001Good evening. >> Good evening. >> The May 5th, 2026 Hampton County Board of Trustee Meeting is now called to order. in accordance with the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act section 40, excuse me, section 30-4-8E, South Carolina in accordance with the South Carolina I mean, excuse me, let me start over. In accordance with the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act section 30-4-T, South Carolina code 1987 as amended all local news media have been notified of the date, time, location, and agenda of the meeting to include a posting on the Hampton County School District website. We ask that you please now stand with us before a moment of silence and the pledge of allegiance. >> Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands,
002one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. And you may be seated. Our doctor rules a parliamentary procedure. Robert's rule provide for a consent agenda listing several item for approval of the board by a single motion. Most of the item listed under the consent agenda have been have gone through board subcommittee review and recommendation. Documentation concerning these items have been provided in advance to asssure an extensive and thorough review. Items may be removed from the consent agenda at the request of any board member. Hearing none, may I please entertain a motion at this time to approve the consent agenda and include consent agenda items as presented. >> Madam Chair, I move that we approve the consent agenda as presented. Second. >> It has been properly moved by Miss Foy, second
003by Miss Home that we are approved the consent agenda as presented. Are there any discussions or questions? Hearing none. All in favor, let it be known by saying I. I. >> Oppose have the same right. Motion carried 70. public comment. At this time, we do do not have any public com comments. We're down to number five, information items. The Betty Crosby Pearl Early Childhood Education Grant with Hampton United Methodist Church, Mr. Jack Hutto and Christy Wood. I do want to just extend my sincere thank you to Mr. Jack Huau and Hampton United Methodist Church for the opportunity for us to partner for the Betty Crosby Pearls Early Childhood Education Grant. We were able to receive math manipulative kits for all of our prek classrooms. And I'm proud to say that they started getting the kits
004last week and I received emails and texts from the teachers that were excited. They were thrilled to get the kits and eager to be able to have way to incorporate them into their small group lessons and into their learning centers in the classroom. So, I just want to take a moment before I turn it over to Mr. Hod to say it's partnerships like this in our community that really make Hampton County special. Um, we appreciate the support and we love the idea that you continue to work with us to enhance the opportunities that we provide for our students. So, thank you. >> Well, thank you, Chairman Robinson and Dr. Sheffield and schoolboard members. Appreciate the opportunity just to be here with you and it feels like coming home. Um, and uh thank you to Miss
005Wood and Dr. Sheffield for working with us. We were able to apply like Miss Wood said, the Betty Crosby Early Childhood Grant is a part of the Pearls organization um uh which is u supported through the Community Foundation of the Low Country. And like Miss Wood said, we were able to purchase um apply for some funds. $1,800 were designated for Hampton County School District. And of course, um any of you that knew Miss uh Betty Crosby uh knew that that's where her heart was for early childhood education. She worked tirelessly to advance early childhood learning opportunities for pre kindergarten and their families. And um I believe that a number of your schoolboard members have are affiliated with Pearls. And so, um, appreciate what you all do to support that organization and and we too are
006grateful for opportunities to partner and and I'm not here every day, but my heart is with you all and appreciate every day what you all do for our students and families here in Hen County. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Hut. And thank you for keeping the legacy alive. We always can. We're always glad to partner up with you all because every penny counts and thank you for keeping us at your heart. We we have you here too. We're down to Sedesco. So Kathy goes, >> good evening, madam chair and board. Um I wanted to bring to y'all tonight update with Sedexo. I feel like this is a good time of the year. spirits at the end of the year and kind of talk to y'all about different things that they have been able to accomplish
007and also to remind that you know this is our first year so we've had some hiccups but we've had some really great rewards too that we have accomplished so um I'm going to introduce um the Sedexo group um you've got this just a second you've got Paris Burton she is our um general eneral manager. She works day-to-day with the students and with the um food service staff. You have next Jennifer Strong who is the president of operations um which is a great assistance to us when we need her and call her. And then you have Jim Ashbrook who is the district manager which is definitely our first go-to when we need anything um that we need to discuss or help with anything helping to decide what we need to do. So, I'm going to turn
008it over to Paris um Burton and let her talk to you about um Sedexo and some of the things, the challenges as well as some of the goals that we've accomplished. >> Okay. Good evening, members of the board. Um like Kathy said, my name is Paris Burton and I'm here with you all. um the general manager for Sedexo. I just want to go through our accomplishments first. Right. So based off of the RFP that we had when we first started Sedexo, we are doing 84% more uh meals per day. So that's a huge accomplishment. Um that could have come from our our variety of meals that we offer the students. Now we give them a more of a variety. Also it can just come from a new program. The students like to see something new.
009Um so we had an increase in part participation based off the menu variety. Um the students uh responded positively uh initially. Um so there was a strong initial launch. Um commitment we have a commitment to quality and compliance. We have ongoing USDA compliance training and we focus on recipe utilization in standardized processes. So that has been a positive um impact that we have brought into the district so far this year. So some of our challenges that we have run into since being here for the past seven months has been some staffing shortages. um with anything new um any new programs that you provide there may be someone some people who are able to get on the board with us or get on the bus with us and then oftent times some people kind of phase
010out when things are new. So we've had some staffing shortages when it's come through the program which kind of negatively impacted our program but we are looking to continuously hire people. Um we do have positions posted and we have uh hired some people for additional uh staffing to support us in that area. Um, number two, menu and staff fatigue. Menu fatigue. That's across every district. Uh, because we use a cycle menu. Not just us, but Sedexo, but all contract food service companies use a menu cycle so that we could see what it is that the students like, right? And then after that, we really dive in deep into the menu and see based off of the location what it is that these students like. because students that you have in one middle school may not
011like the same thing students like in another uh school. So I work with the managers weekly in order to see okay what is it that you have on your menu that your students like and what is it that you have with your students like so we try to dig deep so we don't um hit that menu fatigue staff fatigue. Um, we have a new program. We're trying to provide the students with things that they've never um had before, which is going to bring in additional work when it comes to the staff. Um, the staff has been stepping up and they have really been doing exceptional in order to really push this program. Um, and they're doing a great job, but we will continue to support them and provide the resources that they need to continue.
012Um, learning curve, there's new systems. We have a new nutritional software system that we have for the staffs to input which helps with uh transparency, right? It also helps with so the community can see what it is that we're providing. Also, when it comes to some students, they may have dietary um restrictions. So this new nutritional software adds up all these nutritionals so that the parents can see it, know what their children are consuming and then also so the community can see what their um students within the community are being offered. And also USDA um the nutritional software makes it so that we are compliant when it comes to USDA policies. Um recipes with providing different recipes and new items. There may be some items that not only the students have seen before but also
013some items that the staff have not seen. So new recipes have off also been occurred but we are trying to provide the resources for the staff not only the staff or the students to be able to try different things. Um cultural integration like I said one location may like something another location may not like something. So, we're trying to hone in on the menu to be specific to that location. Um, site operational differences. We're working on providing specific systems per site. Um, we're working on a ordering system for the younger grades to be able to order prior to coming to the cafeteria so that all the options that they're given isn't taking them longer to go through the line. So, we're working on systems to better fit each location. So, our strategic focus moving forward,
014I touched on some of these things, but I can go through them as well. uh staffing stability. Uh we're continuing to hire um and retain um members of the community because we believe that they are most interested, invested in the students and their their well-being and their nutritional um their health. Uh building stronger and more resilient teams at each site. We want people who are committed to the program and committed to the students. So those are the people or the the prospects that we're looking and bringing on with us. ongoing training and development. This is something that Sedexo does not just here, but we do everywhere. We have different resources when it comes to training. We have interactive. We have hands-on. And these are things that we're looking to bring here. When we first started,
015we came in September. We came in October. So, usually what every school does, they have a opening school year training. We did have one, but we had to kind of rush rush through it to get us all started because we were already we were already rolling. But we do have an opening school year meeting that we provide. Um what else? So we we do provide year- round training whether it's culinary skills, operational systems, compliance, and efficiency within within the job. Menu optimization. Uh maintain variety while reducing unnecessary complexity. That's one thing that we're working on is being able to provide variety without menu complexity. Um, just based off of the location. Everyone has different level of expertise when it comes to culinary or when it comes to jobs. So, kind of honing in and reducing
016complexity when it comes to some of the the menu items. Prevent menu fatigue as I was saying. Um, so having an open and active conversation and not just in the middle of the year, but having it weekly when it comes to menu fatigue and asking the managers specifically what is it that their location um is interested in and kind of gearing the menu towards that location. Strengthening partnerships. We want to continue to collaborate with district leaders, school principles. Uh we're also looking to collaborate with the athletics department and be able to provide them with the nutritional stacks snacks that they need for their team. We know that the teams here they in order to win, you're going to need to fuel them. So we want to work with the athletics department to be able to
017fuel the athletics team in order to fuel them so we can um make sure that they're winning games. Um support district and revenue driven nutrition program. So, we are working on right now filling out the application for the summer program. We're going to roll out a new non- congregate summer program to the community. That's not something that we have done in the past. And essentially, that is going to be bulk meals provided to the community for children who are 18 and under where they the community will be able to pick up these meals. That's not something that we have provided, but we're working through the application right now to be able to provide that for the community, which would essentially raise revenue for for the district. A I have helped and worked directly with Kathy
018to complete the DSS application, which is another program for the district and applied for um South Carolina certified local produce and actually won a local produce grant for the district as well that we are currently utilizing. Structured communication and accountability. So with Sedexo or many noncontracted food service company, we provide a level of transparency when it comes to financial um performance and operational expectations. Everything that we have Kathy calls on me, can I see this that other I will provide it for we are 100% transparent when it comes to those items. We do regular check-ins and performance reviews with the managers to make sure everybody's staying online and we're we're staying the course. Um, we have year- round surveys. One survey just recently went out so that we can, like I said, we can have
019these conversations. They're ongoing. It's not just when something happens. We can jump on it prior to when something happens. Um, implemented site appropriate systems. Like I said, we're going to have a ordering system for the younger um students to assist with uh their meal service. So, future planning, school year, closing meeting preparation. At the end of the school year, I have a meeting with the managers and we see, okay, what have we done this year? What are we looking to do next year? We're actually right now we're planning the first six weeks of the menu for next school year. So, we're continuously moving forward and continuously trying to impact the program and move it forward and and make it better. School year opening meeting, like I discussed when I first started, we have an opening
020school year meeting which uh it's an eight-hour program where we train on compliance, we train on menus, we train on pretty much everything when it comes to school food, uh school food nutrition. Um so that's what I have today. We are working towards all of the challenges but also we are we want to celebrate the success that we have had here and we will continue to progress in the in the right direction. Um any questions board members on my right do you have any questions >> left? So, I visited a few of the schools the other day and um after visiting the schools, there's a difference between each one of the schools I visited. U I went to the elementary schools because u that's where I was able to get to that day. But through
021those four schools that I went to, each one of the schools, it was almost like there was a different program in each school. Uh, one of the schools they told me that first thing in the morning they go through they kind of pull the kids this is what they want and they prepare those meals. One of the schools I went to the kids at the end of the day they just get what's left is are we going to set up are we going to start pulling the kids in the morning? You know, that's that's my question behind it because I don't want to see any of these children getting there picking up their lunch and it's something they're not going to eat, you know, >> right? That's excellent question. So, like I said in the
022for the younger students, we're going to provide from them like a pre-men. They're going to order prior. When it comes to the older students, if that school would like to do something like that, we can do that as well. when it comes to and the school the managers will tell you as well sometimes they want this sometimes they want that. So when it comes to because they plan every they plan two weeks in advance right they plan they order items but they really don't necessarily know what it is that the students are going to eat that day but they should have a general idea. So we like to do first student last student and that's something that we instill. the experience that the first student has is the same experience that the last student has.
023So to your question, yes, we are going to look into systems where there's no every student has the same option or same experience in the cafeteria. So yes, >> I have a question about the process for um I don't want to use the word filing a complaint, but if there are performance issues that need to be brought to someone's attention like you know recently we've as board members been made aware of some um you know less than ideal um lunches that were served. It being that you're a contract would a parent go to the principal? Do they need to contact a food service manager? What what's the process for making complaints known? >> Okay. Well, I would say if a parent wants to make a complaint, I would you know you um um Thank you.
024Um generally what happens is that the parents will go to the principal. That's where they should go and then the principal will then make um contact with myself and Mrs. Carlasia. That's how it's been going. Um and you know we have um some um in regards to their go directly there to social media. Um going directly to social media um for the collective is not going to solve the issue. Right. Um, so my recommendation to parents and anyone that's listening for anything, not just with school food service with any concerns that you have, allow the principles to be your first defense. Um, and the principal will assist if they cannot assist, they know where to go. But I do want to assure um assure the board that um you know with our most recent concerns
025that came to us in regards to the change um of school food service because we know with anything with change um there are going to be challenges. We're going to have some bumps and bruises but I don't want it to be at the expense of my children particularly many of the kids are our students. this is what they the only meal that they get during the day, breakfast, lunch, and in some cases over at ESTO, they get supper as well, right? Um and we want to make certain that we can help the parents, help the families fill that void. So what we have done um not just with the most recent because you know we listen to the principles we had a meeting principal shared what the concerns are because we want to know those
026concerns so that we can fill those gaps and work with Sedexo because there are challenges on both end on the managing company side of it and also the district side in regards to some personnel and some system places that systems that we have to put into place. So, what I have done in the meantime, I have met with um met with Sedexo. Thank you. Um got read on it and we've had some hard um courageous conversations in regards to the next steps and corrective actions for both sides and um right after that held a um long meeting there with school food service the managers because as I've indicated with the managers, we want them to be a part of this team. We understand that um if you've been at this a long time um change
027is difficult but understand this is what it is. So if you find that you cannot adjust to the change then maybe this is not the place it's just as come to that um to Mr. Long's point in regards to it depend on what school you visit, right? And I was making my notes in regards to some things that we have talked about and I've asked Sedexo in regards to some additional training alongside with the additional training understanding that it has to be differentiated based on the needs of the leadership that is there because some are um taking it and they are running with it and they are becoming very creative and there are some that needs more assistance than other and we want to provide that assistance. So, what we're going to be doing now,
028um, hopefully we can get through the end of the year, but in the meantime, as we are getting through the end of the year, trying to work on the corrective action plan for accountability and monitoring um, of leadership of what's happening within our school food service because that's where it starts. We have leaders. We have them in their leadership positions for a reason and we're just going to have to come together and see how we provide the additional training and support for the leaders. But I want to assure the board, I want to assure the community, we hear you. Your concerns are valid. Um and it is not okay. And um some of it is in regards to not having the full context and how things look um because it's my understanding there are various
029options, right? And so there's just some things we have to tighten up. But I'm not going to make excuses in regards to us running out of meals um at the end of the day and Johnny having to get whatever Johnny gets because it's the end of the day. That's just one example of things we have to structure and what we have to work on. So we can sit here all night and talk about the challenges, but I think we have a whole bucket of challenges. Um we have the wins, but we have the challenges and we're working on a corrective action plan um together. Um, so you know, I appreciate, you know, Sedexa, Sedexo, I appreciate the hard conversations that you allowing us to have. Um, and understanding that, um, it's the hard conversations that's
030going to help us move these barriers out of the way. But we have, um, we do have some challenges on board and we're here because we want to address the challenges. >> Are there any other questions? Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Um 5.3 moving committee calendar. Miss Coasia. Good evening again. Um all right. So I'm going to talk with y'all. This has been a very um exciting adventure. very um a lot of information has been shared amongst um me and the committee that um is is involved in it. For the committee meeting um we started on um the meeting on February 13th. Um I'm going to change that. I'm sorry. Um and then with that I brought in our who are really our committee members. Um and naturally we would include um
031Miss Cassandra Williams and the principal and Jeriah Green for the Kate because these are our two biggest probably areas that we have to contend with with having different departments that need to be moved in. But also on that committee, we have taken great strive to include each area of that school. And as you'll see in the in my um description here, we have had the food service involved. Um we have had ROC involved. We've had athletics involved. We've had the band involved. We've had HG Reynolds involved. We've had the assistant principal broad. The nurse has been part of it. Um the LS3P Cameron has been part of it. the media I mean median center and then transportation and the custodians and you may ask why we do in these areas and it's because we bring
032them in that comedian meeting to talk to them help um Miss Williams talk with them so we're all and she's not chasing all these people around trying to get them to understand the dates and what we're needing from them and that sort of thing. So, it gives her a good place to bring everyone into an area and focus. And we do not bring them all in at one time because we realize that if you if you get too many areas in at one time, you're going to lose focus of what you're trying to accomplish. So, we've brought them in at different times and had different discussions with them so we could really focus in their area and try to help with that. um dates of importance that I wanted to bring out to y'all is
033for um transportation coordinator which was Miss Shannon's. We brought her and the state out there to see what the bus route would actually be and we brought her on March the 22nd. And this way she would get a good understanding on what side of the building that the buses were going to be on, making sure that she had room for her buses to park to pull up and be able to pick up the students and work through any um complications that we may find in that. So, um we spoke about we spoke with her on that and and spent a day with them. Then the teachers um classrooms was assigned by Miss Williams on April 14th. um HG Reynolds and OFS office inspection. Um the dates have already started. Um and it's going to go
034from about April to 15. We're figuring probably around June 24th before that would be finished because what we're trying to get is a um arupency certificate. Um then dehack inspection for the Kate, this is great news. The DHECK inspection for cake kitchen and the food service kitchen hoods, just the hoods, um has been approved as of April the 30th. Um for the elevator LL, the South Carolina LLR inspection has been done and they have approved also on April the 30th the elevators to be able to be operated. Um moving large equipment, we already started on that on May the 4th. they were moving um the large the only large equipment at this time that they moved was the um auto classroom the automotive classroom they had to move all their lifts out there um so
035those are moved out there and in the process when I left today was still being set up so um then LS3P is moving the furniture in on May the 18th through June the 8th um Cameron and Aaron just so we'll know that they will be taking photos during this time. So Erin and um Cameron will talk back and forths on when it's best because they're going to stage the classroom set of classrooms or whatever and be able and we're probably going to bring some students and stuff out there just so we can stage the area and take good pictures. Um DHECK inspection for Kate's Kitchen and the food service and the nurses station is yet to be announced. It probably be sometime in this month that that's going to happen. But before that can happen,
036um Ryan, he has to go through touchup paint. He has to get everything in place and that sort of thing, get it set up. So, um so he's still working on that. So, as soon as he gets finished or getting close to being finished with that, we'll then get in touch with DHCK to come out there and do that inspection. um with your LLRC inspection for Kate Bobberin. We also have to get that done. That too will probably is is planning to take place in May as well. Um teachers pack their classrooms. They have to have their classrooms packed by June the 4th. We purchased like 12,000 boxes. Like it's a lot of boxes. So they all have it. We've all talked about how they have to mark their boxes, what has to be in
037their boxes to be able to determine what their inventory is inside that box. Um, so they'll be able to be picked up. We have already hired trucks to be able to come in. Um, the truck company that we have hired is, um, two men in a truck is the company that we've hired. So, um, so anyway, so we're really excited about that. We've got all that lined up with with that to take place. Um and then teachers, the administrative and staff, um we're going to invite them on a tour on June the 4th. We went through and try and had to find a day that would be they were able to leave the school to be able to come out there and look at it. So, we picked June the 4th um was what Miss
038Williams picked for them. And then the piano to be moved out there, we had two pianas that's being moved. We have to have a special person to move those and we'll go ahead and get them tuned at that point. um that is June the 24th that that they are planned to be moved. Then the ribbon cutting, we have that on July the 9th uh from 9:00 until 12:00 and that will be by imitation only. Um for the A. Okay. For the A I'm making sure that is the next paper. All right. for um dates just now to know that's still going on at the old high school, right? Because we will have activity at both schools going on at kind of at the same time, different activities. So, um important date still on this one
039side though with the high with the new high school, we're going to move the A from EST. They're going to move theirs on July the 13th through the 16th um if packed because they have a lot of it's not packed up. So, we've kind of put that on Kate that they have to actually get it packed up and then we will move it. Um, teachers boxes will be moved on July the 13th through the 16th. Um, community h open house will be July the 22nd um from 10 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. And then community um open house will be July 23rd through 400 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. the teachers. And when we do that, we will take them on tours through there. So, it will be someone guiding them through there. They won't be just
040free to walk around. They will be guided. Um, the teachers set up their classroom. We're offering on July the 27th through the 30. And we with pay, we will pay them because that's their break. So, we will pay them. We're asking them to pick two days for that to be able to come out and do that. Um, senior pitchers, they're going to do that at the new high school on July the 31st through August the 2nd. Um the district um sympo symposium will be August the 3 from 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. excuse me at the new high school. And then student registration is on August the 4th which will be at the new high school. the first day of the students, excuse me, the first day of the school for the students. We have
041decided that on that day that they will get to go take tours that we will focus a little bit more on them going and taking a tour and let we're let Miss Williams um plan that on how they will do that because we feel they will be very excited. So, they're not going to want to listen anyway. So, we're going to let them go have a tour and see how beautiful the school is. All right. So, other dates that I was talking about that is important that's going to be happening at the old um high school is you're going to have the um Hampton County Watermelon Festival, which is June the 6, and that will be from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. You're going to have the Camp Wildwood the week of June the 8th
042and the week of June the 15th. You're going to have athletic summer workout, which is June 8th through July the 23rd. And for this athletic workout, we will leave the weights and everything at the whole old high school for them. And once that um 23rd pass, we will be getting a truck again to take them and bring them over to the new high school and then get the new weight room set up. Watermelon festival is on June the 25th. Um then you have the Battle of Towns is June the 25th. That Watermelon Festival on June the 20. Okay. Okay. The other one was the pageant and then that's the watermelon festival. All right. So then the band camp is July the 20th through the 30th. Um and they will we will bring anything that they
043have that they are not using during that time for the band camp that will need to go over to the high school when we do the move for everything else in July. for the July 30th when they finish they will whatever items that they're actually using then it will be their responsibility to bring those items over to the new high school. Um football um overnight camp is from August the 5th through the 8th. They do not need weights during that point. So um they will already the weights will already be left there. So, I gave y'all a snapshot. If you go to the next page, I gave y'all a snapshot of what the calendar kind of looks like. And why I did couldn't show you the whole thing because it's too long. Um, it goes
044by dates. And so, what it does is it shows them with highlights where they're at within the today. If you went look at it today, it tell you how much longer you how much you've already covered. So then you subtract from that and come up with how much more time you have to be able to complete your your task that you're trying to complete. Um the ones that's in red, I just left them in there because we just came out of some of March and some of the April that we were already talking that we had been talking about with the April. So I left them there showing that this was kind of like the last thing when we had our last meeting. They were all in red because we were in April and kind
045of highlighting for them to that these are the things to take note of. um that they need to be looking at the dates and preparing for. So, if you go through it, you would see that it is everything that I just talked about plus some more with the things that we've we've accomplished. Um so, it's for your viewing to be able to see it um what all that we have offered them. And you can see as you go through it that we have u Miss Paris there, we have Mr. Nolan there. We have Miss Shan's there. Um Mr. or Coach Hannah there. You can see that with all of them that we have put them their own separate little calendar that shows them where we're at, where they're at, and what still obligations and when
046those things are happening. So again, you will see um Gerald Smart has been involved. He's with the procurement and he's definitely been an advocate with being my right hand with this. So, we have put him in there as well with his dates that he's had to do. And then you got Ryan Reynolds, you got Doby Hairs because he will also be helping. And again, while we're not getting them to the U maintenance to move the actual products, we will need them to help us organize with getting it to the right the right stuff loaded to the trucks as well as getting them back over into the new school. Um, then you have even Dr. Sheffield because there's a part in here that is important for her to be up to date on the things that
047was important to her, the ribbon cutting, um, how we're doing with the moving, that sort of thing. And it gives her access with this calendar that she can see everything that's inside this calendar. Um, then we have Kosha because it's very important for her to be part of this because she's handling all of the technology to support us on what we need. And then Cameron is our last one. So that's my last page. I don't have questions there, but I do have a question sheet. But um, do y'all have any questions on any of that? >> Any questions on my left, on my right, Dr. Sheffield. >> Madam Chair, um I just have a quick um Kathy a quick note to make. >> Okay. >> And very detailed, right? You all work with Kathy long
048enough, right? Um very detailed. You ask Kathy, Kathy will deliver. And Kathy, thank you for shaming me with all the zeros sitting between my bosses, but I can assure you all I have been working. Um Kathy, one thing we do want to um add to this is that um when I went with the sheriff and his team um Sheriff Russell is the traffic pattern. So I will just and I see Lieutenant Butler is here. So I will ask that you work with Lieutenant Butler to see um what does that look like and who would need to be involved to go out with us from the sheriff's office to just talk about the um the traffic pattern. Um, that was a concern for not a concern but Sheriff Russell and Deputy Chief Ricks along with Lieutenant
049Butler would like to have conversations so that they will have a clear understanding on the traffic pattern. But um, great work, very thorough, gifted. Um, definitely appreciate it. >> Well, thank y'all so much. >> Thank you, Miss Kles. You did such a well job to We don't you didn't leave room for questions. like, oh Jesus. But thank you so much for all. >> It has definitely been a lot, but I hope in the end that we see the great results that we want and I I think everything can move smoothly with um changing over hands and taking it over there. So that's what I'm looking forward to. >> We are sure it's going to be smooth if they follow the um outline. Happy. Thank you again. >> You're welcome. >> Oh Jesus. better you than
050me. >> Okay. So, I think it's me once again. Um, and so I'm coming to you tonight to tell you about we looked at three different and I'll get to that in a minute, but we looked at three different um firms for online. Our students so so badly need online payment system that they can go on and they can pay fees or if they're having a dance or whatever, they can buy tickets or whatever the case may be, right? and it helps their parents because sometimes their parents can't get there to try to pay and sometimes we know when we give our little ones um money, it doesn't always make it where it's supposed to make it. So, but um so this is something that we've been working for um wanting to do for a
051long time. And so earlier at the this year, actually, we started in um I think it was August when we first started talking to them. So, it's taken us a minute to bring because we've been very thorough with what we want and um how it would work um for both sides for the parent, for the child, and for the district to make sure that everything aligned up and worked like we needed it to. So um to talk about this a little bit um with looking at this we looked at um Edlio and with them they work with K12 platforms. So, we felt confident that they were one of the ones when we first started talking with them that we would be happy and they have many different ways that you can use them whether it
052be through a website, mobile app, communication, online payment, whatever it they've got many different ways that you can work with them. Um, they currently right now service for 14 plus districts. So, you can see some of these um great districts down here. Anderson 5, Chester, Lee, um, Chesterfield, Dorchester 4, Jasper, Lancaster, Lawrence 55, Marian, Richland 1, Spartanberg 6, Spartberg 7 Union, and York One. So they we felt like that they have been um very involved with districts and we've we did contact the districts as well as we even went out to visit one of the districts that had it up in place and working just to make sure that you know that they did have what all we were hearing that it did work. And so they went through parts of it with us and
053showed us how simple it was and how um how great it was that the parents could work with it or anyone that wanted to do for the student and that sort of thing. And they call they refer to it as a web store. So, talking about the web store, it's there for the parents, the staff, the community members, the um to browse and pay for school items for each of them or again to even pay for if they're doing a a dance or whatever, right? It can help them with all those things. It's a secured um card processing, so we don't have to worry about that. They make sure that everything, all deposits is automatically put into school account. They send us this report on the um 1st and the 16th of each month with
054this statement total by fund. This is one of the things I must just pause on this one for a second because this is one of the things that was one of my biggest concerns. I have worked with um online school payments before with with other um software. And when it came to the district side and it came to the reconciliation of this money that they're talking about when they're paying us, it became a nightmare because what it would end up doing is dumping everything together. And then you'd have to go back and just literally spend hours trying to decipher it and pull it back apart because if you got $10 and the other school got $10, whose $10 do you know that it is, right? So it would just it would become a nightmare trying
055to pull it apart. So when talking with them, that was one of the things that I wanted to make sure that that they were well um they would work with us and understand what we wanted and they assured us that and even with the school district that I spoke with um that I went and visited. They assured us that they would be able to distinguish between the schools and we would be able to easily um reconcile to make sure that the right schools was getting the right money. So um so that was a great part for us or important part for us. Um automatic receiping so it will be no receipt book that you're writing out. It actually writes the receipt out for you. It prints the receipt out. So that was a good thing
056as well. Um, then we go into looking at how it works. So, the bookkeeper will be the one that creates the product. Um, it could be they're selling t-shirts. So, they would put the price on there. They would put you could have option of size. So, because everyone wears different sizes. It could even have a variety of it could be different t-shirts that had different pictures on it. Um, it could be a male or female shirt and that sort of thing. So all that they get to set up and put this pretty little picture of the um t-shirt on it. Um once they do that, a product goes live um automatically and then the parent can shop online. And again, they would be able to go in and they'd be able to pick the size
057that they need. You know, sometimes parents have three students, right? So they'd be able to pick their student plus pick their student size and the teacher t-shirt that they actually wanted for their student um or their child. So So that's great. It gives great access and ease with all of that. Um the card charged um and receipts emailed. So once the char the they do the purchase or whatever their card would be charged that they're using and then it would um send them a email receipt so they would have a copy of that. But it don't only send the teacher one. It would send all of us um one. So we would have a copy for the bookkeeper, the teacher, the sponsor of it, teacher/sponsor, whomever was doing it. So we'd all have a copy
058of that receipt automatically that would come to us. Um funds would be deposited. Like I said, they do it where it's on the um the the statements would come back to us on the 1st and the 16th. It actually gets deposited immediately, but we don't get the statement until the 1st and um 16th. Um benefits of this, you can see it saves time. um serves the family automatic accounted for has reduced risk um easy on boarding and in-person receipts. So that all makes it wonderful. So we talking about that new high school opening up in the registration. We are trying to have it open and they're going to be piloted to be the first one that comes on and able to do that at that site um when she starts registering on August the 4th.
059So going through here, I'm just going to show y'all just, you know, again is what we just talked about, but here's a little map that kind of shows you how the process goes if you like looking at on a a little more mapbased. Um, but you would see that it start with the bookkeeper, go to the production line and then it go to the parent, goes to the shops, charges the credit card, they get their receipt and then the money is deposited. So, and again, the great thing on the other side of that is it's very easy to um do the bank reconciliations for the district. So, on the next page is showing you where they've done the deposits and how it's going to show on the statements and be able to come up. that
060you would see that if they went in there and they bought something for band and then they bought something for chorus and then they bought something for the class of you know 26 27 they had to pay some football fees it's going to break it down it it's going to know and it's going to know right what account number it needs to go to right but at the same time when it pulls in that deposit it also is going to keep it by the school so we would know which school actually sent this in right and not get all clumped together. When we start talking about the transaction fees, um, as you see down here at the bottom where it's telling you about the the transaction fees and and that sort of thing. Well, on
061the next page, I'm going to break that down a little bit better because I'm going to go with their actual fees that they um charge. So, their annual fee for us to have the license or or have the product is $2,970. There's no setup cost. The there's free license and no limited sites. We can put at all sites. We'll have one at the district. Um transaction fees if you use a Visa and Mastercard is going to charge a 4% on that and then a plus an authorization fee which is 35 cents. So if you looked at how that would work if you your option one the purchaser charged and it's a $100 plus the $4.35 right because it was 4% and then plus 35 the school received the $100 and then the fee goes back
062to the bank paying for the services and to the um the company there's option too that we can do but in my conversation from with Dr. Sheffield we have chose to do option one that um it would not be the it would be on the person who is charging that would actually pay the cost for it. All right. So with the district research just like I said we had talked to others. We actually talked to four companies. Um community pass was one of them. They did not end up sending us a quote after we had the meeting with them. Um we found I think they found that there was some questions that we were asking that they could not accommodate us. Um Kev Group they did offer us a annual um a quote with the
063annual it was $32,000 and their year every year after would be 22,000. Um they charge for the fee cost was 4% and then 10 cents charge. So that would be $410 per hundred. Um, giftbacks is another great one that gave us a quote. They were $6,875 and then $5,375 thereafter. Um, their cost for their fee cost was 3.9% plus the 0.59, which if you added that up, that'd be 4 I mean $449 per 100. Um, Elio we they quoted us at the 2,970. it stays at the 2,970 and the cost fee is 4% plus that 35% that we talked about. So it' be $4.35% 35 cents on the 100. So, we involved all of our bookkeepers um all my all my staff in my office um reviewed it and so based on that, you know,
064the bookkeepers from each school picked Edlio. They really liked it a lot. They were real thrilled with it. Um each agreed that it was the most userfriendly portal for the parents in the district. And then naturally we've talked about that bank reconciliation. So with that being said, is there any questions um that anyone I don't think goes in. So is there any questions that anyone has on this >> board members? Do you have any questions? >> None. Thank you. Um Kathy. >> Okay. You're welcome. Thank you so much. We are now um down to number six. 6 6.1. Approval to participate in a class action lawsuit against social media platforms. Attorney. >> Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board. Dr. Sheffield. Uh I'm here presenting the the school district the opportunity to join a
065a national class action lawsuit. uh over 200 school districts are currently already in the litigation and basically the the companies who are the defendants that we're targeting in the lawsuits are Meta which operates Facebook and Instagram, Snap Incorporated, Tik Tok and Google which runs YouTube. Um the focus here, the allegations are that the al algorithms that these companies have are designed to intentionally maximize children's screen time leads to depression, anxiety, bullying, eating disorders, and diminished attention spans of of children. The focus is on the the way the apps are structured. They're addictive and they they they add harmful content um and and rather just rather than just the user content rather than just what people are looking at. the way these systems operate, the way they try to get children addicted and adults as well,
066plenty of adults, but the cases are focused on children. And the damages that are going to be sought here basically is compensation for costs related to hiring counselors, implementing mental health initiatives, managing social mediadriven behavioral issues. It's kind of like a public nuisance case. Um the school district participated very recently in the Juul litigation um against the the companies that make the the ecigarettes Juul and Altria. Um those cases were are over now. The district recovered a gross amount of about $70,000 in those cases. That's before costs and attorneys fees and things like that. But um a similar award in this case would likely be based on student population kind of like the in the Juul case uh where where they look at how many how many students you have and what it costs to
067provide services to those students that are addicted to social media or affected and cause y'all to spend money. Um what's going on now in the case is that there there have been a couple verdicts uh in California uh in that was a case involving just an individual, not school districts in that case, but a $6 million jury award for that uh individual. And in New Mexico brought a public nuisance case, $276 million in that case. There are also some other cases that are are going to happen in the reasonably near future. Um these are called bellweather cases. They're test cases to see how they go. um in certain parts of the country before uh the the rest of the cases go forward. And obviously the parties talk about settling the case at some point. Um
068but those cases are Hartford, Maryland, Dicab County, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, which we'll be looking at very closely. Um the uh the way this will work is very similar to the Juul uh litigation where national counsel and we work with national council and Carl Solomon in Colombia. Um and where our firm they do the the big work uh on the national level. We interface with the district uh to get what we need for the case. pretty minimal involvement um in this case for district staff is very similar to the Juul case where we'll be um getting some information from from Kathy Colazier probably about uh budget um cost and things like that and and probably other folks uh to run reports related to student discipline um referrals things like that. So that that will
069be kind of the leg work involved. Um there's fees are you it's not a pay as you go. It's it's much like the dual case where it'd be a contingency. Um you know nobody lawyers don't get paid unless there's a a recovery. One of the differences in this case is is that unlike the jewel defendants who were kind of running out of money and and uh there was worry that they were going to declare bankruptcy and nobody gets anything. Uh these companies have a lot of money. they're committed to defending and they're going to appeal both of those cases that I I told you about before. So, it may be a long time before before we see anything out of this, but I I don't think there's a real downside to joining at this point.
070So, what that would require at this point is is uh basically a board vote to join the litigation and authorize Dr. Sheffield to sign whatever documents are needed to join. Uh any questions? Are there any questions? >> No. >> All right. Thanks. >> Thank you. Oh, we got approved. At this time, we will entertain a motion to approve the district participation in the class action lawsuit against social media platform as presented by attorney Thomas Balo. Madam Chair, please. >> I move that Thank you. Thank you. I'll start over. I move that we move forward with the recommendation made by attorney Barlo about the media meta cases. It have been properly moved by Priest and second by Wilson that we approve the district's participation in the class action lawsuit against social media platform as presented by
071attorney Thomas Balo. Other discussions all in favor let it be known by saying I. >> I oppose have the same right. hearing none. Motion carries 70 6.2 approval to issue request for proposal for maintaining athletic field. >> Good evening again. Okay. I am bringing to y'all um asking um for your approval to be able for us to put out the athletic field maintenance. This would cover your um what is now our current high school at this point. Um athletic fields as well as our ESTO athletic fields. This does not include North District. Um this is the way that we've always done it and kept it in place. We had RFP out there before. It's come it's three years and now we're redoing an RFP to put out there. The ch only change that's in this
072RFP versus what was in our original RFP is that we are not only offering the mowing the labor to do that as well as the labor to put out the supplies that may be needed. This time we are including the supplies inside of that. So any supplies that is needed, whether it be fertilizing, seeds, um sand or any of those things, it's also included in this um RFP. This gives us a better idea of what we're looking at, what we're going to spend to take completely care of the athletic fields. And again, this would be for Esto um campus and for the H old Hampton County High School campus. Board members, you received that as part of your packet um the request for proposal from the maintainer athletic fields. Under any discussion, any questions? Just
073>> one one question. Did you say it was a a three-year? >> This will not be a threeyear, but usually once we do it, we do not go back out for RFP for about three years. >> So, it's a one-year contract renewable. Right. Right. >> And it would start in the 26 27 year. Are there any other questions? >> Madam Chair, I move that we approve um Miss Holter to issue RFP for maintaining athletic fields. Second. >> It has been properly moved by Foy, second by Priesta that we approve the um request for proposal for the maintenance of the district athletic fields. Are there any questions or discussions? All in favor, let it be known by saying I. >> I. >> Oppose had the same rights. >> Hearing none. Motion carries 70. Thank you. >>
074Thank you. >> 6.3. She said I'm not moving. Uh approval for the sale of a surplus surplus vehicle. >> Um yes, ma'am. Um, Madam Chair, I am coming to y'all again today. We put out um a surplus for vehicle sales. It was buses that we have put on there. Well, we had some cars and stuff, too. So, it was a variety of vehicles that we currently have that we ended up that was a surplus for us. Um, out of the I think it was seven vehicles altogether that got put on there between the buses and the vehicles, we only received one bid on one bus. Um it was received by um Owens LLC. Um and it is for a 1998 um Amtran um bus and the base bid as you can see in front of
075you that was given to us. Um we move that we accept that if y'all approve. >> Madam Chair, let's go. Preston, >> I move that we accept the bid for the vehicles and don't know. That's my motion. >> Second. >> Is having properly moved by Pria, second by Poy that we accept the bid for the train um surplus vehicle. Are there any discussions or questions? All in favor let it be known by saying I. >> Oppose had the same right. >> Hear none. Motion carries 70. >> Thank you. Go. Next thing. >> We're now down to number seven. Um, thank you, Madam Chair. Um, board, before I go into the two items, I'm going to make it very brief. Um, but this is just a reminder that our state testing begins tomorrow for our students.
076Um, and I'm sure that each school have, um, shared their testing schedules with their parents. And I just want you to join me in wishing our students well and much success um, as they're going to demonstrate their best learning. And I know that they are prepared. Um and while our students are gearing up for um their state testing, this is a perfect time to just celebrate, you know, doing staff appreciation week. Um as we're celebrating this week, um just to express our sincere appreciation to our teachers, to our principles, um to everyone that have just been involved um in making certain that our students were receiving high quality instruction to our intent. We know that we still have a lot of work to do, but just thanking them for the work that they're doing and
077ensuring our students are prepared um as they take on state testing starting tomorrow. And also to um to my parents that are here, those that are listening to assist us with a smooth transition for our students tomorrow, please make certain they should be heading to bed um right now and make certain that they're eating a healthy breakfast tomorrow morning. And most importantly, make certain that they leave those cell phones and those smart watches home. They are not permitted during testing. So, if we could just remove the electronics from our darlings, that's going to assist us. Um, and since our last meeting board, um, I've had an opportunity to attend the Beta Club induction ceremony at Fenel Elementary, and Mrs. Holmes was also there with me. and also attended the beta club induction there at the
078high school. Um I tell you there were really two great programs just seeing the leaders that we have um here within our district and then this past Friday went to the graduation there at USC Sulk because we had students that actually participated in the ceremony that received their AA degree before even graduating high school. So, we are moving in the right direction. Again, a lot of work to do. And I will be attending I'm planning on attending um TCL's graduation is this coming Friday because we have students that will be graduating there as well. And then on Thursday, this past Thursday, I had the opportunity of serving on a superintendent leadership panel with USC Sulk and their leadership cohort. So, thank you to um Dean Coing and that team for inviting me to partake with
079their leaders. And um this past Friday I traveled to that afternoon went over to Hilton Head where I participated in the Community Foundation of the Low Country, their regional meeting. And during that meeting I was um appointed as a regional committee member and um it's definitely great here for Hampton County to just be able to collaborate with the other counties there in the low country to just talk about the work that's ahead. And our next meeting um it will take place in Jas Jasper and then after Jasper of course we'll be making our way here to Hampton County because the work that we need to do here it's a collective um we're not going to be able to just do it up here with us on the DAS it's definitely going to take the community
080and our business partners and then on Saturday of course um I was brave enough to go and join the high school students there at prom there at the high school and Um, I tell you, seeing them all dressed up, um, seeing the parents there, that's where I'm going to go and have my next parent meeting there at prom, um, as the students are coming in because the parents in the community really showed up for the drive-thru. And, um, but just to go in and I tell you, the highlight for me was to see the work from our construction academy um, and the other CTE programs that were involved in making this possible. I tell you, I was just blown away when I was looking at the decor um and the experiences that they were providing
081to the students and they were saying, "Well, construction made this or culinary provided um the refreshments and so forth." And um I do have some photos I will share with you because well, we talk about um not telling our story, we're definitely not telling our story here um in Hampton County. And um m this morning, Miss Robinson and I started off with Miss Sanders in the adult ed um 5-year program review. It was virtual. They're going to be doing the virtual meeting all week as we go through our five-year audit with the um with adult ed. And if you have not heard, congratulations to Sierra Bryant. You have to meet Sierra Bryant. I will make certain that um hopefully she's available to come and we introduced her to you on May 19th. Sierra is a
082um student at Hampton County High School. Very artistic su um Sierra participated in the competition for um the new lumber company that's coming to Allenale where they were looking for students to submit entries for their company logo. And guess what? She won. and $15,000 will be presented to um to the high school um for the arts program and our CTE. So again, we're not telling our stories and celebrating the successes in terms of what we can do here in Hampton County. Um, and I'm looking forward to the state of the school address on next Thursday on May 14th at 6:00 p.m. And I'm hoping that the community um will come out, our stakeholders um our local legislative delegation um everyone has been invited. um WTOC will also be here with us um because it's time
083for us to come have these conversations and let's get to work um for the collective. So, I'm looking forward to that. And boards um that's on May 14th, but that Friday morning, I'm offering the board members for those of you that want to meet me at um Esto Elementary at 6 a.m. um to get on the bus with our um sped students. Um, I will be doing the sped route um that morning at 6 a.m. at the ESTO campus. So, if you're wanting to join me, just let Miss Farmer know when we will let Miss Chance know who else would be joining me on that bus route. And we laugh about the bus route, but it has definitely helped me in moving the work and talking about what we have to do here in Hampton
084County because I didn't realize how spread out um this county is. And we must figure something out. And this is why we have to work collectively. Um, and I'm adamant we are missing many of our youth and participating in our extracurricular activities um, in our school events because the only transportation they have is school getting them to school and from school. So we do not have the afterchool activity buses and so forth. So we're trying to figure out what can we do to help our families, help our students get more um, to get more involved. Miss Fom is not here tonight um because we have a very great event going on over there at the high school. Um Miss Long is not here because that's where she is. This is where we received our charter
085back at the high school for National Honor Society. Um we have a plethora of students that are being inducted into the National Honor Society there tonight. They're at the high school. Um and it was the same there at Beta Club last week. don't know why I couldn't stop crying there at the Beta Club, it the tears just stop um just was coming, but when you look at the students that's entering the room and when you look at um the professional and just the etiquette um it's just it's time. Um and when we have our challenges um our challenges is what we put out there for the world to see. Our successes are put out there very little. But I'm here to tell you, yes, we have our challenges. I welcome the challenges. That's what make
086us great. That's why I show up every day to attack the challenges, not the successes because the successes is going to come if we attack those challenges. So, enough of that being said. Um the construction minutes are attached. I'm not going You heard a lot. Kathy gave us a whole um dissertation on the work that's being done there with the high school. Kathy, we appreciate it. Um and the plaque has been mounted there at the high school. Um so stop by um board. You don't need me to go over there to that high school. Just go to the trailer, let them know you on site, do a walk through and I can tell you the tears will flow for you as well. Um and my last thing there is 7.2 is the post employment engagement
087survey. I put that on there because board you made a commitment um in this in the fall when we talked about getting the data to assist us and moving our district forward more importantly around culture um systems and instruction and we initiated a third party went through an outside agency to assist us with an employee engagement survey. You got the report back in the in the fall. um they were very honest and we've made some shifts based on the surveys results that we received in the fall. Are we there yet? No, we're not. We're not perfect. We're far from being perfect. There is still a lot of work that we have to do here in Hampton County, but our staff did complete the post survey and we had 87% of our teachers that participated in
088the post survey. um 78% of our non-instructional staff, 78% of our departmentbased staff, and 93% of our school-based leaders. Now, I will always like to get to 80%. So, my department staff um and my non-instruction, we going to have conversation because they let me down. Um but to hear from my teachers and my instructional leaders at 87 and 93%. So, I will be meeting with um Upbeat on the 8th. I think that's Monday to um go through the baseline data and we're going to share it out and I'm I can tell you it's going to again be hard conversations. It's going to be things that we're not going to be happy with, but this is how we set our priorities and this is how we get better. And we know that we have a lot
089of um we have a lot of work to do. Sedeco, yes, they're going to beat us up on the survey, but we want the feedback, and this is where we come together. Um, and we don't make excuses for why things are the way they are. We take the data. Um, and we work together collectively to create the action plan to say, how do we go from being, I say, from being good to great. How do we get better? This is what, you know, this is all about. So, I'm just excited. Miss Dobson is coughing to tell me that's enough. Let's move on. Um and um I'm just excited about the work and I'm sorry um this part took us a little longer than usual. Um but this is the work that we are doing here
090in Hampton County. Thank you um Madame Chair and board. >> Thank you Dr. Sheffield. We are now down to 7.3. Enter into exit session in accordance with section 38-4-70 part B. No action will be taken in executive session except to a adjourn or b to return to the public section. At this time entertain a motion to enter into executive session. >> Madame chair, I move that we enter into executive session for >> it. It has been properly moved by home, second by Wilson that we now enter into executive session. Are there any discussions? All in favor let it be known by saying I >> oppos have the same right hearing none motion carries 70 we will now enter into executive session Entertain a motion to Oh, >> at this time we entertain a motion to
091return to open session. >> Madam Chair, I move that we return to open session. >> Second. It has been properly moved by Holmes, second by Wilson that we return to open session. Are there any discussions? All in favor, let it be known by saying I. >> Oppose had the same right. Hearing none, we are now back into open session. With to number nine, action items after executive session 9.1. Madame Chair, I move that we approve personnel matters relating to hiring, termination, resignation, and retirement. >> Second has impromptly moved by Miss Holmes, second by Ford that we approve the personnel matters related to hiring, termination, resignations, and retirement. Are there discussions? All in favor, let it be known by saying I. I >> oppose the same right. Hearing none with have been approved personnel matters related
092to hiring termination resignation and retirement 70 motion carrot 9.2 Madam chair I move that we authorize the superintendent to proceed with contractual materials related to community engagement project >> second. It have been properly moved by Foy second by Holmes that we approve the simp the superintendent to engage in matters related to the community engagement project. All in favor of any discussions. All in favor let it be known by saying I. >> I oppose have the same right. Hearing none, the motion to be approved for the superintendent to engage in contraction matter related to the community engagement project is approved. Motion carried 70 10.1 adjourn meeting. >> Madame chair, I move that we adjourn. >> Second. >> It has been properly moved by H second by Wilson that the meeting adjourned. Are there any discussions? All
093in favor let it be known by saying I >> oppose had the same right hearing none motion carries 70 meeting adjourned