001Turn this on so you can hear me again. Uh, like to welcome everyone to our February board of education meeting. We are glad you are here. Before I begin, I'd like to share a few reminders. Please keep the aisles clear during our meeting to allow members of the school system and sheriff's department to be able to move about. Also, except when honoring our flag, our opening prayer, and when in participating in the cold audience, please remain seated during our meeting. We hope to have a productive and efficient meeting, and your help is greatly appreciated. Miss Buoie, would you please call the role? >> Good evening. Pete Wlebore, >> present. >> Melissa Mason, >> here. >> Jesse Barnhard >> here. Pat Bradford. >> Judy Justice. >> Dr. Tim Merrick, >> present. and David Perry >> here.
002>> And we will carry on with our invocation. Pass that down to you. We'll carry on with our invocation. Um, let me share with you. I'm looking around. I don't see Mr. Clifford Barnett. But our invocation will be uh done by Reverend Clifford Barnett, pastor of the Warner Temple AM Zion Church, and he will be providing that uh remotely. That's why I don't see him around. Um and our board member Pat Bradford will be leading us in the pledge of allegiance and uh uh true delight today. We will have the Ashley High School NJOTC will uh present our colors today under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel Robert Reer and Master Chief Matthew Duchamps. Uh M uh Michael Perez is a principal of Ashley High School, but also super cool uh a member of our uh
003Ashley NJOCC unit will also uh perform the national anthem. So super cool. So if you would, we'll start with our invocation. Let us pray. Dear God, our heavenly father, tonight we invite your presence in this special school board meeting. You are well aware of the issues on the agenda tonight. Many voices have been lifted with passion, sincerity, and great concern for the safety of our students, teachers, parents, administrators, staff, and of course those who work and volunteer in our school system. Dear God, grant each board member tonight wisdom that only comes from you. Wisdom to hear clearly the deliberations that take place tonight. We pray God for each board member to hear clearly from you as they make their decision. God, we pray that you will grant them through wisdom to do what best for
004all that are under their care. And dear God, we thank you for the privilege to serve you in this in this way. And at the end of the day, may you be pleased with the work that we have done tonight. May we get a good night's rest from our efforts. And God, would you bless all and each of us as you keep us in the hollow of your hands. In his name we pray. Amen. Oh my god. Left turn. Breathe in. Go. So we must be the street. Take us away. Ready? effort. >> 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. >> My turn. March. March. Thank you. You may be seated.
005And if I could get the members of the Ashley color guard to come on back up here, please run. I'll be back. Oh, they come. Here they come. Come on back up here. Outstanding job all. We thank you very much. And if you would introduce yourselves and tell us what grade you're in, please. >> Callie Pritchard, freshman. >> Mason Riggs, senior. >> Garrett Mloud, freshman. Evie Green, freshman. >> Gabby Rimsky, sophomore. >> Lorenza Macintosh, junior. >> Lance Clemens, senior. >> Leah Tuskanyany, sophomore. >> Olivia Albertson, junior. >> Mitchell Ray, senior. >> Thank you. Thank you all for being here. Thank you, man. Next on our agenda, we have the approval of the agenda. Do I hear such a motion? >> So moved. >> There's a motion and first and second. Any discussion? >> Yes, please.
006>> Yes, sir. Dr. Merrick, >> I would like to um add to the agenda under information a quick reading of a letter that I received from the advisory council on u exceptional students. Um normally that would come under correspondence but as we know correspondence is right before we close and all you folks have gone home and the folks that are watching online have turned it off and I think it'd be I think it's important for the public to hear. Okay. Is there a second? Second. >> Second. Any discussion on Dr. Merrick's request? Hearing? None. Uh, why don't we call the RO just to make sure? >> Miss Barnhart? >> No. >> Miss Bradford? >> No. >> Miss Justice? >> Yes. >> Dr. Merik? >> Yes. >> Miss Mason? >> Yes. >> Mr. Perry? >> Yes.
007>> And Mr. Wore? >> Yes. So, we'll go ahead and move that. Anybody else? Miss. Bradford. >> Under item 10L, the Bington Urban Technical Training School. I had questions last week and Dr. Hamilton's worked really hard on it, but there are still more questions than answers. And the primary one is we don't know who on the ground in Wilmington they're going to be working with. And um it also mentions line service technicians. Those are the ones that pump fuel into into planes. Um, and they also guide planes and they tow planes. And if we have teenagers that aren't 18, I need that addressed. Um, a couple just a bunch of questions. Um, apparently we don't have an agreement yet with an FBO. There's three of them out at the airport. We don't have that agreement.
008And then later in the agreement under number seven it says that while in the first part of the agreement it says they completely responsible a million dollars worth of insurance and so on but then it dimnifies themselves that they have nothing to do with it. They're just a facilitator of lining us up with whoever we're going to be partnering with and whoever we're going to be partnering with is not yet named. So I'd like to pull it until we can name who that partner's going to be. >> There any reason that we should not? >> Dr. Hamilton said go ahead and pull it. >> Dr. Hamilton said >> she's not here. She's out sick. Okay. All right. So, is there set? Well, let's see if there Yes, ma'am. >> I'd like to remove um number
009>> We were still We got to vote on this one first. I'm sorry. I'll get you in just a second. Go, >> please. All right. Is there a second to removing item L or postponing item L uh under um consensus items? Is there a second? I'll >> second it if we don't have enough information. We should take it up next month. Okay. First and second. Any further discussion? All in favor say please signify by saying I. >> I. All opposed. >> I carry 70. And anything else? One. Oh yes, Miss Sutton. Yes, Miss Sutton. >> Um, I'd like to delete under census item F. We had some new information come in related to that amendment and I would like to just remove that from the agenda. >> Okay. So, because a board member really needs
010to do that, I will make a motion we remove item F from the consensus item. Is there a second? >> I'll second that. Is it technical capital outlay projects? Okay. >> Okay. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor of removing item F from today's agenda. Please signify by saying I. I. >> I. All oppose like sign. Passes again. 70. Going once, going twice. Anybody out there? No. Okay. Okay. All right. So, I will entertain now a motion. We had a motion to approve the agenda. Uh I will now entertain a motion to approve the amended agenda. >> So, moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> First and second. Okay. First and second. All in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. All oppose. Like sign. Passes again. 70. Next on our agenda
011is uh approval of the minutes. Do I hear a motion to approve the minutes? >> Some moved. >> Is there a second? Second, first and second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor of approving the amend the not amended the minutes as provided please signify by saying I. >> I. All oppose like sign. Passes 70. My personal favorite part of the day. Recognitions. Miss Bagley. >> Nothing. Thank you all for this opportunity and privilege to be here this evening to highlight the amazing students and staff in this district. First, I'd like to start with recognizing and thanking Gray Outdoor LLC for generously donating Billboard Advertising Space for NHCS. How many of you know that we need bus drivers? >> Yep. >> Okay. Just Yep. Okay. So, they generously donated multiple billboards across New Hmer County
012to highlight our need and promote our hiring practice for bus drivers. So, we would like to recognize the owner, Mr. Gray Vic and posting manager, Mr. Alex Burbank. We'd like them to come up along with >> Makes me feel better. >> Miss Leticia McIntyre. I'm not seeing. >> All right, board members, come on down. Okay. All right. And I'm going to talk some more while you guys >> raise your hand by bus driver. >> He's not joking. >> All right. So, we would like to thank and support Oh, sorry. >> All right. So, while they're up there figuring out how to stand, um, I want to highlight this extremely important community partnership. We have a lot of amazing partnerships in this community. We could not run this district without the people that help us every
013single day. And this is one example of amazing people. Miss McIntyre works for the transportation department. She helped facilitate this lovely, amazing partnership to create an opportunity for more people to be employed in New H County. We could not thank you enough, all of you. We appreciate you. We love you and we appreciate the support. So, thank you very much. Let's give him a big round of applause, ladies and gentlemen. All right, we've got a little bit more joy to spread tonight. So recently, one of our very own employees in New Hendrick County achieved an amazing professional milestone. Mr. Brad Lackey, our NHCS purchasing officer, completed all requirements to become a certified local government purchasing officer. This certification is provided through the North Carolina Associate Association of Governmental Purchasing and the UNC School of Government.
014This took three and a half years to complete. Not only did he pass exam, but he was also awarded the Steven C. Graham Achievement Award for earning the highest score on the Certified Local Government Purchasing Officer exam in his cohort. Please join me in congratulating Mr. Brad Lackey on his exceptional achievement. >> Thank you. The prices were Thank you. Woohoo. All right. And for my final recognition this evening, I would like to say and I'd like you all to help me celebrate and say happy birthday to Mr. Wore and to Dr. Merrick, both celebrating birthdays this month. This concludes my recognitions this evening. Thank you. Yeah. >> What is it? >> I had a horror picture, >> right? That's what I did. >> Yes. >> I re recently shared with my granddaughter that I was
015two. So, she didn't quite believe that, but she's three. So, anyway, we're going to carry on now with the February teacher voice. Um, and that this uh month will be uh Alexandria Dunn uh an elf and Megan. My goodness, I'm going to try who's like Wabore. Uh Gro Gro, >> I'm sorry. Come on up, please, and share with us. >> Talking about early >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> Okay, straight me out then. I'm sorry. >> Good evening. It's an honor to be um before you representing Rightville Beach Elementary School this evening. I'm Alexandra Dunn. I'm the early literacy facilitator and this is one of our wonderful third grade teachers, Porsche Martinez. And this is her second year um as a teacher. So, a huge accomplishment just sticking with it um through year one. >> Absolutely.
016>> Um so, Zan and me kind of started our partnership. If you go to the next slide, last year it was my first year ever teaching. I started our curriculum went in and wisdom with no prior training at all. I knew I had to get kids ready for end of grade testing and all these things. I was following things with fidelity, but I was like, how do I do this? Um, after our first check-in, when it kind of checked kids progress, I was pretty disappointed with my scores and I called Xan sobbing. Thank you. I called Xan just crying and I was like, I just messed up. up. I don't know what to do. And her first words to me were, "I will not let you fail." And it was night, it was like 8:00,
017and Zan sent me a draft. She said, "We'll do this together." And she had a fivepage document of ways that we were going to promote learning and help my kids grow through fluency, comprehension, and just best reading practices. So, thanks to the relationship we had um built through the beginning of the school year, um I'm just thankful that Porsche had the confidence um and the and she was comfortable enough to come speak with me about this issue. Um first of all, I expressed to her they are not just your students, they are our students. We're in this business together. And so when we dug deep um we planned out her literacy block, how could we modify it to better support student learning and success. Um and so to do that we were we discussed how
018can we bridge instruction to application to prepare our students for um standardized test? How can we build their competence in literacy? What are interventions and enrichment opportunities opportunities would look like for our students? And most importantly, I wanted her to have the sense of instructional confidence that she could do this job. >> So, Miss Dunn and I created a plan, mostly her, on how to intensify and target my core reading instruction. Her plan consisted of using tools that we already had, things that wouldn't be more work for me. Um, I would continue to teach wit and wisdom, keeping literature at the center of my instruction for my block. I would also implement structured routines with Scholastic News which we are so grateful to have and the resources it gives teachers which are so many. I
019would provide students with time to apply their learning and pra take practice tests using the strategies we talked about and I would implement a daily fluency routine that connects to our foundations and our wit and wisdom. So I also through Xan learned a lot about tiered interventions and how to use the best practices to do that. So between me and her EC teachers, AIG teachers, our student support teacher, it made it possible for all students to get what they need and also allow for core instruction to reach them like they needed as well. So Xan helped me through every step of this plan. I truly would not have made it through my first year without her. We meant a lot to create the plan together. She came in for a week and modeled and then
020the next week I took videos of her and would go home and study it. The next week I would teach and she would leave me notes and eventually it was my turn to actually do it. And all the while she was really just teaching me that there was a track to success and not to let myself get in my depths how I did in the beginning. >> Um so through this partnership we have just witnessed the best success. Um Miss Martinez saw a 12% increase from her check-in B to check-in C. Um, additionally, at the beginning of the school year, only 35% of her students passed the end of grade test and by the end of the year, she had 83% of her students proficient, which was the third highest growth in third grade reading
021in New H County, um, as a beginning teacher. So, we could not be more proud. Um, with that being said, this story is just a testament of the value of supporting and coaching our teachers. Um, when we invest in every teacher, every student thrives. If literacy is the foundation of success, don't we owe it to every child in New H County schools to get this right? How can we accept anything less than for every child to be a proficient reader? >> Thank you. You're welcome. >> Before we go, uh, does anybody have any questions for >> No. No. Okay. Thank you very much. >> Congratulations. That's awesome scores. >> Hi, I'm Meg Gross and I'm the early literacy facilitator at Forest Hills. Um, and we're excited to share some of the hard work that we've
022done to support our teachers and ultimately to grow student achievement. Um, I brought two of my partnering teachers here with me. We have Carson Allen and we have Michelle Hoas. And our goal is to just kind of bring our story to life um for the work that we've done. So, to begin, I want to share where my work is kind of grounded. I use a lot of J of Jim Knight, Dr. Jim Knight's research for his coaching framework. And so just a kind of a visual here, we begin with identifying the current reality of the classroom and then we set student- centered goals and then we learn together. So kind of the things they were saying, we model, we co-plan, we co-e um we reflect, we assess, and then we improve. So we sit back
023and we say, did it work? Did it not? What do I need to do? What are these adjustments? So this is kind of that coaching plan, coaching cycle. And this is one of my favorite the why behind coaching and why it's so important some of the things Zan said. So if you see on the far left I guess if you provide teachers with PD and just give them the research and theory you don't get their personal mastery from the teacher nor do you get that application into the classroom. But then if you move over and you add in demonstration you show the teacher something during that PD you see that you gain some personal mastery but you're still not get bringing it back to the classroom. If you allow the teachers to actually do something
024in that PD and give that practice, the teacher mastery is grown, but we're still not bringing it back to the classroom. So, our goal is to bring it back, build that teacher capacity, and overall increase our student achievement. It's only when you add in that layer of coaching that you can see we now have personal mastery of our teachers and also their application of bringing it back to the classroom. And so that's kind of what we're kind of here to talk about today is to kind of show you how that cycle worked for us and um bring it to life. So I'm thrilled to introduce you two of my incredible teachers that I've had the privilege of partnering with. We have Miss Allen. She's a phenomenal second grade teacher and we have Miss Hoz, an
025also phenomenal third grade teacher. Um they would like to share their stories um and kind of bring it to life and see the impact it's had on their classroom. So Miss Allen, would you like to start? >> Yeah. All right. Hi, I'm Carson Allen. I'm a BT3 at Forest Hills. I've worked with Meg for the last three years. Um, overall I found her support to be very uplifting. She helps me be a reflective teacher, inspires me to try new ideas and techniques every single day. Specifically this year, I partnered with Meg to support my foundations instruction. So looking at data and the current reality of my classroom, we created a student- centered goal to increase achievement. Uh so through this process, Meg supported me with observations, co-planning, modeling, co-eing, and analyzing that data and reflecting
026along the way. Um so we worked to ensure curriculum fidelity while still meeting the individual needs of all of my students, differentiating as needed. Some of the things that we implemented include the self-study checklist, visuals like posters and marking up our words of the day, our foundation's magnetic tiles and especially the procedures and organization of those routines for decoding, encoding, utilizing our materials like the fun hub. Um, and using targeted instruction to identify the deficit skill areas for where we need to retach. Um, so we've included some pictures to capture these moments. um and the data that shows the growth of my students. So we began at around 50% proficient um and through this whole process um my class is now scoring between 80 and 90% proficient. >> Yay. >> Um so big jump. So
027this growth is especially meaningful given the needs of our title one population and it really reflects what's possible when high expectations are paired with instructional support and really passionate teachers. Um so the success of my classroom has been noticed and celebrated by my administration. Um I was asked to represent second grade for our district walkthroughs and I've also been asked for other classroom teachers to come observe my foundation's lessons. So, thanks Michelle. Hi, I'm Michelle Hois. I've been teaching at Forest Hills for the last six years and working with Meg for the last three years. Overall, I found her support to be very inspiring and productive, providing new ideas and engagement strategies to implement in the classroom. Specifically, this year, I partnered with Meg to support my wit and wisdom writing instruction. We partnered together
028with a goal of increasing student achievement and engagement during wit and wisdom. For a baseline, we began with an unassisted writing sample using a picture seed. The data showed that 75% of my students were below grade level and 25% were proficient. We wanted to bring our work to life. So, we collaborated, co-planned, and co-taught. We embedded different writing scaffolds and supports, mini lessons, small and whole group lessons. We provided a meaningful purpose by creating a live aquarium in which students were able to showcase their knowledge to their K2 peers. Overall, our students were eager and excited to turn what would normally be just a written assignment into an interactive experience. >> Exactly. >> They were engaged and happy to share and do the work. They showed pride in producing meaning meaningful writing and sharing with
029our younger students. This project brought passion and we saw such an increase in their data with 69% proficient compared to 25% at the beginning of the year. I also had the highest growth in the school on my NC reading check-in with 10 points of growth from beginning of year. And our whole third grade team also made the top 25% in the state for growth in reading. All right. >> I'm excited. I'm excited about the growth my students have made so far and look forward to continuing to partner with Meg. >> So, thank you both for bringing those stories to life for us. Um because sometimes, you know, it's just a number on a page, but we think like when you really tell the story and kind of share the work we're doing, it's important. So,
030the small successes should definitely be celebrated. um beyond these two amazing teachers, I reached out to my staff and I just said if you feel compelled to share a word um when you think about partnering with me or working alongside me in a PLC or just being in your building. And so these were some of the words that they shared which I thought were very powerful um and just the collaboration, the things that um Miss Dunn was talking about and so forth. And we'd like to end of course by sharing some images of our sweet students. Um we're incredibly proud of the hard work that they do each and every day and to our teachers. I'm always learning and growing when I go into these wonderful teachers classrooms and partnering alongside them. So what's our
031goal is to keep kids first and again today a reader tomorrow a leader. We thank you guys for giving us the time to speak today and share our story. >> I think this is the >> Mr. Mr. Thank you. I have a question for you. >> Oh yeah, we we have Mr. has a question. >> Um, it doesn't >> back uh before I got on the board in uh 20 in December 2024, we had a climate survey and there was a lot of dissatis dissatisfaction about Whitten Wisdom. A lot of teachers seemingly didn't like it or thought it was effective. Um, I also noticed I've got a third grade third grade grandson. He doesn't go to your schools, but but uh his spelling is atrocious. And from what I read of wisdom, it's it it
032doesn't use traditional spelling list. It goes into deep dives focusing on patterns and stuff like that. And so, so I mean, I'm appalled at my nine-year-old son's grandson's lack of spelling, which is and I just wonder if if do you really think Whitten wisdom is the way to go or have you had to tailor it to get it to work the way you want? >> We've enjoyed learning with Whiten Wisdom. Um so again like kind of the things they're saying when we put purpose behind things and bring it to life it has deep um skills of comprehension and we also use foundations and heard so to fill in those gaps that you're speaking of with um like the foundational skills and spelling. So that's more of like our phonics instruction whereas this leans more towards
033our comprehension. But yeah I think it's all about how you bring it to life. Like just as we want to show you pictures and talk like teachers should also own it and love it and you know want to be there with it. For sure. Do you agree or anything else? >> Miss Bradford. >> Well, I just want to thank Forest Hills and you three ladies and Rachel Beach um Porsche and Alex Alexandra for your work in this. We know that reading is a top priority for us. Proficiency is and you are setting the bar and we really appreciate it. Thank you. >> Well, thank you. Thank you so much for this. >> Thank you for the partnership. Thank you very much. And as a former uh middle uh elementary school, where was I? Elementary school
034principal, I mean, reading is, you know, I I hate to use the old adage, but reading is fundamental. It really is important. So, thank you all for all you do each and every day to make our students better. So, thank you very much. And to the principles. I see a lot of principles around. So, thank you for all your hard work. Also, at this point, we'll turn it over to uh our superintendent who will share his monthly report. Dr. All right. Good afternoon, everybody. I'd like to begin by recognizing several groups and events that reflect the dedication and excellence across New Hover County Schools. On February 15th, which is next week, we observed National School Resource Officer Appreciation Day. We are grateful for our school resource officers and the vital role that they play in
035supporting school safety while building positive, trusting relationships with our students and staff. I'd also like to recognize our executive director of school sta safety, Mr. Chuck Silverstein, who's out there in the front uh lobby who helped establish these partnerships and coordinated our SRO appreciation breakfast last month to honor their service and commitment to our schools. Last week, February 2nd to the 6 was National School Counseling Week, recognizing the tremendous impact our school counselors have on students academic success, well-being, and future planning. This week is school bus driver appreciation week. So again, those hands that were raised earlier will get your name and number. Um, this is also called love the bus week and we extend our sincere thanks to transportation team for safely and reliably getting our students to and from school every day. And
036just a little game show moment, how many bus stops do we have in New Hover County schools? >> Oh, should we should we um go down the line? Oh, we'll go down the line. I don't have any >> 212 >> 217 >> 1250 >> how many bus stops are there in New Hmer County schools more >> bus stops >> okay >> Dr. Eric >> 986 >> Miss Justice >> 2500 >> 51 >> Do I hear $1, >> Miss Justice, you are close 2,978. >> Wow. >> So >> Oh, I have more things to talk about. That wasn't on my script. All right. We also are proud of our many student centered academic events taking place this month, including the elementary chess tournament on February 18th. The spelling bee is February 12th over here in Spencer.
037The Black History Bowl is February 26th and the New Hover Regional Science Olympiad Tournament is February 28th. Please follow us on social media for more on these events. I also want to recognize our outstanding new educators and staff members. We've been facilitating the Rookie of the Year program and tomorrow we will conduct Rookie of the Year surprise visits to honor finalists across the district. We look forward to celebrating them at the upcoming Rookie of the Year banquet where the overall Rookie Teacher of the Year will be announced thanks to the support from um our community. All right. Thank you to our families, staff, and community for your patience and support as we navigated winter weather for the second time last week. While the repeated monitoring and changing conditions felt a little bit like Groundhog Day,
038the safety of our students and staff must always guide our decisions. I want to thank our operations division for all their hard work and dedication to ensuring our schools and buses were ready to welcome everyone back. Couple important reminders. PreK registration is now open and the deadline to apply for specialty programs for high school has been extended to Sunday, February 15th at 11:59 p.m. And as a public service message for all the gentlemen in here, February 14th is Saturday. Just don't forget, thank you for your continued support of New H County Schools and your partnership in serving our students. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir. And I was going to say for the first time in a long time, mine's longer than yours, but then you had page two, so I guess not. All right,
039good evening everyone and thanks for coming. We were able to move the meeting to today. Uh actually the reason we did that was because um we were not able to have all the board members here uh tomorrow. Uh and obviously last week we were not able to do that uh because of the weather. So I do want to thank all our board members for being here today. We recently held a board retreat and to begin with I want to thank all our wonderful board members. We had 100% attendance and though it was a very long day, we had a successful and productive retreat. We started out with a very beneficial Robert's rules of order training. It was scheduled for an hour and a half, but the discussion and training was so enlightening that we went
040well past that time. So much so that we had to have a working lunch. Thanks to the representative from NCSBA who led the training. Also, a huge thank you to Miss Buoie, Miss Cherry, and all the members of senior staff. and of course our MC for the day, Dr. Barnes. Um, next we discussed our policies, but instead of having someone else lead that part of the training, we researched our policies and taught each other using a variety of approaches. with the help of our senior staff of course powerpoints, handouts and probably the most unique method. Miss Justice used a ball with various policies up for discussion which we tossed around and then used to delete that discussion. Very unique. So thank you for that. That was a a teaching way. Uh we followed that with
041an in-depth conversation about the bond and how our board norms and ethics related to it. And we were able to update our board expectations and norms. And we finished the day with several uh team building activities. And the last thing we did was a competition between the board and senior staff for bragging rights. And I have to give it to our senior staff. They narrowly edge us edged out the board to take home the top honor. So way to go guys. Way to go. >> On another note, happy Black History Month. Later in the meeting, we will have a discussion of a possible resolution about Black History Month and much like the county commissioners do. Sponsor of this motion, I had a very good conversation about the idea. Uh I did ask some questions uh
042basically asking how the resolution would change what the students do in classrooms and what the teachers do. You know, either way they either way they will be uh discussing Black History Month with or without the resolution. Uh and and we also don't want to slight other important months like Hispanic Heritage Month, Women's Month, Asian-American, African, uh Pacific Islander Month, uh American Health Month, and Irish American Month were a few that came up in a quick Google search. I would also like to ask, what about, as Dr. Barnes just mentioned, school principles month, teacher appreciation week, school counselors, and school nurses? What about SRO's? I think we should to be to be fair, we should do resolutions for all. And just to remind everyone, the board recently voted on a compromise and short shortened the meeting
043time from four hours to three and a half hours. One board member recently suggested that to have more time for discussion, we should shorten the time we spend who we spend celebrating our students, educators, parents, and community members at the beginning of our meetings. To me and to many that I spoke with, this is a vital part of our meeting and I must add an enjoyable part of our meetings. And unlike our friends on the county commissioners, it's an honor that only we can recognize. From the parent who saved another parent's life at a ball game to the custodian who acted to save a student from choking to recognizing students for outstanding athlet u athletics uh abilities or academic championships or to celebrate our band, chorus and orchestra and of course our art students for
044the honors they bring home. and to our educators for all they do to make our students better each and every day and help them to become productive student uh citizens in the future. I think that's where we should uh focus our time and our effort. So that's my two cents. Uh at this point we will carry on with our information. Uh this part we actually used uh we heard uh the other day, but it was so uh outstanding that we said we really need to have it heard by everyone tonight. So at this point, I will turn it over to Miss Princeton. Miss Princeton like to thank you for the opportunity to present an update to our strategic plan. Um, I will have some some friends coming up here in a little bit. I've got
045Lisa Brener, um, Cindy Bliss, and Christian May who are going to add to this presentation. So, attendance is one of the um, six initiatives for our strategic plan. You see our four goals. It's one of our six initiatives, and we'll be updating the board every month on different initiatives. For the attendance, our goals are to reduce the number of students who are chronically absent in the chronically absent category by 10% annually and then to reduce the number of students who are in the warning category for chronically absent by 5% annually. So, school attendance matters because consistent presence in the classroom directly supports academic achievement, skill development, and long-term learning success. It also strengthens relationships, routines, and access to essential resources that help students stay engaged and on track for graduation. So, here are some examples
046of how attendance affects learning. So, on the left hand side of the screen, you will see our 2425 endofear um attendance data. So I've got there for elementary, middle, and high school the percentage of students that are chronically absent. So you'll see like elementary you had 14% of the students that were chronically absent and 26% were in the warning category. Then on the right hand side, you can see because we're kind of comparing over to so far this year, this is the wrong slide. There we go. Sorry, I was wondering if it makes sense. Okay, this slide. So, this is our test scores, academic as well as our data. So, if you look at our assessments, I I just picked about four of them out of there. So, our students that are in dibbles or
047second grade. So, um proficiency, this is last year's scores, proficiency among nonchronically absent students is 74%. Proficiency among chronically absent students is 51%. Okay. So for a difference in percentage points, if you look at our math one, you have 56% of our chronically absent students who are proficient and only 29% of the chronically absent. So the non-chronically absent students being in school makes a difference in proficiency. Okay, I'll turn it over to Lisa. Okay. >> All right. So, one of the things we'd like to highlight is that research consistently shows that attendance is closely linked to both um academics and social um outcomes. Chronic absenteeism is one of the strongest predictors of whether a child will read on grade level by the end of third grade. And I was just thinking about these amazing teachers,
048and we wouldn't want them to miss um any of their instruction. By the sixth grade, attendance becomes the leading indicator of whether or not a student is likely to graduate on time or graduate at all. On a positive note, when a student improves their attendance, and they can always do that, we often see higher grades, stronger progress towards graduation, and more prosecument, enrollment, or uh employment at a liveable wage because that's really critical. These tables right here are a snapshot of the district's chronic absenteeism. One from the end of last year and one at the midyear point this year. Some of the key takeaways are that last year almost one in four students was chronically absent, meaning that they had missed 18 days or more by the end of the school year. The percentage of
049chronically absent students increased significantly as they moved from elementary, middle, and high. Also, I'm just going to point this out. If you miss 18 days a year for 10 years, you've missed an entire year of school. On the um right hand side, you can see that this year's data initially looks a little concerning, but attendance has always been important, but we've really just started focusing this on at a district-wide level where we can monitor the um data available to us. This uh data does not reflect students that have missed 18 days or more, but it's just helping us track trend data. So these students have missed 10% of the school year at the midyear point which is 9 days. This um does not mean that all these students will end up chronically absent. I know
050we have many um reasons that a student might be out for an extended time. We went through a flu season that was pretty bad. Also we have um students that miss sometimes due to family emergencies. Our hope is that this helps us stay focused. Um that we uh know that this is a need and that we are able to intervene and support students families. Um our focus is to partner with families and to raise awareness about the importance of regular attendance and to help remove barriers that may lead to chronic absenteeism across all grade levels. At both the district and the school levels, we're using a three- tiered uh framework to address attendance. Tier one at the district level includes posit promoting positive messaging about good attendance using our infinite campus data system for accurate
051data collection and analysis to set priorities, monitor trends, and allocate resources proactively. We're also providing training and support for schools through our safe through safe and civil schools focusing on schoolwide procedures such as teaching attendance expectations and using motivational strategies. We are very fortunate and excited to have access to this training. We have one coming up in March. Um and I am personally looking forward to that. Now I'm excited. I'm going to turn it over to Miss Bliss um who's going to share some of the strategies that she is implementing at Myrtle Grove and then you'll hear from Miss May. >> Good evening. Thank you again for having us here to talk through um this issue that it just doesn't impact my school but certainly all schools across our district and and districts across the
052country. Um, and one of the things I do want to make sure that people know is that the what we're doing at Myrtle Grove is not just what's happening at Myrtle Grove, um, once one of us gets an idea amongst the principal crew that, you know, we share wide and far. And so many of these things that, um, are being implemented, um, at at Myrtle Grove are being implemented at schools across the district. Um, and a lot of people are taking what they do and making it even better and then, um, sharing back and forth. um several of the ideas that we did um how we're attacking this as a uh not just as um you know an individual principal or school but really it's a community issue as a whole is that we have
053really looked at what we're doing at that tier one two and three um that there's some good really good books out there's a school leaders guide to tackling attendance issues and then I have my teachers right now doing a book study on tackling um attendance challenges a teachers guide those are all through the safe and civil schools um initiative that is being uh funded by our district right now. Um so universally what are we doing? One of the things that we really recognized was that we had to raise awareness amongst our parents and students about this issue. Um a lot of people don't understand how large the issue is um among um all students. Um, so we really at the start of school, um, starting with open house, uh, we sent home two things with
054parents that night. Um, the one is a is a fridge magnet which you guys all received last time. It was done by our own print shop. Um, my assistant principal designed the calendar on it for um the that matches our school calendar that parents were able to to put on their refrigerator. Um, that was important because again, it's that raising awareness. People don't understand how quickly these absences add up. Um if they simply, you know, go to a soccer tournament and leave Thursday instead of Friday or Friday instead of Saturday morning or Friday after school, you know, there's a day there. If there's four of those in the course of a of a first semester, that's four days. And then if they leave early to go to Thanksgiving, there's five, six, and then their kid
055got the flu, there's another five, and they're already at that nine mark um prior to the end of the first semester. and and when we call and say, "Hey, your kid is at nine absences," they are truly shocked um and don't realize how fast those those absences add up. Um so that was a really um uh just visual way to help um parents and students track those days. Um and when we talked with them, we weren't unrealistic about what you have to do as a family. We didn't say don't take vacation or don't go see your family and go go do those important family things. It's just that sometimes you have to make a choice. you've got to make a choice if you're going to go to Charleston for an extra day or two and
056go see your family or if you're just going to do one um or the other. Um the other thing we did was we sent home how sick is too sick. Um because a lot of times um parents that argument that happens in the morning with you and your middle school kid or high school kid um is not always the fun thing to do and that everybody is just really in a hurry trying to get to work to school and get out the door. Um, and the last thing you want to do is fight with your kid about getting up. And so this to us really took the onus off of the parents um and put it on um me as the principal or us as the school. And it's like no, Miss Bliss said you
057have to go to school unless you answer one to of these things. Um and we do have this even in our front office. So if a student comes up in the during the day and asks to call home, we said like which one of these are you saying yes to? Um, so it's allowed a really good um conversation and just keeps us focused and and you know to just um actual things and not just I don't feel good. Um, and really uh trying to talk to kids about pushing through some of those things. Um, and getting a little bit more to the target of what is going on besides I just don't feel good. Um, we also started with home room graphs that are outside every classroom. Um, and I know that Miss May is
058going to talk a little bit more about those. the elementary school has done a lot more with those um with the the graphing, the visuals that are outside the classrooms. Um our students like it because they like to see how they're doing against their neighboring classrooms and they do have a little bit of inner grade um competition going on. Um and then one of the other things that we really needed um to do was communicate about the issue and how we are doing um as with the issue across our our schools. So, we needed to really educate our families about the impact of the issue, the impact of missing school and the importance of coming to school every day. Um, we needed to talk to our students about it. Sometimes we forget that we have
059to tell our students it's important to come to school and this is why. Um, and so that has been um eyeopening to our kids um as well. I've had one say, "I just didn't know that it was that important." um coming out of COVID, several of them still feel like they can just get the work off of their um Google classroom and that's just as good as being in the classroom. And so really explaining to them and and having them see that being face-toface with your classmates, talking about your learning and hearing from your teachers um is more important than just getting something um offline. Um and then reaching out to our teachers and really making sure that that they're also talking to their students about the importance of of coming to school. Um, so
060that's just really what we were able to do tier one with everybody. Um, and then we really start looking at those students that are creeping up. So we identified a group initially based on what their attendance was last year and we do what is called the eye to eye check. Um, everybody that is unencumbered in the morning from our cafeteria to our custodian to all of our uh student support staff has five kids that they check on um to make sure that they're here and if they are not then we go do um a a personal phone call home. That personal phone call home is not a negative in any way. It is really just a hey, we missed you. We're your friends are missing you here today. um we hope that you can come
061tomorrow or is there something that we can do to help you out? Um and and that really does help. I just had um it was so funny that I was in Walmart right prior to coming here and um I saw a student and they were like, "Miss Bliss, so and so's on the phone who wants to talk to you." And it was one of my five that I check on every day. Um and he goes, "Miss Bliss, I didn't come to school today because it was a work day, but I'll be there tomorrow." And I was like, "Okay, I'm going to look for you." So, um you know, they know that we come looking for them and that really does um help in terms of the connection to school and and just really underscoring the
062importance of school. Um and then we um talk with students and um take them through a list of questions. Um if they're shown to be a chronic um absent, if they've had a history of chronic absenteeism and that's helping us get to the root cause so that we can really work with them specifically on why they are not coming to school. Um, and there's typically one of three reasons as to why kids don't come to school. We call one logistical. Um, and that typically is that they miss the bus and they can't get a ride any other way that they're home helping their parents or family do something from child care um to something that just may be happening um in their family. Um from there, uh the second one is just the medical um
063and those are some kids that just may have some chronic um issues uh that are that we're working with their um physician on. Whether that be like can we do the medicine at school um or can we start looking at you know some how we can best meet their needs and school and get their medical needs met met. And then finally, it's um school avoidance um which really comes and that is hard with kids because the longer they're out the harder it is to come back. Um and so we, you know, really just want to get them through the door um and get started in in any way and we talk with them about why they're avoiding school, what is it, and how can we um meet them where they are to help get them
064um back through the door and back in a routine. Um and then finally at our tier three um we have small group and individual instruction with our um school social worker daily. That is part during the intervention block those students are assigned to our um school social worker. Um and one of the things that she has also started is that those students have started to call each other so that if there's 10 assigned to that group that the students are actually reaching out to each other. So it's more than just the adult that's looking for them. Um but it is their peers that are looking for them. Um and those students we also have a a a monthly meeting that we do a student family school um monthly meeting. Um I know that we got
065into some other questions and things last time. Um I think I covered everything from there. Um but you know the only other statistic that I really want to share and make sure the community knows is that um chronic attendance can be identified in students as early as kindergarten if they miss those two days in the first 20 days of kindergarten. um I believe that they're about 40 to 50% um likely to be chronically absent their entire school career. So the more that we can do to educate all um our community regarding this problem um the the better off that that we are. We also liken our attendance when we talk to kids start talking to kids at the middle school to um having a job and saying if you miss two days a month at
066your job you're probably not going to be at your job very long. Um, and that they do have to practice coming to school and getting up and coming every single day. Um, because I, you know, they always are like, I'm going to do that when I get to high school. I'm like, you don't wake up on 9th grade, like your freshman year or first day, and just go to school every day. Um, and that is is something that a skill that kids do have to practice. Hello. So, thank you for having me back again. Um, at Castle Hane, we're in our second year of our attendance plan. We, um, began to create our attendance plan last year at the beginning of the year as a result of, um, the previous year's attendance data. Two years
067ago, our attendance was about 33% of our students were chronically absent. So Lisa Brener came and met with my social worker and me to come up with a a kind of tiered plan just like Miss Bliss just shared for what we could start to do to have a positive impact on our attendance. And so there's a lot of things that we have we have done and repeated and that have just evolved. And then I'm a parent of a student at Myrtle Grove like I shared before and so I see what is happening there and I had to steal some of Miss Bliss's ideas because they're fabulous and why not? Um so Castle Hane is also in our fifth year of implementation of some of the safe and civil schools work. So because of that, I
068when I presented this year's attendance plan to my staff, I felt like it was important for me to put it in the stoic framework. And so that's what you see here is is how I stoicked um our attendance plan. And and it really is just an a framework for intervention, prevention, and response to intervention uh for school just schoolwide things. So, typically we do this for behavior, behavior support, instructional behaviors, but because we are so vested in what we're doing with Safe and Civil Schools, I felt like this was a really important thing for my staff to see. One thing that I I'd like to say is that I um am not as concerned as to whether absences are excused or unexcused. If kids aren't in school, then they're not having access to the learning
069environment. And so there's a lot of things that we can't necessarily tease out for excuse because of excused and unexcused, but to me it what matters is that a child is not in school. So um my focus for each group of people in my school, so students, teachers, classes, and parents is to educate them first, make sure that there's a a lot of communication um and then provide support and of course to celebrate. So there are some things that that we do um that are daily structures at our school. Um at Castle Hane, every student has a data notebook. They they start their data notebook in kindergarten and it goes with them all the way through fifth grade. So they literally take it to the next grade level with them and there are attendance trackers
070in their data notebooks. So even our kindergarteners are tracking their own attendance in their data notebook. Um we have we have class data trackers for attendance. So um I shared this last time, I'll share it again. So for the for the beginning of the school year, every class had to put this on their door. And when they had 95% of their class in attendance, they circled in one of the letters or colored in one of the letters for Castle Hane. When they got all of the letters for Castlehane, this is Miss Graham's. when they got all of the letters for Castle Hane um colored in, there's a prize wheel outside of the front office and the whole class comes down to the front office and they spin the prize wheel to see what their prize
071is. The prizes are pretty cheap like five extra minutes of recess or a sticker that says my principal is proud of me or I mean it's just they're hat day like they're just things that that cost nothing but it's an incentive for the kids. just spinning the prize wheels is really like the biggest incentive. They love to do that. Uh after Christmas break, I kind of upped the Annie with their signs and so their new signs on their door says every minute matters. And it's the same concept. They have to color in when they have 95% on time daily attendance. So, um it's not just about being in attendance, but it's also about being on time. the first 20 minutes of our day is a schoolwide intervention extension acceleration block. And so even when kids
072come in late, they're already starting behind, you know, behind the the ball. So it's important for me for everybody to be in school on time. And so that's what we celebrate. Part of what we've seen with this is that there is um the kids encourage each other because they they want to be able to color in the letter on the outside of their door. They want to be able to go to the prize or to the prize wheel. So, they encourage each other all the time. Um my social worker, um Miss Candy Robbins, has been instrumental in this whole plan. She tracks every class attendance rate for the entire week and ha has a huge chart in our main hallway where um she puts the attendance rate for for that week for every single class.
073We had two necklaces made. These were 3D printed. Um, and the classroom downstairs that has the highest rate of attendance and the classroom upstairs that has the highest rate of attendance, the teachers get to wear the medallion for the following week. This is a big deal, too. The the teachers um they feel a sense of pride when they get to wear the medallion. It so it's it's kind of some bragging rights for teachers. Um, some of the other structures that we have in place, we do like here's what I'll say. Perfect attendance is fantastic, right? We would love for everybody to have perfect attendance, but I will settle for excellent attendance. And so, one of the things that that we started last year and um that we're continuing this year as we become more familiar
074with um Infinite Campus and and how to track some of this data in Infinite Campus is brag tags for students. So as they have excellent attendance for each month, each month has a different brag tag and students get necklaces with their brag tags on them and and they get to add a brag tag for each month. So just another way of celebrating um celebrating students and I mean k like let me tell you kids love things like this like these are these were these were a big deal when we started handing these out. Um so there there are other structures that we've put in place. Um m much like Miss Bliss has her eye to eye, we have attendance rounds. And so it's it's the same exact concept. Um you know that we have people
075that track or that go around every morning as soon as the announcements are over and put our eyes on on students that have had uh issues with attendance. At the beginning of the year, we started with 35 students as as our attendance rounds or were part of attendance rounds. Um, at the end of the first quarter, we took 10 off who did not have problems with their attendance during the first quarter, but we added 16 more. So, for the second quarter, we had 41. After the second quarter, right after Christmas break, uh, I took 10 off, but I added one. So, we're currently, we currently have 32. I'm adding two more tomorrow. So, we'll have 34 students that um that we're checking on every single day to make sure they're in school. And when they're
076not in school, then we call we immediately call the parents. Oftent times, uh what will happen is within 15 minutes of calling, the student will show up even if the parent doesn't answer the phone. And um you know, in elementary school, chronic absenteeism is less of a student issue and more of a a family issue. And so that's that's another big part of our strategy is working with parents and helping parents so that you know what what can we do to help you? What can we do to remove some of these barriers for you so that your child can come to school and come to school on time and there's a lot of educating that we have to do even with our families because they don't know what we're doing from 7:50 to 8:20 in
077the morning. So when we tell them like listen this is why I need your child to be here on time. This is when they are receiving all of their interventions for reading. this is this is how we're trying to to get them to be back on grade level, then parents are usually like, "Oh, okay. Yes, that that that is that is important." Um, but I think it's it's imperative that we as school staff have those conversations and and work with our parents so that our parents can understand some of the things that are happening in our schools so that they will also value having their kids um in school on time each day. Um, I already kind of talked about how uh we celebrate um how we interact. I mean, all all of the things
078that that are part of the stoic framework. Um, but it's, you know, this is something that that's like a ship that we're building as we're sailing it. It's a it's a work in progress. It's something that we try things and they work and then they stop working and we, you know, we'll we'll make adjustments as as needed. But, um, you know, to me, it's it's important for teachers to understand the value and the importance of having all of their students in their class every day and and establishing those strong relationships with students in their families. And then for students to also understand why it's important for them to be at school and then for parents to partner with us um to help remove whatever barriers or obstacles are preventing their students to from being at
079school on time every day. I think that's it. Any any questions? >> Mford. >> I just wanted to thank Principal Bay and Cindy Bliss, Principal Bliss. just this is outstanding and it's so exciting and I'm just really looking forward to next quarter, next quarter, next year where we're going to be. Thank you so much, >> Dr. Merrick. >> Thank you not just for doing this tonight, but doing it last week as well. >> I mean, I think it's a testament to how important it is that we asked you to come back and so I hope that you're not too upset with us for for repeating. Thank you so much for being here. >> Thank you, M. Justice. >> Yes. And you guys work really hard. So really thank you for showing up tonight and being
080happy about it. Um, how many students attend Castle Hanging Up? >> About 500. >> 500. Okay. Thank you, >> Mr. Perry. >> And thank you again for uh your presentation. Uh, was 13 days ago. You you previously did it. So, um, one question. I know that there's lots of data out there. I'm going to be on the prek committee this year. Uh there's a lot of data showing how how how prek lends to um better academic work. Does it kids that go to prek? Is there any indication that their attendance record is any better? >> Good to know. >> Say yes in the microphone. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> And I will also say thank you very much. I I really wish back in my days as a principal I had something like this
081because you know I remember knocking on doors and trying to run people down and you know to have a a plan like this in place and you know the whole school working together is it's it's just wonderful because students you know only learn if they're in school. So thank you so much for all you do every single day. >> Thank you attendance went home. >> They did. All right. Next we have our correspondence which we moved up. Um and I before I I'm going to go right to you but does anybody else have correspondence that they would like to speak about? Okay. Dr. Merrick. >> Thank you. This is a a letter from the Advisory Council for exceptional students. Um, so I was very fortunate to be able to work with them this last year.
082And as a disabled person myself, I found it incredibly um, validating to see so many parents and um, and and educators caring so much about our kids with disabilities. Um, so the letter is based uh after a our January board meeting and it says, "The Advisory Council for Exceptional Students, ACES, respectfully submits this formal statement in response to language used during the January 6 board of education meeting. ASUS is fully supportive and deeply appreciative of the board's efforts and ongoing dialogue regarding increased funding to support exceptional students within New Hampshire County Schools. We recognize and value the board's intention to advocate for additional resources to meet student needs. However, we believe is important to address the manner in which some aspects of this issue were discussed during the meeting. As a public body, the board
083plays a critical role in shaping community understanding. The language used in public discussions carries significant weight and has a direct influence on how students, families, and the broader community perceive complex issues. references to quote EC problems unquote, distinctions between quote EC kids unquote and quote regular kids unquote or characterizations suggesting that exceptional students place a strain on the quote rest of the students unquote risk reinforcing harmful misconceptions. Such language can unintentionally further marginalize students with disabilities and the families who support them. Children with disabilities who are legally entitled to a free and accessible public education are not a burden on our schools or our community. Rather, it is the lack of sufficient, appropriate, and data-driven resources that places strain on the educational systems. While this distinction may be clear to many, ACES is concerned that
084parents and community members listening to the meeting could reasonably leave with the impression that exceptional children themselves are responsible for financial or resource challenges. This line of thinking reflects a long-standing narrative that contributes to stigma and discrimination against individuals with disabilities. ACES respectfully asks the board uh to continue to set a thoughtful and inclusive tone when discussing funding for exceptional students. The provision of services and supports mandated by federal law benefits not only students with disabilities but the entire school community. We sincerely appreciate the board's advocacy efforts uh and intentions. And we also emphasize that history has shown language is not merely symbolic. It shapes attitudes, policies, and outcomes. Thank you. New Hover County Schools Advisory Council for Exceptional Students signed Whitney Sprat, Tina Ivans, Courtney Wright, Heather Ratcliffe, Sandy Isles, Jessica Wilson, and Lana
085Sidbury. >> Thank you, Dr. M. Thank you. We'll definitely I can speak for myself. I'll definitely take that to heart. Thank you very much >> for sharing that and thank you to the aes for that. >> Thank you. >> Um we will carry on call to audience uh and I'll turn it over to Miss Mason, Miss Mason. >> All right, starting it off with Chris Sutton. >> I have said for years that rebuilding trust with community requires transparency and how we act often matters just as much as what we do. The district should always provide information that is accurate to the community. The statement released about the attorney situation fell short and quite frankly misled the public. The statement claimed the district could not comment on personnel matters or share specific details. The attorneys are
086contractors and vendors, not personnel and they are not protected under North Carolina personnel law. Our district addressed the same issue years ago with the hiring of Riff Sharpless during the attorney conflict of interest fiasco with the Michael Kelly Peter Frank sexual assault coverup cases. Discussion and votes related to the district the attorneys should always occur in public even when it is awkward or unpleasant. Being a board member means you will have uncomfortable moments but the community deserves transparency. I'm also deeply concerned about two statements made by Dr. Tim Merrick during the agenda review one I want to congratulate >> I might be wrong but we're I might be wrong but we are didn't we adopt a rule I think over my objection that we're not supposed people from call the audience are not supposed to
087be criticizing individual board members by name am I wrong on this >> uh the chair rules that the point of order is well taken so please do do not call them out by name. Just say board member. >> Yes, ma'am. >> And the clock kept going. He walked about 10 seconds. I'm just >> Okay. Well, if we can get 10 seconds back on, please. >> So, just just so I'm clear before this time starts. You're telling me that I do not have the ability to redress our elected officials. >> You You do as as we are a board. Decisions are made by >> Right. And from my understanding, I'm not allowed to say Tim Merrick, you blank. But I am allowed to speak to the board as a whole or the community as a whole.
088The UNCC School of Government and the ACLU got involved before about this and they were very clear. Can you ask the attorney specifically about this please? >> I Yes, sir. I will >> I I think the um rationale for the rule that we had and I apologize I was looking for it in the policy manual right now and it'll take me a minute to find it but essentially is to to stop things from devolving into a shouting. Thanks. Is essentially to uh stop things from devolving into a u into a shouting match. Um and I I I it looked to me like the board member to whom that was uh directed. I understand the chair can't see down that way, but uh um it was not the nature of the comment that would cause that
089kind of response. Does that does that make sense? >> Okay. >> Yeah. So it it you know I I don't see any any real issue. Um realistically if I did okay all right well if he's okay with it I we'll carry on. >> I mean realistically it sounds like we're in kind of a gray area here and I I don't think that's a sufficient interpretation to be canded. I I don't think that's correct because even if I was you know which obviously what I'm going to say is going to be a little more abrasive here in a minute but that's not >> okay. We have another We have another point of order. Go ahead. >> Not to engage. >> Yes. >> Okay. Would you carry on, please? >> So, am I allowed to say his
090name? Yes or no? Because you said it was well received. >> No. >> But I ruled. Once I ruled, it's over. >> Please carry on. You have 35 seconds. >> I'm down to 35 seconds. Okay. Do we add on? >> Okay, we'll we'll you start talking. We'll give you we'll give you 10 seconds extra. You have 45 seconds, Mr. >> S and go. I mean, at this point, I mean, y'all I don't think y'all quite get it. I don't think y'all are right with what y'all are saying. And I mean, realistically, my entire thing's talking about transparency here. And you we're lacking transparency. I mean, I was going to read off quotes and I was specifically going to name Dr. Tim Merrick and I should have the right to do so. I should be able
091to redress the people that we elected. And the fact that that I mean, your attorney said something different and now you're kind of going against that. That's that's very frustrating. And I mean, I took the time to sit here. I waited a couple hours to be heard. And I mean, realistically, I have deep concerns about how this situation's been occurring. I mean, Dr. Tim Merrick said that he wanted to congratulate and acknowledge this board for their timely and decisive decision to cut ties with Mr. Crom Key. He then stated later, I want to make sure the public understands that this decision was made by all of us coming together. Like I highly doubt he misunderstood like either either he was not telling the truth with what he said or we have to have a conversation
092about whether our contractor this whole entire conversation should have happened publicly. This is frustrating to me and again I don't believe what just happened. The fact that you you didn't allow me to just speak and and read my speech like my time is up sir. That is very frustrating. >> Thank you sir. Christina Mercer. Good evening. There's an old saying that says, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Sadly, this isn't true. Words may not break any bones, but they certainly do cause harm. And the thing about words is that their connotations can change over time. Words that were once perfectly acceptable to use in medical, governmental, or educational institutions have become have become unacceptable as those the word applies to where those who love them speak out about
093the label. Think of the names we've used for races over the centuries. We certainly don't use the same labels that we did in 1900. Did you know that at one time imbecile, and idiot were all terms used in psychology to describe a person with an intellectual disability? and all these terms were perfectly acceptable. However, if you c if I called any of you these terms today, I'd be escorted out for my lack of decorum. This brings me to an umbrella term for people with intellectual disabilities that I'm not going to say because of how pjorative it's become, but I will call it the Rword. I remember as a child in the 70s and 80s that it was the correct and proper way to refer to those who had mental disabilities. By the time I started
094teaching in the 90s, this term was already becoming offensive. Instead of using it to refer to human beings, it was being used to refer to TV shows, school assignments, hairstyles, songs, and the list goes on. By removing the human element of the word, it became derogatory. The word isn't used any longer in psychology or education or medicine. Even federal law has backed this up. The recent resurgence in using this word by certain factions is just childish. Using the rword doesn't make one superior or cute. The people who get offended by its use are offended because of the lack of basic human decency from the person using it. If you wish, if you would not say the n-word, then you should also not say or post the rword. The word's connotation started changing over 30 years
095ago. Show that you care for all students by not letting anyone who uses it associate with New Hver County Schools. >> Uh Sandy Isles, I don't see her. We'll come back to her just in case. Britney Laroo. I uh want to speak to this moment not from a place of reaction um but from a place of responsibility. So when language or behavior connected to a school system causes harm or concern, it's natural for emotions to run high. People want clarity, accountability, and reassurance that the district's values are being upheld. Moments like this are also reminder of why systems and process exist. Public education is one of our most important democratic institutions. Its credibility depends on consistency, fairness, and restraint, especially when issues are contentious. Reacting without process may feel decisive in the moment, but it
096can create unintended legal, financial, and operational consequences. That's why responsible boards pause, evaluate, and act within established frameworks. When we rely on established process, whether that means reviewing contracts, conducting a transparent RFQ, following adoptive procedures for instructional and library materials, or evaluating professional services, we protect the integrity of the system. Process is not avoidance, it's accountability. It ensures decisions are made legally, thoughtfully, and with the long-term health of the district in mind rather than driven by politics or individual pressure. Strong systems protect students and staff from instability, protect taxpayers through responsible stewardship, and it keeps the focus where it belongs, in classrooms. My hope is that this moment like this, it refocus attention on maintaining professional, transparent systems that allow schools to do their work with public trust intact. When we center students and staff
097and let process do its job, we don't just respond to a single issue, we strengthen the system as a whole. Thank you, Janice Johnson. Good evening. I'm thankful things have calmed down here at these meetings. A disruptor will be shown the door, but smaller disruptions usually still come up. What does respect look like? What about gentleness, kindness, patience, or self-control? These should be everyday qualities we want the children to know, to learn, and to grow in, and to see these examples at home, at school, and in public. Do we exhibit these qualities? We are reminded of timeless proverbs. A gentle answer quiets anger, but a harsh answer stirs anger up. Kind words bring life, but cruel words crush one's spirit. Knowledge is spread by people who are wise, not by fools. Hot tempers cause arguments.
098Patience brings peace. Good people think before they speak. Others give a quick reply which can cause trouble. So thank you. God bless you all and may all of us in 2026 be humble and not respectful to anyone. Thank you. >> Thank you Veronica McLuren Brown. I want to begin by expressing deep appreciation to Julie Vonum for her outstanding report at the last board meeting. She helped all of us truly see what it takes to meet our legal responsibilities under IDA. It proves one thing. We need data to understand if our policies are being implemented effectively and resourced adequately. Julie's report gave us a full accounting of EC funding and our children, educators, and the community need a full accounting of our discipline policies, especially the 2022 revision to policy that eliminated out of school suspensions
099for children under the eight under age eight for minor offenses. We need to know, is the policy being followed? How many instructional hours are our youngest learners still losing? Which schools are implementing the policy with fidel fidelity? What resources do educators say they need? And how do suspensions impact crowning absenteeism? And how many suspensions never appear in power school at all as an out of school suspension because a parent is told just keep her home tomorrow or don't bring her back tomorrow. Just as Julie's report helped us clearly understand EC funding, a full discipline analysis would help us understand whether our youngest learners are genuinely being supported, not just in policy, but in daily practice. Now is the time to review the data and revise policy 4351 and expand the policy to third grade and
100in out of school suspensions for minor infractions for all children under nine. >> Thank you. Uh Peter Rowitch, I don't see him here either. Um we'll come back. Jerry Windset not here. Carllet Grisette, Carrie Bogart, Laura Axel. Yay. Good evening and thank you. I'm here to talk about revising the student code of conduct. The current goals of the student code of conduct are to maintain a safe environment, maximize all students learning, and improve students behavior and problem solving skills. Here's how a neuroscientist might reframe those goals. Student behavior is a window into what's happening in a student's nervous system. And with their development, skills, and environment. When students feel safe and regulated, they can think clearly, manage emotions, and solve problems. When students are overwhelmed or stressed, their brains shift into survival mode, fight, flight,
101or freeze, making it hard to listen, reflect, or control impulses. Because of this, the code of conduct prior prioritizes responses that keep everyone physically and emotionally safe. Help students calm and reconnect before correcting behavior. Teach and practice skills like self-regulation, communication, and conflict repair. Use the least res disruptive response possible. Reserve removal for the most serious safety concerns. Supportive responses focus on what students need to learn, practice, and repair, not just what they need to stop doing. Teachers and staff use predictable routines, calm and respectful communication, and relationship-based strategies that help students regain regulation and return to learning as quickly as possible. The good news is that this is already happening in many classrooms and schools. So talk to teachers, put their neuroscience-based work in writing in a revised student code of conduct. Thank you.
102>> Thank you, Bob Bogart. Loretta Stackhouse. I do see her. of our children has spoken to the school board for every month meeting monthly meeting for the past five years. We have spoken on behalf of our youngest learners and their families. We believe the children in our schools are good children. Most of them present safe behavior every day. Sometimes a child who knows all the school rules becomes disregulated and behaves in an unsafe manner. That five, six, seven or eight year old needs professional help and support from their teachers, counselors, social workers and psychologists. And we believe the best place to re receive that help is in school. We know that in most of our elementary schools and classrooms, the children are receiving the help they need. We know that because they have zero or
103one out of school suspensions. When a disregulated child is removed from school because he may or have already harmed someone, the focus should be on doing something different for that child, such as providing more opportunities to co-regulate, make modifications to their daily routine, or adding additional instructional and practice in safe and safe behavior. And if the schools are adequate adequately staffed, those examples wouldn't cost a penny. We need discipline policies, a code of conduct, and schoolwide behavior plans that are informed by what scientists have learned over the past 100 years. We need to also understand that teachers sometime have nails for breakfast just like children. We have to find a way to to help them after they're misbehaving. Thank you. >> Thank you, Karen Clark. >> Except the Lord build the house, they labor in
104vain that build it. The philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation will be the government of uh in the next. James Madison, the future and success of America are found in the laws of God upon which our constitution was founded. Those men who founded America were only able to produce a free and prosperous society because they knew how to reason biblically in all areas of life. They were taught using the principle approach, a holistic view, teaching from the whole to the part, researching, reasoning, relating and recording truth. The success of our government depends on the quality of education. I pray you are not conformed to this world, but are transformed by the renewing of your mind. That no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men and the
105principles of the world rather than according to Christ. God's word, my people perish for a lack of knowledge. Joel 2:25, the Lord says, I will give you back what you lost. A nation that doesn't remember what it was yesterday does not know what it is today. I pray in Jesus' name for wisdom and in understanding enabling you to not be intimidated that you will not compromise truth. Your kingdom come, Jesus, your will be done in New Hover County schools. I declare in Jesus' name, our schools will step into their finest hour. >> Thank you, Katie Gates. I just wanted to speak real briefly to the origins of u our nation as a Christian nation where the mislication of church and state kind of came in and how we've come full circle with the 2023 coach
106Kennedy history and traditions test. So to start I just wanted to quote Justice Chase who said in 1799 by our form of government the Christian religion is the established religion and all sects and denominations of Christians are placed upon the same equal footing and are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty. That was the standard for many years until 1947 when a Supreme Court um misinterpreted what Thomas Jefferson said in his letter to the Danbury Baptist Convention in 1802 basically extracting what was meant to be the separation of church and state institutionally in the establishment clause and he applied it to the expression clause. And so we've seen uh the the common misunderstanding and separation of church and state since the 50s. And that's unfortunate. We also saw that in 1963 the communist agenda
107that was read into the congressional record where it said the eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the grounds that it violates the principle of separation of church and state. So we can see where there was um an attack on our origins. But fortunately, we do have the 2023 uh h history and traditions test by U. Coach Kennedy, which allows us to practice um freely our Christian traditions in education and in government without fear of retribution. And I'm hoping that we in our 250th year of our nation can truly understand our origins as a Christian nation, where we've fallen short, and where we're going in a positive direction to restore what we built a strong foundation on. Thank you so much. >> Uh seeing no one else has entered, that
108concludes call to audience. >> Board members, we need to take a fivem minute break. >> Okay. Uh let's see. I have uh 638. So let's be back on the dis uh by 6:43 please. back. >> At least two of us are. >> Three of us are >> there. Well, I can get up there. >> All right. Now we got four. Okay. >> We got a quarter. All right. >> Now you can start. >> The party is here. I move that we adopt the consensus items. >> We have a motion to adopt the consensus items. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> We have a first and second to let Miss Justice, she's almost here. >> I would like to hear her part. Okay. Uh we have a motion to consent to adopt all the
109consensus items in a second. Any discussion? Yes, ma'am. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to point out um looking at the facility capital outlay project, we were able to save $1.7 million and reallocate that to further capital projects to be done as well as looking at the budget amendments, a net increase of almost $5 million to the district. Thank you, sir. >> Awesome. >> Okay. What's >> Okay. >> All right. We have a motion and a second to adopt all the consensus items. All in favor, please signify by saying I. I. >> I. All opposed. That passes 6. We will carry on. Next we have old business, our employee retention committee and we will let uh Mr. Perry point of order. >> Yes, sir. >> Sure. I just >> for No, no, you
110didn't. But but for the people who are watching and maybe following along with our agenda, I just wanted to point out that we're not discussing policy because there's nothing to discuss this month. >> Oh, yeah. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, I did. Thank you. Thank you for pointing that out. Thank you. Yes, there's nothing on policy, so we are not discussing policy. Thank you very much, Dr. Merrick. >> And now we're moving on to our next item, which is old business. Uh, a under that is the employee retention committee. And Mr. Perry, you brought that forward, so I will turn it to you, sir. >> Yes. So, um, I did, uh, bring this forward kind of last second at our agenda review meeting to have it added to the agenda for this meeting. There was
111some concern that, uh, people wouldn't have enough adequate time to go through it, but, uh, we voted to put it on anyhow. Uh, and since we were delayed, I think we've had 13 days at least to review the proposal. And uh and let me just call it up here so I can see it and we have it up there in front of us up there. >> Yeah. Okay, I got it. So, I think it's important that uh uh that we start this standing committee uh that our employees are the uh not just our teachers, but all of our staff are are the lifeblood of our school district. Without them, we are nothing. Uh and we need to do what we can to uh to recruit and retain uh and develop the highest quality employees. And
112uh it is as we have heard at our gender review meeting, one of the reasons we're losing a lot of teachers after year five is is simply because it's becoming too expensive to live here in New Hover County and they're going elsewhere. And uh while we don't have a lot of options as far as increasing pay, what we can do is work with community partners and come up with other innovative programs, brainstorming with our employees to see what we can do to help them out and maybe make things a little less burdensome to be an employee here at New Hor County Schools. So, uh I think uh this uh uh committee is uh the proposal uh is pretty uh pretty uh specific as to more more or less what we'll be doing. We're not trying
113to say that this there are some examples of of some things that we might work on, but I really want to leave that to the committee to do. And the big thing that I added to this uh thing was some concerns that we wouldn't be soliciting funds from the endowment or from the new Hanover County Commissioners without the approval prior approval of the full board. So we don't want to conflict with say Dr. Barnes request for money. So this is what I think we added that in there. It is an advisory committee as any program that we would vote to uh initialize would be um uh would have would be obviously subject to board approval. So if anybody has any questions or possible revisions, I'd love to hear from >> Would you like to make
114a motion, sir? >> Yeah, I'd like to make a motion that we pass uh that we uh that that we uh create this uh standing committee immediately and uh let's get going on our work. Okay. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Okay, we have first and second. Further discussion. We'll start with Miss Barnhard. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I just want to ask again for clarity because there was another committee similar to this that we had said we are going to start this year. This this committee moving forward as a standing committee would replace the other model that had been previously discussed and tabled. Is that correct? Am I am I correct understanding that? >> Understanding. Yes, it's my understanding if we pass the standing committee, I'll probably make another motion at the
115uh immediately thereafter to um get rid of the other committee. >> Okay, Miss Mason. >> Um just a question. It was stated by my colleague to the far right that this was a standing committee, but then also he said it was an advisory committee. Um which is that because those are two different types of committees. >> I'm sorry, I probably used the wrong terms. in advisory not in the sense of some of our other committees like say CTE or whatever advisory like our policy committee is is advisory we don't make we don't make policy in policy committee all of our policy decisions at policy committee are subject to board approval so that's all I meant >> policy is a standing committee >> right but it's it's a vi we make policy makes a recommendation but
116the the decision is out up then gets forwarded back to the entire board for >> right so so I think I think the >> it's a technical term though >> yeah in terms of policy it's either advisory or standing >> okay >> yeah what I meant was standing >> well let me go ahead and rule on the point of order the uh chair rules that this is not well taken I think that we in this discussion I think he's just confusing my colleague to the right is confusing the two termin the two terms but I He he is looking for a standing committee that that would advise but it's not an advisory committee. >> Correct. >> So there we go Mr. uh justice. >> Well technically every advisory then because we always vote on everything.
117That's true. >> Before we adopt things so committees don't adopt things and we adopt them. Right. >> So be standing. >> All right. This other discussion Bradford. >> Our curriculum committee is a standing committee or I mean advisor. I'd have to look it up. I believe it's a >> advisory. Advisory. >> So, I had thought all this and pitching it to a standing. >> It says in the document. >> I'll have to look at this. Yes, Dr. Merrick. Especially since this is regarding um retention of our staff, I think it is more appropriately placed in an advisory council uh position because honestly we need their leadership. We need their um guidance. Uh and I think if my colleague to the right is willing to uh amend his motion, I would recommend uh it to be
118a advisory council and not a standing committee. >> Mr. Perry, >> um I just want first I just if you read the introduction, it says this proposal outlines the rationale for creating a new NHCS standing committee. Uh so I I think it was pretty clear that that that was the intent of this and the reason being it being standing is simply just because um it's important to us to to constantly be doing this and seeing what we can do for our employees. As far as my colleague who just uh spoke, um I think we can have the best of both worlds here. I is if you read in the structure of the committee I am including uh eight employees representative of various job positions within in the school district so that we can hear from
119them. You know I certainly want to hear from them not just what we think from an ivory tower what they might want but we actually hear from them. also bringing in the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce or bringing in a PTA organization member to see what see what what our parents uh can help us with as far as those efforts go. I think I kind of see it's like our finance committee, you know, we bring in different people, you know, uh we've got county commissioners or other people, but it's still standing. So, >> okay, Mr. Justice, do you have your hand up? >> I think we're nitpicking this a little bit here. Um, and our advisory committees are like curriculum, um, like the ASUS committee where it's made up of other people that are experts and
120we're not. And then, you know, we're we're there to listen to them. They and to advise them from our point of view, but they're the ones that make the decisions. this would be so you know how you're going to define this is probably almost irrelevant when you consider those distinctions can be very nuanced and up to the situation. So I I don't know if we should be spending all this time debating this topic and just leave it at standing. Uh it's that's my take on it. >> Dr. America >> and I I I'm sorry I do hate to beat this up too much but um one of the distinctions that I see is that our advisory committees um have board repu rep representation to as a liaison but they do not vote and a standing
121committee we have staff there to act as uh you know guidance but they don't vote so I'm confused M. Bradford, >> not that I necessarily want to leave this topic, but I would be remiss if I didn't go back to what I've said in the past. Um, effective immediately is very problematic for me because we are going into budget season and we need every staff member and every board member totally laser focused on budget. So, I would offer an amendment to have it start after the board has approved the budget. >> I'll second that. Okay. So, we have a first and second for an amendment. And I will write that down so we can get my pen back. All right. I got paper right here. Yeah. >> Oh, yeah. I do. I need you for
122Okay. So, the amendment is to delay these this committee until after the budget is approved. Correct. That what you said? >> Uh the board has not necessarily the county. >> Okay. after the board has approved the budget and we had second by Dr. Merrick. Discussion on that topic. Mr. Perry, >> I since we put the the caveat in here that we wouldn't be soliciting funds from the county or from the endowment. I don't know what I really don't see what the objection is to it that staff may be involved. A lot of these people are are are are employees and we and of course uh and and we've also put this on as a um you know we need to get there's never going to be a good time ever. We're always going to be
123looking for money. We're always going to be our budget is going to be you know crunching to find every little single as single dollar that we can get our hands on because we're not funded properly. that there's never going to be a good time to do this, but we have to do it because our employees are are so important to us and our welfare as a school district. And it sends the right message to our employees that we care. And why shouldn't we care right now, right here, right now? Why do we have to wait till after the budget to show them that we care? >> So, I don't know. >> Um, my question is a little bit I have a question and then I have a comment. um specificity. It's very broad to say
124after the board approves just so that the community has clarity on that time frame. It is April that we vote on that. So it would be April. >> Okay. So that was my clarifying question statement um for everybody to hear. Um I think we can do both. I think that we can do both. Well, um I think that yes, the budget is of vital importance. We know it's going to be a difficult and challenging um year for that, but I also think that we we do have these other committees that are still happening that we focus on those things, too. I think that we can do both. I don't think it's an eitheror. I think that we can do both. >> All right, Miss Justice. >> Okay. And that's a good point. Realizing though that
125up until the time that we finally approve the budget, the people on the budget committee or finance committee, I'm not even sure what we're calling it yet, and all of us are going to be focused on that. And so just logically, the energy once we have that done, which would be in April, then that would free up more of our bandwidth for all the I mean, you should look at my calendar. Look at all our calendars, the things we're doing, the bandwidth to really to really give it the proper energy that it needs. That's just seems practical. That's just what my two cents. Okay, it's Bradford. >> And to comment on that, my concern was not not so much the committee members, but the staff because we're facing the situation of needing to hold on
126to every staff position that we have at this moment >> and the staff will be heavily involved in that process. The same staff members that would be brought into this retention. So, I want to do the retention for this budget cycle before you have a committee studying retention. It's critical that we come through the budget process with every person that's employed here if they still want to be here. Just we don't want to have two things going on at the same time. counterproductive to be taking our focus off the focus that we need to have on the the main thing the main thing is advance out of the budget process with a balanced budget retaining every single position that we have >> focus on. >> Yes, sir. very quickly. Um, while I appreciate my colleague
127to the left saying that we could probably do both, from what I can see, the sta I can what I can imagine the staff that would be put on this committee would be very much the same staff that are working on our on our budget and bond uh committee. That's my assessment, my assumption, but I could be wrong. >> Okay. And we are we have about a minute left, so I'm going to go have I'm going to go ahead and ask Miss Buoie to call the role. And this is again on the amendment which is to delay the implementation of the employee benefits and retention committee until after the the board of education has approved the budget. M >> point of point of order point of inquiry. Sorry, Mr. Chairman. We are we are voting
128on whether or not we would um delay the implementation of this committee until April. We're not actually saying whether or not we approve the committee. >> That is correct. That is correct. So once again, the amendment was to delay the the the uh the agreement or the uh formation of the uh employee benefits and retention committee until after the this board of education has approved the budget, >> but we will still vote tonight on the original motion. Thank you very much. Um our vice chair mentioned April. Is that the is that hard and fast? We're supposed to present the budget to the county. Um, knowing how efficient our staff is and how goal oriented they are, it is a hard and fast goal. Nothing's cast in stone. If you as a board don't approve the
129budget, then we could be lingering out there. But assuming you're going to just approve it like that, we'll be fine. And we'll also have a a meeting this Wednesday with the uh chair and vice chair of the county commissioners to further do that. Yes, sir. Just went ahead and heard from everybody. >> We can certainly commit as a district to bringing the board a viable budget before April 15th. >> Okay. >> The board will have to vote on that budget and then send it on to the commissioners. >> Okay. Again, one last time uh because we are out of time unless we want to add some more time to this conversation. We have we can have a motion for that. But um the the vote in front of us is the amendment is to delay
130the implementation of the uh employee benefits and retention committee uh until April or well actually the motion was until after the board of education has approved a budget. >> Yes sir. >> One more point of inquiry. So from basically what Superintendent Barton just said that you committed committed to April 15th to to to giving us one which means we won't be voting on it at least until the May meeting. So really this is >> um I'm sorry. Let me correct myself. I'm sorry. Um we want to hand it to the county by April 15th. So you would get it two weeks before that. Oh, so we would probably So, just to be clear, we should be voting on it at an April regular meeting. >> I believe >> pending board approval, >> right? >> Okay.
131>> Want to make sure that gets said. >> Okay. So, I said it now twice. So, Miss B, would you call the role, please? This is the amendment. One more time. The amendment. >> Miss Barnhart. >> Miss Barnhard. >> Yes. >> Miss Bradford. >> Yes. Miss Justice, >> yes. >> Miss Mason, >> no. >> Dr. Merrick, >> yes. >> And Mr. Perry, >> no. >> Mr. Wilbur, >> no. That passes 43. One, two, three. Yep. Four to three. So, we have the amended >> Motion to approve the employee benefits and retention committee. Um, again with the amendment that this will go into effect after the board of education has approved a budget. >> Miss Buie, would you call the role, please? >> Miss Barnhard, >> yes. >> Miss Bradford, >> yes. >> Miss Justice, >>
132yes. >> Miss Mason, >> yes. >> Dr. Merrick, >> yes. >> Mr. Perry, >> yes. >> And Mr. Wore, >> yes. So that passes 70. So, and >> yes, sir. >> I would like to then make a motion since we passed this here. I like to make a motion to get rid of the ad hoc committee for the performance bonus. >> I'll second that. >> Okay, I'll let you. We'll let Dr. Merrick second that. Okay. All is there any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. All oppose. like sign passes 70 again. Um board members, you already know who's on assigned on that because I put that together with the committees to begin with. >> One more one more motion. Um I have a motion that we uh send
133our send the policy to add this to our committee's policy language. >> Okay. And I will second that. Any discussion on that? >> Hearing none. All in favor please signify by saying I. >> I. All opposed. Passes 70. We will be added to the next policy meeting. Miss Mason, thank you. Carrying on, we have uh next we have the RFQ for uh board legal uh board legal res representation. Um I I'm going to to kind of give everybody just a heads up. What I would like to do is give everyone one opportunity to speak. Then if we have time, we'll have a second opportunity to speak. That way everyone will be heard from. Um I know some people have things prepared, other people don't. That's fine. Um but we will start we'll go in the
134same order we just voted on. So Miss Barnhart, if you'd like to speak to um your thoughts on the RFQ for board legal representation. >> Mr. Chair, out of respect, I did not bring this item forward. So I'd like to hear the discussion before I weigh in. Thank you. >> Okay. Well, actually I believe was Dr. Merrick, so why don't we start with Dr. and I'll go down from there. >> Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, so before I start about an RFQ, I believe we need to bring up whether or not our process last month or last two weeks ago at at the agenda review was appropriate. We determined after individual discussions to halt our association with Mr. Krokkey and I am not a parliamentarian, but it seems to me that that requires
135a a vote of the board. Um, I may be mistaken and I'm open to learning more about that, but I do believe that we should start first by clarifying whether or not we are actually cutting ties with the attorney Crumpy based on his approp inappropriate um treatment of people with disabilities, his insensitivity insensitivity to someone who's been killed and use of profanity. >> And I'm going to actually turn over to Mr. Blancher for just a moment. Um he and I discussed this um so I'm going to let him speak to how how we came, you know, how that whole process went. >> Um then I'll I'll I will speak next. >> Thanks. Well, first um I I I want to express to folks that I u sincerely regret that Mr. Kromi made um the statements
136that he made. I or the statement um I don't share his political views um as one of the board members pointed out what he said was it was inappropriate um it was thoughtless and um you know and it it was stupid and I've shared those sentiments with him and I do know that um he regrets forwarding that and the primary the biggest part of that is that he regrets the grief he's caused a client. For us, that's kind of the worst uh situation you can get in um is causing grief for one of your clients. So, you know, with with that said, um the board chair had asked me about and I think we we may have I may have discussed this with other board members, but you're the client and you have absolute choice
137about who serves as your attorney. Um I realize we have a contract with you and it may say things in there about giving notice. You don't have to give notice. I don't I don't believe really that that's the correct ethical way to look at it. Anytime a client um decides that they're unhappy with an attorney, um the ethics rules teach us that they don't have to be tied to us any longer. Uh so you have the discretion at any time to to ask um to not do business with the attorney you're with, not do business with a particular attorney, ask for another attorney, all of those things. So, and the reason I'm telling you that is you have flexibility on on things like this. Um, whatever your pleasure is at any point in time is
138what your pleasure is and you're the client and we take direction from you on that. >> I I appreciate that very much and thank you so much for your transparency. I think the question that I'm asking of you sir is do we need as a board we uh we are the client but we are not singulars right we are we are acting as a board and therefore if we're going to make this decision must we then vote as a board to make that decision >> you you don't have to you've expressed I' you know you've expressed your your direction to me just like every board meeting we go in and on legal matters you know I'm asking how do you want to proceed on this and get direction from you've given me direction. So, as
139far as I'm concerned, you you've given me direction and Mr. Cromi looks at it the same way. Um, that's the direction we got and that's the direction we proceed under. >> And if I could answer your question, we've, you know, and I've got it in my little statement here later on, but um I've dealt with three different uh law firms in our time. uh and we have with all three law firms at some point done the board chairman or chairperson has done exactly what I've just done but I did I do want to point out that I called each and every one of you and discussed it with each and every one of you and it was pretty uniform uh answer uh but we did um you know one law firm changed their their legal
140counsel a second law firm said no this is the you know they they they unlike our current law firm said No, you know I that, you know, the one person was the person and that's the person the only person you're going to get and you know then the board as a whole has to make a decision on that. But I do want to remind everybody we don't have a contract with Mr. Blanchard or any other attorney. We have it with a law firm so that you know we have to work with that law firm. As long as they are our law firm, we can they can come back and say no, you know, this is as one law firm as I was when I was chair said very clearly to me, I am the I
141am the person that will show up and that's the only one. And then we as a board have to decide whether we want to do an R RFQ or not. Um so but it is has at least in my six years on the board president has been very clearly set that the board chairman or chairperson uh is the one that that in a situation like this unless we're I think the vote would have to be if we decide which is what we're going to do in just a minute if we decide to go to a different law firm or put an RFQ out that is the vote of the board not necessarily whether we want to go with one or the other but I'm going to turn over Miss Mason then Mr. Okay. I I
142that was just a clarification before we started. I haven't discussed anything yet. >> Okay. Go ahead. >> I I I am not entirely sure that I agree with the the parliamentarian aspect of this, but because it comes up with the same result, I'm going to drop it. Now, the next question and the question at uh that is on our agenda is whether or not we will put out for RFQ for a new law firm. and my statement. >> Objection. >> Are we talking I haven't had yet had a chance to comment on now he's going on to the RFQ and we're still >> Did you know why he explain I'd like to be able to comment on on the previous one before we get to the RFQ thing. >> Well, you'll have you you going
143to go right down the line. Everybody will have an opportunity to speak. But he hadn't finished his his opportunity. >> You're actually next. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. >> Yes, sir. So I have to remember that as a board we are responsible to the to the people of New Hmer County. >> We are more responsible to the children, the students of New Henry County, but we are responsible to the voters and we are responsible to do the dealings to do the business of our school district. I have a rule, personal rule that no one else has to follow. And my rule is three strikes and you're out. Now, Mr. Kromkey's behavior was very clear to all of us as unacceptable. We also know that when we hired the firm, they said, "Well, we don't have
144uh very much educational experience, but you know, we're going to work hard for you." And I can certainly say that Mr. Blanchard has worked very hard for us. So that's two strikes as far as I'm concerned because we don't know when we're going to meet a situation where we need that depth of experience. And then I found out that two of the partners of this law firm have been found guilty of intentionally defrauding the tax department. And that really upset me. If something were to happen with our legal representation and the public came to us and they said, "You found out that there was some tax fraud, you found out that they didn't have good uh deep experience in education law and you know that they had a lawyer who defiled the dignity of our
145special education students and you still kept going." At what point do we have to then say to the public, "We knew better, but we didn't act." I make a motion that we put out an RFQ for new representation when this present contract is over in June. >> Is there a second? >> Is there any discussion? Second it. And then we can have discussion. >> I guess I'll second it. Can I >> second it? >> Okay. And we're going to go to like I say, we're going to do what I said. We're going to go right down the line. Mr. Perry, you're speaking next, please. The thing that I just want clarity so that the public knows and as everybody probably heard I was um my understanding before our meeting is yes we did have conversations
146uh I had conversation with the chair I I had a conversation uh with Mr. Blanchard I believe um my understanding was that this was just a everybody came to an understanding including Mr. Kumkey and uh in the law firm and the chair that for for right now that this it would be best for Mr. Kumkey to sit out until further notice and so I was fine with that. Um and but then my colleague two two to the left of here made some statements during the meeting saying that we had made some big decision like well I don't remember voting on s such a decision and then I I I hold dear our chair but our chair made comments to the media implying that we made such a decision when we didn't and I would further
147say that I do not agree that the chair should just be able simply, you know, throw out one legal counsel uh and and have them replaced by another legal counsel on their own say. So even if they're staying saying we're staying with the same firm that should be a board decision because otherwise you could leave the situation where the chair doesn't like the legal advice that is being given and even though the other six of us think it's fine and so they they can just move out the people they don't like. I'm not saying this is what's happening with Mr. Welder. I'm not saying that at all. But it opens it up for abuse >> and Um I I too want to say that uh Mr. Kkey's comments were abhorrent. Not only did they negatively
148impact uh uh you know children with uh exceptional children here in the county by using that rword. I have I had a late uh my late younger sister Linda had developmental disabilities. So this this became very personal to me because she was a great human being. Also the the lack of respect for life what happened in Minnesota with that shooting at at best it was tragic. And so all I'm saying is is that I had this conversation with Mr. Ki and I personally on the telephone and I I believe he is truly a apologetic not only for what not only for hurting us as a client but also I I believe he he he is truly apologetic for doing stuff. But this is just my perception. All I want to know is and what I
149want to clarify for the public is that there was no secret meeting. There was no secret instructions. There was no secret vote. This was just an arrangement that we kind of all sort of went along with for the good of the school district right now. And I'm fine with that, but I just want the public and everybody here to agree that that's what happened and tell the public that because otherwise people thinking we're having secret meetings and that's just not the case. >> Okay, my turn to speak and I'm going to say first off, we didn't have any speak any secret meetings. But this discussion is a very important topic and I've heard a lot of messages through email response to TV uh posts and on Facebook. Our attorney and his ability to give us
150wise counsel is an important on important issues facing the board and the school system is so important. I do remind everyone that a year ago there was no call for an RFQ with the same law firm and in the past year that they have worn in the courtroom saving us money. They've also saved us over $90,000 in travel costs without even thinking of other savings. The savings equates to several teacher or teacher assistant positions as we look at our budget, which is very tight. Uh in my six years on the board, I've worked with three different law firms. Each firm seemed to have four members that supported the firm and three that wanted to change. A year ago, there was no discussion nor debate about the current law firm or a call call to change.
151In two recent uh conversations with one of my Democratic colleagues, it was stated several times that they trusted Mr. Blanchard totally. Uh this reminded me of something that the wisest man I ever knew, my dad, told me when he was speaking about vendors. If you find an ethical person you can trust, stay with him. I agree with my Democratic colleague. Mr. Blanchard is an ethical attorney who we can trust, so I see no need to move ahead with the RFQ. This also frees up our CFO and her department to focus entirely on the budget. Next, Miss Barnhard. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to start by saying that I support the board statement and believe that the comment made on social media was not professional. I support Norwood Blanchard being the key point person
152for the school district. Since utilizing this local law firm, we have saved tens of thousands of dollars, which translates to more people back in our classrooms for our students. On October 7th, we ultimately unanimously extended the contract with this firm. And since that vote, we've had some extremely public cases that has ruled in favor of New Hor County Schools due to our legal representation. and I'm grateful for that. It's also important to note that we since engaging with this law firm, we have a separate entity that utilizes our special education cases because we acknowledge that that was a unique area of law that we wanted to make sure we had specific advice. Tonight, I feel our board is considering termination of a contracted vendor due to the use of profanity and insensitive term on social
153media. What I'm most concerned about is consistency. as a board, we cannot openly discuss personnel. So tonight, if we're going to direct the superintendent to terminate all staff, vendors, or contracts due to profanity or insensitive post on social media across the board, no negotiations, just termination, then I will be in favor of moving forward with this. But that also includes posts and remarks about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Things and comments that were said that it's better off that those kids don't have a dad than a dad like him. Comments that were made of get Erica Kirk next. So if we're going to sit up here and say that we want to terminate >> that was not made by this not >> if we are going to sit here and terminate a contract. >> We
154have a we have a a point of order here and the the rule the chair rules that this point of order is not well taken. Her her statement was not the board. She said employees. So, and so you know there may have been employees that said I don't I don't I didn't check every single employees thing. That's what was that now your comment? >> If that is how we are moving forward as a board then to direct the superintendent of any sort of profane and insensitive comment on social media including those remarks I just said. We have had a board member that told a black man that he was a disgrace to the human weight race brace on this das as well. Maintaining consistent standards is important, but if we are not willing to move
155forward in the direction to direct this man to do just that, then we are selectively targeting an individual, and I'm not in favor of that. Next, Miss Bradford, Justice, and Miss Mason. >> Um, let me start by saying I support the decision that the board had announced in terms of what the process was. I I would I would echo my colleague all the way on the right. It was confusing for a moment as to whether, you know, we were being accused of having a secret meeting. We absolutely had no secret meeting. Um, having been labeled as a child with this exact learning disability label, the big R, I have kind of a different take on it. Um, but I'm not going to speak to that. What I want to speak to is what I typically
156say when I've given the privilege of speaking to students at graduations. And I talk to them about accountability and I talk to them about apologies and forgiveness because they're key in life if you want to succeed. And a true apology is I was wrong. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. And Mr. Crompkey has true remorse and he has said those things and I believe him. I got an email from somebody who said, "No, no, no, no, no. Insincere." No, no, no, no. I can't judge that. I don't know how they can judge it. They haven't spoken directly to Mr. Cromi, which I don't think they have. But his apology was sufficient for me. They've decided how they're going to handle our representation. I have enormous respect for Mr. Blanchard. Um, I really appreciate the cases that
157we have won this year. I appreciate the finances we've saved by having him work for us this year. But as a person who's been labeled my entire life with this exact word, what I would say to our students, because that's who's listening, is how are we as adults going to handle this thing? Are you going to cancel this guy because he made one stupid mistake? Because how many of our students want to be canceled when they make one stupid mistake? But you can you can stand broadwise and take it on and be crushed or you can turn sideways and you can let that sucker go right on by because you know who you are. So label-wise, I I'm just not I'm just I'm just not going to go there. I do not want to cancel
158this attorney firm because of one dumb mistake. >> Okay. Yeah, we are out of time. So I'll make a motion we add 10 minutes to our discussion. >> Second. >> Okay. Any discussion? If not, all in favor of adding 10 minutes to our discussion, please signify by saying I. >> All oppose. Like sign. >> Passes 70. Miss Justice, your turn. >> Okay. Okay. Thank you. >> Yes, ma'am. >> I'm a little blown away by all this. Uh I was elected to this board 2018. I have gone through this process of get of working with the attorneys in their yearly contracts. This is my going on my seventh year now or yeah, sixth year. It's hard to keep track. This is this is not the purpose of putting out theou. The purpose is to do it
159properly. That's why you have rules and policies. We should have back in 2019 and 20 and 21 and 22 and 24 and 25 and on and on every year put it out at least 3 months ahead of the June ending of the contract for the legal uh team or legal firm and they can bid and other groups can bid and then we get to hear what they offer. One of the reasons we depend on an EC special attorney is because this firm, which is local, doesn't have that expertise, nor do they have a background in education. That's okay. That's part of they've been hired and then they serve us and we decide whether it's appropriate or not. That's why I would like to see this put out and we should be doing it every year,
160no matter who our attorneys are. You shouldn't just be automatically blankly agreeing to the contracts because they're here and they're friends and they're local. That's not fair to our kids. We're not using our money efficiently. We're certainly not using our expertise efficiently. We supposed to do what's best for our district and that's not doing it. I was so frustrated the first four years I was on the school board because they wouldn't do it right. And we ended up with a horror show. We need to stop the horror shows. We need to follow policy. We need to do it properly. And if we do, then we can. And if they're the best group, we can pick them. And that's why I brought this up during the I think it was an agenda review to start now.
161Not to get rid of them, but to find the best representation. And if they are, then we will hire them for another year-long contract. I don't know because I'm seeing a lot of politicking up here, and it's breaking my heart. I would like to see what's doing that best for the kids. I don't know what's going to happen because people are going to vote politically. I'll be honest, >> Mr. Chairman. >> I know. But I would like to see it done for the kids and not for politics. Thank you. >> And Miss Mason has not spoken yet. With all due respect to my colleagues um statements, um we did vote unanimously last October to continue with this law firm as a whole. Um if there had been concerns, I would hope they would have been
162brought up then. Um but just to echo some of the statements that have been made along the way. Uh previous boards as mentioned by our chair have requested alternative representation within the same firm without a board vote. Our chair spoke with board members. To my understanding he spoke with all. I may be incorrect so I don't want to speak for him to say that. But our chair spoke with board members and gained a consensus. That's his job as the chair. And from that he discussed next steps with the attorney firm. Everything was done in order. Since we talked about budget season earlier, um we need to also consider that. We don't like to talk about money all the time, but we have to think about it. we have this budget that we are looking at
163and it's important to en ensure that we're being fiscally responsible. Um based on just you know the past three years on the board we have gone through this process three times. Um, and it seems that there are some pretty consistent bids coming from firms outside of this area. And as other board members have mentioned, that incurs excessive travel costs. I would prefer to stay steady with the current firm with Norwood as Mr. Blanchard as our sole attorney. I believe that he has done a good job. Um, and I would like to just continue with that service just to maintain that consistency for the district. >> Thank you, Miss Bas. How much time do we have left? >> Five minutes. >> We have five minutes. So, let's give every anybody else Well, I'll go with the
164same order. One minute. If you'll keep an eye on that the one minute and if we need to, we'll add some extra time to so everybody has an opportunity. One minute. M. Uh, Mr. or excuse me, Dr. Eric, >> I will defer till later. >> Okay. Mr. Perry, >> I'd like to make substitute motion that we simply renew the their current contract until the end of the 26 27 school year. >> Extend. >> Yeah. And >> send current contract. Say that again, sir, so I have it down. I didn't write it down. renew the current contract until uh a year from June. I guess the end of the 2627 school year. >> June. >> So I think you don't >> contract the end of the 267 school, >> right? Okay. 627. Okay. Is there a
165second? >> I second. >> You did second. Okay. >> First and second. So we're going to definitely have to add some time. Okay. Okay. So, we have a substitute motion to extend um the current contract to the end of with um Crosby, Crosley, etc., etc. through the end of the 26 27. We have a first and second. Any discussion, Miss Justice, >> once more, we need to be doing this right. This is not helping our district. It certainly didn't back in 2018 and 2019 and 2020. It was a very similar situation. So they could hold on to this the particular law firm at the time. Now there are a lot of law firms out there. We have no idea what they offer. They could come forward and we could say yeah the travel's too much
166this and that and the other. I you know the law firm we have pres presently has in many ways done a very good job considering the circumstances. But if we're going to do something, can we please do it right? Because I've watched this US fail after failure. Lots of money being spent. It's just really frustrating to me that we have these things in policy and we don't follow them. Thank you. >> Okay, Dr. Merrick. Yeah, that um that motion kind of came out of left field >> and to me it represents more of a cover up and less of a transparent desire to find out what is right for our district. >> Putting out an RFQ will take a few minutes of staff time. I don't deny that there is work involved, but it's not
167a great deal of work. And all of what that does is give us choices. Choices for what may be best for our students and our district and to I mean I didn't I I wasn't ready to say a whole lot more to the original uh the original motion. I could tell my board members and how they felt. But I'm insulted by this one. This is saying not only do we not want to look at it, but we're going to double down. We do not yet know what it will be like having a singular attorney. I don't expect any problems. So, I don't want anyone to feel that I'm um lacking faith in Mr. Blanchard, but we don't know what it's going to be like. And I believe we need to at least find that out.
168And in the meantime, we should put an RFQ to find out if there's something better. Yes. In the past, we've had basically two law firms out of Raleigh that consistently put in a bid, but we don't know. >> Okay. >> We don't know. >> And um just we are out of time again. So, uh I will make a motion we add another five minutes. >> Is there any Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Okay. Uh any discussion on adding five minutes? >> Oh, no. >> Yeah. Okay. They have five minutes. Okay. Um, all in favor of adding five more minutes to discussion, please signify by saying I. >> I. All opposed. >> No. >> Okay. Would you call the role, please? M. >> I'll switch. >> Miss Barnhart. >> No. >> Miss. Bradford?
169>> No. >> Miss Justice? >> Yes. >> Miss Mason? >> No. >> Dr. Merrick? >> No. >> Mr. Perry, >> no. and Mr. Wore >> show your hand >> say yes but anyway that's that's defeated so we will call a question at this point then >> um let me so we we have in front of us uh to extend the contract of the Cley >> uh law firm Cley at all law firm till the end of the 2627 school year which would be uh a year from June. Uh, Miss Buie, would you please call the role? >> Miss Barnhard? >> No. >> Miss Bradford? >> Again, this is this is extend. >> Miss Justice, >> no. >> Miss Mason, >> yes. >> Dr. Merrick, >> absolutely not. >> Mr. Perry, >> yes. >> And Mr.
170Vote board. >> Yes. 1 2 3 4. That passes 4 to three. Substitute motion takes precedent over the original motion. So that is that. Okay. So the >> matter >> the um law firms uh contract will run through the end of 2627. At this point, we'll go on with our next bit of business, which is Black History Month resolution. And Dr. Merrick brought this forward. Dr. Merrick, >> I'm sorry. I did not hear you, sir. Would you please repeat? >> Uh, Black History Month resolution. This was brought brought forward by Dr. Merik. >> Thank you. Um, I appreciate your editorializing during the board chair report about this. And I do believe that we should acknowledge, appreciate, and honor our nurses, our teachers, our firefighters, or whatever that come to help us in our schools. But
171one thing that is different about this resolution is that we have 15% of our students who are black. And the treatment of black Americans in America and especially in New Henrik County is different than how firefighters or nurses have been treated. I've talked to many parents and I understand the feeling as an autistic person myself. I understand the feeling of not being included. I know what it's like to be marginalized, to be set apart as different. And I think it's the least we can do to support Dr. Barnes in trying to change the culture in our schools to acknowledge the fact in the very gentle way this resolution that the chair has recommended I supplant with the one that I had originally used. I agree to and the language is very gentle, but it still
172acknowledges a that we are all in this together. That black or white, we make up the citizenry of this of this district and of the students in our schools. And we acknowledge all the things that the black Americans have given to our culture to in our schools education. And we also recognize the hardship that has sometimes had to been endured. And I think it's very fitting to let 15% of our students know that not just the schools teach it because that's history, but that this board sees them. This board honors them and this board believes that they are an important part of who we are. That's the cultural change that I want to see happen in our schools. >> Thank you, sir. >> Motion. >> Yes. I'm sorry. Thank you. I I move to accept
173this new Henrik County Schools proclamation of Black History Month. Would you like me to read it, sir? >> Please do. >> Thank you. >> And this is a done mostly by Mr. Wdebor and myself. Whereas, Black History Month provides an opportunity to recognize and reflect upon the enduring contributions of African-Americans to the founding, growth, and prosperity of the United States. And whereas the history of African-Americans is inseparable from the history of our nation, reflecting shared values of perseverance, faith, innovation, service, and a commitment to freedom and self-determination. And whereas African-Americans have made significant contributions to every sector of American life, including education, military service, business, science, faith, communities, agriculture, public service, and the arts, strengthening our democracy and economy for generations. And whereas Wilmington and New Henrik County have both a rich and complex history
174shaped by African-American leaders, educators, entrepreneurs, veterans, community members whose efforts helped build institutions, expand educational opportunity, and advance civic life even in the face of significant challenges. And whereas African-American educators and school leaders in New Henry County have played a vital role in the education of students, mentoring future leaders, and contributing to the strong foundation of public education that benefits all families today. And whereas acknowledging historical contributions fosters a deeper understanding of our shared past, encourages mutual respect, and prepares students to become informed, responsible citizens. And now therefore, let it be resolved that the New Hver County Board of Education hereby recognizes the month of February as Black History Month, honoring the historical contributions of African-Americans locally, statewide, and nationally. And be it further resolved that the board encourages schools to recognize Black History Month
175in a manner that highlights historical achievements, civic leadership, and contributions to our shared American story while inspiring students to look forward with confidence, purpose, and respect for one another. And be it reserved be it further resolved that the board reaffirms its commitment to providing a highquality education that prepares every student of every background for success, citizenship, and a service in a united future. Adopted this 9th day of February, 2026 by the new Hann County Board of Education. >> First, we need Is there a second? >> Second. I was going to second, but Okay. >> Got a second. >> All right. Discussion, Mr. prepared. >> Um, >> justice, >> I I do support this and I support this resolution for black history perhaps for a couple of different reasons that are than what are outlined in
176um this, but this will do because I I just didn't have the time to rewrite something from scratch, but I think it's very good. But I just want to it is this is important not just to our black community but but also to all of us. You know MLK said is I'm just going to read MLK in his speech in a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check when the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the constitution and the declaration of independence they were signing a promisary note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And what we
177don't understand is that was so unique in the history of of of civilization. There's always been the oppressed, the mighty, and the powerful taking over and disparaging the freedom of others. And all of a sudden, it mattered. I want to and I it matters to us. And I want to read one more thing from MLK and then I'll shut up. Um, this is from his letters to Birmingham, from the jail in Birmingham. And let me see if I can find it here. I had it. Um, moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. I would probably add to anyone and to everyone. We are caught to it
178inescapable network of mutuality. Tied up in a single garment of destiny destiny. Whatever affects one directly indirectly affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with a narrow provincial outside agitator idea. Anyone who lives in the United States can never be considered an outsider. This is why this is so important because all of our students need to learn one of the most egregious examples of us not getting our country not recognizing on any human rights and then taking the strides to overcome that like we have. And so I I I want to make sure that and stress the importance of having this uh Black History Month. Thank you. And I'm going to let Miss Mason, I know Miss Justice, you're next, but we're running out of time again. So, Miss Mason, >> um
179I move that we add since so many people um have not had the opportunity to speak that we add 10 minutes to this discussion. >> Second that. >> All save some time. All in favor of adding 10 minutes, please signify by saying I. >> I. All oppose like sign. Okay. 10 minutes. And now we're with Miss Justice. >> Wow. There's there's certain advantage to have not being real young. I remember when Dr. King was young and alive and very powerful and it was a very difficult time. Um there's also good I taught history, US history. I focused on that mainly through the 90s when I taught at Laney and during that time I had to literally scramble to find um decent sources to teach our kids. It's been a wonderful experience to watch us evolve
180as Americans. Our Constitution is a living document and this is a perfect example of it. Ladies, that includes us. We didn't even get the right to vote until 1919. Um, so having been in and out of the classroom since the uh, Black History Month was first established and watching and in the schools at all grade levels and watching the kids, all the kids learn from the opportunity, watching the teachers enrich the kids' knowledge base and bring up enthusiasm for concepts and ideas that are just bringing the kids together and making making them happy about learning. This is something that's wonderful about this particular month every year. And I really do think that we we are doing the right thing by by supporting this document because this is what we need. We need to keep growing
181every time. It seems like this is part of life. You go forward and you go back some, but this is just showing we're still going forward and we're not going to go back to the point where we can't keep doing that. >> Miss Justice, Miss Barnhard Bradford. Thank you. I agree with the passion and sentiment that my colleagues are saying. However, as a governing body, it's our job to direct the district to ensure quality education is occurring. This proclamation is solely for the purpose of a statement. I mean, we've been here for 20 minutes debating the merits of this, but there's no direction or action or tangible things for our staff to actually do other than a statement made by the board. So, because of that, I'm not in favor of this proclamation. However, I
182am in favor of making a motion to direct the staff to have a district-wide accessible lessons that all of our staff can access that highlight those African-American leaders locally and throughout our history and not just talk about it during the month of February. It should be embedded in our curriculum year round. So, I do not support that for this reason, but I will be making a motion to direct staff to create district-wide accessible materials to actually be able to use in their classroom because I believe that is helping equip us and helping our teachers be equipped to be successful at teaching this and doing just what we are saying we want to do. Thank you, Mr. Chair. >> Is that a substitute motion, ma'am? >> I will make it a substitute motion. Yes, sir. So,
183I will make a substitute motion to direct the staff to have district-wide accessible AfricanAmerican um history lessons available to all of our teachers throughout our district. >> Clarification. >> Okay. Say that again, please. A little bit slower. I can't wait. >> So, sorry, Mr. Chair. I will make Mr. Chair, >> you have a written down, >> Mr. Chair. Yes. Point of clarification. I'm familiar with the curriculum for social studies. They're already doing that. This is we they do it all year long and constantly. This is just an extra added push. Um that's almost insulting to our teachers. I'm sorry. I'm just saying we're already doing >> Mr. Can you read that motion? We We need to get the motion down first and then we need to see if we get a second. >> Point of
184order. >> Yes, sir. Mhm. >> Um it seems to me that is I question whether this is a legitimate substitute uh motion because you could have both you could still have a resolution and do that. So >> so it's not an complete alternative. >> Well, she's she's putting it in place of so it would be >> that's you would have to vote down one before you've then voted in the other. >> Do you want to read that again? Do I have the floor, Mr. Chair? >> Yes, you do. >> So, I make a substitute motion to direct staff to have a district-wide accessible >> curriculum hub >> that highlights African-American history to be utilized throughout the curriculum year round. >> They already Okay. Okay. Mr. W, can you move my point of order? I can
185I find your motion to be not well taken because I think it is a substitute motion. >> I I challenge that and I would ask for a board vote. >> Okay. And you can do so. All right. So, uh >> discussion. >> Discuss. Yeah, we do discussion. >> I believe you can discuss that. >> Yep. >> Yes. >> So, I would like to discuss. >> Go ahead. >> I I take Mr. Perry's uh advice very clearly. This is not a substitution. It is both our our you know we can have a resolution and we can make a motion to do something with teachers. It's almost like saying uh I make a motion that we u we buy a new fire uh station and then someone says I have a substitute motion that we all go
186to the beach tomorrow. They have nothing to do with one another. >> They may be about the same topic but they are both possible. And so I I am challenging the chair's decision that the point of order is not well taken. Both things can be done. >> Mr. Perry, >> can can we hear from our attorney on his advice on this matter? >> Yes. Go ahead. >> If I might. Um, according to Robert's rules, uh, when there is an appeal from the decision of the chair, one, it requires a second and two, the chair speaks twice. first in preference over other members and then second to close debate. So that was not done in order. >> Okay. So I will speak first then. So to answer why I ruled the way I ruled, I do
187feel like that is a substitute motion since she made it very clear that it would be instead of the other motion in opposition to the other motion. So I'm going to she she said that I will not vote for that because I'd rather have this. So that was a very clear um and you can have both. There's a lot of times you can have both. That doesn't mean that one suit is in opposition to the other. Exactly. It's not like going this way or that way. You can have both. So okay. Um >> decision with the chair. That's your >> Okay. Thank you. >> Sorry. >> All right. Miss Justice, >> this is this is Black History Month. This is almost insulting to Are you listening to yourself? We've already got this curriculum. Um, is
188Miss Where's our curriculum expert? >> She's out tonight. >> Okay. My gosh, I've looked at state Dr. Barnes. Are are these already in our curriculum all throughout the whole social studies getting a prek? >> Point point of order. >> Hold on. Let let Dr. Barnes point on water. We're talking about his appeal at the current >> not my decision. Yes. >> This is insulting to our staff. >> Any other people like to speak to the the uh >> over the um appeal >> decision appeal? >> I support the chair. >> Okay. All right. Miss Buy, would you please So this uh this is to uh shall the decision of the chair be sustained? Please call the role. >> Miss Barnhart. >> Yes, it should be sustained. embarrassed. >> Miss Bradford, >> yes. >> Miss Justice,
189>> no. >> Miss Mason, >> yes. >> Dr. Merrick, >> nope. >> Mr. Perry, >> no. >> And Mr. Bible? >> Yes. So, it is sustained. All right. We can carry back to the substitute motion. Yes, sir. >> Yes. So, >> okay. >> Let me just add time. So we can >> let us add another five minutes to our discussion. >> Excuse me, Mr. Chair. Part of order. >> Yes, >> I believe it was my turn to speak. >> Okay. But I'm I'm adding time right now. See, >> I know. But >> but we had to go through this. Yes. Okay. So, we have actually had on the substitute motion um Miss Barnhard spoken. So, we need to go. Let's let Dr. Merrick speak and then we'll have Miss Bradford speak. Go ahead, Dr. Merrick.
190>> I I apologize. I I think I were out of We're now talking about whether or not to support the substitute motion. >> That is correct. >> Well, I think you're making it pretty clear. I mean, I know what you're saying. Oh gosh, let's put it into the schools. It is in the schools. So, in other words, nothing changes. And what you're really saying, in my opinion, is that you do not support a resolution for Black History Month. So, just say it clearly. Just say it. I do not support >> a resolution to acknowledge Black History Month. >> Go for it. >> Okay, M. Bradford. >> Wow. Since I was elected to this board, four of us were elected at the same time. So, the three of you on the end weren't here. We have
191consistently advanced to increase and to recognize local black history. We have gone to great lengths to speak to the staff to go to the >> like banning a book >> go to the >> point of order. Mr. Chair >> members on the end are speaking out of their turn and speaking disrespectfully. Sir, >> I'm sorry. I did not hear them. Uh so I'm going to have to Yeah, I was I was hearing from the superintendent. So I will have to rule that that is not well taken. Please keep talking. >> Sure, >> Mr. Chair. Point of order. The comments from that side are unprofessional. >> Yeah. >> Again, it's not well taken. Uh board members, I will ask you to be quiet. >> Time has passed as well. >> I'm sorry. Okay. >> Time has
192passed as well. You wanted to add time. >> We did try to add time. >> So, all right. This has been a lot of fun. >> I move to add five minutes to discussion. >> I will second that. All in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. All oppose. >> Okay. That passes 70. Mr. Bradford, you have the floor. >> Okay. Since 2002, this board has been pushing to increase and advance it, please. >> Black history instruction in our classrooms. I am very content with what our staff is doing. And I think that all this discussion tonight has sort of disparaged that maybe we're not doing something right. So, we need this resolution because we're not doing what we should be doing. And it bothers me. It feels like a polit a political maneuver.
193Um, as I have said many times in the past, I am don't believe this board needs to be in the resolution business. So, I support this substitute motion. If if we're already doing everything it says, then the direction, you know, just just doesn't have to be implemented. But maybe we aren't doing everything that she's she's um suggested here. But to think that we're not supporting black history in this district is flat out a lie. And I I take I take offense to that. And so I will vote in support of the substitution. But I I I just urge board members to stop speaking politically just for for to to to gain social media and and and voter approval. It's it's wrong. >> Expert are correct. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. has not had an opportunity
194to speak. So, Miss Mason, >> it's really difficult to listen to all of the different commentary. Um, even the side comments, it's it's very difficult to listen to. Um, having worked alongside these individuals for this past year, there is a level of disrespect in some of the comments that's just not appreciated. But as it as it pertains to um this particular resolution and the substitute motion, I think that we are doing a great job. Um our superintendent mentioned a competition that's coming up for uh Black History uh I I can't even remember the exact title, but there is a Black History Bowl. Um, what that tells me is that schools across our district are definitely teaching this, but is there always room for improvement? The theme of our superintendent is 1% better every year or
195every day. Sorry, not every year. Not every year. >> Every day, sorry. >> Um, and I think that we can do better. I think that there are opportunities that we may not know about. that there are field trips that we may not know about that that do discuss and teach our kids more about black history. I agree that it shouldn't just be relegated to one month. But I also disagree that simply not signing a piece of paper means that we don't care. Actions speak louder than words. These are words. What we are doing is more effective. Moving the ball forward, pushing it so that we are better, we are teaching more, we are teaching more consistently, and that we are doing so 1% better every day. This does not mean that I believe our teachers
196are not doing that. I believe our teachers are doing that because we wouldn't have a Black History Bowl. What that means is that we all can move forward. We all can improve 1% every day. >> We have one minute. So, let me make a motion to add another five minutes to this discussion. >> All in favor of Oh, excuse me. Second. Is there a second to add five minutes? >> Second. >> Okay. >> Has everybody spoken? >> Everybody gets Yeah. >> Has everybody spoken? >> I believe everyone has spoken at least one time. Okay. Uh, all in favor of adding five minutes, please signify by saying I. >> I. All opposed. >> No. >> That passes 43, I believe. So, we'll add five minutes, please. We're going to go through one more time. Everybody has
197one minute to speak and then we will go ahead and call it. Mr. Perry, >> I think we should be able to do both. And I know what we're talking about is words, but words are important in what we say, >> actions. Um, I know know what I know there's a lot of Christians in this room. I don't know what denomination you all are, but at least in the Catholic and Orthodox uh church every Sunday, they go to their their service, they start out with the Nine Creed and they repeat the same thing. I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. And it goes on and I'm not going to because it was important to profess it. And it's also important to profess our
198our commitment to Black History Month and throughout the year with this statement. I believe this is a good statement. I also believe that we can also do what Miss Miss Barnhard proposes, but I I'm going to vote against it now. And I would happily if she made it as a second thing that we should do, I would be happily supported. So that's all. >> Mr. Just uh Miss M. Just >> of the seven of us up here, I'm the expert on the subject matter. I'm expert in curriculum and it definitely in social studies, US history. Um, our It's amazing. You should look at the state curriculum. It's all throughout. Our teachers use it in the classroom all the time. Could Dr. Barnes please speak on this subject? Because I'm not sure where you guys are
199coming from cuz we've had like resolutions at least two over the last 3 months. I say we're having too many when you proposed them and we all voted on them. Is is you know that's not even relevant to what this discussion is. But we're insulting our social studies teachers. We're we're by doing this we're denying the importance of the differences changes that have gone on in our history as far as our our black members of of our community goes. you you know maybe it's you're not experienced to understand this enough but I have been through this I understand what's going on with curriculum we don't need this resolution I mean yeah I don't know what this statement is what we need is is to have Dr. Barnes please speak on it >> a minute is
200that ma'am sir we're not going to ask Dr. friends. No, we're not. Okay. >> Oh my gosh. >> These are just words. I'll give you three words that have been used a lot that are pretty darn important to a lot of people. I love you. I love you is just words. And every child in our district needs to hear those words. I love you. No matter who they are. If we're already teaching this, as we've just heard, we're doing such a great job. Then we have no need for this amendment. that we have no reason to supplant this resolution. 1% better is acknowledging that Black History Month is important and we can do that with this resolution. If you want to talk about respect, and I've heard several people on this board just talk about
201respect, ask the public how respected they feel when we ban books and we ban flags in our classrooms. Our public does not feel respected by those choices. So do not lay that on me. >> I'm Miss Mason. >> Okay. I've spoken about what I think. Well, I'm just going to say one more thing, and that is, you know, I I we we start saying that, well, we we need to do Black History Month. We need to do this resolution. And I don't say I I don't disagree. I mean, that's great, but I mean, what about our Hispanic population? We just had a whole big thing. you know, we had one of our principles actually come out after the Bad Bunny show and the the Hispanic, you know, so we we need to do that, >>
202you know, but again, uh, as my colleague said when I was editorializing, um, you know, our principles, these are the people that are in the classroom each and every day leading our ways, our teachers, teacher appreciation week, you know, but but you know, I guess we want to talk about >> uh other big a big political things instead of the folks that are in the classrooms each and every day, white, black, Hispanic, whoever they may be, the students and the staff. So, I think that that's again where my thoughts are is we need to think about those folks and really try to celebrate them. >> Miss a minute 30 seconds. >> Okay, Morn. >> Well, I don't have something nice to say. I'm not supposed to say anything at all. That's what I was told.
203So, I'm ready to vote, sir. Okay, Miss Bradford, >> I appreciate yours remarks, Mr. Chair. I don't believe we're in the resolution business, and I'm not going to be shamed into passing a resolution just because it's political. >> Okay. All right. So, we have in front of us an amen uh a substitute motion to direct staff to um let me remember. Direct staff um would you read again, please? >> Yes. to have a district-wide access to African-American history lessons to all to new Hannib County curriculum to utilize year round for all staff. >> Okay. And and I will listen to my colleagues to write. Dr. Barnes, would you share do we have such a thing in place right now? >> Yeah, we have curricular resources for all the subjects. I don't know if that is
204spread out to, you know, a math teacher looking at the socialized curriculum. So I will get that answer but we do have curricular resources and we have a standard course of study that we follow as well. >> Okay. >> Miss Boo, would you please call the role? This is for the substitute motion. >> Miss Brad, excuse me, Miss Barnhard. >> Yes. >> Miss Bradford, >> yes. >> Miss, >> no. >> Miss Mason, >> yes. >> Dr. Merrick, >> no. >> Mr. Perry, >> no. >> And Mr. Wilbur, >> yes. Passes four to three. >> We'll move forward from there. >> Mr. Chair. >> Yes, sir. Based on the fact that we had a substitute motion and we never voted on the original motion, I'd like to make a motion that we pass a resolution in
205in proclamation resolution in uh recognizing Black History Month. >> Second. >> Now get to this one. >> So this is a new motion. >> It's a new motion because we never we have one before. >> Okay. All right. So there's a motion to pass a Black >> History Month proclamation. Yep. Black History Month. >> Okay. Um, any discussion? We've already had a lot of discussion, so we'll >> we'll have time for it anyway. >> All right. Um, Miss Buy, would you please call the role? >> Miss Barnhart? >> No. >> Miss Bradford? >> No. >> Miss Justice? >> Yes. >> Miss Mason? >> No. >> Dr. Merrick? >> Yes. >> Mr. Perry? >> Yes. >> And Mr. Wible? >> No. It's defeated four to three. We'll carry on with our our close session. Uh, I
206will entertain a motion to go into close session pursuant to general statute 143 31811 for the following purposes. To prevent the disclosure of information is privilege or confidential pursuant to general statute 115 C 402 and not considered public record within the meaning of chapter 132 of the general statutes to prevent disclosure of student records rendered confidential by the family education rights. Five, please. I move >> second >> to consult with an attorney in order to preserve the attorney client privilege between attorney and board and to consider qualifications, competence, performance, character, fitness, conditions of of appointment or conditions of initial employment of an individual employed or considered for employment within the school system or to hear, investigate a complaint, charge or grievance uh by or any individual employee. Now I will take a motion. So moved.
207>> Is there a second? >> Second. All in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. Closed. >> I don't know. I don't think The good stuff never ends. I move we adjourn. >> Motion to >> second. Any discussion? All in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. You say I today. Passes 70. You just ask if there was any Oh, any discussion? I said discussion. >> That passes.