001[music] Heat. Heat. N. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Wait a minute. >> [clears throat] >> Okay. The June 30th meeting of the Hornet County Board of Education is now in order. If everyone will please stand. If everyone will please join me in observing a moment of silence in honor of Miss Megan Maker. Uh in her memory, she was a teacher assistant at Buouie Creek Elementary that we lost this past week. So if everyone would join me in a moment of silence, please. Thank you, Mr. Godfrey, would you lead us in prayer this morning, please? >> Yes. All bow our heads and pray. Our kind, precious heavenly father, Lord, we thank you for the privilege of being here this morning, dear Lord. Father, thank you for keeping us safe and bringing us
002down here. And I pray, Father, that as we go about doing the business of Hornet County Schools, dear Lord, that we'll do the things that we're supposed to do that will be pleasing unto you, Lord. Father, that we would be civil to one another, dear Lord, and just think about our children and our parents and our staff, Lord, here in Hornet County, how wonderful they are, dear Lord, and and how good that it is, Father. One of the best school systems, Lord, in North Carolina. Thank you for that, dear Lord. Father, I pray for the lost, Lord, that Father, if they don't know you, that they would find you, dear Lord, before it's eternally too late. Now Lord bless us in this meeting. Father, you heard the moment of silence. Lord, I pray that you
003would be with that loved one's family, dear Lord, that you would comfort them, bless them, guide them, and direct them, Lord, in their s sorrow and need. And Father, we'll ask such things in the sweet name of Jesus and for his sake. Amen. >> Amen. >> Mr. Robot, would you lead us in our pledge? >> I will. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. You may be seated. Are there any uh corrections to the agenda? >> Mr. Chairman, I move that we approve the agenda as presented. >> Second. We have a motion and a second. Uh chairman votes I. >> Abate I. >> Gain I >> Dr. I.
004>> Hearing no nay votes. The motion is approved and the agenda is approved as published. Our first item of business this morning. We have a special presentation and this is dealing with community schools and uh this will be led by Mr. White uh assisted by Miss Courtney Kersner, our community schools coordinator and Dr. Calveta Beard, our principal at Dun Elementary School. So, Mr. White, >> Chairman Pow, members of the board, thank you so much for your attention to this this morning. Uh, we were blessed as a school district starting in January to be able to implement community schools um in one of our schools as a part of the pilot program in the Sand Hills where all the schools in the Sand Hills [clears throat] now have at least one community school. Um, and so,
005Mrs. Courtney Kersner is our community schools coordinator. um does an exceptional job at Dun Middle um with the work there that the community schools organization, North Carolina Community Schools Coalition has entrusted her to do in our school district. So this morning uh Mrs. Kersner assisted by Dr. Beard will talk about the great work going on at Dun Elementary uh and maybe even give us a preview into what the 26 27 school year looks like. And so without further ado, Mrs. Courtney Kirsten, come forward. Good morning. Thank you all for having me here. I'm excited to share the impact so far that our community schools program has had at Dun Elementary School. So, we did, as uh Mr. Germaine mentioned, we did begin in January. Um, and so for in just six months, um, I feel
006that we've done a lot of work at Dunham Elementary. And so, I compiled this impact report actually for student and I thought I would come and share it with you guys today. Thank you for allowing me to have that opportunity. Um, so I just wanted to share an about us. What is a community school first? So a community school is a public school that brings together educators, families, community organizations, and local partners in to support the academic, social, emotional, and physical well-being of students. The community school model helps remove barriers to learn and learning, strengthen family engagement, and connect students and families with resources and opportunities that support both success in and out of the classroom. Um, Dun Elementary officially began began elementary school or gez Louise, sorry, community school implementation in January through partnership
007with student U and the North Carolina Community Schools Coalition. Um and so here is that implementation framework of a community school. Um in the top right we have that community school coordinator. That is me. That person is in the school. We open a family resource center within the school. Uh we also have a school advisory board. We are in the beginning of stages of forming that board for the 2026 2027 school year. Um we have developed a community school plan. But really what I want to focus on are those four pillars of the community school. That is the f foundation of community schools. And that is integrated student supports, active and uh fam active family and community engagement, collaborative leadership and practice and expanded and enriched learning time. So as when I began, we we
008began uh by building the foundation to this program. So our community school plan I don't know why there's no spacing on that. I promise I I had the space. [laughter] Our community school plan intend uh identified four priority goals that guided implementation during these f first six months. Goal one is data informed decision-making. Goal two was family resource center and integrated supports. Goal three was family engagement and leadership. Goal four is community connections to learning. And so the following highlights are going to demonstrate progress areas uh across each goal area. Number one is from startup to support hub. And so here is our family resource center. Um building sustainable support support systems was a priority for us. Our family resource center opened in April of 2026. Uh we have regular operating hours established. Those hours
009are also open during the summer. So our family resource center is is still open during the summer. We have food, hygiene, clothing, school supplies, and technology resources available. We have resource tracking systems that have been established and a community referral network created. So far since that opening in April, we have served 159 students, families, and staff. Families are engaging. Families are not just participating, they're helping shape our work. So, family engagement became a schoolwide priority. Um, as I said, I began in January, February, we held our first monthly family engagement events. Um, so 43 family surveys have been collected for our assets and needs assessment that we'll talk about in just a minute. Family focus groups and interviews have been conducted, monthly family engagement opportunities offered, and family feedback informed school planning. So since February,
010we have had 464 families attend a an engagement event, which is over one half of Dun Elementary students. We are supporting those who support our students. Empowered educators create stronger outcomes for students. So, one initiative that we did this year was teacher-led miniig grants. Teachers identified needs and led projects that enhance learning engagement and student support within their classrooms or across the school. Educators implemented innovative solutions for purchasing instructional materials such as flexible seating, STEM resources, communication supports, and other schools that directly other tools that directly benefited students across the school. Uh we also have some staff wellness initiatives. We did teacher appreciation and recognition recognition events. Our zen den is opening fall of 2026 providing staff with a dedicated space to recharge, reduce stress and support overall well-being. Community partner uh impact. So we
011have had over 30 community partners engaged. Um they have provided uh resource and supply donations, student support services, family resources and assistance and educational and enrichment opportunities. And so just by the numbers, the difference community schools have made. Again, we've had 159 students, families, and staff come through the family resource center. Since opening, we've had 464 family engagement um parents and family members participate in family engagement opportunities. Community partnerships established and expanded. Um we are now at over 30 community partnerships. 16 teachers applied for and were were rewarded that teacher-led mini grant. And then we have systems in place to continue growing impact in 2026 2027. Um, our assets and needs assessment was conducted during the spring. We did listening tours, focus groups, interviews with our stakeholders, our families, and our staff. And we just
012got those results back from the Duke Clinical Research uh institute on June 9th. I had a meeting to review these. So, uh, parents shared that Dun Elementary's strengths include caring and supportive teachers, a welcoming school environment, increased opportunity for student engagement, strong communication and relationships, and that students feel safe and supported. They identified our needs of or our areas of growth as more academic intervention and enrichment, expanded afterchool clubs and extracurricular activities, continued [snorts] support for student behavior, improved communication and earlier notice for events, and more hands-on learning opportunities and career exploration. Our staff shared that our strengths are strong belief in student potential. Teachers feel highly capable of helping students succeed. [clears throat] Staff view their work as meaningful, positive family communication, and a safe and supportive learning environment. Key needs staff identified were
013professional learning to better understand students needs beyond the classroom, more time for breaks and staff wellness, more adults helping in the classrooms, additional classroom resources, and continued support for student mental health and behavior needs. um comparing our listening tours, focus groups, interviews, and the asset needs results. Looking ahead to 2026, 2027, we are building on the foundation and deepening our impact. Our focus next year will be to strengthen supports, remove barriers, and improve outcomes for every student and family. So, we plan to expand the family resource center services. We will increase family util utilization of the family resource center, strengthen referral services and community resource connections, and expand resources available to meet every family's need, engage families as partners. We're going to increase participation in school events and activities, create additional opportunities for family leadership
014and input, and continue elevating family voice. We would also like to improve attendance and student engagement school uh support schoolwide attendance goals through barrier reduction and family outreach, strengthen student connectedness to the school, increase access to supports that promote consistent attendant and engagement attendance and engagement. We will continue to grow community partnerships, expand partnerships that provide direct student and family supports, increase volunteer mentoring and enrichment opportunities, strengthen collaboration with local organizations and businesses, and finally sustain that system of support, prioritize student well-being and academic su success, continue staff wellness initiatives, and continue family centered services and resources. I would like to end by thanking Harnick County Schools for supporting the implementation of the community schools initiative at Dun Elementary. And I would like to kindly end with a picture of our why. So our students,
015our families, this is our why. Thank y'all. Sorry I'm so nervous. [laughter] Thank you. >> All right. Do we have any questions? >> Mr. Chairman, I just have a few comments. >> Yes, sir. Chair recognizes Mr. So, it's often I often get get asked what is the biggest challenge facing your school district? You know, what what could what could we do better? What is where do you see Hornet County Schools needing to go? My number one answer every single time is parent and family involvement. and this is incredible. Nothing short of incredible. Thank you for all the hard work you're doing and between programs like this as well as leadership by Dr. Beard, um we are showing an incredible amount of growth and community involvement and just everything that a school should be at Dun
016Elementary School. and I am beyond ecstatic for for everything that's going on in Dun and I can't thank uh you guys enough. So, thank y'all so much. >> Thank you. >> Great. >> And if I may, uh Chairman Powell with the community schools initiative, Mrs. Courtney Corsner talked about the parent advisory board which is going to be huge in the fall. What we also have as a part of being a community school is that there is a grant fund that comes with um this particular initiative as well. And when we sign the agreement in the beginning, I think it's $100 per student that we get for Dun Elementary. And so that money will be utilized to go back into the community to buy additional resources for the schools that the parents may um ask for.
017So there are a lot of great things that are kind of coming down the pipeline with that. Also, um we were in a meeting, um it was probably Wednesday or Thursday of last week where um we spoke with community schools and so there are some of our elementary schools that are interested in potentially piloting Yonder Pouches next year. Uh Dun Elementary happens to be one of those schools and so community schools has pledged some funds towards supporting Hornet County Schools in that effort. And so when they speak about community, it's definitely focused on the DUN community, but also too with this initiative, they're able to help really all of our schools across the county um if necessary, which is a a great situation for all of us. And so we look to potentially expand in
018the 2728 school year because there's a little bit of a moratorum on expansion in this area for the upcoming year. Um, but if any if we are able to do half of the work that they've done it done with the other schools that we expand to that we're going to have a tremendous advantage over other school districts around the state. >> Sure. Thank you, Mr. White. Are there any other questions or comments? Well, thank you very much. We greatly appreciate your hard work and your investment in our schools and our communities. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next, we'll have our superintendent update, Mr. Matthews. [clears throat] >> Thank you, uh, Chairman Powell, members of the board. Since our last meeting, uh, June 15th, I believe, we we have, uh, been concentrating on closing out our
0192526 school year and planning for our 26 27 school year. I attended the North Carolina School Superintendent Association Summer Leadership meetings in Asheville on the 17th through the 19th uh which concluded with the North Carolina State Superintendent quarterly meeting uh that Friday. Uh last week uh I conduct interviews for our vacant assistant superintendent of auxiliary services position and work with senior staff to complete the remaining uh final evaluations for our our principles. Uh I also attended uh several meetings uh with outside partners and stakeholders uh as we continue to transition into the new year and planning for the new year. Um [clears throat] this morning the county commissioners approved a budget for next year which included 6 million in uh expansion funding for the school system. Uh this was um we originally had a little
020over 8 million ask uh expansion request. Uh they funded 6 million of that. Beginning tomorrow, Mr. Cox and I will begin working to have some options ready to share with you at our next meeting for your consideration as far as how we uh utilize that um 6 million in expansion over the 8 plus million that we had hoped to have to um work with our folks with supplements and various other things. Uh but we'll uh we'll talk more about that as we uh everything becomes clear moving forward. Uh Mr. Chairman, unless there's some specific questions for me, that concludes my report this morning. >> Are there any questions? >> Thank you, Superintendent Matthews. Next, we'll move along to our auxiliary services update with Mr. Pearson. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair Powell, members of the board.
021Um, just a couple of updates for you. One, uh, that's been a long time coming is on the Northwest Hornet pond. If you remember, we've kind of been going through that saga for a couple years. Uh, and you'll see that later on in your packet. We do have an action item to kind of finally get some resolution to that. Um, and those folks are ready to start moving dirt here this week hopefully and uh we will be back in Duke Energy's good graces by being out of their easement hopefully. So uh fortunate [clears throat] that that is coming to a to a close hopefully on the construction side things continue to progress well with both Flatwoods uh and Highland all of those being on track and on budget. So um glad to hear those things.
022Um as Mr. Matthew said they've conducted interviews for auxiliary services. So this chair may not be empty next to me next time. This will be my last auxiliary services update potentially. So I do want to say thank you to the team that I've had uh in my time there for almost two years in this role. Um certainly the directors in auxiliary service have done a really good job. Um you know for instance this summer our maintenance team is is taking on some projects that we typically would have maybe um subbed out. Uh they're doing a window replacement project at South Hornet. um which was badly needed based on the age of the windows. By doing that in-house, we're saving approximately $1.2 million. And so I appreciate Mr. Johnson and his leadership of his team to
023be able to do those types of things and and it looks really good. Um Miss Brown in child nutrition has always done a great job financially. I wanted to check just to make sure I was right here and I looked up some information today. Um approximately 84% of school uh districts in the state are in the red in child nutrition. Um, we are not one of those by a long shot and so I do appreciate the leadership that's been provided there. Uh, Mr. Parker and his team, our state efficiency rating is around 98% from a transportation perspective. That affects our funding, that affects a lot of things. Anything you're doing at a 98% efficiency, I think is a is a good accomplishment. And then Mr. McDow and his team as well, um, you know, custodial
024grounds, that's hard work in the summer. They're out there right now in the hund something degrees cutting grass, doing things. We have about 3 million square feet of floors that have to be stripped and waxed. That includes moving furniture off and moving furniture back. And again, the leadership that's provided by them and and the work that's going in is um very valuable and made my job very easy over the last couple years. So, I do appreciate uh all of their roles and what they've done as well as the technology team and Miss Bird's team um behind the scenes in a lot of places, but student centered in all that they're doing. So, I I appreciate all of their help. Uh, other update on auxiliary services. I just want to share with you that on uh
025June 17th, we conducted a tabletop exercise for an active shooter drill. Uh, special thanks to Horn County Emergency Services for kind of spearheading this. Um, all of our local law enforcement, um, Dunn, Coats, Irwin, Sheriff's Office, everybody was involved in this. Um, we sat around with principles, with law enforcement, with emergency services to walk through a scenario if this was ever to happen at one of our schools. Um, and it just generated really good questions, identified some really good things that we want to make sure we are, um, everyone's on the same page about. Um, there was probably 120 to 140 people in this room together just talking specifically about school emergency response. So, it was a really good time to kind of, you know, get everybody together and on the same page. So appreciate
026emergency services really spearheading that and everybody's involvement in that including our principles who really showed up and and participated strongly. So um that concludes my auxiliary service update unless you have questions for me about any of those things. >> Other questions for Mr. Pearson. >> Okay. Well, thank you Mr. Pearson for a good report and we appreciate you and your uh directors and your staff uh for your efficiency and also for your good stewardship of our taxpayer dollars. So thank you very much. We'll [clears throat] return now to Mr. Pearson for his uh curriculum and instruction update. >> Thank you again. Um you know, we've shared a preliminarily our testing results that we feel, you know, feel really positive about. Um and we will continue to anxiously await our growth scores. I think our growth
027scores will really tell us um you know, the combination of proficiency and growth. Um you know, one year of growth for one year of school is what what we say is the minimum standard. And so we are certainly um looking forward to that. We should have that in mid August. Typically that date flexes a little bit, but we typically do get that just before students come back to school. So soon as we have that information, we'll be sharing it with principles and with you all. It will be embargoed by the state until their September board meeting and then we'll be able to share that out publicly and hopefully we'll have a lot to celebrate. Um we had our summer leadership uh at the beginning of June with all of our principles, assistant principles and also
028included some instructional coaches and teaching staff. really excited about the energy and the focus. Um, as a CNI team, we will put a very heavy emphasis next year on the standards and ensuring that everything that you know, every classroom we have is teaching the standards and that that can be done in different ways, but the standards has got to be the foundation of what we're doing. Um, and then also a heavy emphasis on PLC's and the collaborative uh professional learning communities. Um, there's just so many examples out there of how effective that is in moving schools. And so that will be the emphasis that CNI team has next year and we started that um at our summer leadership. So appreciate Mr. Matthews giving us a day to really to make that an emphasis. We are
029planning a back to school uh uh teacher summit and so this will be our back to school professional development in which our teachers and our staff across the district will present to the other teachers and staff. So we're kind of doing an in-house um summit. Um teachers will rotate through five sessions during the day um led by their peers. and so they'll have choice in where they're going and what they're doing. And so we're we're excited about what that's going to look like. We'll bring together every elementary school teacher across the district um on one day and then every middle school and high school teacher across the district on another day. So we'll have upwards of 700 people on a campus doing professional development together. So um looking forward to that. Summer reading camp has
030concluded, was very successful. Appreciate all the the team that makes that happen. Uh and Kinder Splash is coming up. That's kind of the next event. It's a kindergarten transition program that is on July 20th through 23rd to give families kind of a chance to to ease into the kindergarten. Um we had teams of teachers come together for uh pacing guide updates uh right after we concluded school and so we're already focusing on uh you know what do we need to do? How do we need to tweak to get better next year as well as new English standards which will be rolling out in 27 and 28. So we had a team of English teachers getting together to get ahead of that as there are some substantial changes in those standards. So there's a lot of
031momentum amongst the principles and the teachers and and I think a lot of energy and excitement about uh the progress um and the collaboration is strong. So we're just excited about what next year holds in CNI. That concludes my update. >> Other questions for Mr. Pearson? >> Okay. Thank you. Next, we'll have our human resources update with Miss Thompson. >> Good morning, Chairman Powell and members of the board. I'll give a quick update on hiring for the summer. We are uh as far as regular classroom vacancies, we're right at 20 uh four. We had 22 this time last year, so we're I feel like we're in good shape there. Most schools only have a position or two left to fill as far as their regular classrooms. We have um 14 uh like CTE EC um
032vacancies left which I think is great. We are uh kind of struggling on our TA side. We have about 60 vacancies there and a lot of those are EC TAs and you know some of that is due to the fact that we've added EC classrooms. you know, we've increased the number of EC classrooms and increased students so we have more EC positions and um some of those are clerical positions about five are uh about 20 something regular TAs and we have some like miscellaneous tech ISS folks as well and I'll speak about what what we're planning to do to help with that in just a second. So, so far we've placed 54 EPI and participate learning teachers at our schools and we're hosting another round of EC interviews this week. Welcome emails with resources have
033gone out to new teachers and we're getting them connected with their principal, their local adviserss and fellow international staff to help with a smooth transition into Hornet County Schools. We are really looking forward to welcoming them in July and most of them I feel like are going to be here in on on the day school starts. So, we're very excited about that. Just an update on the advanced teacher roles work that we're doing. So we've had information sessions conducted for both both staff and community members with opportunities for all stakeholders to provide feedback. We are working with public impact which is a provides intensive support as we go through the ATR system. It's recommended by the grant that we work with them. Uh just a side note that cost is built into the grant. So
034you're aware of that. That's it doesn't cost us anything to work with them. And over the uh three-year grant period they would work with us. They're also reviewing the grant now like 70% of the districts who have advanced teacher roles use advanced use this public impact group to work with them. So we wanted it was highly recommended. So of course to help our chances we of course are working with them as well. We are uh have also been noted that board that letters that uh or applications that come with their board support um look it looks favorable for the grant. So today we will be asking your signature on a letter that supports our U advanced teacher ro work. We I think Miss um Johnson has that. The proposal is due on August 14th, but
035we're striving to have ours done before the end of July. So we'll be ready to submit. Again, just a reminder about the job fair um July 14th at Gentry. It will be from 3:00 to 5:00 and it's to uh recruit all areas classified and certified. Uh I am speaking with Dr. Britt at Elizabeth City University about starting a leadership uh cohort. We are speaking with them specifically because the uh cost for the degree the degree is significantly lower than surrounding universities. We're trying to work to see if we can come up with a program that would uh provide a reimbursement for a port a portion of the tuition cost. Just to note, tuition for the whole M's program for school leadership is about $6 to $7,000. So, I will continue to provide you updates as
036we work to finalize plans. She's working with her dean and I'm working here to come up with how we maybe could work with funding. We will model this after our previous uh leadership cohort that we did about two years ago with Campbell and Dr. Smith. My staff is busy uh planning new teacher orientation for all staff, including international teachers, as well as planning u BTO or beginning teacher orientation. and we invite you to these following events. On July 29th at 3:30, we will have the ice cream social at Gentry. And on July 30th at 11:15, you can eat lunch with the new teachers. We're having a potato bar, I think, provided by our own child nutrition staff. Bus training has continued through the summer with 13 classified employees scheduled to complete their driver training through
037August. and another six employees from the May virtual class are working to obtain their permits. I will say this, it is a continual even after our extensive work with DMV, we we still are running up against the training problems that we have faced because it bottlenecks with DMV and providing the training that they have to provide. Just a note on that like we are trying to do the things they've asked us to implement in order to speed that up. We would we need additional DMV trainers to work with that but we are persevering and keeping the keeping up the good fight to try to get as many as we can through. In July we participate in both virtual uh the virtual class both virtual classes offered by DMV and this will allow coaches to begin
038their training so they can transport students when it comes to athletic events. So, that's a better option for our teachers. And you may have noticed on social media and the signs outside, we started open interviews for all positions yesterday. And open interviews are going to be available Monday through Thursday, 8 to 12 throughout the summer and by appointment as needed. So, if someone wants to come after 12, we'll interview them after 12. We had five interviews on our first day. So, I would say that was pretty successful. We are adding signs out at the several schools in prominent places and we hope this will add to our advertising for the local positions that we have and I and I am aware that you know just so you know the TA positions those are folks that
039can't have any summer employment. So it will I do think they are positions that are typically hired a little later in the summer because as people plan to leave one job and transition to another that's sometimes causes there to be a little later h higher date around that. But we are working on that feverously to get those positions filled every way we can. Our TA and bus positions are posted on social social media and banners. And just so you know, our own um print shop printed those lovely banners and that was a great less cost to us. So, we're very excited about that and we turn it around same day. So, thanks to Miss Jennifer Bird for helping us with that. Our NICE evaluations are being archived today. If you know that's a big task
040and as a whole we are so pleased with the work of our school leaders in conducting evaluations and providing feedback and supporting teachers in using this framework that has to be closed out so we can start a new school year in during July one. That concludes my report. If you have any questions for me I'm happy to answer them. >> Are there any questions? >> Yes [clears throat] sir. >> Yes sir. Mr. Um, the letter of support is that was that today or was that at a future meeting? >> Well, I don't think we have to have approval on it. We have it for you to sign just to say you support that. >> I'm going to give it to you guys. I'm going to give it to you when you go into close session
041so you can look at it. >> Okay. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Anything else? Mr. Thompson, what do you foresee as we start the school year? Think about starting overall, what do you foresee as our school bus, you know, shortage or double routes or you talk a little bit about that? What what are you kind of seeing right now if you look at it? >> Well, we are and I we are maintaining. I think that's what we are able to do and it is a very I mean that's what's so tragic about all of this. We have probably a hundred people available to drive who we cannot ever get trained. So it makes the burden so great on the ones who are actually trained to drive. And we we have no choice but to really enforce
042the driving as as far as the substitute drivers or the flex drivers as we call them now because we don't have a lot of alternatives. I still Mr. Godfrey feel like that a lot of this is on it's burdened on the same population that it's been burdened on for a long period of time and you know we are just not able to keep I mean I've said it and I hate to repeat myself but the you know the old training model we had worked fine when we were able to maintain a really stable workforce and people stayed in the profession the kind of way we were training really worked because we didn't lose that many people every year. But now that we, you know, there's a lot of turnover and our our retention is is
043more is is is difficult. We just can't keep up with the training. So, are we running many double routes, Mr. Pearson? I don't think we have a lot. >> Yeah. No, we we really did a lot better on scheduled double routes. Most double routes were related to vacancies or absences. One of the things we're also trying to do is we identified that we had a lot more students who said we need a bus than were actually riding a bus. Um to the tune of almost 3,000 students in our data management system who were scheduled for a bus who were not on a bus daily. So we're trying to collapse as many routes as possible as well. That would then alleviate the need. Um, so I I would we we're doing that work now, but I
044hope that we probably will have about 20 less buses on the road, which creates 20 more drivers in the pool. So, we're working on that end as well. So, >> well, I appreciate it. You know, my main concern is like Mr. Thompson said, you know, these people that have been driving certified, you know, I just don't want to see them get burned completely out, you know, over what they've had to go through for the past couple years, you know, it would be so nice if we could have a pool that we could pull from, you know, but then again, it's not our fault. I understand we we can't do no more than what DMV, you know, goes along with or helps us do. And I will say I'm eternally grateful for those folks. We have
045a lot of really dedicated folks that are custodians who uh work long hours to make their time up at the school and then are so willing and and um to drive those routes. I mean, you know, those people that we recognized last month that had a 100% attendance, that's real dedication for a job that is really, in my opinion, hard work. And so I am grateful because we, you know, and I and I think that's one of the reasons why we have terrible hiring EC and regular TAs is because, you know, we have to enforce the bus driving piece and um we need the children at school. So we have to have the buses and we have to put that in place. So there's not a lot of easy answers around it other than if
046we could get that bigger pool trained and we would need we need more support from DMV to get that through faster because it doesn't matter how many we train on this end on our side. DMV has to like get their part done and that's the that's the struggle that continues to be not as much. We are making some headway to it but we need to make more. I mean the the system is not really designed for what we're doing today. Well, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Thank you, Miss Thompson. Next, we'll have our student services update with Mr. White. >> Good morning again, Chairman Powell and members of the board. Inside of your packet, you'll find the aligned reports from student services through June of 2026. I'm here a few quick updates.
047The incount reassignment period for the district reopens on July the 1st, 2026. As a reminder, in county families who were approved for reassignment in previous years do not need to reapply again. That reassignment is good through the highest grade at the school. And so this pool that opens up on July 1st, this is kindergarten through 12th grade. Folks can go ahead and get um their information in and then the principles or their designate will go ahead and approve or deny those requests. During the 2026 27 school year, Hornet County Schools will build on the foundation of this past school year by increasing some consistency across the district and expanding some of our student support. So, our key priorities going into this year are implementing a district-wide discipline matrix to ensure consistent behavioral expectations, expanding access
048to our school-based mental health services, and enhancing our attendance intervention efforts and refining some of our student safety practices um through some of the things that we want to do with some key partners coming into the district this year. Um, additionally, we will look to explore the development of a centralized enrollment center designed to streamline student registration, improve customer service for families, ensure consistent enrollment practices across all schools, and provide more efficient support for student transfers, residency verification, and school choice processes, especially for our military families. So, that's something that I'm excited about. I think we've got some great momentum going in that direction. Um, so we look forward to sharing more information around how we can get that done um, in the coming months. Together, these initiatives represent Hornet County Schools ongoing commitment to
049providing safe, supportive, and student centered learning environments. And so with the staff that we have in place and those that we're kind of shifting around um, to be in some new spaces and places, I think we're building a solid system of support for um, our students and families going into the 2627 school year. So that concludes my report unless you have any questions. >> Other questions for Mr. White. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Moving along now to our financial services report with Mr. Cox. >> Thanks, Chair Pal, members of the board. Um we are wrapping up fiscal year, fiscal year 26 today. Our data is due to DPI by midnight tonight. Um we do plan to have it submitted well before midnight. We look like we're in good shape financially for this
050year and again do want to thank our commissioners for their continued support of Hornet County Schools and we certainly would not be in this position financially if it was not for their support. So thank you uh to them for that. Mr. Matthews has already mentioned that the commissioners approved a budget uh this morning um that fund 6 million of the almost $8.5 million request and also mentioned that we'll we'll evaluate different scenarios u bring those different scenarios back to how best accomplish as much of the budget requests as possible based on the amount that they uh funded. Um and as you may have heard the general assembly has come to an agreement on a state budget. We have not seen any of the text um of that budget yet. Um although we hear the framework
051that they previously announced still in place for raises which means average uh 8% salary increase for teachers and 3% for classified staff. There is a bonus portion in there have heard two different things. Um so without seeing the text don't know exactly what it will be. The latest that we've heard is those making less than 65,000 will receive a onetime bonus of $1,750 and those making more than 65,000 receive a onetime bonus of $1,000. The [snorts] again hadn't seen the text, but what we're understanding the bad part about that is it's only funded for state employees. So, we'll have to cover the cost of those bonuses for our locally and federally paid uh staff out of our local um budget. [clears throat] Uh we've already begun working on the new salary schedules um that were
052published as part of the budget framework when they announced that. Um we'll bring salary schedules back to you as part of the state budget. any changes to local supplements and other aspects of that local budget request um to the August meeting for you your view and consideration at that point. And Mr. Cherry, that concludes my report unless you have any questions for me. >> Other questions for Mr. Cox. Okay. Thank you, >> Mr. Chairman. >> Yes, sir. Mr. Goth, I'd like to add something on that what Mr. C said, uh, you know, could we maybe draft a letter to send to the county commissioners and express our thanks for what they've done for us over the last couple of years and working with us. I think we finally got a board of commissioners that understands
053what we need in the education process and I'm just overly joyed that they've been working with us and kind of going along with what we need. They see the needs, you know, like we do and I appreciate that because it ain't always been that way, >> Mr. Chairman. >> Yes, sir. um with you all's um blessing and permission um I would be happy to draft that letter to bring back at our next meeting for everyone's review. >> Okay. >> And we'll uh we'll do it and that way we know what happens on Monday at Monday's meeting. Um whereas hopefully we might get a full ask. >> Okay. >> As far as the budget goes. >> Okay. Everyone okay with that? >> Okay. Yes, sir. >> Thank you, Mr. Okay. [clears throat] Okay. Thank you again,
054Mr. Cotch. And now we'll have our public information office update with Miss Fair, >> Chairman Powell, members of the board, and community at home. Good morning. So, summer le Well, first, happy Independence Day. America celebrates 250 years on this July 4th. So, I hope everyone has a safe time with your family this weekend. Summer leadership took place and the theme was the law of excellence. During summer leadership, we were reminded that excellence is not a destination is a daily commitment. Over the past three days during summer leadership, district leaders engaged in meaningful learning, collaboration, and reflection upon centered around the law of excellence. Together, we explore what it means to lead with purpose, inspire growth, and create conditions where students and staff can thrive. And this is just us during our summer leadership. Lots of
055smiles, lots of bonding time and um team building. It was really great. And this is the entire group with our superintendent. The AIG summer track learning came to life for students participating in the AIG summer track camp. Um, students had the unique opportunity to explore STEM and career pathways alongside professionals from the Hornet County Sheriff's Office, 911 Communications Center, Emergency Services, and the Fire Marshall's Office. Through hands-on demonstrations and interactive learning experience, students gain valuable insight into careers dedicated to serving and protecting our community. the critical incident tabletop exercise that was talked about earlier, we had approximately 95 personnel um representing law enforcement, emergency management, EMS, fire, um public education, dispatchers, um government leadership, everyone came together to participate in these tabletop exercises. Um and so participants discuss um response, communication, reunification, and recovery efforts
056during a realistic base critical incident scenario. It was great. Everyone had a chance to talk. Our principles were broken up into their um attendance areas. Um so it was great. Our free summer meals we have added two additional locations at the Dun Public Library that is at 110 East Divine Street in Dun and the Hornet County Library at 455 McKenna Parkway in Lillington. Please note that meal service in our parks will not take place this week, June 29th through July 2nd, but will resume next week. Hornet County Schools is holding open interviews for all of our positions. No application, no problem. We'll help you get started. So, you can come here to Hornet County Schools Board of Education, 601 South Main Street here in Lilington, Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. No appointment
057needed. I'm sure if you come afterwards, our HR staff will be willing to assist and and join a great team. This is a great team to work for. Chairman Powell, this concludes the summer updates for public information and thank you for your time. >> Thank you. Are there any questions for Miss Frell? >> Just a comment. >> Yes, sir. chairman. Um, in adding the summer meals at the Hornet County Library at the resource and center, um, I know our Hornet County staff at the library, the director as well as some of her folks have actually been participating and taking part in um, passing out the meals and everything there. and I just wanted to say thank you to them from from all of us up here for their assistance with with that project. >> Okay.
058Thank you. Anything else? Thank you, Miss Frell. All right. Next, we have discussion items. Uh that will conclude our reports. Now, we'll move on to discussion items. And we have one item under discussion items. That's a board policy update. And if everyone would please review this uh over the next month, this will lay on the table for your review and we'll consider this on the next meeting. Okay, next we have our consent agenda. I will entertain a motion. >> Motion to approve, Mr. Chair. >> Second. >> Have a motion and a second. Consent agenda. Chairman votes I. >> Abate. I gain >> I hear no votes. The motion carries and the ascented consent agenda items are approved. Moving along now to our action items and our first item is review and consider approval of the
059continuing budget resolution. Mr. Cox. Thanks, Chair Pal. Uh this uh continuing budget resolution uh is needed to be put in place so we continue operating financially until a formal budget is put into place. Um, as you know, we're waiting on our state numbers before we can bring back a full budget to you. Um, so, uh, this is interim budget resolution. It says, Hornet County Board of Education does hereby adopt interim budget resolution in accordance with North Carolina General Statute 115C 434. This inter resolution authorizes appropriations for usual and customary expenditures not to exceed 80% of the 2025 2026 school year appropriations. Salary payments are hereby authorized at 2025 2026 levels and may be incremented for all employees in accordance with any state or local approved salary increases. The interim resolution shall become effective July 1,
0602026 and remain in effect until formal budget, formal adoption of a budget resolution for the school year. Um, and again, as said, it's just put in place. We can continue our financial operations till a formal budget is uh presented and approved by the board of education. Happy to answer any questions around. >> That's true. Other questions for Mr. Cox? >> If not, I'll entertain a motion. >> Mr. Chairman will make a motion to approve the continuing budget resolution as Mr. C presented. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Chairman votes I. >> Abate I. >> Hearing no a votes. The motion carries and the uh interim budget is approved. Thank you, Mr. Cox. And we'll return to Mr. Cox for review and consider approval of budget amendments. >> Uh thank you, Chair
061Pal. Uh this is the amended budget resolution for the fourth quarter. Um it is there in your packet. I'll go over the high well the highlights of the uh I won't say highlights the the numbers for the total funds. Um state public school fund is $159,997,359 and increase of $363,415. Local current expense fund is $47,528,241 an increase of $5.5 million. And that $5.5 million was a contingency for the lowwealth money that we lost provided by the county. Um federal programs fund is 20,4,36 an increase of $1,430,318. Uh capital outlay remains unchanged at $2,521,266. our school nutrition fund. There's no net change at 12,838,000. However, we did allocate $100,000 of fund balance to ensure that our revenues did not exceed expenditures. There is one more reimbursement uh to be submitted for summer meals um which may
062have covered the difference, but we want were unsure. Um so we uh appropriated that $100,000 of fund balance. Um as Mr. Pearson mentioned early in the year when we went to C for free meals for all students, there was a potential that we may need to use some of that fund balance. Um, and it may be when when that uh last uh reimbursement comes in, we don't, but I wanted to appropriate it just in case so we didn't get into a budget violation issue. And I think you would all agree that if we do have to use it, $100,000 is a small cost for being able to provide free meals to all students of the district this year. And a testament to the work that Miss Brown and her team has done um with that
063uh Dun special district $855,80 no change there and local restricted dispense fund 19,565,876 an increase of 3,54,604. Total amended budget resolution 263,524,465 an increase of $9,132,356. As part of the budget, I do have the changes by program in your packet. Happy to answer any questions around the amended budget resolution you may have. >> Thank you. Are there any questions? If not, I'll entertain a motion. >> Mr. Mr. Chair, I'll make a motion to approve the budget amendments as presented by Mr. Cops. >> Second. >> Have a motion and a second. So, further discussion hearing none. Chairman votes I. >> Abate I. >> Gainy I. >> I. >> Hearing no votes. The motion is approved and the uh budget amendments are approved. Thank you, Mr. Cotch. >> Thank you. Next, we'll have review and consider approval
064of contract for Barnhill Contracting Company for parking lot milling and repaving for Over Hills Middle School. Mr. Pearson. >> Thank you, chair and pal, members of the board. You may recall at last month's meeting, we received RFQS and began to uh negotiate with Barnhill. This is the contract based on that negotiation for the uh replacement repair of the parking lot over Hills Middle School. Thank you. I'll entertain a motion. >> Mr. Chairman, make a motion to approve Born Hill Contracting Company for milling and retirement public school. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Is there further discussion? Chairman votes I. >> Abate I. >> Gy I >> hear n votes. The motion carries. Thank you, Mr. Pearson. And we'll return to Mr. Pearson for review and consider approval of the contract with
065SQ Civil for the Northwest Hornet Elementary School Pond Duke Easement Project. >> Thank you again, members of the board. As I mentioned in my updates, this is trying to bring resolution to moving the pond out of Duke's easement. Um, we have gone through the process with uh environmental uh state environmental groups as well as uh the engineering groups and the plans are approved. this group is ready to begin moving dirt this week. Um, and certainly while we can't say that it will will for sure be done before school starts, we do believe that by the time school starts there'll be minimal interruption um because this is off kind of off the playground area off areas that are being used and does not affect the car rider line other than potentially some traffic uh vehicle construction
066vehicle traffic at off times not during the car time. So excited that this can hopefully begin soon. Thank you. >> Now we entertain a motion. >> Mr. Chair, have a motion to approve contract with SQL for Northwest Hornet School Pond Duke easement project. >> Second. >> Have a motion and a second. Chairman votes I. >> I have a quick question. >> Oh yes, Mr. About that. >> Um, with regards to SQ Civil, um, is that a local company I'm I'm not familiar with. Yes, they are out of Carthage. >> Okay. >> Um, so you know, of the bids we had, they were the most local and have already had some conversations with them feeling like because they can start quickly being local. >> Okay. >> And I and I know with Fred Smith being the
067other company, I know how big Fred Smith is and and everything they bring to the table. Are we are we satisfied with the the job that SQ can do? Do they have >> Yes. So SFLA was helping us with navigating this and they did the vetting and reference checks on the group and felt good about it. >> Perfect. >> I know the current. >> Okay. >> I don't think we got anything to worry about. >> Awesome. Good. Okay. Any other questions? Chairman votes. I >> I >> hear no votes. The motion carries. Thank you, Mr. Pearson. Next, we'll have review and consider approval of the docuree digit digitization agreement with Mr. White. Thank you very much, Chairman Powell, members of the board. Again, this docuree agreement is just the opportunity for us to digitize our
068school records that are currently in their possession. Um, we've had some school records that have kind of gotten behind in digit in digitiz digitization um this morning. some records that have gotten behind it due to COVID companies being sold, all these different things. And so, we've been negotiating back and forth for the last three or four months to kind of come to an agreement that's friendly for the school district and helps us get caught up. Um, and so this money um we we generate money from the transcripts and different things that we actually uh provide to the community to help offset some of this, but this agreement allows us to go ahead and move forward with getting these things caught up. Um, and we had a meeting yesterday afternoon. ironically where they actually had the
069chief revenue officer come to the meeting to talk about how much they value Hornet County Schools and wants to continue a partnership. So maybe there's an opportunity once we get caught up to be able to pursue some things in the future. So we're looking forward to getting these up to date and providing this service for our community more efficiently. >> I will entertain a motion. >> I move to approve the docy free digitalization agreement as [laughter] presented. what he said. Second move. >> Second. >> Have a motion and a second. Are there any questions or further discussion? >> Chairman votes I. >> Abate I. >> Gainy I >> hearing. No. Nay votes. The motion is approved for the digitization agreement. [laughter] What >> I get it right. Okay. >> Thank you, Mr. White. >> Mr.
070Chair, I move that we go into close session. >> One second. We got one more. Yeah. Okay. And next we have review and consider approval of the 202627 beginning teacher support plan. Miss Thompson. >> Chairman Powell and members of the board. I present for your approval of the beginning teacher support plan for the upcom upcoming school year. >> I'll entertain a motion. >> Motion to approve the 2627 beginning teacher support plan as presented by Miss Thompson. >> Second. We >> have a motion and a second. Is there further discussion? Chairman votes I. >> Abate I gain >> I say I >> hearing n a votes. The motion is approved. Mr. >> Mr. Chairman, I move that we go to close session pursuant to general statute 143 3181 111 A1 A3 and A6 to prevent the
071disclosure of confidential personnel files under GS115C 321 to consider matters relating to initial employment of an individual employee and to consult with the board's attorney in order to preserve the attorney client privilege. Second. >> Have a motion and a second. Chairman votes I. >> I gain I >> hear no votes. The motion is approved. We're now in close session. Following a motion and a second, we return to open session. Mr. Matthews, do you have some personnel items for us? >> Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, uh, I would, uh, ask for a recommendation of approval of teacher contract as discussed in close session. >> So move, Mr. Chairman. >> We have a motion and a second. Personnel matter. All in favor say I. Please. >> I. >> Any opposed by the same sign? >> The motion carries.
072>> Uh, also, Mr. Chairman, I would recommend the approval of Dr. Steven Murphy as assistant superintendent of auxiliary services. >> Mr. Chairman, pursuant to the recommendation of Mr. Matthews, I move that we appoint Dr. Steven Murphy as assistant superintendent of auxiliary services. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Personnel matter. All in favor say I. Please. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> I. >> By two I votes, one and one abstension. The motion carries. So, congratulations to Dr. Steven Murphy as our new assistant superintendent of auxiliary services. That concludes mine, Mr. uh chairman. >> Thank you very much. Is there anything else from the board? Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion. >> Motion to journal, Mr. >> Second. >> Have a motion, a second. All in favor say I. Please. >> I.
073We are now adjourned. Thank you.