001I'm going to call the July regular meeting to order. Miss Buoie, will you call the role? here. I am here. Here. Uh, present. Here. All right. Um, thank you all for being here. We're going to do things a little differently tonight. Um the agenda says that God bless America is after the invocation but we when we did this um at the agenda review I believe we added it before. So um if you are looking to join um we're going to stand and sing God Bless America. No. God bless America's first. That's what she just said. [Music] through the night with the light from the mountain to the ocean. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Thank you everybody. And um we're going to have the invocation by Bishop Long, pastor of Greater Morning
002Star Apostolic Church, followed by um our national anthem um with Charles Fischer, our rising ninth grader, Ashley, and our pledge of allegiance. Um board member, Miss Justice, will lead us in that. But thank you. Let's look to the Lord. Eternal God, our father, we thank you for your kindness, your tender mercies. Thank you for another day. This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Father, even now, God, look on those that have been devastated even in the state of Texas. Lord, comfort those that are still missing. Lord, in the name of Jesus, look on every mother, every father, every sister, every brother. Lord, even now, grant them wisdom, Lord. Oh God, knowledge and understanding where to look. Lord, even now we ask your blessing upon Texas
003and not just Texas, the whole world. Lord, look on us. We need you. We invite your presence even into this meeting. Bless our board of directors, Lord, even now. Grant them the wisdom that they need to make the right decisions. Lord, let peace reign in this meeting. Lord, let your name be glorified. Let your will be made manifest. We claiming it even now. If there's any sick among us, let your healing virtue flow. We love you. We praise you in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. [Music] Okay. Are you [Music] [Applause] heat? [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Woohoo! Okay. Wood. 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. [Applause] Now
004that's how you start a board meeting. I can stop. Yeah. All right. Um I will entertain a motion to approve the agenda. So move second. And I also have a awesome um Miss Justice. Yes. I would like to add to the agenda. Um I there was a letter that I proposed the last Is your mic on? Got that. There you go. That's much better. Okay. Her mic wasn't on. Okay. Sorry, that was my fault. All right. There's a letter that's been composed in the last couple days in reference to the federal funding that's being withheld u from our schools. Uh it's addressed to the um Secretary of Department of Education, and I would like for us to look at it, approve it, and uh send it on from our schools. I know it was late
005because it was hard to put it together last minute. Uh you should have received it in your email this afternoon and then Miss Buoie also handed it out and so you've had a chance to look at it. So I'd like to had that discussion to our I'll second that. Where did you want to put that? Um well it has to be voted on. So new business. Yeah. Okay. And that was seconded. Um Miss Buoie, will you call the role on that one? Mr. Perry. Hi. Miss Justice, yes. Miss Mason, yes. Dr. Merrick, yes. And Miss Bradford, I'm going to vote no just because I haven't fully digested it. I just saw it an hour ago. Sorry about that. Um, that carries. I am um at the request of the gentleman to my left um was
006asked I'm going to make a motion to add a budget update before the prek um discussion second which is information uh yeah uh no business that would be old business and that's budget update Um, and I have a second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? That passes five to zero. Was there any other? I will now entertain a motion to approve the amended agenda. So moved. Is there a second? I'll second. All right. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. All right. Any opposed? That passes five to zero. Moving on. Um I will entertain a motion to approve the minutes. So moved. Is there a second? Second discussion. Uh Miss Bradford. Um I had noticed a discrepancy in the minutes in regards to the
007policies that we moved from the July June meeting to the July meeting and what was on the agenda for today. So did we correct that? Is it straight now? Yes, ma'am. has been confirmed with the policy committee. Thank you. Perfect. All right. So, there is a motion to approve the minutes and a second. Um, any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? That passes five to zero. Now on to recognitions. Good evening. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity. As always, this is my favorite part of the evening. I'm going to start this evening by highlighting an amazing human being. We want to honor someone for her commitment to excellence, Miss Minnie Galloway, who after almost Yes. [Music] After almost 25 years of keeping students safe, served
008her last day at the Trust Middle School crosswalk this June. Her journey in New Hmer County Schools started in the early 1980s when she was serving up smiles in the cafeteria. And in 1999, she stepped into the role as a crossing guard to help her school community. She transformed this role into her calling. According to her principal, Miss Kim Clark, who is also with us this evening, every school day, rain or shine, in the heat or the cold, Miss Minnie has stood at that crosswalk with a smile, a wave, and a heart full of love. She has watched generations of students grow up, helped new parents find comfort in a friendly face, and reminded us all just with her presence that safety and kindness go hand in hand. Her commitment to students and families reminds
009us that sometimes the people who make the biggest difference never planned to. They stepped in when someone needed them and kept showing up. And Miss Minnie showed up with genuine, heartfelt care to make those she served feel safe and seen. As part of her last day, family, students, and staff surrounded her with gratitude and celebration for all that she has done for others. We are so thankful that for the inspirational legacy that she's left for thousands of students and families. Thank you, Miss Minnie. Look right here. I'm going to miss them all. As I said, I don't have any grandchildren, so I lose all them. [Music] I really appreciate this. Thank you so much. [Music] [Applause] Oh, I'm sorry. All right, and let's keep this party going, folks. Please join us in congratulating Miss Fatima
010from Ashley High School for winning the North Carolina American Association of Teachers of French. She is this year's French Teacher of the Year. Woohoo. Okay. And while she's up there, I'm going to say a little bit more. So, each year, the NCAATF selects one French teacher in our state who demonstrates strong teaching abilities, creativity, professionalism, and impact on student learning. As the winner, Miss Sale will receive an engraved plaque, complimentary one-year membership to the American Association of Teachers of French, and sponsorship to attend the Foreign Language Association of North Carolina conference. This was Miss S's sixth year of teaching French at Ashley High School. She thrives as an educator by building connections with her students and by keeping them engaged in their learning through a wide variety of activities, including theatrical skits that help the
011students practice their skills. And we are so very grateful to see Miss Sil recognized for her commitment and love for her work. This honor reflects her outstanding contributions as a teacher. Thank you. All right. Administrative introductions. Good evening. I have the pleasure to introduce two um administrator uh introductions this evening. First, I'd like to ask Jennifer Kerry and Miss Jennifer Carey to come up. Miss Carrie is our new executive director of human resources. She began her career with New Hmer County Schools about 20 years ago and her experiences include being a nationally board certified teacher. She's also been a teacher of the year, an assistant principal at elementary and middle school levels, and most recently she's been working in the HR department as a talent management supervisor. Her progression from classroom teacher to district leadership
012built is built on comprehensive experience and positions her to effectively oversee the district's workforce. So congratulations. Thank you, Dr. Barnes, members of the board. Thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight and be recognized. Um I'm certainly looking forward to this opportunity to continue working with Mrs. Geller and the members of the human resources team focused on the goals of the district. Thank you. [Applause] [Music] And Mr. Benjamin Horn. [Music] Mr. Horn begins the 2025 2026 school year as the principal of Porterneck Elementary School. He is an experienced educator with 22 years in the field, having worked in diverse roles from physical education and special education teacher to administrative positions, including dean of students, athletic director, and assistant principal. His most recent position was as an assistant principal at Hogard High School. His varied
013background across is I'm sorry his varied background across classroom instruction, student support and administration gives him comprehensive experience in education. Congratulations. [Applause] [Music] Thank you, Miss Geller. Thank you, Dr. Barnes and board of education. Um, it's been a privilege to serve as assistant principal at Hogard High School and I look forward to growing as principal at Porters Neck Elementary School. Thank you very much for this opportunity. [Music] All right, I'm going to pass the mic to the superintendent. I just want to say one thing too. I also want to congratulate all the members of the HR and our and our uh Mr. Horn as well. We have all of our principles placed for next year by July 1. That's a huge accomplishment. So, good job. Yep, I got it. This community, more than anyone else,
014knows all too well how quickly severe weather can escalate in dangerous and life-threatening conditions. We're especially mindful of the devastating events that are currently unfolding in Texas. Our hearts are with the victims, the families, and all those that have been affected. On behalf of our entire district, we extend our deepest condolences and continued prayers as those communities begin the difficult journey back towards recovery. Closer to home, believe it or not, we are excited to welcome back our year-round schools, which resume next week. It's hard to believe we're already beginning the return to school, but I'm looking forward to the energy, excitement, and promise that a new academic year brings to our students, staff, and families. Now, I've been called out before for not following this to the letter. So, I'm going to read this next
015part verbatim for you. And now, for the first time ever, I'm going to try something new this evening. I'm going to talk less. Our focus Thank you. Our focus tonight, as always, is our students and their achievements. So, I'd like you direct your attention to the screen for a brief video recap of the 2024 2025 school year. I think you'll find yourself smiling at some of the moments you may have forgotten that we shared, and we're proud of the work that we've done as a district. So, hit it. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat up here. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat [Music] up here. [Music] Heat up here. [Music] So, that's just a little reminder of who we are and what we do. And I've been told that concludes my
016comments for this evening. Thank you, Dr. Barnes. Um, while it may feel like we just wrapped up the school year, Dr. Barnes mentioned some of our students and staff summer break was brief. Our year-round and restart schools are already preparing to welcome students back for a new year. With that in mind, today's report for me is largelyformational to make sure that everyone is informed and prepared. First of all, uh, transportation reminders. Please be mindful of the upcoming upcoming deadlines related to school transportation. And all bus riders are required to renew their transportation forms annually and these deadlines are quickly approach approaching. So it's critical that families complete the necessary forms in a timely manner to ensure uninterrupted ser service. Details and reminders can be found on New Hmer County Schools uh social media channels and
017I believe also on our website. Um free summer meals program. Proud to offer free summer meals to all children and teens aged 18 and under throughout the summer. Meals are available Monday through Friday. Um the following sites are currently serving meals. Williston Middle School Boys and Girls Club, Creekwood, Houston Moore, Jet MLK Center, and Brigade Boys and Girls Club. Um and we encourage all families to take advantage of this opportunity uh to support healthy nutrition during the summer months. Uh New Hmer County School Summer Library Program. Uh we have continued our summer library program. It's open to all New Hmer County students and no registration is required. Um dates and times for each library location are available on the website and social media platforms and we hope to see many of our students engaging in
018reading and exploration this summer. Um I'm fortunate enough, side note, to be able to um volunteer with my own personal favorite group of kids um and help with reading. And so I know that these opportunities are great and benefit our kids um immensely. Um, please join me in offering heartfelt congratulations to Mr. Trey Moore of New Hannah High School. Mr. Moore has been named a finalist for the Burough's Welcome Fund North Carolina Career and Technical Education Teacher of the Year Award. It's a tremendous honor and we're incredibly proud of his dedication to um to students and excellence in teaching. And lastly, I would like to take a moment to recognize the tragic loss of life due to the recent flooding in Texas. and on behalf of the board, our thoughts are with the victims, their
019families, and all communities affected. Um, and I'd like us to observe a brief moment of silence in their memory. And this concludes my report. Hang on. Um, with our vice chair not here this evening, I've asked Miss Bradford to help conduct the call to audience. But prior to or not conduct, well, yes, to conduct the call to audience, to call the names. Um, but prior to that, I want to read this. In accordance with New Hver County Schools Board Policy 5020D and North Carolina General Statute 143-318.17, the board promotes mutual respect, civility, and orderly conduct. Positive communication is encouraged while disruptive behavior will not be tolerated. Disruptive attendees may be asked to leave and if necessary escorted out by law enforcement. And I will turn it over to Miss Bradford. Madam Chair, point of order.
020We have people standing in the back. Um if you are standing, could you please find a seat? They should not be reserved. There should still be some seats. I see a couple. Yep. Okay. Good evening. Can you hear me? That's weird. Um, if you're new, this is your first night and call to audience. The names are going to be on the boards ahead. Feel free to get ready when it's your turn and we can keep this thing flowing. So, the first name is Rebecca Trimml. Please come forward. Hi, it's an honor to be here today. I just want to talk to you about something that I talk about a lot and that is Leandra versus North Carolina. If you're here and you're familiar with Leandra versus North Carolina, please raise your hand. That's awesome. Well,
021there's something really exciting I have to tell you. According to a a lawsuit that started in 1994, five rural counties sue the state and they've done so successfully for over 31 years. And there's been four distinct um verdicts in favor of Leandro. And the state of North Carolina owes $5.54 billion to public education, of which the Every ChildNC Organization believes that New Hover County would receive $51.6 million with an additional $5.6 million over eight years for early childhood education. And what are we facing a crisis about today? Early childhood education. The wonderful thing about Leandro is that it has unearthed this hidden gem and that is enshrined in the North Carolina constitution that every child has the god has the constitutional right to a sound basic education and that begins with early child education childhood
022education. And why is that? Because the first 2,000 days are so important. Why would we leave that on the table? So, we will either invest in prisons or preschool. It's not hard. The ROI, return on investment for early childhood education is up to $13 per $1. That means parents get to go back to work affordably. That means children, the trajectory of their lives are forever changed because they had access to maximize those first 2,000 days. What they've discovered in the state of North Carolina is that your time is up. I'm sorry. One minute. Two minutes. You get two minutes total. That's Oh, yep. No problem. I've given you guys resolutions. Please go to I am leandro.org. [Applause] Good evening, members of the school board. First and foremost, thank you for giving the community a chance
023to be heard and for considering our plea to keep Mary Washington How PreK Center open. This center is more than just a school. It's a legacy named after Mary Washington How, the first female principal at Williston High School. It stands as a symbol of perseverance, leadership, and hope. Since 1962, it has served as a safe heaven, particularly for families in the Southside community. We still carry the pain of Willist High School's closing. That wound hasn't fully healed. Closing this center will only deepen the pain, especially in a time when our young children and those with special education needs need more support, not less. We've heard from the teachers. We've heard from the parents. We heard from the community. The message is clear. Mary Washington how matters. Yes, we understand that the budget is tight. But
024equity means everything. All schools the love and attention they deserve and not just the bigger and more visible ones. Mayor Washington How deserves just as much love, care, and investment as New Hover High School or any other school in our district. Please don't let this be another painful chapter. Let let it be a moment where we choose legacy, community, and our children's future. Thank you. I just want to kind of pause for a second. I I missed some of his speech because there was a lot of cheering and I'm so glad that you guys are here and that you're enthusiastic and you're excited, but um I would I really would love to hear from our call to audience. So, if you could keep the cheering slightly. Who gets punished when a five, six, or sevenyear-old
025gets suspended from school? Well, obviously the child receiving the suspension. They won't get the help and support they need from a counselor or social worker while they're prevented from attending school. A parent or guardian is punished. They might have to stay home, miss a day or more of work, and lose those wages. A child's friends are punished. They won't be able to have lunch or play with their friend at recess. And they might also worry that one day they too will be suspended. The child's teacher is punished. They will need to catch the child up on their missed learning and assignments. And if the child tests poorly, it will reflect badly on the teacher. The school counselor or social worker are punished. They will have to work harder to regain the child's trust. They will
026also have to deal with the child's lower self-esteem and their increasingly negative attitude towards school. Okay, I know that's the job of counselors and social workers, but the child didn't have to be kicked out of school. There are positive alternatives to suspensions and reframing behavior is one of them. Hopefully, you're familiar with the program. I know that it's an online program and that teacher actually the whole staff, bus drivers, teachers, the board of education should have access to that program. So I hope you've already taken the online training or will take it. Reframing behavior offers ideas that help and support children in school. Thank you [Music] Lauren Brown. What does a five, six, or sevenyear-old miss when they're kicked out of school? They miss the morning hello from the their bus driver. They miss sitting
027to the sitting next to their best friend on the bus and trading stories about the night before. They miss being greeted at the classroom door by their teacher. They miss their reading group, hands-on math, writing a sentence about their family, and the science lesson about butterflies. They miss the cafeteria worker asking them if they want pizza. The answer is always yes. They miss chasing their friends around the playground to catch the super villain. They miss singing with their music teacher and painting with their art teacher. They miss the smile from the OT when they finally use the scissors that cut a heart just right. They miss the goodbye wave from the custodian as they walk out to the bus to go home. A suspension just doesn't take a child out of a classroom. It erases
028their whole day. A day of full of growth, connection, and possibility. We cannot teach children if they're not in the classroom. We cannot change their futures with policies rooted in punishment. Adopt the principles of Maryland statute 7-305 part one. Let them stay. Let them learn. Choose love and learning over suspensions for our five, six, and sevenyear-old babies. choose it every day but every child. [Music] Sonia Benon Bra Sonia are you here? Sonia Sonia Benon Patrick Sonia can you hear me? I know you're here. That's you. Come on down. Good evening. My name is Sonia Bennett Patrick. I currently chair the National Black Leadership Caucus. I stand in solidarity with Leon Montgomery of the NAACP and the community to and asking that you do not close Mary Washington how this is more than just a school.
029Mary Mary Washington How uprose from the channels the horrors of slavery and became the first black woman superintendent in New Hover County. This is more than just a school. This city has one of the largest endowments in the country. There is no excuse in my opinion to close Mary Washington. We ask you please take take what the voice of the people into consideration and please protect our schools and please know closing marry Washington how is not an option. Thank you for listening. Steven. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Good evening. Uh policy 4300 uh student behavior policies has a section on consequences for violating the code of student conduct. It says that out of school suspensions are to be used as a last resort and it includes a list of 18 alternatives to short-term suspension. Some examples
030include uh student conferences, uh behavior contracts and uh instruction and conflict resolution. The list is not exhaustive and school administrators are not limited to this list. with the uh reframing behavior training that many teachers and others have taken, there is at least one more alternative that should be uh added and that's co-regulation, which I know you've been hearing about tonight. Um co-regulation is when a regulated adult is present and available with the child to help create a sense of safety and and uh connectedness. It means f focusing on a child's words and emotions which can help them navigate their feelings. Co-regulation involves sharing your calm by speaking with a relaxed and gentle voice and getting physically down to the level of the child to assume a non-threatening stance. Just enable them to connect to you.
031Co-regulation is coaching a child through the moment of disregula uh dysregulation by helping them name their feelings. Once they are named, validate their feelings and ask supportive questions like what do you need? How can I help? I ran little league softball for 14 years and in our preseason coaching clinics, we stressed these positive tactics and you know what? They work. Policy 4300 says one of the reasons for managing student behavior is to provide students with a an opportunity to develop self-control. Co-ereggulation does that and should be on the list. Thank you, Jim Nes. [Applause] Good evening, members of the board. Thank you for your service and commitment to making North Car New Hver County Schools the best in North Carolina and for the opportunity to speak. My name is Jim Nesbet. I'm a former kindergarten
032teacher 20 years principal 10 years. I am here to urge you to keep Mary Washington how prek center open. Prek education is the foundation of for lifetime learning. The data is clear. Highquality c prek programs like how lay a strong foundation for long-term academic success. Excuse me. Mary Washington How serves over 150 children, many from underserved families, closing its risk, deepening educational disparities, and disrupting critical support services. Beyond academics, his center is aligned with your goals. It has five-star rating, reflects the district's commitment to equity and excellence, and builds strong partnerships with families. The loss of K of 12 teaching positions and over 100 classroom seats would not only impact sam families, it would impact school readiness across the county. And with widespread opposition from parents, educators, and organizations like the NAACP, this decision is
033not about just about facilities. It's about values and vision. Let's preserve the place where curiosity, confidence, and community take root. Don't cut the roots, grow the future. Financially, investing in early childhood education is one of the smartest decisions a district can make. For every dollar spent, studies show a return of up to 19,000 in reduced public spending on special education, welfare, and the justice system. Keeping how open is a fiscally responsible, educationally sound and morally right decision. Thank you, Mr. Nes. But I respectfully answer it. You ready house? [Applause] I'm going to share some math objectives about equations from the Department of Public Instruction. In first grade, they must apply understanding of the equal sign to determine if equations involving addition and subtraction are true. In high school math, too, they must create equations and
034inequalities in one variable that represent quadratic, square root, inverse variation, and right triangle trigonometric relationships and use them to solve problems. Why do you suppose the first grade math objective is so different from the high school math 2 objective? Could it be because six year olds think differently and know less than 16 year olds? So why do six year olds and 16y olds both face an out of school suspension when there's a threat of a physical assault against another student? Was their behavior based on the same reason and intentionality? Did they have the same level of concern about the consequence? They're six and 16. Do they have the same level of understanding? What happened to teachable moments? Stop punishing six and 16 year olds the same way. Whether it's a one-day suspension or a 10-day
035suspension, the message is the same. We don't care about you. We're not going to help you. You're a bad kid. It's time to end all K to second grade suspensions. Thank you. [Applause] I was going to talk about Dorman's civility, but with recent events related to funding, I'm going to shift my direction. I'm horrified by the cruelty I'm witnessing from the Republican party. Locally, our GOP commissioners blindsided New Hmer County schools by breaking a promise to fund preK. And worse, we have GOP schoolboard members who publicly support this budget. Josie and Pete both like Dane Scaliz social media post praising the county budget, a budget that is hurting our school district and putting our most vulnerable children in harm's way. As board members, you have a responsibility to advocate for the funding we need. By
036supporting this budget, you are part of the scheme to defund and destroy public education. And it's a slap in the face to students, staff, and families. You're putting political agendas above the needs of our children. And that is truly deplorable. This goes for Pat, David, and Melissa, too, because none of you are fighting back against your own party despite witnessing the harm they are causing to our children. Just last week, the GOP froze $1.6 million in federal funding to New Horror County schools. You just sang God Bless America while supporting inhumane budget decisions that strip necessary resources from our schools. And tonight, you will have a lengthy discussion about prek. I suspect you will feain concern about the children impacted all while supporting these cruel budget decisions. You want to talk about decorum. Yet when
037we call out these truths, you threaten to gavvel and silence us. You use decorum to protect yourselves from accountability and you use it as a safe haven safe haven for racism and bigotry. If you truly care about decorum, you will fight against your party's cruel, inhumane and unjust budget. There is no decorum without justice. And justice cannot exist when you support cruelty that hurts our children and denies them their right to a sound basic public education. Melissa, we still have someone standing. [Applause] I need everybody to find a seat. Sir, thank you. The reframing behavior program, which all of you and the staff have access to, says we are wired for survival. That means our brain and nervous system are designed to keep us safe. The nervous system continuously and subconsciously evaluates clues. clues from
038the environment, internal sensations to determine whether these clues are safe, dangerous, or life-threatening. When it senses a threat, there are three possible responses: fight, flight, or freeze. When a five, six, or sevenyear-old feels angry or frustrated, they might throw things, lash out verbally, or get into a fight. When they feel panicked, anxious, fearful, they might run out of the classroom or display nervous moments, pacing or fidgeting. That's flight. And when they are depressed or feeling helpless or trapped, they might become distracted, unresponsive, or simply shut down. That's freeze. When the stress response system is activated, their behaviors are instinctual in instinctual and unintentional. The student code of contact conduct lists six factors administrators should consider before deciding an suspension or disciplinary action. A seventh factor should be added, a stress response system for the child.
039Did you know it takes about 25 years for the prefrontal cortex to fully develop? Treating our youngest learners like adults won't make their brains develop any faster. Obviously, neither will suspensions. Please keep them in school where they can get the professional help they need. Thank you, Karen Clark. [Music] [Applause] Good evening, Dr. Barnes and board. Whatever you sow, you will reap. Perfect absolute peace surrounds those whose imaginations are consumed with you, Lord. They confidently trust in you by obeying your word. Our heart's desire is to bring glory to your name. All we have accomplished is really from you. Yahweh is the one and only everlasting God, the creator of all you can see and imagine. He never gets weary or worn out. His intelligence is unlimited. He is never puzzled over what to do. He
040empowers the weak and infuses the powerless with increasing strength. Even young people faint and get exhausted. Athletes may stumble and fall, but those who entwine their hearts with Yahweh will experience divine strength. They will rise up on soaring wings and fly like eagles, run their races without growing weary, and walk through life without giving up. There is no one like you, God. No one. Wonderful, mighty counselor, prince of peace, the savior of the world, Jesus. No weapon formed against our children will pro will prosper. The lion of Judah has overcome. Your kingdom come. Your will be done in our schools. King Jesus. I declare new handover schools famous as schools of light and righteousness, bringing glory to the one who lives forever. [Music] Irving Starks. [Applause] Irving Skarks pronouncing that right Mr. Starks Kristen Kanes
041Kirstston. It's too small for me to read. Yes, I almost can't see. I see it now. Good evening, Superintendent Barnes and Board of Education members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight. You have had some very impressive speakers. the president of the new Hanover County NAACP, the chair of the Black Leadership Caucus, child advocates who come here monthly to remind you that children belong in school, and some of your biggest constituency, parents who care so deeply for their children and have to learn to trust you to provide an excellent and accessible school system for them. These speakers are your conit constituents. Excuse me. People who must trust your leadership to represent their children's and their community's best interest. You hear that precious baby? That's one of your constituents. People who are asking
042you to incorporate their perspectives into your decision-making. If I were to gauge public opinion right now at second 57, I would say people want Mary Washington how to remain. I would say people want educators to choose the materials they use to deliver the North Carolina state curriculum and the AP curriculum. I would say that people are ready to partner with you to share their ideas so that we can build a school system that makes our community safe and excellent and a place that we want to live for a long time. will be listening going forward to whose voices you're relying on to make your decisions, whose voices show up in your agendas and your votes. I hope that they are the children, the parents, and the educators of New Hover County. Thank you very much,
043Cara Bailey. Imagine [Applause] going to bed one night and your school is there. As an alumni of New Horror High School, I walk to my school all the way to high school. What would happen if one morning I decided to go to school? When I got there, it wasn't there. because someone decided, you know, we really need to sell that property. That doesn't need to exist. But that was part of my history. That's part of the history of New H High School. The history of Wilmington, North Carolina, the history of so many alumni of New H High School. Now, see, that's what you're trying to do to Mayor Washington. How? You getting ready to take something out of a community that's been the history for long, so long. People walk to school, but you're gonna
044take that away. Yes, you need to balance your budget. But think about if you go home. The home that you have, you paid for, you paying for, and it's not there. Think about how you're going to feel. See, to the people in that community, that's home. Now you go back home to your house and it's not there because we have the right as your constituents, your teachers, your friends, your family to take it away. You're doing that to so many people. But see the thing is the difference. You have the power to take it away, but you also have the power to leave it there. Which road will you choose? the power to leave it there or the power to take it away because you have the power. Think about the people that look out
045their windows every day and remember when their grandparents, the great grandparents, there's a lady's house right across the street. I was with her daughter, her grandchild when they went to that school. Can you say Porter? [Music] [Applause] Madam chair, we have someone standing. Good evening. If you to add to all the comments tonight, I want to also address the topic of dual enrollment. The district as assessed by the department of public instruction is behind the state goals for general education enrollment at the prek level. Closing how removes access to these dual enrollment spots due to the plan move to CRE, which is already at capacity for general education spots. And this is not mentioning that closing how itself would be a step backwards in education for the district as it is a highly performing school
046in the district based on the developmental data that has been provided to the board. Now let's talk about funds. It was mentioned at the NAACP meeting last week the district has the funds to float how for another year but we would be in the same uh hole next year. That's the wrong mentality to have. We would only be in the same situation next year if we do nothing between now and then. Why not take that option and dedicate the time to find a permanent solution to keep Howal open? You could take that year and speak with the community, work together to find options, lobby for funding, talk to the commissioner's office about next year's budget, or talk to every other financial source the board can find. We understand that your position is not an easy
047one. It's not supposed to be. You have the weight of the district on your shoulders, and every decision you make impacts the community for generations. That should be all the more reason to take a decision like this and thoroughly vet every option with school closure of any kind being the last considered, especially when funds available through title one or other funding sources would cover the costs mentioned to sustain the school. We've heard many times from Dr. Barnes that slots for students are the top concern. Ensure that all the students that have a spot now have that spot come the fall. But education is not just about slots. It's not just numbers on a page. It's about making sure that the community and families feel supported by actually being present in that community. It's about the
048culture of inclusion that anyone who has been to how can confirm is not just there to serve slots. It's about progress. In short, let's work together to move forward by expanding education access, keeping all of our prek buildings open. Don't take step backwards by [Applause] the Murphy. [Applause] [Music] I offer that if you would like reprieve from the public for effectively building a curriculum that eliminates the possibility that students are exposed to ideological diversity, learn critical thinking skills, and think for themselves, then you should be more koi. A real politician would have quietly created barriers like opting in as is done with family life. Rather, this majority acted against the recommendations of the curriculum committee put in place to provide guidance on such matters than cry about public backlash. While some of our board, and
049myself included, may be too young to have lived through Jim Crow, the civil rights movement, or desegregation of schools, some of you are not. Yet, we pretend that this is ancient history. I'm sure the parents of some in attendance preach to their then small children about the evil that was going on. Rather than banning a book like Stamped, we should have special board meetings where we invite elder members of communities who live through situations covered in stamped because whether you believe it or not, they are still alive and invite them to teach you their story. Or would that be too uncomfortable? It appears the majority of the BOE has more in common with Thomas contradiction Jefferson than they may think. They run on a platform of all men are created equal, meritocracy, and parental rights.
050Yet, they dismiss the voice of students. They dismiss the majority of parents wishes. They ignore our educated professionals. And they silence the voice of an experience they think they do not live. The makeup of the BOE and their myopic views, the 80% white population of NHC and the 60% population of white students in New Hor County schools begs for stamps to be required begs for stamp to be required reading as we are unlikely to be fortunate enough to simply turn to our right or left and inquire and learn about a life experience that differs from our own. [Applause] [Music] DeAndre [Music] Cornet. DeAndre Cornet. Mr. Corn. Okay. Christy. Oh, yes. Sorry, Amanda. I'm sorry, Amanda. These are really, really printed small and I'm having a hard time reading them. Okay. Is Amanda here? Okay. Amanda.
051Amanda first. First and Chrissy second. I was wrong. Okay. Hi everyone. Good evening. My name is Amanda Meyer. I'm a former public school teacher, community based disability service director, clinical director, and also a board-certified behavior analyst, North Carolina licensed behavior analyst, and doctoral student of psychology. The student code of conduct states appropriate interventions and disciplinary action for students place emphasis on correcting student behavior. The emphasis on correcting student behavior assumes that when a seven-year-old is raising their fists to threaten a teacher that they're doing it intentionally. But we know from reframing behavior which I hope you've all accessed the program that Miss Varnum discussed with you all last year that many behaviors are stress related. And when the stress response system senses a threat and the body feels unsafe, the survival mechanisms are actually taking
052over. And we see those observable signs of dysregulation. In fact, we actually see them in all of us here today. Disregulation in a five, six, or sevenyear-old makes it harder to think before acting, regulate their emotions, consider the feelings and the perspectives of other people, think about their consequences, listen to reasoning or logic, or even make decisions. The prefrontal cortex of the brain does all of those things. However, it can't function under levels of extreme stress. remember that we have no idea what some of these students have gone through and they're in our care every day unless they're suspended. And so we have to remember that many of their actions are actually impulsive. They're unintentional. Also, is it our role to decide somebody's intent? This is because their reactions are under control of a more
053primitive part of the brain and it aims to ensure their survival. Instead of correcting behavior, the code of conduct should place emphasis on addressing student behavior. Where counselors, psychologists, social workers, we all get to the root causes of the child's stress and reasons for feeling unsafe. We can't do that through suspension. Amanda, she sees me. Kristen I'm Christy Cardinus, a literary agent who has called Loomington home for 10 years. I was hopeful you would take the recommendation of your curriculum committee to not ban stamped by Jason Reynolds and Dr. Ibram Kendy, a revered, award-winning book exploring racism and anti-racism in America. Not one member of your committee was in favor of the ban, and yet here we are. The passion I have for books and the exchange of ideas they inspire made me ask, "What's
054wrong with people? What's wrong with this board?" But then I remember Dr. Kenji's words and he says, "It's not what's wrong with people, but what's wrong with policy?" With the banning of Stamp, you've set the precedent for policies that not only demonstrate a flagrant disregard for our teachers, but a policy not representative of our community. And now, due to the county commissioner slashing a budget that impacts our prek program, you are faced with another policy decision. I don't envy you. It's brutal. But any proposed solution that includes removing a school in our black community that honors the name of a respected member of that community that impacts the children in proximity to a program in our community. Well, that's another policy that you're putting into place that's anything but inclusive and indicative of and that
055goes against the stewardship that we've entrusted you with our vote to do as this board. In closing, I keep hearing the word decorum bandied about when people are passionate about issues that so deeply affect us. I've witnessed your communication. I've witnessed your censures, your word choice. That's not decorum. That's authoritarianism. I stand here asking you to do better. Be thoughtful of the policies that you're invoking. Please reconsider the ban of stamped and eliminate the sale of Mary Washington how as a solution for the prek shortfall as your role is to make policy that considers the entire community not just [Applause] [Music] [Applause] good evening. My name is Shannon Swiger and I am the mother of two children who have attended NC preK programs in New Hver County. My daughter attended CDC and CREC and my
056son is currently a student at CREC. And I'm here today to tell you early intervention works and I have seen it firsthand. That's why I urge you to protect preK education for our children and our community by ensuring the program continues to be fully funded this year and beyond. When my daughter Julia started prek, she was completely non-verbal and she faced serious health issues due to chromosomal difference and premature birth. I believed so strongly in early intervention that I sent her to school during CO despite very real risks to her health. And I am so glad that I did that. Thanks to the incredible ENT preK educators and therapists, my daughter has thrived. By the time she started kindergarten, she was talking, singing, writing her name, even keeping up with peers on the playground. PreK
057did exactly what it was designed to do. It helped my daughter catch up at a critical time in her development. There are so many stories like Julia, and they're represented by people here in this room today. And there's also data, a lot of which you've heard. NC PreK improves reading, math achievement. It increases likelihood of employment, home ownership, financial stability. Every dollar invested saves taxpayers up to $13 in future costs. Closing programs like how or CREC is not the solution. CRE is the only NC preK site serving southern New Hover County. Busing kids 40 minutes uh to other sites would be expensive, disruptive, and developmentally harmful. Private options aren't realistic. The school year is weeks away. Local programs have weight lists. Please, please use existing funding like unallocated Title One funds to keep these programs
058running. Thank you. EJ Hanland, [Applause] this is my first time speaking to the board. Please stop kicking five, six, and sevenyear-olds out of school. If they are threatening to beat up a classmate during recess or have an object in their backpack that could be used as a weapon or they hit a staff member. Lord knows I was hit several times as a special education teacher. Then something must have happened to them. You don't kick them out of school. Maybe they did not understand the classroom assignment. Maybe they're hungry. Maybe there's a change in their routine. Maybe they didn't get much sleep. Or maybe a sound triggered a stress response like a dog barking or a slammed door. Stress or anything that makes our bodies feel unsafe can register as a threat. The reframing behavior program
059says that's when a heightened emotional response kicks in. Stress hormones get released throughout the body. The emotional brain becomes overwhelmed and you have less cognitive control because the preffrontal cortex is not engaged. The preffrontal cortex controls reasoning, problem solving, impulse control, regulating emotions, adapting behavior to a situation, predicting consequences of behavior, and focusing attention. Suspending five, six, and sevenyear-olds for dangerous behavior is punitive. And what they really need is the counselors, the social workers to listen to them and find out what happened and come up with a plan to make them feel safe. Keep our young students in school where they can learn and thrive, please. It's 2025, people. And on another extremely important note, we have to save the how prek center. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] I'm here to advocate for my son
060who is autistic. His appeal should have already been done by now. Our policy states that appeals are to be completed as expeditious as possible. A misunderstanding in close session regarding public notice in the 48 hour rule made it where my child's case wasn't heard at the same time as other appeal cases were heard. The meeting was already noticed and the agenda could have been amended. If you are incapable of being objective in my son's appeal, then please recuse yourself and allow the rest of our elected representatives hear the facts and weigh the impact of their decision on the district and my child. We do not even have need a full majority to hear my son's case. This board has the power to create a panel of two or more board members to look at the
061facts of my appeal and vote. Clock is ticking and I've begged over and over for my son's case to be done as quickly as possible since time is of the essence. Our appeal process states that the scheduled date for the hearing will be within 30 days of the date of receipt of the petition. I submitted my appeal on June 7th to the administration and was told it was being handled. Today is July 8th. This wasn't handled in an expeditious manner and now we have passed the time limit outlined in our appeal process. I've not asked for preferential treatment nor do I believe that I need it. the fact of my the facts of my child's case should lead every board member to vote yes. You hold the fate of my child in your hands and
062I'm simply asking for you to do what is best for him. Do what is best for this student based on the facts given to you during the appeal hearing. Please allow us to have a hearing anytime Thursday or Friday morning. Anytime works for me, I will take off work and make it because nothing else matters besides my family. Thank you. [Applause] [Music] Okay, two people did not come forward when I called. Mr. uh Irving Starks, are you here? Going once. Going twice. DeAndre Corniff, are you here? Going once. Going twice. That concludes call to audience. Thank you. Um I am going to recommend that we take a fiveinut bathroom break. Um and then board members back on the dis by 6:16 Yes. Can you hear me? Can't hear me. Nobody can hear me. I Got
063him. There's Tim. So if somebody is bullied and then it'll kind of pull you up and just click change and put your stuff in and then I'll send you an email. I just want to say I know that you sit through a lot of grateful that you're still here. Thank you. I'd love to connect tomorrow. So, we don't know. All right, we are back. If everybody could find a seat, please. Uh, and up next is the new Handover High School Master Plan update. Dr. Morgan, good evening. Good evening. I still can't use these mics. I'm sorry. So, I I'm not the person you want to hear from right now, so I'm going to introduce them. Um, with us tonight, I have Mr. Charles Bony and Matt Bumstead from um, LS3P and Mr. Bruce Bowman from
064BMA BMH Architecture. They are our design team and they're going to come up here and tell you guys everything you want to hear about New Hampshire High School Master Plan presentation. Thank Thank you again. That that was a good good short introduction and we will try to make our remarks um concise. We have been studying this this uh school this wonderful school for the past six or eight months. Um we have in during that process we have met with uh school school board members. We have met with uh uh uh school led school school leaders. We've met with the leadership of New Hover High School. We've met with alumni. We have met with students. We have met with with uh community leaders. Thank you. Um and we have we have um uh done a comprehensive
065study for the school. We'll present that results of that comprehensive study to you tonight. I would say during that process, we have walked in every classroom. We have looked at every behind every door. We have opened closets um and and seen things at Hanover High School um uh that we partially expected to see and partially that we did not expect to see. Um we have looked at the school from in terms of these um five major um items. number one being safety, number two being cost, number three being educational outcomes, and then certainly operational impact and the the facility as a community asset were also studied. And so we'll present that information to you tonight. Um I represent today a coalition though of of uh several firms. um LS3P Associates as as the the um
066education consultant and architect consultant BMH Architects who have been have been engaged to do the renovation and what a great renovation project they've been been doing to to get into the the um the meat of the matter of restoring the front facade. Um um and again we've met with high with um high school leaders and high school alumni. Um we we've identified concerns including security, athletics, um program space and we found positive aspects at Panover High School including certainly the lysum program, the school spirit, the make do attitude and the can do attitude of the faculty and students. Um and we've found a deep and abiding uh um affection for the school as a whole. Um I'm going to turn it over to Bruce Bowman to talk about some of the highlights. Bruce Bruce represents
067BMH Architects and the renovation um work as well. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Dr. Barnes and board members. So, uh, BMH Architects was, um, invited to join the master plan team, uh, because of our work underway with the, uh, structural repairs and we had a meeting today to, uh, summarize where we are. And I'm pleased to report that we're on schedule. Students will occupy next month. The project will look amazing. Windows are going in and the scaffolding is coming down um, early next week. So, um you'll I think you'll be quite surprised about the uh condition of the front of the school and rest assured that the the heavy structural concerns are resolved, heavy lifting done. There's still a lot of work left to do that is uh not of that sort of uh uh
068significant structural um level. So, uh I'll uh call your attention to the diagrams that we have have up here. our planning priorities. Uh we've got some unique things going on at this school that I don't think there's not any other school that I know that has uh a roadway running through it. So right there in the middle running horizontal is Market Street. Might be hard for some of you in the back to uh uh see that. And uh you know we have a uh pedestrian bridge which is the primary crossover and that is open to the public which for example is a security concern that we are um finding design solutions for. Uh but it's a matter that should be resolved. Uh we also have um other concerns such as um bus drop off pickoff
069up on uh Princess Street where students have to leave the building to board and unboard the buses in the public rideway. That's obviously something that should be uh reworked and we have solutions for that. And uh things like um conflicts between um uh cafeteria and service entrance, crossing of students and service uses. uh that's got to be resolved too. So we we try to identify all these things as well as uh assess the conditions of the building and um sorry please. And uh now uh for a little bit more of the meat and potatoes, uh a lot of the um uh school services are undersized. We've got um uh a shortage of science classrooms. We've got a a shortage of core classrooms and the science classrooms are sprinkled around in a very ciruitous way where
070we don't have a nuclear grouping of a lot of these like elements. And um we also have some um uh disparity with um managing uh split campus. Uh how do we keep an administrative presence on the south uh campus as well as the north campus and and keep safety in mind? And you'll see as we get into this that there are there is a large courtyard that's enclosed uh planned in the final analysis. And so, uh, also, uh, you know, let me just say it's been a privilege and an honor to work on such a magnificent historic building. I'm a preservationist as well as an architect. We tried to do everything we could to um, do it the right way. And there's still a great building there left to be revived. And, and I think
071it still works very well as a high school. It's got some unique things that you wouldn't have say in a large one-story suburban school, but this is an urban campus and we were uh treating the master plan uh as an urban campus as we got into the design. So, I leave you with uh Matt Bramstead of LS3P for some of those details. Thank you, Dr. Barnes. Thank you, board. Uh so, where do we go from here? We wanted to first start off with a benchmark of a new school. On the screen you see a brand new high school would approximately be 309,000 square feet. It would include a 70 acre site and would encompass a welcoming entry, academic spaces, uh dining facilities, a gymnasium, all the athletic and supporting spaces. on the bottom left of
072the screen. You notice that our priorities that were first mentioned at the very start. The priorities that are accomplished in this type of uh option include we solve safety issues. Uh the cost is the highest of the options that we'll be presenting tonight. Uh thirdly, the educational outcomes are resolved. The operational impact uh you have a nice new high functioning school. But uh the fifth item mentioned is that the community asset is not preserved. Uh so the total cost including the building and the land is approximated to be $280 million. Now that's a total clo cost that includes things like contingencies, escalation, preconstruction fees, and all of the owner costs. The next option would be well what if we renovated the existing campus and only focused on renovation with some very minor new construction. This
073includes 224,000 square ft of full renovation. On the main building, building A, there's some orange lines that outline the back of the facility. That would be extending some of the exterior improvements and then all of the interior spaces would be updated with new mechanical, electrical, plumbing and code updates. This would total approximately $137 million. It would need to be completed in multiple phases. And so looking at the planning priorities on the bottom left, we see that we would address safety concerns and uh that would include securing the perimeter. Uh cost is not as high as the first option. Number three, the educational outcomes are still uh unresolved. Some of the red text that you see identifies that we have a shortage in academic areas and science classrooms. without expanding the footprint were unable to uh
074resolve those issues. Uh also the dining areas, the walkway, the bus drop off. Uh those are items that are left unresolved in the renovate only plan. Uh we do preserve the community asset uh which is the fifth priority here. Moving on. So, what if we combined a hybrid solution and broke it down into phases where we could build new square footage? Uh, and we're going to look at four phases beginning with a phase one solution where we focus first on security. So, that item number one, we will secure the perimeter both on the north campus and the south campus. secure the walkways so that we have a closed loop circulation system. And then in in regards to new construction, let's look at high impact spaces. What we're showing in the orange includes 67,500 square ft
075of new construction and that includes a new dining facility uh which would be located on the first floor. Above that would be two levels of classroom spaces targeted at those main core academic and science functions. Uh adjacent to that would be shifting around the band and chorus areas to create a new bus and safe bus drop off loop to bring the bus drop off from Princess Street down uh off the street and onto the campus now on the south side uh of campus. Uh so there's a little bit of a shift in some of the site work that happens there. So in regards to the planning priorities, number one, safety is accomplished through the secure perimeter and closing off the walkways. The cost is more manageable at a $60 million total project cost. uh three
076educational outcomes are achieved through providing classroom space and um addressing some of the issues with dining and security. Number four, the operational impact. This would uh more or less not disturb any of the existing classroom facilities. So by doing new construction first, it enables those spaces to be up and running before you begin any renovation. And then lastly, the community asset is preserved. Now, this is phase one of a multi-phase um process. So phase two could in fact be a renovation focus. Uh what you're seeing here includes building A which is the main building and would be three levels of renovation and that does include full exterior and interior updates. Uh it also includes updating part of building B. The area that was vacated from the dining would uh be updated to include uh space
077for either a wait room, which has now been displaced with some of the new construction uh or could be used uh for another use. The total project cost would be 75 million. And again, for the planning priorities, we're addressing and maintaining safety. And I will mention in building A, there's some new construction in the orange. The orange would create an internal circulation pathway and a closed loop so that students who would be um moving throughout the building would not need to exit the building to go to PE. Uh so that really helps address uh safety and as a high priority cost at 75 million compared to the new school um is a much u better number here. educational outcomes. We're improving spaces. The operational impact is going to be a challenge in renovation and there
078will need to be care and consideration as to what areas of the building are renovated and when that happens. So that will need to be addressed in in future discussions and reviews. And then number five, the community asset is preserved. Uh as Bruce just mentioned, uh a lot of great work is ongoing right now and that would continue. So we have two more phases. Phase three would continue focusing on secure security as a high priority. The two areas on the north and south, the big blocks that are orange, those are new facilities that would help provide a landing spot for the ends of those uh walkways that go o over Market Street. uh that will allow student uh flow to travel um from the north campus to the south campus and have a student union
079feel. Uh we would also be renovating building B and providing a new visitor entrance. The three triangles on the screen indicate areas where we could have drop off and arrival points and dispersed admins really help provide a secure presence on the campus. So this would be a $56 million total project cost. And again for the planning priorities focusing on safety, cost effective solutions, increasing educational outcomes. Again, number four is going to be something to work through with operational impact. Anytime we have um a new building in between the existing buildings, we'll need to work out construction sequencing. And then number five, the community asset is preserved. And now lastly, phase four. Uh this is could be an independent phase. Uh in each phase, we've shown it as a three-year phase that includes design and construction.
080Phase four is focused on providing an auxiliary gym. This campus does not have a full functioning auxiliary gym. The Princess Street gym is undized for that function. And so this focuses on that as a new construction element as well as renovating building C George West and then uh lastly to focus on athletics on 13th and AN and provide a solution for updating that facility. So this would be a total project cost of 42 million and again with the master planning priorities the biggest uh effort here is going to be focusing on the operational impact through renovation of building C and as well as athletics at 13th and an alto together if we were to do everything in one phase the total project cost in today's value would be 195 million. The numbers that we've been
081sharing so far have been the escalated numbers. So that would total to 230 million and that's projected over 10 to 12 years with each year having approximately 5% for escalation. So all of the orange would show the complete master plan that would address safety costs, educational outcomes, operational impact, and preserve a community asset. I'm going to turn it back to Charles to talk through some of the phasing. Thank you. We have looked at this project in in terms of phasing realizing that it's not something that we that we can either afford to build all at the same time or nor that would we want to build it all at the same time. Building everything would displace students and we obviously cannot do that. And so we've tried to figure out a way of of uh
082se separating the project and and creating some phases that that could happen could occur. So we're we're looking at at the phase one again would be an $80 million uh uh phase as as um excuse me $60 million phase. My my eyes are not as good as they used to be. Um $60 million phase as as Matt has has um noted. This next phase is $75 million phase. And we're looking at these in terms of of every two years or two to three years depending on financial ability and depending also upon the speed of construction. We're trying to finish one task before we begin the other task. And so we would see this progressing in phases as as you as you see. Um and there is a saying uh in architecture circles and planning circles
083that say make no small plans. These certainly are no small plans. We re realize that there's a great deal of ambition that this is that that this embodies, but we think that the the overall effort is worth what you see on the screen as a as a as a very very schematic design, but we think it is is worth worth the investment, worth the community investment um to to move this forward in this process. Again, we remind you that we we would be able to create secure outdoor areas. We get secure students uh uh entrances. We secure the perimeter of the the campus. We create additional a right-size dining area. Um we move weight rooms closer to where the athletics center the the campus is going to be. We really create an indoor center of
084athletics and then of course concentrate on academic performance and education spaces. So thank you very much for for this. I would say also congratulations. You've already started on this this master plan. When the small little house was purchased on Dock Street, that was that was step one. It just takes one step. So, we've gotten started. Thank you very much. I'll be happy to entertain questions now. Thank you, Mr. Perry. Um, so you presented us uh two two different options as main options. uh the a new a brand new high school at a new site, 70 acres versus this phased uh renovation. My concern with uh with this is can you tell us I mean obviously things would be vastly improved if we went with the phase plan to uh completely renovate and get uh new
085handover high school and it' be a lot better. But how would you compare it? One of our goals is to make sure that all of our high school students have equivalent educational facilities. And can you tell us with any level of insurance assurance, excuse me, that with the 15 acres that we only have about there at uh New Hover, can it actually be as good as Laney and Hogard uh Sure. and Ashley that all have 60 acres? Mhm. Sure. Well, first and foremost, you you you've hit on one point. We do not have the land, but we do have other other resources. This is an urban school, and it will never be more than an urban school, but that is an advantage in some ways because it offers different opportunities. But I'm glad you mentioned
086the portion about programming. A vital part of the pro of the work that we did was examining the educational program, comparing that to other schools, comparing that to the new Hanover County standard, comparing that to the North Carolina standard, and that is how we came up with some of the additional spaces that we have. This is this is I would say this this is the tip of the iceberg of the report that we have done. And there is a much deeper spreadsheet that we've prepared looking at all of these things in order to to generate the square footages that we project to build. Does that help answer your question? So you would say that ideally yes it it would be equivalent different but equivalent different but equivalent I think is a very good way of
087putting. Thank you. Thank you Miss Bradford. Um thank you Mr. Bony Mr. Bramstead Mr. Bowman for this presentation. It's really, you can tell you put a lot of time into it. My question will take you to uh page uh slide 13 where you've got the phases and it's got a timeline and I understood you Charles just to say that it was a 10year but I saw three-year on each page. So did that have some of it overlapping? How does how does that because 3* 4 isn't 10. What what we're what you see here is the design and construction phase there and the the phases. Okay, gotcha. The fa the phases will really be dependent upon the ability to to correct to fund fund the project however the project is funded. What we would recommend though
088is to fund the design ahead of time in order to have to flesh out the known and the unknowns here. here. This is a uh uh this plan is taken at at five or 10,000 feet above and we've got to get down into the into what I would call the the weeds of the the details. You know, the um the truth is in the details and a lot of this stuff and so that's what we would need to be doing. So, if the board were to choose this phasing situation, could it be done if money was no object? Um, well, if the money was so object, we'd probably do it differently, but if if if we had the money, if we arranged the funds, could all of that be done in a 10 year? In
089a 10ear, I think so. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Yes, Dr. Merrick. Thank you. That's uh that's a lot to to to to wade through. Uh I appreciate all you've done. You know, they say the um the best plans of war change with the first shot fired. And uh my concern or my question really is if things change, and unfortunately sometimes they do, a new board takes over, uh new uh financial concerns pop up with each of these phases and they were finished and if, god forbid, we weren't able to carry on right away, would the school be fully functional as is or would we have kids in trailers for, you know, years on end? It's it's a good question. We have not looked at it in that in that manner. I would I would say
090that we would continue as we are. The goal here is is is with each increment that we do to make the school better. Yeah.re increase its performance ultimately to to get to that that that that um uh position where where we reach parity with the other schools. But I guess the if we do say phase one uh or you know phase one and phase two and the money dries up the the community does not support a new bond etc. Yes. Uh could the school be used? Absolutely. Yes. And and it would be fully functional at least to the extent that we have used it. The goal of each one of these phases to get continue functioning and that's one of the challenges that we have on the campus is is to continue the functionality of
091the school while we do it. You know there there'll be a period there when we will we'll need trailers on on campus at some at some point and that you know that is some perhaps inevitable but once the phase is complete we hopefully have the kids back in the school. Okay. Thank you. Would you all agree with that? I if I can add to that. Sorry. Um, one of the reasons the uh phase one is the new building is to create some swing space so that we've got flex room and um, as Charles says, probably there's going to need to be some modulars or some shifting of students to make it all work. But yeah, our intent is to keep the kids in the school just as they are with the work that's been underway.
092Dr. Right. And with a little bit of planning and running room, we can make some options to make sure that this this the building can happen while school happens as well because that is the problem with this is there's no other place for people to go. So, we would have to build the new building while we were using the old building and do some shifting. So, it would be a we would have to look at logistically, but what we would do is work with our county commissioners once we know what the plan is going to be. We'll work two or three years ahead to get it done so that kids won't be disrupted. Thank you so much, gentlemen. Thank you. [Applause] All right. Next up is consensus items and I am going to pull OP
093and Q separately um as they are Capefir Community College and I'm going to make a motion to approve A through N. Second. All right. Any discussion hearing? None. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any opposed? Those pass uh five to nothing. And then um someone else I I could move to accept uh O looks like all OPQ together. OP I I I move to to go for OPQ. Second. I'm sorry I didn't catch it. Yeah. Could you say that again? OP and Q. P and Q. A motion to approve OP and Q. I'm sorry. OP AQ. Second. There was already a second. Sorry. Um any discussion hearing? None. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. That passes 4 to zero. Moving on, we have policy consensus. I'm sorry,
094I'm making sure I'm setting the timer. My time keeper is not here tonight, so I'm in charge of it. Now, um I would with the absence of Mr. Mr. Wabore, our policy chair. I will entertain a motion or I will make a motion to approve um the policies as presented. Second. Oh, okay. Discussion. Yeah, there's Justice. Yeah, there's a couple that I was looking at earlier that I'd like to discuss and pull. Um, let me see here. School assignment was one 4150. 4150. Okay. 40 4150 um trying to sorry about this uh duties of officers 2210. Okay. And any others? Okay. Um those were the main two I was concerned about. And Dr. Merrick, you I saw you had your hand raised. Uh and I'll get to you next, Mr. Perry. Uh I'd like to
095pull 2330, please. 2330. Any others? Okay. And Mr. Perry, the um 6220. Okay. So, 6220. I don't That one is not on here, sir. Is it? Is it? It's the bottom. Oh, okay. Who is that? Madam Chair, I would move to amend the agenda. Amend the motion excluding 4150, 2210, 2330, and 6220. All right. I'll second that. I'm writing down what that leaves behind. So I need some one to be sure that I am getting it all right. Um so that leaves behind should leave behind 1300500600700 Mhm. 1720 Those are the Okay, those are the left behind ones. Those are the ones in the motion. Those are the left behind. Okay, so there is a motion to approve those that were just listed. What he said. Uh I seconded it. Okay. All those in favor
096signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? That passes 5 to zero. All right. So, Miss Justice, you brought forward um 4150. So, we'll Well, do you want to start at this top and we'll just work our way down? 2210 would be the first one logically in that order. This makes it easier that way. Duties of officers. Go ahead, Miss Justice. Okay. Uh unfortunately, I was not at the policy meeting. I was someplace else for a good reason. Um, and I'm looking at this and there is one part in here that disturbs me to a certain extent. Ensuring accountability. The chairperson helps ensure that the board and the superintendent are accountable for their decisions or actions. Madam Chair, are we on 4150? 22. Sorry, we're on 2210. Thank you so much. I'm sorry. We started. Yes,
097we started with 2210. My apologies. And madam chair, point of order. If the um board member could tell us which letter, which item she Oh, okay. Uh F F. Okay. Where are you? 2210. 2210 F. I don't even see. Why is it on? Madam Chair, with your permission, I can read. Um I think Miss Justice was reading it. showing. Last thing I see is D on the assembly. Really? I'm see uh it's F on assembly. Why is my assembly not showing 20? Oh, are you there? All right. 2210F. Yes. And you said you had some concerns, Miss Justice. Yes. It says the chairperson helps ensure that the board and the superintendent are accountable for their decisions and actions. That's extremely subjective even though we all think we know what accountability is. Uh and that can
098be misused and it's I've seen it things like this misused very often. So was that even in the old one? No. So I'm not even sure why anybody would put something like that sub subjective in there. How can you be hold people accountable where adults were elected officials? Maybe the superintendent, no offense, because he does have a stated job criteria, but as far as our positions go, that would be something that um very nebulous and I don't see how that could be in, you know, applied. It just doesn't make sense. Is you know, we're all adults. We're all elected officials. Uh we don't have a job. We have a job per se listing, but it's not the same as just about any other job in our district ex because we're very unique. Yeah. So, how
099could a chairperson hold us accountable? That's another thing. They're they basically are the elected, you know, position. Who's going to hold them accountable? The only accountability we really have is to the voters s some sadly or I apologize by the way. Uh when you said F, I assumed it was under you you were looking at A1 F or something like that. So um so I was thinking there was a section F. So okay, I'm just trying I'm just trying to understand why that's there. It just seems strange and nebulous. Miss Bradford. Um Madam Chair, I move that we accept policy 2210 as written. And I will second that. Well, we still have discussion. We still got there's further discussion that we can have. There's a motion and a second. Go ahead. Go ahead. Yeah, I
100would amend that motion that we send it back to policy. Yeah. Uh after full disc uh full discussion of what we haven't had yet the discussion I would like to add in a few things. Uh additional responsibility. There's far too much authority given to one person who can act capriciously or in a partisan manner with no accountability to the member or to the board and with no guardrails to curtail that power until another chair is chosen the next year. It's not just right now and it's not personal to our present chair but I don't believe this body should be able to give permission to the chair to do all the things that are being said here. For instance, the chair alone would be able to censure a board member. The chair alone would be able
101to remove a board member from committee assignments for any period of time. Uh the board chair alone would be able to uh take away other privileges so long as the actions are not inconsistent with state law. What we're setting up is a strong chair. And right now, understanding government systems, we have a weak chair. Uh what that means, not that you're weak, don't get me wrong, but a weak chair means that you're actually just another board member who has certain privileges. And this this policy changes all of that and it's just inappropriate. I think we really need to send it back to policy, right? Um, in reading it, it says, "Regardless of whether the board member makes an apology, this is under additional responsibilities, second paragraph, regardless of whether the board member makes an apology
102at a board meeting in open session, the board may member may be subject to a disciplinary action by the board upon a majority vote of the board. This does not give the chair the authority. This gives the board the authority in a majority vote of the board if they violated the code of ethics. Mr. Perry and then Miss Justice. Yeah. So I and I was reading the same thing, but then again, so then I have to ask the question, this is about the chair's responsibility. So why is this here? Um it doesn't make any sense to be here. Um we're talking about the duties of the chairperson. So, I would probably make a motion to amend or at least remove that under additional responsibilities and then pass the rest. Mr. Justice, that was an example
103of confusion right there. There's several others in here, too. This is why I'd like to see it sent back. And I wasn't here today. I mean, I was in surgery. I'll be honest with you. Couldn't be at the policy meeting. Um, but I would like for this to discuss this again. This is too important. I've been on this I was originally elected to this board in 2018 and I've gone through several permutations of this kind of uh duties for the chair and different sharers and I have seen extreme abuse by some people. I'm not saying you for sure uh actually you're pretty darn fair. I think Pete was too. But I have seen I have seen some really bad abuse by other chairs and this leads to that situation occurring. So I would like to
104go back to policy so we can discuss this again. It's just a matter of discussing it and shore things up like we just pointed out. There's an inconsistency already. We've discovered um we have about five minutes and three other policies. Miss Bradford had her hand up and then um Dr. Merrick. Um Madam Chair, if I'm not mistaken, the policy committee has three board members on it. So this is brought to us which meant two board members had voted to bring it forward to the full board. So, I think we're wasting our time to send it back to policy. I would um think it would be I if if the majority wish here tonight is to look at it again, then we should just move it to our next board meeting um when there's more board
105members present because policyy's already heard it. You're going to hear the same result probably by sending it back. And in the meantime, we've we've killed another month or two months actually in that process. So, um I would uh we have a couple motion and an amendment already. So, we can't we can't amend an amendment, right? So, um my secondary my second pardon my my substitute uh motion was to send it back to policy. I believe it was seconded. So, I guess that's where we would be now. But I I think uh to to answer my my colleague to the left um there are a lot of things here that are vague that we all read differently which means uh new board members are going to read it differently and we do need to make uh
106some changes to this policy. I think it's absolutely appropriate that we send it back to policy. Right. Well, I just let me add really quick and you know, I wasn't at the policy meeting and I know two people chose it, but I've actually since I have been on the board since 2018 had more of an experience based than those and that's not insults, it's factual. I'm just being practical here. That's I would like to discuss it with the other two policy members, public members and policy board. All right. So, there is a motion to send policy 2210 back to policy. Miss Buoie, will you please call the role? Miss Bradford, no. Dr. Merik, yes. Miss Mason, no. Miss Justice, yes. And Mr. Perry, yes. All right, that passes. So 2210. We'll be going back to
107policy. We have uh three minutes and three policies. So 2330. Miss Justice, that was you. I know that was me. or oh sorry Dr. Merrick. Yeah. Um 2330 just for the uh it's about board meeting agendas and setting the agenda. And a little history here is that uh there used to be no no basis by which an individual member could put something onto the agenda without a board chair's approval. and previous board uh arrangements here uh different members had realized that that was unfair that the board chair should not have that much power. Um and so they instituted a new policy that said that if any member and a second uh second member to second that motion that the issue had to come to the board within two months. And that's an important way of
108maintaining uh a balance of power on the board and not letting one person or one group sort of uh hijack the proceedings. Um the board chair having unilateral power to send to a committee is really what I'm talking about here is that we bring something and we second it and then the chair says, "Oh, I'm going to send it to committee." This is how things die. This is how motions go to die. we send it to committee so the committee can squash it and I don't think it gives an opportunity for the full board to be able to uh to make concerns. I think it would be appropriate if the the chair said you know what that belongs in committee and then we as a as a board we vote to send it to committee.
109I think that's appropriate and it really wouldn't slow anything down. So I would make so I would make that motion that we we send it back to policy to make that update. a second. All right, we have about one minute. Uh, Mr. Perry, I I I wrote this addition to the policy because I do think there are times when uh in an expeditious manner we our committee is the best place for uh the conversation to begin. However, I put safeguards in this thing in order to make sure that it is done in a timely manner and that each board member will even if they're not on the committee would be able to present the idea to that committee so that they can be heard. So, uh, I think it's the best of both worlds. That's
110why I came up with it. And Miss Bradford, you have 30 seconds. Um, I'm going to offer amendment to that motion to send it to the full board at the next board meeting. And I will second that. Um, since we are at time, Madam Chair, may I make a motion that we uh add five minutes so we can do the next two the next two policies? Yeah, I'll second that. Okay. Um, discussion hearing none. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed? No. That passes 3 to two. Um, there is a motion to send 2330 to next month's regular meeting. Um, and there that was seconded. Uh, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Um, no. No. That passes three to two. Um, we have five more minutes. We
111asked four. So, let me just make sure. I think 4150 is the next one. Yes. 4150. Okay. So, so 4150 was brought by Judy I believe Miss Justice. Yes. Okay. School assignments. Um I move actually I would like to send this back to policy committee. Um I move that we do this. It we've discussed this briefly at times in this meeting. I again was not there. I'm so sorry. It takes months to get surgery dates. I had no choice. Um but this is important to a lot of people. Uh the student assignment plan shall detail anyway detail the procedures for how the lottery assignment will work. All arteries will provide an equal chance for all students to be selected. No weighted preferences shall be made. This is huge. They made an amendment and there this
112does not include the cooperative innovative high school programs. I think this needs more discussion. I'd like to send it back to policy. Um I was there there was a second for that. Correct. Um I saw Miss Bradford and then Mr. Perry. Madam Chair, I would move to amend the motion to send this to the full board at our next meeting. Is there a second to that? No. Um I will second that. Uh Mr. Perry, this is unlike M. Justice. I think she's mistaken. This has been the policy committee for two different meetings. Uh it it want it was there once when Dr. Barnes wasn't there and then last months when he was. So Dr. Barnes gave his input on this. He we we discussed this in length with him through uh last meeting. Yes. At
113the last meeting, but you weren't there for the last meeting, but you were there for the first time we brought it up. So this has been discussed. This is a equal and fair opportunity for all of our Eaton and Cottington schools for every parent to have an equal chance to get their child into into one of these uh year- round schools. And I think that's and I think we need to pass this and pass it now. Madam Chair, I will withdraw my amended motion. Okay. So there is a motion to send this back to committee. I want to make a motion if you pass it now. Just hang on. Okay. So, there's a motion to send it to committee that we need to vote on. Um, I haven't had a chance to speak. Go ahead,
114Dr. Merrick. You're correct. You have Madam Chair. Um, I I do I agree with my colleague at the end that we have discussed this uh quite a bit. Um, the one thing that I keep bringing up and I haven't really gotten an answer yet because I'm not on the policy committee is that we have a lottery and the uh the decision of this policy would be to make sure that everyone has an e equal chance on that lottery. And I think of all the things that we could do for our educators, you know, lots of ideas have been thrown about. Can we help with them with with housing? Uh, can we help them? You how do we help our teachers? How do we retain them? how do we recruit them? And it it it just
115seems to me that they should be given some sort of priority, you know, whether it they get to shortcut the line before the lottery or something. But we've got to do something for our educators if if if their kids and they have a need to send them to a certain school or even a desire. I think we should support our teachers. And Miss Justice, just to let you know, we have about two minutes to discuss both policies. Okay. And that's just one aspect of the discussion. And no, the first time we had it in policy, we didn't really talk about because Dr. Barnes wasn't there. So, we did have it when I wasn't there and that's why I would like to have it back in policy to discuss it further. Um, this is huge. This
116is a ramification for kids in our district and teachers. Um, it's it's not just a matter of a lottery. It has a lot to do with educational studies and outcomes. Um, we need to start doing that more and play less politics in this district because this is tied to educational proven systems that work and they're trying to remove some right now due chair. I called the question due excuse me due to circumstances that aren't what's best for education of our kids. We have one minute and there is a motion to send this which would be 4150 back to policy. Miss Buoie, will you call the role? Mr. Perry, no. Miss Justice, yes. Miss Mason, no. Dr. Merrick, uh, I want to send it back. Yes. And Miss Bradford, no. All right, that motion fails. We
117have about 30 seconds to make a motion that we pass it right now. It's actually sitting on the table. Is there a second? Okay. Um, as we are running out of time, uh, Miss Buoie, will you call the role? Mr. Perry, I. Miss Justice, no. Miss Mason, yes. Dr. Merrick, no. And Miss Bradford, yes. That passes 3 to two. We have We are at time and we have 6220. So, I will make a motion to push that to the next meeting. Okay. I'll second that. Okay. Uh, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? That passes. 5 2 0. All right. Next up is a budget update, which is our illustrious Dr. Barnes. If that's going to lead us directly into the prek conversation, do we want to do the other one
118first or is that new business? Yeah, budget first. Okay. Well, prek is in there as well. So, budget update. The letter is in new business. I I apologize. Yes. All right. So, I know that all of a lot of you are here specifically to talk about preK. Before we do that, I have to talk about the state of the budget that we're in. mostly because I want to make sure that information information is communicated transparently, but also because it involves something I sent you folks all today. So, you're going to have to bear with me. It's going to take a few minutes, but I think it's relevant. So, here we go. So, as you everybody should know by now, uh we get our revenue for running the school system from three specific sources. We get
119money from the local government, from our county commissioners. We get loading money from the state and we get money from the federal government. It all comes sort of in different pockets in different ways, but those are our three main revenue sources. We worked hard to make sure the budget went to the county in April. We passed the budget 70 approved a budget, sent it on. In the time since we've sent that budget, we have seen a reduction in all three of our main revenue sources. a hit from the state, a reduction from the county, and a reduction now that happened just last week from the federal government. So, the local government uh made the equivalent of 975,000 through the reduction of six pre-K classrooms. Now, that's six teachers, six teacher assistants. the North Carolina Department
120of Public Instruction. Every year, obviously, you folks know that we have a local supplement for certified staff. That local supplement was um put us at the in the top five basically of supplements in the state, which was a huge accomplishment. In the past, the state, the Department of Public Instruction has supplemented our local supplements. Okay? So, they give a supplement to our supplements. Every year it's between um it's two and a half$2.3 million dollars that we then put into our pot of money that we pay for supplements out of for local local supplements this year. And everybody over here in senior staff, I prepped this with you today. So if I'm missing something, you make sure you tell me. The assessed tax value has increased in New Hover County to the extent that we've crossed
121over the threshold for the state to send us money for our local supplements. So, the state is not sending that $2.3 million to us. In addition, the reduction of at risk and uh our poverty numbers have decreased of $400,000 from the state as well. So to recap, that's $975,000 reduction from the county. That's a 2 3.7 2.7, excuse me, $2.7 million reduction from the state. And then just last week, we were told that the federal government is holding our funding in several areas. Now, the funding from the federal government comes in what's called title money, and it's specific for specific um uses. Thank you. Title one is for uh at risk and lowincome students. Title two is for true improving teacher quality. Title three is for migrant education. Title four is for sort of improving
122curriculum and instruction. Did I say that right? What's title four? What's it called? Sorry. Yeah, right. I wasn't asking you. It's actually called um Hold on, I've got it right here. Um student support and academic enrichment is actually the title. Okay. So, the title money comes directly from the federal government to us. Uh the other two big the two biggest pots in that money is something called IDEIDA which is federal funding for special needs students and title one which is obviously the funding I mentioned earlier for at risk and poverty. So they have frozen our title two, title three and title four money at this point. That money is typically used for funding our beginning teacher support program, for our emerging leader program, our licensing software that's required to record CUS for teachers to get
123their license renewed, and our stipens for mentor teachers for beginning teachers. It also funds migrant education and curriculum and multi- language learners. So that funding is $1.6 million. And so when you add that total up, it's just a shade over $5 million. That's $5 million that we are not getting that we thought we were getting in April. Okay. A couple of details to kind of frame our thinking as we go forward. Yes, nurses. Um to answer his question, the the funding for nurses actually rolls through the health department. I didn't add this into this one because I really was focusing on specifically our line items. Uh but there a couple of details to know of folks. This is the reason why it's essential for us to maintain and have a fund balance because normally what
124would happen is we would have a hit like this happen and we would have six or seven million sort of in our savings account. And then we would say we're not we're going to cover this for a year while we make plans methodically and carefully to cover this overage. It gives us time to land a plane or to reduce a plane to a lower altitude if that makes sense. So the critical need for having a fund balance really helps you cover things like this for a year or two so we have time to adjust and if we have time to make the budget fit again. We don't have that opportunity now. I also want to remind you that 83% of our budget is tied up in people. Last year, we lost $13 million. It was
125going to be 20 and the state stepped up a little and the county stepped up a little and helped reduce that to 13 million. But when you take 13 million and take 83% of that number, that's how many staff we lost. We have 300 less employees than we had a year ago. And this is the reality of what we're looking at. $5 million. Yes, ma'am. I want to iterate that we had a really healthy fund balance and we were forced to spend it down by the county commissioners. That was not our choice and we're trying to build it up again, but we're just starting. I'm not trying to point fingers, but I just not that was not our decision. We were trying to make good good decisions when that happened. I just wanted to I
126think for me the challenge is obviously I've only been at this a year a year this month. I think I'm less worried about how we got where we are, but what do we do now we're here? So the fund balance is one step. Okay. 83 83% of our budget. $5 million equates to 50 certified or 100 classified people. And I'm going to tell you as superintendent, I cannot afford to lose any more people and do the job that we're here to do. Okay? Every single one of these hits that well, not hit reductions, we'll call it reductions. Every one of these reductions that we're experiencing, if I had one of them, with Ashley's help and the help of everybody, we can bob and weave a little bit. I could use carryover money like we've talked
127about tonight. Um there's something called lap salaries and I'm going to give you an example and this is another testament to our HR department. But if a job lays vacant for a month and it's a job that we had in our budget and someone left and it took us a while to get a new person in or something like that, that month of salary can be reappropriated to cover things that we need. Well, that doesn't sound like much, one person for a month. But if you do it over the course of a whole year, it gets to be a little more money that you can then use to offset things like this happening. Okay. The other challenge is so lap salaries, cutting travel costs, limiting spending, you know, not letting anybody buy pens, that all
128that together could cover one of these reductions. Having three at once is a number that's really challenging because it's crept over $5 million and there's not that much fudge built into anything. The other thing is we built our budget. We don't have a state budget yet. We don't know what the the ultimate resolution of the title funding is going to be from the federal government because it's still in flux. It just happened last week. So, we built in our budget for next school year a percent raise of 3% for all of our employees. And actually, we went to the county and asked them to help fund that cost of living adjustment so that we could make sure we didn't lose more staff this year. We don't know what the state's raise is going to come
129in at. What happen if it comes in at 5%. That means our budget will be off by a couple of million dollars that we won't be able to afford. And as we go forward, I think as we go into this prek conversation, I've got a recommendation for that if you once we get done with that conversation. But currently, we don't have a signed state budget. The federal reduction to title one funding is just too recent to know how that's going to play out in the long term. I think it's foolish to make definitive declarative decisions with so many things still in flux. And I don't like it. But I also think that we might have to adopt sort of a wait and see policy a little bit and say, "Okay, we're going to open up
130the school year kind of where we are. See where we are." And as we get into the school year, if you remember last year, we found that we were able to cut some money out and then put it back out into positions. That's great. We may have to do the other side of that this year. So my recommendation is try to get us to like November, December, January and let Ashley and I sit down with Miss Sutton and I sit down with you folks and say, "Okay, we're halfway through the year extrapolating out to the end of the year. We're going to be a million short. We're going to be $500,000 short. We're going to be okay. Whatever that's going to look like over the course of time because there's so many things that are
131in flux." And then at that point, there's a lot of options that I can do or bring to you guys to help us bring us back into compliance if we feel like we're over budget at that time. And it's things like, well, first off, I need everyone to understand all the carryover money, which is money that our federal government lets us keep from one year to the next if we don't spend it all in one year. Currently, they haven't taken that back, but they could, and that's to the tune of about a million dollars. We have about $700,000 in title one. We have about 300,000 350,000 in title two. So, as long as that's not taken back, all that's going to be used to try to balance this. Um, we're going to use 100% of
132lap salaries to try to cover the distance between the two salaries. But I mentioned lap salaries earlier. I want to explain to you what that money normally would be used for. And I think your educators in here are going to agree that it's a smart way to do it, but we just won't have the flexibility. Lab salaries is a good thing to use for something like this. Gee, Tim's broke his leg. Sorry, Tim. Dr. America has broke his leg. He's going to be out for three months. It was a bad break. Okay. I can use lap salaries to pay a teacher to cover his class during that planning period. It helps that teacher earn a little more cash. It helps make sure we have an educated teacher in there. and that's what that money can
133be used for. Or you know, Miss Bradford is retiring in in at spring break. Well, with lap salaries, I could bring the new teacher in. She's brand new teacher. I could bring her in two weeks before spring break and let them overlap in the class with those third graders or whatever that Miss Bradford slides out. The teacher's already established. That's good instruction for kids. Those are things that I won't do. assistant principal has to be gone to have a baby. Normally, I would use lap salaries to put a replacement in there for the two months that they're gone or three months or six months or whatever. That's things I won't be able to do with that money because a 100% of it is going to be going towards trying to repair this. Okay. Um, we
134can't appropriate what little fund balance we have, although it does exacerbate the problem we just spoke of earlier. We can go back to the endowment. we can ask them to repair some of the funding. However, I do want to make it known that we already have a couple of large grants with the endowment and another one that we've asked for for specifically positions to help support the things that we hear about here every month in schools. Um, we can go back to the county commissioners for the funding. However, they're busy laying off their own staff. That's going to be a hard I think that's going to be an uphill that's an uphill hill decline. Okay, we can do a hiring freeze starting with our central office and moving to schools. I can have further conversations
135with you folks about redistricting or consolidating. I can obviously respect SP restrict spending and travel. We can reduce local supplements. That's not terribly popular. And of course, we're going to have to continue to advocate for addressing this problem at the state and the local level. So, as we move into the conversation about prek, however we get into that conversation, please know that I'm not an advocate of any of the choices that are in front of me. However, I'm trying to do and deal with competing needs and reduced number of resources. So, everyone in here wants what's best for kids up here included. But I have to make sure that when it comes to next May, you all still get a paycheck. Okay? All of us included. Okay? So, we have to find a way to
136balance. Um, so that's sort of the update for the budget. Um, three hits in a row is a lot, but I think that it's it's important that everyone knows that transparently. I'm sorry. I'm done. No, you're good. Uh, Miss Bradford, you had your hand raised a bit ago. I would like to take a and make a formal motion that we accept the recommendations that the superintendent just said, and that would be to adopt a wait and see option at least for the beginning of the year to get us close to the first semester and assess our current state and then explore the 10 options that he just listed. Um, we all had this in in a in a memo from him. um it's not new information to us and that we do that and and
137and that's my motion that we adopt the recommendation of the superintendent to do those things and take a wait and see get through the end of of into November and December and see where we are. Okay. Is there a second? I will second that just for purposes of discussion. Um Dr. America, it's hard to tell parents, we're going to wait and see what happens with your child. I know that we've got tough decisions. I'm not I'm not I'm not blaming you for that. But when we're talking about Mary Washington, how and we're talking about the history and and and I didn't even know all this history, but I started looking into it. Do you know how many schools have been closed in black neighborhoods in this city over time? Um, Dr. Merrick, I I don't
138want to because there was a motion and the discussion right now should be on that motion. We will definitely be talking about Mary how what I'm actually doing is making an amendment okay to the motion that we commit to Mary Washington how for the entire year and roll that into you know whatever else we have to do even if it means at the mid year going what what else do we have to do I just don't think that that that option on the table. We're community. If we don't have community, it doesn't matter. And we cannot shut down that community one more time. So that's my amendment. Um there is [Music] there is an amendment amendment to that. Is there a second? I guess I'll second it. Okay. Um Miss Justice and then Mr. Perry
139and then Miss Bradford. Um, this is this is something that rarely has happened ever at this school district. This this whole situation, this is heartbreaking. Um, it's sad that we have government bodies that don't seem to understand how important their responsibility is to our public schools. We're like sort of an afterthought for these other people making these decisions. And I'm so sorry about that. As far as how goes, it's very evident. Uh, Dr. Barnes came up with seven different solutions originally before we realized how actually bad it was. And that was just one of part of those solutions. And it was heartwarming to see the community outpouring shows you how much we love that school. I really sincerely don't think that's going to be a problem with it staying open. It needs to. Um but
140yeah, these are good motions. Although I don't I don't even know if there's a precedent for having to make these kind of motions. You know that this is so sad. Uh you guys, my advice to you is contact the county commissioners, your state representatives, and the federal government. We've got to have our society responsive to our kids of all things that we should not be the lowest ones on the totem pool. So, I agree with both of the amendments. Mr. Perry. Um, we do need to deal with this quickly and I'm not generally opposed and I am becoming more and more convinced that we need to at least stop gap uh fund how for at least the next year so we have time in order to come up with a long-term solution. However, I don't
141want to pass this or any other ones when we are missing Miss Barnhart and we are missing Mr. Wilder. I think we need their input. So I would ask us a motion to table this. We already have a motion and an amendment. We can't have another always motion to table. That's over. We already have a motion. Motion to table the motion. Don't believe that we can do that. I can add another motion to an amended motion. You can I think that's a amend amended motion. No, we cannot do that. Right. We cannot do that. As parliamentarian point of Okay. Um, yes, Dr. Merrick. I think uh uh sir, if you will take a look at Robert's rules of order, uh there's a ascending uh levels of priorities to motions and I believe that the motion
142to table has a higher level of priority than the amended motion that I made. I'm I'm just trying to support my my colleague down here. I believe that's the case. Um I don't agree with that. I think once a motion has been amended, you got to deal with that motion. That's my understanding. So, we'll deal with the the amended motion first. Miss Bradford, just a point of order um to table. It is not debatable. Just point that out. It's not debatable. Okay. All right. So, there is a motion um Dr. Merritt, can you restate your motion, please? My motion is to uh commit to funding Mary Kay Mary Washington how uh for the remainder of the 2526 year and take that off the table of all the options that we have. Okay. [Music] Point of
143clarification. Yeah. Yeah. Miss Bradford. So Dr. America is proposing that we accept the recommendations of the superintendent including the 10 things with the small exception of going ahead assuring the parents at how that they've they're good for the rest of the school year. Is that correct? I believe it was to add how to that. It wasn't because it's an amendment. It was to add how to what you had said. That's right. But but is the outcome what I just said after we vote on the amendment and the mot the original motion? Yes. Okay. Are we No, I'm not clear. Okay. Miss Justice, go ahead. Okay. The original motion that Miss Bradford made and it was amended by Dr. Merritt add. So that's what we're talking about now. Correct. I'm just clarifying. Yes. So we first
144vote on the amendment and then we will vote on the original motion. Dr. Barnes, go ahead. Sir, we are sort of um I don't want to do a Ghostbusters reference, but we're crossing the streams a little bit. Um it's not necessary for you to make a recommendation. I'm I'm not bringing you a budget reduction or a budget change right now because I think the wait and see attitude is the way to go. That's not something you necessarily have to vote on because if we do have to come back and do a revision, that's going to be a budget motion. to be here. First off, I would never recommend closing a a school or making a school choice in the middle of a school year. So, I think if if you want to make the prek1
145conversation and the budget the other, this is moreformational, I guess, than it is anything else. But I just wanted to make sure we're clear at the outset of of what the budget looks like for all of us. So, if that makes that easier, I'm I'm cool either way. So, Madam Chair, is he asking us to separate these two things? I believe because I was under the impression that um if we were going to do prek in a minute and I do believe the outcome will be the same if we put the prek in a minute and do that then but to separate these back out. Um which would mean Dr. America, you would withdraw for a moment. Let us pass this and then we'd go do that one and and and yeah, because I I
146know the consensus that we have here. Yes, I I'm happy to withdraw my amendment. Thank you. Much appreciated. All right. So, there is a motion to um to take Dr. Barnes's recommendations of wait and see. Um so, Miss Booby, will you call the role? Miss Bradford, yes. Dr. Merrick, yes. Miss Mason, yes. Miss Justice, yes. And Mr. Perry, yes. Well, I could have just done a consensus, but All right. So, that passes 5 to zero. Moving next to the prek budget update. Before you make a motion, Dr. Barnes, was there information you needed to share with us? I think it might be healthy just to do a recap if everyone's good with that. if you That's why I didn't say a lot during my superintendent comments. Okay. So, when we received this $975 reduction, to
147be fair to the county commissioners, we can use other money to put that money back in, right? We could cut something different and put that back in. However, the the cut was significant. A couple of things in that in the interest of transparency I just wanted to give you a brief overview. A couple of things we've talked about is the fact that prek funding I think whatever we talk about we need to be aware that every year we are having to supplement prek to make it viable. The state does not provide enough funding for prek to be viable on its own which is its own issue. Okay. I do want to say that I have been trying to make sure that a solution comes out that grows out of prek that doesn't affect our other
148schools as well. That is difficult because the money gets muddled sometimes. So we talked about what our requirements are and we said our requirements were that we promised 540 slots to parents. I talked to one of them today who said should I not bother? I said no. If we told you you have a slot, you have a slot. I was under the impression that that was the most important thing. However, I think neck and neck with that is the feeling of tie and community buyin to a certain building. I don't think anyone is trying to tell me that you should sacrifice slot. I think that they're equally important. Can we all agree that that is the case? So, minimizing disruptions, fiscally responsible decisions. I will tell you that we are going to have to if
149I'm going to if we are going to see as a district a $5 million cut every year from now on we're going to have to make some really hard decisions. But at this point in time I gave the board seven different solutions. I have come up with two more in the last couple of weeks. And if you so choose, I will give you my recommendation. Um or you guys can discuss and then whatever you guys want to do. So, the different solutions we discussed, and I am not saying I think these are any of these are good solutions. I'm here looking for solutions, folks, too. Okay? One is to stop prek transportation. That would be about $300,000 that would be used to offset the cost. We could return to the county commissioners and ask them
150to reconsider their decision. We could turn to the endowment and ask them to make up for the deficit in funding. We could use our fund balance to make up the deficit. Although honestly that would be a stretch. We could begin to offer paid slots for families who don't meet the criteria for prek and sort of bolster it. I will tell you in our assessment depending on obviously how much you charge families. You're that's not going to solve it the problem itself. Okay. Not not all by itself for sure. Obviously there's use of both carryover money and drawing some money away from other title one schools to balance using title one funding. I do want to make sure that if we explore that option that is going to reduce the amount of title one funding that
151goes to our 21 other schools who receive title one funding. And then of course uh we talked about how and after receiving several comments you could shift the folks from CRE instead. That is another choice. And the last choice I've had that came from a family member or a parent, interestingly enough, half of the land at how is not utilized. It's it's sort of dead space. It's uh tree. Is it woods? What is it? Trees. Trees and woods, that kind of thing. Yeah. So, the parking lot kind of goes into this sort of dead space. We could explore whether it's an option to cut it in half, save the school where it is that to try to over the you know the coverage land. So um I know and we but we don't get land
152back. I think that I want to make sure that the board understands that we are going to do what's best for kids but we have to do that in a way that's fiscally sustainable. So tada. There you go. That's your update. You want a recommendation or do you want What's your recommendation? I think that we all agree that the someone pushed the shot clock on this a lot faster than we'd like. We've had no time to absorb and honestly folks, the hits just keep on coming. The one came as early as Thursday last week. We have about We're talking about $975,000 in the interim. We have about $700,000 of carryover from title one that we earmarked last year to help balance prek. We could balance again and send it to this forward to do it
153as well. And the rest of that um would probably need to come from either the Title One funding that I had earmarked to put back out to schools to make up the difference or to hold off on some of the security improvements at our traditional high schools and use the county the money has given us to access and make up the difference. So my recommendation I think that you guys need to discuss or we all need to discuss or I need to give you a proposal or something over the next several years to figure out how prek can become sustainable. Mhm. That is a challenge that I don't know how it fix yet. But I do think that we are going to be in this position a year from now with the same problem and
154the same non-solutions if we don't really put some effort towards finding a permanent solution. Now, what does that permanent solution look like? I don't know. But I don't like all the work we've done to build up trust with the community to be undercut because we have to run on a shot clock. So, my recommendation would be to let me use the title one money to get us started and then everyone's just going to have to tighten their belts and get to the rest of the year and see where it lands. I'd like to make a motion that we accept this recommendation as a stop gap measure so that moving forward to take care of the uh BK funding. Second amended. That was that was your original motion, wasn't it, Dr. I think that was my
155motion. I do want to make a mention though and this is for the public. We're going to have to make really hard decisions. But what I'm saying about Mary Washington how is that that community has already made those hard decisions again and again and again. And I just think that coming back to the same well is inappropriate. We're going to have we're going to have to do some horrible things. I mean someone's going to someone's going to lose. If we say Mary Washington House stays, you know, something else is going to happen. And and and they're going to have every reason to gripe. I just don't think that we can keep making the same community. So, thank you for letting me have my piece, Miss Bradford. Um I'm in favor of this motion, but I
156want to let those in the audience know that I believe that we should leave it there. We would there. I'm not in favor of selling real estate. I'm not in favor of closing the school. Not this school. I believe doing it would deepen the pain. I believe that you got a little bit of a band-aid when we did what we did at Williston, but the wound is still there very deep. It's not fully healed. And I cannot. Now, there's an interesting fact that we learned in all of our study, and you can say we didn't close a black school, but this isn't a black school. the black students are in the minority at the school. It's actually more Hispanic than it is and then white and then black. So, it's an interesting fact. The other
157thing is that this school was renovated in 2000, just four and a half, five years ago. So, of our uh quiver of schools, this one's in darn good shape. So, why would we want to do anything to it? And academically, you know, we don't have any numbers, but everyone agrees it's a big part of the community, and my heart was not in it to do that. So, I want you to understand that we learned um I knew the history, but hearing y'all talk to us last Monday night was really good. Um and I couldn't do that. So, I'm in favor of this motion and to allow the superintendent to bring us some options. Um I'm not in favor of cutting the transportation. I'm not in favor of of of selling off a part of that
158land. It runs from 10th to 12th and uh Mirs to Marstellar. It's a gorgeous chunk of land. It's high ground and I think, you know, we maybe could build something on that property at another time if an elementary school was needed in the southern end of the county, but I just I I can't go there. And so I'm going to support anything that says we don't hurt how um [Music] mice and I appreciated all of you and all of your comments and everyone who called me and everyone's comments tonight. Thank you, Miss Justice. Okay, I'm saying this the second time if I can say it a thousand times. Everybody out there listened. Listen, this is being made decisions by politicians who are not putting our kids first. There's only one way to change that. Listen,
159you contact them. Contact the county commissioners. Contact the people in Raleigh. Contact the people in Washington DC. Please pay attention to how they behave and you hold them accountable. Our kids deserve better. This is up to you. You're the voters. [Applause] Mason. Uh Mr. Perry, I just wanted to We are in a tight situation now and uh we have to make decisions soon uh about this and that doesn't solve all of our problems as you are well aware. This just solves our prek problem. We still got other problems we got to solve. Um but the um I'm I do think that this is given our current funding this is an unsustainable program. So we need to find new solutions and but we need time in order to plan that. And so that is why I
160think this is a wise idea to give us enough time uh to really come up with a long-term solution for prek and how we're going to fund it because I do think it's so very important for the future success of our students. Thank you. All right. So, there is a motion and a second and that is to Mr. Perry. Can you restate it for us, please? That we accept Dr. Bond's recommendation that we fund uh how prek for for this school year using title one money and whatever other money comes up with them. Okay. Right. Uh and Dr. Sorry, a couple things. It's obviously you could easily take the the the name how and change it with Johnson or change it with Cre. I think we're not talking about we're talking about sustaining all three
161of our prek buildings. I don't want us to get the idea that this is just Thank you for the clarification. No, no, it's No, that was just as I'm thinking. The other thing to consider or think about is that the the number of slots that we have open at the beginning of the year is 540. Okay, that's how many letters we sent out in April. You have a spot. 540 invites does not turn into 540 kids. Some of them will drift over the summer. Someone moves to Indiana, whatever. I think I need to let the board know that right now I would not open up openings for those 540 slots until we know more about our funding streams and where they are. So I would say we're committed to the 540 people that we've invited
162it to. I would hold off on filling 540 slots until we have a better understanding of where this all shakes out. Does that make sense the difference? Question for him. All right, we have about a minute left. Um, can you can you talk about I think it was option five, the one about opening up paid slots for people for students who did not qualify who could not otherwise go there. Can you talk about that and how long it would take and and so on. Just real quick, the again these things don't turn on a dime. We would have to make policy. We would have to to work with the state to make sure it's justifiable and allowable to to mix and match. But what I would say is you almost have to have a whole
163classroom of 18 to even get to the place where you're starting to offset the so if you had a class of 18 and say just back of the envelope math people okay I charged you a th000 a month to come to prek which honestly if anyone has private prek out here that's not bad if you just did a thousand because I can't use math really good So if you put 18 kids in a classroom and you put a,000 bucks a month on each one of them, 10 month prek, it's about $80,000 over the course of a year. A lot of money. The teacher and the TA alone in that room because you have to have them there is 130,000 of that 180. So every room you have, every full room you have, you're only gaining
164about 50 grand out of which sounds like a lot of money, right, to us, but not when you look at salaries and benefits, but great for those kids, right? It would certainly help the universal prek idea. It would certainly help bolster our our staff and things like that. It would sort of put to bed some of this closing idea. But the real problem, and just for all of you out here educators, the real problem is that the state gives a different funding formula for private prek than they give for public prek. It's it's hundreds of dollars per kid difference every few months. So that's where we talk about the sustainability problem is because if you're a private site, you get more money for each of those kids that you have a slot for than you
165do for prek if it's public. So, do we need to we uh encourage you to do that with a motion or get started? We already have a motion on the table. Still have not voted on that point and we are over time. Question. That's fine. All right. Um All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? That passes 5 to zero. How your state? [Applause] [Music] All right. Next up is um and just so board members are aware, we do have close session today. Um and we have about 30 minutes worth of discussion left. So, we will need to Don't you all start packing up? Where are y'all going? I don't care about that. All right, we were at the beach. Thank you all for being here and advocating. Um so looking at
166the NCSBA masterclass um training that we have up here um it was brought to my um attention that this may require some travel and with budget concerns it makes me wonder if this is something that we should kind of put on hold and I kind of wanted to present that to do that board members point of order. Can we just hold on for a minute till everybody leaves and so I can hear Do that. Yep, we can do that. That's fine. You're happy. Yeah, it's it's smart. I like happy people. Oh, he stayed. Bishop stayed. So, Madam Chair, I would move that we hold this master class just because we're we're going to cut back on transportation. We're going to cut back everywhere. There's just no point in talking about this right now. That's fine.
167Is there a second? I seconded it. Okay. Um, so all those in favor of when did you want to bump this to next? Like or just indefinitely. Postpone indefinitely. Yeah, I'll go. That sounds good. That is it. That is a term. Um, all right. So, we're going to postpone the discussion of this um indefinitely. Uh, any discussion? Okay. Hearing none. All those in favor signify by saying I I. Any opposed? That passes five to zero. Um, title six training. that was um brought to us um via our attorneys. Um can you remind us um gentlemen costwise? I mean we we're talking money all night tonight. So costwise um the training for the title six what is that? Um between 500 and 700 for that 1 hour. Okay. And would that require travel for us or
168that would be a webinar so we would be able to do it from home. Central office. Um Miss Justice. Okay. Title six. Um who who's presenting this webinar? Tell us what time I'll put all that email and uh everything. Yeah, I remember the email. There was a lot. So that's okay. Yeah, we've got Tell us what title six is. Again, title six pertains to changes in um how funding pertains to race, I believe it is. And there's various changes coming down from the federal government is what I understand. I don't have a clear I don't have a a chart yet of of the topics. So, is that still sort of like in transition like everything else that seems to be coming down from the federal government? Should we wait on this also? As I understand
169it, it is in transition. So, shouldn't we be waiting on this also till we know more of how this because it could change. I mean, you might get something the next day it could change. That's how crazy this whole thing is as far as what's coming down from the federal government. Perhaps they need to know it. Yeah. Are there any requirements? Um, Dr. Merrick, I barring a requirement that we have it and based on the fact that it's in flux and likely to hit many uh court uh you know uh challenges, I'm going to recommend that we also table this indefinitely. Okay, I'll second that. Okay. Um and Mr. Perry, you had comment. I was my only question. Is it is there a requirement that we have this in a certain amount of time or
170question? There is required um board training that is ethics training that um Bryant that Mr. Krokkey sent to us. Um you and Dr. Merrick and myself and Mr. Wdebor have all completed that um ethics training, but Miss Justice, Miss Barnhart, and Miss Bradford were not available um for that. So they have to they have to have the ethics training. But I don't know if I don't believe this falls under title six though, is it? I can elaborate a little about that email. the the two-hour ethics webinar is available anytime for free at the NCSBA website. Okay. That's we've already paid for that. Yes, we have that's not funding anything that correct Miss Bradford just discussion on this um because it's so understood. I think it's a good idea that we do get some training on
171it. So as it if it's I mean there's a bunch of stuff has already happened in title six and I don't understand it. I tried to um so I think it it you know if we take the if if you if we go to the maximum he said that'd be 100 bucks a board member at and we've got the money in our budget for that already. Um yeah we do um we have training and we have travel but this would mean we wouldn't have to travel. We'd save the money for training but I think I think it would be good to know this stuff because we don't have a grip on it at all. And and yes, there's there's things breaking at the federal level every hour, but this would get us up to the
172moment. So, um well, breaking is a good word. Um mis misjustice. It's so so nebulous. Um and as far as title six goes, you can go into it, look it up, find out what it applies to. Um seriously, the changes are day in day out. It's so confusing if you don't understand it and just get a general overview on your own. I don't see why we should be paying $100 or something we can probably research on our I'm sorry that's I'm really good at researching things. So I I myself don't want us to be spending any money we don't have for something that we can't even count on meaning anything at all. Okay, Dr. Merrick. Um well, I agree with both my colleagues. Um I agree that we should know something about it. U but
173it's not going to it's not going to be set in stone. It's going to change and I'd hate to spend $700 on it now and then turn around in a month and a half and have to spend $700 again. Okay. So, there is a motion to table this indefinitely. Um, Miss Buoie, will you call the role? Miss Bradford? No. Dr. Merrick? Yes. Miss Mason? No. Miss Justice? Yes. And Mr. Perry? Yes. Okay, that passes 3 to two. Um, continuing, we have the 2025 2026 board meeting schedule. There were some dates that had some um flexibility, I guess. Um, and so wanted to discuss that with the board. We have about five minutes allotted for this. Um so any thoughts from board members as far as um if we want we can go date by date.
174So looking at o the Tuesday October 28th for the agenda review um the regular board meeting date needs to be determined uh based off of November 4th being election day and November 11th being Veterans Day. Um so options would be November 3rd or November 5th either day before the day. So Dr. Eric. Um, November 3rd is uh the day before election day and the Wednesday is the day after election day. I I don't know how many of us, but I imagine several of us are going to be involved in elections and I I I think that Wednesday the 5th would be a good day. Uh we don't want to do it on election day and I don't want to push it out too late because December's is going to likely be early. So, well, December
175is usually okay because there's no holidays that that Well, December is December. Yeah. Yeah. Um, any other thoughts? Yes. Make a motion. I make a motion to Oh, to make it Wednesday, November 5th. Okay. Mr. period inve I don't like November 5th because I'm telling you I will probably be involved in some election type stuff and then then there's parties afterwards to go and I I I can tell you from personal experience that that I was dead meat the next day. So I would prefer to have it on Monday versus the Wednesday after election day. So there is a motion. Miss Bradford, did you second? I did. Dr. Merrick's motion to have it on the 5th. All right. Um, Miss Justice, we have a whole lot of other dates, so we only have We only
176have one other one. You're good. I I hate This is a municipal election. I'm not planning on going out and partying wild. So, it's up to you guys. If it's fine with me. Okay. Madam Chair, order. Can we separate this and do a couple of them because we are two board members down and this is the sort of thing that needs, you know, full buy in. So, can we just get the ones that are like pressing and then leave the rest of them for the next meeting, even the agenda review. Um, as long as we promise to do them because, you know, I mean, I don't want to force somebody into a date that they just can't handle because um I just want to get some clarity from Miss Buoie. timelinewise, is there like a
177specific time that this needs to be completed by? Good point. We typically um release the calendar a year in advance um for the meetings that are specified per policy, which in this case would be the agenda review and the regular monthly board meetings. um however will of the board, whatever y'all choose to do, we it would be a good approach to consider going ahead and having your July and August finalized um just for planning purposes. Um and again, whatever the will of the board may be. Okay. I will amend my motion. Dr. Eric, I will amend my motion to say that we will I meant the motion to approve the uh July 29th, August 5th, August 25th, September 2nd, and Tuesday, October 28th for agenda review, but we table the rest of the calendar until
178either next Yeah. until next agenda review meeting. Okay. Is there a second? Okay. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? That passes five to zero. So, and and we're going to bring the rest of it back at the very agenda you have. That's right. Um Dr. Barnes, you're back up, sir. Superintendent, you were not going to talk less tonight. You were you were going to talk. All right, folks. um over the coming weeks and months. As you guys remember most of you, last year um I did work initially to make sure that I met with every single employee that we have and I completed that at Alderman sometime in March. So, I'm going to get up on that horse and ride it again with a couple of
179um additions to it. So, in the next coming weeks and months, I'm going to begin meeting with staff, families, and members of our community to discuss our strategic goals for the years ahead as a part of rebuilding our strategic plan, which runs out at the end of 2027. Thank you. Similar to our recent budget listening tour, these conversations will be an opportunity for me to hear directly from the community. I'll be scheduled meeting with our schools, our classified staff, and the broader community to ensure your voices help shape our path moving forward. There will be two public events and I'm going to let you guys know the dates of those now so that people can we should probably have done this before everybody left. Um, Wednesday, July 30th at from 5 to 7. From 5
180to 6, I'd like to meet with staff and from 6:00 to 7:00, I'd like to meet with parents. And even though this is a superintendent listening tour, of course, I'd like the board to be option to come as well because I think the more we hear together, the rising tide floats all boats. The second one will be, yeah, July 30th, 5 to 6 as staff, 6:00 to 7 as parents. and Tuesday, September 16th. Staff from 5 to 6 and parents from 6:00 to 7:00 as well. Yes. September 16th. 5 to 6. 6:00 to 7:00. And of course, you're sending those out. So, no, this is it. The only time you're going to see it. Yeah. No, we'll send it out in an invite for you guys, too. Are we going to send this out an
181invite to them, too? Yep. See you. And just for clarity, the board is required to have, I believe it's three town halls in a year. Um, and the Jul probably the July 30th would be the one that would be our third town hall. So, we would need to notice it as such. Yes. I think if more than three of you are coming, then yes. Yes. So, I think that I will coming and then I'll go ahead and notice it. Notice it. I'll notice that I got it. Perfect. Good job. All right. Next before closed session is the letter, right? That's I know I said the letter I I said next before closed session. I I wasn't I wasn't done. Don't worry. Is the letter to um federal misjustice. You brought that forward. So um go
182ahead. Everything that's come down over the last couple months in the last week is just every everything that's come down over the last couple months in the last week especially has been so rough on our schools. Uh this is one source of the money that's being considered I guess you could pulled back 1.6 6 million is coming from the federal government and uh since we have sent letters to different agencies in the past that have direct involvement with different situations that we're very concerned about. I thought it wouldn't harm anything for us to send a letter to the uh Department of Education of Secretary McMahon and request pleading our case how hard we've worked to try to have our b our budget balanced and how we've sent it out to everybody. And I mean this
183is the essence of the letter. I can read it which if you'd like me to read it or you guys can read it. I sent it out earlier. Uh I know it was the last minute. I'm sorry Pat about that. Um but this is u the essence of the letter is is it goes goes through how much work we've done to do this right and then how much money now we we are being harmed by having it removed and how much our our our community our students need this. And it I I think it's pretty well written. I can honestly say I didn't do it alone. Uh but it the idea is to let them know that this is harming our schools, how important it is, and that we please would like them to reconsider
184and not take this money away from our our students in these different uh different title forms. So is there a motion? So I move that we send this letter. Okay. Discussion. Miss Bradford, I saw you had your hand up. Who wrote this letter of an English teacher? Not in the district. Has it been reviewed by the attorneys? I mean, they, you know, I mean, they can find out this afternoon there's a letter and we've put a lot of energy into other letters that we've sent and a lot of scrutiny. And I don't know that I object to the letter, but I just it hasn't had any scrutiny from us or the staff or anybody. And I I mean, if it's about finance, financial situation, I'd want Ashley to have seen it. And so, I'm I'm
185hesitant to say yes just because I know nothing about it. Um, And I apologize. I know it is last minute, but in a sense, time is in the essence. The longer we wait, um, you know, the less likely they are to hear from people, the sooner they hear from people, they may most likely or possibly it would be great if they could change and reverse their course. Um, I the next time we could vote on this would be the agenda review and that is three weeks away. So, I mean that would be that's why I brought it out and I do wish it had been faster, but this just happened last week and as you can tell it's got a lot of information in it, especially about how well we've done here in the district
186trying so hard to do right by our kids. Dr. Barnes, did you have you seen it? Uh, I read it today as well. I think the the one variable I think we need to make sure we consider as well is that the impact of some of those federal funding stretches past us. Mhm. Some of what we do with our title 4 money is also support the investment with communities and schools. So I just want to make sure we're thinking about the farreaching aspects of some of this funding as well. Of course the question is we don't have a definitive answer on this yet or not which would it's you know does this letter help convince them or you know which way is that going to push them I think is the question. Mr. Perry, I
187just had a question more of um I I know you want us. Do we get a check from the federal government for this or does it come to the state and then to us? So I mean are we are we is this something that should be coming from Mo Green instead of us? Oh no, he has nothing to do with goes through NCDPI and then we receive funding from NCDPI. It would be interesting to know whether our attorney general or our state superintendent was going to send a letter too. Yeah. I mean that I wonder if we could endorse a letter that they're sending if Well, do you want to put this off into the agenda review then possibly and do research on these? Yes, please. I've called DPI and asked them about what this
188looking like. I haven't contact the attorney general yet. It would give me a little bit of time to do that. Okay. If you could do that because I'm sure I I saw that um Mr. Mr. Green had gone ahead and sent out some information to us in a letter. Thank God uh I mean we're all scrambling. It's so painful. Yeah. And just just no disrespect intended, ma'am, but I found four typo correct, you know, errors in, you know, things that need to be fixed. Well, just go ahead and critique it then and send it back to me. I'm happy. I I just really read like the staff to do that, you know. So, are you amending your motion request? I'm going to change I'm going to move it to the agenda review. Okay. Second. All
189right. Um, any further discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any opposed? That passes 5 to zero. Thank you, board members, for that. All right. Um, I will entertain a motion to go into close session pursuant to general statute 143-318.11c for the following purposes. to prevent the disclosure of information as privileged or confidential pursuant to general statute 115 C-402 and not considered a public record within the meaning of chapter 132 of the general statutes to prevent the disclosure of student records rendered confidential under the family educational rights to consult with an attorney in order to preserve the attorney client privilege between the attorney and the board and to consider the qualifications competence performance character fitness conditions of appointment or condition conditions of initial employment of an individual employed or
190considered for employment with the school system or to hear or investigate a complaint, charge or grievance by or against any individual employee employee. Do I have such moved? All right. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? That passes. We are enclosed. Don't forget the food back. They're all tied to me. I'm a little jealous. We have about a minute. Madam Chair, I move that we accept the personnel report. Second. All right. All those in favor signify by saying I I. Any opposed? That passes. Five to zero. Um, any correspondence? Probably not. Announcements. I'm trying to hurry. I'm sorry. Um, announcements. Go. First day for eating in Cington is a week from tomorrow. Thank you, sir. Say that one more time. Believe it or not, the first day for Cottington eaten is
191a week from tomorrow for students. All right. Policy committee will meet Tuesday, July 15th, 1 p.m. Board of Education general public will have the option to view. Uh board of educ education will hold an agenda review meeting on Tuesday, July 29th at 2 p.m. Board of Ed Center general public will have the option to view remotely. Uh the board of education will hold the August regular board meeting on Tuesday, August 5th at 5:00 PM. Board of Education Center general public will have the option to view remotely and the finance capital bond will have a meeting on August 8th at 12 noon. Is that everything? Cool. Uh I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. So moved. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? We are adjourned. Is that me? Thank you.