001Ready? Okay, >> good evening everyone. I would like to officially call the school district of Oak County Board of Trustees meeting uh to order. Tonight is Monday, May 11th and I want to take a special moment just to say wow, we've got a full uh audience in the house and we want to welcome all of our community members, those here in person and those who may be joining us um via live stream. Your presence and uh attendance to all the work that we do is incredibly important. So, thank you for your attention to this. Each month, the board gathers to make decisions that helps shape the future of our students and our schools. While we have many items to discuss, our guiding star always remains the same, and that is providing an exceptional environment where
002every student can thrive. We are grateful for your presence here tonight and your support of the important work that takes place in our schools. Obviously, you'll see that we have a member of our board missing. So, we'll certainly uh miss Miss McCormack tonight and look forward to her being back as soon as she can. So, at this time, I would like to ask Miss Amanda Holder for our invocation. >> Um, if you would uh share this moment with me. When when my teenagers were growing up, we had a poster on our refrigerator um that had a little poem on it and the title of that was Anyway. And after the 1990s, all of the people who played basketball for me found this as the opening page to their uh player notebook. So, I thought I
003would share that for the seniors that are in our room uh since this is is our last month of school and they'll all be graduating and uh maybe this will hit a spot. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway. People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway. What you spend years building
004may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People really need help, but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway. Give the world the best you have, and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway. The title of that poem is Anyway. If you join me now, I would like to pray. Lord, as we gather this evening, we would like to ask you to bless our colleague Denise with strength needed to heal and return to us soon. We also give thanks for our graduating seniors for their hard work, perseverance, and growth. May the 23rd marks both an ending and beginning, and we are grateful for the teachers, families, friends, and mentors who have guided them along the way. Grant these graduates wisdom as they make decisions, courage when
005they face challenges, and compassion in the way they serve others. Help them to use their talents with purpose, to lead with integrity, and to never lose sight of the values that have shaped them. Remind them that success is not measured only by achievements, but by kindness, character, and the positive difference they make in the lives of others. Bless our graduating seniors with hope for the future, meaningful relationships, and lives filled with purpose and joy. is through the name of Jesus I pray. Amen. >> Amen. Thank you for that. And now if you'll join me for leading us in the pledge of allegiance. >> Attention. Salute. Pledge. >> I pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for
006all. At this time, I would like like to ask for an approval of our agenda. >> I make a motion that we approve the agenda for the May 11th, 2026 board meeting. >> I second. >> Motion is second. All in favor. Thank you. All right. And of course, our special time is here and that is our special recognition. So, we have an agenda packed with three great uh organiza or groups of our of our district. And the first one that we will lead off with is our teacher forum scholarship winners. >> Yes, ma'am. Madam Chair, I'd like to uh invite for this first presentation the Susie Wearing, director of personnel services, and Dr. Chris White, uh teacher uh at Sica High School, but also our school district teacher of the year. So, we'd like to
007invite them to the podium for our next presentation. Good evening to the board members and to the superintendent and the leadership team. Each year, the school district of Okone County teacher forum go through an application process and hold interviews to choose students from each of our area high schools to award scholarships. These scholarships are awarded to seniors at each of our three high schools that plan to pursue a degree in the education field as teachers. The scholarship began in 2011 with only two students winning $1,000 each that year. One of those winners was Miss Ammeris Garcia, who I am proud to say is still teaching at Wajala High School in the Spanish department. Up to this date, the forum has awarded $147,300 of scholarship money to our senior students. It is my pleasure to announce
008our three scholarship winners for the 2025 2026 school year. Each student will receive a one-time scholarship gift of $3,000 each paid to the college or university that they will attend in the fall of 2026. All monies will be sent directly to the university after they turn in their scholarship information sheet to me. So, please don't forget to do that. Ladies, please hold all applause until all three winners have been announced. Ladies, as your name are called, please come forward. Our 2025 26 school district of Aony County Teacher of the Year, Dr. Chris White, will present their certificates and then please stay in place so you can be photographed with Dr. White and the school board. Our first scholarship winner is Lauren Reese Williams. Lauren will be graduating from West Oak High School later this month.
009She plans to attend the University of South Carolina and pursue a degree in elementary music education. Come up here, Laura. Our next scholarship winner is Campbell Roberts. Campbell will be graduating from Synica High School later this month. She plans to attend Anderson University in Anderson and pursue a degree in elementary education. Last but not least, our final scholarship winner is Brooklyn Eizeli. She will be graduating from Wajala High School. She plans to attend Clemson University right across the river and pursue a degree in agricultural education. We hope each of our winners will choose to come back to Okone County to teach for us one day. Mr. Leroy, our director of human resources, and myself recruit each year at each of your universities that you ladies have chosen. So, needless to say, we'll be seeing you
010soon to recruit you back. Let us give these ladies a round of applause. steps right around. >> Thank you all. And I apologize to the board for the extra exercise tonight. We just have a lot to celebrate. So that's one of three. just keep stay loose and we'll call you back up there in just a minute. >> We certainly wish you you uh ladies luck and um yeah, looking forward to getting you back in a couple of year or four years when you're back and ready to to start your career. All right. So, next we have uh the Hamilton Career and Technology Center Skills USA state champions. >> Yes, ma'am. And you know, uh, we have, uh, we have state champions at each of our high schools over this past year, but it's also important
011that we have some academic state champions as well. I'm going to call, uh, director of Hamilton Career and Technology Center, uh, Mr. Carson Lee Croy, forward for this next presentation. >> Good evening. It is my pleasure to introduce and congratulate our Skills USA South Carolina state champions. Each year we have several teachers that participate in the Skills USA state competition where our students match up against students from all over South Carolina showcasing their skills at a very high level. This year we had representation in two different events, carpentry and teamworks. Carpentry is a solo event and teamworks is a a team of four that contains elements of carpentry, electricity, plumbing and masonry. And as you know, our instructors and competitors face significant adversity as the school trailer loaded with tools and Mr. Alexander's personal truck
012was stolen the night before the competition in Colombia. I want to brag on Mr. Alexander for a second. He called me that next morning right after calling the Lex Lexington County Sheriff's Office. And of all the things to be concerned about with this truck, his biggest concern was making sure that these boys had the tools that they needed to compete. That says a lot about him, a lot about Mr. Bryant's commitment to the success uh of these of these young men. Of course, we know how the story ends. With some help from Midlands Tech, the boys were able to compete and we are excited to recognize them again this evening. First, I'd like to invite our two instructors to join us up front. Mr. Alexander, Building Construction, and Mr. Terry Bryant, Electricity. All right, I'll
013call up the the young men at this time if they'll come forward. First gold medalist for carpentry, Cole Dobs. This is Cole's second gold medal for this event. And now for our teamworks champs, Matthew Woody, Lucas Davis, Clay Lara, and Jonah Moss. We are excited to send these these teams to Atlanta the first week in June to compete in the Skills USA national competition. So fellas, congratulations and good luck. while they're lining up for a picture. I don't get all the credit. These guys right here were awesome. But backing them were parents that reached out to me for text that went to buy the school and got tools. Mr. Dob, Mr. Woody, will y'all please stand? Congratulations. such a wonderful program. So, thank you to not only our instructors, but our leadership at the career
014center and all of our parents. Um, certainly takes a village to do this work. So, thank you. And lastly for our special recognition, we have the stock market program winners. >> Sure. Now, I'm going to take this one this uh tonight. We have uh we have an awful lot going on. And this one was just hot off the press. It's kind of last minute. So, we already have some events taking place at the school, but uh but I'm going to uh do my do my very best to represent uh the team on this one. The stock market game is a nationally recognized financial literacy program that gives students hands-on experience in investing, budgeting, and economic decision-making through a simulated stock market environment. Investite is then a national essay competition for fourth through 12th grade students
015that serves as a critical thinking companion to the stock market game. It challenges students to analyze real world financial issues connecting classroom learning to invest to investing strategies. And so this year the school district of Aone County students and educators earned outstanding recognition at the state and national levels. And so before I I present these just to let you know there are four total awards in the state of South Carolina. one at the elementary level, one at the middle level, one at the high school level, and then one state teacher recognized. And of those four state recognitions, Aone County earned three of them. And so, we have something for which to be very proud. And so, I want to uh recognize the following. Please come on up. I know it's I know I'm I'm back
016here, but y'all come on up, stand in front, be recognized uh for another picture. Avery Phillips of West Oak Middle School placed first in the South Carolina in the Invest Right Challenge Middle School division. Kobe Wood of Wajala High School earned first in South Carolina and sixth place nationally in the high school division. And so these are the two gentlemen you want to see right after the meeting for maybe some investing advice. Uh because I promise you they got it going on. But uh also very very proud, West Oak Middle School teacher, Miss Deborah Wallace received the prestigious Dr. Gary Stone Multiplier of the Year award for excellence in financial literacy education, leadership, and mentorship. These are incredible accomplishments that reflect the district's commitment to meaningful realworld learning and academic excellence. Would you please join
017me in recognizing these three with a round of applause? We lost somebody. Thank you all. That news is exciting and hot off the press. I believe we've had a few uh folks in the community reach out and say, "Hey, can we have those students as interns possibly for next year?" So, um just such phenomenal work. So, thank you all. All right. Next, we have school highlight and I believe Mr. Noran is here to present the highlights from Tamasi Salem Elementary. >> Scoot that over just a little bit. There you go. Perfect. I want to thank you guys very much for having me here tonight. It's really cool to be with such a big crowd. I thought everybody was here to see us, but but they're not. But it's also cool to see Clay. He's a
018TSC graduate and and Kobe also was TSC graduate. So, it's cool to see two of those kids get recognized. Um not surprising though. But that's that's pretty awesome. All right. So, we tonight I always like to try to recognize some of the cool we we had lots of cool things happen this year. Um, we just have lots of great people walking our building. Some are adults, some are kids, but we just really we just we just have a good place at TSC. Um, this year I wanted to recognize some of our uh uh students who were going to be moving on to middle school. And it really wasn't difficult to figure out what I was going to do in February. um our fifth graders um led by Miss Johnson who is here. She's one of
019our fifth grade teachers. They researched um they they were in in February they were uh learning about specific historical figures and they researched wrote essays, created backgrounds, memorized speeches um and they did all this to present in front of TSSE students and staff as well as parents and community members. One of the things that we try to do and it's it's difficult is to start building public speaking skills. A lot of well a lot of people are scared to do that and especially young people. So we try to do even if it's just standing up and sharing about your weekend that kind of thing but we do try to do that in our primary classes and then work to build things in our elementary classes. And we always try to have opportunities for parents to
020come in and see what's happening in the school. So each class or each grade level has to have at least two times where they invite parents in to see what's happening in the school. So, one of the really, really cool things that Miss Johnson led this year um was a wax museum. And you've heard of wax museums before and I've seen and honestly we've done them in the past, but this one was just incredible. Um we had kids who were working hard building. They had to start out sketching out what their background was going to be. Then they had to transform into a life-size uh figure. So, that made it a little bit more difficult. Um once they did that, they had um they they did a test run for uh students and and staff
021and then they actually had parents and community members come and while the parents and community members were there, there was an opportunity for them if they wanted to to donate. So they were literally standing like a wax figure and most of them wouldn't even make eye contact with you, which is super cool. And then you had to press their butt and then they just came to life and then they gave their speech. But they I mean some of them had accents. They all dressed up. It was just it was really one of the coolest things that we've ever done at TSC. And we raised I say we they raised $76 during this time which is that's really incredible. So with that money they decided to uh use that towards t-shirts for their end of year
022field trip and they're going to the Georgia Aquarium. And you can if you look up here on the left that's the front of the t-shirt. And what they did is they had the students come up with designs and then the class voted on it and they this was the winner. So on the back they've got their graduation year with all their names in it and to save money and I love saving money. Um Miss Johnson actually printed the t-shirts in the in the classrooms of course after school when there was nobody there so it was super safe. Um but she printed the the the t-shirt. So again that was another cool thing. So they kept that cost down. So that was one of the things that they're um using the funds for. Then the other
023thing is when they go to the George Aquarium, they're all going to get a souvenir travel cup with free refills. So that is a pretty neat thing because a lot of times our kids get to go on these field trips um but they don't get to buy anything from that. So they will all come home with souvenirs. So really excited about that. What I wanted to do just to give you an idea is kind of show you our little preview video that we shared out just to show uh most of our kids who were in it. >> It's fine. It'll >> take victory at all cost. I am Winston Churchill. >> Where there's hope, this life. It fills us with a fresh courage and makes us strong again. I am Addy Frank. >> I'd rather
024be beaten than be a man, be elected, be a little baby dog. I am David Cry. >> I walk tall and I'm tall. Hi, I'm Dolly K. >> Don't criticize what you don't understand. You never walk in that man's shoes. I'm Elvis Presley. We >> We came and you're all strong. >> I'll fire. I volley said the revolutionary war. >> My name is Amy Uk. >> If air resistance is measurable, then the external force on a falling object is only the gravitational force. I am Sir Isaac Newton. I did not want to be mistreated. I did not want to be deprived of a seat that I have paid for. I Ra Parks said that my fourth world children will one day live in a nation where be judged by the color of their skin, body,
025content, and character. I said that and I'm Dr. Come on. >> True. To be ourselves, we must be true to others. Hi, my name is Jimmy Carter. >> I never am the tracks and I never lost a passage. I said that and I am but you may know me as Harriet Tubman. >> I was only doing my duty. I said that. My name is Cy Lington. I am Anna Hut. Everyone is our neighbor no matter what race, creation. >> Never let the fear of striking out gain your way. Hi, my name is Babe Bruce. >> You cannot get through single day without having any impact on the world around you. That is what I once said. My name is Jane Gada. Aim for the high mark and you will hit it. No, not the first
026time. No, not the second time, and maybe not the third time. But keep on aiming and keep on shooting. And then finally, you hit the bullse. Hello, I'm Andy ugly. First, never mistakes, never tries anything new. I'm Albert Einstein. I'm B. >> Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas. That's what I was said. My name is Marie Curry. >> Amazing things you will find when you follow search for them. Hello, my name is Saka Jia. >> Let no one falter who thinks he's right and we may succeed. I said that. I'm Abraham Lincoln. >> None of us know what we're capable of until we are tested. That's what I said. I am Elizabeth Blackwell. The man who never makes mistakes is the man who never does anything. I'm Theo Roosevelt. I may
027be compelled in the face of danger, never feared it. And while our soldiers can stand and fight, I can stand, feed, and nurse them. That was me, Claire Barton. >> Thinking is your hardest work. That is why so few engage and will have success. My name is Henry Ford. I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may be. For I have burdened with the greater part of misery and happiness is determined not by circumstance. I am Washington. >> The way to get started is to quit talking. begin doing. I said that I'm more dizzy. >> I am not certain if I can at least I'll gladly try. I said that and I'm Betsy Ross. >> All right. So, that was just like a a preview that Miss Johnson shared out. And
028just for your pleasure, we uh we've got two of our students here who are going to do a performance for us real quick. They're going to do their wax figure uh presentation. And our first student is Travis Alexander. We'll have Travis and Coley just stand side by side each other. Um Travis was Sir Come on, Travis. Sir Isaac Newton and Miss Coley Lanning was Molly Pitcher. Now, these two students, again, this was this was uh quite a several weeks ago they did this, but they were still excited to come even though they knew it was going to be so much time in between. So, it's a lot of pressure to say memorize your speech and but these are these are some bright students that are super excited about this. So, I'm going to push your
029button and I'm good at that. Ready? >> I'll fire it. I Molly Person in the Revolutionary War. I was born on October 13th, 1754 and I had three brothers who taught me how to read and write. I grew up on a dairy farm. My mom being Dutch and my dad being German. My real name is Mary Lou, but my nickname was created when I a picture full of water to soldiers troops as they were passing by their little house. So eventually they were covered by my picture. So it kind of stuck. I got married at the water hotel in Redbank, New Jersey on July 24th, 1769. But I became famous to Queen 1775 to 1783 as Sergeant Molly during the Revolutionary War. I took control of the candle when my husband was entering war. I
030showed women that could be just as helpful as men during war times. After the war, I was given a special reward of $10 a month by the government for my bravery and actions. I died on January 22nd, 1832. Some may debate whether I'm new or not. I'll leave that up to you to decide. And you may still hear her sergeant on revolutionary. >> Good job. Awesome. >> The external force on falling object is only the gravitational force. I am Sir Isaac Newton. I was born January 4th, 1643. And a few months before I was born, my father died and I had to live with my grandmother on a farm. A few years later, I was then sent away because I was pronounced psychotic. In my later years, I was forced to stay home due to
031the black plague. I had many jobs, including a scientist, alchemist, and mathematician. I was also trying to work illegally to turn ordinary metals into gold. I'm famously known for making huge discoveries on how different items can make you see different colors. I'm most famously known for making all laws of gravitation. I passed away in my sleep March 31st, 1727. No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess. Again, I want to thank Co and Travis for coming here. That took a lot. and Co's actually got a softball game that she's heading on to afterwards. So, thank you again for doing that. And I want to thank Miss Johnson for doing such an awesome I mean, this was incredible. And there were so many things that I actually learned about a lot of these figures
032that I had no idea about. So, very proud of you guys. Thank you very much, y'all. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you guys. our trailer. >> Okay. I believe we do have uh public comment. So, uh this is the public comment portion of our board meeting. We value our community's input and appreciate your willingness to share your thoughts with us. To ensure an efficient and respectful process for everyone, we ask that all speakers have signed up for in advance as indicated in our policy beedh. Each speaker will be allotted five minutes to present their comments. We also ask that speakers maintain a respectful and courteous demeanor. Our role is to listen to your concerns, but we but we do not engage to immediate questions or responses. If you have an extensive information to
033share or would like to provide written comments, please submit them to the administrative assistant to the board or email to uh directly to the to the board members here. So at this time, public comment Samantha Hall, Gail Steel. Good evening, members of the school board, superintendent, and community members. My name is Gail Steel, and I'm a proud resident of Aone County. I'm the mother of two sons. One is currently a junior and participates in color guard at Synica High School. My older son is a graduate of Sica High and is now attending Coastal Carolina University Shanso where he is major majoring in music education. I'm also a 12-year educator of preschool teacher and I'm here tonight representing the parents and families of the Sica High School band boosters. First, thank you for your service and
034for the support we have received from our principal, teachers, and band director. We understand that these are difficult economic times and that you're faced with challenging decisions. Tonight, we are here because we are deeply concerned about the future of music and performing arts programs, especially marching band, concert band, and color guard. These programs are not extra. They are essential for many students. Band and color guard are where they find acceptance, belonging, and confidence. They learn discipline, teamwork, responsibility, and persuation. For some students, this is the place where they finally feel like they belong. Research shows that students involved in the arts have stronger academic performance, improved in social emotional skills, and higher graduation rates. Students from lowincome families who participate in the arts are significantly more likely to earn a college degree. Yet, these life-changing
035programs operate on very limited funding. Bamboo parents spend countless hours seeking sponsors, organizing fundraisers, and working concession stands during football season. We do this because we believe in the opportunities that these programs provide. One of our largest expenses, transportation to mandatory away football games and performances. We do not want these trips eliminated. Away games build school spirit, strengthen community relationships, and create unforgettable memories for our students. Despite already receiving limited funding, the band program is still built by the school system for expenses that place additional strain on families and volunteers. Many families simply cannot afford the costs associated with participation. Yet some of these are most dedicated and talented students come from these very families. These students thrive thrive because of the school, the structure, the encouragement and sense of purpose that music provides. No
036child should lose access to these opportunities because of financial hardship. We are not asking for extravagance. We are asking for sustainability. We are asking that the arts not be reduced or eliminated to cover other expenses because when we invest in the arts, we invest in our children, their confidence, their academic success, their mental well-being, and the spirit of our school and community. Now, I would like everybody to please close their eyes and just take a moment. And I want you to imagine Friday Night Footballs. Imagine standing for the Star Spangled Banner and hearing no instruments play. Imagine attending those games and hearing silence after a touchdown. No burst of music, no school songs echoing through the stands. Imagine walking through our school hallways without the sounds of our children learning, of instruments tuning, of percussions
037booming or students voices rising up together in song. Imagine our community's Christmas parade beginning without the high school band proudly leading the way because transportation costs made participation impossible. Imagine all the students who would never find the places where they belong. We know times are difficult and we appreciate your support. We respectfully ask that as decisions are made that the arts remain a priority. Please help ensure the future generations of students continuing to experience the joy, the discipline, the friendship and the lifelong impact that music and performing arts provide. I would like to end with two quotes. One was by Plato saying, "Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything." And I have no idea who said this one, but I thought it was
038cool. A school without music is a school missing a heartbeat. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. >> Is there anyone else? >> That's it. >> Okay. Well, thank you, Miss Steel. We certainly um we certainly uh understand your frustration and we'll certainly look into that. So, okay. All right. At this time, I would like to ask for an approval of our April 13th board meeting minutes. And if it's okay to lump those together and do an approval of the April 28th special called board meeting as well. >> I move that we approve the April 13, 2026 board meeting minutes and the April 28th, 2026 special call. >> Second. >> Okay. Uh motion second. Any further discussion? All in favor? All right, that's 40. Thank you. And now moving on to our discussion items.
039We've got Mr. Shikling with our April financial report. >> So, uh, Mrs. Renan is going to take her, uh, take her first shot at the report this month. So, turn it over to her. >> So, um, these reports are provided to you every month. Um, just be in consideration that sometimes items happen that, um, occur after the reports. Um so just know when these reports are given to you it is the best information that we have available at that time. Um starting off we have our um local tax revenue. Um you can see there that we have approximately three more months left in the school fiscal year. Um and we are tracking to um hit the budget mark there and possibly go over a little. So everything looks good there. Um in the next section
040our non- tax local revenue. We're already trending over our budget projection there and we'll continue to do so. The next line item, the total state sources, these are the funds that are provided by the state um for our state aid and we should be tracking well there as well. Um we have about three more months there and we also get a July 13th payment from them. So all of that will acrue back. So um we plan to hit that mark there as well. Um the bottom section down there, transfer from other um revenue sources and our indirect cost. Um the indirect cost for food service, we do that journal entry at the end of the year. So you'll see that line item increase at that time. Um but so far our revenues are on track.
041Um it looks like we will be hitting our budget mark there. Um and then we also have expenditures. Um just a couple of things on expenditure items. If you see some negatives for the object 3000, um that is our Kelly services contract that we have to pay for subs and to pay for paid parental leave. I'm just calling that out there. On the next page, um under support services for finance and operations. Um that negative there is um where we have been paying utility costs there, but we're we had budgeted for that in the 4,000 line item. It can go either way. Um it can be paid out of 470. So, um, roughly our payroll every month is around $11 million. So, you'll see for the month of, um, April, we've spent just over $11
042million. So, the expenditures look like they're tracking there. Um, the next page, you'll see the check dispersements. Um, over $10,000. Um most of these are recurring items that happen every month with utilities. Um our payments for food service management, our um utilities, fuel, all of those items. Um some things that are a little higher is our capital just because we're finishing out those projects that we're trying to get done before the end of the year. Um but otherwise, um everything else is going good there. Uh the next page is just an update on on ongoing projects that we're paying out of the capital improvement um funds. Otherwise, if you don't have any questions, anybody got questions? >> Nope, not today. >> Okay. Thank you for very thorough April financial report. And now, Mr. Holiday, graduation
043update. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um last week was my first week. Uh so one of my first uh things that I was going to do is is meet with our schools for graduation. So I just have an update from them. Um I want to start by thanking them. Thank the schools. Thank our maintenance department. Thank our technology department. Um they all have got this thing together. They is a well old machine. They know what they're doing. They had uh even the seats number of seats they had already mapped out. So we're we're ready. Um Miss Dodd, thank you for sending out all the communication with this too. Um, we've had several media posts with this social media post. Um, it is on our parent square. Um, we have it on the school website.org/graduation. So,
044if you need to know the rules for graduation, it's all in there. Um, and then we've also had a weekly highlight for those things, too. Um, so it will be on uh May 23rd, 8:30. Um, if it rains, we have a contingency plan for 8 o'clock that night. If it's still raining, we'll move inside to the gyms that night. So, um, any questions on that part from you all? Any other information y'all need for that? Okay. Um, and just looking forward, uh, for next year, I know we've got some field improvements that may be taking place. Um, so we have tenatively tentatively booked, uh, Little John for next year for May 28th. That's a Friday. So, we'll send more information out on that if we need to do that. Any questions from you all? I
045know the graduates are excited. We're excited for >> her. All right. Now is our time for our uh public hearing for our 26 27 budget. So, do we have anyone slated to speak for the public hearing on our budget? >> No. >> Okay. All right. Well, we will go to on to our uh four action items. We've got administrative policy manual J policies JIH through J. And this is our first reading for that. >> Yeah. And I'll I'll I'll speak just briefly to both of these if you will recall. Uh and you and you will, but for the sake of our audience, just want to make sure that a little over a year ago, we began a journey on auditing our policies. They had not been reviewed in quite some time. And there was uh
046just a desire to make sure that first of all our policies were aligned to state mandates. They were aligned to state law and all of the updates that we're that we have from the state. But then we also wanted to overlay that with current practice and make sure that all of those things uh are well aligned. It's been quite a journey and I can tell you that uh that Jay is the last policy section and I can't tell you uh how grateful I am uh for that. Uh it's been it's been a while coming and and you know what uh so much time has been spent by this board uh making sure that our policies are right for our district that they're aligned to state mandates and all of these things. What you've done at
047from the very beginning is uh you chose a committee a subcommittee to do the vast majority of the leg work and then bring that leg work back to you. And so just as a reflection of that uh exhibits three and four are uh the policy J. It was so long. This was a long section of policies indeed. And so we broke it up into two sections. And so this will be the second reading for policies JA uh through JIE JIF and JIG. And then this will be the first reading for uh JIH J. And so uh just pass it back off to you for action at this point. >> Okay. Um yes. So, we did meet last week to um finish up the JIH through J. I don't know if you all were able to
048kind of review any of those in that exhibit there, but I'll take a motion for first reading of policies JIH through J. >> So, move. >> All right. Motion second. Any further discussion? All in favor? All right. That's 4 on that one. And then now for second reading of the ones that we previously discussed last month. Policies JA through JIE, JIF and JIG. Second reading. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any further discussion? All in favor? All right. Thank you, Borro, for that one. And now for our 2026 2027 school board meeting calendar update. Yes, ma'am. As you know, we uh we begin the year uh by communicating and distributing the board meeting dates for the entire year. A couple of small changes just based on some conflicts. one is that board meeting being moved
049to June 8th, but also uh annually we host a board retreat. And so just uh going to plan on having that at an offsite still public uh and uh and but but since that location was going to be changed, wanted to make sure that this calendar was updated for the public uh for your approval. >> Since there are some changes, we will need a motion and a second to approve this. Madam Chair, I make a motion that we amend the school board meeting calendar to strike June 15th and add and move that to Monday, June 8th for the board retreat beginning at 9:00 a.m. and the board meeting on Monday, June 8th at 6 PM second. Any further discussion? All in favor? Thank you. And now an update for our 27 general budget second reading.
050>> The only thing I would say before I pass it off to uh to Mr. Schickling is that as you know uh we normally do first reading of our uh proposed budget and then uh the county council would do their first reading, we would do second reading, they do second reading and so on. uh they've had some changes to their calendar and so we've made sure that we have affirmed that if we get that slightly out of order there is no issue and so we still bring that to you for second reading tonight and I know that Mr. Shikling will be doing that presentation. >> Yep. So there's really not a lot to cover here. Um the values in the leftmost column for FY2627 match the um values from the initial presentation and then the
051addendum that the board had subsequently approved. Um so that value is 143,581,747. Um that in includes um the formal presentation that we did for first read and then the addition of the uh floating SRO and the summer um salary and benefits for the fire program that increases the uh request, you know, get down to the brass tax. a little play on words there, but the the request for um support from the county to 63,670,000 as Mrs. Renan highlighted in the financial report. Um we are projecting coming in close to $62 million in this year's tax collections. Um so if you'll recall, uh while it says we had a working budget of 59.2 million as our tax request, that was not ratified by the county council, um but rather a tax rate was. and we believe
052that rate will generate $62 million. So, um, from our view, while this would be an increase of our initial request from last year of 4.5 million, really from what we're current currently receiving, um, that would be closer to like 1.6 million year-over-year. Um, and so we're hopeful that growth can can encompass that. Um, aside from that, you'll see that the only other uh noteworthy changes are some actual reductions in state aid. Um and if you recall from the initial presentation, we are seeing um career and technical education funds being moved out of the general fund. Um so there's $900,000 of revenue that normally would be received in this fund that's being extracted. Um so that with uh our uh projected enrollment decline of about 300 students leaves us very flat on state support and that's
053why much of our revenue to support these programs um would be county support. uh we are moving some of the positions that come with that or are funded by that career and technical education aid to the fund where those funds will now be received. Um and so I know I said fund there a lot and it's redundant but that's the terminology. So um if there are any questions I'd be happy to answer them. Um but remains largely unchanged from the addendum. >> All right. So, I'll take a motion to approve on second reading our fiscal year 27 general fund budget. >> Madam Chair, I I move that we approve on second reading general fund budget for year 27. >> Second. >> Motion second. Any further discussion? All in favor? Or thank you. And at this
054time, uh Mr. Smith for your superintendence report. Very briefly, I I'll uh I'll state the obvious and say that our teachers and leaders are working hard this time of year. It's a busy busy time of year and a lot of that has to do with all the celebrating that we're doing. I know that you know this because it seems like I see you two or three nights a week uh at uh at these events. And so uh this past week we had uh the opportunity to join uh one another at the high honor banquet. These are students across our district that have earned a 4.75 GPA and higher. and we had a room full of those students uh and the teachers that they chose as high honor teachers as well. This past week, we enjoyed
055teacher appreciation week. I know the board uh really formally recognized our teachers in the fall during American Education Week and then our local schools picked up uh where we left off uh and they did so many things in honoring our teachers last week. That was good to see. also had a chance to join our nurses for a meeting this past week for National Nurses Day. Uh all of that to say that uh really the work that we do uh is uh is is surrounded by great people that are pouring into our students to make sure that they have worldclass experiences regardless of uh of the role that they play in our organization. When you look at athletics, we're finishing the season with golf and softball and track. I'd like to name some specific schools, but
056I know I would leave one out. Soccer is out there as well, but just really great success as we begin to look at these um at these state championships, upper state championships. We have schools excelling at the highest level and uh we just uh appreciate the work that our adults are doing to make sure that our students continue to have fantastic experiences. >> That's my uh that's my highlight for the night. >> Great. Thank you. And now board member comments. Would anybody like to share anything on your heart? >> I would like to say um I know Mrs. Still is not here. They did leave, but I would just like to say thank you to Miss Gail Steel and the Bamb Booster Club that came um tonight. I agree that this form um in relation
057to the band, this form of the arts program does provide structure um encouragement and a sense of purpose because I myself was a recipient of band services being in the color guard whenever I was in school and it has it brought great value to my life then as well as even to this day because we had relationships, friendships with our um fellow band members as well as even still have friendships with our teacher um who to this day you know when we see we feel like we're getting those kids back in school. So, it just really brings you great um joy to have that kind of encouragement from your uh chief from the band, from that band community. Um our students um many of them would not have a place feel like they didn't have
058a place in the school had it not been for the band. So, it's really a great community. And so, again, thanks um to Mrs. Still for her detailed presentation tonight. And I'm in full support of us doing whatever we need to do, whatever we can do to support that program. Thank you. >> I'll take a moment just to congratulate our seniors and all of our teachers on a wonderful school year. And um we look forward to seeing you walk across that stage in a couple weeks. All right. At this time, we will uh take a motion to enter into executive session for personnel items, employment recommendations, changes, and an employee evaluation. I'll make a motion that we go into executive session for personnel items, employment recommendation changes, and employee evaluation. >> I second. >> Motion
059is second. All in favor? All right. Thank you. We will be back. didn't get it from. >> All right, we are back in open session and at this time I would like to take a motion to approve a modified employment recommendations. Madam Chair, if I could uh provide some clarity uh on the modification, I believe in the list that you have uh in terms of employee recommendations. There were a couple questions that I had and some research that I needed to do on line seven. And so if you'll reference line seven, would like to just simply uh postpone and remove that for this time, but but but recommend approval of all of the other uh instances on uh on the list that you have there. And so that would be the modification that I would
060I would want to clarify. Okay. And then no action is taken on the employee evaluation. So take a motion on that modified employee recommendations. >> I would like to make a motion that we approve the modified employment recommendations. >> Second. >> All right. Motion and second. Any further discussion? All in favor? All right. 40. Thank you. And now a motion to adjurnn. >> I move that we adjourn. Second. >> Motion and second. All in favor. 40. Thank you. Good night. >> Good night, Andrea. Sorry. >> It's all right. It is what it is. >> You know, >> you seem to enjoy your job, so that's a good thing. >> We should do a better job giving her something to eat. >> Y'all know Deb Wallace that came in with the