001for Davy County Schools Board of Education regular meeting. It's great to see a good turnout here this evening and uh we will begin by uh sharing a a little bit of a a sad moment. Um many of you new coach Buddy Lowry who passed away since our last meeting and Mr. Wayne Harp. Uh I would mention his name as well because although we can't always mention every person that's deceased from our uh school system, the building we're standing in, sitting in, uh Mr. Harp had a lot of input in the design of it, not for a board of education facility, but back when it was a media center and u so he has also passed away since our last uh opportunity. Uh so I would ask if you'd be willing to join me in a
002moment of silence and then we'll have our invocation. Dear God, we p uh pause to think about our friends and former co-workers, Coach Buddy Lowry and Mr. Wayne Harp. We thank you for their life and for exposing us to these two wonderful people who had a great love for Davy County High School students. We remember the family who were left behind to cherish the memories of Coach Lowry and Mr. Harp. We ask for your special supply of peace and comfort uh to Tara and her children. Again, we're so appreciative of their goodness to Davy County High School and thank you for allowing us to spend some time with them. also ask that you help this board of education tonight to make decisions that are in the best interest of our students and our staff. We
003ask for wisdom and discernment when we deliberate and make decisions. Thank you for the friends and relatives that are here to support those being recognized this evening. I especially remember the parents and ask that you would grant them wisdom and patience and strength as they support and nurture their children. Help them to be examples of love and caring as they lead their families. And may their homes just be filled with order and security for the benefit of those children that they have. I pray that each parent may find joy in this journey of guiding their students throughout this school year. In your name I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you. This is a special week coming up next week and I'd like to ask do we have veterans in the building? If you would you come
004forward any veteran would you come front and center please? I ask us I pledge allegiance >> to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. One of the veterans is someone who I hadn't seen in many many years and I was his principal way back in in the dark ages. So you did well. Thank you. Um board. Next on our agenda is to uh approve the minutes from our last meeting, October the 7th. You've had a chance to peruse those and approve them. Uh is there a motion to approve? Joe makes a motion to approve his second. Cons. Any questions regarding the minutes? If not, show hands of approval. Motion carries 6. And might I add that
005Michael Hunter, who is a member of this board, will be here a little later. Uh he uh participates as a volunteer at South David Middle School in the wrestling program and they're wrestling out of the county this afternoon. So he will be here just as quickly as he can. He wanted me to share that with you. Um, next board on our important calendar dates to just uh remind you that November the 11th is a day that we'll nationwide honor as we did tonight to our uh veterans who came up and u is so important that in the state of North Carolina to my recollection it's the only school only day of the year you can't go to school. Is that correct? still. >> So, that still puts some uh some uh emphasis on the importance
006and and we do appreciate you veterans uh and their service and there's lots of activities going on in our county next week and I hope you'll be able to step out and attend some of those. Uh also want to thank the board members. Many of you, if not all of you, participated in an event that we don't do very often, which was serving lunch to our children. Uh it's quite a fun hour and a half for me. I hope it was for you. And I do say thank you for taking time to go and participate in the child nutrition week and uh hear the other people as they do their task. It's so different than what we see out in inside the classroom and it was quite a bit of fun. So thank you for
007doing that. Uh Mr. Sumendo, it's time for your report. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. and I echo the sentiments about uh Veterans Day and it's um 71 years that we have been recognizing our veterans with Veterans Day. It's a long time and certainly um the service um is is worthy of all the recognition and that would include our very own Mr. Pots with the National Guard and Mr. Codle um with the Marine Corps and the National Guard as well. We appreciate your service and want to express our thanks to you. Well, just a couple of of things. Um, with that said, I also appreciate our principles and our students who have organized some Veterans Day activities for our community. Um, if you have the opportunity to get out and to be part of that within
008your your community, I certainly encourage you to do that and thank our students for um, organizing and being part of that. I also want to take a moment and just um, recognize Mr. Brusso and the Davy High Wind Ensemble. They're going to be performing at the Music Educators Conference on Veterans Day, November 11th. first time that they've ever been selected to perform. They're one of the few um bands in the state that will be there performing and so I'm sure sure we'll get them up in front of all of you at one time at some time to be recognized. But I just wanted to um wish them luck and I know that they will represent Davy County well and will make us proud um next week at that event. We've got a lot of congratulations,
009a lot of um folks that have been really doing some great things. our fall sports teams are wrapping up and um I know that our coaches, they spend countless hours of practice and planning and preparing and traveling and just certainly appreciate all of our our middle school and high school coaches and the time that they put in. Um some will be still competing in playoffs and look forward to to cheering them on. Others have wrapped up with some really strong performances and we'll hear from some of them even even this evening and be able to recognize them directly. also would like to um recognize our CTE department and specifically um Davy High. They have um a vision for an advanced manufacturing lab at the high school. We are working on some plans for that. But
010Miss Waldridge, um Mr. Mars and Mr. Coun to be commended for all of their efforts and and putting that together and presenting a plan for that. Miss Stone um for helping organize and and kind of put that in place. And then recently even Miss Johnson's culinary students were part of preparing a a lunch for some of our community members to to give them a preview of what that would look like. And so we're working on that vision. Hopefully we'll make that happen um soon. But just wanted to to put that out there. You can read about it even in the enterprise where they've even had a story on that as well. Our exceptional children's program um and Miss Kuster and her team and her department, they planned and organized a special trunk or treat. You
011may have seen some pictures. But I think we have one even up here that you can see um Miss Kuster as a as a fairy there. So I'm certainly appreciate the the treats, the games, the enthusiasm that came with that. It was a great opportunity for our um to put love in action across our community and a lot of time and energy went into that as well. And then our Davyy experience is a professional development day that all of our staff and teachers participate in. We've been doing this for 13 years for our teachers and it helps them get renewal credits and professional development. But Jin Line, John Marshall and our curriculum team, they do a fantastic job structuring that and putting that together. I was my first time seeing it and experiencing that. I
012was amazed at the opportunity that's provided for our teachers and all the work that goes into that. So, a lot of really um special recognitions. October was a busy month. It's a long month. Um teachers are tired, students are tired, parents are tired, but um you can see why there's a lot going on. Parents, we certainly appreciate you and and what you do to make all of this happen as well. And part of that is we have um continued to see consistent improvement year-over-year with our attendance and our princely principal monthly report that they report out on their attendance. We've been at over 95% for the first two months um so far this school year, which is which is really good. So parents, thank you for making making that a priority as well. Um, a
013couple of other just final things that I'll wrap up with and um share with you. We do have um some some activity that even takes place in the fall with hiring and human resources. um they've been were recently at App State uh for a job fair and Miss Kuster um represented us there and was out recruiting and of course Miss Haynes um is always out um beating the bushes and trying to get us teachers and find us all of our staff. So um we appreciate all of that work and Miss Haynes even recently presented at Kataba College um to some potential teachers and what it's like to be in to spotlight Davy County and the great profession that we have the honor of serving in. We've also um had a meeting recently with parents and
014teachers. Our parent advisory and our teacher advisory. We had 53 total participants. Between those two meetings where we could provide them information about what's going on across our school system. They had the opportunity to ask us questions and give us information that they would like to see shared with them in uh future meetings. So, we certainly appreciate um their participation. That was a good turnout. I was very impressed and pleased with the thought that went into and the questions and the um support that our community has for our school system. And then finally, as always, we are continuing to um have conversations about next year's school calendar and Miss Haynes has been meeting with teachers and getting feedback on our calendar committee and meeting with the community to get information there as well. So, um
015as we continue to work together to find a calendar that meets the needs of our students, then also certainly um serves our community well. So, stay tuned. as some of you might start thinking about planning vacation already for next summer. Um we're trying to get that calendar wrapped up into you in the next few months. Operations wise, um school nutrition. Um they have prepared a special Thanksgiving lunch on November 20th. So we want to see as many people as we can, as many of our students eating in the cafeteria. Um roasted turkey with gravy, cornbread stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, and peach cobbler. Sounds like a great meal to me. It's that time of year and I I'm already looking forward to Thanksgiving. So, um we'll give a little preview of that. We appreciate um
016our school nutrition for making that happen every year. Also, just a reminder um you can visit our website for and I hesitate to say this, but inclement weather procedures. So, it's getting that time of year um when we might have de weather related delays or cancellations. We have all of that information on our website. Um, and so just want to make sure that we put that out there and that the community understands and and acknowledges that we don't want to disrupt your daily routines and schedules, but we also want to make sure our students are safe as we start to think about what the winter might bring. And then finally, um I'm pleased to say that Davyy County along with 15 other school districts has been selected um by the North Carolina School Superintendent Association
017in partnership with Franklin CVY Education um to bring some professional leadership training for our school administrators that would include um principles, assistant principles, and district administrators to look at several um programs. Uh part of those are about relationships and trust. And so we look forward to what that looks like as we um begin to train our our our leaders on what it means to be a strong and a strong trust and collaborative school leader and um certainly uplift our educators and all that they do across our communities every day. So Mr. Chairman, that is all that I have. I appreciate the opportunity to again um share all the great things that's happening all across Davy County. >> And when is that training going to be? >> That training will be June 11th. >> June 11.
018Okay. >> Part of your summer training. >> Summer training. Yes, sir. >> All right. Any questions for the superintendent board? >> Thank you, sir. >> Yes. Now for a fun part of our meeting, uh we will have some student recognitions. And I just want to ask if you will stay until all the recognitions are over and we'll take a just a little bit of a hesit hesitancy period where you can leave if you need to because I know you want to get home and work on your schoolwork and all those kind of things. But uh that and homework. Yeah. So that uh that would keep us from having a lot of disruption if you'll just wait till the very end. There's only three groups that are going to be presenting and the first of those
019uh presenter is Mr. Jason Carter who is a music teacher in our elementary schools. Thank you board. I do appreciate your time for us here. Um, I'm here uh I'm the music teacher at Moxil and Cornatch Elementary and I'm here to present an award to one of my elementary students for making it to the North Carolina elementary honors course. You had mentioned Mr. Brouso is performing with the Davy High band at the uh convention north for North Carolina Beach educators convention. Uh we actually have one of our students in elementary school that will be performing on Sunday doing the same thing but we're going to be singing. Um auditions were submitted back online in midepptember. That's always been one of the challenges for this is because we start school in late [clears throat] August and
020so I had three weeks to prepare the kids who wanted to audition and this year it was an operetic excerpt in Latin. So that had more to add more to the challenge but we did have one student that was really interested in trying it. So uh we have about 700 students from across the state audition. They take the top 150 students and we have one student that placed that was Miss Ella Katon. Um, like I mentioned, her performance will be this Sunday at noon at the Ben Convention Center at Winston said it was part of the NCAA convention. So, Ella, would you come forward, please? [applause] >> Mr. Carter, you didn't tell her she had to sing, did you? Well, not today. [laughter] Your Sunday. >> Congratulations, Ella. >> Our second uh recognition will be
021done by Miss Emily Moore at South Davy Middle School. >> Good evening, Chairman Pototts, board members, employees, parents. I'm excited to take a moment to recognize a group of student athletes that have done an amazing job this season, and that's our South Davy girls tennis team. Um they went undefeated in the western division of the Tri County Conference which includes North Davy, South Davy, Ellis, Morsville, Selma Burke, and Western. Um they showed incredible skill, focus, and determination. Um what's even more impressive is that several of these girls were undefeated in their singles matches and their doubles matches. And what I think is really cool is they're a mixture of sixth graders and eighth graders. So they've never played before um until this season. So, um, it took all of them to work together as a
022team. Their coach, um, Andy Suts could not be here tonight, but he does wish to tell them how proud he is of them. Um, it does take team and dedication and teamwork and collaboration. So, I want to introduce them to you individually. Um, when I call them, I'm going to have them come up. Um, but we just want to say how proud we are of them and how they have represented our school with pride and they've shown our Tiger spirit. So, I'm going to call them individually and then we will Peter picture mate. Piper Crotz, Kylie Edwards, Halley Head, Macy O'Brien, Anna Parsley, Aubry Revvice, Emma Grace Snow, Bethany Spock, Kate Kate Wellelbborne and Elena York. And those that are not here are basketball players and they had a game tonight. So, [applause] Next, I
023will call on Miss Freezer from William Ellis Middle School. There she's already there. >> I know this. All right. So, good evening, Superintendent Belchure, Chairman Pototts and Board of Education and guests. As the principal at Ellis Middle School, I'm here uh tonight to recognize several of our fall athletic teams for their achievements over the season. I've enjoyed watching these players. I was out there on their very first day of triyouts and practice. I've enjoyed watching them throughout the season grow in their skills. I am going to first call up Oscar Dixon, our men's tennis coach, to recognize his team. Good evening everyone. We're gathered to celebrate the journey, the dedication, and the sheer grit shown by this fantastic group of young men. When we talk about William Ellis Middle School tennis, we're talking about more
024than just rockets and fuzzy yellow balls. We're talking about heart, hustle, and hope. Every player on the team made a commitment to improve and that is what we're truly proud of. This season was particularly exciting because we welcomed three new players to the court. Watching them develop their skills so quickly was truly remarkable. Beyond this core sheet is the little moments and the unique personalities that truly define a season. We remember Elijah's successful first match, a testament to hard work paying off early. We saw talent demonstrating sheer persistent with every single ball. We remember Chance, who wasn't just playing tennis, but channeling an utter eager, convinced that he was the one and only Nick Curious. Cotton's excitement was always contagious, and we all learned to love Sam's respectful responses, always meeting every instruction with a
025crisp, confident, yes, sir. We saw Michael's kick serve become a consistent weapon that put pressure on our opponents. The definition of hustle belonged to Carsten, running relentlessly between points, always ready for the next challenge. For a great moment of connection, there's Luke, always looking over at the sidelines after missing a tough point, reminding us that we're all in this together. For the moment when a coach needed a lift, we had London offering confidence with that reassuring nod and the phrase, "It's going to be okay, coach. They got this." And finally, there's Liam, whose serious focus showed everyone the kind of concentration it takes to succeed. These moments, big and small, are what make the team a family. And speaking of making a difference, let's talk about that incredible record. After dropping a tough first match
026to start the season, this team showed in unbelievable resilience. You didn't just bounce back, you dominated, leading to an undefeated scene on our home court. But the biggest victory came at the end through hard work, focus, and grit. You didn't just have a great season. You made William Ellis proud. For the first time since 2009, the team brought home the Tri County Conference title. You broke a 16-year drought and prove that dedication truly pays off. So, to the William Ellis School boys tennis team, congratulations. You earned every moment of success this season. We also want to give a special shout out to Elijah who stepped up and took on the critical role of team analyst during the conference finals. Your insights were a gamecher. Thank you. Take pride in what you accomplished this year. Team,
027you showed up, you fought, and you grew. Congratulations. And let's meet members of team. We have Luke Hankkins, Carson Chapman, Liam Schaefer, Landon Key, Samurel, and Elijah Hill. Fortunately, we have some. Shall we? Let's applause in place. Just please [applause] and go with that. You go with that. Today we celebrate an incredible achievement, a conference championship that didn't just mark end of a season, but defined a legacy of excellence. Tonight we honor the conference champion in boy singles, London Key. Lannon's journey to the season was nothing short of brilliant. From the moment he stepped onto the court in the first match until the final point of the conference tournament, he was a force of nature. He wasn't just good, he was undefeated. London held down the crucial number one seed in both singles and doubles,
028achieving a perfect unblenmished record that speaks volume about his focus, skill, and dedication. But while his serves were faster and his forehand were more aggressive, the most significant change we saw this year wasn't physical, it was mental. In the past season, London might have led a bad call or an unforced error got under his skin. But this year, we watched a true competitor emerge. His composure, his focus, and his ability to handle were immense. To handle pressure were immense. He transformed his mental game, turning setbacks into fuel. And that maturity is what truly sealed his undefeated season and this conference title. Perhaps the most powerful moment of the tournament was the final match of the boys singles bracket. It brought together not two rivals, but two teammates, two friends who had spent countless hours practicing
029together, London and his teammate Liam. While any conference championship is special, winning it against a teammate brings a unique blend of competitive fire and mutual respect. Landon and Liam showed everyone in attendance what true sport manship looks like. They battled with intensity and skill, pushing each other to their limits, proving that iron sharpens iron. But the real defining moment of the season for me as London and Liam were about to take the court for the championship match. Both asked if they could share the trophy. That request born of genuine friendship and mutual respect spoke volume about the heart and character of both young men. Landing your season was a masterpiece, a demonstration of consistency and dominance. As a team captain, you have not only had an exceptional you you have not only been an exceptional
030athlete, but an outstanding leader who sets the standard for everyone around you. Please join me one last time in celebrating our undefeated number one seed and two thou 2025 boys singles conference champion London K. [applause] >> [applause] >> Now, I'm going to call on Coach Larry Williams to uh recognize the uh fall football conference champions as well as the men's golf conference champions. Good evening. I'd like to thank everyone that came out tonight um to celebrate this recognition of all these student athletes. Um our football team this year, last year we had a very good football team as everyone knows in the county. And when we started this year, I told all of our coaches, I said, "Look, we have three returners and we're going to have to coach our rear ends off this year."
031All right. Uh, we got to get these kids ready. I think we have what it takes. We just have to make sure it's up to us. Um, and so at July 29th, I believe it was, we showed up, uh, coaches at 9:00 a.m. we started practice um, while a lot of kids were still at home asleep in bed. And then we had to actually switch to 8 a.m. practices. Um, we had had some 6:00 a.m. practices uh before school once school started so we could get the practice in before the heat in the afternoon. But all the kids showed up, the attendance was amazing and they went to work. I think uh the best thing or what I was uh about this team was when they showed up, we sort of went through the first
032game, everything was fine, but then we ran into a buzz saw the second game known as South Davyy. Um, and we pretty much bury took over and anything that could go wrong went wrong. Uh, but I told the kids, I remember EZ Smith used to be a he's a Hall of Fame North Carolina High School Athletic Association coach and coach at Concord. Uh, I had to talk to him one time and he said, this is always what he lived by. Uh, coaches lose ball games, players win them. He said, as long as you take that approach, you're going to be fine. And so that's always what I've taken. Um, and I told the kids after that game, it was on me. I didn't have you ready. Don't worry about it. We're going to see them
033again. So, the next day, we went right to work. The kids bought in. Um, we worked hard. We finished out the season. Um, and sure enough, we faced South Dave in the championship. And I think Coach Bllock made the statement of the best game in Davyy he's seen in his lifetime. uh double overtime. Hate that either team had to lose. If you're fortunate enough to be there to see it, it was back and forth the whole game. Um the kids had a lot of respect for each other on both sides. Um they're friends during the summer, but that night they were foes. Um but one thing that I do remember is I actually told the kids we scored the last play and then baby scored. They had to kick Dexter extra point to tie it
034south Davy and I sat there I told him said fell the playbook's empty. We got to block this kick. I said cuz after that I'm going to be drawn in the dirt. And they blocked the kick. But the one thing I remember was when I told them that I looked in their eyes there was no doubt. I told them all year trust each other. You got to trust your teammates. And there was no doubt. They had no fear and they had no doubt they were going to win the game. And fortunately, we were on the victorious side that night. But uh someone asked me what was the most memorable from this year. And you always got those memories. The ones that I remember of the kids that first start playing football and you turn over
035there and you got the kids been playing their whole life and they're helping them on the side. You didn't even tell them to. You know, they've taken control of their team. They're in charge of their team and they've taken ownership, which is what I preach all year. But every before every game and after every game, uh, we had an individual that wanted to lead us in thanks for everything. And in the excitement trying to get back to school because it was a late night, they had school the next day. We left the championship game. We got back and one of them said, "Coach, we're not done yet." He said, "Uh, we we forgot to say the prayer." And I said, "Well, that's up to we're all in the locker room." So we went in a
036locker room that individual led us in prayer. And those are the things that when you look at it, the games are little things, but when you've been able to affect and set examples for those kids, those are the things you remember as a coach. All right. Um, so at this time, uh, I like to call them up. I know they're all not here, but I want to call everyone and then I'll need you to come up here. Uh Mason Barnes, Xander Carter, Casey Klein, Connor Corneter, Brody Daget, Ethan Deal, Adoran Hamilton, Kingston Hamilton, Jud Harbor, Willis Hollowman, Jackson Howard, Cam James, Eli Johnson, Bryce McCrae, Jason Moxley, Cameron Ogle, Joseph Pontterero, I can't remember if I ever say that right. Um, Tyler Robinson, Levi Rolls, Landon Sanders, Janie Scott, Marco Setassie, Matthew Shaver, David Ty,
037Lean Ward, Ian Watkins, Kyle Wilson, Ganon Wisecarver, and Graham Wood. >> [applause] [applause] >> All right. Um, this is something I had not planned on and not that I had planned on it, but it fell into my lap. um our golf team this year. Um won the conference championship by an average of over 30 strokes at every single match. That's over nine holes. Um and they were pretty dominant. Uh Coach Eaton, Mark Eaton would come in every day. I'd say, "Well, how did it go?" And he was like, "Uh about the same." [laughter] And I was like, "You know, is there any competition?" I said, "I'm not asking just." He said, "No, not really this year." Um, and he said, "We're we're pretty good." He said, "My hardest thing is always, you know, cuz they
038were limited to how many could play the course at some courses. He'd be like deciding which ones were going to play that day." Um but um Coach Eaton uh most know probably in this room but coach Eaton has got some health concerns right now and please keep him in your thoughts and prayers and and what he's going through is really what puts sports in perspective at the end of the day. I tell my kids all the time it's just a game. It teaches you valuable lessons. It it allows us as coaches to help produce young men and women that's going to become our leaders. Um, and if you get a chance to just play a little part in their life, then that's something that, uh, you'll never forget. And hopefully that's what you strive for.
039But, um, like I said, it's it really puts everything into perspective when you when you encounter those things. Um, so what I want to do first is, um, I'm going to ask the golf team to come up. I don't have your list of names. All right. Um, there was nine total. Um, I see I got Hunter Hoff, Freddy Harris, Tanner Taylor, and that guy on the in you'll hear his name in a minute. That's Dawson Griffin. All right. So, they um, like I said, they won by average of over 30 some strokes every game. And, um, next year here, there's supposed to be some competition from Irwin, but I don't know. We'll see. U,, but and then I've got one more after that. Uh, try to get this. [applause] All right. U, like I said,
040you'll hear uh the gentleman on the end, you'll hear his name again. Um, they were also this year um I believe in golf. I I know about the game of golf, how it's played and how it's scored, but I think it's called the medalist or whatever or something. Maybe think of another sport if you finish in first or second. I don't know. Uh but uh this gentleman finished first in every single match in the conference this year. Um and then he won the conference individual title with uh over nine holes by five strokes. That he shot underpar uh on nine holes. Um, I think when he gets to the high school, they're going to be happy to have him. Um, I know they're going to be happy to have him. I have had the fortune
041to have coached him in baseball, so I don't know what's going to happen there because he's pretty good in baseball, too. Um, so we'll see. All right, Mr. Dawson Griffin. [applause] >> Thank you. Thank you, coach. [applause] And I'm I'm so proud of you guys. you were so attentive and respectful for other people as they received their recognition. Thanks a bunch parents. That's a great example when you do that kind of stuff. So, we're going to take uh just a quick pause, guys. And uh if you feel you need to leave, have at it. Thank you for being here. I knew it would be like having a principal meeting, [laughter] but we're glad you're here, principles and APS. [laughter] What was that? >> She said they'd skip Thursday because they got a meeting on Thursday.
042[laughter] I am not giving you permission. Okay. Next on our agenda is the consent agenda. We've received information um prior to tonight regarding the consent agenda items. A thick and bulk of these came in our packet were from our policy changes from the summer which are recommendations from the schoolboard association usually at the result of either federal changes or state changes. Uh there's a whole section in here on uh title one that was basically I don't know how many pages that was that's that's all been rescended. So is there a motion to approve the consent agenda which in includes those uh HR recommendations and policy changes? Joe makes a motion. Is there a second? Jeff has second. Any questions regarding the consent agenda? All in favor? Motion carry. 6. Move over to our business item.
043Always an interesting topic of setting graduation dates and call on principal of the early college, Mr. Sam Brown, to come and share that with us. >> Sam, if if we have any questions, we'll certainly ask those, but So, Mr. Chairman, I think the um early college has proposed their graduation date um for May 22nd at Calvary West. Um that campus has the parking that's needed um space easily accessible and um all of that that would make for a a good location. Um the rehearsal is going to take place on May 20 May 21st at 1:30. Um and Calvary West will accommodate the technology needs as well. And so Sam, I don't know if you have anything to add to that, but um >> yeah, come on up to the mic. >> Share that with the
044mic since we're on TV. >> Yes. So, we presented this to our seniors and allowed them a chance to to give any feedback or concerns. You know, because this is their graduation, we want it to be something special. So, um they were excited. there was no um argument about it or you know wanting something different. So um we we do think that you know the big piece being that technological um access to things. Streaming was a challenge last year at last year's location which was unforeseen. So this is going to give us that ability to stream without issue. Yep. >> Okay. Is there a motion to approve Mr. Brown and Dr. Belchure's recommendation of graduation on May 22nd for the early college high school. Stephanie makes a motion. Marie second. You gota be quick. Are
045there questions for either Mr. Brown or Dr. Belchure or other staff members? If not, show up hands of approval of date. So moved. Thank you, sir. Next we have the my future NC 2025 attainment profile and that will be presented by Dr. Belchure. >> Thank you Mr. Chairman. So board members, I placed um before the meeting at your um desk a attainment profile that's published by the my future NC and I felt like after last week we or last month when we looked at our um accountability results and part of that is like okay what does that mean really for um Davy County and this is a a comprehensive report that's published by um a [snorts] a lot of different groups but really it's part of the North Carolina um commerce department that looks at
046okay how are we doing overall and so you'll see on the front page of that there's some demographic just at general demographic data and a couple of things that I'll point off on the the front page is you'll see the growth rate um of course it addresses our population growth and um right now in the county we're at 4.4% versus the state at 3.8% 8%. So, our county is growing. Um, I think we can look at the traffic, look at some of the housing developments and and certainly recognize and see that. And so, that means that's also good. That's a good testament to the quality of our schools that attracts families and um new residents to to to Davy County as well. You'll then look about halfway down, you'll start to see the labor market
047alignment. And there are there are five star jobs that the Department of Commerce has identified. And these these are jobs that have high wages um that have high projected growth rates and then have a lot of projected job openings. And so you'll see about halfway down in the middle the top three five-star jobs in the Winston Salem prosperity zone and that is the region that we would fall in. So you have nurse practitioners at 4% growth, data scientists at three 3.6 six and logist logisticians at 3.6% as well. And so naturally, part of our job as the school system and we're looking at the success academically is to help prepare for that job market and what that looks like. um that happens um at an early age when we start to have conversations. Visited some
048classrooms that were already talking about careers in middle school and of course when we look at our high school and some of the CTE program and just all across the the curriculum helping get ready for those kinds of jobs and many others. I think one thing I really um am and is a testament to this county and I just a shout out to Ignite Davey when you look at that chart about at the right side about halfway down postsecary enrollment for Davy County residents. Um there was a time um not so long ago when it would have been you've got to go to a 4-year university. And then you start to see um around 2017 2019 a shift in that mindset which is really important because we need skilled laborers. There are a lot of
049important jobs that that we need that are do not require a four-year degree. And so you start to see where the community college starts to play an important role and you start to see some increase with students that are um going to our community colleges. Um, and that is a testament to Ignite Davey and we're starting to see I think it's really important just to point out to the community as every opportunity we get the fruits of that labor and the good work that that has provided. And so I just wanted to highlight that. Then at the very bottom um and we mentioned earlier the the work about in in my superintendent report about the advanced manufacturing lab and this is sort of the why um and the vision behind that. When you look at
050the top three industries in Davy County, manufacturing at 25% is by and large still the largest um industry and what we are preparing the our students for a future in manufacturing. And so that's why that's so important. Then you'll see healthcare and social assistance and then retail and trade um right behind that on the back side. Then we get into looking at post-secary completion and um you can see there about on the right side there's some some good data points. I won't go over all of these because you can you can take a look at that. This is also available online but you'll see the top top destinations of collegegoers in Davyy County um in uh 2023. So, Davidson Davyy Community College and then uh Foresight Tech and our mountaineers up there in AppState for
051our 4-year university is the top university that our our students are going to. And then about halfway down, you'll see another uh bar graph there that talks about um what do our graduates plan to do after they graduate. Um se right at 77% their plan is to enroll and that could be a university or a community college. um 18% just over that um intend to go directly into employment and then um less than 5% do still choose to go to enlist. And so that's part of the conversations and kudos to our guidance counselors. Um Miss Stone, I know you see that in action every day where they're having conversations about those three EN enroll employ what what are your choices and how do we help you get there? So good work that we're seeing some
052of the fruits of that as well. I will conclude at the very bottom um where we start to look at and um Mr. Coons is in the back and we look at our our pathways to college and career. Lots of good work happening with our CTE credentials. I'm looking at those industry recognized credentials which means that they have that that our students are graduating with a credential that that um a manufacturer or an industry could look at and say you can be an asset right out of high school um to my company or to my to my industry. And so that's important. And I would always want to stop at this point when we're looking at this and just say that um 84% of our students um in D children in Davy County choose public
053education. Um that is u it's an honor for us to be able to serve those students and we're proud I I we're the best option and I think that it's important that we champion that option that we provide and the education that we provide in Davy County schools and I'm very proud to be part of it. So Mr. Chairman, I I appreciate the opportunity to share this February that this is this these are all lagging indicators. You see a lot of this data is from 2023 because it takes time for them to gather that to track them um and and to see how they're see how they're progressing and seeing if they're persisting. Our graduates are persisting on to their second year in college and then if they're persisting to get their degree, there's some
054data on there that points to that. So, it's lagging indicators, but February we will have the 2026 attainment report released and available. So, appreciate that opportunity. >> Do we still get the u summary from the state uh for high school graduates where they what they did after they left high school? Do we still receive that information? >> Yes, sir. We do. we get an annual, it's the national student clearing house data and that is sent out um and it it goes in and we can go back and look and track each individual student and where they went. Um now that that data is a little bit late by the time we get it and so oftentimes we don't know where where they're really at at that point, but we do track all of that through
055the National Student Clearing House. >> Questions for Dr. Belture or staff? >> Dr. Belture, what is the Sorry for the if the audience can't doesn't have this to understand the question, but what does pier I think I know what state means >> in some do you see? >> Yeah. So pier pier would be um counties that are similar to Davyy. >> Okay. Um there's and there's actually a UN um UNCC Chapel Hill has done a whole um demographic study of of counties that are like size >> um that compare in the um the demographics, the socioeconomic status. And when you look over on the um front of that, you'll see some of that demographic data that shows even the number of students that have access to broadband or the number of households that have access
056to broadband. So it takes into account all of those those peer counties that are similar to Davyy and how and kind of group them together and how we're performing in comparison with our peer counties. Then of course it's just the overall state average >> and it's interesting we are outperforming a lot of our >> I that's what I was going to say even though there's some opportunity for growth based on what the state thinks we should be we are significantly ahead of a lot of our peers. >> Absolutely. considering that. Do you know when they say earned college and career ready scores in reading for third through eighth grade? That seems a little >> eighth graders in college. >> That is specifically the um accountability data. So college and career ready are those that are
057scoring a four or a five. Okay. >> Grade level proficiency is three, four or five. Okay. >> So career and college ready is those that are that are at level four or five. >> Okay. Thank you for that clarification. Yep. Okay. If not, council, do we have anyone signed up for publicly addressing the board? >> I think it would be appropriate here in November to give thanks that you will hear from your constituents, just not right now between you and dinner. >> Okay. All right. Well, that being said, the next thing on the agenda is for an adjournment. Is there a motion for an anyone have any comments or anything that needs to be shared? Is there a motion to adjurnn? Con makes a motion to adjurnn. Second Joe second. All in favor, please stand.
058>> Thank [laughter] you. >> Thank you.