001Right. The November 17th work session of the Hornet County Board of Education is now in order. I'd like to begin with our invocation. And Mr. Godfrey, would you lead us in prayer, please? >> Yes, sir. >> Call me if you will. Our kind, gracious heavenly father, we thank you, Lord, for being here this morning, for getting us up and for our safe passes here this morning. Lord, I pray that you'd be with us as we do business of Hornet County. Lord, that we would be fair and honest and do the best job that each and every one of us can do. Dear Lord, we thank you for everybody that's present here today. Lord, we pray that we would do what we need to do. Father, in your name, we ask these things in Jesus name.
002and for his sight. Amen. >> Amen. Miss Gayy, would you lead us in the pledge of allegiance? >> Sure. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. And you may be seated. >> Okay. Are there any adjustments to the agenda? >> Mr. Chairman, I move that we approve the agenda as presented. >> We have a motion and a second. Is there further discussion? Hearing none. The chairman votes I. >> Abate I. >> Gy I. >> John. >> Hearing no nay votes. The motion passes and the agenda is accepted as uh presented. We're going to begin this morning with a couple of special presentations. And our first presentation will
003be regarding gang resistance and our education program. And that will be with Detective Ronald Beasley with our Hornet County Sheriff's Department. So, Detective Beasley, the floor is yours. >> Thank you. Good morning, board. Thank you'all for your time. Uh, as Chairman Pal said, I'm Detective Beasley with the Hornet County Sheriff's Office. Uh, let's just go ahead and get into this presentation. Uh, it's Hornet County Schools, Gangs, and Prevention. So what brought this on was Oh, she told me I done forgot. So as I said, I'm detective business with Hornet County Sheriff's Office, 25 year law enforcement career. I've run the gamut of at the sheriff's office from baift to patrol to war squad, school resource officer at Hornet Central Middle School, Tron High School. I did a little bit of time at Hornet uh Western
004Hornet Middle and right now I'm currently in criminal investigations. Um, my main duty at the the sheriff's office is gangs and gang investigations, gang intelligence. I've studied and work gangs for approximately 15 years. I'm also a region coordinator for the North Carolina Gang Investigators Association, which covers in region five covers 11 counties in the state. And what we do with that is we gather intelligence and we help officers and agencies out with uh training and intelligence and uh assist them in their gang problems in their area. So on August 19th of this year, Governor Stein signed Executive Order 21 establishing the gang prevention and intervention task force with the governor's crime commission. Um this was at the gang uh conference in Winston Salem that we held. It's a three-day conference and the reason and I
005have why there before we get into why. So let's how many know what a gang is? What are the definition of a gang? what North Carolina general statute says a gang is. So 1450.16A says that a gang is an ongoing organization, association or group of three or more persons whether formal or informal that has its primary activities the commission of criminal activity or delinquent acts and shares a common name identification, signs, symbols, tattoos, graffiti, attire or other distinguishing characteristics including common activities, customs or behaviors. But it will not include three or more persons associated. In fact, whether formal or informal who are not engaged in criminal activities. The best example I give is Girl Scouts. They fit the definition of this um uh they fit the definition of what this general statute is, but they're
006not involved in gang activities. Although sometimes when you come out of Walmart, you feel like, you know, like hey. So, and Marian Webster says a group of persons working to unlawful or antisocial needs are groups of persons working together. So, Let me just get back. This is the why. Currently, approximately, according to the gang prevention legislative report, which came out in March of 2025, approximately 1% of all offenses reported in North Carolina each year related to gang activity. In recent years, juvenile gang activity has overtaken adult crime activity. As you can see in the data from 2020 to 2024, we've had a 47.9% increase in juvenile crime. So, NYRE shows, which is the national incident based reporting system, shows that in recent years, reported crime with juvenile suspected juvenile gang involvement has increased from 397
007offenses in 2020 to 587 offenses in 2024. This is an increase, like I said, of 47.9%. Y is also the just ju Juvenile justice reinvestment act aka raise the age. So effective December 1st of 2019 for the offenses on or after this date of defenders under the age of 18 on the date of offense the case must be initiated in juvenile court. Exceptions exist for emancating minor 16 17 year olds charged with chapter 20 offenses. Chapter 20 is your traffic laws. Juveniles with prior criminal evictions convictions in district oral superior court. And then in last year they raised the age to 16 and 17 where if they are charged with a A through E felonies then begin their uh court cases in adult court. So what did this do? Gangs started using 16 and 17
008year olds commit more violent crimes. We knew that. Law enforcement knew that. So they knew that they would not get the harsh punishments. But with the NCGIA, we realize and our our motto is is you're not going to arrest your way out of a gang problem. You're not going to do it. You need more than that. You need prevention. You need intervention. You need social safety nets and things of that. So on October 14th of this year, the gang prevention intervention task force come out and they had three criterias, prevention, intervention, and uh intelligence sharing. So, as a gang investigator, as an SRO who taught gang resistance education training in our middle schools, I took that what the state come out with at this task force and they were create creating subcommittees and I thought,
009well, how can we use this in Hornet County? So, at this meeting on October 14th, you had heads from every agency, DPI was there, SBI was there, uh, you know, the Governor's Crime Commission was there. So, uh, social services were there. So, they were trying to see how can we get in front of this? How can we get these numbers lower? What are the most effective school-based strategies to prevent gang recruitment? How can we identify and support youth at risk of gang involvement as early as elementary school? What role can mentorship, arts, sports, and creative outlets play in prevention? How can we educate parents, educators, and youth about gang recruitment tactics? What causally competent and trauma-informed approaches are needed in schools and communities? And how can we ensure equitable access to prevention programs in rural
010and underserved areas? These were the questions that this task force asked. And they gave that to us and they said, listen, we're going to put you in three subcommittees and we want answers to these questions. I didn't do intervention or intel sharing because I feel like prevention and as having worked as a school resource officer and seeing the um benefits of having the interaction with students, talking with students, getting to learn who they are, getting to know what their needs are. I believe prevention was my where I was best suited for. So, I took these questions and I thought, well, what can the sheriff's office do? What can Hornet County Schools do? And so, I met with uh Vice Chairman Invate and met with Assistant Superintendent Pearson and we just, you know, I told them
011what, you know, I think would be beneficial because I see this coming down from the state. The next meeting is in January. They're breaking up the subcommittees. So, I believe that, you know, through the sheriff's office and Hornet County Schools that we might be able to get ahead of this and let's, you know, get some programs, get some things going on and say, "Hey, look, this is what we're doing." Um, but what are the most effective school-based strategies to prevent GR gang recruitment? According to the legislative report that I mentioned while ago says to expand EKG2, EKG2 is educating kids on guns and gang violence. It's kind of like your great, but [snorts] great was a six to seven week program that you went into the classroom uh and you did um uh a curriculum
012with the students. EKG2 is shorter. It's two you have two sessions. They usually start in seventh and ninth grade. But what it does is it teaches students about the legal, medical, and emotional consequences of youth gun possession, substance abuse, and related gun violence. Students attend a 2hour, two-day interactive classroom presentation by a uniform law enforcement officer. So, I know in 2020 when COVID hit, you know, great stopped and we took the SRO's out of this, you know, out of um they didn't do great anymore and they were out of the classroom. And I saw that uh as a detective and working as a school resource officer that that hurt law enforcement community and the public because I as a school resource officer I was able to make those connections. I was a to build those
013relationships and I saw the benefits of that. You know how many times I would go to a house that we were, you know, just so happened to be searching or going and do a knock and talk and the student was like, "Hey, Officer Beasley, how you doing?" "Hey, man, how you doing?" "Oh, you know, everything's going great. What's going on?" So, you built that relationship they could trust. And I feel like getting the SRO's back into the classroom, getting to getting getting them to be more involved with the students, you can bridge that gap, you can build those relationships, and you can kind of, you know, tear down this wall of, you know, not trusting or not thinking that law enforcement is there to help. So the uh there's currently a seventh grade, seventh grade
014and ninth grade curriculum. We will focus on a seventh grade program during PE. So you're not taking away from, you know, your English or your math or anything like that. There is an afterchool program and it's coming soon. Uh Michelle Gino, who is part of Gangfree NC and up there at the Governor's Crime Commission, she is the one that does the EKG2 program. Spoke with her, spoke with the sheriff. Oh, and he knows I'm here, by the way. Just let you all know. Just [laughter] I'm not here doing this on my own. I spoke with the sheriff and um Miss Gino said that we're possibly looking at Hornet County to do the pilot program for an afterchool program here with EKG2. So we got to get the SRO back in the classroom and build those
015relationships. But here's a short video of what the kids would see. And when they go through EKG2, there's an anonymous survey that they take and it just, you know, they can go in and they can say, "Hey, you know, we're I've I've been a part of this or I've seen this or you know, uh, gives the SRO kind of a a feel and the guidance counselors uh, you know, what is going on in their school. Do I play against That's it. >> [snorts] >> So, how can we identify and support youth at risk of gang involvement as early as elementary school? And how can we educate parents, educators, and youth about gang recruitment tactics? So, expand gang information and identification training beyond law enforcement. Those in contact with youth benefit from recognizing the everchanging signs
016of gang involvement, gang activity, schools, teachers assistants, bus drivers, school resource officers, of course, law enforcement leadership, community healthcare workers, and community intervention and prevention programs. They all benefit from understanding more about gangs. One thing I can say about Hornet County is tomorrow I have a presentation uh that I have to give to some guidance counselors with Hornet County Schools. They've reached out to me. I've done that program and that presentation in the past year or two. I've had several um uh principles at high schools want to come have me come out to give presentations to their faculty, to their staff, to the guidance counselors. Um, and not to show our age, but one of my first presentations was in 2005, 2005, 2006 when Mr. Matthews was principal at Triton High School. So, that's how
017long I've been doing that. That's how long we've been dealing with gangs and that's how long we've had this problem. Uh, the public version of law enforcement gang training could be redacted version of law enforcement training that exists now. Um, we have in past, as I said, request the school administrators and guidance counselors. And it's amazing to me that when you go into these schools and you give these presentation presentations to these teachers and to these guidance counselors and they say, "I know that. I hear that. I hear that every day. That's what that means." Absolutely. That's what that means. What role can mentorship, arts, sports, and creative outlets played in prevention? invest and expand programs such as the police athletic league done with their PAL and Mark Hornsby with the Hornet County Sheriff's Office
018PAL program. They are doing a great job. They involve either in sports after school tutoring, career readiness, leadership. Uh the sheriff's office pal has the maker uh space program where young citizens they learn and design 3D printers, uh laser engrave and other activities. So we got to encourage teachers, law enforcement, civilian leadership to mentor and engage youth in the community. Perfect example was uh Sergeant Hullbrook at Triton High School who coaches basketball. He took that initiative, went in and you know got in there and starts mentoring these these young men during, you know, on the basketball team. I believe it's JV. So I'm not going to read all of that. That's just kind of what culturally accompetent and trauma-informed approaches are needed in schools and communities. That question is for someone a lot smarter than
019me that has went through uh you know uh training on trauma and psychology. But it will I will say that at youth youth experience negative and even more violence both at home and amongst peers. training or deescalation violence reduction skills um mediating conflict alternative resolution techniques should be taught to youth SRO school counselors school teachers assistants bus drivers everyone has to have a hand in this uh in this problem you know like I said you're not going to arrest your way out of a gang problem it takes everyone you know one thing as a gang investigator and with the NCIA we know you've got to have teachers You've got to have parents. You've got to have community. You know that it takes a village to raise a child. And it does. I'll get this clip.
020That's my information. I appreciate your time. I appreciate you letting me speak. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them. Um, >> okay. Are there questions for Detective Beasley? >> I just Sorry. I appreciate you coming doing present touch very well. >> Yes, sir. Thank you. Well, you know, it's getting to the point that we've got to do something. As you saw, 47.9% in juveniles. Nate Snyder, who is a detective with Sanford PD, uh is also my counterpart with the NCGIA. He's had juveniles as young as 11, 12 years old attempting to break into a gun store at the um request of gang gang members, you know, to get into the gang to prove themsel. So, this is 11 and 12 year olds, not just 16 and 17 year olds, you know.
021So, we have to get out there. We have to at least kind of get in front of this problem and say, "Hey, you know, is it is it home? Is it what's going on?" You know, look, is there any other programs? Can we expand, you know, PAL? Can we, you know, can we do something on the on the most western side of the county? You know, I'm not looking to y'all to solve that, but I'm just saying let you know, everyone, law enforcement, schools, the county commissioners, we all have to have a hand in this. And like I said, I believe with what's going to be coming out from the state next year, I'd like to see us get ahead of them and you know, and the state to be like, look, Har County is
022doing a great job. I think we should look at what they're doing and especially if we can get this after school program um going with uh Miss Gino. And if you have any further questions about EKG2, she said she would be happy to come down and speak with y'all. She just could not make it today. Okay. Uh, Detective Beasley, if we were to be approved for the pilot program and with the if the board were to approve this, about how soon could this be program be implemented? >> The EKG2 inschool program can if we could do it. All it would take was getting our school resource officers through the program is what they call training the trainer. Uh, I would go through that um and fill in the gaps of um any middle schools that
023may have may not have an SRO or an SRO that can't teach it. Uh Lindsay Champion, who is a investigator with the sheriff's office, she also investigates gangs with me. She would also go through that. The afterchool program, that would be a question that Miss Garino would have to answer because that's, you know, after school, that's something that they're looking at doing. they're putting that curriculum together. Uh only thing I can speak to is what we could do in the school, you know, now. And that's something, like I said, that's something she would have to answer as far as after school. >> Okay. Thank you. >> You say I think it's kind of interesting when you said you can't arrest yourself out of these, you know, fraud situations. >> Yes, sir. >> I partially agree
024with that and I partially disagree with it. What if a law we have a law that stated like if a 15 or 16 year old was in a gang and committed a violent crime, he knew he was looking at 10 years after prison time right off the bat? You think that would change things any as far as >> there's all there's already uh gang enhancements? There's a you know that gang law already that is they have gang enhancements for crimes that are committed and no what I believe is is one how you s how you help a let's say hurt a gang problem is one you get those older ones out of the system out of the community that are recruiting these young men and women you get them out, but then you have in
025place where you can show these young men and women, you don't have this is not this is not a good life. One thing I can say that being a gang investigator and things that I've done that I say bothers me the most is when I validate someone, I feel like I am, and I'm not afraid to say this, I am the kiss of death because I have seen in the last five to 10 years when I validate someone, they either wind up dead or they wind up in prison. And I don't like that. this I I don't that's what bothers me most out of all this this job that I do is because you have young people out here that don't see [clears throat] the value in life. They run around with guns. The thing
026that we have seen with and people say what's the evolution of gangs. They become more violent than they have ever been. All these older gang members that I've spoken with, they will tell you they don't mess with these young gang members because they're they will they would more shoot you than look at you. And so that's a problem. That's a in here problem. >> And so we've got to get ahead of that. And if we can't, at least we can try. Are there other questions? Oh, okay. >> Thank you, though. Thank you. >> Okay. Well, thank you, Detective Beasley. We greatly appreciate you coming before us this morning and presenting this program. >> Thank you very much. >> Appreciate you. >> Thank you. Okay. And and next we have our uh second special presentation will
027be our K5 district uh curriculum and instruction team and that is Miss Leslie Tyson. >> Good morning Chairman Powell and members of the board. Thank you for having us this morning. I know that um my team they are ready to present a little nervous um but they've done so much great work. I definitely want them to highlight themselves but we can't cover it all. So, if you have any questions about anything that they touch on today, please feel free to reach directly out to us and we'll answer any of those questions. I'm going to quickly introduce them and then they're going to get started. So, for our team, for math, um, we have Dr. Anna Coats and Yeah, there you go. and Rebecca Privet. For ELA and content, we have Amber Anderson and Caroline Wilson.
028And then we have three district leads, Amy Mattingley, Dr. Amy Maddingley with K5 MTSS, Dusty Bingham for K2, and Tanya Davenport for 35. So, I'm going to turn this over to you guys. And this is the one who's first. >> Good morning. So, one way that we provide support for our district is to conduct classroom walkthroughs. And these are just a quick snapshot of what teaching and learning is happening in the classrooms each day. While we're there, we provide feedback to the teachers. Um, the administration and sitebased coaches also get this feedback and we use that feedback to look for trends or identify other areas of support that we can give and some of that is through coaching conversations and developing resources. So, this kind of just gives a quick visual of as a team
029we have so far visited all 16 elementary schools. Approximately 485 classrooms have been visited, which is just under 10,000 students this year so far. And we'll continue doing this each week, month throughout the school year. >> Sure. [laughter] So, our team develops district assessments in reading, math, and fifth grade science that are aligned to the North Carolina standards and the curriculums that we use. And we analyze the data from these unit assessments along with our universal screening data and reading and math, the classroom walkthrough trends, and teacher survey results to inform districtwide instructional decisions. All of this information drives the work that we do and it guides our planning and our implementation of targeted professional development and tailored support for schools, grade levels and individual teachers. We wanted to share with you um some of
030the core supports that we provide and Anna if you want to join too just in case you wanted to say anything about the math. Um we have pacing guides that we've created very detailed that teachers have access to um with live links. Um these pacing guides they are quarterly um mapped out and as well as they go into weeks um very detailed for for teachers. Um the resources are also linked on here. So, we have DPI resources that are linked as well as district um resources that we have created are linked on here and we're going to talk about a couple of those as well. Um we have on here um the preview videos that are linked. um our our team has created preview videos for the benchmark advanced program that we have for our
031ELA as well as our um Eureka math previews. And these are just videos that teachers can watch at their own leisure or that coaches can do in PLC's. And these videos go into um instructional strategies that teachers can use. It breaks down standards so that the teach the teachers understand their standards and and um what they should look like um in the classrooms and um just some little I don't know supports little supports that maybe they we could offer them that they would not be able to get unless they had access to these videos. Got >> part of it is we're asking teachers to teach differently than we learned in our classrooms, right? So like school today looks very different than it did when I was in school. And so part of it is as
032we're asking them to do these changes, we try to model some of those strategies and model some of the things that we're asking them to do in the videos as well, but also within like 20 to 30 minutes. So it's not taking a whole lot of time, >> right? And then they have um the opportunity to earn C use by looking at these videos as well. >> Um so it's just building their instructional um knowledge. And we also have on the pacing guide um some lit bits. Um and the lit bits are just quick little five to 10 minute um videos that we have recorded based on things that we notice when we're doing walkthroughs through classrooms. So for example, if we are seeing that um there's a lack of in student engagement. We have
033lip bit that addresses that. so that teachers, you know, if they see that there's a need for something that they're lacking, um they can go and look at these lip bits and get some some ideas. Um we also have on here links to our um Eureka module packets and benchmark advance u bundles that we have created. And um with the benchmark bundles, they are um independent tasks that students can work on um after instruction has been given. And so these bundles, we want to make sure that they are standard driven. And so teachers are not having to go on teacher pay teacher or create their own that are not necessarily hitting the standard that needs to be addressed for that grade level. So, we've created these bundles to um to help with that so that
034we know that students are getting um independent activities that are definitely relevant to their their learning. Um in terms of the math side of it, one of the pieces of feedback that we kept hearing from teachers was that our resource wasn't aligning to our standards very well. So, one of the things that we did in third, fourth, and fifth grade, that's where it fell K2. It was amazing. in third, fourth, and fifth grade, it hit our standards, but there are some limitations in North Carolina standards that it didn't address. And so, we went through and we adjusted all of the questions um and made the student pages to go along with each of those standards um and so that it does align to our standards significantly better. And with both the packets and the bundles,
035then the complaint would be, well, then I'd have to use all of my copies at the copy machine. And there's a lot of time involved in being at the copy machine. So we have been able to make all of those copies and send them in stapled and hole punched bundles so that the teachers don't have to worry about that on their own time or with their resources. >> That's it. >> So another core support that we provide is professional development. Um, at the beginning of the year, the math coach has facilitated a three-day professional development session for math teachers to support them in their understanding of the vertical nature of our standards. Uh, more recently, they held a Saturday PD supporting teachers in effectively using models to support student understanding. As far as ELA, we
036are in the process of uh currently planning a series of micro PDS beginning in January. And our planning is directly driven by what we are seeing and hearing in classrooms and the feed that back that we are getting on the surveys that we send out. Um as needs arise, we also create as they talked about create um short targeted videos to provide additional support and clarification around specific standards and skills that we see may um need some additional clarification. As mentioned previously, uh we make a point to visit classrooms frequently and conduct regular walkthroughs. During these visits, we provide teachers with meaningful feedback, beginning with celebrations and the good things that we're seeing. And then followed by growth producing feedback to support continued improvement. And then last, we are working on supporting teachers with differentiating
037instruction with the goal of having the majority of students needs met with high quality core instruction. So along with having the high quality instructional materials for core instruction, we also want to make sure that for students who need the core plus more some interventions to support their needs that we also have highquality materials for that. So this year we have ensured that the intervention materials for reading are not only aligned to our core resources but also the science of reading that we know is very important that we're using research and evidence-based practices for reading. Um and this year as well we have to submit a literacy intervention plan each year to DPI for approval and it was approved with no recommendations for improvements this year. So we're very proud of that. Along with math, we
038have used I Ready in the past um and generally it has been used for all students, but this year we're really making sure that I Ready is being used strategically and so the students who um all students are getting that highquality core instruction from their teacher and then the I Ready program which is online and it's a personalized pathway. It is used for the students who need interventions to address student knowledge gaps. So they can get that personalized pathway in math to fill the gaps so that then they can understand the material that their teacher is using in core instruction because our goal again is that all students are being successful with that core instruction, those grade level standards. And we're also um making sure to encourage small groupoup teaching in math just like we
039have in reading in the past and offering that professional development and that guidance for teachers. We know that there are other factors for students to be successful in academics which includes behavior and attendance. And so we also this year have made sure that there are core and tiered intervention plans for behavior. And we have collaborated with the student support services team to make sure that the um instructional coaches who are leading some of our multi-tered systems of support problem solving that they understand the data that the school counselors have and the other initiatives that can support students with their attendance and behavior like our Hazel Health initiative. So just trying to make sure that all of that is aligned so that students are getting what they need and that we have the data to make
040the best decisions for each individual student. In addition, we know that when we're providing great quality high in great quality core instruction but also interventions that we need to progress monitor to make sure that students are um making growth and if they're not that teachers can address can adjust their instruction or their intervention. And so our state is really focusing this year on MClass assessments and making sure that we are progress monitoring with the recommendations from the state. And so our team is also really making sure that we're focusing on the fidelity of implementation with progress monitoring. And we've really seen great growth this year. And I checked our fidelity report before coming today. And for our students that are the well below grade level standards, 90% of those have been progress monitored as of
041today. So, we are on track to make sure that we're really checking in with all of our students that we know are at risk to not meet grade level standards so that we can do something about it before those gaps widen um and that we can just change our instruction to make sure that we're doing what's best for kids. >> Good morning. We also collaborate to provide leadership aligned with district priorities as you can see the different areas featured on the slide. For example, we hold monthly PLC's for school-based instructional coaches focused on strengthening instructional practices. A key focus of these sessions is using data to inform instruction and guide schoolwide improvement. So, on behalf of the K5 CNI team, I want to thank you for inviting us to share with you today. >> I'm
042very proud of our team and the work that they're doing. Um, we give a one-stop shop to teachers. So, they can go to the pacing guide, they get PD, they get the resources, they get the standards broken down, they get everything they need. So, teachers don't need to spend their time, you know, hours searching for things or paying for things. We've already done that for them. So, I'm extremely proud of their work and if you have any questions, I'll take them now. And then, like I said, if there's anything you want to know more about, please feel free to reach out anytime. >> Are there questions or comments? I just like to say I appreciate each and every one of you's work. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Show is showing. >> Thank
043you. >> They're great. >> Thank you very much. Okay, before we move into discussion items, the chair would like to take a moment of personal privilege and recognize our guest this morning. And we're happy to have Dr. John Matthews of Central Carolina Community College with us. Dr. Matthews is actually a graduate of Hornet Central High School close by. And Dr. Matthews, we greatly appreciate your hard work for the community college and for your uh collaboration and cooperation with our Hornet County Schools. Thank you. >> Appreciate that. >> Okay, moving along now to our discussion items. Uh we have a funding request for the Highland High School. Mr. Matthews, >> Chairman Pal, members of the board, I just wanted to give you a little update and and let you know uh kind of uh a little
044bit about uh the discussions for um the funding of Highland High School going forward. Um Mr. Pearson and I met with our architect uh Friday, I believe, uh mainly um to talk about all of all of the building projects that we have going on currently and that are planned in the near future. Uh, and one of the uh, things that uh, county manager Mr. Brent Trout had asked me to do was to uh, uh, have you to send a funding request for Highland High School to him uh, by the end of March of 26 so they could get that process started as far as uh, securing funds for that project. Uh, so I asked uh, our architect if they he would put that together for us. a timeline with estimated cost so that uh I
045probably want to bring that back to you uh after the first of the year so that uh we can get your approval to carry that to the county commissioners to to get their approval uh on the process. It'll also give a tentative timeline of what we're looking at as far as uh the process goes. So yeah, I just wanted to give you that update this morning and uh entertain any questions that you might have regarding that. >> Okay, there are questions for Mr. Mr. Matthews. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Matthews. We appreciate your attention toward this toward this much needed high school and the funding for it. So, thank you. Next, we have our action items and we're going to return to Mr. Matthews uh review and consider approval of the superintendent's attendance at the district
046administration 2025 superintendent summit. >> Uh thank you, Chairman Pal. I just bring this to you to uh request your approval to be allowed to attend the uh district administration leadership institute superintendent s uh summit in December. It is out of state this year. It was in Asheville last year. Uh did attend. I thought it was a very beneficial uh time spent even though it was over my spring break last year but uh uh it was very beneficial. This time it is out of state. It's in Florida. That's the nearest one. They usually have four of these across the nation. Uh uh but anyway uh since it is out of state, I would need your approval to be able to attend. So that is my request this morning. >> Mr. Chairman, I'd like to make a
047motion to approve the superintendent attendance of this uh VA superintendent summit as as >> second. >> We have a motion and a second. Is there further discussion? >> Chairman votes I. >> Abate I. Gany >> hearing. No votes. The motion carries. >> Thank you, Mr. Matthews. >> Well, at our last meeting, it seemed that uh Mr. Cox had most of the uh [clears throat] action items. So, today we're going to shift focus to Mr. Pearson. So, u we'll be going to you pretty much for the rest of the action item period. So we'll begin with review and consider approval of master craft renovation systems for the removal and replacement of the broking the broken telescoping bleachers in the gymnasium at Hornet Central Middle School. >> Thank you, Chairman F, members of the board. Um to
048to put a bow on all of these next several agenda items, I I do want to say thank you to um our county managers and county finance folks. Um, all of these items are coming from the fact that we were able to come under budget on some large projects and uh so there was some uh bond money and and interest from bonds and such uh things that needed to go into school construction based items. Uh and we needed to have projects that we could get turned by the end of this school year. Um, and so these are all items that are uh several that are greatly needed and then others that are enhancements uh to our schools that I will say um very few counties across the state could could take these actions um uh
049together. So we appreciate the fiscal management and the partnership that we have. Um this first one is for the bleachers at Hearn Central Middle School. Um much needed replacement there. Lots of work has gone into those. um and would say that they are definitely a safety issue when they're extended because of their lifespan is well pasted. >> I will [clears throat] entertain a motion. >> Motion to approve as presented. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Is there additional discussion? Hearing none, the chairman votes I. >> Say I. >> Danny, I hear no votes. The motion is approved. Okay, we'll go back to Mr. Pearson for basically the same thing except this time for replacing the broken bleachers at Western Hornet Middle School. >> Thank you, Chair Pal. Again, uh Hornet Central
050Middle, Western Hornet being of similar age and exact same structure. These same bleachers are past their lifespan. >> I'll entertain a motion. >> Make a motion to approve Master Graph for this renovation. Mr. Chairman, >> second. >> We have a motion and a second. Is there further discussion? Hearing none, the chairman votes I. >> Abate I >> Gy I >> God for I >> hearing n votes the motion is approved. >> And next we'll have the back to Mr. Pearson for review and consider approval of Cardinal Courts and Tracks Incorporated for the track resurfacing project at Triton High School. Uh you all are aware uh 10 almost 14 years ago now I think we started rubberizing tracks at several sites. Um these three next items are for Triton, Haret Central and Western. Those tracks have
051been a 10 plus years of that rubber surface and so it is time to resurface and restripe them. Um and so these next several items are related to that. Again this is also coming out of some leftover construction money. um not coming out of any of our you know uh continuing accessible funds here. >> Other questions for Mr. Pearson? >> I do have a question. Is this part of I know at one time we were talking about like kind of making a schedule for um updating tracks as we go along. Is this part of that or we're going ahead and doing it while we have the funding available? >> Um a little of both. We we are at the age where they're needing it. I think the 15-year mark is the suggestion and we're at
052like 13 14. Um, so it's it is going ahead and getting ahead of it now to put us in good shape for the next 15 years. So, and I have one other question. I think this goes to the attorney. Can we for voting purposes combine four, five, and six together under one vote since they're all for track replacement? You can make that motion as long as no one wants to break that out for discussion. Then if the if that's if the motion is to to combine them, you can do that. >> So Mr. Chairman, I move that we approve action item four, five, and six, which are um track replacements at Triton Western Hornet and Hornet Central as they are all track replacements with the same company. Okay, second. >> Have a motion and a
053second. Is there additional discussion? I would just like to say seems like it was uh within the past year perhaps that we resurfaced the overhills track >> and I have noticed since and as vice chair Bate mentioned earlier about how we were on a rotating schedule is my understanding >> but I've also noticed that attended several athletic events at each of these schools this past fall and I did notice these tracks were in pretty bad shape it looked to me like and so I think this is a welcome improvement while we have the funds is available to do so. Uh let's take care of it time. >> Chairman votes I >> abate I >> gay I >> for I hear no nay votes the motion is approved. Thank you Mr. uh Pearson. And now we'll
054move along for slightly different direction with Mr. Pearson. Review and consider approval of agreement for the design consultant agreement for the freezer cooler project. >> Thank you chairman pal. Um the freezer cooler project which we have all uh talked about for a long time uh is moving forward. This is for actual architectural services design of the building. So we've done site surveying. We've had the land um you know board and to make sure it can support the building and then this is the agreement for the actual design services uh was was selected. We did do an RF uh Q for these and they came out on top of this project. >> Okay. I would entertain a motion. >> Mr. Chairman, make a motion to approve an agreement for design consultant agreement for the freezer cooler
055project as presented by Mr. Pearson. >> Second. >> Have a motion and a second. Is there further discussion? Hearing none. Chairman votes I. >> Abate I. >> Gainy IR. >> Hearing no votes. The motion is approved. And back to Mr. Pearson for review and consider approval of Musco Sports Lighting LLC for the LL LED sports field lighting upgrade projects at all Hornet County schools high schools. >> Uh thank you, Mr. Pal. Um you all may remember we did the uh lighting at Hornet Central High School and Triton softball based on some needs that came up. Um based on this funding that was available as well as the time that the county really needed us to encumber these funds, um we felt like this was a good project because this will take and outlast all of
056us here in this room. This is a you know a 30-year uh project that will will put these all of our athletic facilities in a great spot. This does include any wooden poles that we still have at Fields, taking those down and putting up metal poles for uh again a permanent structure. Uh we we did rebid this and we're pleased to say that uh Musco came back um significantly uh lower over a million dollars lower than in previous times. Um and so we feel like that we're in a good spot to be able to do uh this would take care of all of our football, baseball, soccer, and softball facilities across the whole district. Okay. >> Are there further questions for Mr. Pearson or further discussion? I just like to say I think this would
057be a significant investment, a well good investment for I've heard uh several good things about the lighting already over at Hornet Central just recently and I'd like to see this carried out for our student experience on not only for our athletics but also for the game day experience for students and u spectators alike. >> Yep. I agree. I think it'll be it will definitely put us above many others in a facilities perspective. >> Yeah, those lights make a big difference. Mhm. >> Big difference. >> And cost savings >> definitely over time. You're right. >> Chairman of vote sign. >> We haven't got the motion yet. [laughter] >> The chairman will retract that vote and chairman will ask for a motion. >> Mr. Chair, motion to approve West Coast Sports L for all these projects at
058Harman County Schools. >> Second. >> Have a motion and a second. Is there further discussion? Chairman votes I >> Abate I >> gay I draw for >> I hear no votes the motion carries thank you Mr. >> Thank you for letting me fill up your agenda. >> Yes sir. We appreciate it. >> Mr. Chairman, I move that we go into close session pursuant to general statute 143, 31811, A1, A3, and A6 to prevent the disclosure of confidential personnel files under GS15C 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. >> We have a motion and a second. Is there further discussion? Chairman votes I. >> Abot say I. >> Gain I hear no votes. The
059motion carries. We are now in close session. After a motion and a second, we're now back in open session and Let's see. We need to review and consider approval of items discussed in close session. Uh Mr. Duke, >> thank you, Chairman Pal. Uh just wanted to announce that in in close session that the the board uh voted and approved the settlement release agreement between Duke Energy Progress LLC and Hornet County Board of Education uh concerning the Northwest Hornet Elementary School wet pond. Um and uh that that agreement has been approved by the board. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Duke. Mr. Matthews, do you have anything else for us? >> Uh just a reminder of the Thanksgiving lunchon you're invited to and uh certainly hope that you all be able to drop by and enjoy a
060little bit of a pre-Thanksgiving meal or get get it a go box, whichever. So, thanks. >> Okay. Is there anything else from the board? If not, I'll entertain a motion. >> Motion, >> second. >> Have a motion and a second. All in favor say I. Please. >> We're now adjourned. Thank you.