001Welcome to MPS Now, your source for the latest news from Montgomery public schools. In this episode, we are spotlighting the division of student services, highlighting the real life impact of the teacher residency academy, and celebrating our middle school student athletes. Big shout out to the sixth graders at Floyd Middle Magnet for helping us kick off this episode. [cheering] [music] >> [music] [music] >> Teaching is more than a profession. It's a calling. And through the MPS, Teacher Residency Academy, aspiring educators are gaining the skills and confidence to make a lasting impact in the classroom. We visited Danaly Elementary School to meet one graduate who's doing just that. >> Inside this second grade classroom at Danaly Elementary, [music] you'll find Miss India Richardson, an NPS Teacher Residency Academy graduate, now in her third year of teaching. >>
002What sound does that make? >> I teach all the subjects. I'm self-contained, [music] so I teach second grade and this is my third year teaching. Richardson says her experience in the teacher residency academy [music] prepared her with the knowledge and confidence to manage her classroom and connect with students. >> It has taught me [music] the art and science of teaching and it's given me practical strategies that I can apply to my classroom. It taught me about the different levels of understanding [music] and how to engage with the students. >> The program doesn't just prepare teachers to teach, it helps them stay. Danaly Elementary principal Andrea Su says the program has strengthened her school's culture and [music] teacher retention. >> So for Danley, we've put several teachers in the last two or three years through the
003residency and we've been able to sustain several of those teachers. [music] So the teacher retention rate is higher. I think the burnout for those teachers come a little less [music] because they do have that area of support. For Miss Richardson, the impact she hopes to make extends far beyond academics. [music] I hope the impact I can make on my students when they leave is that they are confident to do anything [music] that's put right in front of them. I hope to give them the 21st century skills they need to be successful, such as collaborating, communicating, [music] and cooperating with others. So, I just want my students to be the best version of themselves [music] when they leave my class. With teachers like Miss India Richardson leading the way, the MPS Teacher Residency Academy is shaping
004the next generation of educators and ensuring student success for years to come. Keeping our schools safe and supportive takes teamwork from staff and students to parents and community partners. That's why our next story focuses on a team dedicated to the whole child. The Division of Student Services [music] serves as an umbrella for the many programs that ensure every child in NPS is supported academically, socially, and emotionally. Associate Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Williamson says her team focuses on meeting the needs of the whole child from health and counseling to behavior and family outreach. Through strong community partnerships, the division provides access to mental health support, food assistance, transportation, and even homebound instruction for students facing medical challenges. Dr. Williamson [music] says the goal is simple, to ensure every student and family feel supported, valued, [music] and connected
005to success. We're able to bridge the gap, if you will, to help children overcome and families overcome some of those struggles so that we can make their school experience as [music] normal as we can. We could not do this without teamwork. We have community partners that work with us to provide mental health services, to provide counseling services in addition to what we have available within the district. We have partners who work with us so that our children can have bus passes or families can have bus passes so that we we have a great partner that provides food services for us. So if a family is struggling with a little bit of food insufficiency, we can provide [music] bags on a regular basis without anyone knowing, without bringing any attention to that family, just working with
006them to stand in the gap. >> Dr. Williamson says her goal is to keep strengthening partnerships and make the division a true hub of care and collaboration for MPS families. At NPS, success doesn't just happen in the classroom. It's also on the field. Let's take a look at our middle school athletes who are showing teamwork, dedication, and school pride every game. I am joined now by one of our very own L Kendrick Lin. is the digital media specialist. [music] You and our entire communications team have done a phenomenal job covering high school sports [music] and middle school sports. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> And there was a lot of excitement surrounding our middle school sports recently with all of the championships. Break that all down. >> So, right now we've already crowned three champions.
007The first one was Floyd Middle Magnet for volleyball. Then we [music] crowned Southline Middle School Rockets for middle school football. And then we went back to Floyd Middle Magnet for girls flag football. [music] >> Lots of excitement for not just our student athletes and their families, but also for the coaches because they're putting in a lot of time to make sure that the our student athletes are developed. So talk about a recent conversation you had with a longtime middle school coach. >> So recently I sat down with coach Terrence Vun over at Breaker Middle School. He's the athletic director as well as coach uh well as well as a numerous sports coach. Um yeah, we had a chance to sit down and talk about some stuff as far as you know how to separate being
008an athletic director from being a head coach. [music] Um here's a little bit of what he had to say. The administrative side, you have to deal with [music] every sport that's going on during that season. Um, you have to make sure that you're [music] not overdoing it with the sport that you coach because you are the head coach. So, you have to make sure that you give that same time to [music] the other sports that's going on. Um, making sure that they're straight, [music] making sure they have all the equipment they need, making sure that they're uh the the facility is ready for them when they have home games or, you know, making sure they when they travel, they have everything they need as well. So, it's it's it's hard, but um [music] I've been
009doing it a long time and I've kind of figured out how to do it. >> So, you can watch this full interview on our website um on and as well as all of our social media channels. Um so, it's beyond the locker room where we elevate the game one conversation at a time. >> This is super super [music] exciting for our entire department and for our entire NPS family. Thank you so much for joining us. >> Thank you for having me. Before we wrap up, it's time for a quick MPS mind teaser. Here's today's question. What does the acronym JAG stand for in JAG High School? Take a moment, think [music] about it. [music] If you guess Johnson, Abernathy, and Grass, you are correct. The name honors three civil rights leaders. Judge Frank Johnson, Pastor
010Ralph Abernathy, and Reverend Robert [music] Gratz. That's it for this episode of MPS. Now, don't forget to send us your classroom shoutouts. We love featuring our students and staff. [music] Remember, our schools, our communities, our future. Be sure to watch, share, and stay connected with MPS on social media. We'll see you later. [music] >> [music] [music] >> What does a typical game day look like as a athletic director and the head football coach? Oh man. So, [music] typical D game day is you get here um if it's a home game, make sure all the concessions, [music] that's the first thing I do is make sure the concessions are ordered. Um make sure the field is lined off. Make sure you have uh all your markings on the field. Um and then you come inside, you
011make sure the uniforms, which we pass out the day before. Uh make sure all the kids have their uniforms. Um, you kind of go over the game plan again with your coaches. Um, you know, most of my coaches don't work here, so we uh text message or group chat. Um, we make sure the headsets are done. Uh, make sure the visitors have everything that they need on their side as well. The administrative side, you have to deal with every sport that's going on during that season. Um, you have to make sure that you're not overdoing it with the sport that you coach because you are the head coach. So, you have to make sure that you give that same time to the other sports that's going on. Um, making sure that they're straight, making sure
012they have all the equipment they need, making sure that they're uh the the facility is ready for them when they have home games or, you know, making sure they when they travel, they have everything they need as well. So, it's it's it's hard, but um [music] I've been doing it a long time and I've kind of figured out how to do it. My long-term vision to make every student that plays [music] sport here a student athlete. That's the biggest thing. We want them to win. Uh, one of our mods is winning matters. [music] And when we say winning matters, we're not just talking about on the field. We want to teach them how to win in the classroom, how to win at church, how to win in the community. [music] Um, all that is just
013building um building great students. That's the first and foremost thing that I'm trying to do [music] or we're trying to do here is build great students. The athletic wise, we're just trying to [music] um we're trying to build them for whatever high school that they're going to. So when [music] they get to that high school to play their sport, they already have that that building block to make them great athletes. Being that I done all my years here at Brew Baker, uh, include my student teacher, I kind of modeled um, the way I coach around those guys that was here. U, Coach Michael Toss, Martin Baker, uh, [music] Dusty Baker. They taught me how to organ be um, very organized. That was one of the big things that they they showed me what to do.
014Also, um, as far as the the way they coached, they coached hard but fair and even if you messed up, they wanted you to go 100%. Uh, no matter what you did. Um, now, uh, are going later in my life, it's crazy because I still model myself behind those guys. They're still out there coaching and I'm still learning just from those guys there. My favorite part of my game day um honestly is looking in the stands and seeing my two kids and my wife cheering us on. That's the best thing ever. Um to have a supportive family on what you do and the way it takes the way these sports take away from your family and them still coming to support you. That's the best feeling ever. legacy that I want to leave if it's
015greatness. Um, I want these kids to understand [music] the the amount of time uh the amount of resources and everything that we put in for them. And it's great here. Uh it's different here. That's that's all another model. It's different at the I want them to understand it's different because every place that you go is not going to be great. So I I hope to believe that it it's great here. I don't like the people. I do whatever my soul circumstance I'm not under chance. My head is bloody but beyond this place the tears witness find you are afraid. It matters not our strength today. I charge punish and destroy. I am the master of my faith. I am the captain of my soul. 1 2 3 >> [applause] [applause] [music] >> Good evening. Welcome
016to the Montgomery County Board of Education meeting. Today is November 12th, 2025 and the time is now 5:00. The board meeting is now being called to order. At this time, we will have an invocation by Reverend Haron Cummings from Ebenea Missionary Baptist Church. If you would come up, please. Shall we bow? Eternal God, our father, we thank you now for your grace. We thank you for your mercy. Lord God, as we gather here in this room to this evening to discuss business of MPS, Lord God, we ask that you would open our minds, open our hearts, oh God, that we might be able to receive what is said tonight. Lord God, we ask now that you allow us to touch and agree in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. We pray.
017And now, may the grace of God be with us throughout this meeting. And Lord, we'll be ever so careful to give you the praise, to give you the glory and the honor. Now, Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditations of thy heart be acceptable in your sight. Oh Lord, my strength and yet my redeemer. In Jesus name we pray. And every saint said, "Amen." >> Amen. Thank you. At this time, if you'll stand for the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States. At this time, we have a quorum established. Before we approve the agenda, it needs to we'll need to amend it. Um, under number eight, we're going to have a new number n number nine, which will be executive session. Number 10 will be
018the age of learning. Number 11, September 2025. Um, fiscal statement. Number 12, supplemental salary schedule. Number 13, CNP. Number 14, consent agenda. Number 15 will be considered for approval and number 16 will be the adjourment. if you'll make those corrections. All right. And for number nine, executive session will be on personnel. All right. With all those corrections, is there a motion to approve the agenda? >> Madame President, I move that we approve the amended agenda. >> All right. Is there a second to approve the amended agenda? >> I second it. >> It has been motioned and properly second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor of the amended agenda do so by showing of hands. It is unanimous. Thank you. All right. The next um agenda item will be board remarks and
019somewhere. Well, let me just say that it has been a pleasure to serve as the board chair. It is exciting to see so many things transpiring in the district. There is a renewed focus on providing a rigorous education for all students. The leadership has thus far shown that with a vision and hard work that goes beyond him and his staff, there is nothing that Montgomery County Public School children cannot accomplish. As we know, the board is the key element to that success. set the vision and the mission and to expound on the core values of MPS. This board has committed to that and to the work. During this tenure, the board has held three retreats focusing on team building, roles and responsibilities, goals, academic achievement, parental engagement, special education, finance, updates on the superintendent's transition
020plan, and many, many other things. We have worked as a team to position MPS as a beacon that lives up to its legacy. for we have witnessed our students do amazing things that allows them to continue now and in the future to be the leaders that we know they are. Thanks to Gear Up through the illustrious Alabama State University, they are now authors who have expressed how crime and other policies have impacted them on a daily basis. They have showcased how they can be top tier scholars by being a part of the national merit semifinals. They are athletes with character and display it in every field and on every court. They wow us with their uh artistic expression. They are building the dream of this community and for that we are so proud. Board members
021and Superintendent Bird, it has been a pleasure pleasure leading with you. It will always be an honor to serve with you. May our next chapters be as strong as this chapter moving forward. Thank you. >> Thank you, Madam President. Good evening board members, faculty, staff, families, and members of the Montgomery community. As we move deeper into the school year, I continue to be encouraged by the incredible work happening across our district. Each day, I see examples of progress, perseverance, and purpose in our classrooms, in our offices, and in our communities. Over the past several months, Montgomery public schools have remained focused on three core priorities. strengthening academic achievement, improving operational efficiency, and building a culture of excellence across every school. First, I want to highlight our academic progress. This week, the Alabama State Department of
022Education will release report card results. And while the data is still embargoed, I'm proud to share that MPS has improved. The details will be revealed tomorrow. While there is still much work to be done, this improvement shows that our focus on instruction, attendance, and student engagement is beginning to yield measurable results. I want to thank our principles, our teachers, our support staff for their tireless efforts on behalf of our students. Second, I want to acknowledge the work of our transition teams. Over 80 educators, parents, and community members came together to assess our current systems and provide both short and long-term recommendations across key across key areas, human resources, student achievement, communications, and community engagement and chronic absenteeism. Their work represents the completion of phase two of our improvement process and sets the foundation for phase
023three, the development of our new strategic plan, which will define our goals and our measurable actions over the next several years. Third, we will continue to make progress on our key initiatives, projects that will reshape the future of MPS. While these initiatives are still embargoed at this time, each of these efforts is a part of our commitment to expanding opportunities and eliminating barriers by whoever or wherever they exist so that every child in Montgomery can thrive. I'm also especially excited about tonight's meeting because I have the opportunity to welcome representatives from our high schools who will serve on the superintendent student council. This talented group of scholars will provide student voice and perspective as we shape district policies and initiatives. I look forward to working alongside them this year and hearing their ideas on how
024we can make Montgomery public schools even stronger. Finally, I want to recognize the extraordinary work happening in our schools every single day. from our student athletes and fine art performers to our teachers and leaders who give their all to ensure that our students that they have access to the very best education. Their energy, passion, and commitment remind us of why this work matters. [clears throat] As I said before, progress in public education doesn't happen by accident. It happens through purpose, persistence, and partnership. Montgomery Public Schools is on the move and with your continued support, we will make this district one that every student, family, and employee can be proud of. Thank you for your trust, your partnership, and your belief in the transformative power of public education. Together, we are moving MPS forward, one child,
025one school, one community at a time. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Dr. Berg. So well said. At this time, we will rec uh have Miss Rosanna Brutin to come with board recognitions. >> Good evening, Madame President, Dr. Bird, and board members. It is truly an honor to join you this evening. We have a number of recognitions tonight. I would like at this time to welcome you to the front as we will proceed with our recognitions and take photos. Montgomery Public Schools is proud to celebrate Mrs. Kathy Maize who recently was featured on WSFA's class act segment. She's dedicated her entire career to Morning View Elementary, leaving a lasting legacy of care, learning, and inspiration for students and colleagues alike. At this time, I'd like to welcome Mrs. Kathy Mays. >> [applause] [applause] >>
026Mrs. Maize is the second MPS educator to be recognized on WSA's class act this school year. Earlier, Park Crossing High School teacher, Mrs. Chenise Hower Tyson was honored in September for bringing biology to life through hands-on experiments and realworld learning expertise. I'd like to welcome Mrs. Hower Tyson. [applause] If we can just give her a moment. She is in our other room. We will welcome her over. What [applause] the >> [applause] >> NPS applauds these outstanding educators for their commitment to excellence and the positive impact they make in our classrooms every single day. I also want to point out I know that we have other folks in our uh overflow room. So at this time if there is anyone with Forest Avenue, McMillan or Bear, they can make their way over as we flow into
027our next recognition. Montgomery Public Schools is proud to announce that three of our elementary schools have been ranked among the top 50 best elementary schools in Alabama by US News and World Report. Forest Avenue Academic Magnet reclaimed the number one spot in the state. Bear Exploration Center and McMillan International Academy also earned places on this prestigious list. First, I would like to welcome Forest Avenue academic magnet. those who are here with that school. That school is led by principal Brandy Moody. [applause] Thank you so much. [applause] Bear is under the leadership of principal Dr. Nina Williams. [applause] >> [applause] >> and McMillan International Academy is led by principal Rosyn Posie town. [applause] >> [applause] >> I would also like to point out this comes just months after Lamp High School earned the number one ranking
028out of 297 high schools in Alabama and 30 number 30 nationally. further demonstrating the district's commitment to academic excellence and student success. All right, we have some amazing MPS students who shined during the ASU Gear Up book launch. YES. [applause] And we are absolutely thrilled and proud to celebrate those student achievement. They authored they a student authored book something better essays about problems in our communities and how we might solve them features contributions from 10th and 11th graders across four MPS high schools. I'd like to welcome at this time Mrs. Ross director of ASU Gearup to speak just briefly about the program. [applause] Good afternoon. Thank you so much for having us today and on behalf of our 15th president, Dr. Quinton T. Ross, thank you again for having Alabama State University Gear Up partner
029with you uh with Montgomery Public Schools with your 10th and 11th graders this year. The Gear Up program is a program that provides academic support services in mental health. Uh we provide services across the board, academic support services across the board for the students. We provide um various programming um ACT prep programming. We have programs starting study smart tutors that's coming into the schools for the for the students now. So we are working with this cohort of students and we'll be working with them until they graduate high school and go into their first year of college. So these programs that we offer are of no cost to the students with Montgomery public schools and we just want parents and students to be a part of it, take part in it and this is one product
030of what these students that were at that time ninth and tth graders were able to accomplish. So uh we have some copies for some board members. We've already provided a copy for you Dr. Bour. We can provide more. We will be having um a launch. will be moving around to the schools in the coming weeks to provide copies for every library. Thank you. >> And at this time, if we can have Mrs. Ross along with those students were able to attend this evening take a photo with our board and our superintendent. [applause] >> [applause] [applause] >> We have two student spotlights. Montgomery public schools is proud to recognize Emanuel Wood, a senior at Booker T. Washington Magnet High School and a dancer with the Alabama Dance Theater, who was recently featured on WSFA. Emanuel's journey
031in dance began at a very young age. And since then, he has earned scholarships, performed nationally, and attended prestigious summer intensives, turning his passion into remarkable achievements. Montgomery public schools celebrates his dedication, talent, and the recognition he has received for representing our district so well. [applause] >> [applause] >> Montgomery public schools would like to recognize Armani Strereer, a student at Park Crossing High School, for being selected as one of only eight students nationwide to attend the prestigious Francis Hustlebean Student Leadership Program at the United States Military Academy at West Point. [applause] >> [applause] >> She attends Park Crossing. [applause] >> And this achievement comes after she participated in the military child education coalition studentto student training. and Major Charnell Joiner is the junior ROC instructor at Park Crossing. [applause] At this time, I'd like to
032welcome our marketing and uh our marketing manager, Monae Stevens, who is going to introduce those the superintendent student council. >> I came right on time, too. >> [applause] >> Good evening, Madame President, Dr. Bird, and members of our distinguished Montgomery Public Schools Board of Education. It is an honor to stand before you today to introduce the 2025 2026 Superintendent Student Advisory Council. This exceptional group of 15 students represents not only their individual schools, but the voice and the spirit of the entire MPS student body, all 26,000 students. Students, when I call your name, please come forward and you guys will take an individual photo with the board and then you'll be seated and afterwards the entire group will come up for a group photo. First, we have Mr. Justin Jenkins. [applause] Justin is a senior
033at Percy Julian High School where he serves as a dedicated ROC cadet and an officer at the Student Government Association. After graduation, Justin plans to attend college and continue developing his leadership skills to serve his community. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Justin Jenkins. [applause] Next, we have Mr. Christopher Wang. [applause] Christopher is a senior at Lamp High School where he is actively involved in student government and serves on the school-based student council. After high school, he plans to attend college and pursue a career in government as a political adviser or strategy consultant, helping organizations solve problems and achieve their goals. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Christopher Wayne. [applause] Next, we have Miss Elizabeth Hines. >> [applause] >> Elizabeth is a senior at Carver High School where she serves as a member at large for the student government
034association, president of the choir, and a member of the STEM club. She plans to attend a 4-year university to major in education or mechanical engineering. Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Elizabeth Hines. [applause] Next, we have Miss Malia Meeks. [applause] Malia is a senior at Park Crossing High School where she serves as a senior class president and as a starter on the reigning 6A state championship basketball team. [applause] After graduation, Malia will attend Troy University where she plans to major in criminal justice and pre-law while continuing her basketball career. Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Malia meets. [applause] Next we have Miss Xavia Yates. [applause] Xavia is a senior at Johnson Abernathi Gratz High School where she volunteers at the YMCA of Montgomery and participates in impact. After high school, Xavier plans to pursue a career in psychiatry and
035advocate for mental health awareness. Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Xavia Yates. [applause] Oh, we skipped over a couple. [laughter] Next is Miss Ari Poris. [applause] Ari is a sophomore at Booker T. Washington Magnet High School. She is active in numerous organizations including Coral Magnet and Women in Training. After graduation, Ari hopes to attend Howard University to strengthen her leadership skills and continue serving her community. Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Ari Poris. [applause] Next, we have Mr. Javier Salary. [applause] Javiier is a junior at Carver High School where he has served as vice president of the school's media team. After graduation, he plans to pursue a career in real estate and coach cheerleading, further developing his leadership and community engagement. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Javier salary. [applause] And next we have Miss Brayley Joy Thomas. [applause] Brayley Joy
036is a senior at Brewbaker Technology Magnet High School where she serves as a senior class president and an active member of the student government association along with several community organizations. After graduation, she plans to attend Howard University to major in health science and minor in psychology. Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Brayley Joy Thomas. [applause] Next, we have Miss Faith Brown. [applause] Faith is a senior at Brute Tech as well, where she serves as a president of the HOSA chapter for future healthc care professionals and is an active member of SGA and Fellowship of Christian Students. She interned at Jackson Hospital in the cardiology department and surgery centers over the summer. After high school, Faith plans to become a cardiologist advocating for healthy lifestyles. Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Faith Brown. [applause] Next, we have Mr. Carson Chambre.
037[applause] Carson is a junior at Brute where he serves as a RAM and competes on the track team and is active in several organizations including Jack and Jill of America. After high school, he plans to attend a 4-year university to major in finance. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Carson Chamé. [applause] Next, we have Miss Jamaiah Brown writes, "Jamaiah is a senior at JAG High School where she is involved in art club, theater yearbook, and the honors history club. After graduation, she plans to attend Indiana University of Pennsylvania where she will major in mechanical engineering." Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Jamaiah Brown. [applause] Next, we have Mr. Lorenzo Beardarden. [applause] Lorenzo is a senior at Park Crossing High School where he serves as an ROC cadet and a captain of the robotics team. After high school, he plans
038to attend Auburn University through its ROC program and enlists in the Air National Guard. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Lorenzo Bearden. [applause] And Miss Bailey Braxton is could not make it tonight, but we will go ahead and say her bio. She is a senior at Booker T. Washington Magnet High School where she serves as a president of Future Business Leaders of America and president of the National Honor Society and secretary of her senior class among with many other roles. After graduation, Bailey PR plans to attend a 4-year university to major in political assignment. Let's give her a round of applause. >> [applause] >> We got two more. Next, we have Miss Trinity Watts Knuckles. [applause] Trinity is a senior at Brewtech as well, where she serves as a president of the student government association, an ambassador,
039and a member of the varsity girls golf team and a manager for the girls basketball team. She's also active in multiple community organizations. After high school, Trinity plans to attend Howard University to major in political science. Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Trinity Watts Knuckles. [applause] And last, but certainly not least, is Miss Jennifer Stanton. Click it one more time. Click it twice. Click it twice. There we go. Jennifer is a senior at Brute where she's involved in DECA, HOSA, and several national honor societies. After graduation, Jennifer plans to attend a 4-year university to pursue a career as an OBGYn. Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Jennifer Stanton. [applause] And at this time, will the student council please stand and get a group picture with the board of education? [laughter] >> [applause] >> And students, please remain standing because
040Dr. bird will have you say an oath in front of the audience tonight students as members of the superintendent super as I'm sorry let me start that over >> [laughter] >> Students, as members of the superintendent student council, you are called to lead with excellence, represent your peers with integrity, and serve your schools and community with pride. Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I pledge to serve >> I pledge to serve >> as a member of the superintendent student council. as a member of the superintendent >> with integrity >> with integity >> respect >> and purpose >> and and purpose >> I will use my voice >> to uplift my peers >> I will listen before I lead >> and represent >> every student >> with honest >> and fair with honesty
041>> with honesty >> and fairness >> I would embody >> the values of MPA s >> the values of NPS. >> Striving each day >> to be my best >> and bring out >> the best in others. I will honor my school. >> I will honor my school. >> My community >> and myself >> by leading with courage. >> Speaking with kindness >> and standing >> standing >> for what's right >> and justice. >> I understand >> that true leadership >> is not about power >> or position. >> It is about purpose. Service >> service >> and example >> an example. >> I am a leader of today >> and a builder of tomorrow. >> I am the voice of my peers. >> And the future of Montgomery. >> By taking this oath. I'm sorry.
042You don't have to say that. That's for me. I apologize. But let me say this to you. By taking this oath, that's okay. By taking this oath, you join a proud tradition of student leadership in Montgomery public schools. Together, we will serve with purpose, lead with vision, and continue to make MPS a district of excellence. Thank you all so much. I'm looking forward to working with each and every last one of you. [applause] And that concludes our board recognitions, ladies and gentlemen. >> [laughter] >> That is just about cleared the room. All right. I tell you, MPS is in good hands moving forward. We have some outstanding young people and oftentimes we don't hear about the exciting things that happen with our students and we don't get to see it a lot, but tonight was
043very special. I'll share with a board member. I said we could end right here, but unfortunately we do have other items on the agenda. So, if you will allow me to move to the next agenda item for scheduled public comments by Miss Fedra Carson Foster. November is family engagement month and what it means for Montgomery. But before Miss Foster comes to the podium, I will read um the rules and procedures for public participation in board meetings. Public comments. Requests must be made in advance in writing to the superintendent's office by 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, preceding the meeting date. Requests must have specified the nature of of the business to be taken up with the board and the name of the person who will address the board to be added to the agenda. Communications must be
044respectful. Discussing specific student or employee matters will not be allowed. Individuals who have concerns that are inappropriate to be solved in this venue are welcome to seek a problem-solving meeting with the superintendent. Immediate feedback by the board may not be provided. However, you may be contacted for followup by the superintendent or designate. Public comments may not exceed three minutes. The board chairman has full author authority to terminate the remarks of any person whose comments contain personal attacks, exceed the time limit, or are otherwise inappropriate. A speaker may be considered disruptive who continues to speak when their allotted time has ended when asked to stop speaking by the board sheriff or is otherwise inappropriate. If a person fails to comply when asked to terminate comments, he or she will be escorted to their seat out of
045the auditorium and or off of MPS property depending on the level of disruption. So, Miss Carson Foster, at this time, the floor is yours. Good evening. November is family engagement month. But what does that really mean in Montgomery? This Friday marks 65 years since 6-year-old Ruby Bridges walked up the steps of the New Orleans school guarded by federal marshals. America integrated its K through2 schools, not with compassion or preparation, but by sending children into mobs of angry adults. Those adults could have simply welcomed that child. or as in 1 Thessalonians 4:11 says, uh reminds us, remained quiet and minded their own business. But instead, they showed up and shouted slurs at a six-year-old and even brought a tiny casket with a black baby doll in it to menace her. We've all seen the photographs of
046Ruby and the Marshalss. We've seen the crowd. But what about her parents? I imagine her parents, parents like many of us, wishing they could have been there to protect her. Were her parents ever welcomed to become part of that school community? Here in Montgomery, the city that calls itself the birthplace of the civil rights movement, our schools are now 95% black. When something goes wrong, we hear the familiar question. What about the parents? But again, I ask, were all parents ever truly welcome to become part of the school community? After spending the past half decade working to help this district evolve, I can tell you that family engagement here remains largely performative. Family engagement isn't about photo ops or checking boxes. It's about partnership, respect, and shared responsibility for our children's success. Too often the
047parents most likely to interact with our schools on behalf of their children, mothers, grandmothers, auntes are met with bias, not welcome. It's ironic given this series his city's history and our current demographics and it's holding us back. We have research resources and programs that could help this district evolve. But even as volunteers, we face the same raggedy bias and it is preventing progress. Tonight, I am again requesting a meeting with the superintendent and the head of the office of student support services with the new board chair so we can move from performance to partnership. Next month marks 70 years since the Montgomery bus boycott, a movement whose mass meetings were organized by educators Joanne Robinson and Mary Fair Burks. women who refuse to accept disrespect and secondass citizenship. I stand here in the same spirit.
048I know that together we can fulfill the dream that was sparked in this community 70 years ago. Thank you. Thank you. Um Miss Hart, do we have any citizen comments? No citizen comments. Okay. At this time, we have on the agenda to go into executive session where no votes will be taken. Is there a motion to um and we should be back there about how long, Mrs. um I'll train Pal? >> Um let's say approximately 30 minutes. >> Okay. And this will be an executive session on personnel. Correct. >> That is correct. >> Okay. So, the board will now go into um upon a motion and and approval of the board will go into executive session for personnel. I'm sorry for personnel for approximately 30 minutes. Is there a motion to go into executive session?
049I move that session to discuss person. >> Is there a second? All right. It has been motioned uh properly motion and second. Is there any discussion? All right. Hear none. All those in favor of going into executive session for personnel do so by a showing of hands. It is unanimous. All right. At this time, the board will now com um convene u go over into executive session. >> [music] >> It's important [music] that every student goes to school every single day. >> That's right. Every single school day. Because face it, if we don't come to school, how will we [music] prepare ourselves for our futures? I want to be prepared for the future. So, I'm making sure I go to school every [music] day. Parents, did you know that if a student misses at least
0502 days of school a month, they miss at least 20% of classroom instruction? >> And missing that much of school without a valid reason [music] causes students to fall behind academically. >> Let's work together to ensure students are present in the classroom. [music] >> Together, we can do this. because it's our future. It's our future and our future impacts our communities. [music] >> Let's be present together. No PS. All right. Thank you, Mr. Lin. Um, the Montgomery County Board is um we will convene with our regular board meeting. There was no vote taken in executive session. Our next agenda item will be Miss Carr with age of learningou Good afternoon, Madame President, Dr. Bird, and school board members. I am Tara Carr, director of prek programs. This afternoon, the prek department under the um academics
051and accountability seeks your approval for the memorandum of understanding between Montgomery public schools and the age of learning in the amount of $400,000. And might I add that $400,000 will come from state legislators. >> Are there any questions? Oh, I'm sorry. I see you with your PowerPoint. Who's sponsoring this bill? Senator Our wrote the bill. Um, and he stands on a committee with Senator Kirk Hatcher and Representative Kelvin Lawrence and others. They are um the primary sponsors of this bill and serve on the committee together. This bill is in an effort to um allow Montgomery public schools first class prek students or should I say scholars the opportunity for extended learning at home. Um Governor K. Ivy has approved this bill and it is as we speak moving through um for the funding to be
052released to McGomery public schools. The two components of the age of learning program is my math academy and my reading academy. And I first give you a brief overview of the math academy. The um my math academy is designed to um strengthen our prek scholars math early math skills in order for them to be successful. This program is an adaptive program which means that as the students are uh engaged in the program, it adapts to their learning ability and in turns it help them uh strengthen their math skills to be successful later on in their educational journey. research has stated or shown I should say over the over um five hours over the course of 12 to 14 weeks students math skills have increased using this program. And again that's only 5 hours over the
053course of a 12 to 14 um week period. the my reading academy. It is a program that is excuse me uh a reading program that offers explicit and systematic instruction in phmic awareness, phonics, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The program uses engaging games, interactive activities, and rich digital content to make learning enjoyable and effective. How impactful is this program? There was a study done um using the age of learning program. The students were using the program for no more than 30 minutes per week. And in a semesterl long implementation, the My Reading Academy and My Math Academy helped close the learning gap by 84% between research and non-ressearch sites using Star Early Literacy. The voluntary prek students who were not kindergarten ready showed 62% greater growth on Springstar assessments compared to the non-users and with
054only 30 minutes per week. The my math academy meets the esser tier one standards for being a researchbased program. Finally, learning that continues beyond the classroom. For Montgomery public schools, the program is designed to ex will be designed to extend learning beyond the classroom, giving students and families access to highquality research-based reading and math support at home. Students can continue developing essential skills during school vacations, during our summer program. Um, and again, parents can work with them at their at their leisure in the afternoons. This will help prevent learning loss, ensuring consistent readiness growth throughout the year. And on behalf of the prek prek department, we are again seeking your approval. Thank you all kind. >> Thank you, Miss Carr. Are there any questions? Cloud Alabama school readiness. Can you restate that for me, please?
055Your question. >> Sorry. How does this sync with the Alabama Department of Early Childhood and the preK programs that they have people to come in and set up classrooms for prek, pre pre3, preK, and they come in and they develop the classrooms. They get the teachers ready. You know what department I'm talking about. How does that sync with that? Well, actually they will work hand in hand. So, this is an a support. So, parents will be able to use it at home during our winter breaks, um summer I mean summer vacations. So, they'll be able to use it as support. So when we get our um teaching strategies gold assessment results, parents can use the results when they look at the strengths and weaknesses of their students in the areas of the math and um
056reading um early reading literacy. They can use those results and tailor that program to the areas of deficiency for the child. And parents will be receiving um professional development on doing just that. sort of like parents as the first teacher. >> Yes. >> Are there any other questions? I did have one. Will this also be something and I asked this question because I remember last well this past summer a parent who um I think had child may have gotten accepted into the prek program >> um wanted to know if there was some things or tool they could use to kind of get them ready before they went there. Is that will they be allowed to use this as well or do they have to actually be enrolled? >> They will have to actually be enrolled.
057>> All right. Thank you. Any other questions? Thank you, Miss Carr. >> Thank you. Our next agenda item will come from Miss Pamela Watkins. The September 2025 financial statement. Good evening, Dr. Bird, board president Smith, board members. You should have in front of you the financial report for September of 2025. September represents the last month of the fiscal year. So I will do somewhat of a slight wrapup of our fiscal year. Um you also have the explanation of the financial data for the general fund which provides a statement and an overview of the financial status specific to the general fund. Um there is a snapshot analysis which we'll focus on. That is a highlevel um summary of the district's financial position as of September 30. Um you also have the general fund balance recap. The
058monthly percentages. So since we're at the last month of the fiscal year, we are at 100% um is what we would expect the expenditures to be if we budgeted correctly. Um you also have the monthly and annual comparative statement of revenues and expenditures, statement of cash flow and the pie chart which is a visual. And then you have the F reports which are the reports information that is uploaded to the state department um and provides us the information that's presented in the F reports. I'm going to do this a little bit differently this month just because it is the last month of the fiscal year. Um I want to kind of talk briefly about our financial information snapshot analysis. As you will see um our budget um compared to exp percentage of budget revenues ended
059at 107% expenditures ended at 102% of budget. you'll see that our local revenue comparison um is pretty consistent. And then our revenues, our general fund balance analysis compared to the prior year was about $1.3 million less than last year with our required one-mon fund balance ending at $25.6 million. As we ended the fiscal year, just a couple of highlights to wrap up the fiscal year for Montgomery public schools. During the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, Montgomery public schools received a three-notch increase in its credit rating, marking one of the district's most significant financial accomplishments in recent years. This improvement reflects the district's ability to manage the finances responsibly, sustain operations through careful planning, and maintain the confidence of external financial institutions and rating agencies. Contributing factors to that upgrade were several things including our
060growth in revenues, careful expenditure controls, our conservative budgeting and monthly budget monitoring. The growth in revenues was that the fact that the district had successfully built and maintain reserve levels exceeding the required one-mon fund balance that is required by the state for some consecutive years. This created stability and flexibility that caught the attention of the S&P rating agency. Closely monitoring and approving our expenditures to ensure that all align with approved budgets and district priorities involved collaborations with our departments. Um, conservative budgeting, planning based on realistic and sustainable revenues. Um, and one of the other things that S&P pointed out that will be a goal for upcoming years is planning a a um forecast information. Um, something that we don't currently do, but something that I would like to implement for our department. Monthly budget monitoring
061includes regular board meeting updates, recognizing variancing analysis, and assessing spending patterns to identify the potential issues early. So making sure that we keep an eye on those things. In addition to these pointed notations from S&P, we continue to maintain collaborative communication which includes ongoing discussion with our district leadership and ensuring awareness and accountability for financial decisions as well as providing transparency and accountability by presenting the monthly financials information to the board and publicly sharing that information on the district's website, reinforcing the trust and openness of the stakeholders. One of the second achievements that we had during the first quarter of fiscal year 2025 was the district completed the comprehensive analysis of the employee salary schedule and implemented that during that first quarter of the fiscal year. The review led to targeted adjustments designed to promote
062competitive pay within the tri county area and approve and improve recruitment and intention and retention and ensure equity across the various job classifications. Continual review of those schedules was suggested um for the upcoming year. That is one of the processes that I would like to work towards is reviewing that information to consider that. I think the initial recommendation was that it's reviewed every 2 to 3 years. As we have highlights, we also have things that we have to keep in in mind for concerns, things that we have to be on the lookout for. Revenue and enrollment trends. While the district continues to experience gradual decline in student enrollment which directly impacts the amount of funding received from the state, we currently still remain financially stable due to the additional revenues generated from the avalorum tax
063proving those increased revenues and the impact has been significant. This voter approved support has been instrumental in providing additional units to support our arts classes, our music classes, our foreign language advanced placement, career tech, providing additional assistant principles for our schools, and additional student support services. The district remains deeply thankful to the community for recognizing the importance of investing in education. Our second thing for to be on the lookout of for is of course a sunset clause in 2028. Of the six meals approved by voters included a sunset clause that will expire in 2028 unless renewed. This potential expiration could result in significant reduction in annual local revenues. It's important for us to be proactive and that the public can see what we're actually doing with those funds and how we're supporting our students and
064our teachers with those additional revenues. Of course, any loss in any local revenues will create a significant shortfall for the district. At the close of the fiscal year 2025, the district's general fund balance was at $98.9 million, which represented about 3.86 86 months in reserves. While the general fund balance was at 3.86 million, it's um 3.86 months. It's important to note that not all of those funds are truly discretionary. The true discretionary local fund balance was 77.3 million, which is exactly a three-month reserve. The average district reserves across the state of Alabama is four months. The state again requires just the one month. Maining reserves at or above the um three-month threshold reflects responsible financial stewardship and positions the district to manage forecast manage unforeseen costs revenue fluctuations and emergencies without dup disruption to our
065school operations. In conclusion, fiscal year 2025 marked the fourth year since Montgomery public schools emerged from state financial intervention. And in that time, the district not only maintains stability, but has achieved several milestones that demonstrate significant growth and recovery, including rebuilding the fund balance to healthy levels, earning multiple credit rating upgrades, establishing and maintaining sound financial policies and practices, restoring stakeholder financial confidence through transparency, accountability, and consistent communication. The pro progress made over the past four years underscores the district's commitment to long-term financial health and its ability to b balance its fiscal responsibility with educational priorities and goals set forth set forth by the board. Montgomery continues to demonstrate strong financial leadership, accountability, and accountability through strategic planning, open communication, and responsible management. the district is well positioned for continued financial sea success in the
066years ahead. One of the things I do want to recognize if it's okay is that finance is a really really busy department and I know some of our our um team members watch the board members and I just want to take this opportunity to thank all of the finance team that work behind the the scenes and supporting the work that we do. They work very hard. I really appreciate all of them and all of the work that they do and I want to recognize them as well. >> All right. Are there any questions? >> All right. Well, I do have a couple. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Um, you mentioned the salary adjustments and I was wondering u you mentioned that we will review them. I think it's every two years. >> Yes, ma'am. And I
067was wondering are these salary adjustments that we have now are they um showing that it that we're basically getting a return on the investment and I guess as you and Dr. I'm asking this question too >> because it's always good to invest in people but I hope that we'll see a significant return on the investment in the people that we have. >> Yes ma'am. And I agree with that. I do know that once when the salary study was done, the um the analysis showed that we really needed to make significant changes in the salary schedule. However, at the time we understood that we could not do a 100% adjustment, which is why we recommended that the salaries be reviewed every 2 to 3 years. Um going into fiscal year 2027 would be two years since
068the last salary schedule. I would hope that um some analysis and study can be done coming into the next calendar year that could go into effect for fiscal year 2027, which would represent two years since the or that would actually represent three years since um the last change, which was in December of 2024. >> Bird, did you have anything? >> Well, of course, uh I've only been here for these past five months, but I can say what in that uh in leading this team. Uh we are definitely working hard. Uh we're working hard to improve transparency. Uh but most of all, we're actually working hard to ensure that every member is accountable uh to the people and children uh that we serve. U so as a team, of course, we come here, we work hard
069every single day, and I think the team realizes and know uh that I do hold them accountable uh for what we're actually doing. And so we're definitely working hard. We're moving forward. Uh and I think what that we will continue uh to improve as a district. Absolutely. >> That was my only question, Miss CL. I mean, I'm sorry, Miss Bordis. >> Um, just one um comment for Dr. B. When we look at this study, one of the things that we didn't do before that I really would like us to think about is to find somebody that knows what >> what this looks like >> to to search some uh districts or some um I'm sure there are people that do this uh for a living, but we'll need some guidance >> u as we we
070move to review this. >> Absolutely. >> Yes. And Miss Portoris, there is a vendor that has been identified that will be shared um that does just that um that does focuses only on school districts. I think the previous study was a vendor that school districts was not their focus, but this vendor school districts are their focus. School districts throughout the state of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Tennessee. >> That's good to hear. Are there any additional questions? All right, Miss Watkins, you're still you're the next agenda item. Supplemental I'm sorry, supplemental salary schedule amendment. >> Yes, ma'am. So, um I think at the last board meeting, um a district athletic director came forward and stated that the girls wrestlers could no longer be on the same team with boys wrestlers. So the supplemental salary schedule that
071existed only had a supplement for boys wrestling. Um what has been shared with you is to provide a supplement for a girls wrestling coach for middle school and then a girls head wrestling coach and girls assistant wrestling coach for high school. This um establishment would provide exactly what already exists for boys wrestling coach in the middle school and then in the high school there already exists a boys head wrestling um coach and a boys assistant wrestling coach. And so um the presentation or the request is that we provide the exact same thing for the girls teams as well. >> That falls under title nine. >> Yes, ma'am. >> All right. Any other questions? All right, Miss Pamela Watkins, one more. CMP certification supplement in incentive. >> Yes, ma'am. So, um this but what you have
072before you is a request from the child nutrition department to um provide a certification incentive plan for their team. This would be funded out of the CMP funds. um they have presented this as part of their plan um their improvement plan for the CMP department. Um and so what this would do is that the staff members would um seek certification via the SNA certification program. This is an optional certification. I think there is a mandatory one that is required for CMP workers. this would be in addition to and so those who choose to um receive the certification she's got the stipen amounts that would be allowed whether they get a certification 1 2 3 or four um again this has been presented as part of their improvement plan to the state CMP department and it
073is funded 100% out of CMP funds >> are there any questions u miss brown >> my question is um once uh an employee becomes certified are they required to stay here at any length of time? >> That's a good question. Um I will reach out and ask Miss Beard that very question. That's a great question. Yes, ma'am. >> Are there any additional questions? Kyle, >> that's exactly what I was going to ask. It's like if we're going to help them get certified then they commitment to us is >> a certain number of years or you know >> Yes ma'am >> to get that. Thank you. >> Okay. I will definitely reach out and get an answer to that question and provide it to you. >> All right. Thank you. At this time the our next
074agenda item will be the consent agenda. Dr. Bird. >> Thank you madam president board members. Madam President, board members, at this time, superintendent requests your approval of action items 13A through 13F. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. We re Okay. Thank you. Sorry about that. Superintendent request your approval of action items 14 A through 14F. >> Superintendent has made a recommendation. Is there a motion? Move to accept the recommendation of the superintendent. >> Is there a second? It has been motioned and properly second. Is there any [clears throat] discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor do so by showing of hands. It is unanimous. All right. Number 15, consider for approval. >> Thank you, Madam President, board members. Madam President, at this time the superintendent would like to would like to make an adjustment to the
075personnel report certified personnel. I would like to at this time remove and table item 11 adjustment. Superintendent recommends your approval of the certified of the personnel report certified personnel with action item 11 being removed and tabled. >> All right. The superintendent has made a recommendation. Is there a motion? >> Madame President, I move that we accept the recommendation of the superintendent uh removing item 11 for personnel report certified personnel. >> Is there a second? It has been moved and properly second. All those in favor do so by showing of hands. It the vote is 41. It had the motion passes. >> Thank you. Superintendent recommends your approval of item 15B personnel report classified personnel. The superintendent has made a recommendation. Is there a motion? >> I move. >> I'm sorry. >> I move to accept
076the superintendent's recommendation for the personnel report classified personnel. >> Is there a second? >> I second. >> Has been moved and properly second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor do so by showing of hands. It's unanimous. >> Thank you. I'm sorry. >> Go ahead. Superintendent recommends for your approval. Action items 15C, personnel report teams. >> The superintendent's made a recommendation. Is there a motion? >> I move to accept the recommendation of the superintendent. >> Is there a second? It has been moved and properly second. Any discussion? Hear none. All those in favor do so by showing of hands. It is unanimous. Dr. Bird. Thank you. Superintendent recommends your approval of AC action items 15D, part-time supplemental personnel press minutes. >> Superintendent has made a recommendation. Is there a motion? >> Madam President, I
077move that we accept the superintendent's recommendation for part-time supplemental personnel. >> Is there a second? >> There a second. >> Second. >> All right. It has been moved and properly second. All those y is there any discussion? >> All right, Miss Brown, >> just want to verify that uh the part-time personnel has been vetted um closely to verify the certification. >> That's what you want to speak to. >> Good evening. Yes, the personnel has been vetted to ensure proper certification for the positions in which we have listed. >> Miss Cloud, >> I'd also like to ask um and this part-time is less than 19 hours a week. >> Yes, they're less than 19 hours per week as as stated in their contracts. And the legacy coach positions may go over, but they're also limited. >>
078What? >> No more than 26 hours. >> So, are there any other questions? All right. Hearing none, um, the superintendent made a Thank you, Miss Ford. >> Thank you all. Thank you, Madam President. The superintendent made a recommendation for the part-time supplemental personnel press minutes. Is there a motion? Is there any discussion? No further discussion. Thank you, Miss Cordis. Um, all those in favor do so by showing of hand. It is 41. The motion passes. At this time, the work I'm sorry, the regular board meeting for the Montgomery County Board is now adjourned. We will begin our work session. The Montgomery County Public Schools work session is now in session. The meeting is now being called to order. There is still an established quorum. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? >> Madame President,
079I move that we approve the agenda. >> Is there a second? >> I second it. >> It has been motioned and properly second. Is there any discussion? hearing none. All those in favor do so by showing of hands. It is unanimous. Um our next agenda item is receive as information from Miss Laura Pin with Vulker. >> Good evening, Dr. Bird, President Smith, board members. Thank you for allowing me to bring November's CIP uh update to you. We're going to start with the Percy Julian High School project. We are currently tracking at 13% complete. Here we go. Um project progress at uh for this past month. We've got the concrete slab uh complete for section A. We've got our contractor currently focused on section B and C for the next slab pour tenatively scheduled for the
080end of the month. Uh we've got structural steel items uh beginning to arrive this month. And then ongoing installation of underground electrical and plumbing pipe at section B continues through the month. also for uh the excavation of section E which is the storm shelter area uh that has started for the structural footings. And then just to kind of go through uh updated aerial photos, here's a view of the campus facing east from the boulevard. campus view uh facing north. Again, a campus view facing west. And then to round it uh out, here's our campus view facing south. And what you see in that bottom right hand corner is where your uh slab is complete for that section A. uh rolling into South Lawn Middle School. Today was a very good day for South Lawn Middle
081School gym edition. We had um substantial completion inspection scheduled for this morning and uh actually received that. Uh we were given owner occupancy uh moving forward. So we were extremely excited to to have that goal set and the contractor uh met it. And so our next step is to um continue addressing some of the punch list items. Uh we also need to have weight room equipment installed and the furniture installed. So just a couple of the owner furnished items. Uh that's not related to the contractor scope of work that falls on um the owner furnishing it. We'll make sure that those get implemented and installed uh by the close of the year. So uh today was a good day. Um I did want to also let me go through these uh slides real quick. So
082um from our last month's uh presentation, we did have bleachers installed, a gym floor uh installation was complete. And here's a here's an overall uh picture of once that gym floor was installed midcourt. Yeah, it's it turned out really nice. Really nice. There's a view from the interior of the con concession area as well as a view of the concession uh entry, view of your athletic locker rooms. And then lastly, I just wanted to uh comment. Last month, I had indicated that we were going to begin advertising uh for pre-qualifications in the bid for the new Capitol Heights Middle School. That advertisement hit the street this week. Um and so interested GC's are asked to submit their pre-qualification packet by December 8th. We will review those, vet them, and then we're looking at a pre-
083bid uh being held on site at the Percy Julian High School campus on January 8th. Uh and our anticipated bid opening will be held February 19th. So that's what we're looking at. Any questions? >> Yes, ma'am. Um, number one, thank you um for working in diligently to have South completed. I was amazed from the time that I visited with you and Chad sent me pictures >> and Chad also sent me pictures from Carver um as well. So, I was amazed at that. My only question is, do we have an update on the minority business participation? I didn't see it in this. >> I I did not include it, Miss Brown, for this month. I will have it on our presentation for next month. Um, we met uh earlier this week and there were some POS
084that needed to be captured that was not previously included in the slideshow that I sent out last week. And so, I just did not want to present information that was not accurate. So, I will make sure that you have that uh next month. Are there any additional questions? All right. Thank you, Miss P. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Our next um agenda item will be the McGra Hills subscription renewal um of Alex by Dr. Chenise Wood. >> Good evening, Madame President and Superintendent Dr. Bird, members of the board. Thank you. So the goal for tonight's presentation is to um further clarify and discuss the Alex renewal and the purpose of Alex and the rationale as to how the students are using it and how the teachers are using it. So as you may know Alex is
085in an adaptive program um pretty much like I Ready is adaptive. We have I Ready for K8. Alex is used for 912 high school math. Um it determines exactly what students know, what students don't know, and most importantly what they are ready to learn. So it is being used currently as a universal screener. They the students have taken their beginning of the year, middle of the year, and end of the year assessment. It creates them a learning path that's adapted for math for grades 9 through 12. Um and that is how they are currently using it. But also teachers can create their own assessments um for students to use that are standardsbased. It supports every teacher currently. It's adaptive as I stated, automatic progress checking, um real time insights in student knowledge gaps, personalized learning
086paths for students to reinforce skills and time savings um time saving for teachers on focusing on small group. Now here um the data that was requested for Alex. This is the trend data for the u past several years where you see COVID 2019. I did not include the 2019 data because in 2019 it was used as a pilot in high school for summer school and it was a three-month pilot. Then we went into COVID and so it was purchased by the district in 2021. In 2021, you see the data of 2,000 students um using it. my glasses. Sorry. 2223 8,000 a little over 8,000 students. 2324 7,000 and 2425. Um about 6,000 students. Here you see the initial progress which would be your beginning of the year data. So this here is from August to
087October 2025. So this is our current data. Where you see the schools not in usage are schools that are either charter schools or it could be Brentwood Children's Home. Um so Alex pulled this data for us. So the schools in Montgomery public schools are using it. Now you will see middle schools using it here. In the orange is the initial progress report data. in the gray is the is the current progress report where our students currently are participating and currently are mastering. And so you do see middle school data on here. However, um high school is where we need Alex for the universal screener because although it may be diagnostic, all of our students in 9th through 12th grade are currently using it as a universal screener and they have taken the beginning of the
088year. December um is coming up is usually our middle of the year assessment for all um grades. So here you see the Alex data by the number of students that um are taking Alex courses currently where it says beginning of the year knowledge um that's what Alex calls beginning of the year knowledge but it is the beginning of the year assessment. current knowledge is we pulled a report to see how students are currently performing and you see the percentage the percentage point gain um for these particular classes. We do have some small gains in geometry, algebra 1, algebra 2 and pre-calculus. So um since the last reporting I believe it's important to survey teachers to ensure how um it says here how do you primarily use Alex in your instruction because the teachers are the
089ones that um are using it. We also survey principles as well on our um different programs for instruction to get input from them. Here you see under initial knowledge check which is the beginning of the year. Now you see 30 responses but we have this is 30 out of 48 responses which is about a 62.7 percentage of how many um surveys that we received back. So there are 48 high school math teachers currently 30 responded. So again in this response you see 70% of teachers are using it for um initial knowledge check learning mode uh 30% inclass assignments 13 targeted intervention homework um some have stated I have not used it yet Alex is not available um to the teachers I believe it says my standards are not available that could be a class that
090is um possibly not in Alex however Um, again, MPS teachers, the surveys are important to get the teacher input. This is another question. Would you like to continue using Alex as a digital math resource in the future? 86% of the teachers stated yes. Now, it's not necessarily about what the teachers want, but we do like to get input from teachers, from students as well, and from principles. So here I wanted to show you the secondary supplemental math resources that we currently have in grades 9 through 12. You see progress learning here. We actually have progress learning for K12, but again this is for secondary math. Alex and schools PLP. Now schools PLP is currently being used in Montgomery public schools as our grade recovery um for secondary. And so they do not have a universal
091screener to my knowledge in schools PLP that the students can use. With Alex, like I said, I compare it more so to Ready because in I Ready, the students take the universal screener for beginning, middle, and end of the year. It creates them an adaptive learning path. And so Alex does the same for 9 through 12. So Alex would be the same comparison for high school as I already is for K8. And progress learning is another another digital platform that has all of our um content areas and standards and it's also a pathway but it is standardsbased and so when students take it it's on grade level here the action plan for implementation um as I stated uh teacher surveys that has been shared with you um data sharing professional development our math teachers we
092still have a lot of non-certified teachers in the secondary they still need additional training and support just like any other content area or non-certified teacher. Uh knowledge checks again beginning of the year, middle of the year, end of the year correlate to the student gaps with intervention and based on the MTSS state guidelines. We do have to have a universal screener that gives the beginning, middle and end of the year assessments to our students. Administrator training and goal is to ensure fidelity of Alex implementation. Um it is aligned to the textbook McGra Hill um also known as the reveal textbook. Sorry. Um so the quote for one-year subscription is $145,000. That one-year subscription would end September 30th. Now, I don't have a slide on here that states um that we asked the company for an
093additional um quote, and the additional quote was for if it possibly ended July 1st, which would take us through the end of the year and through summer school, it would be $123,000, which is $16.13 per student. And that is if um we wanted to not move forward after this school year with Alex and take the summer to um possibly look at another vendor. But I will state that currently our students are using it. If we do not continue Alex, we wouldn't have other balanced assessments because they would have to take something else. So, let's just say for example, if they had to take um if we said we were not going to move forward with Alex for the remainder and they wanted and we had to take progress learning. Well, they didn't take that at
094the beginning of the year. So, therefore, we have nothing to compare it to. So, our assessments for the district for high school math would not be balanced. Not only that, our teachers have been trained on Alex. Um do they need some additional training like anything else? Absolutely. But our teachers have been trained on Alex. it is in embedded in our curriculum guides. And so if we were to not move forward with renewing this, then it would have to come off our curriculum guides, which then sets forth that we would have to train teachers on something else. And I just think that would cause an uproar currently to our curriculum and the instruction for math um 9 through 12 high school. And so um you have I'm make sure you have any questions. Sorry, it's not
095working. I think that's the last slide. Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. Last month we were told that it would take six months to sync this with powers. >> Yes, ma'am. So, I just want to clarify that um one has nothing to do with the other. And when I state that, I state that because the $145,000 for a renewal ending September 30th, the teachers can still and the students can still continue to use it. So it does not cost $145,000 to sync it to P school. What this renewal is asking for for $145,000 is to just simply renew the product so that the students and teachers can continue to use it. So syncing it would be like any other product currently. Right now they go through Clever and they log in. So um I'm not sure where
096the syncing came from, but no ma'am. >> Miss Cloud are you? >> Uh since you were not here and Dr. King was here. Can you clarify that from last meeting? What thinking was told that we had to get it? It would take six months to sync it with power because you were there. >> Well, I think Can I just tell you the question at that time was why didn't we have data? Why didn't we know where we were with this program? And that's when Mr. um that's when Curtis went back and said because we did not give the company permission to use our information. So that's the reason there was no data and it would take them I guess he he was saying this amount of time to get them up to speed >> which
097made us feel like they weren't going to do anything but that for six months I think is what >> so if I I had to guess and this is simply a guess um about sinking like I said currently right now the students go through clever just like progress learning schools pop and anything else so maybe um I don't I I don't want to guess, but I was going to say maybe thinking would be they could go in through McGraw Hill since it's aligned with the textbook and they would just go in one way for the textbook and for Alex, I'm assuming, but yes, ma'am, they go in through. >> Are there any additional questions? >> Um, I just have one. um you know because we're we're at this point and I absolutely agree with you.
098I think one of our main problems has been we use too many things and in and not not tonight but just at some time if you'll kind of let us know or guide us to what the expectation should look like >> for us to even consider say okay this a good product they're using it we're not going to you know trouble the students we don't understand this thinking part but It's good to hear that they're going to continue to work. And if we get favorable information, then if you would just put some guidelines in place to say, "Hey, this is working. We think we're going to be all right. We'll look at it again in the next two or three months and we'll pull you some numbers so when we get to the deadline, then
099we can say, "Okay, this has worked for us. We think it's a good expenditure and we'll get a good return." And then we can go from there. I think would help. >> I want to echo that because that was actually one of my questions as well um in the execution of what's expected. So, thanks Miss Cloud. We're doing this now in December. We've got the middle of the year. Why didn't we look at this to start the year? the summer is the time that that the central office comes together that everything's in place. Everything's ready to go. There's no hiccups. There's no sense of urgency for this to take place. That's what the summer is for the central office is to get everything ready to execute it out to the schools. I would much rather
100have time to ask these questions without that sense of urgency because it's going to go away if we don't go ahead and make that decision. And I don't I don't feel that being rushed is the right thing to do or say for our children. >> Uh doc, thank you with me Scott. Dr. [clears throat] the topic of this, you know, we we we said kind of when we when this came up that we can always call and ask questions and I've talked to enough of you today that I you know I I will say I will piggyback off of um what what Miss Pora said when she said, you know, sometimes we have too many things. >> I agree. We just we just got rid of egeneuity, picked up school's PLP, which by the way,
101this is my little jab there. It's still not the way it's been rolled out. There are still teachers that don't have it. There are still teachers that haven't been trained. And I you and I had this conversation today in that when you sit like if you look at your survey, your survey was only 30 students. >> 30 teachers teachers. Then when you look at your students, and I'm not picking at you because I think it was a great PowerPoint. I think if anybody could have pushed me over it, it would have been you and and you did to a degree and and I'll end with that in a second. But out of those 15 schools that are actually using it, eight of them are either middle schools or they're not really counted in there. So
102you're you're looking at seven schools using this. You're looking at the price of 145,000. If you're looking at 122, you might as well spend the rest to figure it out. That's my opinion. >> But like you said, I said the one thing that um that you said that really made me listen was that everything that these kids have done from the beginning of the year would be flushed. It's like, you know, hey, we didn't do it. It's it's saying, hey, we wasted 10 and something thousand already. So I think you know whether whatever the board decides we've got to look at one these other programs that we have we've got to minimize them because the more you use school schools PLP I know you took a survey of the kids of 90 kids you that's
103not in here and those 90 kids were like hey we don't want to do PLP well you know what here's the deal and I and and I know I'm going to go over it later but when you have kids absent and I know you express, well, Lisa, when when people are looking, hey, we've got 122 lessons to do when we sit down at this, or hey, we've got 145 lessons, it's overwhelming. But what are we saying when we look at kids and say, okay, you've missed 18 days at one of our schools, which I'm not going to mention the name. We've got 1/4th of that student population already missing 18 days or more. And you know why? Because we're not doing schools pop. We're handing them nine assignments. And what if you had offered me
104back then in my lazy days in my hey my teenage days okay out of the 60s could I go do home and do nine you know nine assignments give them to my brother to do or whatever there's no accountability there there is absolutely no transparency there is no integrity in that because you don't know what's coming at us so on Alex I'm fine you see what I'm saying I'm fine now but I think it's my reason for not was I really wanted the schools PL component to shine. I wanted to I know they have a screening element. I checked or or at least they told me or uh Miss uh Miss Cloud, didn't they tell you they have a screening thing? That's what she shared. No, whether you know that's what he told me today.
105Okay. Is there something funny? Okay. Just wonder. Okay. >> Okay, that's it. I did I like I said, I think I think we're going to have to like you said, you know, we've gone far enough into this that I don't know that we I think it would be a waste if we turned around. clown. I mean, I'm sorry, Miss Portoris has >> um ju just to follow up and I I said it last time and I I agree with these ladies. I think one of the things if we're going to spend this kind of money, I still don't understand why the district is not forced to use it as a whole. >> Well, as I think you stated, Miss Portoris, we do have other competing resources. When we look at our supplemental resources, it may
106be, >> and this is just an example, a student needs finite math. Well, >> this program doesn't have it, but Progress Learning does. And so, at that point, it's really about what we can provide the students. So, we look at other supplemental, but I do agree. And it also skews the data because you're looking at Alex data and saying, "Oh, we're not seeing the usage we want." when I presented before with progress learning data. If you can remember 11th and 12th grade math and ELA didn't have any because they're using Alex and so we do have multiple supplemental resources and we do we can re-evaluate that and we usually do in the summer. >> And just one more thing and so you you said that and I absolutely agree because now education changed so you
107kind of have to use what the teacher can use and what they can teach from. So when a when a child does not have grades or has failed something then we ought to be diligent enough to say >> these are the resources and ask then the questions if this child was failing this standard these were the resources when did you provide this how did you provide it where there's a disconnect somewhere if we're spending all this money to buy it they're using it, but the children don't get it. You You see what I'm saying? Just um we probably need to just look at it again and see where we're >> Miss Mc Brown has the floor >> and then I'll be through. I want to say one more. >> The only thing I wanted to
108know, do you ever think that we'll get to uh cross the board instead of doing the hodgepodge? >> Well, it just depends on what the in a perfect world. Yes, ma'am. We would like to be across the board in in in other districts, they don't have as many funds and resources to use. So, again, I if the students have a particular course that they need or we get students all the time that come from out of state um that have different they come in with different credits or they took different classes and so we have to accommodate those students which is why we do have some of the resources that we have is to accommodate the students. And so, um, I hope I'm answering your question, but we the different resources. There's, let me say
109this, there's not one resource that has everything because even with Alex and I ready, it's adaptive. So, when I need to test a student on grade level, I use progress learning because it's on grade level. It's standardsbased. And so, we yes, we need that resource, but we also need it adaptive for MTSS purposes for a student that's not on grade level to help accommodate what they need. >> So, Sometimes it's when you have so many choices. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Right. >> That clouds everything. >> And Miss Cloud, if you would, the superintendent would like to say something >> real quick. >> And I like to thank you all so much uh for all for all of those comments because you all are exactly right. I think what in that we can look at all
110of the reports within that uh that we have for MPS. If we go back to the curriculum audit that was done in 2024, I think that it actually listed that MPS had an abundant of resources. If we look at the transitional team report, I think that they're going to also went and highlight the numerous programs for that we have. And so the way that we can actually solve that is that we will conduct a program audit uh and we will have that audit available to all of you all because again I absolutely agree we have too many programs and our teachers are forced to use all of the programs and so that's not right. Uh, and so I think that one way that we'll be able to solve this is that we will implement a
111program audit and then we'll be able to present to you all the programs that we would actually use in MPS and require all of our teachers uh to use it, but also to make sure that we're providing training for right training and support for all teachers. >> Thank you, Dr. Bird. Miss Cloud, >> with all that said, what Dr. Bird just said, "I want attendance supported because they've gotten to the point they think they're out. They make up nine grades and it's inflated. There's no academic integrity. There's no standardbased mastery. And then when we give the assessments, grades don't show reflect, and they should. So, you got great inflation and it doesn't match the assessment. I don't I want us to move past that. I want attendance. I want them to be able to come
112to school and do the work and then not feel like they can get by with something. And we have academic integrity, standard-based mastery. That's got to be and uh there's got to be a a a benchmark there with uh scoring and grade not grade inflation. >> Miss Cloud, I did have a question. I know those are um points. I want to know I guess for the board for us to kind of stand behind be, you know, stand behind you. Is there any supporting documents that you know of that you can direct us to to show where there's the inflation? Because this is new information to all of us and it would be better if we could um kind of circle our wagons at some point to to go over that. >> All right. You're the
113curriculum person, >> but we can we just uh >> Does what I say does what I say make any sense? >> Yes, ma'am. >> There you go. >> I didn't say it didn't make sense. I said that we need to just make sure that we have the information in front of us so that we can look at it together if this is going to be something that the board wants to move forward and looking at. I >> I'll be happy. I didn't bring it with me tonight because it's just my research >> provided to Yeah. just so that we can see what you're saying is what I'm saying. >> Okay. Let let me if I may, Madam President, clarify. Uh because I did talk to to Miss Cloud and she brought it up to me
114and I asked the same as as what you did. And I think there maybe I'm wrong, but I think um you didn't clarify. She's not saying that grades are being changed or whatever. It's take it take it like this. If kids aren't there to take the test and then you look at the GPA of all these other kids, A's, B's, C's, that actually take the tests, that actually do the projects versus the kids that go home and just do nine assignments and the teacher doesn't want to grade and they get A's. You've got an inflated A for a kid that really didn't do what all these other kids did. Do that. I don't think >> Okay. I I was going to say I just I thought maybe you thought it was grade changing or something
115like that and that's not what she meant. >> No. No, I meant that >> for the work that they got the A on for those that are there in attendance and doing the work, taking the test, even the quizzes, then it's not reflecting the same effort and integrity of what we're looking for, academic integrity, >> because some of them are letting their parents do it. >> Pardon me. >> That's not a program matter. If I'm going to give a child that does nine assignments the same weight as I give a child to the test wouldn't really matter where they took the test. A test you see what I'm saying? >> I do I do but what we're saying is this or what I'm saying is you cannot compare. Think about it like here's an example.
116I've got a a child that or not my child, a student at uh Capitol Heights that now has a a 30 or uh open up her phone, she got a zero or something like that. That kid that is she had an essay due so it was like cheating. Okay. >> Well, ladies, if you if y'all don't mind me because I want to we're talking about the program right now, >> but the grades at home versus school are not the same. We need to we need to move on so that we can be prepared to vote on this whether we're going to approve it or not. Thank you, Miss Dr. Williamson. >> Thank you. >> Our next agenda item will come from um Ted Anderson with the facilities update. >> Yes, ma'am. If you'll uh Good
117evening, Dr. Bird, Mr. Watkins Smith, Miss Poris, and members of the board. If you'll look at your capital project spreadsheet with me, um, Vulker shared their pieces of the of the project there in gray. And then we'll move down to Morning View. Morning View is sitting at 98%. There's just some things that were kind of finishing and tweaking such as the fire alarm system and and items there. Um, the students are occupying uh the the majority of the space with the exception of one hallway with about five classrooms. We tried to keep that um available for the contractors and and not upset moving kids back and forth until we finished the substantial completion with working with fire alarms and things of that nature with it. So the I did get an email today from the
118project engineer. They have requested the final inspection for this uh to fall after December the 10th and u have that as quickly as we can. this usually the state inspector, he stays pretty booked up and busy with his region that he covers from all the way to the Mississippi line all the way to Georgia and and up above Chilton County and down to the Dothan area. So, um it takes him about two weeks or so to to schedule that. So, um but yes, we're sitting at 98% and really wrapping that project up. Davis Elementary. Again, we've we've had phase one underway working on electrical and some of the basic plumbing. We're working with a local school administration there to make sure as we start the phasing for this because we will have to shift students
119around during this phasing similar to what we did at Goodwin. uh shifting those students around. We want to really try to mitigate the the learning disruption there and make sure that um we can finish those quickly and move those students back in as after each phase. Again, this contractor uh completed the Goodwin job, so they're very familiar with working in our district. the Carver High School turf and track replacement. Uh if you've been going by the school, there was there uh this morning and this afternoon, they're putting the rubber pellets down into the turf now and um working on wrapping that up. That should wrap up. Uh if it didn't wrap up this afternoon, it'll wrap up in the morning with the rubber pellets. Uh next phase of it is to resurface the track with
120asphalt. We'll have to wait that 30-day uh period for it to cure and then the rubber surface will go over the top of the of the asphalt from there and uh wrap that job up as well. The Forest Avenue and South Lawn Elementary uh roof replacement, I got the notification of that today. We do have a bid opening on December the 2nd scheduled for that. Uh JAG Athletic Improvements, uh working with that architect. Um, we're in the pre-qualification stages. We're having the contractor submit pre-qualifications to uh to be able to work that job, make sure that they're qualified to to handle a job of that nature. But again, DCM is is reviewing the project, doing their pieces, but we're moving ahead with that, and hopefully have that bid before uh the December board meeting. It
121may push to uh early January for the bid for that project. The Danley Elementary HAC renovations. Again, I got a received an email today from the engineer and uh shared with principal Su there. We'll be doing a pre-bid a pre-bid meeting on December the 2nd there on site to look at that project. It is at DCM as we speak and uh we're looking for a bid uh hopefully prior to the Christmas break as well. U just a swath of the media centers there. We're wrapping up the Garrett Houseion Where's Fairy is wrapped up and the morning view media centers. Uh that's a furniture refresh uh with local vendors vendors that in the dis in the area that work through the state and through state contractor or purchasing cooperatives that we utilize for furniture in that
122and just it's part of the initiative of working with the larger spaces that we've done. Uh if you recall during the COVID we were able to redo a lot of the cafeterias with furniture, refresh their furniture. Uh this is that continuation of the larger spaces that we're trying to to address to give a a functional flexible space. Uh Dr. Williams there was over our STEM program as well. We want to really try to add that element into our media centers as well so that um you know we have a flexible space so it's not just a considered a quote unquote like the libraries of the past. It's a it's a multi-function space that offers robotics, STEM, podcasting, different types of opportunities for our students as well as the the traditional library media centers with books
123and and such. And then the Jag High School media center, uh, that was, uh, that was a larger project. Uh, was wasn't just a simple furniture refresh. I reached out to a local architect, Mr. Barry Robinson's firm, and, uh, he helped us with a redesign of that space. uh not a not something that we're trying to change the structure so much, but since it was so large, I just wanted wanted a professional architectural service to to help guide us in working with the furniture vendors to to have a a a functional space on it. It being a larger job, we're working with several vendors to provide proposals. We'll be working with the local school as well as Miss Huntley, our media specialist here at the central office to help guide us in and choosing the
124correct vendor for that. And then uh move forward with providing new new furniture for the area and recreation of that space. And then our u piece I missed. No, I did do the Jag a Catholic. That's that completes my >> All right. Thank you. Are there any questions, Miss Portoris? >> Um, I know um that this list is already made and all of the funds are, but how do you get on the list? How do you put a project on the list? Because in the past, if I've asked before, [clears throat] >> um, we didn't have money to do it, but I noticed there are some new things, and I know you have to put new things as they come up. >> Yes. But is there a way just to get on the list in
125case something comes open or free or you find somebody? >> The way I approach projects such as like the media centers, if I'm going to do for one, I'm going to do for all. But it the the quantity of the cost of it is is so great. We just have to kind of budget that along the way as funds become available to work on it. So, we just keep keep plugging away with it just like we've done with like the LED uh light retrofitting. uh we've been able to plug away at that and add it into like HVAC projects and then some things we've been able to do inhouse as well and we've completed we're we're pushing more than half of our schools with uh new LED lighting throughout the building. So it's the same
126approach with with like the media centers. We're going to keep pushing >> Yes, ma'am. And and keep working just like with HVAC. I think we're down um when I started we had over 20 schools with a little window units. the Home Depot window units in it. We'll be down to less than four here coming up after we complete the Danley job. And then my plan is to just continue to add those those four remaining schools into the next phases. But they're just such a large cost and we try to do multiple things to show show that we're pushing ahead. But yes, ma'am, it just it's just a great cost and we try to budget it and move along with the plan of it. Yes, ma'am. >> And and I've taken kind of a a west
127to east or east to west approach to some of these things. So, we've done like with the LEDs, we took a west to east approach and then with the media centers, we've done kind of a east to west approach with things so that we're sharing the resources throughout the district. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Thank you, Mr. Anderson. Are there any additional questions? All right. Thank you. We have Miss Cloud for the next agenda item. She'll be uh Miss Cloud served on the superintendence evaluation committee and she will be presenting um the superintendence evaluation and you'll she'll be going through it. Um doc and I just want to let board members know that Dr. Bird has reviewed it and provided his input on it and this is the final um the final evaluation that um they
128agreed on and so she'll present it tonight. >> Thank you. It is very important that we evaluate the superintendent in a way that is cohesive with the instruments that we use to bring forth to what we're looking for. I used um the CSI CSMI curriculum audit. I used the governor's commission on teaching and learning. I used the board goals which was based on the uh curriculum audit for this year 2025. I used Dr. Bird's 100day plan and I used the past superintendent's evaluation instrument. With those pieces I got six sections. Each section has um indicators with a a liyker scale. I use the liyker scale for one to five and each section um shows that we've seen evidence. He'll have some documentation. He'll have something for us to review that we all get and do
129our scoring. And then when we looked at all of this, then we can come up with a cohesive, knowledgeable, transparent evaluation for the superintendent. And this is for year 1, 2025, 2026. There's also a space that you score. There's also a space for a comment if you want to jot down the evidence you saw for that section, an indicator. And there's also a place if you want to put the rationale of why you scored it that way. Give evidence and proof. This is for you to look at. And I believe we're going to come back and let everyone have a look and see if they want to accept this. And then um if you have any questions, feel feel free to call me. We can discuss it. But it has been it did take some
130time to do this. But it's got 40 detail indicators. And I had eight sections, but I dropped it down to six sections because I combined a lot of those that were redundant and I wanted to make it clear and concise. So, please feel free to look over it and ask me anything you'd like to ask, but it was really a it was a a a work that needed to be done because I wanted it him to be evaluated fairly. >> Thank you, Miss Clown. And this is also to receive his information. And what prompted this is that we realized that an assessment tool that we were using was very outdated. And so we wanted something that would be more current and feasible to what superintendent do in the district as far as expectations and all
131the things that she mentioned um were taken into consideration. So thank you. There will be a excuse me there will be a discussion on the process um moving forward but we'll talk about that when um the time comes on what it will look like as we begin this evaluation. Are there any questions? All right, hearing none. Our next agenda item will be Dr. Sean Joseph and he will present to us the superintendent's transitional plan. >> Okay. Good evening. Uh >> good evening. >> It is great to be back in Montgomery and I have my colleague uh with me, Miss Anita Williams, who also uh led the uh supported the human resources audit. Uh, you know, I can tell you this is this is an exciting time uh for Montgomery public schools and and I am
132beyond excited uh to present to you uh the transition uh team report. >> Dr. Joseph, can you check to see if your mic is on the green light? >> It is. >> Okay. >> Yes. Yes. >> So, you're saying speak up, big man. Speak up. [laughter] No problem. I have a problem. I can I can do that. I can do that. uh but but uh you know we had 71 uh individuals from the community uh and from the school system and people from uh different places across the nation come together uh under the leadership and charge of of Dr. bird uh to put together uh a plan to support uh you moving forward uh as a uh district and and a little just a little uh introduction uh Miss Williams who's with me who will
133be presenting uh used to be the instructional uh superintendent in Birmingham uh Alabama prior to being the chief of schools in Atlanta uh public schools and spent most of her career in Detroit uh public school system and you know I spent some time in Seafford, Delaware as superintendent and then uh Metro Nashville public schools as superintendent. Then I was professor at Howard University. I just since last time I came I was professor at Howard University. I took a leave of absence and now I'm intim superintendent in Prince George's County uh public schools right outside of Washington uh DC. So uh you know between us we have 30 years of of 60 years I guess. I don't want to say how old we are. I [laughter] got 60 years of of experience uh in a number
134of of large urban districts throughout uh the country. Uh here um our transition team was overseen uh by Dr. Sheila Martin who's a retired dean of education at Auburn University uh at Montgomery and also Dr. Walter Goslin who's the superintendent in Jefferson County public schools here in Alabama and also he is the AASA national superintendent of the year the current superintendent of the year for uh the entire uh country. So you've had a lot of I say that just to tell you you had a lot of expert eyes uh on uh this plan uh as the teams work together uh to refine and offer uh both short and long-term goals. And as I shared, 71 individuals, uh, individ parents, uh, people, uh, from within the district, uh, principles, uh, people from your communities, all came
135together, uh, looking at the four areas, uh, that were studied, uh, to offer these recommendations. Now again, [clears throat] this is a defining moment uh in Montgomery's uh history here. Uh this process brought together educators, civic leaders, and community partners to examine the core systems that drive student success and really lock in on teaching and learning, human capital, communications, and student engagement. Now, guided by data, uh, national best practices, and community insight, the four subcommittees developed a roadmap to transform Montgomery public schools into a high-erforming, people centered district uh that delivers equitable opportunities for for students. And that's important. I mean, we've got to acknowledge right now the state of the union in uh Montgomery right now. I mean, you're s you're adequately preparing students, but we want to move from adequacy to good and
136from good to great. So, move from a C to a B and then from a B to an A. Uh, that's the goal and and I am confident uh under Dr. Bird's leadership and the leadership of this board uh that you will continue to move the district forward because you're doing the right things. I mean, I was just telling my colleagueuh just a side note as we were sitting here, the fact that you actually evaluate your superintendent uh and align it to standards and align it, you know, you you're intentionally creating alignment within the organization to allow the district to focus on focus and that that's extremely important. I was telling my colleague, you know, many boards around the nation don't even take the time to evaluate a superintendent when it's the most important thing
137uh that that you do to help support focus and create that collaborative governance structure that's needed working together uh to really execute on priorities. So again, I commend you uh for that work. You know, as we look at where you've been and where you've going, you're you're going, you know, Dr. Bird began uh with a 100day plan that really set the stage for how he was going to lead and work within this district collaboratively uh in partnership with the board uh holding himself to high standards and ensuring that all students and all uh people in this district understood he was listening, he was learning and he was working to execute. After that 100 days, we moved into the transition team work where again we assembled 90 71 individuals uh to come together to look in
138four areas and now we present to you in the booklet that you have. Um uh we had in there 79 recommendations uh across all four areas both short-term and long-term goals. from the transition team report will be moving into a strategic planning uh phase for you because now that you have these areas as you look and I know you have a strategic plan but that strategic plan needs focus. I I can tell you that it it is it is not as focused as it needs to be for a district that has the uh needs that you have. Uh so you can use the transition team work to look to begin to refine what you're going to do because as was communicated earlier as Miss uh Watkins was presenting you've got limited resource. So you've got
139to figure out what you're going to do first, second, and third and and the work is going to happen slowly but surely over time. Uh but being clear about how you prioritize your work is really uh essential uh to the process. Again there were four areas uh student achievement which the focus was on in uh strengthening the instructional core and we call that instructional coherence. You had an area focused on human resources asking the question, how do you build a culture that attracts and retains talent and the best talent here in Montgomery? You had uh an area focused on communications and community engagement. Uh we acknowledged in the uh the superintendent process and in Dr. birds 100 days that it was a of eminent need to rebuild trust and transparency within this community amongst amongst
140families. Uh and finally focusing on chronic absenteeism and culture. Uh so ensuring that every student is actually present in your schools and engaged uh in your schools. What's important is that collectively these four uh committees painted a vision of a school district moving from fragmentation to focus, from compliance to coherence, from isolation to collaboration. And the recommendations, the 79 recommendations that are uh in this report underline four themes. one, uh, there has to be a focus on instructional excellence. That in every classroom, you must have high quality teaching, uh, that's aligned to rigorous standards. And so, you know, the days of just putting kids in front of a computer and just letting them just do what they do, you know, have to be over. I mean, you must begin to focus on the rigorous standards
141that are in Alabama. uh making sure teachers understand those standards, how to unpack them, and know how to uh meet the needs of students where they come in. Uh knowing that you're a district uh where kids are coming in to the system with lots of different um you know, lots of different starting points. So, how do you meet the need, know where they are, and ensure that they're growing at acceptable rates in your in your schools and communicate that to families? Second, you must empower people and ensuring that every educator feels supported that every employee uh feels valued and that everyone feels equipped uh to be successful as an employee in Montgomery public schools. You know, thirdly, you have to increase trans communications and ensure that every stakeholder understands and trusts and participates in your
142district's journey. So it was interesting to see, you know, your parents here in the opening sessions here, you know, talking about, you know, the civil rights history of the city and how do you ensure everybody feels like they have an equal voice at the table and and and feel like that their contributions are seen, heard, and valued uh in every school and in every office. And finally, ensuring that there's student belonging, that every child in Montgomery public schools feels connected, uh, feels present, and knows that they're they're cared for. So, those themes that Miss Williams will walk through, uh, at this time, uh, are clear and apparent uh, in uh, the plan. We're rolling. There we go. All right. So, there we go. I went too far. Go. I didn't hit it. At this time,
143I'mma turn it over to my my more accomplished technology partner here, Miss Williams. Well, good evening everyone. I am also excited to be here to share with you um the information that we gathered um as we were meeting in our um subcommittees. Um I'm going to share a high level um I'm going to share with you some a highle overview of what the committees um developed and then Dr. Joseph will probably jump in and add more context. um as usual. >> Yes, he does. [laughter] All right. So, I'm going to share highlights from the four transition teams. Um student achievement, human resources, school culture, and chronic absenteeism and um community engagement. Each group took a hard look at where the district currently stands, what's working, and what can be done both now and in the
144long term in the long run uh to move the school district forward. So let's begin with uh student achievement first. Their charge was to examine the core drivers of student learning in MPS. Um essentially the team focused on how to raise reading and math performance and close opportunity gaps. So the good news is there is some movement in uh in MPS. Um, you are improving, but there are many challenges that remain, especially in math where performance still trails state averages. And there's also a need to strengthen uh consistency in high quality instructional materials um that are used in classrooms. And so some of the recommendations that um were developed by the team um include creating a some of the short-term recommendations. I'll start with that. Creating a coherent instructional plan in reading and math. One
145that is clear, consistent, and built around observable non-negotiables so that every classroom re uh reflects high expectations. Um, another one was to expand instructional literacy across all K5 classrooms and deepen the literacy in grades 6 through 12, ensuring um, every student builds strong reading and math reading and writing skills in every subject. Third, the math strategy should emphasize acceleration and not remediation. Um, students need the opportunity to move forward and not catch up. So those were some shortterm um recommendations. Long-term the recommendation is to really institutionalize these practices um by building curriculum management systems, investing in ongoing professional development and aligning your resources directly to instruction. you want to add? >> Yeah. And what you know what I would add here what's important you know we uh in uh Montgomery there's a lot of talk
146about poverty and we want to stress poverty isn't the issue. It's poverty of thought. It's when we don't have high expectations for our students and we work to remediate. Uh but you have to understand no district has ever remediated itself into excellence. None. you must focus on first instruction and you've got to figure out how to accelerate student work. Uh you know, you treat te you treat students uh like they're gifted and they respond to it. You treat them like you plan on them entering a a penitentiary, they respond to it. And and it's important uh that the expectations are set high. you're clear about where students are and then you have a way to measure are students making adequate growth in each school. You should have that answer uh by school by classroom and
147when you don't see it uh there should be an immediate response uh to uh address uh those gaps. But that that is critical. you know, you're going to have to invest in professional development, uh, high quality, job embedded professional development, uh, where it's not about pulling teachers out in a sit and get. It's about actually going in and having coaching provided to teachers so they can see what the expectations are. They can understand what the standards are. they can actually look at student work uh and be able to have a common understanding of what an A looks like. And I think that was some of the work uh Miss uh Cloud was talking about when she was talking about having the expectations and the consistency and not having the grade inflation and things of that
148nature. You know, an A in one school should be equal to an A in another school and everybody should understand what that proficiency looks like uh to move forward. But that takes professional development and calibration and that's the work that you have ahead. Okay. So turning now to human resources and talent development. This team examined the structures, systems, and practices that shape MPS's ability to to attract, develop, and retain a high-performing mission-driven workforce. The team's recommendations focused on strengthening the full employee experience from recruitment to retention and development. And let me just stop and give a shout out to Dr. um Ford who co-chared the um human resource um subcommittee team. um she was excellent and this work couldn't have moved forward without you. I just wanted to give you a shout out. So in
149short uh in the short term um in recruitment and selection me move on to the recommendations. In the short term, in recruitment and selection, the team recommended to refine how you attract and hire talent uh by using data, community partnerships, and efficient processes to ensure that every school has the right people in place. Um there was also um a recommendation to focus on retention and employee experience through supporting staff once they are here um through recognitions, clear communication, and a culture that values growth and belonging. Um, and one of the other things I'd like to highlight under this um, under short-term recommendations was the one that called to ensure every employee had access to meaningful learning um, and leadership opportunities. That's building internal capacity for the next generation of this district's um, leaders. And finally,
150promoting consistent um responsiveness and professionalism across all departments so that every interaction reflects the commitment to excellence and respect. And so together, these all of these steps create a stronger, more supportive environment where employees can thrive and in turn um better serve the students and the and their families. The the only thing I would add there is um you've got to pay attention to um the feel of the place, right? Uh teachers who uh are hurt or who are feeling stressed out, they pass that stress on to the kids and and we've got to find a way to help your teachers feel a sense of, you know, we're in this together. uh we we have a system that supports and and and they access the resources that that they need uh you know to really
151be present in their best uh for the children in front of you. You know kids people don't run away um you know from uh from work quite often time they run away from cultures. Uh you've got a they've got a you know an environment that isn't uh collaborative that isn't engaging that doesn't push them. uh they go find other opportunities. You know, sometimes I mean we we'll never pay people what they're worth, but we can uh show them a level of respect, a level of colleiality, a level of uh we believe in you uh to have them feel that sense of purpose uh in work. And that's extremely important and that's some of the work uh that you have uh ahead as you uh work to implement these recommendations. And I'll just add you'll you'll
152probably find uh some of that data um in the in your final report um because Dr. Ford conducted um some a survey to determine um where the district stands now relative to how your leaders feel about um support that they're receiving. And so you'll have you'll be able to have a little pulse on that now to see um how they feel. And I think it was about 15% of the the leaders that were um surveyed felt like they were supported. Um and that and also from the exit data that we um looked at in the human resources um on the human resources team stated that about 74% of the people that um leave are teachers and that they leave the main reasons are because they don't feel supported. Um and so that's some very um
153telling data and gives you um a nice place to start you know with some to address those issues. Okay. So moving forward um next with school culture and chronic absenteeism. This uh committee was convened to examine um your attendance patterns, your climate data, intervention systems um to identify actionable uh strategies for cultivating a culture of belonging and reducing chronic absenteeism. The team focused on the link between attendance, connection, and school culture. Right now, your chronic absenteeism rate is around 29%. But as you already seeing uh as you know you're already seeing progress toward your goal of reducing it to 20 um% by 2026. So you have some campaigns like be present, be prepared, be productive that are making a difference, but there are some barriers that still exist such as transportation, housing, and mental health.
154Um they continue to impact attendance. So, some of the short-term recommendations um include improving data accuracy, creating real time dashboards, um creating some real-time dashboards, ex expanding family engagement, and celebrating schools that show growth in both attendance and climate. And as you look forward for your long-term recommendations, um I think the focus was on making uh communication a part of the district's DNA by institutionalizing strategic um campaigns. Creating systems that make two-way com uh communications with family and staff and community partners as a normal part of how you work. updating your website, streamlining and managing and using technology that helps to reach people quickly, clearly and consistently. And also being more proactive by telling your story. Um, >> yes, by telling your story. That's it. >> One of the things uh, you know, I love
155about Dr. Bird and my in my time engaging with him is his level of transparency. I think he clearly understands one cannot manage a secret. And so as you're thinking about this work particularly uh in the area of culture and absenteeism uh having the work visible and and and following up in a visible public manner uh is important for the culture as you're creating a culture of accountability uh to follow up uh and you know and you have seen uh with Dr. bird when he says he's going to do something, he does it and he he locks in on that. That that's important in this moment in in Montgomery's uh history in terms of creating a culture of accountability and a culture of care. It's that combination of accountability and care that's really essential. And
156finally, uh, the communications and community engagement transition team examined, um, MPS's internal and external communication systems, branding, and stakeholder engagement structures to recommend actionable steps that promote transparency, trust, and two-way communication between the district and the community it serves. The communications team looked at how MPS can rebuild trust and strengthen relationships um with families and the community. Some of the short-term um recommendations included launching a consistent internal communication system, creating a unified branded uh unified brand campaign, and expanding multilingual and accessible outreach. Over time, the team um recommended that you build a sustainable communication structure um like having an annual state of the district event, community engagement council and public dashboards that show progress in real time because they believe that when communication becomes clear, consistent and inclusive, trust will follow. So across all four
157areas, student learning, people, culture, and communication, the common threads are connection and coherence. I think you said that at the beginning. Um, and your challenge is now to align these efforts so that every classroom has some great teaching. And so to conclude our presentation this evening, we we'll say again I am so proud of the work that is coming out of of Montgomery public schools in this first 100 days under Dr. Bird's uh leadership. I can tell you I work with superintendents around the country and I've not seen many superintendent that have the courage to kind of put themselves out there and say, you know, 71 people come on in and look this place over. just get get under the hood and just tell us what's good. Give me the good, the bad, the ugly.
158Give it all to me and just let me process it so so we can we can work together. It takes courage to do that. People don't do it. I tell you, I came into my superintendency recently and I didn't do it. [laughter] You know, you know, I'm being honest. You know, it takes courage uh to be able to do that. So, so I commend you uh Dr. bird for for accepting that challenge and and not being afraid uh to just put it out there because again you cannot manage a secret and and and and you have to you when you came into the district you I remember uh you referenced uh good to great by Jim Collins and one of the things that he talks about in that book is that any organization that plans
159to improve must confront the brutal facts of its reality and you've done that in in allowing these 71 individuals to come in and offer these 79 recommendations to you in those four areas so you could begin to focus the district. You know, the transition team work uh represents the collective voice and vision of the community uh determined to see Montgomery public schools rise to new heights. And now as you begin the next chapter which is phase three of the revision of the strategic plan uh that you currently have in place uh you have an opportunity uh to really move forward in a collaborative effort and spirit working handinand uh with the board of education you know so the heart of Montgomery uh its educators it students it families and its community partners uh beat with
160a shared belief that every child deserves access to an exceptional education and a future filled with possibilities. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for allowing us to present uh this transition report to you. >> And before you go, Dr. I know I thank you Dr. King [applause] because that is a lot of heavy lifting. So if any board member I'm going to try to swivel and catch all your hands, but Dr. Keith would like to come in first. >> Uh before you leave, um Dr. Joseph, I just wanted to say this. I um I have been here you know 11 years almost 12 and I've been through superintendent after I think five superintendent and I think um you know with our president she's been through almost as many because she would be the next longest
161standing board member and out of it's crazy um I was talking to another board member today about y'all and you getting up and I will I have to say this out And I mean this with all my heart. Um you said that it took courage uh for Dr. Bird. You brought us Dr. Bird and I thank you o over and over and over. He brought us Dr. Ford um in a time that we God we needed her. And um I cannot tell you even the other board members said, you know, if we had I hope we never have to do it again, at least while I'm serving. [laughter] Um I would come back to y'all in a heartbeat because you had the courage. I brought this up. We had an a packed room over and
162over. We had media over and over. And you not being from here could have tucked your head and and just looked at it. Hey, this is Alabama. Okay. But you came in here and you made a statement. You made me feel like when you're talking about Dr. bird and you're talking about this this board. I feel like I'm talking about my mom and my dad and my children. I I am so proud. I just can't tell you what you all mean to us. And I'm not just saying that as a goodbye. They didn't they want me to shut up and I am. I I just thank you for what you have done and the courage because you give me courage and um I I look at Dr. bird. And I will tell you there's not
163a there I see people in the audience even tonight that has stayed after I will get with Dr. Bird and he'll go, "Oh, let me meet with them." There's not a person from the janitor to the teacher to the to just the person on the street that that man will not say bring them in. And it just means the world to me to be working with the team here that he's put together. So thank you. >> Thank you. And Dr. bird would like to give some comments as well >> and I'll be sure. Uh thank you so much uh Dr. Joseph and Miss Williams for coming all the way down and for sharing this important work with us. I thank you all so much and for holding us accountable uh for holding our feet to
164the fire. Uh this has been four months of great work and I truly thank you all so much. Uh I want to say what that tonight's transition team report uh marks a major step for Montgomery public schools over as you said over 70 community members they came together to assess where we are as a district outline our real actionable steps for improvement and I want to sincerely thank every member of our team uh for your dedication and your thoughtful work. uh your insight and your passion have helped us to see where we are as a district but more importantly how we can actually move forward together. So as we move uh into our next phase which is developing our strategic plan we'll focus on strengthening instruction supporting our educators and improving communication and making sure
165that every student is present and engaged. So, this report is not just a document. Uh, it's a roadmap for progress. And Montgomery public schools, we're on the move. Uh, and I'm excited to say and we're just getting started. [applause] >> Are there any other comments, Miss >> You have? Well, um Dr. Joseph is is like a a little younger brother. He uh I pick his brain a lot. I think he is very insightful. I always thank God for people he sends to pour in. A lot of times people just take take and to have a a a mind. Actually, Dr. Bird's mind and Dr. Joseph mine is similar and they can throw some questions at you to make you say, "Okay, well, I see it that way." But I I think Dr. Keith said it
166all. I mean, he took us from a place where we kind of wasn't sure to uh remind us that our own two feet counted. And one of the things he said that I never forget, he said, "I don't tiptoe around this work. I make footprints so I can make a difference in the lives of these children." So, we thank you for that. And that's what we try to do every month, every day that we can. So, thank you. And Miss Williams, thank you for keeping him straight so he [laughter] clown. >> Thank you for helping us come out of the wilderness. >> We We're going into the promised land. And I truly believe that with all my heart. >> Um, [laughter] I'mma skip past Miss Porters again, Miss Brown if you >> circling around over
167and over and over again. We had to guess her. Thank you. >> And I will just say um woo, y'all were like family through the toughest times. Um thank you for the prayers and the encouragement and the work. And again, like Lisa said, for you all finding Dr. and having him to understand what this culture is. Although he's from the Montgomery area, but sometimes you have to take a deeper dive because you're you may be at home thinking it's one way, but it gets more uh in depth. And we it's been a delight to um watch him work. I don't know when he sleeps or eats, but he's so dedicated, so committed, so intentional. And I'm like Lisa, for the longest time, I can't say I've ever seen a superintendent like this that worked this
168hard and this intentional. So, it's been a joy and a pleasure. And I know he's going to take this report and run with it. So, if you're not ready, get ready because he's uh I've learned that he's um pretty much a perfectionist. He doesn't say it out loud, but he is. Um and I'm just excited for all the opportunities and the benefits our children in the district will have from his leadership, with his team, and from the community who took the time to be a part of this process. So, thank you all so much. and Miss Williams. Welcome. And it was Yeah. to the family. >> Thank you all so much. >> Thank you. >> All right. Our next agenda item is new business. Dr. Keith will um her new business is student and teacher
169absenteeism. >> Okay. I promise you I will keep it very very brief. I was going to be longer, but I I actually got most of what I wanted to to uh say already said. Um my main thing and I kind of want to reiterate what uh Dr. Joseph said. I hope that you know when you we really listen to the recommendations because some of the recommendations was talking about you know we've got teachers and you know they sit at their desk with kids on computers and we we're lacking that engagement and and I think we've got so many new teachers that they don't understand how to engage and at the same time you know fit the bill of of of doing what that computer says. And when you have I I want to I I
170underline this statement and this was in our transitional thing where it says chronic absenteeism. This is what they found. It says the team found that while NPS has launched promising campaigns such as be present, be prepared and be productive, gaps persist in family engagement, data accuracy, and systemic coordination. I'm just going to stop. Data accuracy. when they gave the uh recommendation, the recommendation was create data accuracy. And that's it wasn't that that anybody up here was talking about, hey, we're inflating grades. It is that there is not a consistency across the board and and a lot of this has been created by our chronic absenteeism. When you have a a system with 29% absenteeism rate and you have kids that know if it's going to be consistent, then let's put them when you miss that
17118th day or whatever day, we've got to sit down, walk the walk, make the policy, and say when you miss this many days, then you're on PL. What uh Dr. Chenise Williams said, so many kids are overwhelmed when they sit down and they say, "Well, I've got 152 uh lessons." Well, guess what? We've got too many kids going, "Hey, I've only got nine lessons. What would you have rather done?" Like I said, in my day, I would have loved to go, "Hey, I'll make up nine nine things if that's all I got to do." And what it does is created create grades that don't really tell you what those kids are doing. When you have a third, that's a third of our students. When that teacher that I sent y'all all the message of that
172teacher, a fourth of that one school's uh kids have missed over 18 days. We can't just give them nine assignments. We've got to turn them on to schools PLP as a deterrent. And at the same time, this teacher brought up this and I'll I'll end here. There can be We've talked about this at at um meetings over and over again, not just these meetings, but the uh school board meetings. They've talked about school incentive incentives for kids. I mean, it the Enterprise gives a $250 bonus per nine weeks to the teachers that don't miss a day. They give gave me a name to talk to. They give a $100 bonus for the teacher that only misses one day. That's for teachers. Okay. I remember when I taught I just retired May 14th. I retired from,
173you know, South University and both um uh Success Unlimited. Success Unlimited. It wasn't a lot. We got four days. We got to be absent four days during the year because we only were there four days during the week. It was a Monday through Thursday till 12:30. But they gave us $25 if we per per day that we kept at the end of every year. I got a hundred. And it it no $100 isn't a big deal, but it was a goal. And if we set goals and incentives for these kids, like I mean like like Chick-fil-A or, you know, $10 or something like that. We can find this kind of money and incentive programs to help because I think we started it, but we can't drop the ball. And because what we're doing is we're
174putting more work on them, the these teachers and our good teachers are leaving. And I just I want to uh when we change over with the new president and vice president, I I definitely want there to be I don't want the I want there to be teacher retention still, but absenteeism I think needs to be huge. And that's it. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Keith. And let me >> I'd like to add on to what Dr. Keith said. Even if we think outside the box and have an eighth period a day for kids that come in and make up work at school at school and then catch the bus later on. That's a 21st century look to whatever it is. let them make up the work at school and do something [clears throat] to
175include incentives, >> but let it be under the under the overlook of an educator. Let me just say thank you Miss Cloud for bringing that up and I thank y'all for clarifying it because I really was wanting to know specifically lit genuinely what was happening so that we could really like delve into it because we should be um of course policy driven based off of the problems that we see. So thank you for that. has to do with those nine grades that they can make up and it's usually projectbased learning and it doesn't really incorporate the day-to-day lessons. That's what com that's what worries me. >> Thank you. All right. There is no additional new business. So this work session is now well before I say that our next regular board meeting will be December
1769th 2025 at 5:00 p.m. Um immediately following will be well should be immediate following the regular board meeting we'll go into our work session. So this meeting is now journ but there's more at this time on [snorts] November 12, 2025 at 8:23 p.m. The Montgomery County Board of Education will now uh call to order its annual board meeting. We still have a quorum. Well, we have a quorum established. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? >> Madame President, I move that we approve the agenda. >> There is a motion. Is there a second? It has been motioned and second. Is there any discussion? All those in favor do so by showing of hands. All right. It is unanimous and I do not have well my open remarks I gave during my presidential my president
177um presentation. So I'll just be real quick. Um it's been an honor to serve with you all. I know we've been working and and in that time I had a child to graduate from high school and I had to roll over into college and I still have one in high school. So, thank you all for just being flexible with me as I was going through life. And then of course, you know, thing other things have happened in this time. But it has been a complete honor. When I say I could not be any more proud of this board, I mean it genuinely. I love the way we stay focused and committed to the work that we were doing as a board. It and when I tell you people noticed it, they really noticed it. and
178not only noticed it, they felt it. I got calls from teachers and principles and other people in the community stopping me. I think my favorite fan favorite was having a picture taken. Somebody said, "I just want to take a picture with you." So, I was like, "Okay." But, uh, it has it it's showing and I think Dr. Joseph said it best. We've shown the dedication. We've shown that we're not above doing what we're asking everybody else to do at the board level. And it may have been a tense and a lot of work, but we have a love and a passion for what we do. We were sent here to be representatives of our district. We have young people who will be impacted by the work we do or the work we don't do. So,
179just thank you all. And I said it was going to be short, but you know, my emotions took over and I'm trying not to cry. So, I'mma end it right there. Um, receive as information. We have Miss Cassandra Brown with the finance committee report. And if we can pull it up on the slideshow, I mean, pull the slide up, please. Well, good evening. And uh a lot of this information from the uh finance committee has been reviewed through uh Mrs. Watkins information. So I'm not going to be labor the point and make us stay here longer than what we need to be cuz some of us need to go. >> Yeah. So, I just want to um go over a few highlights and um we talked about uh in our committee meeting uh the things
180that are challenging uh to us as a district and number one thing is that the CO funds that we once had are no longer available to us. So, we've had to pivot and make adjustments from um that change and we've all recognized that we are decreasing in enrollment and that presents a whole different problem in itself because with decreasing enrollment is also decreasing our dollars and we do not want to lose any money. We want to um continue to you know increase our enrollment. We want to bring people back to our district and um also another thing that's impacting is the increase in health insurance and that increase have been up to 13%. And that hits everybody's pockets. I'm not a part of PEIP, but I'm a part of uh Blue Cross and yeah, it
181has hit my pocket as well. Um and the tariffs of course uh that had uh something to do with our projects as well and there's a threat upon us as well and that threat is the sales tax revenue. Uh I know that there have been discussions about that. There are still discussions about that and also the potential of the sunset uh of the Avalorum tax. So those are the challenges that I wanted to bring everybody's attention to. Um you can go go past that one. Go past that one. And this is your slide. So you can discuss a little bit of what's in the red concerns of the red. So this is a general fund local revenue analysis that basically looks at our local revenues from 2023 through 2026. Um our budgeted revenues for actually
182for 2026. And so some of the things that we have to consider when we're budgeting local revenues are things that are really right off the top. And so although our local revenues anticipated are 120 million.6 right off the top our 10 mil match that comes out of local revenues for fiscal year 2026 is 37.5 million. We already know I I've already looked and that number has continued to rise as you will see and even for fiscal year 2027 I know that that number already will be about $ 38.5 million. So that's a number that continues to rise. Be um as it relates to House Bill 500, we are required to transfer a portion of the Abalorum revenues to capital. And so that automatically happens um during the the the months that we receive the largest
183amount of those local revenues. Um you'll see that in fiscal year 2025 $18.9 million was actually transferred to our capital um for capital projects and then we're also as part of how the funds were lobbyed the additional six mills are used for educational programs. So we budget six mills or um for capital and an additional six mill for educational programs and those funds are supporting the additional arts and um music teachers and um all of the things that I mentioned a little bit earlier. Um it provides additional student support services for our um student um student services department. But all of those funds are available to our teachers and our schools. they are actually actively using those funds. Then of course if we factor out the one month fund balance that we're required to have
184as well. So then our remaining funds for for local use um on an annual not looking at the reserves that already exist are $36.9 million. And so with those revenues that are remaining those are the revenues that are used to support operations and maintenance. um um other departments that don't receive state funding or additional federal dollars, those are the departments that we support out of our local revenues. >> Thank you. >> Let me ask you something. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Were you where it says other county revenue? >> Yes. >> You notice the 23 24 25 26. >> Yes. >> The 413. Is that where the county commission didn't put their party in? What? Why is that? >> What line are you on again? Um, where it says other county revenue. >> Yes, ma'am. >>
1852026. It says 413. It's the lowest out of all the years that you've been up there. >> Why? How did it go so low? >> Oh, okay. So, the other county revenues are revenues that we anticipate we'll receive from um county commissioners. And I don't that's probably conservative budgeting. So, like if they donated $1,000 to a school or they donate um the county, yeah, that's the county. So, if the county all of those discretionary funds that they may donate to schools, that's what that amount is. And it may end up that that amount may be amended some during amendments because that is rather low. But, um I would have anticipated that based on what we would have actually received um this year, this fiscal year. So, the 1.2 2 million may have included some additional
186county revenues outside of those funds that we may receive from county commissioners. That does that answer your question a little bit? Okay. So you you can go to the one go one more and we're just bringing the attention to the board uh about the surplus properties and I think that that came out on an email um last week or this week but just to highlight the number of vacant buildings that we have and you know if we have buildings that's going to come along with cost and upkeep and vandalizing. I think some of the buildings have been vandalized as well. And um we think that uh we believe and you know we should we should think about a strategic plan on repurposing um this these properties and you know divesting. and we talked about hiring
187a real estate attorney to uh assist us in managing some of that. Um but those are three highlights that um that we wanted to point out as it relates to that surplus property and that's just the list of the properties. And our final slide is the recommendations coming from the committee. Um, we feel like we would be better in line if we would create a rhythm. And what I mean by rhythm, some designated time that we can review these reports and the cost associated with all of our uh income streams. If we'll do that systematically in in time from um Mrs. Watkins uh reports. We'll be overviewing uh this information from time to time, probably uh once a quarter at least. That'll give us an idea of how our financial footing is. Uh and that
188is a recommendation. And we also think that the continuous monitoring of our enrollment trend is very important. we should not lose sight of how our trending of the um enrollment is. And I think that Miss Pis, you were with us when we talked about budgeting and we felt like as a recommendation as well when the um when the committee well the um the chairs of different department heads, I'm sorry, uh have their budget meetings instead of them is submitting the budget to the CSFO and her uh team. The board meeting, the board should have small meetings with each department head so that we are aware of what the funds are going to and we can have comments before it gets to the budget because all uh Mrs. Watkins is doing is putting on paper what
189they are, you know, suggesting as a budget and it's kind of there before we ever make our comments or have any input on it. And uh I've also said to engage um a real estate agent to help us manage these surplus um properties and as well uh establish a general fund balance reserve maximum. I think we have a minimum. >> Yes, there is a minimum because the state requires a minimum one month. Mhm. >> Um some districts I think establish a maximum. Right. >> And so that is the report of the finance committee and we do hope you take into consideration the recommendations coming from this committee. >> Thank you. This was a very timely report as well and it was very detailed. Thank you so much Miss Brown. Again, I'll say this is kudos
190to the work that the board members have been doing and we appreciate it. Um, our next agenda item will will come from um, Miss Pamela Poris, community engagement committee report. Okay, for the sake of time, this will be brief. Um, community uh, engagement. This is always an amazing um thing to work on because it's so needed. Um our opportunities to engage people and bring them closer to what we know is so important and it becomes more important every year. First of all, I'd like to um list our committee members. I co-chair this committee with Claudia Mitchell. Um, Fedra Foster's also on here to serve. Felicia Martin serves with us. Reverend Fluker, Dr. Daniels. We've adopted some members. Jacob uh Jacob Issac's adopted because he has a title one dollars and he has many more ideas
191and and how to fund it. He's just a good uh common denominator because we get out and have all these dreams and he's like, "Nope, can't pay for that." So then we readjust our dreams. Uh Katrina Johnson, Eris Shanks, and Trilla Julie are our special ed department and they have been instrumental also because it gives us an outlook. There are one of the things that is so unique about this committee is just like children, parents learn different. Parents accept things different. I can say something to them that may upset them and you could say something that may sue them over. So having all of these different uh strengths on this committee has been invaluable. um of course the unwavering assistance of our president. Uh we've gone to these uh conferences together and she goes one
192way and I go another way and we're able to cover a lot of ground like that. But um and I'm just so I'll be quick. I'm just going to tell you some of our quick wins. Um, you know, one of the first things we did during our last administration was we adopted the seven national standards for family engagement. Um, we also um have secured one of our surplus properties in Bellinger Hills. We're going to name I hope I told you this. We're going to name Bellinger Hills the bridge and is to bridge family community and the school is to create a place a safe place for parents to come if they need to have a conference if they need to discuss something. Um we're going to have some fun in there. We'll have some chili
193cook offs. We're going to have coat drives. Um that's coming soon. So you all look out for that. I'll be talking with Rosanna and just a safe place that parents and community can call their own. A lot of times in the community, we're invited to different places. We'd like to have a place also that they can come and and meet with our families and really appreciate what we've done in the community. We've also clearly defined to our school leaders and our families the differences between family engagement and family involvement. Involve is just you say they're there and you check it off. Engagement is when you miss them. When you've invited them to PTA meeting, when you've invited them to a cafe meeting and they don't show up and somebody volunteers to call them and say,
194"Miss Miss Smith, you weren't there. We missed you. we'll have another one on such and such day. So, we really want to be um intentional and let our parents know how needed they are. We have um implemented a timeline. We will pass this on. We'll make it known to those um that will will take over this so they'll know what the ideas were and add theirs to it. In closing, I'll just say that um I think as a district and how we engage our families, it's just it's one of those thing. It's just a bumpy road to better. We we make a mistake, we get through it. We know that we need a better mindset to engage parents. We need a better roadmap so our workforce and our community can come together and help us
195with CTE. Uh offer us some things that our students would like to have. We need a better connection to our stakeholders by creating a dashboard for our district website. And the road may be bumpy, but we'll continue to focus on better. So, community engagement engagement is a large part of what you saw with the transition team. And as we engage, I think um we'll be stronger. We'll be better for it um as we move along. >> Thank you, Miss Borders. and it is aligned again with the transition plan and the expectation of the board. Um the next agenda item is the desol dissolution of committee assignments. Dissolution, excuse me. >> Tongue tied now. Um I just want to read a brief statement and I will keep it very brief. I sincerely thank each of you
196board members and chairs of these committees and your team for your service. all the community members that assisted you and any of the partners that you brought in. Thank you on behalf of this or of MPS and our students. The work has been essential and it has been done to enhance the work to enhance what we're doing as board members and also to be be the road mapap for Dr. Bird so he'll know what we're looking for and can build on that vision. I hope we will continue and I encourage each of you to use your expertise however you see fit. Um at this time everything has come to a close and again I thank you for the for providing this these um committee reports and as you I thought came and it went but
197for the assignments that you were assigned to do we thank you for it. um and all of the appointed committees from this term. Um around y'all trying to make it short, so I got to figure out where I am. But at this time, all committees are now dissolved. And again, we thank you so much board members for your service. Okay. Now, the moment that we've been waiting for um in All right. At this time, we'll have the election of the president. So, I will be opening the floor to any nominations. And the floor is now open for a nomination for president. >> All right, Madame President. I'd like to nominate Pam Poris. >> All right. There's a motion or Pam Portoris has been nominated, excuse me, for the election of president. Um, are there any
198other names? All right, we will take a vote on Miss Pamela Poris. All right, those uh there's been a nomination of Pamela Poris. All those who agree that are in like mind that Miss Pamela Poris should lead the Montgomery County Board of Education as the president do so by showing of hands. You can vote. All right, it is unanimous. All right, congratulations, Miss Cordis, and I know you're going to do great things. All right, the next election will be for the vice president. The floor is now open for nominations for the vice president. >> Madame President, I'd like to nominate Pam Mloud. >> All right, Pam Cloud has been nominated as the vice chair. Are there any other nominations? I have been nominated as the vice president there. So, we'll begin with Miss Cloud. All
199right. At this time, all those in favor of um having Miss Cloud serve as the vice president of the Montgomery County Board of Education as the vice president, do so by showing of hands, too. And because I'm nominated [laughter] um at this time is if there um that mo that motion did not pass at that time. At this time um Miss Erica Watkins Smith is nominated as the vice chair. All those in favor of that nomination do so by showing of hands. All right, we have is it four? I'm trying to count. It is four. All right. So, I am the vice chair of the Montgomery County Board of Education. We have one Fang. So, that was four to one. All right. Well, congratulations to me again and Miss Portoris. Um, this meeting is now
200ajourned. >> [applause] [applause]