001Good evening and welcome to our regularly scheduled board of education meeting for February 2026. Um we don't have quite the number of people that we typically do, but there's some really good reasons for that. Number one, the superintendent was nice to the principles and didn't require them to come tonight. >> That's true. And secondly, uh because of the inclement weather, uh many of the recognitions that we had on schedule for tonight, um the staff was able to get in touch with them and postpone their recognition to a later date. Uh we still have some recognition. So, uh we appreciate all of you coming. Um I'm going to have the invocation, then I'll make some more welcome remarks. Okay. Lord, we thank you for uh the privilege of coming together here this evening to discuss the
002business of Davy County Schools and what is good for our uh staff and students. We ask that you would impart the wisdom that we need in order to make the good decisions for staff and students. Thank you for keeping us safe and for our guests who have driven here from out of town, keeping them safe. And we pray now that you'll just watch us and keep us safe as we go back home. I ask this in your name. Amen. And so to continue on, last week, excuse me, last month I made this statement. That's 20. Thank you for the water. I made this statement and asked the question really, are there any candidates for the board of education in our audience? and uh two people raised their hand and I recognized them and they introduced
003themselves. On my way home, I'm driving and thinking, "Oh my gosh, I didn't do that." We have two candidates currently seated on the board of education that I failed to recognize and to give them opportunity to to say whatever whatever they wanted to say. And so I called them that night and left a left a message of apology and they got back in touch with me very quickly. So I want them to know that I apologize and didn't mean to overlook you, but Joe and Marie are the two people on our board who are running again. And if you need to say anything more, you're welcome to. >> I appreciate you. >> Okay. >> I had to do it for myself. Uh, do we have anybody else that hasn't been recognized last month? There's a
004couple of you out there that I don't know. Okay. Well, good. Thank you so much for being here. Um, and I'm sure we're going to hear more about this topic of inclement weather in a couple of reports here this evening. But uh before we go any further, we took out many of the recognitions, but one of the recognitions that we didn't take out is is going to be presented by Dr. Wamble here in a few minutes. And um he just really wanted to come back to Davy High School. I tell you that because he spent a year here in the late 90s. >> Yeah. You were you were right out of kindergarten, I guess. but uh he he was an assistant principal here and so we became friends and he went on the fast track
005and became a superintendent uh July the 1st of 2000 of uh 2001 >> 2001. >> Yeah. And so he and I and a couple more people that uh all started the superintendency together. we stayed to be close friends and one of the three got older and the other two just stayed young and keep they're still working so I don't know how that happens but we're glad to have you here Dr. Dr. look forward to your presentation. At this time, without further comment, ask Joe to lead us in our pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance >> to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Now, board, uh, you have received a copy of the minutes from
006our last regular schedule meeting, which was January the 6th. Um, are there is there a motion to accept those minutes as presented? Stephanie makes a motion. There's a second. Joe has a second. Any questions about the minutes? Thank you so much for your well-written minutes as usual. All in favor? Motion carries 70. Next, uh, item four on the board report. Just a couple of things there. Remember, our spelling bee is still on schedule for this week. If you've never had the privilege of attending that it's an it's a fun afternoon. Sometimes it takes five minutes, sometimes it might take 55 minutes. So, you never know. Um, but it's it's it's a lot of fun to see kids get up there and compete and under strict rules and and I hope you'll have an opportunity to
007come, at least some of you. Um, thank you for keeping us in the inclement weather loop. Seem like we've had more emails in the last 10 days than we typically have, but we appreciate you letting us know as soon as the decisions were made so that we would be in the loop. Um, and last comment from from the board report. Um, I want you guys to be thinking about ways that we might get into the schools during the 26 27 school year. Um, that could take any kind of form. Dr. Belchure and I have discussed this and he's going to talk with the principles uh to gather some of their input. And um I know in the past two or three years anyway, we've pretty much uh had just gone for school visits during the
008day and those of you that have participated, you either had to take time off of work or have a flexible schedule, those kind of things. Um so be thinking about it and um give us some feedback after you've had a chance to think about that. We don't need to make a decision in the next couple of months or anything, but we certainly want to before um before the summer gets here. And again, that'll give Dr. Belure an opportunity to talk for talk with principles about what their ideas may be, but and you might want to say, "Well, I don't want to go to school." You may choose to say that, but anyway, that that's a a good topic for us to talk about in the future. Finally, we have one item that we'll need to
009get a motion and uh action on and that is we have realize that next month's meeting which is March the 3 is on election day and in the past several years of board of education election we have not met on that particular day. So I would entertain a motion whether you would like to change that date and if so to what date or any other discussion you might have uh discuss uh with this topic. So I'm going to open it up for your feedback please and then we'll get the motion based on we can get the motion after we get feedback. Is that okay? >> Okay. >> However you want to do it. >> All right. that works better for me to get some feedback and then we'll get a motion. So, I know some
010of you got some conflicts if we changed too much and then you got some conflicts of the election night or whatever. So, share share with the group please. >> So, I think Stephanie and Michael, you guys are gone the following week, right? Stephanie and Jeff. So, do you is would we want to do it either Monday or Wednesday, the 2nd or the 4th? How do y'all feel about that? >> That's fine with me. Any of the dates are fine with me. So, I It doesn't matter to me. We can even keep it on the third. >> What do you guys think? >> Okay. >> Would you include the meeting time in your motion, please? >> Regular meeting time. Okay. Is there a second to Michael's motion? Uh, Mr. Jones second it. Okay. Now, discussion regarding
011the motions on the floor. >> Dr. Belchure, does that work for your staff? >> So, that works with with my calendar. Um, but I'm just speaking for myself. But I I mean I think we can work work with that. That's what the board works out best. I know a lot of um I let know a lot of families still do church on Wednesday nights. So that that might limit some of some of their access >> Thursday. Um I see you shaking your head, but I don't know what you were saying. >> Oh, I just said we're Monday. Okay. >> Yeah. Monday um the second the board of commissioners meet. Not that that means anything, but that is just just note that >> I have to be in Raleigh for state board of education that Thursday,
012>> but it's fine if I miss if the rest of the board would like to do Thursday. >> Okay. We have a motion and a second on the floor and we're going to have to vote that one down if we're going to do a different day. Am I right on that? >> We are accept the substitute motion. >> Okay, we don't have a whole lot of these things going on. So, I didn't brush up on Robert's rules. >> Someone wants to propose a substitute. >> Can everybody hear what Jill was saying? >> You can Well, you can't propose. You can amend your motion. Go ahead and request to amend your motion to >> your your request is permitted. Go right ahead. >> We're back to the discussion. >> How about Monday the 2nd? Michael would
013like to make a motion to move the Monday Mo meeting to Monday the second. He'd >> Monday, March 2. Okay, we need a second for meeting March the 2nd at regular time. Okay, now discussion to that motion. >> I'll ask the same question, Dr. Belchure. Does that work for you and your staff? >> Yes, ma'am. Best I can tell that will be fine. >> Okay. Make sure it's >> We would love to have the superintendent here. >> Noted. Yes. >> And I bet you'd probably >> I would love to be here. >> Okay. So, we do have a motion and a second on the floor and any other discussion. All in favor of moving the March meeting to the second, please raise your hand. So, we're moving it up a day. Motion carries 70. Thank
014you very much for that. March. Okay. Now, Mr. Superintendent, Dr. Belchure, your report, please. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and board members. I appreciate the opportunity just to give you an update on kind of where things are at this last month. And um the pictures you see that pretty much sums up really at least half this last month. It seems like lots of white stuff, lots of um shoveling. Um I'm sure all of you have been out and have done your your fair share of of digging out of all the ice and snow. Of course, some of our It's hard to imagine that, you know, some of our our youngest um learners and clients, our children, that's the first time they've seen snow, right? That's for some of them. So, quite quite a life lesson, quite
015an opportunity. And then, of course, um we've got Miss Fletcher there, and that's where we want want to want to be. We want to get them back in our classrooms, back to face to face where we can really see them and kind of have that connection. relationships are important and that in a lot of ways captures a lot of the hard work um the love and passion that goes with with the reason our purpose and then finally of course what we're all about with educating our children I will say um before I get into some of the details um Jeremy Whitaker I think is out in the audience and Jeremy Miller as well and then of course Clay back here they've been really just busting it the last nine days or so seven days really
016getting ready and and then just on the road um all hours, seven seven days a week doing what they can and their team. So, I just commend them. I know that that you share in that as well for the job that they've done. Um it's amazing to think about about um how much snow they've pushed. When you see it piled up out there, it kind of like brings it kind of to reality. Um and the hard part, as you know, a lot of that was ice underneath it. And so the first two or three days it felt like we were just busting up ice and they were, you know, trying to do everything they could to to loosen it up and the temperatures just wouldn't let us get there. So, a lot going on, but
017um we're in a good place um tonight and um hopefully we can get teachers back tomorrow, get them kind of back in their routine um and um get a few more last last few items taken care of so that we can get students back later this week. It's what we all want. We're working towards that. couldn't be possible without the hard work of of those gentlemen. So, we appreciate them. I will say um I will email you this in addition, but the North Carolina High School Athletic Association has already started to push out a lot of their um reschedules and postponements. And so, I'll go through these pretty quickly just for the record um so that we've got that noted. bit. The swimming was the first that was impacted um with some change dates. Um
018that was previous previously scheduled for Wednesday um through Saturday, February 4th and 7th. That competition will now be conducted Wednesday through Saturday, February 11th through the 14th. Um indoor track and field um that has been postponed um until February 18th. that was originally um so the the reporting deadline for state qualifiers has actually been moved to Saturday, February 7th at 9ine. And so then the state championship is that weekend or that Wednesday morning of February 18th. We've got and this is probably one that um will draw a lot of interest, but the dual team wrestling um that was scheduled for this week that's been postponed. The revised dates are rounds one and two are February 10th through the 12th. Rounds three and four are February 16th through the 18th. And then state finals um in
019Greensboro will be on Sunday afternoon, February the 22nd. Women's wrestling that was scheduled for February 6th and 7th. Regionals will now be held on February 10th through the 12th. And then there's been some flexibility allowed with basketball scheduling. And so schools um to assist with that rescheduling challenges, the board's going to wave the handbook requirement that one of the four allowable games in a two-eek period be played on a non-school day, providing additional local scheduling flexibility for basketball. So I know um our our parents and our student athletes will be interested in in some of that, but I wanted just to point that out. I did not get that into my printed report just because of the timing of that. I think that's hot off the press, but I will email you those dates in
020case you have community members or parents or families that are asking about that as well. So, just a few things that um that I'll point out as we um go through through through a couple of items. We met earlier in in January um after our last meeting with our parent advisory group and that's where representatives, parent representatives from all of our schools come in and our agenda we talked a lot about um Dr. Blatner presented AI and technology and then um Mr. Harris presented the same budget timeline that he presented to to you all in that board meeting to them as well um in the school capacity report that I had shared with you last month. I shared that with them and then just provide them some school safety updates. HR um Miss Haynes has
021email and her team and her staff has sent out intent forms. It's hard to believe that we're already talking about um what staff intentions are for next year, but that's part of the planning process and that leads into budget process and aotments for schools. And so um that looks at potential retirement vacancies, staffing assignments. So they have started to do that. I'm looking forward to just that work and seeing how that comes out. I think um agenda until midFebruary when we'll is is you have a couple weeks to get those back in. And then open enrollment right now that's begun. And if in case you didn't know this, we do have a partnership or a cafeteria benefits program through Pierce Group benefits. And so that includes dental insurance, vision um insurance, flexible spending accounts, long-term
022disability, some of those cafeteria plans, group life. Um so we're in that process right now where it's open enrollment and then elections of benefits will be taking place January 26 through March 12th. There'll be a lot of communication going out to our employees regarding that that uh group benefit plan. Just wanted you to be aware of that in case you have any questions or um needed to know some of that information. As uh Chairman Pototts referenced earlier, the spelling bees coming up. So, I'm always impressed by the spelling gifts on display across our classrooms and it's always exciting to see what the winning word will be. Um, I I have to acknowledge that sometimes I don't get the winning word right. And so I will be hopefully I'll be able to experience my um first
023spelling bee in Davy County and see what that's all about. Our curriculum team, our school administrators, our technology team um you know, they've done a lot this last week with remote learning and getting that plan out. Um we we submit a plan every year to the state. So, I want to commend them for their work in really trying to make sure that we maintain to the extent possible a learning environment um during our inclement weather. Um remote instruction can help sustain learning. It can help um diminish some of the learning loss that might occur. It's really challenging to to present new content, new standards during that. So, we're excited to be able to get them back to where we can get back on on pace. that they've got a um done a great job planning
024and working through some of the challenges that come with that. Of course, with that um just referencing continuing to monitor our attendance. Um in December, we always see that dip because of high school exams and we'll see what the impact of maybe this weather has on attendance, but we'll continue to monitor and and take a look at that. District administrators, we're meeting with the county commissioners at their February 12th work session and that's part of just sharing some information about the state of our schools as we begin looking at future budget priorities for the district. So, I want the community to know about that. I appreciate our county officials and the work that they do and helping meet the needs of our students and our schools. That's an important conversation and certainly appreciate all the
025support that our uh county commissioners and our county officials have for our school system. We couldn't do it without them. So, we're thankful for that opportunity. I mentioned earlier just about um some of the work that our maintenance staff have been doing and and even with our transportation staff and I don't know if you guys realize this but we have five plows and so you know they they pretty much have been running non-stop and so our 13 maintenance workers that get out and help shovel driveways or sidewalks and drives and just all of the things that go go into that. And I shared this at the beginning of the year, but it's always important, I think, to to highlight this for our listeners and for the community. Like oftentimes we get in our car and
026drive 10 miles down the road. You know, we get on a main road, we go to Walmart, we go to um Bojangles, if you're like me, to get breakfast or whatever. And and typically we look out and say, "Well, the roads are dry. This is great." But sometimes when you get on some of those back roads, that's not always the case. But 59 buses. And so if we think about, okay, that's 59 buses out on the road, providing transportation to over 2,600 students across 3,800 miles each day. So, I don't know about you all, but I that's a that's a lot of mileage, a lot of travel that goes on across the county and a lot of roads that I don't even know about in Davyy County. So, I certainly appreciate um just our transportation
027staff looking at those routes, assessing roads, and then of course once we get students able to get back on those buses, just thinking about our bus drivers and making sure that they have the full confidence that while they're driving their routes that that they're that they're able to be safe while doing that. So, that's always our priority. A lot of work, a lot of responsibility, but we are so fortunate to have a dedicated team that's willing just to do the hard work and to work through those difficult decisions. I'll close up with just a few or round this up with just a few updates about some things going on across the state. So, um the Department of Commerce and my future NC, they released an annual attainment profile for counties. I sent board members a
028a meeting coming up that will be released that attainment profile will be released on um February 12th and that's an essential planning tool that we use across the district just to gauge our collective efforts with multiple stakeholders to see our workforce readiness. So, we work closely with DDCC um any kind of economic development um that really looks at industry and how we're doing. So, I will certainly um push that out across our community later this month once we get that data. Something that will be going to the board um that I just learned this week um just to commend um David Coun and all of our CTE staff and the work that they do, our career development coordinators. So, um, each year they the they they report to the state the DPI reports to the
029state board an attainment um profile for our CTE credentials. And so this year, two years ago, we were at 55% attainment rate for our CTE courses. Last year we were at 71%, this year we've continued to climb to 75% with over 2,271 credentials earned. That's in the top five in our region. And so when I'm talk what I'm referencing here when we're talking about um the CTE attainment report that is the number of possible credentials that can be offered to students and then how many of those go on to earn a credential in that course. So our objective is always and our aim is to always have students get at least one CTE credential whenever they graduate. Something that they can have under their belt when they leave high school. And so to be at
03075% is really phenomenal work. So, I commend the work that's going on at our high school in meeting that objective. Um, coming up, our um super the North Carolina superintendent and community college presidents will be taking um participating in a convening on February 26th. And so, that's an opportunity where we continue to look at our work and the work that's taking place um across our community colleges and specifically at um Davy Davidson Davyy Community College and some of the work that we're doing in the partnership with them. I want to highlight a couple of community events um that our students oftentimes participate in and I'm sure that um you all are are aware of these but just the smart the smart start hometown hoown is coming up on February 20th and so that's an exciting
031community event and then the community foundation popsicle 5K is the is February 21st. So if you want to go out and run three 3.1 miles then you got a chance to do that in a couple of weeks. And then throughout this month, we'll be celebrating career and tech technical education month, black history month, national bus drivers week, school counseling week, FFA week, and school resource officer day sometime this month. February is a short month, but we got a lot of opportunities to celebrate some of our our people across the the district. So, um I know that was um a lot to say and share, Mr. Chairman, but it was important to highlight some of those things going on across our district. Yes, it is important and we appreciate you uh making all the recognitions of
032those people who are behind the scenes getting things done. Thank you for your leadership there. Uh as I said earlier, we put off a lot of our recognitions until next month, but we're certainly happy to welcome Dr. uh Brock Wall to come and make a presentation to one of our own. Uh, Miss Fletcher, Katherine Fletcher, uh, works at North Davy. And I'm not going to say anything else to steal Mr. Dr. Wumble's uh, thunder for that. >> First of all, >> thank you very much for the opportunity to be here. Um, you know, one of my favorite years in in education in my life was being here in Davy County and what a wonderful um, you know, staff you have here. great great leadership from the board education. It's always been known from your administrators
033and and it really um is I wanted to be here tonight. Yeah. You know, we we have 27 of them we go to, but I wanted to be here tonight because it it meant so much for me for that year and and what an outstanding leader you have with your chair of the of board known him. Just a good person and just really will always do what's good for kids. And so and congratulations and and thank you Superintendent Meltchure for the opportunity to be here today and your leadership team who have been phenomenal to make sure I got here and and um and um and looking forward to it. But but um but thank you first of all for the opportunity to be here. But you know when I g when I came here I
034was beginning of my career and you know and it's so fun to be back here and recognize somebody beginning their career. And so at this point I would like to uh would Caitlyn uh Fletcher please come forward at this time and good to you. On behalf of the North Carolina Center for the Advancement Teaching, it is my privilege to announce that Caitlyn Fletcher, a sixth grade math teacher at North Davy Middle School, has been selected as a finalist for the INCAT 2026 Buroughs Welcome Fund North Carolina Beginning Teacher of the Year Award. This recognition celebrates Miss Fletcher's outstanding contributions as a beginning teacher and the meaningful impact she is already making on her students and the broader community here in Davy County. I would like to recognize Mary Foster, principal of Central Davy Academy, Bryant
035Copelan, principal of North Davy Middle School, and Jinda Hayes and Lynn uh Jen Lind uh Davy County Schools co- beginning teacher of the year coordinators for their support of Miss Fletcher. The beginning teacher of the year award was created to recognize the c creativity, resilience, and commitment of first year teachers across North Carolina. Each year, more than 7,000 new educators step into the classroom statewide, and this award shines a light on those who rise to the challenge and represent the very best of our profession. Miss Fletcher will be attending a week of leadership focused professional development with her fellow finalists. In March, where interviews and portfolio review will be conducted by a panel of judges from across the state to determine the next beginning teacher of the year. On March 12th, INCAT will celebrate all
036finalists and announce the winner at a recognition event at Wake Forest University in Winston Salem. At ENCAT, we are committed to advancing teaching as a art in a profession and we are thrilled to celebrate Miss Fletcher as a shining example of this mission. Please join me in congratulating Caitlyn Fletcher on this outstanding achievement. We are pleased to provide you with this certificate. Recognizing you is a INCAT 2026 Burough's Welcome Fund North Carolina beginning teacher of the year finalist. Please give her a hand. Congratulations, Mrs. Fletcher. And I know you have some important family members here. Would you like to recognize your family that's with you this evening? >> Sure. >> This is my dad. This is my lovely little sister and my wonderful mother. Sorry >> and good luck to you at your next level
037of competition. We know you're going to do well. We're very proud of you. Very proud of you. U Dr. Wle slide it. Oh, there he is. We know you got a long drive back to Johnson County and so thank you so much for coming. It's good to see you. >> Thank you. >> Next uh board, we will have our consent agenda. Um, I would mention that last time we got a lot of updates and policy changes more or less to stay within the guidelines and getting all the numbers straightened out and those kind of things. And thank Dr. Belture for keeping us uh informed of changes and answering questions. I don't know about you guys, but I asked him four or five different policy questions yesterday and he knew the answer to every one of
038them. I was impressed. So, uh, >> Chairman Pototts, just a friendly interruption to remind you all about the addendum to the personnel packet. >> Thank you, Miss Haynes. >> Is there a motion to accept the consent agenda as presented? >> Mr. Colum makes a motion. Is there a second? >> Mr. Shelton makes a second. Now, any discussion or questions regarding the consent agenda? If not, all in favor? Thank you very much. Motion carries. 70. We'll move into the business portion of our meeting. I believe is the next section. Yes. And first is uh David Coun Batty. You don't know which one's going to speak first or if you both want to come to the podium at the same time. Good evening, uh, Chairman Pototts and board members. My name is David Coun, and I wanted
039to introduce I want to turn the mic over to to Ben to talk about this project. I just wanted to touch base a little bit about where we uh got going on this. Earlier this school year, uh, we had done some work and some maintenance on the current irrigation system and discovered a few issues. And so tonight, uh, I'm going to have Mr. Batty uh bring forth the recommendation business item for you to consider uh on purchasing a new irrigation system at Davy County High School uh that will irrigate our football, baseball, softball, and practice fields. I'll turn it over to Ben. >> Yeah. Thank you, Chairman Pototts, Dr. Belchure, and rest of the board members for allowing us to be here tonight and and go over this with you. Um like Mr. Co said
040um the irrigation system at Davy County High School's got several issues going on with it. Um and I think it has for several quite a while now. And so um essentially it has not worked properly enough since around middle of July last year to where we could consistently use it to water our athletic fields. Um, I don't know if you noticed when you went to some of the football games in the fall, uh, how brown it started to turn rather quickly and that was really due to not being able to water it. Um, we actually even tried to spray it with iron to get it to turn back green so that it didn't look as brown. Um, and of course we had to have a little water to do that and so that didn't really
041take either. Um, but that was just a quick fix to try to make it look better. Um, but the root issue is the irrigation system itself. Um, I know there's been several issues with it over the years where it's tried to been patched and repaired. Um, but basically it's it's in just a state where it needs to be fixed completely. Um, the main water line that goes down through the school campus is good in itself, but the irrigation piping valves and everything that's going out onto the the fields, um, like Mr. Co said those four fields it needs to be replaced. Um currently right now um there are if you look at u maybe if you have it in front of you there's uh on the football field there's 12 uh irrigation zones on that
042field and only five of those zones work. Um the softball field has five zones and only one works. The baseball field has 20 zones and 11 work. And the practice field is doing the best. It has 12 zones and 10 of those work. Um, so as you can see with those third first three fields, we've got several issues with those irrigation not getting to be able to water that grass. Um, and so basically what that has caused us not to be able to do at this time of the year is we weren't able to overseed our fields in winter rye. And so instead of having nice green fields in the springtime when spring sports start up, we're going to have brown dormant grass. Um, and that's going to be like that because we weren't able
043to do that. We weren't able to do that because we couldn't water in that winter ride and get it to to really take hold. Uh, we reached out to Scotty Pal who maintains our fields and asked him could we still do it and he said it would be a waste of our money to try to do that. So, we chose not to do that. Um, and so basically now it's a waiting game and our fields, you know, they'll have to turn on their own back green with that Bermuda when it comes back in probably around the end of April, 1 of May. Um, and at that point, we'll be wrapping up our seasons. So, um, as you can see, there's two main controllers though on campus that controls all the irrigation um, on our on
044our campus. There's one controller at the football field that controls it itself. Um, and then there's one controller that's located inside a service closet there in the camp on the campus back there behind the cafeteria that actually controls the softball, baseball, and practice fields. Um, which is not ideal. There's a lot of miles of wiring underground to have that done. And those wires have been broke. They've been lost. They can't be repaired. And so I think that is what has led to some of these issues with the fields not being able to work properly. Uh along with the piping that's put in the ground. Now it's not uh really the right piping that should be there. Uh the right piping that should be there is schedule 40 piping um that won't break as easily and
045we won't have those issues. Um and so if you look you can see at the bottom we reached out to Johnson Irrigation. They came and looked at it. They gave us a quote to repair the irrigation on all of those fields. It could be done in four different phases. Um, starting with the practice field, they could start on that one on May the 1st and get that done in about two and a half to three weeks. And basically, as soon as that one is done, they're going to wait until graduation is over with. the Monday after graduation is over, they would start on the football field, main football field, get that done in about the same time frame, two and a half weeks, and then they could work on the softball field and the baseball
046field kind of at a different pace since it wouldn't be as in a rush to get it done. Um, we reached out again to the guy who maintains our field, Scotty Pal. He did tell us that if it gets done right after graduation on the football field, we should be able to get the grass to cover up where they have to replace it and be good to go before the first football game next August. Uh, which is a good thing. And so, as you can see, the amounts that are added there, um, the total cost is $148,400 for the entire project. So, and then in your in your documents, you should have the um the plans for uh for this project along with a copy of the contract that Zach Johnson had sent us over
047uh earlier this week. So, and at this time, if you all have any questions for us, we'll entertain those. >> Thank you guys. I have a couple questions. Um, I I'm not familiar with irrigation systems, so this may not sound like a great question, but is there a reason why we don't have multiple quotes? Is it hard to find people to quote this kind of thing or >> Yeah. Um, when I reached out to um, one group um, they gave us three different names and I think we reached out to those three different uh, businesses. Um, and Johnson Irrigation was the one who really got back to us and kind of went with us. The other two we never really heard back from. >> Okay. >> So, >> I know sometimes it's hard to find
048people to even get quotes, so that was probably >> um, and then in terms of time off, I know that practice field down there is used for a lot of things. Will there be a lot of time that we won't be able to utilize it for? >> Yeah. Um, and so, you know, going back to last year, we we had a lot of stuff done to our practice field and it wasn't able to be used over the summertime and things had to be moved and shifted over towards North Davy. Um, looking at this project again, if when they start the practice field, we're going to have about two to three weeks left of spring sports, those will have to be probably looked at to be alternate locations to practice. Um we're going to work with
049hopefully um right back here the parks and recck see if we can get lacrosse to come over here and practice and work on getting soccer to practice on at another location on campus and again moving to spring football and in the summertime um they're going to have to relocate again um kind of over towards North Davy until the grass starts to grow back on the practice field. Yes. >> Okay. So as long as we know that and have the plans in place I think but it could be significant. And then you had mentioned, sorry this is my last question, but you had mentioned about the wiring and how it's so where will it be at the end? Will there be a central location where it's all housed then? >> So with the new plan and
050I think it was in the in the report um instead of having just two controllers, each field is going to have its own separate controller um which will cut down on the amount of wire that has to be run from each field to that controller. And so it'll make it easier to be maintained. Um, and the way they're going to install it will make it easier to to be able to access and and maintenance and things. Um, that goes with the valve boxes where the wires will connect. They're going to move those out of the current locations that they're in, which are not ideal, um, to outside the fence on each field so that they can be easily worked on and fixed if they have to. So, but every field will have its own control
051box that can be controlled instead of just two. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. Let me add one more thing. Um, Zach not only will do the installation of this, he'll be responsible for the maintenance of it. Today, our maintenance department does all of that. We have one one maintenance guy that probably from midappril to midepptember. >> Yeah. >> Midepptember probably that this is all he does. And so, I mean, irrigation is not something that we do well. And so th this will um greatly having Zach maintain it will will also um prolong the life as well. So um that that will help us considerably from that standpoint. >> And is that included in this price, Clay, or is that an ongoing fee that he charges then? >> Well, you mean talk. >> Okay. When
052when we talked to him, we asked I mean I I like PM contracts and that kind of stuff and he he was honest and he said Clay said I'll do it but it when I put it in you'll have you'll have 10 years you won't have issues and that kind of stuff. Call me let me know. I'll come out. I'll work on it and everything else and just bill you for what I do. And so I mean >> Zach Zach is known for what he does. um couple that we've talked to have really are pleased with the job he does and everything else and I I have confidence in what he said and so that's what we'll work towards and if we've got him doing the maintenance he knows where everything is he knows the
053wires he knows that that way we're not going in and potentially changing something um from that standpoint I think it will save us down the road when you look at what we're having to do what we're having to do now to maintain it. >> Okay, great. Thanks Clay. That was the one question I was going to ask about the the warranty on the um on the stuff they're installing. Did they tell us what that is as far as replacement warranty? >> I I don't remember. I I I'd have to >> That's fine. I'm familiar with the company and I I think they're they're great. I mean, I'm just >> I I just I don't remember. I want to say it was three years, but I don't remember that for sure. >> He did mention the
054time frame. Um I I don't think of course I included it, but he did say that it was warranted for a certain time frame. Got >> and he would take care of any kind of issues and then like Clay said after that um because we we did ask about the maintenance and he said >> we could put you on a yearly contract but you'd be wasting your money paying more than what you probably would if you just addressed it if an issue came up. >> Yeah, I agree. Thanks. >> Okay, I have some comments. You were not part of this, nor was you, nor you, nor Jeremy, when the school was built and the in the irrigation system put in. Is that correct? None of you were. So, don't take it personal what I'm going
055to say. We've had the the fields operable for nine years, and Dr. Dr. Belter shared with me that they have there have been a number of repairs that have had to be made. Was the installation of the irrigation system a an inferior product? Again, I know that you weren't there, but that's a question that's really important because somebody ought to be telling us why this thing didn't last any more years. It's not like you use it every day either, you know. So the questions here about warranty stimulate my mind to think we I don't want to see us get in the same situation and certainly believe when you say you trust this guy that's good enough for me. Okay. >> But I'm I'm concerned about did somebody make a change? Were there change orders to
056put an inferior product in without informing the board back in 2017? Just doesn't make sense to me that we're having to do this already. >> So, any comments, I would have >> appreciate if you know anything about that, Mr. Chairman. I know y'all weren't here and neither was there superintendent. >> No, I appreciate >> I don't think anybody that's on the board was here at that time. So, >> I can appreciate those comments. I think part of the the challenge has just been the the piping and I'm I'm not a landscaper and don't know much about irrigation either, but I think I think the um I guess the pressure rating on the piping maybe was not at at standard um to where it should be. And I like now as far as how that came
057to be, if that was part of the original bid out for the construction of the high school or if that was a separate bid out, we would have to do some research and go back and look at kind of the timeline of some of that. But I think my understanding is that was the initial issue was out of cost saving went with a lower rating of that that PVC piping. And I don't know, gentlemen, if y'all have any more clarity on that. >> Jeremy, did you hear it? From what I understand was the piping would be okay if it was ideal conditions like a golf course at the beach or whatever it would probably be fine but there is a little bit more rock at the high school what they're used to. So this time
058we're put in totally with that issue. >> Okay. So you don't think anybody changed without >> you said >> I know you none of you were here. I know but just >> and and it was also installed first because athletic fields had to have so long to grow before it could be played on. So everything that was built at that high school rig it up. We had patches in the wiring and pipes everything before a student was ever there. So it had issues from day one. >> Is the money available? on my last question. >> Then we we will use uh um capital fund balance to do this um to get it in. Um the uh it being the jewel of the county, we need to make sure we've got everything working like it should.
059You approve the contract tonight, you'll get a budget amendment next month for that um for that uh appropriation of fund balance to be able to do it. Um, one of the things that we've introduced at the high school is a a planful approach for maintenance and everything else so we don't run into this if we have an issue down the road. Um, and so when when they approached us and asked us about doing it, um, I worked with Mr. Batty, Miss Stone and said, you know, we need to set money aside every year from gate receipts uh, to plan for any maintenance that's got to be done. I mean, if we run into a problem, go ahead and have that money set aside to be able to do that because it's a revenue it's a
060revenue maker for our sporting events and everything else, we need to go ahead and be more planful and kind of where we are. Um, so I don't anticipate us having to do this in another 10 years, but the plan we worked on said we would set money aside every year. So if in 10 years we have to do it again, they've got enough money as it sits right now to be able to do it then. Um, but it it be able to to maintain where we are and what we're doing from that standpoint. >> And from Marie's question earlier, the um the requirement for bids, are we okay with just one bid with this amount of money? >> We are because we reached out to three vendors to try and get two didn't respond. The
061third one did, but >> unless Jill feels differently, but >> total $150,000. So, so we reached out for three and two didn't respond. So, >> any more question? >> I have a question. >> Yes, sir. >> So, Zach Johnson, is he part of Henry Johnson's irrigation? >> That's his son. >> So, Henry was the best there was. I mean, so if his work is indicative of his dad's, you know, you you have the best. And then Scotty Pal is an excellent individual for information on turf. So >> those are two outstanding >> good >> individuals and companies. >> Okay. >> I'll just add I'll just add to that that I'm that >> getting somebody that's in Davy County and having somebody that's local that grew up here, second generation that's going to look after it
062is better than having somebody from High Point or Greensboro. It's just a company. We're just another bid. I feel like, you know, that's a good call going with somebody that's got Davy County roots as well. >> Thank you. Other comments? >> Okay, you've heard the recommendation, so we'll need a motion to accept their recommendation to move forward. >> Here, we don't have the warranty in writing. >> We don't have the warranty in writing. >> Well, we'll go back at the contract also get the contract as well. tells what needs to. >> Yeah. >> So, so Jill, go through it. >> Talking about the proposed >> Yeah. I mean the war the warranty. I want to know what the warranty is. I mean I would feel more comfortable voting on it if I knew what the
063warranty is. So just going into it blindly. >> Okay. That's where I'm at. Because under my I'm under under the understanding that football field has never worked really down there. Can you make a suggestion that we approve it subject to legal uh review and approval? >> I have not seen >> to to include the warranty. >> Well, you don't have to. Yeah, I'll protect >> and can you share with us a time frame? >> Well, I don't have it. >> Well, I'm sure these guys would like to work with >> Billy. How about that? >> What's that? >> I will not dilly. get into >> you never know. >> So Jill is asking if you're willing to put a motion on the floor to say we accept this pending um legal review and appropriate statement
064of warranty. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Mr. Jones has a second now for official discussion. Are there other discussion or comments? And do we all understand what the what we're voting on? Michael, were you I thought you did this one time where you want to >> Okay. Okay. Michael has called for the question. Okay. All in favor? Motion carries. 70. And thank you guys. And again, don't take the comments personal because we know you had nothing to do with it. And we're glad to hear that we're getting superior quality, not inferior quality moving forward. >> Well, and I think I think too, not only is this repairing it, but it's also putting some things into place that will make make it more effective and efficient for what it's designed to do.
065I think that's a key point to make. So >> very good. Okay. Chairman Miller, disposal of surplus equipment. >> Good evening, uh, Chairman Pototts, Vice Chair Helms, board, and Dr. Belchure and staff. Um, as my colleagues are trying to spend money, I'm going to try to make us a little bit tonight. Um, so I'm bringing to you a recommendation of um three vehicles that we are not um no no longer using. Um, and um, in reading policy 6560, um, a couple of these vehicles I I do believe is going to bring more than the $251 mark. So that's why I'm here tonight. Um you have all this information in your board packet, but the first item is the 2002 um Ford F4 or F550 uh box truck. Um this is owned by school nutrition. So
066this funds will go to school school nutritions. Um if you approve this tonight, it's a good solid truck. Um we just don't really use it anymore. Um they um delivered the food directly to the schools. This was used to deliver food um from maintenance to the schools back when the food trucks uh delivered food at the maintenance department. So, we don't really have a need on it, a need for it. I think it's ran about 50 miles in the last two years. Um so, it's really just sitting down there. And then the second uh vehicle is a um vehicle that was donated to CTE uh for the fire academy. It's a 1975 um Chevy C60 firet truck. I've had I don't know how many calls of people who wants to buy that thing to restore
067it. So I don't know what it'll sell for. Hopefully some collectors will go crazy. But um anyway, I I tend to sell all these on gov deals, which is what we use for our surplus. And then the last vehicle is a 2001 Dodge Ram that we um rotated out a maintenance department and then um the high school used it for a few years as a project. Um and it's a project, so I don't think I don't think that one's going to uh bring $2,500, but you never know. Um, so my recommendation is to sell these three vehicles. Um, pending your approval. If you have any questions, please let me know. Okay. Any questions for Jeremy? You've heard his recommendation. So, we need a motion to that effect before we can discuss it among ourselves. Any
068Is there a recommendation? Uh motion to follow the recommendation to dispose of the three vehicles as presented by Jeremy. >> Mr. Con makes a motion to follow the recommendations there. Second, >> Mr. Shelton a second. Now official questions hearing none. All in favor? Motion carry 70. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Calendar revisions. Mrs. HS. See how this goes so quickly. Miss Haynes, >> thank you, Mr. Pots. Board members, we are setting a record for the number of meetings, board meetings this school year that we are talking about the calendar, whether that be 2026 27 or 202526. Um, you should have at your table the most updated, the most revised, yes. um packet with calendar changes and this one has been this one has been typed three times in the last few days. So
069if we can review those amendments to the school calendars and we're looking at both the the traditional calendar as well as the early college calendar and all of this is due to the inclement weather the last couple weeks. So, if we can walk through that table just to highlight the changes and what we're proposing and then ask you for um for your approval. So, last Monday, January 26th, um when the first storm hit, um we called a breakday snow day for both students and staff. So, we were closed for everyone, most everyone except those who were helping push snow and shovel sidewalks and all those sorts of things. Um, our proposal is to wave that day for students and that teachers could have the option of making up that day either on June 11th or
070on May 28th depending on traditional versus early college calendar. Then Tuesday through Friday, we utilized remote learning days um and remote working days. So you see those listed. And then we had weather event number two um with the snow hitting over the weekend. So on Monday, February 2nd, we called another breakday snow day for both students and staff, recognizing that in reality, um, our families don't have a lot of opportunities to make those memories in the snow. And we have had families that want that opportunity. And so again, we we propose that that's waved for students and that teachers could make up that day to to con to continue with their 215day calendar either on Friday, June 12th or Friday, May 29th. And then today was our fifth and we think final remote day. And
071then tomorrow, since this was called this afternoon, that was that was the last update. tomorrow being called as an optional professional day. We really hope that we could get students back on campus, but ju it's just not feasible. Um so having an optional professional day tomorrow, but with that we need to recover some instructional hours. So our proposal is to remove the early release on Wednesday, February 25th, and make that a full day. Um, I've worked with Michael Puit, who keeps an a running spreadsheet and takes into account any delays, early dismissals, as well as break days or days that we'd ask that you wave um to make sure that we are within the 1,025 instructional hours for all of our schools. And so this proposal includes asking you to wave Monday, January 26th, Monday,
072February 2nd, um for students and then make February 25th a full instructional day. We will be within 1,025 hours at all of our sites um with that. And then the recommendation also includes making February 4th an optional workday for staff and then adding those two optional work days at the end of the year to keep them whole at 215 contracted days. I will be glad to entertain any questions if you have any. You will see on the on the the color copies of the calendars that were attached to the packet, you'll see a snowflake over the days that we called snow days and a bold R over the remote days that are listed. And then you'll see the additional teacher work days added at the end of the year to make up the break days.
073board members, as you review that and contemplate any questions you may have, I will say that um just like to thank our principles and um and of course, Miss Haynes for thinking through all of these scenarios because sometimes whenever I'm trying to have conversations about, okay, what does this day look like? There's still also it's hard to in February when you have snow on the on the ground and then thinking about what does that mean for June, right? I mean, you're trying to trying to keep that in mind as well. So, I appreciate um the flexibility and the willing to adapt and to make do with that. I will say um I did um sign or participate in a joint letter um with the other school school superintendent in our region that um is being
074submitted to the general assembly just requesting some calendar flexibility. This is again another important consideration when we're looking at just the calendar law as a whole. Um why local flexibility is important and so just reiterating the value with local flexibility um particularly whenever there's a state of emergency that's issued in our region but across the entire state. Um so because it is law um the general assembly has to act um to make to give us any additional remote learning days or anything like that. I will say one question and one of the most common questions that we get um is okay why do we only have five because some districts have 15 and those are the districts that are on the calendar weight the mountain districts because they're used to having inclement weather and having
075to deal with the snow. So they have 15 remote days that they can use whereas in our region and most regions most counties across the state only have five. Um, Miss Jarvis has done a fantastic job trying to get that message out in front of our families. And so, um, I think, um, I don't know how many questions you all have had or, um, any that's come across your your desk or that you've had to to field. I've not had a whole lot. I mean, we've had a few here and there, but I think that's because of the strong messaging that Miss Jarvis has pushed out and trying to stay ahead of that. So, I appreciate her communication and making sure that our families kind of understand that because it can get complicated whenever you're
076looking at a 10-month calendar and trying to make those decisions. So, Jinda, I will turn it back over to you to answer any questions that they might have. >> The only other thing that I'll mention is as as you all know, you've already approved um the dates for graduation for both Davy High School and Davy County Early College. um we are trying not to move those um and are trying to protect the one required workday that we have left on March 9th and at the early college I believe it's February 20th um as well as spring break when we know families have plans in many situations. So we are trying to protect those but at the same time prioritizing getting students back as quickly as we can and making sure that they're doing something valuable
077as they're home remotely. The law requires that teachers be finished by what date? >> I will have to go back and look at that date. I think students have to be out by the 12th, but we're we're with we're there's no problem with that. Okay. >> Um it's the Friday closest to the 15th, I believe. I'll have to go back and and look at that that legislation carefully, but we're we're not in any kind of issue with that because we started the the school year as early as we could this year. um with the staff, we have to have a certain number of days between their last day and their first day of the next school year. We're not in jeopardy at this point. >> Okay. Questions for Mrs. Haynes or Dr. Belchure or Clay
078or anybody else who wants to answer questions. Okay. We have a recommendation to adopt this calendar which is supported by this explanation >> and the early college calendar as well >> and the one that says Davy County in blue is the early college. So is there a motion to accept the recommendation from Miss Haynes? Miss Hurst makes the motion. Mr. Shelton seconds. Now questions, concerns, comments. All in favor? Motion passes 70. Thank you very much for all that work, Miss Haynes. >> Now, Dr. Blatner, laptop lease. >> Mr. Pots, while Dr. Blatner comes up, I will say board members, our next step will be to communicate this out to staff and to teachers as well. So just we'll we'll Karen will probably get on that first thing tomorrow or maybe even before we leave here
079tonight because they'll be interested to know what that looks like. So board, thank you for this opportunity today. Um I'm bringing for you a proposal for four-year laptop leases to replace our current laptop lease that we have that expires here in June. uh this least uh in preparation for this, I brought five different types of models in and had teachers at every level, had administrator kind of test these out live in the in the classrooms uh before we even got them. And uh they all all of them performed well. One of them did not perform well for some of our higher power users that uh have there's not many, but there are some that did there. So, we tried to adjust this lease to account for that. You'll see two different types of laptops in
080there. One for the majority of everyone and the other one for those higher users in there. We use a statewide contract for competitive bidding for this. And um we're proposing the 4-year lease which would be an installment of $165,944 each year of that time. So re recommending that we approve the lease presented. >> Okay. You hear the recommendation, Dr. Blatner, to approve the uh lease as presented in the packet. Is there a motion to that effect? >> Oh, okay. We have a motion by Mr. Jones. Is there a second? Mr. Hunter make a second. Now, questions or concerns? All in favor of the motion. Motion carries 7. >> Thank you. And next, Mrs. McKenzie. Mrs. Ratage. Mackenzie. Ratage. >> Push a button. I push the wrong button. >> Can I just use the arrows? >>
081All right. >> Okay, Miss Rage, I'm ready. Your time. >> Yes. Thank you. Good evening, Chairman Pototts, members of the board and staff. Thank you for the opportunity to come today to talk to you about our preschool program. Um, it's not something I get to do very often. Um, so I have a lot of stuff to share. I gave you a lot of information in the slideshow, but I'll try to keep my my comments brief. Um, so to give you just an overview of our preschool department, currently we operate 16 classrooms on seven campuses in Davyy County schools um at all six elementary schools and then of course our central Davyy Developmental Preschool which is in downtown Moxville. We have five-star licenses through the division of child development early education at all those classrooms which
082is the highest star rating that you can attain. And then our developmental preschool at Central Davyy and one of our classrooms at Canancer have a restriction on their license that certifies them as a developmental day. Um and that allows us to provide therapies and services and care for children with disabilities and delays. Currently we serve children ages two through kindergarten. Um, I didn't put five because some kids go to kindergarten at six. Um, we really just kind of work with families and make sure that there's a good transition plan for each child and that they're entering kindergarten when it is the most developmentally appropriate time for them. Our total physical capacity is 258. We are currently enrolled at 247, which is a 96% enrollment, which is where we've kind of been all year. Um, and
083then that next figure there shows that we have a weight list with 103 children on it, ages two to four. And you may ask me, why do you have a weight list with 103 kids if you're only 96% enrolled? Um, and that would be a good question, but that's primarily because our EC classrooms, we are assessing children all school year. And if children demonstrate through that assessment process, we have a play-based team um at J-sech that is led by Amy Far who's our lead school psychologists. Um we test kids at about two years, nine months and then we start serving them on their third birthday. And because kids turn three all school year long, um we have to hold some slots so that we have um openings for children who come to us. We take
084community referrals. We get a lot of referrals from pediatricians, from the um health department, DSS. Um so we are never actually 100% enrolled. That number, the 103 on our weight list is indicative of private paying tuition families. Um and then on our EC referral side, to give you another idea of numbers, we do about 120 to 140 referrals a year. Um so far this year, we've completed 66. We're in process of 33 more um within that 90-day window. So, when you look at I have 11 spots, but I'm currently testing 33 kids. We're we're enrolled at 96%, but most days it feels a little bit more like 110%. So, that gives you a little information about our numbers. Um, one of the things I wanted to make sure I highlighted with you guys today that
085is something that a lot of people don't know about us, um, and that sets us apart from other preschools in the district or in the county, I'm sorry. Um, is our multiple funding sources. Um, and that is just a huge perk to us being a part of Davy County schools. We have access to the maintenance team. Jeremy came and shoveled my sidewalks himself this morning. Um, shout out to him again today. We appreciate that. Um there's a lot of things that we perks that we have, but these funding sources gives us a lot of stability as a program, but it also allows us to serve different types of students. Um and our first funding source is our private tuition. We are actually one of the only counties in the state of North Carolina that has
086private pay preschool in a public school district. It's really rare. Um the history of our program, there's a reason why we have that. It's it it's a long story. I won't get into that tonight. Um, but we have a good um history and of quality child care from the private side. And we also really cater to Davy County Schools employees. They have a special rate. I talked with you guys about it last year. Um, they have special hours and they have priority enrollment. Um, I'm not going to open the fee schedule, but I've linked it there for your reference if you're interested. Our second source of funding is our EC funding. I just talked about that a little bit about our playbased team and how we evaluate students and the level of needs. If a
087child has a demonstrated need where their services go over three hours a day, then they um automatically receive free preschool in one of our developmental day classrooms. If their services are under three hours a day, we have an itinerant team that will go to them wherever they are. So, we go to every public and private preschool in Davyy. We go to church-based preschools and that's our itinerate teacher, but it's also our speech pathologists, our OT, our PT. Um, we span the whole county. Last source of funding is NC preK. Um, many you probably think, a lot of people think that's all we do is NC preK, but our our department is actually much more complex than that. Um, but NC PreK is a grant-f funded free pre kindergarten program for four-year-olds in North Carolina. It's
088serviced in all 100 counties in the state and our county. Davy County Schools administers that grant for all of the county. Um I serve as the local contractor. We subcontract um classrooms in private centers across the district. Jenda is the co-chair of our committee that helps make decisions on how we um utilize the the that funding. We have 157 NC preK slots that have been allotted to us from the state of North Carolina. Currently, Davy County schools utilizes 121. Next year, that number is going to bump up to 139 after a recent closure of a childcare center in the Moxville area. So, that kind of shows you um how much we're providing the majority of early education in Davy County. Just some quick facts about us. Our teachers are certified. They have BK licenses. Our
089assistants have two-year degrees. We have the highest um staff child ratios. In our DD classrooms, that's one to six. So, we have three adults in every classroom of 18 children. And then in our NC preK classrooms, it's 1 to nine. So, we have two adults in every classroom. And um so, one of the things Dr. Dr. Belchure wanted me to talk a little bit about is the landscape of early education across our county and how that's changing and what that means necessarily for our department. So, really quick that just some fun facts about Davy County. We only have six half-day church preschools in the county. Four of those are in advance. They operate for three hours a day where there are two in downtown Boxville. There are no part-time preschool programs in the Kulami area
090or the William Ravy area outside of those two Head Start classrooms that operate 10 months a year. Those half-day church preschools and your part-time Head Start preschools operate Labor Day to Memorial Day. So, they cater to they serve a purpose, but they don't meet the need of working families who work eight hours a day and work 12 months out of the year. There are only in the county of Davyy four licensed full-time childcare centers that are open for more than six hours a day and that are operating for more than 10 months out of the year. And I'll give you some numbers about that on the next slide. I've mentioned a couple of times that there have been two in the last 18 months, two of our major childcare centers in Davyy have closed. Um,
091a lot of that is budget and funding and some legislative things at the state have made it harder for them to operate and to be profitable. Um, both of those centers have been open for more than 30 years. Um, and operated by the same people for over 30 years and it's a great loss to our community. Um, and when that second one closes in June of 2026, we will have lost 28% of our funded child care slots in Davyy. So, really quick, just some numbers. I tried to make a chart that made sense. I don't know if it does, but um I over a three-year span, if you look at August 24 to 25 to 26, that first column there, those are your four private full-time childcare centers. In August of 24, there were 371
092slots um for children ages 0 to five. In 25, that dropped to 323. and in 26 that number will go down to 247. What's important to note about that is that the census data from November of 2025 showed that we have in Davy County 2,565 children ages 0 to 5. So that means that there's less than 10% of those children um that would be able to be cared for in a licensed regulated childare center and a family that needed had a dual income family or working families and they needed child care. That's available to less than 10% of our families in Davyy. The next column is where Davyy County Schools lives. We operate 10 months out of the year. Our instructional day is six and a half hours per day. In 24, we were only
093serving ages three to five. We had 278 slots. In 25 this school year, we increased that age. We started serving two-y olds. A big chunk of that hundred kids on our weight list are two-year-olds. Um so that number went up. And you see that this figure um represents the highest number in Davyy. And then the third um column is your faith base, 10 months, three hours a day. um those church preschools, they've also experienced a closure and that's reflected in the bottom. I think the most important number on this spreadsheet is the bottom right, number 824. Um is that in August when we start out um there are 824 options for any child aged 0 to 5 to receive some sort of early education knowing that there's 2500 zero to 5 year olds in Davy
094County. Um, and knowing as we do as educators the importance of early education and that how that prepares children for school that there's only availability for a third of our student of our children in Davy County to have some sort of early education or early intervention before they hit kindergarten. Our elementary principles and our kindergarten teachers would be able to talk all day about the impacts of that in the classroom. Um, that's not the purpose of my presentation today, but that's certainly a conversation that we're having. Um but my last slide just talks about what that means for us and what we're doing next steps for our preschool department. Obviously um of the most urgency is finding some additional classroom space for the subcontracted slots that we're losing for next school year. We don't want
095to give that funding back. We do get an administrative piece of funding for that. So, if we have to if we were have to give those funds back for those slots and not be able to serve those children, it would impact our administrative budget as well. Um, so we're working to explore some additional classroom space in the Koulami area um to to help continue to serve those 18 students and the and the families there. And, you know, of course, also looking at increasing ages served. Um, our overall goal is always kindergarten readiness. how can we prepare these students to be functioning in a classroom by the time they hit kindergarten? Um, and so we understand that that's a big goal right now. Um, when you look at the strategic plan for Davy County Schools, that
09690% graduation rate, um, a lot of people think that as preschool, that's not something we would really concern ourselves with, but the research really shows that access to early education has a huge impact on high school graduation rates. Um, and we need to make sure that we're serving the community and meeting the needs. So, I will answer any questions that you have. >> This is presented as information only. >> Yes, this is an information item and and board members, I will just point out a couple of things and add a few comments to what Mackenzie presented. So, um, first of all, I want to just recognize Mackenzie and her team. They do great work and it's important work. this is now becoming a community issue that we're that you're going to start to hear more
097conversations about what are we going to do? How do we help address this need? And um I just want to commend Gina Taylor with Smart Start. She's a a key player and a great point person to help lead some of that work and give us guidance alongside of McKenzie and our faith-based centers and our private centers. She plays a critical role in that. She's hosting a roundt conversation with some community leaders this week to start initiating some of that conversation because it does start to lead in even to in some cases, you know, workforce development. If you're trying to attract quality workers, one of the first things they're going to look at is the quality of the school system. Is there child care available? So, the ripple effects really extend beyond just this conversation. Another
098example of that even from our level um we I presented last last month the capacity of some of our schools and what that looks like. Well, if you think about where those child centers are located there in Moxville. Moxville is one of our more um larger schools, elementary schools that's feeling some of that population pressure. So, we get requests for reassignment to attend Moxville oftentimes because that's where child care is. So, a, you know, a family that's having to go to work at 5:00 a.m., they're looking for a center that's in Moxville that they can have served their family and naturally that they're going to try to seek where they can go to school and drop them off because out of convenience and when they can pick up. So, um, we oftentimes have to look
099at that as a need for a reassignment request. So, the ripple effects really, um, present a lot of challenges. I will want to point out and McKenzie referenced this and a lot of the um not only for the private centers and the profit there is is not so not so lucrative um because of the work but then some of the state reporting requirements and the challenges around that. Um, I would love for our faith-based centers, you know, they they do great work, but oftentimes they're not in it for the money, but then it's the state reporting requirements and some of the things that the state expects out of those that have made it even more difficult for them as well. Um, ideally, they're they're a key and critical partner in this. They do great work.
100And we get asked or some of a lot of the conversations, well, why don't the faith-based child care centers just expand their hours? Um, and McKenzie, you might elaborate on that on I think some of them may even be volunteers in some of those places or >> if they operate from more than four hours a day, they have to be licensed and that license will carry regulations. Um, and that affects staffing and all all kinds of funding stuff. >> Are there any uh daycarees, childcare centers now offering second shift opportunities for parents? >> None of them. >> None. There used to be one precoid, but I don't think anybody has picked that back up. >> Other questions for Miss Rage? If not, thank you so much for that uh information and update. Next on the
101agenda, I believe, is public address. Yes. Is M. Wilson, is there anyone signed up to has signed up to address you today. I guess they are concerned about the weather and want you to get home safely. >> Okay. Having none, we will call for a motion to adjourn. Mr. Caler makes that motion. Is there a second? Mr. Shelton makes a second. All in favor? Thank you. Motion carries 70. Thanks all of you guys for coming out and drive carefully. We may have black ice from the time you came in to Atlanta. Thank you, board members.