students. So, while you're here, I give you a very public thank you. I would also like to thank all of those that were involved in the wellness fair this past weekend. It was a wonderful event at Orange High School. If you didn't get to go, you missed something because there was lots and lots of information there. And uh Mr. Athetherton brought me a present, my own stress ball. He said I look stressed. So, um, but I thank all of all of you for that participated in that. Um, there's been a

046lot going on. I've been to art shows. I've been to the wellness. I've been to the joint meeting with the board of county commissioners where we talked about budget for this school system. Um, we have done the job fair, um, the poetry, the community engagement meeting. It is a very busy time of the year, but it is a very worthwhile time of the year because we are doing what we can do for students and this district uh as well from teachers, nurses, custodians, everyone. We are working for you and trying to do uh everything that we can for this district. So, um keep doing what you're doing. We're very happy to have everyone here tonight visiting with us and we look forward to hearing some more information about a great group of kids that um

047we're going to hear about in just a few minutes. So, I turn it over to the superintendent now for her comments. Thank you. Good evening, Chair Purcell, Vice Chair Richmond, members of the board, students, community members, and staff. um just when you thought you couldn't add to the wonderful list of events and happenings here in Orange County schools. Um we have a great deal to celebrate this evening. Uh first just want to echo again how much I appreciate and value our teachers. Thank you for all that you do. Our 2526 teacher of the year was announced last month. So congratulations again to Joseé Halgo for receiving that well-deserved honor. Special thanks as well to our mental health and school nutrition teams and school nurses who work collaboratively with staff and families to meet the needs

048of our students. May 1st was National Principal Appreciation Day. It was a moment to honor our school leaders and I hope everyone was able to take advantage of that. Uh principles do so much more than oversee school operations and ensure the safety of the learning environment. Uh thank you principles for setting and holding everyone accountable for meeting high expectations around teaching and learning ensuring that every child has an opportunity to be successful both now and after graduation. I also attended an event last month that honored two educators in our district for their participation in the Keening Fellows program. Uh Kumar Sathi and Savannah Patterson. These individuals participated in a three-week STEM industry immersion program with a host organization and 80 hours of professional development. Thank you for seeing the value in furthering your knowledge and

049ultimately narrowing the gap between schools and today's workforce. Last, but certainly not least, our communications team led by Mr. Smith recently submitted five projects in the recent blue ribbon awards hosted by the North Carolina Public Relations Association. Our team received six awards, including one gold, three silver, one bronze, and one best award for excellence in writing. In the category of excellence in writing, the team story showcasing Mr. Johnson as the OCS principal of the year earned a gold award with a perfect 100 point score, making it the best of the best in this category out of all 35 districts who participated. Thanks to Mr. Smith, Mr. Davis, and Mrs. Moody for their dedication to Orange County schools. And I know they're they are so busy reporting out and pushing out information about our teachers and

050our um nurses and our cafeteria workers and our bus drivers that they were I did not see a highlight for the communications team. So I wanted to make sure I I took time to say thank you and we appreciate all of your team's hard work and uh what an honor to receive a best of the best award for your writing. Thank you for all you do and um that concludes my comments. Okay. Thank you and and your team. That's wonderful. Okay. We need to um adopt our um consent agenda. So, do I have a motion to adopt? So, moved to approve. To approve. Excuse me. Second. All in favor? I I Okay, that is approved. All right, and we will move into our discussion um action item with our career and technical education program update

051and local application year two uh with Miss Braxton. Good evening. Good evening. Thank you so much for allowing me to be here with you tonight and um share a quick update on CTE programs. Um if you were able, you can keep up to date on all CTE programming by following Orange County School CTE on X, formerly known as Twitter, uh Instagram, and sometimes even on Facebook through the district's account. Uh oh, you know what? Hold tight. We need my presentation. Oh, yeah. Do I I was getting ready to talk about the next slide and realized it's not up there. Sorry. Pause. There we go. I was getting ready to talk about this. This one pager that I hope you found on your workstations tonight uh is the overview of our Orange County Schools Career and

052Technical Education Program. Board members, um I ask that you uh take a look at that current updated uh infographic. Uh this infographic can always be found on our district's website. Um the CTE pages on the district website is also an excellent source of information on all up-to-date information on CTE in Orange County schools. CTE in Orange County continues to be strong, providing students with more than a diploma in the 31 CTE classrooms this school year. I'd like to recognize our partnerships with community agencies that helped us finish out a fall semester after an unexpected vacancy in our fire and public safety. I'd like to thank Chapel Hill, Carro, and Swepsonville Fire Department, Orange County Emergency Services, and a recently retired Orange County 911 dispatcher who provided the students with real live lessons and hands-on learning

053and lab that allowed them to con uh finish out that learning and take their practicals. uh in 2324 school year, 1,430 individual school credentials were earned, which was a huge increase from the year before. And we are continuing to provide at no cost to students uh our state aligned industry credentials that students are able to walk away from high school with more than a diploma. CTE classes provide the knowledge and the skills and the hands-on learning experiences in the classroom, in lab, and through career and technical organizations or CTSOs and internships. And students have the opportunity to work independently as well as in groups and teams. Tonight, we're excited to have with us Mr. Avery Pipkin and two students from Cedar Ridge. Uh Mr. Pipkin is the woodworking teacher at Cedar Ridge High School. He

054is also the adviser for Skills USA and he's had students to participate in regional rallies and state events this school year. Um Josh Sizzum here uh will has qualified for national skills USA. Uh Josh will compete the last week of uh June and we wish him lots of luck. Also with us tonight who's standing a little bit behind me there is Tyson Oswald. Tyson Oswald is second place in those state events. He's also going to join them to that national uh trip and uh both of these students are juniors and so um I expect that we'll see them back here again next year. [Applause] If you don't mind, we'll do them at the end. Or do you want to interject? Yeah. I I just want to just lay the foundation of how this competition works.

055These students are just given a bag of parts that is just enough to make whatever they've been given. They show it fully completed and told, "Use your tools and figure this out. One wrong cut, you screw it in too far, you hammer it too hard, you're done." And they have they can get no help. The teachers cannot be discussing. The parents can't be there discussing. They can only ask questions about the tools or clarity. And it is very stressful from what I could see from afar because I did not want to say anything to anybody. But it it is amazing that we're able to go to these competitions and our students get to see real live examples. And the other thing that I learned there is a lot of times kids are given business cards

056from the business owners as these students compete for internships, potential jobs after or even interning while they're in school. And that that's just amazing these connections that students are making. And I know at the national level, our students are going to get the opportunity to see a much larger industry and larger connections. I just wanted to make that connection because you you you see it on paper, you just don't realize the magnitude of the opportunity the students are getting and what it means to be a state champion and and second place. That is phenomenal. Thank y'all. Thanks for comments. Both Orange High School and Cedar Ridge have active DECA chapters that support business and marketing classrooms. Both schools attended district and state events this school year. We're thankful tonight to have Miss Connor Buddington with

057us. Miss Miss Buddington um had two students uh that attended uh DECA uh nationals last week. Um they're unfortunately not with us tonight, but you see them up on the screen. Ellie Garmin uh placed in personal uh financial literacy and Quinn Finnegan tied for first place in startup business. That was at the state event last week when they were at the nationals which is actually not nationals. It's actually the international uh conference. How many uh 25 other countries were with them at the international career development conference at nationals. Both of our Orange County schools Cedar Ridge students uh received platinum seal of excellence for proficiency in their events. and we are so super proud of those two students and we thank Miss Buddington for coming tonight to represent them. Thank you. Both Cedar Ridge and

058Orange High School have active FFA chapters. Both schools have had many students to compete individually and in teams uh within the region. Many students will be competing at the state level which is the last week of June. Uh we'll definitely keep you up to date on their success. Um just to note FFA national conventions in October, this past October, October of 2024, Orange High School was honored with the twostar national award. And speaking of Orange High School, Alexis Kates, who is the agricultural teacher at Orange High School, she was honored and recognized as the Orange County CTE INCAT teacher of the year. Uh, Miss Kate's regrets that she's not with us tonight. Uh, maybe she's watching online, maybe if she's not putting those babies to bed. U, but Miss Kate is currently working on her

059regional portfolio. Uh, if she places in the region, she'll spend a week uh, this coming sum or next summer um, at ENAT with the other regional CTE teachers of the year. Um, her co-workers that nominated her said, quote, "Alexis is a true leader of CTE programs at Orange High School. She's helpful. She's a voice for all program areas. She's a great teacher. She sets high expectations both in her classroom and in her shop. And we just want to congratulate Miss Kate and wish her the best of luck uh in the next round of competition. In addition to CTE federal and state dollars and months of employment, as a district, we secured additional grant funds for specific needs. DPI's modernization grant allowed us to expand our career modules at AL Standback in our health science room.

060DPI's health science and also Piedmont Aheek U provided two grants on health science careers. These funds will allow us to continue to expose students to those health careers uh during the school year and in the summer. Health care is one of the largest employers in this area and we were very appreciative of these two grants. We're also very excited about the upcoming work of uh the greenhouse at Orange High School uh thanks to the CTE grants for agg. Uh during the last two weeks in March, both Cedar Ridge and Orange High School hosted very successful college and career fairs which exposed students to many possibilities. I know it is my desire and your desire and everyone uh in this room and community's desire for all of our students to graduate and move quickly into either

061being enrolled, employed, or enlisted. And so that career fair gave them that opportunity to learn more. Introducing elementary school students to CTE is very important. Elementary school counselors through their class lessons lead students to explore interest and careers. Elementary school counselors statewide report to the district CTE director on the career awareness activities provided to all fifth graders in their school. That data is then reported through the CTE directors to DPI for reporting. In Orange County schools, fifth grade toward the middle schools and part of that tour also includes them seeing the CTE classrooms. In March at New Hope Elementary's Career Day, our CIMC and CDC provided career exploration lessons to fifth graders. And Cedar Ridge High School FFA have made it a point to visit Grady Brown just across the street both in February for

062FFA week and they also went again in April for career awareness. Our career development coordinator, Miss Stephanie Smith, at Cedar Ridge High School, organized the B Pro, Be Proud Skilled Trades Truck to visit each middle school in November. All 8th grade students visited the truck and participated in the virtual reality hands-on activities on skilled trades. And the CTE fair hosted by our family engagement staff in December was a great success at Cedar Ridge. Uh we saw elementary, middle, and high school students and their families. We are excited that all middle schools in Orange County schools have the option to choose CTE courses during course registration. Our middle schools offer three CTE pathways. They offer business, computer science. They offer technology, engineering, design, biotech at Orange Middle and at Grley and exploring health care at uh

063ALe Stanach. We're committed to providing CTE courses in the middle school within each of the three CTE pathways. At least three different courses are offered. But to enhance the number of option for students, some of our teachers are adding additional preps and teaching additional courses. and some of our teachers are teaching as many as five uh CTE courses in their pathway. I hear you. I heard you. I know that you are so interested in expanding middle school options and we're considering how to provide that career exploration to all students, not just the CTE students sitting in a CTE classroom. We are working to create an Orange County schools experience with a focus on middle school career exploration. On May 19th, unless you want to vote on it tonight, but on May 19th, I will invite

064you to vote yes for CTE to apply for a DPI grade expansion grant that will allow funding to come to Orange County Schools for personnel. And we're proposing that we will hire our current career development coordinators and some current CTE teachers for summer employment. And during the summer, they will work on career exploration activities that will be available for all middle school experience to experience during the school year. So in the grant they would plan during the summer for these experiences like be probe be proud uh skilled trades truck field trips to business industries and colleges as well as actually write lessons and provide activities that middle school teachers will offer during course enrichment that will be focused on all career pathways. The personnel funds could also be used to provide some middle school summer

065camps. Uh we would love to add more CTE course options, but in light of our budget constraint, we want to invest in experiences that all middle school students will get to explore career uh exploration and career awareness. We continue to have a joint CTE business advisory council with Chapel Hill Carbo City Schools. The council continues to serve both school districts in identifying the economic and workforce development needs. The membership bylaws, agendas, and minutes can all be found on the Orange County Schools website either under the board's page or under the CTE page. Uh the work of the council is all linked and it's public for you to view the presentations and all reports. The business advisory did prepare an annual report for both boards. They provided that through the superintendent and that provided a summary

066of our meetings, our goals, commendations as well as recommendations. And from CTE staff, from me, from all the CTE teachers, we thank from the CTE students, we thank you for always supporting the work of CTE. CTE programs do allow students to implement the knowledge they gained from their courses into their future goals. Continue to follow CTE on our website and social media because great things are happening all over this district, region, state, and even nationally with Orange County Schools students and you can stay up to date in real time if you follow us. I invite you tonight to take action um to review the CTE uh application asurances. The CTE plan was approved by you in May of 24. It is a two-year plan. This is the year two. Year two needs the board to

067approve the asurances again and then approve the board chair, Miss Purcell, uh the superintendent, Dr. Jones, uh chief finance officer, Miss Ronda, and myself to sign that signature page. And upon signature, that will release the state and federal funds to the school district for next school year 2526. Thank you for allowing me to present tonight. Um, I'll take direction from you. Would you like for our uh students and staff to come up or would you prefer to have your um discussion on the asurances and vote first? Let's let the students come up and staff come up first and they can have their pictures made because I know they have school tomorrow. We don't have school tomorrow. So, let them come up first and we'll have their pictures made and then we will um Thank you.

068hopefully vote. Congratulations. Congratulations. Great work. Congratulations. You have grown up. Congratulations. Fantastic. Thank you all. Okay. Do I have a motion to approve the career and technical education plan for the next school year 2526 or do we have a question? Comments. Before we do that, just just a comment. Um so many successes, Miss Braxton. It's really amaz It's just that was very celebratory. Um it there's been so much progress and so much student success and um yeah so just thank you for your work and and to the CTE teachers. It's awesome. Quick comment. Um congratulations and um thank you for the updates. There's always so much good information in these sheets you give us and when we have time for a longer discussion, I'd love to hear more about the growth. Like we we see

069the growth. I I know um I know we've grown in what we offer and and the different schools and the middle school, but um you know, I need to go dig around in my bag or my files and see if I can find the old one to see how many middle school participants did we have, you know, one, two, three, four years ago. I'm just curious, but we don't need to do that tonight. I am excited to see the growth. So, thank you. You're welcome. Okay. Any other comment? Mr. Aton, you have more comments. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. So, I I just wanted to say this is one of the reasons people choose our public school, Orange County, and choose to come here at our high schools because of all the options. And I just

070wanted to say thank you for everything you do and hearing because I believe middle school as well. That's how we're going to keep kids in Orange County schools and keep them and give them the life skills they need and understand what they can do and follow that passion and just thank you because I don't think people realize, you know, as we see students coming back to high school, they're coming back because we have programs they want and we can capture them at middle school as well and even at elementary. and seeing the approach, the grants, I know we're going to have more people engaged in our schools because they see the value and understand the community asset we are. Thank you, Miss. Yeah, I just wanted to add my thanks. I mean, what you're doing

071is un unbelievable. And so, thank you so much. And what I've always been impressed at, you didn't show us numbers tonight, but I've always been impressed at the way you have made these programs available to every student and the participation levels are extraordinary. And so that's I'm really proud of that. So congratulations. Thank you. I mean, this wasn't a recognition, but it sure felt like it. Thank you so much for what you're doing. Anybody else? Yes, sir. Yeah, I home run. I mean, this is this is wonderful. Um, and Mr. Athetherton said this this is what makes kids want to come back to Orange County schools. I almost want to make adults want to come back to high school as well. I I when I was a school resource office at Orange High School, I

072actually took one of those computer classes on how to repair computers and and it was a great opportunity for me to interact with the kids and also I learned a little something about computers. So it is it's wonderful what you guys are doing. Um, you know, I I it was a few years ago. My wife is in opthalmology and I tried to get that into CTE2 and hopefully we can we can work on that as well. Everybody's going. Thank you. Thank you so much for everything you're doing and to hear that students are interested and it's a great way for them to work on their skills. Thank you. Well, I will also add since I jumped the gun while ago, but I will add that um I am very happy to see that we are

073trying to get more CTE classes into middle schools and you know that cuz we've had that conversation. So, um thank you for all you do. Thank you for helping our students and our teachers uh with the successes that they have and and your time and energy does not go unnoticed. we we know all the work that you are doing and and how you are trying to build this program even better every year. So, thank you for all you do. Now, I will ask, do we have a motion to approve the plan for the 2526 school year? So moved. Second. All in favor? I. It is approved. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Okay, up next our teacher of the year roundt update. Good evening, Chair Purcell, Vice Chair Richmond, board members, Dr. Jones. Thank

074you for the opportunity to share the work of the superintendent round table with you this evening. I'm honored to be joined by the one and only Miss Teresa Rogers Thorp, an exceptional second grade teacher from Pathways Elementary School who has spent over 30 years in Orange County schools, who will share a little bit about her experience this year on the round table as we discuss the work of the team this year and share with you their recommendations moving forward. The superintendent's teacher of the year round table is composed of 13 teacher leaders each representing their school as teacher of the year. They meet monthly with Dr. Jones and members of her cabinet. These meetings provide a meaningful forum to discuss teacher working conditions and overall employee culture. The round table has become a valuable strategy

075in advancing the Orange County Schools strategic plan, particularly supporting priority area one, teaching tomorrow's leaders and priority area three, exemplary staff. At this point, I'm going to turn it over to Miss Rogers Thorp, who will share more about the purpose and mission of the round table, as well as her personal experience with engaging on the team this year. Okay. So, I'm just going to um read the definition that is provided um about the purpose and if you have a purpose for your plan then you're able to meet your goals. So I appreciate them having a purpose, a vision uh to create a dedication dedicated space for the superintendent and the cabinet to encourage or engage in authentic two-way dialogue with teacher leaders from each school, fostering the shared decision making and elevating teacher voice on

076critical issues such as teaching as teacher working conditions and retention. Um I would like to pre um preface my experience on the superintendent teacher of the year roundt as one of the most profitable investments that our county has as it sets a president a president's that acknowledges teacher expertise and dedication. As far as the purpose is concerned, the vision for this committee was in the forefront um at every meeting that we attended. Um and as far as confusion, there was very little confusion because we knew where we were going, while we were traveling and why we were doing so. As far as questions or points of clarification, Dr. Jones and the cabinet members were there um to offer further insight on specific questions or concerns. Having these members present offered really unique opportunities um for

077educators and district leadership to share visions, discuss challenges and review data. Knowing that the roundt discussions were not in vain um as they were being conveyed the messages were being conveyed back by Dr. Jones um at the uh leadership meetings added a layer of confidence for all teachers that were involved. On our next slide, um we're mentioning the roundt charges and the superintendent teacher of the year round table um improve employee culture by analyzing teacher working condition survey data um to develop responsive um recommendations. Also to encourage the teacher leadership through shared decision making on key areas of teacher working conditions. Um the final thing is increasing communication channels by serving as liaison between the superintendent and teachers at each school. Um some of my positive perspectives that I gained from being a part of

078this is that the meetings were efficient. We started on time and we ended on time. We started at 7:30. We ended at 8:45 each time. The meetings were um scheduled monthly either the first or the second Friday of each month. The meetings were action-packed. They were engaging. They were time well spent. Um, I really appreciate how each meeting was open by acknowledging our human side. Just like we do in elementary school, we have a temperature check or we have a check-in. The same thing happened at these meetings. Um I can remember um during the month of October when we went in we were given um there was a a picture on the screen of jacko'lanterns and we were asked to choose a jacko'lantern. They had numbers beside them a jacko'lantern that described how we felt

079that day or at another session I can remember when we um were asked to describe a word just one word that would capture how we were feeling that day. Now, these conversation starters for those um they were there for those who were inclined to share um and they may seem a little bit minute or just trivial to some people, but as educators, we know that having those questions and allowing us to express ourselves early on set the tone or it set the table um for each meeting as it made the atmosphere warmer. um we felt um lighter, the atmosphere fel felt lighter and more inviting as we moved into more um serious conversations. The organization was key. Um each time we went in, there was an agenda, there was a desri uh desired outcome, there

080was resource links we could use right there at our fingertips. Um there were slideshows, there were feedback forms um for each meeting allowing us um to get through the process smoothly and also um to get to our desired outcomes. Now, I know she doesn't want me to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway. Mariah Morris is certainly the right individual. She is the right one at the ham of the planning for this meeting, for these meetings. Her bright smile and her friendly disposition are a bonus and it makes us feel welcome when we come to the event. But her organization skills, her explicit lessons and her ability to assist others with interpreting data, that's her superpower. So I just have to make that known about Mariah um or Miss Morris. serving as a

081liaison, I was sure to take very good care um while I was sharing this information for my meetings or the discussions for my meetings um while we went back to our home school. Teachers felt very valued. They felt their voices were heard, their opinions and their concerns mattered. Um and especially when they re when they recognized that Dr. Jones and the other members of the leadership team um were taking note of their concerns. Um and this time I'm going to turn it over the next slides over to Mariah. Thank you. So the superintendent's teacher of the year round table is really rooted in the same education research that the North Carolina teacher working condition survey is rooted in and that is out of a study done in 2018 with over 900,000 teachers in over 25,000

082schools and 16 states. The education researcher Richard Ingresol studied the connection between teacher leadership specifically through shared decisionmaking and student academic outcomes and he found that there is a significant relationship between involving teachers in decision making and leadership opportunities and academic achievement specifically in math and ELA. And so it is our hope that through this round table we are not only elevating teacher voice and teacher leadership but also providing a model to our schools and our school leaders about how to engage teachers in these opportunities um namely through our school improvement teams at the school level. So the three prongs of our approach include um modeling effective data use. Our data that we really leaned into was the North Carolina teaching working condition survey as well as qualitative feedback that teachers would bring back to

083us from their home schools um to capture more voices than their own. The second prong was to provide a trusted space for teachers to surface critical issues that impacted them as well as their colleagues um relating to working conditions. And then the third to create authentic opportunities to collaborate with Dr. Jones and district leadership on structured feedback and ways to improve the different sections that we were looking at in the data. So really quickly, we're just going to highlight a couple um pieces of data from the working condition survey that the team noticed and Miss Rogers Thorp will walk us through that quickly. Um so we have with the district-wide positive trends um you will notice an increase from the years 2022 into 2024. Um the first statement here is there is an atmosphere of

084trust and mutual respect in the school. There was a gain of 18.7%. Um I feel comfortable raising issues and concerns that are important to me. Again there's a positive 15.43%. 43%. An appropriate um amount of time is provided for professional development. Another gain 12.78%. And professional development is differentiated to meet the individual needs of students. I'm sorry of teachers students too, but in this case teachers 14.12%. Um during the first year I've been told that um there was a focus on improving differentiation um professional development which brought about the inception or the birth of the program that we have now in Orange County the Orange County Stars of Education which leaves me really excited and me wondering about the outcome of this year's round table what the outcome would be and one of the concerns

085we were able to identify identify was the non-instructional time provided for teachers and if it's significant or not or not. On our next slide, we have the teacher working condition survey. Um we have the analysis on the left hand side. The state's school programs resources are adequate to support special populations such as students with disabilities, academically and intellectually gifted students, multilingual learn uh learners, our foster students, etc. Um here the data looks very different. Um it's in the red, not in the green, not in the yellow. So this is a definitely you can see why these two areas were flagged. um the non-instructional time provided for teachers is sufficient. Again, these things were some things that stood out to us as concerns. Um, and after analyzing our 2024 North Carolina um, teacher working condition survey,

086we were able to identify areas of greatest concern in our district, but not before we received some exemplar directions that really jumpst started our thinking and we were given three guided questions to help us with the data. And one question was, what is there to celebrate? look for what areas that we could look for growth and what surprises you about the data. So after identifying answers to each of these questions within our small groups um there were many more discussions and the list we had lists that were compiled. At the next um session we viewed our glows and our opportunities for growth. The process was very comprehensive and we literally identified selected areas for growth and eventually voted on the highest priority item. The results shaped up right before our eyes. Um I can still

087remember the red dots that appeared on the screen as individual votes were cast. I even giggled when I when I easily identified my circles, which had turned into ovals by the time I was done voting. But nonetheless, my vote counted. Um, and I I still don't know how I managed to mess the circles up to make the circles look like ovals, but I did so. Um, but nonetheless, everything still counted. So, I'm going to go ahead and turn it back over to Miss Morris. Thank you, Miss Rogers Thorp. So, the team did go back to their schools and gather more input and feedback from their staff about the two areas um that they decided to focus on. And so, I'm going to share a little bit about what the teams discovered when they went back

088to their schools. Um the first is that teachers are reporting a stronger consistency with PLC implementation, and that's fantastic um because we've invested a lot of resources and support into this work. Um, with that comes the next step and that next step is strengthening our PLC's to create effective protocols that prioritize time for collaborative lesson planning and lesson design. And so this impacted the amount of um perceived protected planning time because there are moments when teachers were finding that they went to PLC's, didn't get to planning and then had to then go and do planning on their nights or their weekends. And so what the conversation led to is that we value PLC's and teachers value PLC's. However, we want to get to the place where we have agendas that are getting to the actual

089lesson planning component. Um and so with that feedback, the team met and um we it reaffirmed CNI's commitment to continuing the professional development on PLC's that has already been established. Um and it led to a new type of professional development that was um developed in direct response where we created a model PLC and members of the district team um per kind of performed this in live time for our principles and for our assistant principles and we videotaped it to show it to our instructional coaches and we took on the role of teachers and instructional coaches. I think Dr. Pac was the beginning teacher representation. We all took on different roles. Um, and we had a principal who modeled the leadership moves to make sure that we got to that lesson planning. We ensured that we

090clipped the time right at 35 minutes so that it was a realistic portrayal of that and we used HMH for the ELA classroom so that it was all rooted in the reality of um, teacher life with our PLC's. And so um the next step after that is we are going out into schools and providing real-time coaching for our administrators as they engage in leading that PLC work. Um and so that real-time coaching provides feedback to them um to help ensure that was not just a oneanddone experience of modeling that PLC. The round table has also developed recommendations for administrators to consider that help protect individual planning time. Um, and that those recommendations will be shared with principles so that they can take those back to their school improvement teams to decipher how they can incorporate

091some of those recommendations into their schools for the 25 26 school year. What fits with their school, what doesn't. Um, but they'll have these recommendations to use as a guiding um, star moving forward. The second subcommittee um met on the support for special populations and we were so fortunate that Miss Stacy Burns and Miss Emily Lewis RECC um side as well as our multilingual learner side were able to join us at these meetings and engage with teachers on this committee so that they could hear firsthand um the work happening on this team. The feedback from schools shows that the new EC leadership team in Orange County schools is improving alignment and communication across the schools and districts and teachers were very complimentary of that work. Um some of the areas that teachers look for more

092support as we move forward with developing our plans um are that general education teachers report a need to for support in managing student behaviors. um that's academic behaviors, emotional function functional behaviors in the general education classroom. And then teachers also report the need for increased common planning time. Um and so that's that PLC thread coming out. Again, our teachers are really valuing when EC teachers can be present at those PLC's and when ML specialists can be present at those teams. And so we are working um to create structures to support that collaboration. The recommendations from this team moving forward um is to encourage common planning time as we think about our master schedules. Um and that work has already begun um at the district level with supporting principles in that work. Um hopefully maximizing teacher

093work days next year um to support common planning time. And we were really excited to see that teachers wanted to maximize that time um to support general education teachers in communication with EC teachers. Um also the recommendation was made to ensure that similar supports move beyond the general education teacher into the EC and adapted um curriculum classrooms and then also to focus on this area um for the next superintendent's round table moving into the 2025 2026 school year. So our next steps moving forward um looking ahead we remain committed to sustaining this initiative that amplifies teacher voice and cultivates teacher leadership. We're excited to continue this round table next year. Um and with that comes a focus on the special population support because the majority of our teacher of teachers of the year next year

094are not classroom teachers. We have EC specialists and multilingual learner specialists who bring a passion um for supporting the populations that our teachers are saying they need support with. So, we'll continue with that focus moving forward and I think we will gain valuable insight from having that unique perspective as part of this team. Um as we close this presentation, we want to acknowledge that the challenges that this team focused on are not unique challenges to Orange County schools. um the they reflect the broader conversations happening across the state and the nation regarding teacher working conditions, um planning time, support for different students. Um but the difference and what sets Orange County Schools apart is that Dr. Jones and her cabinet are dedicated to creating this space for teachers um and creating this opportunity to have

095their voices at the table and to engage in these conversations even when they're not easy. Um and you don't find that in every district. So, we thank Dr. Jones and her team um for making that possible and really valuing the teachers in these moments. Um and so, moving forward, Miss Roger Slurp has an exciting announcement that she will share. So, we have our third annual Orange County Schools Stars of Education, which is which will take place August 18th, 2025. Um our stars align, guiding journeys and shaping trajectories. um this event again um we're happy to continue this tradition because it started a few years ago um by this um committee and this event is going to take place this year during one of our mandatory teacher work days and I think that's wonderful. Therefore, all

096of us will be able to be in attendance. Okay. So, thank you for that exciting announcement. Mark your calendars. it's going to be bigger and better than ever. Um, and we're excited for that. So, at this time, um, if you have any questions, we are happy to hear them. Questions, Mr. Thank you for all the data and helping us see how this has evolved and it's exciting to see and especially focusing on our climate and culture and and uplifting the teachers voices. Um, the question I had is I've got the date saved, but where's the location? Sure. So, the location is at Cedar Ridge High School this year. Um, we've decided to move back and forth between different schools. So, don't worry, Orange High School. It's coming back to you. I know that they will

097be excited to host us again um in the next coming year. Excellent. Thank you, Miss. Yeah. Thank you for this a great presentation. Thank you for this work. Um, I had a a couple questions. Um, one is in this the idea of the teacher support in managing behaviors and em social emotional support. I was curious if there were any specific things that came out of that. And one of the qu and then a sub question of that is attendance and I'm hearing a lot of concern. I don't know if the teachers of the year elevated their concerns about managing attendance and and really chronic absenteeism and chronic truency. Sure. Thank you for elevating both of those um different areas. So, some of the work that we've been really intentional with on the round table is

098differentiating when it's a school-based concern or need versus a district level. Um, and so we really did not highlight specific behaviors um or specific areas within the context of support for student behaviors um because behaviors are so different based on the grade span or um the student population or the individual student and their needs. Um and so we intentionally left it broad um so that we can really focus on those district level trends. Um but then where we saw specific needs being elevated at different schools, that's where the team could then go and follow up with um individual schools. Um and so we don't have specific information on certain behaviors if that was kind of your question. Yeah. And attendance is one of them. Yeah. And that really was not brought up. Um that was

099not an issue that teachers elevated this year. Thank you. Do um thank you. I just wanted to say thank you for your time and um your commitment to the the work and um it just uh it's really like kind of confidence building you know that it's the the continuity of this approach that it's you know monthly for a year with um you know 13 teachers then nominated by their peers and then you know there there's like another permutation the next year but the conversation continues. It just seems like a a good constructive pace. um and um and as was mentioned the the effectiveness um in uh growth for teachers and students when teachers are involved in leadership. So thank you for for modeling that and sharing the details of that with us. Any other questions?

100I'd like to thank you both too. I think this is great um because it goes back to the teachers and the teachers see that somebody is advocating for them and that is most important and so I appreciate all your work uh in getting this together Dr. Jones for uh continuing this and and uh just everything that goes into it. It's it's amazing what you're doing. So thank you [Applause] All right. Up next, we have our academically um our AIG gifted program update for the plan approval. And we have um Dr. PAC and Miss Meyers for this. Miss Meyers um welcome. Thank you. Good evening board members, Dr. Jones, community members attending in person, and those of you participating online. My name is Emily Meyers and I'm here this evening to provide a brief update on

101AIG programming in OCS and to present the 25 through 28 AIG plan that you all have had an opportunity to read in the board materials for review and approval. In OCS, we have 1,343 students who are formally identified as gifted. Um, AIG stands for academically and intellectually gifted. Gifted identification can be in the areas of reading, math, intellectual giftedness, or a combination of two or three of those categories. Our local identification rate is higher than both the state and the national averages. Our 1,00 plus students are served by 12 full-time AIG specialists that are assigned to elementary and middle schools. OCS provides gifted programming for students in grades K through 12 through these four programming options. Universal nurturing helps to provide access to critical thinking skill development for all of our students in grades K

102through two. At the end of second grade in Orange County, we begin the formal process of identifying students as AIG. Talent development programming begins in grade three and continues through fifth grade. Once students become middle schoolers, the focus of AIG programming becomes independence and agency. Students receive service delivery primarily through course enrollment and enrichment opportunities provided in both the general education classroom and during the intervention and enrichment block. Our high school students receive service delivery through student selected course enrollment in honors coursework. AP classes, the IB program at Cedar Ridge, and participation in CCP or dual enrollment with our local community colleges. While the majority of our students in Orange County schools are identified as gifted in elementary school, students can be identified all the way through grade 12. AIG programming is provided at all

103OCS schools and although there are many consistent learning opportunities, programs, and projects, our AIG specialists work diligently to collaborate with classroom teachers to differentiate instruction to best meet the needs of the learners in their classrooms. Specialists focus on enrichment and extension of grade level standards, providing nurturing opportunities when a demonstrated need arises, and facilitate the delivery of accelerated coursework for students who are participating in subject or grade level acceleration. Every three years, districts in North Carolina are required to review and revise their existing AIG plan. This process takes approximately one full year and is most successful with high levels of participation from stakeholders. Our current AIG plan that is 2022 through 2025 received excellent feedback from DPI when it was submitted with minimal review and revision suggested. We determined using the feedback from DPI as

104well as feedback from stakeholders through surveys, feedback from AIG specialists as part of the AIG PLC and feedback from the AIG advisory committee that there were 17 practices or approximately 40% of the plan that needed some sort of revision, but it was mostly small changes to improve service delivery for students and communication for families. It is our goal for the OCS board to approve the proposed 25 through 28 plan this evening and then we will submit that plan to DPI well ahead of the July 15th deadline. There are a few substantive changes that are proposed in our 25 through 28 plan and we have worked with DPI to ensure that our proposal is in compliance with updated guidance provided by the state and federal government. You'll see that in standard one there is an effort

105to use an in an effort to use a nationally normed test as part of our second identification pathway. The Iowa test, which is an achievement test, will now be provided to second grade students who meet the COGAT qualifying criteria for identification in the areas of reading and/or math. The portfolio process for alternative identification has been revised to streamline tasks for all students and ensure that there is district oversight to help provide consistency in that scoring and identification. When students are referred for identification, the school AIG specialist will now meet with families in person to share identification decisions and answer questions as needed. Additionally, an ID, we love an acronym, individualized differentiated education plan will be created for students who are identified as highly gifted. In standard two, we will work collaboratively with high school administrative

106teams to utilize counseling staff to ensure that students are aware of academic options and opportunities as well as there will now be creation of four-year plans and high school DEPs combined so that we are working together to help students plan their futures. In response to feedback from advisory committee members, transition meetings will now be held as students enter six and 9th grade to help in those transition years. The significant change in standard three is that our differentiated education plans in the new plan will now be created with students in a one- on-one conference where they are able to provide feedback and input about the way their needs as gifted students are best met. In standard 4, it has been determined that AIG specialists will provide annual professional development for staff members to ensure that the

107needs of AIG students are being met throughout the school day. School administrators will also support the clustering of gifted students in classrooms where the teacher of record holds an AIG license in addition to their primary educator's license. And in our last two standards, standard five has three changes or new areas of focus to highlight. One specialists will begin to send quarterly newsletters to families to provide updates regarding AIG programming and services as well as to share available opportunities for students to participate in extracurricular programming and summer opportunities. Two, the AIG advisory committee will begin meeting two times per year throughout the life of the gifted plan. Currently our advisory committee meets two times per year during the revision year only. We are going to move that and ensure that we meet two times yearly throughout

108the life of the plan. And third, we will as a district explore possible community partnerships to support AIG programming in grades K through 12. Our last standard has one significant change and that is an increased focus on high school data collection and analysis of that data. Specifically, data that identifies the students participating in advanced coursework that we mentioned earlier and analyzing dropout data for AIG students. This data focus will help schools in making decisions that best meet the needs of our high school gifted learners. Tonight, we respectfully ask on behalf of the 1,343 formally identified AIG students in Orange County that the board of education approves our proposed 2025 through 2028 AIG plan. And at this time, I'm available for questions or comments should you have any. Miss Dole. Um, thank you, um, Miss Myers.

109I appreciate hearing the details and the, um, the process and there's a lot that went into this and, um, it makes a lot of sense. Um, the one, uh, substantive change that I have a question about is, um, with standard core and, um, the clustering So it says administrators will make a concerted effort to cluster AIG identified students in general education classrooms where the classroom teacher is AIG licensed. And I'm just that that gave me Oh, it's off. I was just too far. Um I could hear you if that helps. Yeah. I'm just curious about clustering because it seems like there could be constructive things about that, but I also worry about like negative impacts of clustering. So could you describe a little bit more what that is going to look like? Yeah, clustering is

110actually um a strategy that is used for all student populations. Um and the reason that we cluster students, there's many reasons. Um one reason is that so that students who are either multilingual learners or students who have exceptional children's needs or students who are AIG are not, for lack of a better word, a singleton in a classroom that they will have peers. Um but also so that as we are attempting to utilize staff effectively that we are able to support a group of students in a classroom rather than having to spread a person or a facilitator or an ELD specialist across six classrooms when perhaps we could have them work with four classrooms. Um so it is um logistically to be able to kind of um strengthen the student to um adult ratios in classrooms

111so that we can more strategically provide support. Um also for our students who are identified as gifted or who are high achieving that are not formally identified as well. cluster grouping them in classrooms with teachers who have their AIG certification also counts as service delivery because the our students are gifted all day long, not just during the time that they are able to be with the gifted specialist. So if we have folks who are elementary teachers and also have their AIG license, we try to cluster a group of students and by cluster it's it's a small number. So in a classroom of 24, it might be four to six. Um, and so in a school where you have a really large population of identified students, there would need to be gifted clusters in all classrooms.

112That helps a lot. Thank you, Miss. Yes. Just wanted to thank you for clarifying that point because my concern was like unintentional sort of segregation of students or like almost a tracking kind of effect. um especially when paired with like the person who has like the add-on AIG license, maybe someone who's more experienced and these other factors as well. So um the fact that it's we're not talking about whole classrooms being separated. That's a completely different service delivery model and that is not one that is part of our current plan. Great. Thank you very much, Mr. Ab. Hi, thank you for all the data and definitely the explanation as well. Um, could you tell us who makes up the AIG advisory committee? Yes, I would love to. So, our AIG advisory committee is a combination

113of district staff. Um, so we do have representation from all of our large divisions within the district. Um, so we also have principal representation by gradspan. And then um several times this year um thanks to our communication staff um we put out an all call to families um and asked for volunteers on the committee um any parents uh community members who were interested in participating. Um and so we did have in our at our two meetings, we had one in the fall, late fall, and then one a couple of months ago. Um we had really great turnout um on both of those. And so it is a blend of district folks as well as parents. Yes. All right. Thank you. Any other questions? Miss Padilla. Thank you. Thank you for all your work. I'm just

114curious. I have two gifted AIG children. One just got inducted to the National Honor Society. Congratulations. Um to her. Thank you. Um she did all the work. Um I'm I'm very strict. Anyway, so my point is what I'm trying to um understand is do you have data that you can tell us the demographics of the students participating in the program? I sure do. I don't have that with me this evening, but I am more than happy to pull that and I can uh share it with Mr. McHune and he can get it to you all. Um and I can provide demographics by the district and I'm also able to provide those demographics by school if that would be helpful as well. Thank you. Mhm. Yep. I think it's also located in within the plan as

115well. Okay. In the plan itself at the very beginning there's a table um and it uh that actually came from our CCIP platform and it kind of dumped it into the plan for us. So, it's in there as well. That is um districtwide. Um we can break it down by school if the board would prefer. Thank you, Miss H. Yes. uh we have a policy of having one AIG teacher per school I think is that right and how does and and the model that you're presenting is much more complicated than that and is curious about do we need to re you know and our goal is to make sure that every student gets access to the services they need. So, do we have to revisit that policy? And but again, the our goal is to

116assure that our kids are getting what they need. So, so just to clarify, I don't think that's currently in policy. That is a practice. Um, and I think with this model, um, for right now, we're okay with leaving one person per school as long as we're able to, uh, ensure that that person is able to provide the professional development, especially while we're phasing into this new plan. And then as we go along, we can see if it needs to be uh, revised and we can bring that back to the board if we if we need to. But for now, I think we're we're okay to utilize the same this model that we're proposing in the plan and to keep the one person per school. Um, again, the professional development for all teachers is going to

117be key coming from those specialists that uh specialize in making sure that students receive rigorous academic support every day in every classroom. And that's all of our students, not just our formally identified students. So, um, that PD is incredibly important and we are very, um, we're very grateful that we do have staffing in all of our buildings. So, thank you all of our K8 buildings. Thank you. Great. Thank you. I'd like to add a a big thank you for this and and coming from somebody who worked with cluster groups, there is a tremendous advantage to having all of those students clustered together and and working together. They learn from each other. and as students do every day, but it it really makes a difference. And I saw some great improvement with students and and just

118building relationships too with each other that they might not ordinarily get to be with those students. Um I am very happy to see that you have more of a focus on um transitioning from middle to high because I think high school students sometimes got lost in the fray of high school and they didn't some didn't always take the courses that they might have needed to take. So I'm very happy to see that you all are putting a emphasis on that. So thank you very much and thank you for the whole presentation. It's wonderful. Thank you. So motion to approve. Second. All in favor? I plan is approved. Thank you so much. You all have a wonderful evening. Thank you. You too. Okay. Policy 2300 board meetings uh up for first read tonight and I think

119Mr. co week has some information to share with us. Yes. All right. Good evening everyone. Good evening. So I I come before you um tonight to talk about uh policy 2300 to request um the board to consider uh some changes to policy 2300 which is about board meeting procedures and uh also to wave u second read. I I do want to apologize that the version that was posted uh on assembly we do have some changes to that that we wanted to present what I have passed out to um all of you is a copy of the updated changes that we want to make. I am going to very briefly go through what was posted and what the changes are for anyone watching. Um, and the purpose, the main purpose for doing this is of course

120so we can get our board meeting schedule set for next year in a timely fashion and notify everyone of our board meeting calendar for the 2526 school year. So, um, there's only a few minor edits. Uh, if you'll note on page one in section um, A1, there are some edits on your sheet that are exactly identical to what was posted. So there's no change on page one in section A1. If we move to the next page and we get to section three under emergency meetings, um we are still editing and striking out the in parenthesis or the vice chair if the chair is unable to act. But we are going to be suggesting you to consider instead of putting um having at least four individual meetings to change that language to as many individual members

121as would constitute a majority just to take into account any situation. That's a a minor uh that's one difference that I am proposing that is different from what was posted in section three. And then in section four, another change is actually not to accept what was posted in the board meeting for 4A in the first sentence is to leave our original language uh which would read uh specially called meetings may be scheduled in between regular meetings of the board. Period. Work sessions, retreats, and public hearings are specific types of specially called meetings. Period. uh the chair or superintendent may call a special meeting when necessary to conduct business that cannot reasonably be handled at regular meetings. This is all identical language to what we have in policy different from what was posted. Um again, we're

122going to scratch out in the next sentence or the vice chair uh if the chair is un un uh unavailable to act. And again, we're going to repeat the change at the end of section 4A to cross off four individual members of the board and use instead the phrase as many individual members at would as would constitute a majority of the board. That is those are all the changes. I hope that was clear to follow with um comparing to what was posted to what you have in front of you. And uh I'm happy to take any questions uh if you have any. Motion to approve. Second. All in favor? I. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for that clarification. Okay, last but not least, bond updates. Mr. Davis. Good evening, Chair Purcell, Vice

123Chair Richmond, board members, Dr. Jones. It's May 5th, and it's exactly nine months since Mr. Davis started here on September 5th. Uh, and since my arrival, happy anniversary. my arrival to Orange County, uh there have been some mumblings about you're not going to get anything done with this bond and this community is never going to agree. Uh and to be honest, I was given some pause. Um should I stay? Should I leave? Um but I'm going to step up to the challenge and prove those assumptions wrong. Well, tonight I want to thank you board members for joining me on this ride. Over the past four months, we've engaged in thoughtful, rigorous work together. We've analyzed critical data, current, and projected enrollment trends. We've examined our district's facility capacity and study how similar school systems have

124approached tough, forward-looking decisions about how to prioritize and rightsize their resources. Most importantly, we've built a transparent, inclusive process grounded in both numbers and narratives that reflects a deep commitment to our students, our staff, and our broader community. Tonight, you'll hear a recap of the great work you have done. This is a reflection of your dedication to listening, engaging, and leading with integrity. As we present the findings, insights, and recommendations, we ask that you continue to guide us. Specifically, we'll need your direction to move forward with the next steps toward the 2024 bond referendum, one that shapes the future of this district in a bold, sustainable, and student centered way. And now I'll bring Mr. Steve Hess, a part of our consultant team to recap um how we've been going so far. Thank you, sir.

125All right, I'm going to lean into the mic. Uh make sure I'm heard. Um Madame Chair, vice chair, members of the board, Dr. Jones, thank you all for having me. It's been a pleasure to work with uh the staff and y'all and all the staff at Orange County Schools and I'm really grateful for that opportunity. So, we have um narrowed down seven choices to two choices and we have done this over five presentations to y'all. Um I would say that we got a little bit ahead of our skis and we're making some assumptions about school assignment and transportation issues early on. Um and that led us to March 25th where we had a robust um March 24th where we had a robust plan details and um many assumptions that we made that weren't really proven

126or didn't take strategic direction from y'all. So April 21st we stepped back and we paired it down to try to simplify it. And where we are today at May 5th is looking at a new K5 elementary school on what is essentially a Greenfield site. we misused that term or or used it broadly, but the K5 site next to the Gravaly Middle School is a Greenfield site. It's just it happens to be owned by Orange County. We were looking at it through our professional eyes as as trying to acquire and reszone a site. Um, so option one that we're going to talk about today is the new K5 adjacent to Gravaly Hill Middle School and then the K8 that would be built uh on Orange uh Middle School and Orange High School site. So So this

127evening we're going to talk about a summary of what we've talked about over the the past four or five meetings. uh district enrollment and utilization, how that's important and how they need to work together. Uh basically, there needs to be a school assignment that helps us understand how to maximize the utilization rate of the existing schools and we should do that uh in conjunction with a district or portfolio master plan. and we're going to recommend that we hire a design team that helps us plan the primary option whether it's a K5 or a K8 and do a master plan of the district in conjunction with school attendance because they both go hand in hand. Uh an important factor of that a strategic factor where we need your direction is utilization rate. industry standard is anywhere

128from 85 to 95% for UT utilization rate. And that utilization rate that you determine will help us understand how to optimize the district portfolio. And it will also help us optimize our our money, our $125 million bond. The higher the utilization rate, the less facilities we have, the more money we have to improve those facilities. Uh we're going to talk a little bit about facility conditions. Um community engagement. We had strong community engagement over five different sessions. Then we're going to talk about the path forward and then ask for your uh strategic direction. So this is a a slide that shows um the current districtricting and population growth of the 2020 census. And you can see that there was strong growth around the town of Hillsboro along both the eastern and western uh portions of

129the county and then in the Efflin Cheeks area. We uh worked with uh Joy Tolen and her staff and did a trend um studied the trends of enrollment from 2016 through 2025. And these are the results that we found. Overall, there was a decline in elementary uh enrollment of 8.3 uh middle school 8.4 decline and then high school just 1% decline. And that kind of talks about what we've heard earlier today about how students are coming back to the great programs in the high school. And what what was what we just discovered in the past six weeks was that really there were three schools efficaced ridge that were bucking the trends that actually had population uh growth over those uh 10 years. This chart is a really a strong indicator of the need for um

130revisiting school attendance, school award zones and how that would affect our architectural decisions and master planning. So this is a lot of information. Um what this is is this is uh two different trends. So the the orange uh graphs are basically taking uh the historic trends that we've seen over the past 10 years which are negative and projecting them to 2035 showing our utilization rates. The blue and gray trend is a a projection from the OID study that was performed by NC State. Um and NC State uh was a lot more uh bullish than our historic trends. They showed a higher projection. They actually showed positive growth projections. I think what's important here is that um the trend whether it's somewhere in the middle between our historic trends and what OED has projected and it's

131still a there still needs to be uh a downsizing and right sizing definitely of the middle school and potentially the uh elementary schools for what it's worth. Um the um SAPO study uh has chosen uh Carolina demographics to move forward for next year and we'll have that information uh to use for this master plan and um planning for the next stage using uh Carolina Demographics. Carolina Demographics is a lot more bearish. They show that uh the trend is still negative. it's not as deeply negative. It's like8% negative instead of 0.1% year per year. Uh so this shows that there's a lot of information. Uh and I think that you know once we do choose a team and start looking at school attendance that we're going to have some more in-depth conversation about utilization rates. So

132this is um we are we recognize that the Walpert study is very valuable information done by experts and we wanted to build upon that study and we intend uh for this next state phase to work on the priority one projects per the Walpert study. You know, right now we're talking about a new K5 or a new K8 with a district slash um portfolio master plan. That master plan would work in conjunction with the Walpert study and the facility condones. So, so community engagement was strong. We had uh two sha two sessions in February with uh 391 survey participants and then in April uh of this year we narrowed down three uh options and presented those and had three different med four different public engagement sessions over three days, three locations. And we also had a

133survey that had increased participants of uh 493 participants. And here is uh the one of the results of the April 2025 rankings. You can see that um that uh the option for the new K5 uh slightly edged out the option for the new K8 replacement school. And then uh the new K5 replacement at Central Elementary School was a distant third. Uh during our last uh meeting uh we were asked to look at the zoning around the West 10 Road or the Graly Hill Middle School site and this is the the study that we came up with. Um it's it's primarily uh existing zoned as light manufacturing andor heavy manufacturing along with um some ag um agricultural residential and residential one which is low density residential. Um you can also see that um the new charter

134school is about 2 and a half miles away from Grley Hill Middle School that should be opening next year and Efflin Cheeks is 3.7 miles away from uh the new elementary school. Another uh concern that we heard was the Orange High School and Orange Middle School traffic concerns. We uh commissioned Bolton Mech uh traffic engineer to do this study. Uh basically the this site was built in the 60s wasn't really designed for modern-day uh traffic. This study does show the ability to uh have enough carpool lanes for both the high school and middle school students um without impacting any of the buildings or the athletic fields. This solution could be done whether or not uh the K8 uh study is chosen. I know there's some concerns about the Herald Lata uh entrance. If we do

135want to engage this as a separate project, we would uh engage Bolton M or another traffic engineer to make sure that we address all these concerns. But we can fix this problem. So here's a summary of the new K5. Um, basically, uh, it's the site plan that you've seen for a while with the the budgets that you've seen. The budgets are, um, the budgets for the new schools, uh, the K5 and the K8 are, um, based on historic trends over, we've studied over 12 different schools that were built over the past two, three years. We projected those to 2026 and 2027 due to escalation. So those are real numbers that represent what it would cost for the school. There's a little bit more art to the renovation budgets. Basically what I did was I uh

136took a new construction cost divided that by two by decreased it by a third and uh and came up with that number. So the re I know there's been some questions about the specific for the renovations and truthfully those uh renovations would have to be narrowed down once we did the master plan and really understood which schools we were improving because if the attendance uh um redistricting shows us that we need to modify one school versus another, the facility condition index for that school may be different. So, it's a little bit of a, you know, um, balancing act, if you will. Uh, what's important for this is the new K5 provides a new school of approximately 68,000 square ft and it provides a renovation for about 153,000 square ft over the elementary school renovation and

137Orange Middle School renovation. So, I think that's one thing to consider. you know, with the the K5, you're going to get uh less uh new construction and more renovation. And then the K8, you would have um basically we would replace the K8. There would be a renovation of an elementary school. The the amount of students are about the same,500 between,500 and 1575. And but the difference is area of construction. you'd have 133,000 square ft of new construction and only 60 or 57,000 ft of renovation for approximately about the same number either 107 million or 105 million. So what we believe the path forward is and what we're recommending um and this is not just Steve Hes this is uh project management consultants uh the GC's that I've talked to KI architects and Clark Nexon architects

138and the the staff of Orange County facilities is that we're asking that we be provided direction on a new K5 and a new K8 strategy. Uh we are in the process of uh researching and uh providing information on a project delivery method that we would present to you at in a future meeting and we'd ask for direction on which project delivery method you think is the best. And then we would also uh as we're starting uh the redistricting uh study that has been paused as we restart that we would ask for an optimal utilization rate. this information uh the strategy on a K5 versus a K8 uh the project delivery method the utilization rate would allow us to create an RFQ to select a design team or a design build team if that's how you

139uh direct us to move forward to execute and move forward with the 2024 bond. So this is the last slide and we are asking uh for your direction on a new K5 strategy or a new K8. Can I ask one question right quick? Yes, ma'am. On the site at Orange Middle School, I do not see that auditorium that we built less than 15 years ago there still there. It would that come down? Um I don't know the answer to that question. uh we would have to study it and and determine whether or not we'd come down. These are um preliminary studies. They are um done at a high level. We would have to obviously do site visits and make that decision. So um so what we have suggested is that in the K8 strategy the

140existing middle school and all of its components including the auditorium would be replaced with the fields uh that were taken up with the location of the K8. So um yes in this proposal they it would the auditorium would not not be there. Thank you. That's what I thought. Okay. Thank you. Questions, comments, Miss Hower? Yeah, I have a series of questions. I first thank you for this information for the materials. Love the zoning map. One of the things that you miss is the area south of of Graly Hill. The R1 also is in the critical watershed. So it won't it doesn't have potential for that's 5acre minimum zoning for development. So it's zoned R1 but it's critical watershed. So you won't see much density. And I'll have to add when you say the new charter

141school is going 2.6 miles west of the school. It's going in this. So, so when you look at density in the area, what happens is Mebban the areas that have been that are on the very western end of the county are under Mebban zoning jurisdiction and it's much higher density which was if you looked at a land use map you would see that where the new chart the new charter school is going right in the center of the dense development not where Grley is. So that's that's why it's going there. I'm a little worried because I feel like we're overestimating um the or underestimating the impact of the new charter school on future enrollment at F1 Cheeks. If you looked at our historical enrollment, you'd actually see a step function where enrollment drops every time

142a new charter school opens. So, it's not linear, it's steps. So there are some and I only raise this because I feel like we're making an assumption that that Efflin Cheeks is growing and we're going to get all and and we're going to need more elementary capacity in Effand and I am not certain that I'm not comfortable because I I'm just not we've not seen that. When we look at the growth of the school, what we're doing is we're seeing growth in the free and reduced lunch population. So, you have to, you know, I've been wondering for I've asked a question for years, never have gotten an answer of where are the kids go going from. So, I'm a little worried about that. Um, if we um if we go with uh the K5 option,

143does Graly and and the new K5 will they operate as one school or two schools? Right. because there's a soccer field in between, one principal, two principal. What does that look like? So, the K5 will operate as a single school. I think over the course of um some of our conversations, we did note that we could function as a K8 because of the proximity to the middle school, but is will be two separate schools. Um so, just to clear that up, it won't be a K8. Um, but we said some of the programming that you can find in a one building K8, you may be able to mimic that due to the proximity of the middle school. Yes. So, that's going to impact. You had gotten us at least gotten me very excited about the

144idea of a K8, which is new to us. We've not we don't have anything like that. But the idea of of um easing the transition from elementary to middle school because if you look at our enrollment loss, our enrollment loss says that that our greatest enrollment loss happens at sixth grade. So with the K the K8, it seems that it might be a way to help us protect our our enrollment. Um but those are that's two schools. So, we won't get those kind of benefits if we build a new and and I look at us close closing schools. I know I'm closing the right um we're addressing the oldest schools in Hillsboro. We're looking at Hillsboro Elementary obviously year round school probably needs a central location. Um Central Pathways Pathways New School Central and and

145River Park are our oldest schools and Orange Middle are oldest schools. So, if we're trying to replace our oldest schools in and they're in Hillsboro, why would we do that with a new school in Effand? So, I'm I'm struggling with that. Fair point. Um, I think as we started this exercise, uh, uh, we brought forth kind of our three pillars, time, scope, and money. Um, and so in order for us to, you know, act on having a Greenfield site in Hillsboro, we'd have to have access to the time and the money. Um, and we don't have those. And so, um, I will say, uh, you are correct. Um however um given the puzzle pieces that we've had to adapt to uh we thought that moving forward it would be in our best interest uh to

146look at sites that we did not have to spend capital and bond money for the land or the time it would take uh to do our due diligence if that land was proper for the needs for the district. I will say that um whatever the decision is made, it will be looked at district-wide and as we've stated uh there will be some much needed redistricting so that our building portfolio and our utilization will be correct districtwide. So it's not a replacement of one school is really adding something new so that the district can be right sized. Understand it just to me the concentration of students that are impacted are in Hillsboro not in Effent. So that's why I would think um we do that. You know, just so you know, I think you guys have

147done an amazing job. There's lots of data here. It's heaven for me and and um you know, and I spent a lot of time with it. Um when I looked at the numbers, Thank you. Um it seemed to me that the idea of buying land for K8 would we still end up with at economic positive over the option of of the K5 and and Orange Middle. That's what your number said to me in terms the the challenge with buying is uh we there's there's not a silver bullet site that we could quickly analyze. um and there weren't any sites that we could analyze that already were zoned appropriately and had uh water and sewer services. So that's the challenge and that's those are the two project two issues zoning and um uh utilities infrastructure that

148kill uh deals uh real estate development deals whether they're private or public. So, I I understand that possibly doing a K8 on a green field site would be good. And we at one point talked about possibly converting Grley Hill to a K8, but that was um we were directed more towards K5 at Grley Hill. Okay. I'm going to ask one more and then let others ask. And that's when we did our first proposal to Orange County. It was for a new replacement school for a new replacement school because to reper, you know, be because we knew we would no longer use Hillsboro Elementary. It would not wouldn't be for year round, but there'd be a new one new school. And the rest of the plan was to do renovations and maintenance on our other schools.

149And they told us we can't do that. And so they told us we, you know, they just sent it back. They said the bond money is to modernize the school infrastructure. You're using the word right sizing. I think that's a great word. Um, and my concern is that the K5 option with a undefined renovation to Orange Middle School when we've been suggested is targeted for replacement. I just don't how how is a county going to react to a plan that does that again? So, we've been in constant communication, Dr. Jones and myself, with the county manager team, understanding the cash flow, understanding how they want to appropriate the bond over the next 10 years. And what I can say, our current strategic plan matches their plan on financial support. Um, and as Mr. Hess has

150said we won't know to the extent of those renovations until uh this board directs us on the first project. And what I mean by that is once we get off the ground with whatever decision you provide us here today, uh we'll go through a year of design and planning um hopefully we'll have enough money to perhaps uh look at uh designing what the renovations may look like. Um and so we feel very confident um based on what we've been told about how the money will be spread out over 10 years uh that we'll be able to provide a new facility and much neededed modernizations to the highest priority based on that facility conditions and any other priorities that the board uh provides us. Okay. Um Miss Smiley has a question. Yeah. Um, and just to

151follow up on that point, I think our original plan had very much more in the like classic renovation and not as large of renewals as like $35 million could do at Orange Middle School, which I imagine could be like building an entire, you know, taking down the sixth grade wing and like replacing it with a twotory modern something and tying things. you know, that's that's a that's a good amount of money to work with that could do some real major modernization on the campus. I think um uh you know, in terms of the projects overall, I mean, I think that there are other board members, I believe, just from our earlier conversations, who have sort of stronger feelings one way or another. Um I think either of these plans could work. Um, I do appreciate

152that you brought up the um range in projections because those earlier ORED ones were what I was thinking about when I was like, what do you mean we we can shut down schools and like combine them and stuff like that? That was um so that'll be interesting conversation when we figure out where we want to kind of project and and build from. I don't think we should we we we need to do reassignment. So, we shouldn't assume any constraints in terms of this number of students in these different buildings right now. Like we have to do reassignment. It's like well well overdue. Um and I really would like us, you know, if we were to go with the grally elementary version, I would really like us to look at um the traffic patterns at Orange

153Middle School. You said that piece could be done anyway. And I know there's, you know, the back the back bit is one thing, but I do think the giant loop on the campus for cars would take all those cars off the road. And I think the I think that would solve a significant part of the problem on Orange High School Road. So, um hope that we can find a way to do something like that. That that would definitely be done because Orange Orange Middle School is going to it's either going to get a new new school under the K8 uh or it's going to have a a which is probably a 2year construction period or it's going to have a 4-year uh renovation construction period. So, the traffic patterns at Orange Middle School will be

154addressed. And just sorry, one last thing on this. If we wanted to, um, there might be enough money there after the middle school to do a new after the elementary to do a new middle school. Like, if we didn't do the elementary and we put all that money together, that would be like $75 million, which might be not that that's the way, you know, but early on when we were talking about the bond, I said, I don't know if we have enough money for three projects. I don't know about like this third renovation. like maybe we'd only have enough for the two schools. I don't know that that's where the master plan would go, but well there's two points to that that you are correct. Um the one point is we need to place a

155stake in the ground and figure out how uh what the largest uh what the largest project is and then figure out what we can do with the rest of the funds. Uh and we also need the direction of school uh assignments uh redistricting to know which schools um should be improved to address uh the change in populations. Uh and then the second part and one of the reasons that we were leaning so heavily the design team the professionals were leaning so heavily into K8 is time value of money. You know we all know what inflation feels like how it hurts. Um I was just and and inflation with construction is always about twice what normal inflation is. So escalation of money you know what we have today is going to be decreased by 30% in

156five years. So time value of money is important in five years it's probably not going to go well middle school. Yeah. U Miss Dole. Um, thank you. Thank you so much for this presentation and um and thank you for your responsiveness to um questions and concerns we've raised um both at the public meeting and our committee meetings um and other venues. And so this it really is exciting that we have the opportunity to make these plans and it will definitely benefit our community. Um, a couple things I just want to point out that that your data showcases so nicely, but in terms of the enrollment, I mean the the drastic difference, an 18.3% increase in enrollment at Efflin Cheeks, um, that's such an outlier from the others. If you remove that from your total elementary

157school average, the total elementary school average is -12. That's that's like a a 30 um point spread um increase at Efflin Cheeks and loss at the other elementary schools. we've had such tremendous growth out there, which is why we have trailers. Um, so I'm I'm excited about um like increasing what we're offering in that part of our district and the opportunity. There's been a lot of conversation that I'm looking forward to learning more about the the like the hub that we can make um as a community space there with the adjacency to the middle school, however exactly that configuration turns out, and um like a network of programming with the soccer fields and everything else. I just think that's an an exciting opportunity. Um and and I am um I I do just have the

158you know, as I've already expressed, just knowing intimately, as many of us know intimately, um just, you know, the directions that all the community comes from from pathways and just how relocating um just how what a distance that would be and um the the congestion at that Orange High School road um just is is really troublesome to me. And I do appreciate the traffic reworking. Um, you know, I'm clearly um a fan of building out at the grally site the K5, but I I appreciate the attention to the traffic concerns at Orange Middle and how all of that could improve as well. Okay. Any other questions? Mr. Hower? Yeah, I have uh just um on the renovation the proposed renovation for Orange Middle School. Walpert said that they they had needed about $21 million worth

159of life cycle maintenance work. Does is that included in the 36 million or is that an addition? We um we would have to do an assessment on that. Again, I just did a conceptual number to help kind of compare apples to apples. Once we second generation, I'm only going to say it once, but second generation issue will be uh once we know which schools we're going to renovate, we would go in and do a deeper dive on that facility condition index that that FCI is very helpful, but we would actually have our design teams go in there and assess things at a deeper level to make sure that we're spending the money the most appropriate way. Right. Well, yeah, their their issue was the um maintenance wasn't needed for another till the end of the

16010-year cycle, which put them at the end, but it was anyway, that's that's where that came from. Um that that is an important point, and we will be bringing that back to the board for your approval at at another time. Once we are designing the school, whether it's a K5 or K8, we will it'll be a design spiral. We'll come back and and ask for permission to renovate certain schools. We'll say why we think they should be renovated in conjunction with the redistricting. And then we'll define the priority of those schools and figure out what they will cost and we'll basically spend down the bond money on the priority needs. And I'm just trying to deal with because the board you're hearing the board has made many presumptions which we don't have any facts to

161support it. And my concern is is approving a plan based on our ideas of what we'd like to see rather than your ideas of what we can see. And again, it's a big school. You're I think you're proposing taking 300 seats out of it, right? Yes. that and and again this is kind of the what you you make a great point and this was our lesson learned from the March board meeting where we uh got out over our skis and made several assumptions without enough information and that's why we've stepped back and basically have said K5 or K8 and we'll work on the rest once we know whether it's a K5 or a K8. So why is a grally K5 450 seats instead of 600? Because again, another principle that the county is looking for

162and when you talk about right sizing is newer, fewer schools. And the K8 option does that, but the the K5 doesn't. The redistricting will help us determine how many seats should be there. The redistricting and the board's direction on utilization rate will tell us how big the school should be. Doesn't that affect the dollars? Yes. Uh, the higher the utilization rate, the more money we have to spend on renovations. That's not my The bigger the school, the more money it costs. So $50 million for a 450 seat school at Bradley might be 55 or $60 million if you increase it to six 600 seats. In the spirit of what we're trying to do here, those I'm making up the numbers. Those those are important details that we can't answer accurately at this point. We need

163more time to design. We need more strategic direction from you to uh start designing and then put more detailed numbers to those. Yeah. I also want to comment on Car's point about the growth in Effin Cheeks. You know, when I 10 years ago, Efflin Cheeks was grossly underenrolled. So you're seeing a growth rate from a you know now it's at so so it's just been in a funky place and again we have not been able at least this board has not been shared where the growth is coming from but there's a presumption that the growth in house in new housing in meban is leading to growth at efflin and we don't have anything that the data contradicts that so there's something going on I don't know what it is so if we approve any of

164these options what are we approving you're approving the direction uh and strategic uh focus for the district and and so let's just say the K5 is where you allow us to go. Um all the questions will be uh determined through the design process and so we will look at the data we will bring to you uh recommendations of what's the right size of the school will be and the consequences of of those decisions. um it's really um in the board's court. Uh but tonight we can't answer any of those questions moving forward until we know uh which direction the board would like to go. Uh I can assure you uh you this will not be the last time you see myself discussing bond information. Um I would hope to move forward to some more interesting

165conversations regarding the bond. Um but we cannot do that until uh you provide us the direction to move forward and we will clearly and concisely explain how the ripples will then be uh formulated from this decision tonight. Mr. Aspen, did you have a question? Oh, excuse me, Miss I'm sorry. Thank you. Thank you for the presentation. like Sarah Smiley here said that um both options I think are great but I do believe in my heart of hearts that we need to diversify our portfolio and utilize that land that is available for us so that we can create a K through5 I'm a K through five fan that area is growing and I think we should use the land that we have available thank you for all your work Mr. asking, did you have questions? Yeah.

166So, thank you all uh for the continued updates on the data. I I also would just like to take a moment to to thank Miss Howser who originally started on the county commissioners committee as the vice chair and also through our finance committee um pushing through the bond data working getting the data asking some of the tough questions to really get us to a point tonight where I feel like we're at a point where we can make a decision to move this forward. And with that, I'd like to make a motion to approve the K5 looking for consolidation, which means potentially increasing this and also working with the county on access between the two schools that does not necessarily include the major road. Can you clarify your point about consolidation? Are you saying you part

167of your motion is to close another school? Well, when when looking at this and looking at our utilization, part of the Wolfford report is to consolidate. So, if it is a larger school, our I'm sorry, the Walpart report recommendations for our district didn't have us reducing our number of schools, bigger largers, smaller numbers, the newer, fewer schools phrase doesn't appear anywhere in the Wilpert report and our particular WLPR recommendations leaves us with the same number of schools. So, I'm concerned. I am I am open to reducing the number of schools. Um the 12% growth number that ORAD had gives me significant pause in doing that because our utilization would be in the mid 90s at all the levels. I think I I just I worry about tying us too much in this motion to like

168a specific course of action on the master plan. Yeah. I'm not I'm I'm not saying that we should maximize it to close schools. I'm saying as part of that review looking at what are the options of consolidation if there that makes sense and I I don't know it does or doesn't but I know that's part of what you said the next step is. I I um I think if you were to restate what I what I heard is a motion for the K5 and a portfolio master plan or a district master plan in conjunction with redistricting. Yes. and looking at uh the access between the two schools and what options there are available. That's the lowest hanging fruit we can I know but it's an important one I think. Can I ask one one question

169be if if we let's say we pick the K5 and you dig into the enrollment data in the way it needs to be dug into and realize that we are not going to see the growth out there. The charter school opens in September and we we this year for the first time we started in a few years we're starting to see a decline in enrollment out there. So if we see that the enrollment numbers play out differently and we decide it's not a good idea to put a K5 in Effind what happens do we are is that the direction or do we end up you know at this time given the information that we have and the subject matter experts uh including Mr. as we do not think in the next 3 years uh we

170will see uh the opposite of what we're sending seeing um happen and so for us to you know have egg on our face it'll have to be a tremendous growth in K through 12 children age you know you know an area can grow um that doesn't mean that they're growing in terms of uh adolescence and children um but we will continue to look at that information short answer is uh we're confident that the K5 uh will be the right decision for the district. Again, it's not a location school and so we're going to redistrict and so those who may be at Efflin may now be at this new school. Those that may be at River Park uh may be at this there are a lot of people who will be impacted uh positively from this

171school. The children that are at Efflin, not all of them will necessarily be there in three years from now. um from growth, from just all the other opportunities that the district is affording them. And so uh I feel very positive that uh in three years we'll have a new school at the site that uh was approved today. Even with the new charter school coming in, if you build it, they will come. I'm a firm witness. I've built plenty of schools and I've seen the enrollment and people come back to the district because they're nice nice shiny things. I'd like to second the motion. All in favor? I I opposed. Opposed. Okay. Six eyes, one opposed. Thank you all very much. Thank you. Thank you all very much for all of your hard work on this

172and your answering all our questions. Yes. Thank you so much. Thank you. I need a motion. Oh yeah, I need a motion to adjourn. All in favor? I we are adjourned.