Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees - November 20, 2025

001It is good evening everyone. It is 6 pm now on November 20th and I'd like to call this regular monthly board meeting to order. Um, I want to thank everybody for this good crowd we got here tonight. And you know, going into this season, a time to be thankful. Last night, for some reason, I was laying and be able to wake and Hallmark was on and one of one of the mayors, he went back to his school where he grew up in. And he was being interviewed by a fifth grader and they asked him, "Why do you come back here and why do you serve?" And I started thinking about this community, about this school, all the people here. And I know we don't say it many times as board members up here, but we

002would like to thank everybody that's involved in this district. Thank you for this community. Um, and thank all these board members that here serving because I know when they got out of school, they didn't think they'd be a board member. They didn't think they'd be up here serving like this because one unique thing is all seven of us are Lux and two graduates which is kind of uncommon but we all came back to where we grew up and so on behalf of the board I would like to thank all of her people start with Dr. Hfner of all the things she does. I know it's an unthankful job of serving over 1,250 people, 10,000 students. I want to thank the board all they do and our cabinet members because cab I mean they catch heat

003all the time from one of us sevens always calling about something. So we thank y'all and I know we never really sit down and say thank you, but we are thankful for each and every one of y'all. And then to the principles that sit out here, they come every month and listen to us up here and ramble around. And so thank the principles, all administrators that come, all the students. I thank you, I want thank our transportation, too, because you know, we don't usually thank them, but they're up at 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning going get these buses to get our kids to school. So, we thank them. And then to our teachers, we thank y'all for what y'all do. Our front row out there teaching our kids. And to the students, we thank

004y'all for coming here to Lexington, too, for having the trust in us and belief in us that we will get you where you need to be. So, thank everyone. And so, on this Thanksgiving season, I know all y'all are out next week. Y'all ready to be off all week? I know y'all excited about that. And so, we don't really meet again until January. So, on behalf of the board, I'd like to thank all y'all for what y'all do. Hope y'all have a happy Thanksgiving and a merry Christmas because we'll see y'all again in 2026 now. >> Do you ever think we'd be at 2026? So, thank everybody, but um I'm quit rambling now. So, we're gonna move on and I'm going to turn it over to Miss Wooten. She's got two students out here to

005bring up to us. [snorts] >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um tonight, we're delighted to have two students from Brooklyn Casey High School. We have Brad Lynn Stury who will be leading us in the invocation. And we have Grace Sir who will be leading us in the pledge of allegiance. Brad Lynn is a senior at Brooklyn Casey High School. She serves as the senior class president. Other roles include National Honor Society, Bearcat Buddy Secretary, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes Leader. Brad Lynn has been on the varsity softball team since her freshman year and the varsity tennis team since her sophomore year. Brad Lynn also played on the varsity golf team this past season. She is an honor student and currently has a weighted GPA of 5.2. After high school, Brad Lynn hopes to attend Clemson University

006where she will major in architecture or construction management. Grace is a senior at Brooklyn Casey High School. She is a member of the National Honor Society, Bearcat Buddies, and FCA. Grace serves as the student body secretary. Grace holds a 4.7 weighted GPA. She is also a member of the BC High School varsity tennis and soccer teams. After Grace graduates, she plans to attend USC, major in nursing, and then further her education to hopefully become an a certified registered nurse and ethicist. Okay, ladies, if y'all will just step to the podium. Thank you. Let us pray. Dear God, we thank you for this day and all the many blessings you give us. I ask that you are with all the board members here tonight, as well as all the faculty, staff, and teachers in the Lexington

0072 district. I ask that you please help us keep an open mind and open hearts tonight as we make decisions. And I ask that you protect us all over Thanksgiving break and the weeks to follow. Please help us be a light of this world in all that we say and do. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. >> Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you so much. >> All right, with no objections, the consent agenda stands approved as presented. And now I'd like to turn over our next item on the agenda is election of officers. And I'd like to turn it over to Dr. Hfner to handle this. >>

008Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair. At this time, I will accept nominations for board chair, Mr. All. >> Yes, I nominate. We keep our momentum going and we keep uh Mr. Key, Kevin Key as our board chair, Linda Wooten as vice chair, and Christina Rucker as secretary. >> Do I have a second? >> All in favor? Show by hand. Raise a hand. >> Very good. >> All right. Well, thank y'all and congratulations to officers and board. Um, >> thank y'all. >> We are going to move on into accomplishments, honors, and accomplishments. I'm going to turn it back over to Dr. >> Hafner. There we go. >> Thank you, sir. First up tonight, I'm excited to invite up our latest champions, the coaches and players and interim principal, Mrs. Linda Bund Brown, from Pine Ridge Middle School's

009volleyball team, which recently won the Lower Midlands Atlantic Conference Championship. Come on up. [applause] I'm [clears throat] so excited, y'all, to be able to bring these girls to you. I've waited three months patiently sometimes and not so patiently other times to bring some group from Pine Ridge so that we could be um appreciated and the girls recognized. I've asked uh coach Kylie Williams and the girls to come up and and um tell give you their name and grade and coach will tell you a little bit about our season. >> Great. Thank you. >> Hello, I'm Aori FA and I'm in an eighth grade. Hello, my name is Leak Taylor and I'm in the eighth grade. >> Hello, my name is Paris Wright and I'm an eighth grade student at Pine Ridge Middle School. Oh, my

010name is Jania and I'm an eighth grade student at Pidge Middle. >> Hi, my name is Leila Martin and I am a eighth grader at Pyidge Middle School. >> Hello, my name is Andrea and I'm in eighth grade. Hi, my name is Jillian Chapman and I'm in the eighth grade. >> Hi, my number is My name is Summer Snow. I'm in the eighth grade. >> And I'm Coach Kylie Williams. I teach eighth grade science at Pineriidge Middle School. This is my third year teaching there. My second year coaching them. Last year we went two and 10. This year we went 10 and two. Um, definitely much better. Um, these girls worked incredibly [applause] hard. >> [applause] >> They worked incredibly hard. Um I still don't know some of the signs the refs are doing, but

011um they know what they're doing and they have been phenomenal. We went on to um sweep in the conference champions ship and went in and won two out of three sets. So these girls are amazing. >> Round of applause. >> Congratulations. [applause] Sounds like you got to do some recruiting next year. That's all eighth graders [clears throat] in it. >> I had two seventh graders. >> Okay. >> I noticed that recruiting. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. Next, I'd like to invite Busby Academy for the Arts interim principal Alicia Dickerson to the podium to introduce us to an academy arts teacher who is having one of her lesson plans published through arts and basic curriculum in conjunction with the South Carolina Department of Education's instruction hub. Mrs. Dickerson, >> Mr. Chair, members of the board, and

012Dr. Hafner. Good evening. It is my honor to recognize Miss Carol Cathou, our art teacher at Busby Creative Arts Academy. Her lesson plan, Mythical Creature Creation, has been selected by the Arts and Basic Curriculum team as an exemplar for arts and arts integrated education. Because of his outstanding quality, her lesson will be published through the ABC in partnership with the South Carolina Department of Education instruction hub and it will also be featured in the ABC arts integration toolkits. As part of this recognition, Miss Cthoo will receive a stipen from the ABC, participate in a virtual review process, and collaborate with a small cohort of fellow art educators. We are incredibly proud of Miss Cthu and grateful for the impact she has continued at BCAA. At this time, I'm going to have Miss Cathoo share a

013brief overview of her publication. Good evening. I'm Carol Cathoo. Um, this is my third year at Busby. Um, almost 15 years teaching middle school art. Uh but this lesson that we came up with or that I came up with, I started out with a simple sketchbook assignment with my students, an honors class that I teach that's a year long. Uh and after that, we just had a a good time and I said, "Hey, you know what happens if we build this?" And so we ended up making it a three-dimensional project and I submitted that for my uh submission for uh ABC and and they accepted it. So >> CONGRATULATIONS. [applause] >> [clears throat] >> THE next two items on the agenda for honors and accomplishments will be introduced by director of bilingual services Denise Quickle

014who will be talking with us about some ML student testing as well as students in our interpreters program. >> Good evening, Mr. Chair, members of the board, and Dr. Hafner. I um always love to come and share celebrations of the district. Um, if you will allow me, I'd like to kind of reverse the two items I'm going to be talking about today because the second group is actually going to assist us with the first group. Okay. Um, if you are one of our ML ambassadors that are present for the evening, can you come join me? Okay. This is um a group of students. We have briefly um recognized some of them at our Hispanic Heritage Month celebration. Um two of them are not with us tonight, but we are very blessed to have been able

015to begin a an ML ambassador group this past year where we have trained a team of our students um to be in student interpreters. And um we brought in an outside consultant. Um and our team was trained in not only the art of translation and interpretation, what that looks like, um they were trained in confidentiality and how to protect those conversations. Um as the profession requires of them and moving forward there will be additional training. Um, but one of the benefits before I introduce them is that this is a pathway. First of all, these students have multiple pathways to get to college and career readiness. So, you will see great things from them. But it is a pathway that we are um beginning to explore as a pathway for work-based learning credit. um they have

016already invested um gosh I can't even tell you the number of hours that they have committed and are requested from our schools regularly. So um with that being said, I'm going to introduce the three of them and also one of our district interpreters who serves as the facilitator for this group. Um, and I'm actually going to let uh Miss Pala Adams um introduce them and then we're going to move into another celebration and I think Bridada is going to help me with that to make sure our families are fully able to participate with us tonight. So going to turn it over to Miss Paula Adams and then we'll move forward with our celebrations. >> Thank you for having us today. Um I'm super proud of this group of um ambassadors. um they have really shown

017up and helped our families. Uh I couldn't be more proud. I feel like a a mom to them, a interpreter mom. Um so I'm just super proud of them and I know that they are going to go far and this is just the first of many to come. Um Um Moscoso from BC, the BC airport. Sorry. Um, uh, Freda Balentos from BC [laughter] and Mario from airport Mario de airport. Oh, yes. And our two that are unfortunately were not able to make it are uh two from airport high school uh uh Bana and Jonathan. >> Wonderful. Thank you for that. Um it is a great group. This summer we plan to expand, as I said, our program. Um this group obviously are our Spanish speakers, but that is not representative all the students in our

018district. So this summer we will be focusing on training students that are speakers of other languages than English or Spanish. That looks a little bit different. So the next group I will be introducing you to will be Dari speakers. Maybe they're Farsy speakers. We have Karen, we have Gujarati. So we are really going to be targeting students that can continue to help us support our families um moving forward. So the next part of our celebration, Are you going to help me? Okay. Wonderful. If I may just move on in, we are here to celebrate tonight um a group of students um who um had great success on the access test. Um so I'm excited to share this group of students with you this evening because they have um demonstrated excellence um with their English proficiency.

019These students had to achieve a score of 4.4 four or higher in order to exit multilingual services in our district. So the access test is given every spring and the students um have to master in four areas, reading, speaking, writing, and listening. So please join me. I'm going to call their names. We have a lot. That's a great thing. Um as we celebrate their success. Excellenc. Multilanguine access. U exito. >> Okay. So when I call your name, if you will come join us, stand up if whatever is easiest. You want to join me in case and I have a list by school. So I'm just going to start with our elementary students. The first student, goodness, I typed this and I did not account for my own ability to need my readers. So [laughter] um

020okay, so the first student we have is Hennesso Leva. And if they are not here, we're just gonna keep going. So if you hear your name, please stand up. >> There she comes. [applause] >> Okay. Wonderful. Okay. Maria Arias Vasquez. These are all students from Riverbank. We have Franklin Mendez Romero, Henry Bautista Chavez, Jessie Martinez, Gonzalez, Nelly Argetta, Morio, [applause] Jasley Garcia Mendes, Angelie Agiri Gomez, Alex Martinez, Serrano, Isabella Artga Gaspar, [applause] Casey Hernandez, Velasco. Okay. Bianca Riviero Costa Wendy Roero Pac Darwin Aguilar Mea Angeli Dwarte Martinez Francis Vasquez Perez Antonio Garcia Gonzalez Hval Yoshi [applause] Emmanuel Ramirez, Pina, Bella Espinosa, Reyes, Kesha Perez, Martinez. Um, [applause] we're just going to keep going. We have Christopher Bautista Archila from Springdale, [applause] Dulce Oporto from Wood Elementary, Ariani Castro Guerero from Wood. Emerson Sanchez Gomez Island

021Orana Alvarez Edward Contreras Silva Nathan Gonzalez Jesus Morales Lopez Mariana Sanchez Medina Kobe Vasquez Hennesses Contreras Roas Miguel Reyes Cruz Amelia Sierra Carla Vicente Castro from wood. Okay, let's keep going. Casey Elementary, Edwin Castanha, Liam Castillo Torres, Alicia Castro Gonzalez, Uriel. [applause] Okay. Uriel Mendoza Perez, Justin Flores Robo and Justin is at Solita River. Ashley Wuarez Perez, Kaya Patel, Bianca Rivierro, Costa, Zori, Vasquez, Leon, Alexandra Gonzalez, De Laoo, [applause] Christian So, Wilson True Blood. We also have from Congere Elementary Carlos Devay Ororta, [applause] Christopher Pina Martinez, Liam Colin Fardo, Iceline Bautista, Gajindo, Jaley Fardo, Okindo, Wles. Okay. [applause] Mity Flores Hernandez, Zori Vasquez Leon, and our last elementary student to have exited is Susana Rubio Morales. [applause] >> [applause] >> Okay, our middle school students from Give them a chance to sit down. From Busby,

022we have America Hernandez Perez and Allison Heron Mendez. From North Side, we have Brian Aguilar, Castanon, [applause] Julisa Aguilar, Mayha, Jester Castano, Rosario, Betsy Castan, Torres, Jorge Garcia, Curado, Jamie Garcia, Wii, Wain, Carlos Gutierrez, Aila, Jenny Hernandez, Martinez, Brian Lopez, Lopez, Alan Molina Diaz, Alli Nunees, Jade Ramirez Perez, Vivana Rodriguez from Pine Ridge. We have Crystal Ooy, Menddees, Dana Morales, Maldonado, Alexandra Viea Estrada, and Diego Vasquez. And then from Fulmer we have Romeo Jacobo Garcia, Analysis Hernandez, Amber Santana, Angie Morio Flores, Davidid Gonzalez Aila, Nasar Zalinski, Brian Dominguez Mindola, and our last middle school student is Aneli Morales Benitees. Congratulations to all of those students. [applause] Last but not least, we have a group of Oh, there you go. Congratulations. I did not mean to leave you. Congratulations. [applause] Okay. From Airport High School, we

023have exiting services this year. Eric Anel, Onate, Jade Ramos, Martin Cervantes, Gallardo, Johnny Gusman, Tevelan, Jimmy Ricarde, Merllo, Jesus Gallardo, [clears throat] Carlos Martinez, Martinez, Anushka Raldan Garcia. I wish Anushka was here. I had her in Fulmer Middle and I saw her last week. So got some other exciting news about a group of airport students in January. Um after Anushka we have Samantha Alonso Dwarte and then we have Natalie Ortiz Valv from airport. Last but not least is our students from BC High School. Um Vanel Vanelis Vaneline Aguilard Garcia [applause] Van, I gotta say that correctly. Van Helsing is his first name. Aguilar Garcia, Claudia Aguilar, Meha, Lesie Areola, Salasar, uh, Jennifer Bamaka, DeLeon, Aranis, Baragan, Gonzalez, Axel, Barentos, Guerrero. Okay, I'm gonna keep going. Anel Camino Gonzalez, Januel Castanto, Anderson Sinto, Jo is Derry

024Clavl Serrano, Jahir Cuera, Noyola, Alexander Coqua, Noola, Am um Amarani Delvier Era, Zire Delgato or Andy Delgado, Christopher Dwarte Martinez, Jame Flores, Robo Carlos Flores Robo Herrardo Garcia Kin Quinon Alison Heron Mendes Alexander Gonzalez Amy Guerrero Lucero Na Gimenez Come ON [applause] Nielli Gimenez Gonzalez Esther Lan Alexander Meros Roman Kylie Medos Roman Yash Nayak Eric Nunes Montoya Abigail Nunees Janna Patel Isabella Po Ordones Edgar Ramirez Cruz Anthony Ramirez Rico Stephanie Rosales Reyes Jatseri Rosas Serna Mauricio Salgado Chi Steve Sanchez Hustto Anelica Santiago Gregorio She say Juan Tado Alonso, Erica Utrea, Gonzalez, Brian Vasquez, OOA, Christopher Vasquez, Cruz, and last but not least, we have Vilma Ventura Morales. This is a great [applause] celebration. Thank you again, guys, for being here and congratulations. Thank you for your [applause] time. Yes, congratulations to you all. Finally, tonight

025when I tell you this next student won a top national award, I am seriously understating it. I know that airport's JOTC teacher, Major Juan Cobbs, and principal Matt Schillot will tell you more about this cadet's achievement, but let me just say this. Out of an estimated 300,000 cadetses nationwide, 300,000 cadetses nationwide, our airport high school cadet was one of only 30 across the United States to receive this award. So, let me hand it off to uh Mr. Schill and so you can tell us more about this exceptional student and cadet. >> Thank you, Dr. Haftner, Mr. Chair, members of board, and Dr. Hfner. This girl right here, she is amazing and fantastic. You kind of heard some of it there, but I'm not here. They're going to share her story. I want to take a

026moment to introduce you um to the leader of our ROC program. I know you've seen him all over the place um over the last two years. Um but he has just hit the ground running and is everywhere within our community and beyond. Um and it's really important and I'm just really proud of um how he's taken this program and, you know, made it his own and continued to make sure that it shines throughout not only South Carolina and beyond. But we're here to celebrate excellence. and I'm going to turn it over to Major Cobbs. Thank you. >> Good evening everybody. I'm um Major Cobbs, senior army instructor here at uh airport. I'm going on my ninth year of um teaching uh JRTC in my second year here at airport. Um Major, >> good evening uh

027Mr. Chair, members of the board. I'm Sergeant Major, retired Lchester. I just took over as the army instructor at airport. What a journey it's been. But she has been indeed a pleasure to have as the battalion commander. I'll tell you that upfront. Coming into the job, just retired out of the army doing 24 years. She grabbed me up and said, "Hey, this is how we do things." And she's been such a pleasure. We could stand up here for 40 minutes and talk about how she's such a great cadet. Rose from the ranks of private to battalion commander and is leading the way in this program. I wish I had 126 Redmonds, but I don't. But we're investing in these cadetses, these brand new freshmen, and we're hoping to grow that within the program. She will

028see the fruits of her labor in a couple years when she comes back and joins us. But, uh, thank you very much, and I can't wait to, uh, have her come up here and talk to you guys. Thank you. >> So, um, like son major said, um, there's a lot we can say about Cadet Redmond. Um, a lot. um some of the things far as the Legion of Valor. So she received the 2000 2024 2025 Legion of Valor Bronze Cross award. So again, this is the highest award a cadet can receive in JRTC and college level JRTC. Um she is the only one in the state of South Carolina for this year. Um I believe this is the first for airport also. Um, the Legion of Valor is um something that's watered to cadetses based

029off their uh exceptional military educational leadership and community service. So, that goes to show you a lot about this cadet. Um, and I don't want to steal a thunder from her, so I'm going to let her come up here and talk, but this indeed is a is a great honor for her. >> Good evening, everyone. Thank you all for having me. So, my name is Carlina Redmond Mario and yes, I won the Legion of Valor award and I'm very thankful for that and I want to thank these three. They're amazing. They are phenomenal. They have built me. They have helped me since they got here and it's been an amazing journey with them. So, like Major Cobb said and Sergeant Major, I did start from the very bottom. I've done GROTC all four of my

030years and I started from a private and now I am the battalion commander. So that means that I am over the whole battalion. It's been great to show my leadership and be able to be a mentor to everybody else in the battalion. And after high school, I plan to go to college and also join the Army National Guard. When I go to college, I'm going to be a nurse. I want to go for my nursing degree and then exceed to a CRNA. So that's my plans after high school and I thank you all for having me. [applause] [applause] >> That is simply outstanding. Congratulations. I know you earned it, Mr. Chair. That is the end of >> All right. That brings us into public participation. Miss Kava, I think we only have one tonight. Still

031>> still just one. All right. And tonight we have Melanie Shaw. She'll be speaking on instruction. Um she will have five minutes. >> All right, Miss Melanie, you will have five minutes and your time will begin now. Thank you for coming. >> All right. Thank you. Good evening, Dr. Hafner, Mr. Chairman, and distinguished board members. Thank you for the time to speak this evening. First, let me congratulate you on all of the improved test scores. I know a lot of attention, effort, and energy has been expended in moving the academic needle, and we celebrate the wins along with you. But we all know there is still a lot more work that we can do to move that needle further. So tonight, I would like to offer a real solution that I and others across our

032state, [clears throat] excuse me, have researched for several years and believe will positively affect our academic outcomes. It concerns a grading system that has been implemented in Lexiden 2 for 25 years. My own children were in first and sixth grade when this all started. But like most parents then and now, it has caused much frustration and confusion. The grading system is called grade inflation or grade flooring. It's in simple terms, this policy does not allow teachers to give students lower than a 50 and provides multiple recovery retakes to inflate actual grades. That's right. No zeros are allowed. There's no doubt in the minds of many that this under the radar grading policy coincides with the academic decline in our district. And let's be clear, this grading policy is not mandated by the state department of

033education and therefore it could be eliminated immediately if the board so chooses. Our state already bent over backwards in 2016 to help students when the South Carolina legislature passed a more lenient 10-point grading scale, which pushed a failing grade down to 59 instead of 69. Grades are the best motivators and determinators for what students know and what they don't know. But inflating grades give a false sense of achievement. true grade. When true grade uh motivation is removed, our high-f flyers are not challenged and others who need grade motivation to work harder don't. Students quickly learn how to gain the system because they know teachers aren't allowed to give them the real grades they've earned. So, does grade inflation work? I'm giving you a folder with three articles and a study from the Forom Institute with

034evidence that this practice does not. [snorts] According to the 2024 Forom Institute study, quote, "Lenient grading policies risk lowering expectations, and there is evidence that lenient grading leads to less learning." End quote. Hard work, high expectations, and merit are the bedrock of our society. Take the bedrock away and all you have left are shifting sands of complacency and mediocrity. Is this preparing students to be college, career, m military ready in the real world? According to the South Carolina Policy Council, a poll taken in Sumpter County School District exposed that more than eight out of 10 teachers oppose grade flooring, which led the Sumpter School Board to remove this practice, and many more across the state agreed. According to conversations I've had with parents and teachers in our district, Lexington 2 should also stop this practice.

035Even the PSTA have grave concerns. Great inflation only gives the perception that learning is taking place. It's the reason our test scores and graduation rates don't match up. It's the reason only three out of 10 students are reading on grade level when they graduate. Putting academic perception over academic reality leads to dishonesty, laziness, and unprepared students. And that's not operating in good faith. After 25 years, it's time to let grade flooring go. Students deserve an education that that they can be proud of. Remember, transparency and honesty are always the best policies. And as I understand, we have a couple of bills coming up in the legislature this this session, which hopefully will remove grade flooring from South Carolina. And if that happens, then only state funds will be removed from school districts who continue to

036do so. Thank you for listening. >> Thank you, Miss Schul. All right, we're gonna [clears throat] move on into our administrative reports and the first one may come from our superintendent. So, I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Hafner. Okay. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. As this is our first board meeting after Veterans Day, I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of the veterans in our community. Thank you for your service, your sacrifice, and the example that you set for all of us. We had a number of special events in our schools last week and I hope that you were able to stop by and enjoy a few of those while thanking our veterans for their courage and commitment. Also, at the beginning of the month, our state department was finally

037able to release our school report cards while eight of eight out of 12 schools had positive growth on their report card. We we recognize that this is a growing journey for all of our schools and we have continued to work hard this year to maintain a trajectory of improvement and Dr. McDonald's going to speak to that with you in a little bit. I shared with our schools to that point. I share with our schools that numbers can measure performance but they do not measure passion or community. I encourage them all to tell their story beyond the numbers. We have many great things going on in our schools. In fact, just this past t Tuesday Tuesday Tuesday night, we held our first district school choice showcase and it was a wonderful opportunity for our schools to

038showcase their programs, academics, success stories, and what makes each school unique. We feel like we had a good turnout and appreciate all the hard work that everyone put into that showcase for our schools and look forward to that growing and participation growing. And I want to thank the several numerous board members that that came out to to see that. So, thank you. And that's my brief report, Mr. Chair. >> All right. Well, thank you. All right. We're going to move on into our finance report now. So, I'm going to turn over to Miss Sky Strickland. >> Good evening to everyone. The October financials were uploaded um last week. Are there any questions about the October financials? >> Can I have your approval for the October financials? >> All right. Without objection, the monthly finance reports

039were are set as presented. [cough and clears throat] All right, we're going to move on through. Come up on um human resources and I'm going to turn that over to Dr. Cooper. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the board, and Dr. Hafner. I'm going to call to the podium our director of human resources, Stephanie Hu, for our vacancy report. >> Thank you. Good evening, Mr. Chair. Board members, Dr. Hfner. Um the vacancy report as of November 20th, we have 10 support staff vacancies, three regular ed teacher vacancies, and one special education vacancy. Are there any questions? >> Not on vacancy, but for HR, the uh student ambassadors, are we paying them? >> I'm not paying them. [laughter] >> I I think that's something we should consider. um h how we go about paying students,

040but they're 16, they're working age, they're doing really good work. I think that's something we should really consider between the you know, obviously budget it can't be anything that crazy, but in the HR if we have a process for hiring part-time hourly employees. I think that's a perfect example of the type of part-time hourly employee we'd want to hire. We have um incentivized our um cadets, our ROC cadetses for events in the past, but you know, one of our requirements for employment is to be 18 years of age, etc., but we have incentivized them before. We can certainly take a look at it, but the 18y old >> 18's a requirement for the state. >> It is a requirement for us, but we'll we'll take another look at it. >> Thank you. >> Yes, sir.

041>> Anything else for Miss Hugs? >> Thank you, Miss Hugs. >> Thank you. concludes our report. >> All right. Now, for the one we've been waiting on, we will turn over an instruction to Dr. McDonald. >> Thank you, sir. Good evening, everyone. Um, thank you for the opportunity to share. First off, I want to echo Dr. Hafner's um, thank you to you all who were able to make it out Tuesday night to our first uh, school choice showcase. We had a lot of folks who worked behind the scenes to pull that off and um, our schools really exceeded my expectations wildly. So, um, we're very pleased to see the many, many things that that they're able to talk about and the more we showcase that hard work, I think the the more that folks will

042know about the great things that we do every day in our schools. Um, I do want to ask Dr. Bergraph, our director of instruction, accountability, assessment, to come up. He's going to assist in this presentation tonight as we talk about our school report cards. Of course, uh as you all are aware, um annually we are given a school report card as part of the Every Student Succeeds Act, um which is our federal legislation which requires school districts across the country, uh to be scored on on various measurements. Um in South Carolina, um of course that work is dictated and and directed by the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee who tells us all the things that we have to work through uh alongside the Department of Education. The goal with the school report card in South

043Carolina is to ensure that we're on progress to get 75% of our students at or above grade level by that 2030 um bold goal that that we hear a lot about from the state. Uh and also of course this information was shared publicly. Um November 3rd was the official day. A little delay there thanks to some review of some additional data. I wanted to begin tonight by just giving you a quick snapshot of some of our demographics uh over time here in the district just so you can see where we are populationwise uh demographic breakdown with our different races um also our our poverty index and you can see some some shifts in that. We shared this with you last year collectively but wanted you to see that number uh what those numbers look like

044again this year. Of course, uh the majority of our work around the school report card of course comes back to this graphic, the profile of the South Carolina graduate. These are the skills and requits that are required for a student. Uh all of our assessments, our state standards, all of our materials come back to this very tool. Um this is what guides our decision-making. It's what we're really working aspirationally to to achieve over the course of the years that our students are in our schools. >> Mr. Chairman, can I ask a question? >> Yes, ma'am. Um, I just wondered if you could comment, you or Dr. Havner could comment for us on the fact that from from uh 2019 to this year, we have decreased by about 5,000, excuse me, 500 total students. We've lost

045about 5.6% of our student population. Can you comment on that at all? I think that that's a trend across the state with more options for parents and that's part of the reason for the showcase is that we want to keep our kids and um expose [snorts] potential parents to what we have to offer to try to pull some of those folks back and keep keep the >> students that are in our community. >> Okay. Thank you very much. >> You're welcome. >> As you all [clears throat] remember, we rate schools based on these five um titles, these five headings, so to speak. So um schools are rated as either excellent, good, average, below average or unsatisfactory. They receive both criteria in each of the categories on the report card, but also an overall rating uh

046that are these six scales for elementary and middle schools. Those ratings come from five main areas. Although there's a lot of information on the report card, these five are where uh schools earn points. The first is academic achievement which is a compilation of their English and math scores for students in grades three through eight. Preparing for success are their SC ready science scores again in grades three through eight. Uh one note on science there was no reported scores for 2024 because it was a new test at the time. So as you're looking longitudinally uh this past school year's report card was kind of a new reset of information based on uh the new standards. Multilingual learners progress. As we saw tonight, a number of our students exited services. When students come into a school district

047for the United States for the first time, they are screened to gauge their English proficiency. From there, they have five years to reach that level of proficiency. And so, each student has a goal set along the way to keep them on track to reach that. We're measured on the percentage of our students who attain those goals each year. Student progress looks at individual growth and it does it in multiple ways. This is probably the hardest metric to calculate because of all of the the variables that go into it. Uh partly each student has two goals. One advances them at the 50th percentile, but we know if you advance at the 50th percentile, you don't make gains on the rest of the the crowd. So each student also has what's called an added value target, which

048is designed to close that gap over time. uh each student earns points for meeting one or both of those goals, but also uh because events happen in the state. That's based on historical trends, but we know when there's a pandemic or we know when there's a state event, growth isn't always the same from year to year. So, they also compare growth to the rest of the state within that same year. So, how did your students grow compared to the rest of the students in South Carolina who were like them? uh the lowest 20% of students are factored in twice into that metric. And then finally, school climate. Each year, uh students, parents, and teachers all take school climate surveys. Those results come in. Teacher and student ratings are used for accountability, but all three do

049appear on the report card. High schools, you'll see a lot of the same areas uh are measured. Academic achievement and preparing for success come from EOC scores. Again, you see multilingual learners progress up there. Graduation rate for high schools looks at on-time four-year graduates, and we'll talk more about that in some coming slides. College and career readiness. There are a number of indicators that students can earn uh to be either college or career ready, ideally both. But high schools are rated on the percent of students who meet those criteria. Student success looks at when you come in, are you on track to graduate in four years? So after the end of your first year, you need an English credit, a math credit, six total credits because that puts you on track for 24 total credits

050at the end. We get uh points for all of the students who are on track toward graduation. We also get points for students who maybe they didn't graduate within four years, but in that fifth year they earn their GED, maybe they earn their diploma through adult ed, or they come and finish with us in the fall semester or spring semester of their fifth year. we get additional points for those students for finishing their education. And then finally, school climate is there as well. And so, as you can see here on this slide, this shows you how those categories break down. Each level has 100 points and those are broken down uh into these different headings. So, it there is a not really sure why they chose 19 of this and the high schools or 12

051of that, but that's where our breakdown is. And so this kind of gives you an idea of how critical it is to show advancement in each of these categories uh over the course of the year yearoveryear. So which students does the state look at when they're calculating these metrics for academic achievement? It is all students in grades three through eight who are continuously enrolled from the 45th day of school on until the first day of the testing window. So they have to be with us for a majority of the year to be factored into accountability ratings. For student progress, it's grades four through eight because in order to measure progress, you need two years of testing. Third graders, it's the first time they take it. So students in grades four through eight, again, who are

052continuously enrolled from the 45th day through and have a prior year score to measure that growth against. recently arrived MLS during the first 12 months after their initial arrival to the United States. Uh MLS are included in the ML multilingual learners progress category and the school climate indicator, but those are the only two report card indicators that they are factored into. During their second year of enrollment, they're also included in student progress because at that point they have two years worth of scores. And it's not until their third year of enrollment in US schools and then following that they're included in all indicators on the school report card. This is a graphic and I'm not going to talk through this graphic in its entirety but I wanted you to see this is the flowchart for

053how to determine when what graduating cohort a nth grader is in. This is over a 100 pages what the accountability manual looks like that we have to abide by. So you can you can see it's this is just to figure out when they start high school and and how we calculate that. It is not a a simple process for high schools for districts to to follow. Um, but we have definitely made strides in, as we'll talk through, wrapping our heads around this accountability manual, helping school schools stay on track with all of this data. Once a student is included in a high school graduation cohort. So, they have to be present on the 45th day of their first year of high school. I say present, they have to be enrolled on the 45th day of

054high school, their first year. They get a nine GR, a graduation cohort. So students who were here on the 45th day of this school year are in this new graduating cohort. And over the next four years, every time a student comes into Lexington 2, they are added into that cohort of students. So over the course of four years, it swells as you get new students each year. There are only three ways that students are removed from a cohort. One, unfortunately, is if the student passes away. Another is if they immigrate to another country. And finally, if they transfer to an accredited diploma granting program or school somewhere else, otherwise they are not removed from the cohort. If they come to Lexington 2 and leave and we're unable to figure out where they went, maybe they

055move to another state. We don't know that because they didn't tell us, hey, I'm moving to Oklahoma or wherever the case may be. uh and without any kind of documentation that we're the last known school that they attended. They may drop out of school to work or they transfer to adult education unless they finish their diploma in adult ed within that four-year span. Uh they count against the graduation rate of the high school and they're not removed if they're incarcerated but don't enroll in a diploma granting program at DJJ. So over time that number of students accumulates and schools are doing a fantastic job of following up, calling, making those records requests so that we know where students go when they leave us. But the reality is sometimes despite our best efforts, we just don't

056know where they went. When that happens, that graduating cohort affects almost every category of the high school report card. When it comes to academic achievement, if I'm a a high school student, my four-year graduation cohort comes up and I have not taken one or more of the end of course tests, it factors into calculations as a zero for my test score. I may never have sat for the US history EOC, but in terms of accountability ratings for the high school, my time is up. I haven't taken one, so it's a zero into those calculations. Uh the same in preparing for success. Graduation rate uh is all students in that graduating cohort. So those that we walk across the stage and those that we uh can't locate and still are in that graduation cohort. high school

057student success. Obviously, they don't if I'm not enrolled, I'm not meeting my on-track performance targets. And same with college and career readiness. If I don't uh take the ACT or the SAT because I'm no longer enrolled in high school, I also count against those metrics as well. So, you see the importance of knowing where students are and uh maintaining that cohort because it does affect almost every area of the report card. So let's look at graduation rate example. You see the report card graduation rates for both high schools up on the screen. But what does that mean? Where does that come from? So we broke it out with the number of total number of students in the cohort and how many went to adult ed, how many earned their high school credential, meaning they were

058in a special ed program. They didn't earn their diploma, but they completed their high school credential while they were with us. Those do not count uh positively in the graduation rate. uh number that were dropped out, expelled, maybe they were non-diploma track and did not earn that high school credential, a handful who were actively enrolled, maybe they didn't finish those last couple classes that they needed in order to walk across the stage, and then the number of graduates for each high school. So if you look at the number of active students who were seeking diplomas in each graduation in each high school who walked across the stage and earned them, you see it was 96% of students at airport, 98% of students at Brooklyn Casey. Where the graduation rate comes in is all of those

059other students who were no longer enrolled with us for one reason or another. >> The the number dropped out includes the ones we couldn't find as well, >> correct? Yes, sir. >> And just a clarification because we did have a delay in data that BC is 71.9% just so that we're clear. Um that that is the the accurate number. So just to kind of explain to you how we monitor this all year, it is a laborious process. Um our schools are tasked with with maintaining exemplary records at all times. Um, so this gives you an idea of some of the things that that we really look at uh to try to help make sure that they're monitoring all their data. So, not just our high schools, but all of our schools. Um, we create files

060for them to review with their data with their students for them to track those students that count, don't count, those who were enrolled on the 45th day versus those who were here on the first day of testing. Uh, all of those metric metrics fit into that. Um, we also last year instituted uh monitoring individual student growth targets. Really looking at how how do we set goals for our kids so that they know where they need to be by the end of the year. Um, we also do a lot of work around helping educate folks about the importance of completing the school surveys uh about what that tells our schools. Uh, our high schools, we spent a lot of time, we meet with them quarterly to go over the the list, so to speak, of of

061kids of that are in that grad rate that we know who are counting. uh those students who we know we're working to make sure that they get those extra two courses in. Um looking at how we can help them really think methodically about how to achieve uh higher and higher rates and certainly keeping that data as clean as possible uh tracking all of those things in real time. Uh we also spend a great deal of time really looking at our simulator. So we have a simulator form where schools can spin uh kind of do some estimation. Look, if we get 10 more kids to do this, here's what can happen. Uh, and so we've really, I think, done a lot more work around making sure that our folks are are as educated as possible about

062what these numbers, how they're derived, but also how to increase those numbers and how to really make sure that our kids are meeting those benchmarks and those targets that we've set for them. So, the first thing that we want to share with you data-wise tonight really looks at our college and career readiness, which is a major piece on our school report card. And it's also one of the areas that I think we should be quite proud of as a district in terms of the progress we made just in one short year. Um, we saw a a really strong gain across the board uh in this area. And so, tonight, we'll share with you some of the breakdowns of what those numbers tell us, but more importantly, what our next steps might look like in that

063as well. There you see the on-time graduation rates by school uh compared to the state average as well. You can see it historically for the last seven years. This is the percentage of students who are college or career ready. That means they have met one of those bulleted metrics down below. Uh students may meet multiple, but these are students who have earned at least one at both high schools. Um you see districtwide a significant jump from 51.4% in 2024 to 58.3% in 2025. >> So So those are the small things. Um more kids taking ACT and scoring at a higher level. More kids scoring better on SAT. U more of those students who are getting those those three or better on AP tests. So we that's where that increase comes from from year-over-year. Again, students

064who are college and career ready. So they have met at least one of the qualifiers in both of those areas. Again, saw a gain as a district in that percentage. These are the students who are college ready. Um, this is an area that we continue to grow in. As colleges stopped requiring ACT, SAT, some of those college entrance exams, students are not exactly motivated to sit for a test. And so, that has started to change. Colleges have started to come back to requiring those as part of admission criteria. And so, we continue to encourage our students to do their best to uh take these assessments and show colleges what skills they have headed into their programs. And one of the one of the things that we've added for this year to help grow that that

065college uh ready sense, if you will, is that in our eighth grade classes, all of our students who are enrolled in English one and eighth grade were given the opportunity to take the PSAT free of charge. And so we we're already seeing some results come back from that that are going to be very positive, which will increase our number of junior scholars that we're going to declare for this year. So we should be really excited about seeing where that comes from. >> Um is this a percentage like the 16.2 at airport? Is that a percentage of the students are college rate? >> That's the percent. Yes, that's the percent of the graduating cohorts. Those kids who were who were gra who were supposed to graduate on time last year. That's the percent of them who

066met that metric. >> And I would like to just clarify on that point. That is not the percentage of students who are accepted into college. Ironically, being accepted into college is not something that makes you college ready. >> Correct. >> So, um we have a much higher percentage of students who do go on to two and fouryear institutions. Uh but that is not something that they get credit for in the accountability ratings. >> So why wouldn't they? >> It's a very good question, Miss Marquette. [laughter] >> I've asked that many times. >> Yeah. >> The same that when a student leaves and is gainfully employed from us, it doesn't count necessarily as a career ready indicator, but obviously an employer felt that they were career ready. So that is that is a question we continue

067to ask and push for. They're in the process of re-evaluating the accountability model. They have to do that every so often. And I'm hopeful that college acceptance does make it in as an indicator. >> Well, wouldn't and in order to be accepted in college, wouldn't they have had to take the correct courses and meet the South Carolina courses and all that >> courses? Yes. But these this is assessments like the ACT or SAT which are not required for college admission. >> Oh, right. Okay. >> Uh this last slide is the percentage of students who are career ready. They have a qualifying career readiness exam score or an ASBAB score. They have completed uh a CTE pathway and earned a credential, engaged in work-based learning, one of the many ways that they can earn career ready

068status. And this is one of those areas where our schools put more time in making sure that we offered that ASVAB, those other avenue kinds of assessments so that kids could be able to to qualify here more often. So that's why you do see a good uptick in that category. Do we mandate ASDAB or No, >> we do not right now. It is not currently required. >> Is that something we can mandate? >> I think we'd have to look and figure out. I don't know if Stacy Baker I don't know that that is I don't know that we can absolutely require it, but certainly something we could look at to determine whether that is possible or not. We can certainly make it available as we have to >> left and right shaking of heads that

069I >> don't know that we can. I don't know that we can. Um, I know that students when they take it have the option of whether or not that score gets released to the military, but I also think there are some who don't take it for one reason or another >> because if if you have the option to not release it, the scary part. Uh, but you can still get the credit for it. >> Sure. >> Seems like that's really lowhanging fruit. >> We certainly have made it much more available. So over the last couple of years, we the test has been much more available to students who want to take that assessment and and to to give that a chance to get to that college and career that career ready piece. For sure. >>

070With that said, I am a big uh proponent of them releasing their scores. Go military. But still, [clears throat] >> this next slide shows you three different indicators. And if you kind of look, if you look in that green box with the white writing, there are three layers to this. So that's what each of those numbers represents. That first number is the number of students who are enrolled in a CTE course. So these are students who are taking uh everything from um carpentry to um business communications. All the courses that we offer here in the district and you can see um both schools uh well airport saw an increase in the number of those courses that were or students who are enrolled in those courses. Sometimes kids are enrolled in multiple courses over the course

071of a year. That second line represents our CTE program CTE program completers. And I do want to just call to your attention that while those numbers may have gone down this year, it's important to remember that over the last several years, we've only focused on senior students. So with a smaller senior class, you would expect those numbers to go down because there are fewer students to be able to complete those pathways. What you're seeing the big change in is in that bottom number which I do want to celebrate that for a moment because if you look down at the bottom we went from 195 stu 195 uh students who earned a state or national credential to 442 in one year. Um these are the students who have taken an additional assessment. They've done an additional

072task. They've done those pieces to be on their way to being a program completer. um to be that to get that completer status, you have to complete a sequence of courses and some additional certifications. And you can see how many kids [laughter] are already set up for that success. So rather than just doing a a focus on 12th graders, we've shifted that focus to 11th and 12th graders. And actually, we'll be doing some work um both before and after winter break at both high schools um to get some uh universal kinds of points. kids have to they have to score three points to be uh to be a um uh to receive those credentials. And so uh and to be a program completer and for us to do that, we we've been working with our

073our partner Prisma to offer some training for kids that actually applies so every student can get a a credential. Um and so we'll continue that work, but we are very pleased and and that work has really been led by Stacy Baker who our CTE director who has really looked at what are those pathways and what are those structures uh to be able to get that movement. So so there's lots of progress here and there will likely be much more progress which we saw translate directly into those um those college and career readiness uh ratings on the school report cards for both high schools. And finally, um this last slide in this section looks at our students who are on track for gradu ontime graduation. So, um just wanted to point out that we're starting to

074see um that movement uh back up with the number of students who are progressing annually. And part of that is really come back to how we track our data. How we keep that clean to make sure that I took English one in ninth grade. I got my credit. Now I'm going to 10th grade. Rather than me failing English one, I'm able to take that opportunity, those retakes, those retances. I can get my credit. I'm focused more on mastery. Really learning how and what I need in order to get to that next course. So these are the students who have progressed being able to earn those additional credits to get to that next grade level. So, let's get to the report card ratings, which this slide will give you a an overview of all of our

075schools. So, these are our elementary and middle schools and what rating they received for each of those categories. And you can see um we're very pleased with some of the work when you look in down this list and you see things like good and and excellent um in some of these areas. Um, just to call your attention, uh, some of these are improvements in the categories, but also when you look at the student progress column, remember that's where we're tracking kids who are growing faster than they than what they maybe had in the past. These are students who who are really uh getting to that next level of success. And you can see very pleased with the work [laughter] that that our middle schools did in this category this year and really made some great

076gains uh, in those areas. our high schools, you can see here, um, we have quite a bit of work to do in our academic areas, really focusing in on the number of students who are earning that C or better on those end of course tests. Uh, also working harder on that graduation rate to move those areas. Uh, you can see kind of across the board what those look like on the report card. And finally, this last slide will show you a historical view of where our schools were uh, on report cards over time. I do want to just call your attention to that last column where we're looking at 25 and you can see the green. Um, and those are schools that had an improvement. So, they either had an appointment a point number improvement

077or they had a level improvement. And I think it's very important for us to to single out the first one on the list um, alphabetically in the way I organized it um, by level. But, um, but Casey Elementary went from unsatisfactory in 24 to average in 25. And while we may not think average is the best, remember this is a bell curve. And so to fall in that middle section, it's not necessarily the end of the world. Do we want it to be excellent? Absolutely. But we moved to two levels. And I think that speaks to the leadership and and just the hard work at Casey this past year. [applause] We also have one of our middle schools, former middle school, making that excellent rating. We're very proud of them and the progress that that

078they have worked intentionally to build that excellence. So, congratulations to to Fulmer back there. [applause] Um, and so there's lots and lots of things to celebrate here. One of my other favorites, um, Angela Brown, who, um, is one of my favorite people to spar with, I call it, when we talk about increasing student achievement. Um, Miss Brown said to me, "We are not this. We're going to be better." And sure enough, their school went up from below average to average. And we're very proud of the progress that they made as well. So, um, so very proud of them. >> [applause] >> And I also want to just take a moment. We the state moved these report card ratings back and forth a few times and North Side Middle School um was excellent and then because

079of a rounding challenge by I think it was it 200s of a point. It was >> very very small. They went from excellent unfortunately back to that average cate or to that good category. Um but but we're or to average, excuse me. They went from good to average. Excuse me. Good to average. Um and so we're very proud of them. They they've worked very intentionally and very hard by design uh to get those points. And I I I believe the challenge has been issued now that they are not going to back down. So So you do see that there are some very positive uh trends here for the majority of our schools and and we do celebrate all of their hard work. Um just as as we will share with you in January of course

080the state has notified us with the school report card uh any school that is below average or unsatisfactory is considered an underperforming school. Uh and just so that you are aware we'll be bringing to you their plans that will have to be approved per the state requirements state statute. Um but we have four schools that have been identified for having either a below average or unsatisfactory rating. And fortunately we have no unsatisfactories uh in our district this year. These four schools on the left, Conger, Pine Ridge, Airport, and Brooklyn Casey, will all be listed as underperforming schools for for this 2526 school year. And recall, you will you will receive quarterly updates on their progress and their uh comprehensive school improvement plans. But also, we need to celebrate that Casey and Wood are not underperforming

081schools. So, we're very proud of their hard work and their movement. [applause] And [clears throat] just just to give you a quick glimpse of of some of the things that we're continuing to do this year. Of course, we're working with those simulators. Uh Dr. Bergraph does a incredible job of making sure our schools have access easy access to data um that's useful things that are going to help them be able to project out, be able to help them really uh prescribe some plans and really get in and understand what we're working with. Uh we'll continue to to monitor our data. I feel like every day we talk about data, we talk about cleanliness, we talk about timeliness, all the things uh that we're continuing to really work on. We've really done a lot of work

082this year working on our MTSS um model, really looking at how we're supporting those tier 2 and three interventions with our students, being much more prescriptive in those early grades and really leaning in on those those models and structures really across the district. Um, we're continuing to look at how we're procuring and how we're implementing any kind of supplemental program. So, math, for example, we have a K8 program that we uh were a part of implementation this year and we're already seeing some good positive progress in that area. We'll continue to track that. And then, of course, really spending time focused on those goals. We've worked with schools to make sure that we've talked with them about the right size goal. Here's here's what it might look like if we did this. here's what it

083could look like if we did that. Uh, and making sure that we're given all the supports and processes we can uh to be able to help our schools really make that level of achievement that we know they're capable of and certainly push them to do that. >> You know, I really would love to see those goals. I mean, in in just a number form where uh you know, if wood is well, it's cut off on our thing. I think it's 47 this year. I'd like to know if it's 52. I I just would like to know because really, you know, if you shoot at nothing, you always hit it. And so, I mean, even if if the high school said we're going to go up by two points, I mean, I would be delighted for

084them to have a very definitive goal and for us to know what it is. Uh because the things that are listed on here, what are we doing this year? Are the means of achieving the goals? But I would love for us to know what the goals are. >> Sure, we can certainly pull some things together for you. We have that. That's that's not impossible. We can pull that together for you for sure. >> Yeah. We could get that in January maybe for our workshop. >> Yes. And you for sure will get those four underperforming schools. So you're going to get a goal for each of those areas of the school report card that they're going to be working on this year. >> Right. >> Thank you. >> That's my presentation. If there any other questions,

085I'm happy to answer. >> Uh completely agree on the positives. That's awesome. Way to go. Casey Wood, I think North Side. I mean, bunch of bunch of great growth. um when you broke out a couple of examples, it was college and career ready and it was grad rate and I feel like since my years here, we talk about both of those a lot rightfully so. However, we're in just the two high schools together are above 50% in both of those and they're only total worth 38 points. But if you look like across this the big one you gave us like it's all about trying to get the most uh return on investment and everything we do is that fine line of the investment and the return and just looking where we are the investment that

086we need to make is the academic achievement >> correct >> I mean that's where we're at a low percentage out of 100 and that's where the most points are so in that March just in January um workshop nothing against college and career readiness and all that stuff, but let's go find out where we can get some dagum points quick and in a hurry and make a really big positive impact. And so I would like as much kind of to Miss Briquette's point, as much attention to where we're really moving the academic achievement and the student progress. That's 70 points for elementary and middle and that's, you know, high school's different, but that that's where the money is and that's where we have a low percentage. So that's I that's what I want to see us

087putting on. Where can we make our biggest bang for our buck? >> And we we would agree with you 100%. That is where we put the bulk of our effort is how do we get those points? The rest the rest are what I refer to as sort of your padded points. Those are the points that that showcase all the really neat things you get to do. The bottom line is what happens in the classroom. Can you produce the results on the end of your exams? Can you produce the results of kids earning a C or better on the end of course tests? And the next the my only other point sl I feel from the purview here that we have shown a lot of growth and improvement and put money and time towards ML but

088if this is kind of bell curved we're still that that column is still pretty weak >> and is there something that as we come into budget season that this board like where where's our you know there's no oneizefits-all but what I was really hoping ML scores would be, you know, 30 40%, not average of 15 and 22%. Is there something that the board that y'all can have ready for the board come January that we can really discuss? Say like, you know, we've said it or many of us have said it multiple times, if we just take tiny steps over and over and we don't innovate, we're just if somebody if if the average is going up by 3% and we go up by 2%, we're still falling. So, we've got to find something to make

089big steps like we did in several of our schools. So, I think those are the two major areas that I would like to see us discuss and have true innovation and not be scared to make big steps. That's all I have, >> Mr. Rucker. >> Thank you. Um, I just wanted to note um on one of the slides earlier, the state's goal is that at least 75% of students will be at or above grade level by 2030. So, I think that is a fantastic goal. Well, I wanted to ask if we could add that to the ABC report on the course progress slide and keep that as the long-term goal and then every year we can track how um we're doing with that and how we're progressing there. I think that would be very helpful.

090And um as far as the ABC report, I know it's instru. Uh could you give us a a little highlight of what what we're seeing as far as some of the highlights right now? Yeah. In terms of anything specific or just >> just the two items that were kind of on the on the report. >> My computer has decided to go to sleep. >> And it calls out 85% of seniors are on track. Is that current as of right now? [clears throat] >> Sorry. in our in the current month. I apologize. My >> You're gonna have a paper. >> I'm not sure what my computer's doing here. I'm sorry, y'all. >> Sending down the paper copy when we're sending the paper. Of >> course, it would. Oh, thanks. So, when you look at the the

091metric, and I believe Dr. Bergraph helped pull that together. Um, these are the So, we use our panorama software, which you all are aware. We we purchased that. We've been using that for a year now. This gives you a breakdown by uh these are the number of students that we're tracking and you'll see the the number the percent of college ready. So those are the kids. Yes, these are the percentages that reflect those criteria. So those are the ones that we've already accounted for have met that metric for the year. So um based on those numbers uh if we continue on our trajectory, we'll continue to declare more and more as college ready because we'll get test scores, we'll get uh opportunities to see their other pieces. Same thing with career ready. you'll see more

092and more of those kids. The more that Miss Baker and Dr. Bergraph enter those data points into our systems, you'll see more and more of those come alive. So, we can certainly keep that metric for you. If that's something you'd like to see every month, we can do that. >> That would be awesome. That'd be great. Thank you so much, >> Mr. Pette. >> Um, I want to tag on to what Mr. Bray said. Um, I would I would really like it if you guys would say to us, you know, there's a school in San Antonio, Texas, and they started this blank program for their multil- language learners, and they went up 25 points, and it's going to cost it cost us $500,000 to do that. I would love for you just to come and

093tell us that and then we can decide if we want to spend $500,000. But it just would be nice to know what the things are that are possibilities for us. Last year we talked about adding more multil- language learners in the classrooms and we did a good job getting students doing that, but it looks like we've got a long way we could go with that. So, I mean, I think we're open to listening to what the possibilities are. >> Certainly. >> Thank you. I had one thing thanks to Miss Rucker. I completely forgot about the ABC, but there's a chart on there that says 15 top behaviors. >> Unfortunately, the way it's cropped into there, you can only read seven of them or six of them. So, if we can just make sure that those

094labels show >> Sure. >> on the Y axis. >> Any other questions for him on card? >> Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Recommendation. >> You got a course request. >> I do. Yes, sir. So, my second uh piece for you all this evening uh is a course request. So, as you all may recall at the last board meeting, you approved some new courses for the 2627 school year as well as our course guide. Um one of those courses that you approved for 2627 is a course called Spanish for healthcare employees. And so after we um were able to get that course through um we realized we actually have the capacity to begin offering that course in the spring um of this year and wanted to ask for your permission and and approval to

095allow us to begin offering that at the innovation center. Um we also have a a group of students who are ready to take it should you all vote to approve it tonight. So um that is a course that will cost us nothing additional to offer. um just by restructuring some some student schedules, we'll be able to offer that section and and begin immediately offering a very very uh useful course that we're already hearing from employers that they're excited to see where we go with this. So, um so I present to you tonight the request to to essentially offer it in the spring uh as a local board approved course uh the Spanish for healthcare employees. >> All right, I have a motion on course request. >> Um Mr. Mr. Chair, I make a motion that

096we approve the uh course request for uh Spanish for healthcare employees as presented. >> Had a motion. Second >> and a second. >> And I have a question. >> Oh, any questions? Men, >> I do. So, do you know how many students are enrolled in this for um spring semester? >> I believe I'm not sure if Miss Baker is back there. Do you have any idea how many students we have? I know we have a list of students ready for this. >> We have some that are ready, but nobody's enrolled because we had to wait to get it approved before we actually change their schedule. Um, so the requirements are they have to have had one year of Spanish and they also have to have had either sports med or health science one. So once

097approval goes through, then we'll start moving those things around to get their fixed because it'll only be offered one block. >> And I believe I believe our our estimation is there will be around 15 to 18 students. >> That's what we're hoping. Okay. So, and I'm reading the course description. >> So, I have to ask who's who's teaching this? Is it a healthc care professional? >> It's not. U Miss Allen is our current Spanish teacher at the innovation center. So, she already works with our students in that capacity. And once we started talking about this at the beginning of this school year, she's been working with our health science teachers because the goal is that our students that are taking the health science courses would be able to communicate with people who speak Spanish when

098they come into doctor's offices and the like. So learning those things that you would normally say like my child's throwing up or they' be able to understand that stuff or the tools that you use in healthcare being able to understand that in Spanish or explain it. And so that is the goal for it. And interestingly, after we started talking about this in August, um, Coastal Carolina and another school, I think actually in Arizona has started this exact thing that they're going to put in place next year. So, she's also reached out to Coastal and we haven't heard back from the school in Arizona, but trying to make sure that we're aligning our curriculum to what the college is going to be doing actually. So, >> is the curriculum written? >> She has written it for

099us. Um, Coastal Carolina is who she's been. They just announced theirs like a month ago. So, she's been working with them um to get some access to what they're going to be offering so we can adjust it as we need to. Um, but she's been working with our health science teachers so that we meet the needs of what we're seeing as far as struggles when they work with students. Like we have um students that go do clinicals. So, what is the language barrier that they're having when they're doing that? If they encounter people who speak Spanish, just trying to communicate about health If you speak English and your patient speaks Spanish, that's pretty difficult if they're trying to explain their symptoms and you don't understand what they're saying. So, that's what we're focusing on and

100it'll evolve as time goes on once we see what Coal is going to offer as well. Does so um Miss Allen, is that what you said? Um, does she have any other than working with someone that's in sports management or any no health care? I mean, does she talking as a nurse? >> Yes. >> You know, >> you have to kind of have know what you're talking about. And so, I'm sure she's [clears throat] f you know, I know who you're talking about. She's fabulous. But I want to make sure she's got the background and we're giving her the tools that she needs. When you're teaching someone about health care, that would be like me trying to teach an IT class. It would be a little dangerous, you know, but I can I can certainly

101teach a a health care class. Being a nurse, that's why I'm asking. >> Teaching a healthcare class. She's teaching the terminology that you're going to comment here in a healthare setting. >> But y'all are helping her to make sure she understands the terminology. So she's working. >> Yeah. So she's working handinhand with the health science teachers on what are they teaching and working on. She's sort of replicating that same thing where it will apply to that workplace setting for for a future nurse or healthcare professional. >> Yeah. So it's like the common phrasing you would hear in a doctor's office. My child has a stomach ache. Like if you don't know what that sounds like in Spanish, then you're going to struggle to understand what the parent is trying to tell you about. >> I

102absolutely understand everything you're saying. I just want to make sure that that none of our teachers are in a position that they're uncomfortable with because when you're working with healthc care terms, >> correct? >> It helps when you have a healthcare background. >> Yes. No, she's not going to teach any health science anything. She's just teaching here's the Spanish word for this common phrasing in healthcare. disposed. >> Yeah, I would really suggest that y'all, you know, interface with uh uh Lexington with the hospital. Um because really what we're talking about is sort of entrylevel language. I mean, not actual medical terminology. But I'm picturing like in the emergency room that somebody could say, "Okay, they're going to take you now and now you go sit there and we'll come get you." You know, that kind

103of thing. But I think it'd be real interesting to find out from the hospital what are what are their needs in that regard. Um very specifically. >> Yes. >> And that will certainly be part of this is making sure that what the curriculum as it evolves and eventually we'd like to offer a number two of this. So a second part where we may get into more of those specialized pieces for folks who are going to work in so some of those areas. But this gives us the opportunity to sort of start that dialogue and get these partners into the school. I mean, there is a there's a Lexon Medical Center right down the street. So, we um want to get them involved as we start training these kids so that they can go out and

104get jobs immediately and in this real high needs area. >> Yeah. >> Just making sure. >> Yeah. It' be like if I said, "Oh, [clears throat] whatever." And I don't know that means broken leg. Then it would be hard for me if I'm sitting there like I don't know what you're saying. It's more helping them understand that more of the communication part. Not the healthare advice part. >> All right. Any other questions on it? All right. I had a motion and a second. All in favor say I. >> All opposed. All right. Motion carries. >> Thank you very much. >> All right. We're going to move on into operations and we're going to wake up Mr. Matt Warren over there. >> Awake. Ready to roll. >> Stay ready so you don't have to get ready.

105Right. >> That's right. Um well, thank you very much uh Mr. Chair, members of the board, Dr. Hafner. Another operations update for uh the month of November. Want to hit a few highlights here. I know you've had this for your review, but uh at this point the document says we've had one uh random screening, but at this point since this was completed, we've had two um at at every middle and high school. Um so that's been good. Really appreciate our staffs and students um working through this new process. and I think it's gone very well and uh has provided a very clear message about you know kind of our focus and safety and uh in a very kind of non-threatening way. So appreciate our teams and and their work with that. Um also you know

106work continues in maintenance with you know several renovation projects and things that were you know noted in your CPIF update document. uh transportation. I want to note that we've been selected to pilot a program uh called we wheelchair guardian uh where um it's an AI uh camera technology that communicates to the driver and to our um transportation hub. If any of the seats uh the belts come un unfassened or loose on the wheelchair, there's immediate notifications on that. So just something that we are excited about piloting here in our district and may grow you know outside of us in the state here but excited about providing some feedback on that new program. Um and technology we've uh rolled out two factor authentification across the district. So another layer in our safety measures. I think we've

107talked about that some in here. Uh just your um thoughts on that concerns. So another way to make sure we're protecting our systems and emails and and data. So that's been rolled out, you know, across the district. And then, you know, [clears throat] down in support, student support services, our nurses continue to do training. They they train all the time. I mean, it's non-stop. You know, we've talked about medical uh terminology there, but just the medical field and all the new things and new um initiatives that they're constantly learning and growing. So, appreciate them and their work. And then also lastly, our social workers were a big driving uh force for this. Miss Scarberry and her team with the West Columbia Police Department stuffed a Tahoe went out actually went out there and and helped

108a little bit and I think we stuffed more than a Tahoe. So, it was several several vehicles were stuffed that day and really just a testament to our community at Walmart um in West Colombia and just their willingness to to support that and provide canned foods and all kind of things for for folks who need that, you know, this time of year during the holidays especially. So, I was very proud of our community and all their efforts uh to support that that drive and our partnership with the West Columbia Police Department. And then on the heels of that, uh you have the CPIF update in your packet as well. Your work continues and you see we've uh hit a few more things even since our last uh meeting and more items are in progress and

109I got a list today from Mr. McFersonen about some things that we got rolling right now. I also look forward to providing you another update uh after you know Thanksgiving and our winter break with a lot more completed items. There'll be a lot of work going on over those two time periods when students and staff are not in the buildings. So happy to answer any questions. >> Any questions for Mr. Warren? >> All righty. Thank you. We're going to move on into unfinished business now. We have some consideration first and final readings. >> Good. >> Yeah. Ready? Can I go? >> Go ahead. >> Okay. Mr. Chair, um I make a motion for second and final reading of pro proposed um revisions to policy GBC staff compensation. Policy GCB, professional staff contracts and compensation. Policy

110GCK, professional and support staff assignments and transfers. Policy GCQF, discipline, suspension and dismissal of professional staff. Policy GCA, evaluation of instructional personnel. policy IC school year ARC, excuse me, ARGC-R professional and support staff assignments and transfers. A R GC A-R evaluation and instructional staff. A RGC QF-R discipline suspension and dismissal of professional staff. >> Second. All right. I had a motion in a second. Any discussion? >> I just have a quick question. >> Okay. >> On um policy IC school year, it says the board may lengthen the school day under makeup days. It says the board may lengthen the school day by no less than one hour per day for the total number of hours missed with the prior approval of the South Carolina Department of Education. Is that right? less. >> It would be

111so it would be less because you you have to get that hour of time strangely because it would be an hour for hour makeup. So you wouldn't want to give a more than because you could essentially create a three-hour extension of the school day. So you would so you wouldn't want it as more. You want to keep it as less. I know that makes sense. So in other words, you wouldn't add 30 minutes over 10 days. You would add an hour at a time. >> Gotcha. Okay. Just wanted to make sure. Thank you. Yeah, got it. Okay. Yeah. I've just got a question on GCOA and kudos to you, Miss Alfred W, that you were able to read all of those. [laughter] >> Um, this is uh evaluation of instructional staff and I just wanted

112to inquire. It says that uh the appropriate personnel will evaluate the performance of every instructional staff member fairly and on a periodic basis. But it doesn't say anything about what what that looks like. Are we talking about twice a year, three times a year? >> I can speak to that. >> The basis would be determined um by the contract type that they were on. You know, it mentions the acronym adept here, assisting developing and evaluating professional teaching staff. >> So the um the the time frame and the periodic basis would be based upon that. >> Okay. Um and it is um very very specific. It's written in a plan that we write that is approved by the state department of education for all referencing to all contracts. So um it is pretty rigorous um and

113it is um um formative as well as sumitative every year. Um >> so the employee would know I'm going to be evaluated in September and March or something. >> That's right. Yes, ma'am. >> Thank you. Yep. Mr. D, >> I don't know why I can't let this one go, but I me [laughter] I mentioned it on the the first reading and I I just have a problem on the transfer one. I just think you're HR is setting yourself up when you make seniority a a um a determining factor. It seems like um that you can have it as one of the factors. I just do not like the way that's seems like it can cause an HR issue. You're exactly right. It can cause and um and it's all by itself um seniority or an

114Excel share list is not the the primary. It's it this does read that way, but it is at the superintendent's discretion and it is a consideration. Um but I do agree and I thank you for that. >> I'll let it go. I just just feel like it as a hiring person in in business, it just When people have seniority, they're going to play that card. And never is all things equal. >> Could you read that sentence that you're specifically concerned about? >> It says, um, you ask me, I'll find it. It says on the last the it says in the case of transfers initiated by a professional staff member with all other considerations regarding assignment being equal, the administration will grant professional staff preferences for transfer in order of seniority within the the district subject

115to the approval of the principles involved in accordance with the >> administration. Thank you for reading that. I agree with you. The way that I interpret that is that we give thankful consideration to seniority that um and that it is not the primary qualifier. It's also not the primary disqualifier. But thank you. And that is how we look at it. We do consider the length of time in the school and the position etc etc as well as qualifications. But the main thing is suitability. But we'll be glad to remove that. Um, if you're good with it, I'll I'll leave it alone. >> As long as that is our interpretation. >> That is our interpretation. As long as that is met with the approval of the board, that is the way that we operate. >> Well,

116could I just ask what that would look like if we did remove it? And the reason I'm asking, I had not even thought about this, Mr. All, but somebody else's interpretation could be different. Somebody else could read that and say, "Everything else being equal, you got to take me because I've been here 22 years and that person's only been here 16." >> You know what I mean? Somebody could interpret it that way. >> They could. >> And then we would have to defend that in some fashion. >> Mr. Chair, I'll move to amend the entire thing that uh Miss Alfred Wooten read to take that one sentence out of whatever policy that one ends up being. What? GC whatever this one GCK >> K. Yes. >> So my motion is that we take this one

117sentence out of the entire motion. >> Had a motion. Do we have a second on that one? >> I'll second. [laughter] >> Oh >> it did. May I ask that green language if it came from scasba or if it came from sedd? >> Yeah. >> Which one? >> The legislative part of the scazba. >> My motion stands. >> We have a statute. Thank you. >> Thank you. That is correct. And our current policy and protocol does not separately and I think it's more than fair and subjective um is not part of that equation subjectively. So I think our protocol for consideration and vetting is very um specific and um even though that is the case we always stand ready to defend uh any doc any um decision that has been made with regard to recommendation

118for hire but thank you for that and thank you Mr. Thank you. >> We had amended motion and a second. Any other discussion on that? All in favor of the amended motion say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? All right. That motion carries. >> Now we need to go back to the original motion. All in favor of the original motion say I. >> I. >> All oppose. >> Clarify that for me if you would please. We approved the amended one. >> But we got to go back and bring all of them. All of them. >> Bring all them. >> Okay. But it's still going to have that sentence out. >> Correct. Okay. Hi. [laughter] >> All right. Motion carried. All right. We got another one there for you, Miss Whoopen. >> All right. Um, Mr.

119Chairman, um, I move that we u make a motion that we approve second and final reading of policy JFAB, admission of non-resident student. >> Second. >> All right, we got a motion and a second. Any discussion on that one? >> All right. All in favor say I. >> I. >> All right. Motion carries. All right. Let's move on into new business now. And we got some more policy here. >> Mr. Chairman, I make a motion that we approve um first reading of proposed changes to board policy GC QC. GCQD, resignation of instructional staff and administrative staff. >> Second. I have a motion and a second. We have any discussion? No discussion. All in favor say I. >> All right. Motion carries. >> All right. Now we got a consideration for community request for naming of

120the Brooklyn Casey High School softball field. >> Yes, Mr. Chair. If we could please, I would like to call Miss Elaine [snorts] Lundy and her sweet mother to the podium. to share some insights with us. So, if y'all think that I'm outspoken, we don't give her the microphone very much because this is where I learned it from. So, [laughter] um she's gonna stand here with me because this is Mrs. Coach Lundy. Uh, and um, she stayed in the shadows of my dad for years. So, I wanted to take this opportunity since she was here tonight just to be able to introduce her and let you guys know that this is what kept our family going. Uh, we probably ate more family meals at either a BC softball field or in BC's gym than we did

121ever at a table. So, I just wanted y'all to be able to put a face to Mrs. Coach Lundy here. [applause] And I w I really wish that you guys would have been able to see the number of players that always show up for Coach Lundy. Uh but when I looked at the agenda, I said, "Guys, plan on an hour to two." Um so if you need to watch by link, please do that and don't feel like you have to be out here. But we do have some players in the audience, the ones that have stuck here. If y'all want to stand up. >> Thank you. >> Oh. >> [applause] >> I have stuck through this long board meeting and be glad that it's me up here and not dad. If anybody's ever heard him

122talk, we'd be here for another two hours. So, uh, when we when we talk about dad, we always jump to softball or carpentry. Um, and I'm not sure really what's going to happen when I start talking about this because he didn't like for this kind of information to be shared about him. But I think it's important for you guys to understand what started the passion that brought us to Casey, South Carolina, and started burning a passion in in the Lundy's. And y'all have three Lundy's in here, so be prepared. Uh so dad started out um [clears throat] in a in Union Point, Georgia in a family that had a lot of needs. Um and they farmed everything they had. They grew it. Um things I don't like to talk about, you know, cuz my pork

123chops come from a tree, so they do other things. [laughter] but truly farmed and canned and everything they had. It was hard work. [clears throat] And dad started working when he was 12 running a a paper route. Uh he walked it until he made enough money to buy a bicycle. He bought a bicycle. He continued his paper route and that money went to his family. His dad got sick. Dad worked. he could not go into the military, which he was very very upset about because all of his brothers uh were in the military and one a Vietnam vet and it always weighed heavy on him because his medically they would not allow him to go in. So what he did is he stayed home and he took care of the family and he provided money

124while his dad was sick. uh and he went to a high school and I'm going to call this principal by name because this is I know this is what started the fire. Mr. Ay told my dad when he was a senior in high school that he was not college material and he needed to get his job at the mill and work in the sock factory. That's what the mill was. And my dad said, "Watch this." [laughter] and he pulled his family and he started doing construction. Um, wound up being foremen of many of the highrises in Colombia. Uh, and my sister right here, Michelle, and my other sister, Trina, they had the unfortunate piece of just moving around the state of South Carolina. Uh, by the time I came along, uh, nine years later, um,

125we were very settled in Casey, South Carolina. Um, but Dennard Harris said to my mom because she Yeah. she worked in our district, too. They were like, "Hey, we're going to have to move once again." And he was like, "No, no, no. You tell Richard Lundy to give me a call." And we're not sure. He was either the first or the second carpentry teacher at BC High School. Um, and all of us went to Lexington 2 and there's only one thing that we're more passionate about as a family than Lexan 2 and that's my dad because we shared my dad with hundreds and hundreds of kids and we never batted an eye about it. They were our family. We could line his ball players up right now in this room. We could tell you every

126single name [snorts] and we could tell you something about them because we talked about them non-stop in our house. What do they need? What are they good at? uh what their dad called and said to my dad [laughter] because they didn't like the playing time. It was Lexington to BC High School and especially softball was our life and dad gave everything he had to Lexington 2. Uh just to give you a little background, uh when they started playing in 1989 or when dad started coaching in 1989, they played at Wilkerson Field. That is uh over by Spire's gym. If you can imagine having to play on rock solid, you played there. >> I mean, it was just like it was so hard. The ground was so hard. the field was not kept up, but that's

127where they practiced. That's where they played. He was able to move that over to BC High School and for the first time ever, they had their own locker room. They didn't have to change and travel somewhere. So, they were able to have a locker room there and a coach's office. And then they moved to their current location on 7th Avenue. [snorts] Uh dad was there for 23 years. He served as head coach. His career record was 549 to 164. [snorts] Um he really built a culture of teamwork, discipline, and p perseverance. School came first always. If the grades weren't there, the playing time wasn't there. He had 15 region championships, eight lower state championships, four state runner-up titles, four state championships. >> [snorts] >> Um, and he also founded a JV program. When he first

128started, they didn't have a JV program. And everything my dad did was to ensure that it would continue. And so, he wanted that JB program so that whatever he was teaching to the varsity program, he was teaching to the JV program so that cuz one day I'm not going to be there is what he would say. and he wanted to ensure that the program stayed solid. So [snorts] for 17 of his 23 years, there was a JV program there to ensure the program's future. [snorts] Um perhaps the most meaningful measures of Coach Lundy's legacy lies in the lives he touched. He had 20 all-state players, 20 all-star players, one professional softball player, 26 college athletes, many of who are still coaching now. Um [snorts] when he unfortunately when he left BC High School, he um

129we had a plan. It didn't work like we wanted it to. That's all right. So we went over to White Null in Lexington one and made a successful season there. and he actually got to be the assistant coach for one of his players that he had coached. So that was also um it was fun for him. He liked to give her uh a hard time. [snorts] So um he throughout his career he was recognized for his excellence and integrity. He was region coach of the year 11 times. In 2000, he received the rare distinction of being named National Federation of High School South Carolina Coach of the Year, National Fast Pitch Coaches Association, South Carolina Coach of the Year, South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association State Softball Coach of the Year. Um, he was inducted to

130BC High School's athletic hall of fame in 2020 and also as a vocational teacher in the educator hall of fame in 2022. He has he lived grit, pride, and heart. Um, his players would always hear battle baby battle. Um, show and go. And there's a long story behind I don't even want to hear you breathe. So dad couldn't say th's. He said th's as v's. And so he was not okay with the performance that they had given one night. And when they got on the bus it was I don't even want to hear you breathe. So um he [sighs] carried both accountability and love. Good. Okay. [snorts] Um, so this for you guys to consider this and even have it on the agenda is an honor to us. It's a thank you for all the

131hours that he spent because little known fact, he really didn't know how to coach softball when they asked him to coach, but he studied. Um, and he uh he asked questions and he watched videos and he figured it out. Um, so this would definitely be a permanent tribute to a man whose influence shaped not only a program but generations of young women who learn to compete with integrity, [gasps] courage, and heart. And he is definitely a legacy in this area. And his players love him very much. and I'm just honored to be able to stand up here and talk to you about my dad. So, thank you, [applause] >> Mr. Chair. I move that we uh uh change the name for the PC High School softball field to the Richard Lundy softball field. >> All

132right, I had a motion. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Have a second. any discussion on that? >> I would um make a few uh I didn't play fast pitch softball if anybody was wondering. Um however, when I switched over to BC High School in 10th grade as a brand new kid to the school, uh my first class I had was coach Lundy and carpentry. And I had no desire to do anything with carpentry or anything of that kind of field. Um, I was going to go do other stuff, but as a kid coming over and a kid of a uh pretty magnanimous coach myself, it was very comforting to sit in his class and learn a brand new trade and one that I still I still have a miter saw at my

133house and it actually has a little uh nobody really cares, but when you're cutting crown, there's some couple measurements you need to know and they they're scribed there and uh I think of coach Lundy on the, you know, once or twice a sure that I do that. But I'm also very lucky to ride down Seventh Avenue or Seventh Street quite often. And I think of Coach Lundy all the time. And I can just empathize with you of sharing your father with not just three si two sisters, but with thousands of sisters and uh that can be awesome, but that can also be really tough for both you and your mom. So yes, we are congratulating your dad and your husband here, but it's also a lot that all of you put into it. So, thanks

134for what y'all have done. >> Amen. >> And I messed up really quickly. We also have his son-in-law. Sorry, I was really nervous. [laughter] And his daughter-in-law, Kelly Reia, most of you, I don't know if you we'll talk sometime if you want to know that dynamic. Uh, and then Reagan and Payton are here also. And that's, uh, two of his grandkids. The others are watching by link. >> Thank you. >> All right. Any others? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? Motion carries. Congratulations. [applause] >> All right. Now we got some school travel. >> We do. Um, Mr. Chairman, I make a motion that we approve the um four student request um out of state or overnight student travel request. One is airport high school honor choir students to travel to SCACDA

135honor choir weekend at Coastal Carolina January 23rd through the 24th 2026. The second is Airport High School Drama Club to travel to South Carolina Thespen Festival on February 20th through the 22nd of 2026. Airport High School Honor 3 is Airport High School Honor Choir to travel to the Southern Regional ACDA Honor Choir in Memphis, Tennessee. March 4th through the 8th, 2026. Fourth is airport high school students to travel to France, Spain at Paris and Pinis uh May 30th through June 8th, 2026. >> Second. >> Motion and second. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion carries. >> I want to go to Paris. >> That sound like a good trip there. >> That's a pretty good one. >> Where's Mr. Can we c can we catch a ride on that? I >> was going

136to say, Mr. Chairman, don't some of the board members need to go home? >> Yes. >> All right, that brings us up to our announcements now. So, y'all getting close to going home. November 24th through 28th is Thanksgiving break. December 3rd is early release day. December 19th, end of second, nine weeks. December 19th is half day for students. December 22nd through to through January the 4th is winter break. January 5th, 26, teacher and service day. January 6th is classes resume, students return. Are they excited? January 7th is report cards issued home. Come back and get report cards. January 15th is our regularly monthly meeting of the board of trustees here at District Education Center. And then also on the 24th is our board workshop. If y'all want a lot of fun, come to that all

137day with us. >> And then January 27th, Lexon 2 teacher fair in the pack center. and that' be four to six. And now I'm g turn over to Miss Wooten to get us out of here. >> Uh Mr. Chair, I make a motion that the board of trustees enter close session for the following consideration of personnel appointments, retirements, and resignations and legal advice regarding regarding board policy AB. >> Second. We have a motion and a second. All in favor say I. I. All right. Motion carried. We are now in executive. Thank y'all. I make a motion that the meeting be reconvened in open session and the appropriate affidavit executed. >> Second. >> Have a motion and a second. >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> We are back in open session. >> Mr.

138Chairman, I make a motion that we accept the administration's recommendations for resignations, retirements, resignations, terminations, and others. >> Have a motion. Second and a second. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Mr. Mr. Chairman, I make a motion that we accept the administration's recommendation to report to the South Carolina Department of Education report of a breach to on employee three. >> Second. >> A motion and a second. All in favor say I. >> I. >> All right. Um, as hard as it is to make motions that tug at your heartstrings, there's one that we have to make a motion tonight that the board will accept, Dr. Brenda Hefner's retirement from Lexon School District 2, and it will come into effect at the end of the 25 26 school year. Do I have a second?

139>> Second. >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Dr. Ener, we love you to death. We going to miss you, but we know it's right. You're doing what's right for your family. We just ask for prayers for your family, for you in all circumstances. But we thank you for your time here with us and service. >> Thank you, Mr. >> Bless you and we love you. >> Thank you. >> All right. I'll entertain a motion to wait. >> One more thing. >> Oh, I'm sorry. So, I have a motion with Dr. Hefner. Um, >> I'm sorry. >> But to help out with Dr. Hefner to finish out this year, we have asked Dr. Angela Cooper to step in as the superintendent designate which she will be here for us any time that Dr.

140Hafner is out the remainder of the school year and we thank you for that Dr. Cooper. >> All right. >> Anybody want to make a motion to get us out of here? >> To what? >> Get us out of here. >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Second. >> All right. >> All in favor say I. >> I.