001[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Good evening. Welcome to the Montgomery County Board of Education School Board meeting. Today is June 8th, 2025 and the time is now 9:00. The I'm sorry, the time is now 5:00. July 8 I'm still trying to vacation. Um, this meeting will now be called to order. First, we'll have Pastor Dehaney Jr. from Morning Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church to provide invocation for us. Let us pray. Eternal and everlasting God, our father, we thank you for one more day that you've given us in the land of the living. We thank you, God, for your grace and for your mercy. And most of all, we thank you for your son, Jesus Christ. And now, God, we ask your blessings on these proceedings. We ask your blessings on this school board. We
002ask your blessings on this school district. We ask your blessings on this city, on this state. Lord, have your way in every way. Lord, that you will bless the work of our hands and that everything we do would bring you glory and honor. Bless our students. Bless each child that comes through the doors of our schools. That you would have your way. That you would enhance their learning. That you would increase their skills. that you would give them what they need to make it in today's world. God, we thank you in advance for all that you're going to do. Uh we thank you in advance for your blessings. We thank you for just all that you've done and all that you're doing and all the things we know that you're going to do. Bless us
003now and we will be blessed. Keep us and we will be kept. And this is your servant's prayer. And I pray this prayer in the only name that really matters. It's in Jesus name we pray. Let everyone say amen. Amen. Thank you, Pastor Dehaney. At this time, we will stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States. At this time, we have a quorum. Is there Well, there needs to be a slight modification to the agenda, so I'll hand it over to Dr. Bird. Yes. Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, uh and I apologize uh for the uh error uh but I would like to have a superintendent remarks uh right after the board president remarks if that is okay with the board. Is that okay? All right.
004So, is there a motion to approve the agenda adding the superintendent remarks after the board president remarks? Is there a motion? Madame President, I move that we approve the agenda with the addendum. Is there a second? I second it. Has been motioned and second. All those in favor do so by showing of hands. It's unanimous. Our next order of business is the board president remarks. So I'll keep mine short and sweet. Um the board went attended rather the Alabama Association of School Boards conference um back in June which is why June is in my mind. Um and it was a most eventful and um opportunity to grow as a board as a board and all boards throughout the state attend this conference. And there were many things that we touched on from um title 11
005making sure we knew that and various legislative policies that are coming down the pipe that will impact education and things to just look out for and to get ourselves in order. But I will say and I hope Dr. Mackey watches this because I seldom, you know, have an opportunity to say his name, but he gave a very um profound update on the state of the Alabama school system. And one of the high uh several highlights is that we're doing good as a state in both literacy and math and we're moving at a fast pace in Alabama. And I think that our data is moving along in track with what's happening throughout the state. But there was one particular phrase that stood out as our superintendent and the board does the work. He said, "You have
006to be focused when you're doing this work because so many things are changing. You you must be focused. You have to have a strategy and you have to invest. Education is is a is continuously changing. There are always new things coming down the pipe and we always have to be prepared for them. Therefore, we have to invest making sure that we have the right resources for our students as well as the right people in place to make sure that they're doing the work for our students. So, that concludes my remarks. Uh Mr. superintendent. So, I will now pass it to you. Okay. Yes, ma'am. Thank you so much. And of course, well, good afternoon to everyone that's here on today. Uh, let me just say that it has been a great two weeks uh since
007the last time that we've met. Uh, but I would like to highlight a few updates uh that we've been able to accomplish over the last two weeks. First off, I had the opportunity uh to attend uh Montgomery Public Schools summer graduation. Uh, and let me tell you that it was a wonderful celebration on this morning. Uh we had about uh 30 students that had the opportunity uh to walk across uh the stage. Uh they were represented uh from Cara High School, uh Jag High, McIntyre, uh BTW Magnet, Percy and Percy Julian. Uh they walked across the stage in their regalia to receive their diplomas and we're incredibly proud of each of them for their hard work and perseverance in not giving up. Again, a big thank you uh to our wonderful employees and also our
008speaker uh Miss Monica Whiten uh who is the CEO of Montgomery Housing Authority for delivering such an inspiring message. And I would just like to say again, especially to our employees for working so hard. We know that a lot of our employees of course are at conferences or they're on a vacation, but a big thank you to all of them for pulling together such a wonderful graduation program on this morning. I'm truly thankful for them. Also would just like to talk about uh some money uh some additional funds that are actually coming to Montgomery public schools. Like to announce that Montgomery public schools has been awarded a $400,000 GAP grant funding uh to support special education. So we're so proud of them. [Applause] So So uh this grant funding of course it was a collaborative
009effort uh between federal programs and special ed. Uh this funding will directly benefit uh DA DA Elementary School and Von Ray Von Road Elementary School uh which each school receiving about $200,000 to support and expand their specialized instruction programs and services for students with disabilities. Uh MPS was the only school district in the state to receive two individual school awards and to be granted the maximum allowable amount per school during the first round of the grant applications. So as we know this exceptional accomplishment uh it reflects the strength and the quality of our proposal and the vision for an inclusive environment. So through this grant, our schools will be able to purchase and implement the touch math curriculum uh which includes resources for our special education classrooms, uh sensory regulation spaces to support emotional and
010behavior needs, instructional manipulus and adaptive equipment, uh professional development for all of our uh staff as well as installation and integration of support uh that would actually contribute to the long-term impact for our students here at McGomery Public Schools. Again, we are so incredibly proud of our teams uh who made this happen. So again, thank you so much special uh special education programs. Thank you so much F federal programs. Thank you all so much for the hard work. Also would like to announce that our transitional team formation and planning that it is well underway. I would like to thank you all uh for submitting the names for individuals to serve on the superintendent transitional team and I'm so excited about the work of this transitional team. As you all know, the goal of the transitional
011team is to bring together a team of experts from inside and outside uh to spend time reviewing the major components of the MPS system. Uh this includes our daily work and our priorities. The key priorities that I'm asking the transitional team to focus on would include communication and stakeholder engagement. It would include student achievement and chronic absenteeism. It would include school climate and culture. And last but certainly not least, human resources and talent development. The team will engage stakeholders to deeply understand our opportunities as well as our challenges. Uh this will result in my having a deeper understanding of our strengths and how we can build upon the challenges that we must overcome. This team, they will offer a short-term and long-term recommendations for the superintendent and this board to consider. Again, I am so
012excited about this list of about 50 individuals that will serve. And we're also excited to have Dr. Sheila Austin, uh, who's the retired dean of Alabama, I mean, Auburn University. Let me say that. Uh, and also Dr. Walton Goslin, uh, who's also our national superintendent of the year, uh, as well as the current, uh, superintendent of Jefferson County Schools to serve as our chair and vice chair. So on Wednesday, July the 16th, we'll have our initial planning meeting and from there the work will begin. Again, I'm so excited about the work of this transitional team. Last but certainly not least, Montgomery Public Schools has received districtwide Colia accreditation. [Applause] We are all proud of the entire MPS team for their hard work and dedication in making this happen. Thank you board members for your active
013participation, for your guidance and your support throughout this accreditation process. Your engagement was instrumental in demonstrating our collective vision and capacity for sustained improvement. This achievement reflects not only where we are as a district, but where we are headed. Together, we will continue building on this momentum to ensure every student in Montgomery public schools receives a highquality, equitable, and future ready education. So again, thank you all so much for this opportunity to share these updates. I look forward to sharing more with you during our work session. Again, thank you all. Thank you so much for this opportunity. Thank you, Dr. Bird. I don't know if any board members wanted to say anything, Dr. Keith. Just I wanted to comment. Do you Did you say July 18th? July 16th. Okay. Thank you. 16. Yes, ma'am. I'm
014sorry if I said 18. I was thinking about my birthday. Now we know that's a hint. Our next order of business will be board recognitions. Miss Jay Jones, Mrs. Jay Jones. Good evening, Madame President, Dr. Bird, and board members. Uh, it's an honor tonight to bring forth an extraordinary educator who proudly works at Von Road Elementary. Tonight we have Miss Destiny Ford who was recently named as the Air Force Association chapter teacher of the year by the Civil Air Patrol. Please help me welcome Mrs. Nikia Jackson who proudly serves as the principal at Von Road along with the Montgomery chapter of Air and Space Forces Association, Mr. Scott Key, who serves as the president, and vice president for aerospace education, Miss Susan Mallet. Now, I will turn it over to Mrs. Nikia Jackson and Miss
015Ford. Let's welcome them up. All right. Good evening. As Miss Jones has said, um I am the principal at Von Road Elementary School and I would like to take this evening to introduce um our partners and ed here, the president of the Montgomery Chapter Air and Forces Association, President Scott Key and Vice President Susan Mallet. [Applause] Thank you so much. Uh the little known fact the air in the air force association was started in 1945 and the air force was created in 1947. So we've had air power advocates following World War II that had been pushing for air power. It has evolved over time to be the air and space forces association and we have a genuine interest in making sure that STEM education is out there. I was telling Destiny that when I was
016in high school, I took algebra and the smartest girl in the room took home because that's that's the way the world was divided at that time and she's now a PhD in and in and something that I can't pronounce and I'm not. So, uh, for us to be able to recognize people that are out there doing the STEM education role in today's environment and and doing it with a smile and the attitude that I've had a chance to be with Miss Destiny with the Air Force Association, now the Air and Space Forces Association is happy to be a part of this recognition. Susan Thank you for having us tonight. I am a proud retired educator from Montgomery public schools, 31 years. Wow. Teacher and principal. So I I really love the organization. I've been 19
017years at Civil Air Patrols national headquarters at Maxwell. So I volunteer with Scott with the Montgomery chapter of the Air and Space Forces Association. And we have some great STEM programs that can help supplement the things that you're already doing in this awesome school system with accreditation. A great move mo uh toward a math and reading literacy. So we've got uh Cyber Patriot, which is a cyber security uh competition for young people in middle and high schools. And we have Stellar Explorers, which is a space design program for young people in middle and high schools as well. So, we have educator grants, $500 educator grants that uh any teacher in your school system can apply for beginning uh in midepptember and I'll give the information to Destiny and your and Jay and the team so
018we can get that going there. But we also have a teacher of the year program. We start with the chapter teacher of the year that can move to the state and then to the national teacher of the year which is sponsored by Rolls-Royce. So, it's a really great program and we want you to know that we're in your community. We are here to help and support any uh activities or events or programs that you have in your school and we want to support that. So, as we recognize Destiny today, she's going to get several good prizes. I'd like to tell you a little bit about Destiny. First of all, she's been a seven-year educator, a firstear STEM educator, and we identified her on her first year as being a stellar performer in Montgomery public schools.
019Not only did she get her young people involved, but she got her her staff at her school involved. Her gracious principal, Miss Jackson, empowered her to do what she needed to do to have STEM evenings for the community and the parents, which is so important and we're so proud of her. So, we've named her our chapter teacher of the year. She has her pen already on and she gets a pad folio here with a civil uh with a an AFA pin. There is, Miss Jackson, there is this decal for your school to say that you're an Air and Space Forces Association school and um she gets a free membership as a Civil Air Patrol Aerospace Education member. With that, she and Miss Jackson has gotten that, too. Thank you, D. I'll miss Jackson's both got
020complimentary memberships. And with these memberships, uh teachers get free airplane flights over their school. We hope to see them when school starts and media covering all of you. Free STEM kits, uh, grants for K through six, K through 12 programs and curriculum and such. So, all that's available for everyone at your school system as well as you, dear Destiny. And I'd like to give you this plaque. And I think Mr. Key has something even better to give you than this nice plaque to honor you. We'll let you. Thank you, Mr. Pla. Your cash is king. On behalf of association, we have a $500 grant for Destiny to use and that's continuation. Thank you for allowing us to honor her tonight. We appreciate all of you do. Thank you. Um yes, I would just like to
021say thank you for this is a huge honor to accept. I love doing STEM. Uh I I hope to continue it next year and the years to come. [Applause] Madame President, if you all will join us, the board and Dr. Bird. And we'd like to say uh congratulations again to Miss uh Ford. That is awesome. Great job. Stand up. It takes the family. [Applause] Oh, we're going back. [Music] One, two, three. Right. [Applause] You ought to always go down. Um, at this time, Miss Clow would like to make some remarks. them is poris. I just wanted to say to Miss Mlette, um, you have shown and you've walked the walk and taught the talk throughout your whole career. I've known you for a very long time. You started with a small plane that was built
022and you put it at Head Elementary and that's where the love for aviation came to those students and you have continued to bring that forth for all of our students. We so appreciate the partnership. Thank you. um to Miss Jackson and and Miss Ford and my Vonro family. They're one of my favorite elementary schools. And Miss Ford has just brought a different light. I call myself creative, but when you have programs that nobody wants to miss, you know, Addie says, "Grandma, Miss Ford is having a big program tonight. We have to be on time." And I have never seen children that excited to do things. And parents, she taught them how to make scars on their hand for blood and then told them what theaters use it and and they were like, "Oh, well, we
023could be this and we just the opportunity to open up." And those are the kind of uh programs, those are kind of education uh opportunities that these students need and they need it from our young staff. So, anything that we can do to support you and your ideas, we know you think out of the box. I'll I'll explain it to them. You just tell us what you need because she has a very creative mind, but it touches the heart of children. And Miss Jackson, I want to thank you for opening uh your door, your heart, and your mind to let her go and let her do what she does best. And we'll thank you, and we always support you. Thank you. At this time, our next agenda item is schedule public comments. I'll read the
024rules and procedures for that for the participation in the board meeting. 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 and we do we there are none so I can stop. All right. Any citizens signed up? Miss Miss Hart, do we have citizen? No. Okay. Well, we'll move right along. At this time, we'll have Chad Anderson with Carver High School's turf and track change order. Good evening, Dr. Bird, Miss Watkins Smith, Miss Portoris, and members of the board. The what's coming before you tonight is the turf and track change order. This is due to an unforeseen condition. Once the existing rubber track surface was removed, they had to come in and then of course get a look at
025and analyze the existing subbase and this is what the change order is in reference to. We still are under the budgeted amount. So I feel good about that portion, but it was more than the contingency would allow. So that's why this is coming to you tonight for approval. Are there any questions? All right. Um, I guess I'll ask one on behalf of my board member. How soon? You said there's no delay. So, they are still on track. Oh, yes, ma'am. We're doing the proof roll tomorrow over there for the base. It has been slowed down a little bit with the weather, but they've been working on other pieces of of it with that. Had to pour the concrete curb around the inside that wasn't put on in the initial in construction, but the goal is
026to have the field ready for the kids to practice on um by the start of school. Thank you, Miss Anderson. Yes, ma'am. Are there any other questions? All right. Thank you. Our next agenda item is from Miss Pamela Watkins, May 2025 fiscal statement. Good evening. Um, Superintendent Dr. Bird, Board President Wen Smith, members of the board. You should have before you this evening the financials for the month of May. Um which would be the end of the seventh month of the fiscal year. Um in your packet you will have um the explanation of financial data by the CSFO uh which provides some highlights and I'll go through those here shortly. Um you also have a snapshot analysis which is an overview um summary of the district's financial position as of May 2025. Um that highlights
027our local revenues payroll expenditures compared to the prior year as well as our general fund balances all at a glance. Um you also have the general fund balance recap which breaks down our general fund balance and recaps that information. have your monthly percentages. Um, as stated, um, May is the end of the I think I said seventh, but that's actually the end of the eighth month. Um, which means that our expenditures should be at about 67 68%. Um, you also have the monthly and annual comparative statements. um that is a comparison of our revenues to the prior period during the same time from fiscal year 24 and 25 and also a comparison of our expenditures for May of 2024 to May 2025. Additionally, you have the statement of cash flow which actually shows our expenditures
028for the month of May as well as our revenues that were received for the month of May. um you have a visual of that and a pie chart and then you have our F reports. Um those reports are generated from the state department monthly. We're required to upload our financial data to the state department and produce the reports that you should see at the end of your um financial packet. As I go back a little bit, um, in our financials, um, I do want to highlight a couple of things. I try to address things that might pop out, um, to anybody looking at it. And one of the things that I didn't want to mention this year is that you will this month is that you'll notice that the general fund balance if you look
029at our cash flow um report you'll notice that the general fund collected in the month of May was 19.4 million compared to 21.9 million in the prior year. The um variance in that collection or those revenues are actually reflective of state revenues that we have received this year but received in a different period. So when I look back over that, those those were our math grants for summer school, our OSR funds. So last year those funds were received in a different period than they were received in this year. Um the expenditures are tracking about the same 23.3 million compared to 23.4 million in the prior year. Um when we look at the snapshot analysis, you'll see that our um our total payroll expenditures compared to the prior year a little bit higher than last year.
030However, those two are timing differences. Um there were supplements that we actually paid in May of this year, but we paid them in June um last year. So that's the majority of the difference in those those revenue those expenditures payroll expenditures. You'll see that our general fund balance is at 121 million about a $9 million increase over the prior year and our required one-month fund balance before amendments is currently $23.9 million. If we go to the next screen and look at our general fund balance recap, although sorry although our general fund balance is 121 million, um you'll see that a lot of those funds are actually reserved to specific funding sources. You'll notice that our transportation, meaning that those funds can only be spent on transportation is a little bit over 7 million. Um, you'll
031see our state summer reading program is 1.3 million, just to kind of pull out a few of those. Those funds can only be spent on those funding sources. Um, our state foundation is currently at about 8 million, meaning those funds can only be spent on our foundation expenditures, meaning that our local general fund balance of um, unreserved to specific fund sources is about $91.9 million. Um, briefly I want to state one of the things that I know um, um, is probably a concern are the federal funds that are actually on hold right now. And the communication that we receive is that those funds have been appropriated um, but they're frozen pending federal review. There's um, no anticipation that we will not receive those funds. So hopefully the review of those funds will move pretty swiftly
032and they'll be made and released to us in the near future. Any questions? Okay. Are there any questions? Thank you, Miss Watkins. All right. Our next agenda item is the Montgomery County Board Go Montgomery County Board of Education Board Goals. Miss Pamela Cloud. Good evening. Um Dr. Duramus Coleman and I were charged to be on the board's goals committee. Um, I'm reporting on that. Um, of course, Dr. Coleman's not here, so I'm doing this by myself tonight. We began our work in January of this year. We were charged the task of clarifying what the Montgomery County Board of Education goals were to be for our superintendent, um, Dr. Bird. This should drive what is what we hope to see and expect. We reviewed the U CMSI curriculum audits focus areas for the MPS school system
033that was completed in August of 23 and the Alabama Governor Ivy's commission on teaching and learning report that was completed in December of 2020 23. Governor Ivy's ex executive order number 730 known as the Alabama can improve student achievement and enhance teacher quality in every public school. This document recommends four components. They are quality teaching and learning, support of high poverty, low performing schools, data collection and accountability, and then educ educator recruitment, retention, and development. These recommendations align with the recommendations of the MPS curriculum audit and Dr. Bird's 100day plan. So, we're on the correct path. Um we have in front you have in front of you the uh Montgomery County Board 2025 board goal recommendations to adopt. There are uh five goals. One district vision and accountability, goal two, curriculum, goal three, consistency and
034equity, goal four, feedback. And goal five, productivity. We can write something all day long, but it's the execution that counts. Um, so we're asking that this be approved. Uh, please let Dr. Coleman or myself know if you have any questions or further recommendations. This is a working document, but we've got to set the goals for the execution of the plan. Thank you on behalf of Dr. Coleman and myself. Thank you, Miss Cloud and Dr. Coleman. You guys work so worked diligently on this for us. And I was looking at a document and I may have misplaced it now but from Dr. Coleman and she probably doesn't remember it but she gave it to me as you all were doing the work. She says as we as we evaluate our policies and communicate those to the
035community we must clearly articulate the difference between policy rhetoric and our practice reality. So that was just paraphrasing some of the things that she shared. So we thank you so much for your work on behalf of the board. Our next agenda item will be the AASB Allstate School Board member 2025 nomination. And this is just a review or overview of what was sent. So the uh this is uh we have an official nomination form that must be used to submit nomination which has to be received by August 15, 2025. and the committee will base this decision solely upon the nomination form in three letters of recommendation. Basically, they're asking us to look at the activities of the board member um their boardmanship, their training, um their leadership and participation in local education and board related
036activities. Describe their activism on legislative and or issues pertaining to K12 schools. and describe nominees involvement in community activities as well as um has the nominee ever been the subject of well of an ethics complaint. Um and lastly, there are the letters of recommendation, a photograph and documentation of this um nominee who will be sent to AASB for consideration. Are there any questions about it? I do have the document for each of you, but if you wanted to look over it, I can provide that. Um, the nominations will come later as we kind of mule through who we feel would be a best fit. Are there any questions? All right. Hearing none, we will now move to consent agenda. Dr. Berg. Okay. Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, superintendent recommends approval of the consent agenda,
037uh, which includes 12A, Carver High School's turf and track change order, 12B, May 2025 financial statement, 12 C, your June 10th, 2025 revised regular board meeting, and June 10th, 2025 revised work session minute meeting minutes, and also 12D, your bid report. Superintendent recommends approval of items 12 A through 12D. All right. The superintendent has made a recommendation on the consent agenda for items A through D. Is there a motion? Madame President, I move that we approve the consent agenda items A through B. All right. There's a motion to approve um items A through D. Is there a second? Yes, I second it. All right. It has been motioned and second. Although uh is there any discussion? Did you say D or G? D as in dog. Oh, I said G. I heard you. I wanted
038to make sure was I want to get that right. I called it. Okay. Any discussion? All right. Hearing none. All those in favor of the superintendent's recommendation do so by showing of hands. It is unanimous. All right. Dr. Bird. Thank you, Madam President. Superintendent recommends approval of item 13A, personnel report, certified personnel. The superintendent made a recommendation. Is there a motion? I make the motion to accept the superintendent's recommendation of the personnel report certified personnel. So, I'm going to ask you to repeat your motion and say that you move to I move to accept the superintendence personnel report certified personnel. Is there a second? A second. It has been motioned and second. Although is there any discussion? All those in favor do so by showing of hands. It's unanimous. Dr. Burke. Thank you. Superintendent recommends
039approval of the personnel report certified addendum. All right. The superintendent has made a recommendation for the personnel report certified addendum. Is there a motion? I move to accept the personnel report certified addendum. The superintendence. Uh is there a second? I second it. Has been moved and second. All those in favor do so by showing of hands. Is unanimous. Dr. Bird. Thank you. Superintendent recommends approval of item 13C personnel report classified personnel. Superintendent made a recommendation to approve the personnel report classified personnel. Is there a motion? I move to accept superintendent's recommendation to approve the personnel report classified. Is there a second? I second it. All right. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor do so by showing of hands. It is unanimous. Dr. Bird. Thank you. Superintendent recommends approval of the personnel
040report teams. All right. The superintendent has made a recommendation to approve item D, personnel report teams. Is there a motion? I move that we accept the superintendent's recommendation on teams. Is there a second? Second. Has been motioned and seconded. All those in favor do so by showing of hands. All right. Uh Dr. Bird, you superintendent recommends approval of the McGomery County Board of Education Policy Committee. Thank you for that one. I'm sorry. And I'll um if you don't I will retract that. But no, I'm gonna let you because that one has to come from me. So at this time um our policy committee and I just wanted to go over it really quickly and this policy committee will be charged with um cultivating uh working with different entities and board members by the way we
041can make recommendations for uh provide names of people we'd like to serve on these committees as well. Um but the committee is to cultivate a school environment that is equitable, inclusive, culturally responsive, and grounded in restorative justice. The work will center around ensuring that every policy we review or recommend reflects those core values and supports the success of all students regardless of background, identity or circumstances. And it will be guided by of course our legislative laws. And we will also talk um we ask that the committee look at ensuring that they have strategic partnerships um to inform and to to be to provide information and to work collaboratively with and to align with best practices. So that is for the most part the whole purpose and vision of the committee. So at this time Dr.
042bird out through this one, but the Montgomery um I'm making a recommendation that we approve the Montgomery County Board of Education Policy Committee. I second it. Is that okay? It Well, you I'm just making a recommendation. You're moving it. I move that we accept the the policy recommendation. All right. And I second it. All right. It has been moved and second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor do so by showing of hand. It is unanimous. Um and the next one is uh the AASB all state school board member 2025 nomination. Oh, I'm sorry I skipped one board goals u letter F. So, at this time, there is a I will make a motion for the school um a recommendation to approve the McGomery County Board of Education board goals. Is there a motion?
043Madam President, I move that we approve the MCBOE board goals. Is there a second? It has been moved and second. Is there any discussion? All those in favor do so by showing of hands. is unanimous. All right. Now, AASB All State School Board Member 2025 nomination. At this time, the floor is open for nominations. If not, I'll start. Uh I would like to nominate Miss Portoris. I'll second it. All right. Uh, Miss Portoris is being nominated for the all state school board member 2025 nomination. It has been that is my recommendation. Miss Dr. Keith has moved. I move that we accept your recommendation for the illustrious um, Miss Portoris to be our representative and I second it. It has been moved and second. All those is there any discussion? Excuse me. All those in favor
044do so by showing of hands. All right. Thank you. Did you catch it? Uh it is unanimous. At this time, just a little humor. At this time, this meeting, this board meeting is now adjourned. This work session is now being called to order. We continue to have a quorum. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? Madame President, I move that we approve the agenda. All right. I second it. It has been motioned and second. Any discussion? All those in favor do so by showing of hands. It is unanimous. All right. Our next agenda item will come from Mr. Zar uh with Vulker. Good evening, Dr. Burn, Madam President, members of the board. It's my pleasure to give you the bulker monthly update on the capital improvement program. Uh we've made good progress on several
045projects in the past month. First of which being the phase one of the Percy Julian High School, the Todd Road relocation. Uh seen in yellow there. It was tying the existing Todd Road into the boulevard. That way we clear the old Todd Road out of the site and make room for our building footprint. Project's about 80% complete. Um you see there the aerial photo of the new Todd Road tying into the boulevard. Um, we've went in front of the city planning commissioning uh group last month and got approval on both the vacation and dedication of the new road. Um, and this project will actually be complete this month. Went one too far. Here are photos from the boulevard. Uh the remaining work is actually in the median making these turn lanes, pouring concrete curbs. Um
046this work since these photos have been taken has actually been complete. So there's asphalt pavement in the turn lane and the concrete curbs have been poured and like I said this project will be complete this month. The next project is the phase two of the actual Percy Julian High School. Last month our notice to proceed was released to the contractor. Um, so he's been out there mobilizing, moving dirt. A lot of the site has been cleared. We have our job site trailers on site, construction entrance, and if you've been on the boulevard, you can see just how quickly uh we're moving along out there. some of the progress that's going on. Like I said, a lot of the clearing of the site, uh demolition of the existing structures, um a lot of the erosion control,
047silt fencing, uh dewatering of the site, all that's happening and ongoing on the on the site. Here's a few aerial photos. The one on the left shows where our job site trailers are. Um, directly behind that gas station off the boulevard, our construction entrance has been installed. And the photo on the right shows the demolition of the existing structures that were on site. More aerial photos to just give you an idea of how large the site is and also how wet the site is. Um, so most of the progress is just moving dirt right now and getting the water off site. Next project is the Park Crossing Fieldhouse. We're about 98% complete there. Um, this side says that our substantial completion inspection will be scheduled. It has been scheduled for the 28th of this month.
048Um, that'll have the state inspector come down, uh, which is pretty much the final checkbox that we have to get. So, the kids will be in this building for the 25 26th school year. uh some of the progress. We are finished with this uh overhead inspections. Like I said, the only inspection left is that final inspection with the state. Um, we've had our furniture and weight room equipment be delivered and installed, and Chad's internal crew has been out there and installed some beautiful wall and floor graphics for us. Here's photos of the furniture. Coach's office on the left, study lounge on the right. Here's the main entry with the wall graphics I mentioned. Coming in the left side is the conference room. Uh in the hallway here you see a big trophy case that we
049know in future years will be full. More photos with the uh team film room on the left, the locker room on the right. Here's a shot of the weight room with the weight equipment that actually has the school logos on most of the equipment. It's all in the school colors, so it looks real nice. The next project is the South Lawn Middle School gym edition. Uh project's about 68% complete. We're currently reviewing a time extension request that was due to unforeseen circumstances. Some of the progress ongoing on site is the roof installation. Uh window installation has commenced. Exterior doors are being installed. Uh so we're working to close the building in. Uh next week we hope to have our HVAC units powered on. So that'll allow uh cold air to be moving through the building
050which will really free up the finishes and things to come inside. Our DCM above ceiling inspection was held yesterday and everything went well and passed. Here's a photo showing the uh hard tile at the locker rooms. Since this photo, we've also started going vertical with the wall tile as well. This photo shows the window installation. Like I said, we're working to enclose the building, uh get the HVAC and air moving, which will really free us up for things to fall out. Here's a shot from inside the gym. Uh we've had the basketball goals and scoreboards be installed and with the air getting turned on, we'll be able to install the floor, install the bleachers after that and start to look like a finished product. Our minority participation to date, um on the professional service side,
051we're about 45%. On the construction side, we're at 4%. This slide should say questions. There it is. Uh, Mr. Zar, this is this is, you know, just early, but I'm on the South Lawn Middle. Will y'all be painting that concrete block? Oh, yes, ma'am. Okay. Just checking. Absolutely. And it'll actually have an accent band that runs through it, too. So, and it'll be all school colors and we've worked with staff and principles. So, are there any questions? I do have one. You mentioned that there were some things that were unforeseen. I just wanted to know would that have what type of effect would that have on the completion date of the project will there? Yes, ma'am. So, some of the unforeseens were in the roof system and also a water line and gas line that
052had to be relocated. Um, it has the request has came for uh several days to be extended on the contract and we're reviewing and currently discussing with the architect team and we'll be discussing more with you guys in the next month on that. Okay. I have one more question. On the Percy, Julie, and Todd Road. Yes, ma'am. At one time y'all gave us a figure of what that because we were not anticipating that cost. Do you do you off offhand have you know like a ballpark figure of what that Todd Road cost us that we weren't expecting? Uh yes ma'am it was around 2 million and that was factored into the Percy Julian high school budget. Okay. Um so we just broke it out as a separate project to be able to have DCM approval
053and get the ball rolling on there. But the the money was accounted for in the Percy Julian budget. Okay. Thank you. Are there any additional questions? All right. Thank you. Thank you. Our next agenda item will be from Mrs. Huntley with the MPS Library of Media Specialist Handbook. I media has been a very updated. What we are doing for our Right. Great. That's our first Library that the learners of our information technology and our Fantastic job. and people would like as our library. One of the things that is that The first six learn outcome. Our access mic not on. I'm sorry. I was using my teacher voice this whole time. Forgive me. Um, in our handbook you will also find that we have this is just one example but there are learner outcomes that are
054going to be placed all the way through that handbook so that our administrators and building leaders know what the expected outcomes for the learners in our media centers should have. Also, we have rubrics for what the library media specialist expectations are. Our library media specialists have clear defined roles, responsibilities, and expected outcomes. So, our previous board policy was really um simple. It's policy 73 and it spoke to the audiovisisual materials and making certain that equipment was available to our faculty and our students. And what we'd like to do is sort of address a few of those things and add some little touches to our policy to make it more relevant to 2025. Um, one of the things is that it addresses equal and maximum access for information resources for our students. That um, instruction for
055our students will be given priority for research skills and independent thinking and learning. That our students will be motivated to read and encouraged to enjoy good literature. and that we are going to encourage our students to use a variety of media that is digital media, print media and technology so that they become lifetime learners. We want to make certain that we add that each of our schools in MPS will maintain library media centers under certified library media specialists in coordination with the district media specialist and in alignment with our accreditation standards. We will be up for accreditation next year. So we want to make certain that we have all of those ducks in a row. It is the responsibility of our library media specialist and our school board to ensure that the instructional materials within
056our centers are appropriate. would also like to make certain that we ensure that though we recognize individual schools have different needs and there may be some variations in different school needs, there are some continuitities that exist within each of our libraries and they have commonalities such as equal access to the information, provision of supplementary material that enhances the curriculum. The integration of information skills, collaboration with the teachers and instruction instructional material is provided in those buildings. Motivating activities to encourage our students to enjoy and participate in good literature and providing all of our children with access to current technology. Finally, the Montgomery County School System library media specialists and teachers should collaborate to ensure that our students have adequate and equal access to the library and its collection. Those are a few of the updates.
057On the first page of the presentation, you should have access to our updated state handbook and the suggested updates for our MPS handbook. Thank you, Miss Huntley. Are there any questions? There's Miss Cloud. Huntley, how are you? I'm well. How are you? Good. On page eight, you have two positions that you need to fill at JAG. That's both librarians. Those positions have been filled. Okay. Um, you have one, well, one, three elementary. Yes, ma'am. Have they been filled yet? All of them have not been filled. And then you got McKe Middle. Yes, ma'am. Okay. I just wanted to make sure we have everybody in place. Now on page 49, request for reconsideration of library instructional materials. What's reconsideration? Why not just consideration? Um challenge materials. Reconsideration. If there is something that we need to look
058at that someone deems inappropriate in our re so we need to reconsider if that needs to be on our sh Thank you for clarifying that. And then the last question is the library volunteer guidelines. I love this. Um, could our students especially in middle and high school may be elected to work in the library. That may be to help get them to understand what teaching is about and what library, you know, to encourage those students to get involved in library media education to kind of wet their whistle. Yes, ma'am. currently I would like to see some of the students um you know maybe in especially in middle school and high school to be having that opportunity to volunteer in the in the library. Yes ma'am. Currently um our secondary which is the middle and the
059high have the opportunity to use library as one of their courses. Thank you. So our um middle school typically will have um even those library aids is what we call them. Those library aids will also help them and function as tech core tech aids as well. That's what I was hoping that with technology being so involved you have those kids that know it with like the back of their hand. They do. Uh thank you. I I think that's wonderful that these children have the opportunity to volunteer. Uh, it really is important. Thank you. All right. Miss Cordis has a question. Thank you so much. Are the learner outcomes are these outcomes mandated by the state? Yes, ma'am. They are. Okay. Thank you. Any additional questions? All right. Thank you, Miss Huntley. Thank you. All right.
060Our next agenda item will come from Dr. Bird with the one superintendent's 100 day plan update. Okay. All right. Thank you so much, Madam President and board members. First, I would like to uh thank you all for the opportunity to speak uh during uh this work session on the progress of our 100 day entry plan. Let me say that it has been an amazing two months and I'm extremely grateful for this opportunity. Over the last two months, I've had the opportunity to meet and work alongside some incredible co-workers uh who are working hard uh to give our students and families what they deserve. I'm excited about our path forward and how we can collaborate with all stakeholders to truly make MPS a place of excellence for all of our students. Yes, sir. Okay. Uh I
061know we have a long way to go in this work session and I have 47 action items uh in my 100 day plan. So I'm going to try uh and move quickly and make this short and sweet. So as so let's dive into phase one which is listening and learning. So, listening and learning tours are still ongoing uh due to town halls that I would like to uh schedule uh and also more schools to visit. Uh since I started on May the 1st, there simply wasn't enough time to start the town halls or visit all of the schools while they were in session. However, uh in moving into the school year, I would like to conduct uh a town hall meeting in each board member's district and also ask for that particular board member uh
062to join me. Um if possible I would get with each of you to uh schedule these. Uh and this listening learning to is also uh tied to our family and community engagement action item as well. As we look at uh school board collaboration, let me say thank you all for the opportunity to meet with each of you and I look forward to our continued conversations uh face toface conversations, over the phone conversations, uh text message conversations, you have it uh and also through our uh board connections. As we talk about uh feedback opportunities, as part of our 100 day uh plan, we've launched a series of surveys for employees and parents to gather their perspectives and and opinions regarding the support and the activities that we provide in Montgomery public schools. As of this week,
063this data has been analyzed and we're getting ready to make this data public. We're also meeting with departments to explain the results as it relates to their departments and we're also developing action plans to address the data. Uh our middle and high school students will have the opportunities uh to share their feedback upon their returns. our student advisory council, our communication department has created an action sheet uh with an email invitation and application and the communication department is also developing social media graphics uh for review. Uh these items along with the application will be launched in August uh with an anticipated first student council meeting uh in September and I'm definitely excited about that. As we talk about our 100 day progress tracker, uh this action is completed and it is sitting in draft form
064awaiting the launch of our new website. Stakeholder engagement and our customer service initiative. Uh we held our initial we held our initial meeting with uh Steve Smith on uh July the 1st and we're excited to launch this new initiative. Uh Mr. Smith, he actually met with the leadership team to begin crafting a comprehensive plan and he also led five focus groups while he was here in the district. And so that information from the focus group as well as the information gained from our leadership committee is being used to shape uh our goals, our strategists and our performance metrics for this initiative. The next phase uh the next phase includes drafting the formal implementation plan. It includes designing the district specific training which will be led by Mr. Smith and also includes preparing for a multi-stage
065roll out aimed at shifting culture, improving service delivery and strengthening engagement with families and staff. As we talk about our district progress data dashboard and our MPS public information portal, they are both in progress. Arbory, which will host our data dashboard, is ready to push out within the next few weeks. The public information portal will be a part of our new website that will be available uh in the next few weeks as well. You talk about improved communication and the launch of our new website. Uh the website as you all know was already launched uh well it was ready to launch on last week. Uh but I did ask the communication department to make some additional changes. So the reason why that is not ready right now is completely my fault. The communication department was
066ready. Um they they also met with the website designers and hosters on yesterday uh to make those additional changes that I asked that they make. Student achievement and equity and uh student achievement and equity and also school improvement. I want to say within that discipline trends of last year's data has been analyzed to inform our support and focus for this upcoming year. Most recently we received our AAP third grade scores. Uh Dr. King and his team, they are prepared to speak tonight regarding how we're going to use that data to inform our instruction and our decision- making. We're also analyzing data and utilizing researchbased strategies from CSI, from our ASIP, and Cognia uh to inform our school improvement efforts as well. Equity audits. This action is in progress. Uh handover has been contracted to conduct
067our district-wide equity audits. These audits will begin at the start of the school year and a report will be made a report will be made available uh for the district and the board. Our financial review, facilities, and infrastructure, they're all completed and at the same time they remain in progress. Miss Watkins uh she has completed her budget amendments uh which have been submitted to the state as a part of our state requirements. As we know uh Mr. Anderson he completes our annual capital improvement plan which which is again a state requirement. However, because these items are constant and of course they change based on our needs. Uh they remain ongoing. Make sure that I'm keeping up with my slides here. organizational review. This action also remains ongoing. Uh we have some positions that are being
068added, some that are being repurposed and some transfers. So with all of this, this action remains ongoing as well. We hold senior cabinet level and legal review meetings uh constantly. So uh this also remains ongoing. You talk about teacher support and new educator support. We are continuing our efforts and launching a variety of supports to include providing teachers with the professional development they need. We're also recruiting retired teachers uh to assist as mentors as well as side they they're going to also provide sidebyside coaching. Uh we have teachingmies that are ongoing and and again we're going to host a series of professional development opportunities this summer as well as throughout the year. our employee incentive plan. This action remains in progress as we are still researching funding and certification pathways. As we move into phase
069two, which is strategic actions and early wins as we talk about curriculum alignment, pacing guides, they have been updated for the 2025 2026 school year. Our literacy and math foundational support and acceleration will also be addressed in Dr. King's presentation tonight. uh and targeted profession targeted professional development for educators as we mentioned before is also ongoing and also happening right now. Expanded student pathways a major priority is to increase and expand our student pathways. We added additional steam activities this summer along with acceleration opportunities. Our ed tech and our CTE department have created a comprehensive pathway for computer science for our students. And we're also looking at we're also looking to add more with additional dual enrollment opportunities and increasing access to steam gifted honors AP as well as IB. And as we said before
070our equity audits uh this action it is in progress again handover has been contracted to conduct these districtwide equity audits. As we talk about boost employee recruitment and retention, we're working with HR to implement an alternative certification program for employees which will allow them to qualify incentives through federal programs. Setting our district goals and the metrics. Uh clear district-wide goals and key metrics are being established throughout the district and are being added to job descriptions. Measurable goals include a three to 5% increase in key areas on our academic report card as we align our budget with priorities and develop our strategic plan. Uh this action has been completed as it relates to district and state guidelines. However, it remains ongoing because it will be part of our strategic planning process. And during our strategic planning
071process, we will ensure that key priorities are aligned and addressed in the budget. Leadership development, progress monitoring, accountability standards, and recognition programs are all in progress. In fact, we are gearing up for a leadership retreat uh in the next few weeks for our administrators that will cover a series of professional development opportunities for principles. At the retreat, we will also cover progress monitoring and reviewing existing data sources that we have as well as set new accountability expectations and our key metrics. As we move into phase three, future vision and long-term strategy. It includes a 100 day report presentation. Of course, this would take place at the end of our 100 days. Phase three includes ongoing stakeholder engagement. But we this will also be ongoing as we continue to work to engage our stakeholders throughout the
072year. Responsive feedback will be included in our customer service initiative. And last but certainly not least, clear communication of our strategic direction will also remain ongoing as we build out our communication department to include weekly updates of our strategic goals and initiatives. This concludes our 100day plan uh overview. Thank you board members for your constant support. Thank you Dr. Bird. A very u detailed plan and we appreciate the hard work of you and your staff. Are there any questions board members? I have a comment. Yes sir. Yes ma'am. I have three words and then I have one word. Okay. One is no stone unturned and another one is brilliant. of all the superintendent that I have uh either worked under as a teacher for 45 years or superintendent that I have worked under in this
073capacity for ongoing 12 years now. I've never had somebody put it like I I just wrote it down. I was I was you know you've got the stat you know the actual status who's the lead on it which shows accountability. Then you have, you know, the color-coded status. Where are we? Have we done it? Are we working on it? Whatever. And then, uh, the funding source. I mean, we've never had that. So, kudos. I'm u I'm floored. I mean, I've seen I've kind of looked at this before and I was like, "Wow, why haven't we ever thought about this?" So, you you've made the decision for you to be here so much uh more where I can pat us all on the back. So, I appreciate you doing that. Thank you so much. Thank you
074for your support. Miss Borders, I have one um comment and I think I know the answer, but Dr. Bird and Dr. Keith brought up a good point about the funding source where the funding sources are blank, especially when it refers to the website and some of the other things because I remember one of those names. Those are programs we've already approved, aren't they? Yes. Okay. So, we have those. Yes, ma'am. Okay. Yes. Yes. Yes. Are there any other questions? All right. Hearing none, we'll move to our next agenda item from Mr. Jason Issacs from Federal Programs with an update. Sorry about that. Good evening, ma'am. President, Dr. bird. Fellow board members, thank you for the opportunity to come before you this evening and tell you some of the good things that are happening not only
075in our district but specifically in federal programs. Our goal in federal programs is several strategic initiatives but making sure we know that we are coming up on monitoring in the next not this coming year but the following year. So we want to make sure from a compliance standpoint that we are focused on that as well as alignment to strategic plan that Dr. Bird just shared. It is our shared goals and alignment as well with state and local funds that federal funds can supplement the different initiatives that the district has. So, there's a couple that couple initiatives I do want to share with you just to keep you updated and knowing what's going on. The first thing is district partnerships, federal programs. Um, prior to me coming out, one of my goals was we have several
076other districts in the state that are equal in demographic size and capacity to McGomery County Public Schools. And I was already in my previous role trying to reach out and develop those relationships. And we've been able to capitalize on that and start those partnerships. One of them is with Jefferson County Public Schools. We have already gone up there once to discuss parent family engagement and kind of align see the different resources that they have going on in their district and how we could bring back different resources to our district and make sure that we're not just spinning our wheels and trying to do something to do something but partner with other large districts to ensure that we're in alignment not just with ourselves and our goals but as a state and those larger districts as
077well. We're looking at reaching out. We've started preliminary with some other districts because we don't want just to be us and one other district. We want to make it in essence a coalition with some of the same size districts that we have because if we can know if we can partner together, we can grow and sustain through any challenges that we foresee or don't foresee. The second area that I want to focus on is personnel support and federal programs appreciates all the support that both the board cabinet and other departments have provided to us in the last couple of months in this area. We are bringing on a few compliance monitor positions. Um one has already started, one is about to start in federal programs and we're still finalizing the process with a few others.
078Um, but the goals of those positions, you can see on your handout and on the slide up there that there is a lot of areas to federal programs. It's not very single focused. And then when we start trying to get very single focus, again, it broadens out again. Um, federal programs is just one of those areas that touches almost everything in a school district. So, as you can see there, from compliance to family community engagement to schoolwide compliance, one of the goals coming on board that I saw and what these compliance monitors will be able to help with is ensuring that we focus more grades focused support in the buildings. We know that parent family engagement is a strategic initiative for the district. We know that making sure that we're doing the items that are
079required under ESSA and other federal provisions is important. So having these people that can go and give hands-on support to the schools, I I feel is strategic. I feel it's also important for us at the district office to be there and to provide that support and this will be able to do that. Um, additionally, um, an area that is also in the strategic plan is school improvement. We know that we receive under title one school improvement funds, meaning CSI funds. Um, and we want to be very strategic and I'll get to that in a minute. But one of the people that we're bringing looking to bring on will be assisting from a federal programs perspective because the state has given lots of different diagnostic and requirements that are now required for each district to have
080CSI by individual schools. So having someone on the team that can really focus on that in addition to potential other improvements in the school improvement with school improvement positions. We know that we can strategically target those areas. Additionally, you'll see at the bottom of the slide 21st century. I know that has been a priority of the district in the past. I know it's a priority of the district now. making sure that we have funding available for our afterchool programs and hopefully one of the people that we're looking to bring on will be able to assist in that capacity as well and we'll get into more detail in a moment on that as well. So the next part is strategic use of funds. So we know that federal funds has to be supplemental in nature. we
081we can't supplant or pull back in essence local and state funds and pay for it with federal, but we can be very intentional and strategic with how we use those funds. So on the left hand side, you'll see all the funding sources that we do have available in those first two bullets from title one, school improvement, title two, title three, title four. But I do want to focus on the last two bullets. We do have title 1D which is our neglected or delinquent program that we do receive funds for that supports those facilities and we have ongoing relationships with them. Um Dr. Bird mentioned earlier and um we appreciate all of your support with that. We did receive with collaboration I I am very blessed to have been able to partner with Miss Jackson. um
082our working together has been very well or sorry that is incorrect but very good. Thank you. Um in the way that we do things because we don't want to be in silos. We want to work together. It's all federal money. There are all federal regulations and having federal programs on one side, special ed on another doesn't work. So I I've been very blessed to be able to partner with her. It's been a very good relationship and our hope is that we'd be able to continue that in the future as well. And that partnership has um provided us $400,000 to support those two schools. So again, um our goal is not the lowest amount of money that we can receive in federal funds. We want to find the most amount of funds. We want to obtain
083the most amount that we can. And being the district that received two grants in the first one as well as the highest possible amount, I think shows the dedication of both the special education department and the staff that work in federal programs. Um, we do have a homeless grant as well. It is a competitive grant that is available to us. We are looking, it hasn't been released for this upcoming fiscal year. We are looking to try to also maximize those funds as well. And we're also looking at other possible federal funding sources from 21st century which is title 4 part B to other possible grants as well. Um on the slide and in your presentation on the right hand side in partnership with um finance we have been able to work together and making sure
084that we don't supplant our federal funds and that our methodology is still in alignment. But we were able to support title one schools that are CSI more specifically with our CSI funds. And as you can see on that memo that was written, we were able to change from a 50/50 split to an 8812 split. Um so that is what we're trying to do. How can we best leverage our federal dollars to support the students in our buildings? Um, on the administrative set aside for Title One, we're also looking on some strategic changes from support personnel that we've already discussed to technical assistance, which we'll get to in just a second, as well as those partnerships and providing the professional development that our staff in the schools need. And I will finish and then open up
085for questions with this slide which is compliance support because like we've said at the beginning we know that there is going to be programmatic compliance monitoring coming up and we want to make sure that we're ready. We have over a year to prepare. I feel that our team that we're we have and that we have coming on will be able to prepare us for that but we are trying to be strategic as well with that. We have created new budget templates this year that are more programmatic and friendly to principles in the schools so they can focus on what is it that they need in their building without worrying about function and object codes. We'll handle that in federal programs and um we are looking at different systems to be able to collect our documentation.
086Right now, we're talking with 806 Technologies for Title One Crate, which would be a depository where we would be able to have the schools upload documents and we'd be able to review it and give feedback in timely manners. Um, we have also we've done it in the past prior to me, but we have been more focused and open up more opportunities for principles to do one-on-one virtual budget support meetings. Um, as the staff and federal programs, a couple of them are in here right now. We're from 8 to 11:00 and 1 to 4 almost straight with no breaks in between. They're 45 minute sessions that just I should have changed and did like a 15-minute break in between. I've learned my lesson there. So, um, and then we're going to continue those virtual support meetings,
087too. We've learned that making sure that the principles have access to us is very important. And I know sometimes it's difficult you know at times to understand allowability and some other facts and we're working on FAQs and other documents too but it is a time can it takes time to build out those systems and we're working to do that. So with that I will um open it up for any questions that you guys might have. Yes, Miss Cloud. Good evening. Um, when you said the school budgeting that you had to do, that's with the ASIP. That's for their onsite because they're title one schools to write their ASIP. That part is with the budget. Is that I'm trying to clarify for everyone. Yes, ma'am. That's a excellent question. So, the ASIP, which is our continuous
088improvement plan, is the same document as our title one schoolwide plan. So anything that is in the budget must also be included in the Taiwan schoolwide plan before we can approve it programmatically. So we have been providing guidance with them and sharing best strate best practices in essence on how to make sure that their ASIP has those activities in the diagnost or I'm sorry it's not diagnostic it's it's in the strategies portal incognia to ensure that we can approve those budgets and we're working on a few other things. Those will probably be rolled out for the FY27 budget period but we want to make sure they have the tools and resources that they need. Um, how are we coming with um some of the schools that are not schoolwide schools? Where are we at on
089that? Yes, ma'am. Um, currently in McGomery public schools, we all of our schools are schoolwide programs except for one of our high schools. We are looking at their poverty percentage and we are um looking at options and once we have finalized anything, I'll make sure to bring that information to you guys. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions, comments? All right. Thank you. Thank you. Our next um agenda item will be Mr. Chad Anderson, facilities update. Good evening, Dr. Bird, Mrs. Watkins Smith, Miss Poris, and members of the board. If you'll look at your spreadsheet with me, um and you see the dark gray areas, those are the areas that Vulkurt has already discussed. I will say uh the windows at South Lawn Middle are somewhere probably between 85 and 95% complete. Some of those
090photos were were a little aged uh from what uh Paige showed earlier, but there's there's been some great progress on that. They do have the uh permanent power installed out there. So, that's where we're able to turn on those HVAC uh units and get the building condition where we can do the finishes. I will say in a gymnasium area, there's not nearly as many finishes as what would be in a classroom or or or regular school setting. So, the finishes should go fairly quickly, but the wood flooring does take time to uh acclimate to the um setting or whatever that goes in before you can put that down. The Morning View Elementary HVAC project, we have about 85 95% of the window frames in. The windows are scheduled to be delivered on Thursday with installation
091starting quickly thereafter. Uh the metal panels are probably in that 65 to 75% installed on the building. If you drive by the school, you'll see the frontage is that's phase one of the bu of the project along with the cafeteria and main office. Uh phase two, which will happen as school starts, will be the small hallway that connects to the back of the annex. Uh we have all the grids, the ceiling grids in. Uh it is going to be working on moving their access points into those ceiling grids. Uh spoke with Mr. Solomon Rafe on that today and he's he has a team scheduled to get those access points moved and then we'll be scheduling the above ceiling inspection to be completed so that we can close up the operation inside the building. Uh after
092that everything else will take take place outside of the building with the units the HVAC units. So, we'll be once the above ceiling is completed, we'll we'll start some cleanup already, but we'll finish the cleanup once the above ceiling is completed, they start putting the drop ceiling in. We want to be able to have our students in that main phase one by the start of school. That's that's our goal. That's what we're we're working towards. And the contractor is working u nights and weekends. They have weekend schedule set up to make that happen for us. And they've been very aggressive on it. It's It's moving really, really well. The Davis Elementary HVAC uh project again where the contractor went with the sub with a pre-fabricated panels there. So, those have a lead time. We should
093by the next board meeting have an update ready for when those panels will be on site and installation will begin. We've been working with the school administrators there and we have a phasing plan for them just like we did at Goodwin like we'll be doing at Morning View to move that project along. We're excited to get that one started and and off the ground as well. Park Crossing Turf and Track is complete. Uh they are utilizing that. We'll do the final inspection uh this next week with that, but they the students are already utilizing the turf and track areas of that. the Carver High School turf and track replacement. Again, weather. We've been dodging some of the weather with the rain that we've had as far as the excavation. They've completed that. We did get
094a proof roll date today for tomorrow. So, once the proof roll is completed, that's when they can come in and start installing the turf portion of that. They have been working on the concrete curb that goes around the inside of the the track. So, they nail the ledger board to the and then also nail the turf to that ledger board. So, it's moving very very quickly with that part. The Forest Avenue roof replacement is currently being advertised. We we look to try to bring that to the board for approval at the next board meeting. Uh South Lawn Elementary roof replacement. We still have a little bit of design that's going on there that they're trying to wrap up with some of the elevation changes that are on that building. Uh we should have it uh
095going out for advertisement this month as well. Uh might quite possibly get it to the next board meeting. it may go to the the September board meeting. And then the JAG athletics improvements, we do have dates for uh for scheduling on that. They are kind of buttoning up some of the design on that, making a few little tweaks, but we u plan on having that advertised in August and then look to try to bring that to you for the September board meeting as well. With that, that'll that'll be a phased approach. We'll do the the field portions of that improvement in the back with the baseball, softball field, turf, and track for the the football, soccer, and track areas there. And we'll also include lighting in that portion as well, a batting facility for the
096softball and baseball teams as well. We will be able to host compet or uh softball games at that facility. We'll be able to host track meets at that. So, that'll be a nice addition for the area. And that's what we're also working with in athletics with the turf and track replacements. We've been able to do around the district. They're pretty strategically located where our middle schools can take part in utilizing some of those turf and track turf and tracks for different events that they may have as well. So, we look forward to expanding that with all all of our groups for that questions or are there any questions? Thank you, Mr. Anderson. All right. Our next agenda item will come from Miss Stacy Murray. Parental paid leave policy. Good evening, um, Madame President, Superintendent Bird,
097and other board members. Uh this evening I will review uh what I believe Miss Wilson has already provided uh to you some preliminary information as it relates to the per parental paid leave act uh provided in your weekly update need uh additional information I'll make sure we get it to you again to review um as of August 2nd 2025 uh Governor I Governor Ivy signed into law this uh the paid parental uh leave act which requires school uh districts to develop a policy for us to be guided um by and oversee implementation um of this act. What uh the law entails us to do is to assure eligible employees uh which is defined by full-time employees who have been employed for at least 12 consecutive months with the school district that we do uh allow
098them to have the paid parental leave time off as it relates to the birth of a child, adoption um or um other circumstances as it relates to child birth. For um any uh female employee, 8 weeks of paid leave is to be granted for the birth of a child or any uh extenduating circum circumstances as it relates to child birth. Uh two weeks paid leave for any eligible male um for uh the birth of a child or eight weeks paid leave as it relates to any uh eligible employee for the uh adoption of a child. Um the AASB has not yet provided the policy draft for us to use as a guide to develop um our policy here at NPS. However, we do anticipate receipt of that draft by July 17th. Um and then we
099look to have it passed u our policy uh passed in August. Any questions? Are there any questions? All right. Thank you so much. Miss Murray. Our next agenda item is Dr. King, the literacy plan overview. Good evening. Um, Madame President, board members, and Dr. Bird. Uh, as Dr. Ber mentioned earlier uh as uh part of our uh improvement process to address uh most recently our subtest uh uh uh AAP subtest uh reading scores. Uh our team developed literacy targeted action plan for K3. Uh and this um the goal is to accelerate the foundational reading skills and comprehension profic proficiencies in grades K3 to address the 6% decline uh from uh our a uh AAP uh subtest for our third graders. We also took a look at our second graders as well because those students are
100coming up. And we also looked at our uh cohort data uh and I would look would like to say in our cohort data we did show some increase in the uh in the sufficiency scores. So it is uh some some strategies are uh are working from year to year. However, that does not uh negate the fact of continuous improvement and that's also a part of not only the accreditation process but also according to uh Dr. Bird and his 100 day plan and expectations for us moving forward. So in this plan you actually see if you read it left to right uh basically um on this plan you'll see principal expectations to the left. uh you without uh principal involvement as instructional leaders is very difficult to actually improve uh at the school site. So this
101plan is very intentional in laying out what the expectations are for all of the groups that actually should work in unison to order in order to address the grade low level focus to your right. uh and when you look at the grade level focus those are the skills that are necessary in order for those students from the foundational perspective or I mean from the foundation through active engagement with learning to read uh and then also reading to learn based on the the science of reading and so also to going back to your left when you look at principal expectation is actually leading and supporting teachers on tier one instructions and and tier Tier one instruction is where you get the most impact instead in in in student achievement as well as students attaining the necessary
102skills for them to learn how to read and then read uh to learn so that they are constantly uh meeting the expectations of goals uh as established by the state but as well as what our expectations are for every student at every grade level. So also the local reading specialists uh all of our uh we have uh leading uh reading specialists that are actually funded by the state uh the ARRI uh u uh law that allows us to have uh support for our teachers in the classroom. However, it's important that uh again principal leadership as well as our uh ed specialists that support this work are focused on what are the goals and outcomes and the strategies that should be taking place in in in the classroom. Uh so also if you look at teacher
103expectations so we don't only put that work on teachers even though they are one of the most important in terms of their direct contact with students and the students developing the skills to not only learn to read but also the love of reading and so these are this is the plan overall uh that you have in front of you. The other thing that we have done uh terms of we a part of this plan if you look on page two we are aligned with the Alabama literacy act expectations but we had uh uh reached out to the state to share to get their input on our plan so that we can make sure that we can adjust to meet the needs of our students based on the data that we have already seen. I mean,
104so with this said, uh this is a very, I would say, uh aggressive plan given we haven't uh received all of our data, but it's well within all of the targeted skills that are needed in order for our students to not only be able to uh read, but also be able to comprehend. So, this is the plan that you'll see throughout uh and the grades. If you look to the right, we start at at kindergarten. And another important piece about kindergarten that will speak to uh a part of uh my presentation after this is that making sure that all of our students that are in our prechool programs are kindergarten ready and kindergarten ready. If they have that foundation, then we could then build on that to make sure those students are reading a lot
105sooner. uh so that when they get to first, second and third grade, it's you're just saying continuously uh read to learn and and developing that cultivating that love of reading. So this is our plan and then also in terms of data uh in terms of cultivating that datadriven process on on and on the principal side of the house that also includes the ARRI coaches as well in including our specialists at the central office. So what you see here throughout is threaded through here. I think Jason spoke to it earlier is a more collaborative approach to what the improvement uh process should be and this also speaks to uh what uh uh board member Keith acknowledged about uh Dr. Bird in terms of who is responsible and what are their responsibilities and who should lead the
106work. So clearly uh we have we we meet to collectively come up with this plan and it is a unified approach to be able to not only uh uh have expectations for the schools but actually how do we support them in central office. So you'll see also what Jason spoke earlier uh about the the staffing that we are actually uh proposing is to be direct service to the schools based on the improvement based on data. So tier and and part of that process is how we look at data. We look at tier we tier the the we tier the data ba I mean we tier the schools based on that data. then we can develop a a very targeted support. Uh and that is that does speak to equity as well because when you think
107about for example schools that may have uh non-emergency certified teachers, well quite frankly it's more equitable to focus our attention there because they don't have certified teachers. So therefore we have to think differently about that and that does have an impact on students developing their reading uh uh reading skills as well as the science of reading. So that is embedded. It doesn't necessarily speak to all of it but I just wanted to give you uh what goes into this decision making. And so uh and we look at we look at uh we also have analyze or we analyzing all of our coaching data as well. Uh so uh what we want to see is which which coaches also are being effective uh based upon growth that we are seeing. So we are looking at that
108our team has looked at that three-year data for since they has been here and then we're doing it also for math. So you'll see more of a data informed approach uh to uh to our school improvement initiatives and uh and we expect results. So that's that's it. But we also with that comes with the support that's needed though. Uh so and I just wanted to share this with you um for this uh just to give you an overview of our team. Our team is uh either on vacation or conferences but I just wanted to show you the work that we have done so far. All right. Uh Dr. Keith. Um yeah, thank you Madam President. I wanted to it's um to I love what you've done this this I mean the the whole PowerPoint looks
109great and um and I as I was reading through some of this one of the things that I was t what I looked at is your third column where it says teacher expectations and um where it says you know if where it says provide opportunities for deeper learning to cha uh to sh challenge students who demonstrate proficiency and do not exhibit academic deficits. Yes ma'am. If you I don't think you have a copy of this because it wasn't on we we the board members got this but if you didn't you might want to look at what the librarian did because if you look at the um learner outcomes and she was looking at what it taught one of the things it mentioned was enrich enrichment activities um advanced learning project based learning if you look
110at the red where it's optional for K through two maybe just some of the I'll give you mine but I was just looking at it and going, "Why couldn't we somehow because like take what you just said about your emergency teachers?" You know, any emergency teacher that can have a guest speaker or very qualified librarian step up to the plate and show even that teacher's learning. Do you see what I'm saying? And instead of when you're looking at where it's blue where it's introduced, it can be more than introduced in that in that uh third grade level to where we actually develop it by using that librarian. So the the library sources have if possible. Yeah. Oh, that that that's definitely Yeah, it was just something I picked up on while sitting here. But looking
111at the two, looking at this D, I'm very data driven and when I was looking at this data, I think if we could at least, you know, maybe maybe pull it away from being optional, you know, at at least by second grade. Yes, ma'am. You know, so that you could at least introduce it to those second graders that might be ready for it. Right. And I and I think you're right. It does speak to it, but thank you uh board member Keith because of the acceleration and that's what uh Dr. Bird has been preaching since he he's been here. So it's embedded in there. But you're right, we pushed it down a little bit more on the kindergarten. I'm glad you did that because uh some cases in and this is just in terms of
112probably expectations previously but sometimes they start I mean in kindergarten the students don't get access until maybe January because there are some some skills but we can expect kindergarten to do more. It's all about expectation. So if we move that expectation up and give that acceleration early I think you're going to see those results. But we definitely with your feedback I appreciate that we'll take it back and make sure. But I'm glad that you mentioned the librarian because they are a part of literacy very important to that and I'm a firm believer if students are not touching the books reading the books then you definitely will not see or develop a love of reading. So I so but we are we are joined at the hip when it comes to that. So I was so
113glad that she got an opportunity to present that to show that 2.0. I like that. That's what I was going to say. Reminder she's 2.0. if they should say no. Well, thank you for that feedback and we definitely will add that too. Thank you so much. I am Miss Thank you. I would really hope I know that Dr. Mackey is trying to pull teachers out of retirement. We have the opportunity to pull seasoned teachers, master teachers out of retirement, bring them into these non-certified or emergency certified teachers and help them learn the paragogy of teaching. Yes, ma'am. I think we need to really look at that very seriously because they can they can spend the morning or the afternoon with a teacher and that speaks volumes. that would go a long way in helping on
114the ground, boots on the ground, side byside collaboration. Sure. Thank you, Dr. B. May. Sure. Okay. So, so to be uh Dr. Bird is is way ahead. We I've already met with the retired teacher uh coordinator to be working with us uh to do just what you just spoke of. And again, it's a part of that tiered approach wherever we see the greatest needs. But you do have experienced retired teachers that know not only how the theory of teaching but actually know how to practice it. Then again you know if a classroom management is a big issue so but uh retired teachers bring a lot of value. We have used them in math but we I've already started that conversation uh today. Uh but uh and we will you will see some of that. So
115thank you uh uh board member Cloud for reinforcing that. But we really appreciate that feedback. possibly just some make and one thing I want to suggest back if you'll remember back in the day we had the make and take sessions you would get your expert teachers and I'm telling you I' I've said this a million times I would be a volunteer retired teacher because you had they you know you would have experts in math experts in reading experts I'm an expert in creativity and writing and all that kind of stuff so if y'all ever thought about going back and doing some PD where you could call in some I I would I don't cost anything. I'm free. You know that it would be a conflict of interest if you paid me, but I'd love to
116do it. Don't gohead. We need to vet some of these retired teachers. You can't you cannot have everybody that left the job come. You know, we don't make Johnny sit down like these new laws do. Yeah. Right. But Dr. King, I did want to ask you about I noticed that you had the reading specialist, the expectations for the reading specialist, and I was just thinking as Dr. Keith brought up about the emergency search because one of the first things they're going to have to learn how to do is read data. They don't they're not going to understand that and how it applies. Sure. So, is there any help in that building from that? Oh, go ahead. Go ahead. You say it. No, no. I that is a part of uh will be a part of
117the the plan about the data because everything is driven by the data, right? What what we were just waiting on is the actual embargo data where we would have specifically by each school where where the data points are and then to target that. So and we also there's an expectations to include that in our principal uh leadership those data uh data meetings and it is also embedded within our reading specialists those coaching cycles and especially at the math the math is probably I've seen that and that's an expectation where the math coaches actually sit down with the teachers and so ARRI we could sort of use some of that as well some of those strategies to kind of be more targeted towards the read the reading uh piece of that. But to your uh point,
118the the answer is yes. Uh we do intend to make sure that data does drive even the instruction because one part of uh instruction, if you're in a a classroom, it really is when you're introducing tier one instruction, the students respond to it differently. And those students that initially uh get the tier one, they should uh be moved to uh reading and dependent work while small group instructions occurs with those students who did not respond to that tier one instruction. So it's always the teacher looking at that data point. And sometimes data could happen within the classroom, within a setting, but this data like you get from the outside could be used to actually give them a heads up of what those students are. And it's also looking at the cohort data as well because
119we looked at the seven second graders who are now third graders. So we can look at that particular data and then let the teachers know, hey, this is what these are some of the deficiencies and how we can prove that. But to your uh your point, yes. Yes, ma'am. And we can always get better also. Yeah. And the action plan will this will be the action plan. I know it'll be I know it'll be tweaked. I know it's a living document, but when we get to summer school, these expectations will be the same irregardless of how many days summer school lasts. Yeah. Well, yeah. With summer school, we we're thinking about more acceleration because we're not going to have a lot of students in summer school after if we follow this plan. But so so
120it's a little be a little different, but uh but yes. Yes, ma'am. Um, I would like to see MTSS get started after the first the progress report. That tells us what we need to do to track over to get these children instead of waiting until the end of the nine weeks because like I've said, y'all heard me say before, it becomes an an autopsy instead of a triage intervention. We've got to get them in MTSS plans as quickly as possible so they can regroup, relearn, whatever it takes to move them back over to that pathway. Thank you. Yeah. And we need to first what would be wrong with a rollover just like was saying because you know where they left, right? And if you assess them when they get to school, maybe they caught that
121in the somehow and Yuri and you you're all giving us, you know, some great ideas. We also intend to start the extended day a lot earlier. We started late this time, but part of it is we're looking at additional grant funds uh uh that we can start a lot earlier, a lot sooner. So, so but thank you for your your your ideas and and we would add that and I took notes on that. Um, I do have a few questions and I'll try to kind of condense them a little bit. Uh, one of my questions is how will you measure mastery of those foundational reading skills in the first nine weeks and beyond? Well, you can we've used the diagnostic uh we use a diagnostic tool that's by the state. So, we are we we've
122used the diagnostics a ready diagnostic tool there. So that's what we use and we'll continue to use that particular piece. Uh for comprehension we measure that we can do additional uh comprehension uh exams using our progress learning. So we have those tools for available. And my next question is um see what support structures are in place for new or struggling teachers as far as professional development? Will it be targeted specifically for their needs in the area? Yeah, and and great question. We we have uh in terms of had those early discussions with our uh PD department, they are uh specifically looking at new teacher uh PD that will be specific, but also uh those teachers that have those specific needs, that's where our ED specialists come into play. So we can we can uh uh
123deploy our ed specialists uh you know that we have happen to have three plus the coaches but uh we can deploy them specifically to address needs that we have identified or teachers that are struggling in those areas. That goes back to what they were saying especially with our new teachers and our um teachers who are not currently certified but may be working on that certification. My next question is about the student progress and differentiation. How do we accelerate students who are on grade level without neglecting those who are behind? Because as the same time we're working with those, right? Great question and it's similar to what I described like in in a in a classroom like there are students that are already ahead uh beyond. So that's why it's important that first of all in
124the classroom having more difficult challenging texts and then also you can supplement that with uh access to the library where those students are really uh reading more challenging uh uh texts or uh you could so it really happens with differentiation in terms of a classroom. I'm not saying like uh that that's in all of the classroom but that's what should happen. So you could tell when a if a kid is already reading or in that initial engagement then it's like those students should be given more independent challenging work. So that's how the idea I mean that's what the classroom should look like but also the extension of that is the media center uh because that's a great way to get students access more access to uh content that may be more challenging than what's in
125the classroom. And my next question and there will be a few so bear with me. Um for again this is for my for the new teachers who are new to the profession as well as those teachers who are coming in working on certification which we call noncertified. Um are there going to be lesson plans or models provided for complex literacy skills because there are going to be some advanced skills that they just have not been prepared to to address in the classroom especially when you're talking about accelerated learners. Yes ma'am. I I know we provide all of our frameworks for all of the teachers and the lesson plans, but I what I'll do I would just look look at to see what specifically when it comes to complex those complex uh skills and our teaching
126strategy that are needed. But we do provide all of the frameworks that are aligned with the the ARRI as well as our uh our our curriculum that we use. Great question though. And the last one, well maybe next to the last one, how will we define and assess mastery of those foundational skills by the end of the first nine weeks and the other preceding nine weeks? Well, you can you can define that specifically by the standards. Uh and that's at at any at any point ninth grade. you look at the standards and you give an assessment based on the standards that are particular uh at that particular period. So that and again you could accomplish that through our progress learning uh uh check that way and in those programs they already I mean once they
127and I'm trying to remember going back a little far but they'll usually take some type of assessment test and then benchmarks will be set in there right well they we do the diagnostic which is required by the state at K3 but all the rest you could do uh you could use the progress learning because progress is learning is based on all the standards. So we we could we have those and we normally have a uh a formative assessment cycle which you're speak kind of what you're speaking to and we could do that every nine weeks. The other thing we could we we have done previously we did what I call uh uh um we did uh core where we could give all of the schools the same same uh assessment to see how well those
128students are doing in various schools. So we do have that capacity as well and we've done it in a couple of times. We come I mean we've done it not just a couple of times but we've done that also and that was the last question. Thank you Dr. King. I have one more I'm sorry and I have one after you um did I you said we're waiting on the to get the data to start planning. Is that what you said? No we just have uh we just in terms of the bargo data. No, we've already planned uh planning looking at what we have uh right then. Yeah, it's just the the releasing of the data will give us more specific what standards we're weak in. for example, like it'll tell you in like what are
129the domains uh particularly and it speaks to even in those domain what are some of the instructional implications there and so when you look at when you look at it from that perspective they give us more targeted okay this is where we were these by these domains we're weak so consistently like when you look at grades second through eight just from last year uh our weak area was in one of it wasformational text and comprehension across the board. In math, it was uh uh I think in math it was uh algebraic expression and some of that. So that'll just give us more like laserike focus on those particular standards that that we are showing some weak weaknesses. What our assessment department releases is not I know embargo is released to the public but it's not
130as targeted as what we will get. Right. Right. Because because it's not we can't you know we can't release all of it. Yeah that's why now the schools have access they can go in and look at certain their own particular data in their own in the portal we could see it but uh when it comes to kind of when we make public then that's where we we we could I mean when we're able to make public then you'll see those those indicators like you can see where where we we Great questions though. I like what you said about principles as should be instructional leaders and not building managers. Um they're going to have to be walking in those classrooms and observing and getting those teachers what they need immediately. Yes, ma'am. Call in the troops
131to help them be helped and getting you can write a lesson plan all day long. You can give a template, but it's the execution of the exit lesson plan that counts. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. All right. Thank you, Dr. King. Um, you're here again for the um executive director of federal programs job description. Oh, we got student grievance. Oh, I'm sorry. Okay. And I'm sorry. I skipped Jamie has a lot more. Literacy plan overview. We've done that. So, we're at student grievance policy. I do apologize. Yeah, I'm I'm presenting them in in Jaime's uh absence. So, she uh what what we are uh here is just to update the grievance policy procedures and that's what you have in front of you. And so, basically the revised policy is under review with a focus
132strengthening uh the procedural clarity uh and reducing risk risk exposure to both the board and MPS overall. So specifically, we are revising the ch the chain of command to ensure grievances are addressed and resolved at the appropriate administrative levels. Uh this protects the integrity of the decision-m process and helps avoid potential conflict of interest or compromising the board positions in the future appeals or legal matters. So, we just wanted to change that to uh what you see in front of you. Uh uh uh I think it's policy 4.9 uh.3. Yes, Miss Cloud. I would like to add something to this, please. I think it should have within 30 days the grievance being cited. I think that we don't need to let this move past 30 60 at the most because that gives it to a
133level of frustration and that's where we that's where we tend to stump our toes. So I'd like for it to be in the actual policy within 30 days this is moving forward whatever the the decision is made. Thank you. I have a consideration too, but for the sake of time, I'll just send it to you and your team for your consideration, Miss Dr. King. Okay. I just have one question on on the reclassification job description for the director of early learning. We haven't got I thought I missed it. So, good deal. Just don't want to miss it. I thought you were leaving. Go ahead. All right. Is that it on the grievance policy? All right. Now our next um agenda item will be from Dr. Keane with reclassification job descriptions for the director of early
134learning to director of prek. Yes. Okay. So so the purpose of this re re uh classification is to align our school improvement efforts in elementary schools to improve student achievement uh in reading, math, science and social studies. Um but we are changing an approach to provide school more direct engagement with schoolbased uh upon a tiered system of of support and then based on our 2425 subtest scores we showed a 6% decline from last year and that's what informed the literacy plan uh uh that you that I just uh presented. As a direct result of that, we must focus our effort to ensure all preK students are kindergarten ready, especially uh with those early literacy and math skills. And so, one proposal to address that is to reclassify the director of early learning position to a
135directive prek position. Um and the part of that is the job descriptions uh for the director of prek have been updated to include uh uh supervise and evaluate pre kindergarten staff including but not limited to the assistant principal, the prek specialist, hippie coordinator, teachers and administrative secretaries that was not uh as a part of the early learning uh job duties. that for for whatever reason and then provide weekly uh AC chief academic officer reports on the pre-K programs knowing how well and I think you all spoke to data points uh that we can use to be better informed of how those students are performing and develop a budget to support all prek programs. uh what we have done we sort of split funded those uh with title one and uh state funds and so it
136really is to get more uh balanced approach to that and then ensure all pre kindergarten uh uh a the state uh the department of early learning title one hippie and other financial grants and our academic performance report are submitted before the due dates and I think that gives us a lot of opportunity to know where our kids are and when we receive them in kindergarten and then it also oversee and administer the pre kindergarten assessment you know analyzing results and collaborate develop improvement plan and that's the kind of the role of the director and so equally important uh and we have I mean in terms of my office we we have looked at uh uh all the positions see if there's an overlap of duties and and in this case the director of early learning
137job duties responsibility. It does overlap with the executive director of curriculum and instruction. Uh and part of that is the the the executive director of curriculum instruction eval leads, evaluates and directs the work of all educational specialists. Uh and uh but currently there are two educational specialists, probably a third one that actually uh the director of early learning overseas. And so, uh, part of this is to make sure we focus, uh, the preK, uh, director over preK and then because we have a number of classes including a location at McKe, uh, to make sure we're providing the the leadership and support there while which is what currently is happening is where the executive director continues to oversee all of the specialists. Part of that is also uh making sure our approach is different and that
138we're trying well it's not trying but our approach is to uh mobilize our specialists to where the support is needed. Uh so to accomplish equity that way. So those are um the the rationale for this and and currently like I say the executive director of curriculum instruction meets with all specialists uh and collaborates ensure the work is aligned to direct I mean to support school improvement initiatives and this is part of also looking at analyzing all of the positions but uh and then strategically uh utilizing people's strength to better move us in in a better I mean move us uh to where we are showing uh more improvement. What's this fun source for this? I think it's general general funds. General funds. Oh, it's split between OSR and general funds. OSR. That's what I cut.
139Madam President. Yes. Um my question on that was you kind of you know which I jumped the gun on it but you kind of said something about the overlapping and what I so this is like repurposing. This reclassification is repurposing. Yes ma'am. Okay. So if you're changing some of the things and you were you said you had like a 6% decline. Okay. If you if you kind of look, you know, deeper, you know, like tunnel vision and you look like what's some of the reason when you're when you're changing some of these things, some of that overlapping could be some of the problem. Okay? Because example, if you had your pre K through two and then you have already had somebody doing, you know, like your third your your third already, why join them? I'm
140not what I'm saying. I'm not asking for an answer. It's just something that to look into because I think when you're changing things, if you change the structure, think about how deep kindergarten is. Think how much is really in that kindergarten component. That's huge. Okay? And that's the start. That's your letters, you know, phonics. And if you kind of narrowed it down K through two, it was just me thinking and then you did the, you know, like that. It's just just kind of changed some of the structure of it. Um I think I think it may help. Thank you for the feedback. Thank you. Also too, I would like to add uh for them uh and also unfortunately what in the latest um job description wasn't uploaded uh to assembly. Uh we did actually add
141some uh KPIs uh to disposition uh this weekend, but unfortunately uh the old one was actually added, but we'll make sure that we get that to you all uh tonight or tomorrow. Uh but this position will also have KPIs included in it as well. Then that will clear up the overlap. Yes, ma'am. That'll clear up the overlap, please. Yes, ma'am. All right. Our next agenda item, Dr. King will be executive director of federal programs. Job description. All right. All right. Okay. All right. Thank you. Um yeah, I wanted to uh the uh to just share with you in terms of when we initially thought about the uh the the director of federal programs uh once um uh we once the pos uh well I would say Jason he's here but once uh Jason you know
142came on board there were a number of things that we had blind spotting in and so uh what we noticed that and the some of the job duties and responsibility. You heard some of it today in preparation for compliance. But there has been just a a a great added collaboration with the chief uh with uh Pamela uh uh regarding federal programs to ensure that there is federal programs in a supplement uh position that we should be uh in and to make sure that uh all of our funding uh sources are used. uh appropriately and so we've added also add additional collaboration with other district level administrators. So that when you hear that teamwork and collaboration that has happened as opposed to federal programs sitting in isolation. Uh the other thing is there's add added collaboration
143between not only internal stakeholders but also external stakeholders and part of that you've already saw the access the the application for the GAP grant getting access to that and then actually uh uh the grant was written and then we already received uh the the highest amount in those two grants and so and and I can't stress this enough but the added training and support advis advisory service for district level staff especially principles. Uh and as you described and his part of his team is here uh that team and I could say this uh even before but they work tirelessly to uh uh support principles and to explain some nuances of the federal programs which is allowable and what is not allowable and that's not always a pleasant conversation. So, so but it it has helped.
144And then the other thing that was uh I think will speak to uh getting parent voice is how we think about family involvement and how should it be funded moving forward. So being conscious about that and then uh also consolidating the roles and responsibilities under federal program because it was kind of spread out but it had different funding streams. So part of this is to uh also add include uh the uh the ESSA uh requirement compliance and then even though we don't have no longer have esser funds there still is compliance component of that that will come. So the the other added piece that we didn't know at the time was the charter school compliance and communication from the federal perspective. uh you know in in our role we've I mean in in the overseeing
145charter school compliance is huge because they are they are expected to follow federal program rules and regulation as any other like we are. So to have that expertise and actually being able to give the letter of concerns or and the memos is really huge for us uh support. And then the other piece that is critical even though this wasn't a focus but when you look at federal inventory of COVID relief funding and and uh and and I know we had some you know a little concerns because of the freezing of federal funds but we anticipate that when you are thinking about what was already spent you know making sure we have the inventory of those funds that were expended already. So that that is backwards. we have to go back and make sure we're looking
146at that. And then um the other thing is like the the the the budget support that principles are having and the and we're creating technical uh assistance uh documents to provide support to local schools to ensure they focus on programmatic needs instead of fiscal. uh and fiscal is like here's the source but we do have to focus on the school improvement and just putting principles in their expertise and while while giving them technical assistance of how you can use these funds and that takes time in terms of training and so currently these are things that uh would be a benefit to us but I just wanted to show you why this position is you know FAQs on uh developing FAQs on federal reg regulation topics that I think would be beneficial to principles uh memo
147uh for non-compliance, budget templates, and the RFP process, which the RFP process is going to go a long way with the district and and limit the risk to the school board because uh you you always have to have a RFP if it's over 250,000. So therefore, we're putting in process already talking about that and that takes a little more time uh to actually when you're using federal uh programs. And so um training sessions again developing that will be complete. Uh class wallet which is a a different tool we use to purchase things but that's closely monitored as well to make sure we're in compliance. uh and personnel changes and consolidation which I spoke to earlier is really to reinstructure the how like the positions and making sure the positions are actually uh uh are aligned
148with what federal compliance calls for. Uh and that's one of the things why you see parent engagement because there's specific specific things we should be doing about parent engagement in the schools and so instead so we need a support there. So those are some of the things that we're doing. So we're we're increasing staff capacity through through training. Uh Edgar is one of the biggest thing is like the Bible of how we spend federal dollars and it's different from the state. And that's that that distinction is uh very important as we explain why some things may be allowed at the state in terms of your uh of your contracts but yet it's not appropriate at the federal level. So these are some of the things that we are putting in uh focus and then again
149we are you know we are very uh aggressive now as a and even more so looking at uh grants and opportunities when you look at the 21st century grant that could bring a number of afterchool programs that you all speak of the STEM focus those things that the young lady was acknowledged for that could be funded all we needed someone to actually to lead that work, write it, and then we could then enhance that. So the other thing about that is that it is going to attract more students to Montgomery public schools when you have these kinds of programs. So um these are the things as to why I am I'm recommending uh to change that position from a director to executive director. and I just wanted to share those share those thoughts with you
150tonight. Thank you, Dr. King. Um, our next one will be from Dr. Kathleen Williams. Job description for executive director of special education and job description for executive director of student support as well as job description for director of student wellness and culture. Good evening, board president, board members, Dr. bird. Uh my first task is to talk to you about the recommendation for uh changing our director of special education position to an executive director of special education. And the rationale for that is that it will align better with how we are moving forward with creating more accountability for the expectations within the district especially in this area around the implementation of IDEIDA. uh through through this shift we will be able to better monitor what is happening in schools, excuse me, what is happening in schools
151and how we use our data strategically to identify professional development and identify where we have problem areas and provide more targeted technical assistance around those areas. In addition, we will through this position, we will uh create an opportunity for special education to collaborate more intentionally with the office of academics and um innovation and curriculum so that we can align what is happening for our traditional students with what is happening for our students that have disabilities. In the job posting that you received, you see that the indicators for this position fall within the areas of compliance and how we are ensuring that we are um aligned with state and federal requirements and that our school teams are in compliance with district expectations. uh in the area of program effectiveness, evaluating the various programs that we have
152within our special education platform, what's working well for our students with disabilities as well as where we have areas to improve. uh continuing with the leadership focus and working with our leaders. Uh continuing to increase our stakeholder engagement especially in the area of bringing in our parents of students with disabilities and continuing to empower those families so that we are meeting the needs for both parents and students managing the fiscal dollars that are assigned to us and uh similarly to what Dr. King referenced applying for any opportunity with grants so that we can continue to be innovative with what we provide for our students with disabilities within the district. And then lastly, making sure that what we provide within our MPS platform is efficient. Next one will be the director of student support. The recommendation
153is for the director of student support to become an executive director position. And the uh rationale for this is that it this change will allow again in in the vein of increasing accountability around the big rocks for this spe I can't even talk. I need some water. Uh for this specific position, it is in the areas of discipline and enrollment and attendance. And you've heard in previous presentations that as a district we are looking at how we continue the path that we are on with decreasing chronic absenteeism and in our shifting this position. We will be able to provide more technical assistance to the schools that have already been tiered in those areas of problems or low problems and how we are engaging our stakeholders and our parents and educating our parents about the uh
154importance of children being in school daily. Uh what you will see that is different within this position uh student support uh and how we have attacked attendance, how we have attacked enrollment and how we have attacked discipline has uh been in a silo if you will through this change in the position. It requires collaboration from that department with departments throughout the district so that we're speaking one voice around the expectations supporting our students being enrolled without any barriers regarding of what they're coming to us with as well as us implementing our uh discipline expectations consistently across the district. Similarly to the other one, you received the uh KPIs for this position and it includes again compliance. How are we compliant with state expectations in those key areas along with how are we supporting our school
155teams when we find that there is an issue with them being compliant. uh continuing to dig into our data to identify where our uh discipline trends are and how we can be proactive in providing interventions around those key areas. Involving our families proactively to help them understand the policies within the district and what their rights are throughout as well as collaborating with others so that this becomes a district focus and a a district message. And our next one, thank you Dr. Winston. That next one will be the director of student wellness and culture. This is a new position that is uh being brought to you. This position again is aligned with the goals that have been identified not only in uh Dr. diverse 100-day plan, but also the district strate strategic plan. As we have
156a focus of continuing to build a nurturing and responsive culture within our schools through this position, we will also be able to streamline all of the wellness resources that we have available within our district so that we can ensure each school whenever there is a need is capitalizing on what's available not only within district but what's available within our community through this through this person. if it is approved. It will also give us the opportunity to be more proactive in providing that tier one support to new teachers when uh classroom management issues have been identified when coaching is needed because as of right now there is not an opportunity for dedicated strategic coaching to happen. So this person would be able to help with that and work with school teams to build that. This person
157would also be able to work with our administrators and teachers to build models that are responsive to kids and models that will foster us providing a culture of children being restored to good graces and success within school versus all versus a punitive side. the KPIs and uh my apologies we had already posted and you did not get the uh job posting that had the KPIs but the K I'll update that this week but the KPIs for this uh position is around decreasing our student discipline incidents within the district. We are on a downward trend and we want to continue to do so and we want to meet children where they are and help them to continue to be more successful to help the district not only implement but integrate what we are doing from a
158PBIS wellness and MTSS standpoint as well as provide the necessary training for staff and administrators around restorative practices. Uh there is one question miss um one person is going to do this. No ma'am not by themsel one person is going to lead the charge with a team of people that we we have in district. Okay. Thank you. Yes ma'am. Are there any additional questions? I just was glow. I'm so thankful we are really looking at PBIS strategically because positive behavior is what we're wanting and not punitive and I'm proud of that. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right. Any additional questions? All right. Thank you, Dr. Williamson. Thank you. Our next agenda item will be from Miss Pamela Watkins. 2020 five proposed new and or transfer positions. Good evening again. Um so now how
159are we going to fund some of those positions? Um I've been working collaboratively with Dr. Bird, um federal programs, some of our other departments to talk about how we can make some of these positions actually happen. um the first set of positions and I think you all have a spreadsheet there PowerPoint. Um the first set of positions and I'll just go through them are going to be the ones that um Dr. Williamson just talked through as well as um well doc one of the ones Dr. Williamson talked through an executive director of middle school, director of student wellness and social workers. Those positions will be funded out of Abalorum funding source. As you're aware, um part of the the campaign and lobbying of those funds would be used half would be used to support capital.
160The other half would be used to support instructional and educational needs of our district at the time. We started receiving those funds last year, last fiscal year. And um with those funds, we have actually followed the summary of needs that was introduced at the time that those funds were um solicited by the public. supporting position like positions like music teachers in all of our elementary and high secondary schools, arts programs in all of our elementary and secondary schools, providing additional assistant principal support to our schools, providing advanced placement and IB support to our high schools and foreign language in our schools just to name a few. there's a line item um within that as well as um that to provide um director level support. So that will help support the executive director of middle school.
161And then also um there's a line item within that to provide um other trauma focused and social emotional support which is where the director of student wellness and culture um when the plan was developed there were four positions for that. Two of them have been filled and so um or are being used and so one of the positions will support that director of student wellness. Um, additionally, um, there are social workers that are needed in our schools. Um, in the original plan, there was, um, written in the Avalor summary of needs to provide 10 social workers throughout the district. Currently, we have provided um, four, leaving six of those positions to be filled. Dr. Williamson will um, start with three, and we will see how that would work throughout the district. She's going to provide
162support, additional social work support will be provided to our schools throughout the district. And so again, these positions will be funded from Adalorum funding source. I have a question. Did I miss the executive director of middle? Where's the job descript? Did I miss that? We don't we already have a job description. We already have 12. Oh, okay. Okay. Now, we're going to have a elementary, middle, and high school executive director. Okay. Thank you. Yes. I thought I missed something. The next um set of positions were actually approved at the last board meeting. um an executive director or and actually just mentioned in this work session, executive director of student support, the customer service special was specialist was approved during the last board meeting. I believe the chief of strategic partnership and director of communications. Those
163positions will be funded out of the general funding source. Um as federal programs spoke earlier, we have been in collaboration with federal programs. There are educational specialists that work throughout our district to support our um schools um in their specialty area. Those positions were funded 50% general fund, 50% title. Um in working with Mr. Isaac's, those positions will now be funded 88% title, 12% general fund because we had one school that is not a title school. Um, with that, that created an approximate savings of about $545,000. Um, I have gone in and estimated the cost as you can see in the spreadsheet of the changes in additional positions here that will be funded out of the general fund. And it utilizes about half of the savings this fiscal year as it relates to the funds
164that we will save by shifting strategic strategically shifting the funding to 80% federal or title and leaving 12% in general fund. Moving along, um there is a position um that already exist in our district that is a zone coordinator for special education. Um the zone coordinator, and I will not attempt to explain what they do. Um I'll leave that for special education. However, um the district currently has five zone coordinators that go out and support the special education needs or the special education department. Although our enrollment has decreased over the years, our need for our special education students have increased creating a need for an additional zone coordinator. That position will be funded out of the raise act. The RAES Act is new funding that all districts throughout the state will receive this year. Um,
165raise stands for renewing Alabama's investment in student excellence. With those funds, we will receive an allocation for poverty, which will take the place of most of our atrisisk funds. will receive a line item for sped, one for ELLL, which will replace our ELLL state allocation, and one for gifted that will also replace our our um state allocation for gifted. And so with those SED funds, um as well as supporting the SPED program, it will allow for them to add the additional zone coordinator. The next is the position that was just um I think explained by Dr. King, the um executive director of SPED or I'm sorry, Dr. Williamson. And this will be a reclassification. Um the this will be funded out of SPED, which the position currently is. The anticipated cost I think you see
166on your spreadsheet. Um, and that is probably um a conservative um proposed amount on there. It won't be any more than what's listed there. The approximate cost is not You can't see it here, but um it should maybe increase that approximately $20,000. That would be an additional cost out of the sped funding allocation, the federal sped funding allocation. Lastly are the positions that are proposed to impact federal our federal funding source. Uh Mr. Isaac spoke of the school improvement specialists and compliance monitors as well as Dr. King that they will be adding to support our federal programs department um as well as the executive director of federal programs. These positions uh will be funded um out of our title one funds and our title one CSI funds. Um there's been a projected estimate of the
167cost of these positions and um after talking with Mr. Issacs and working with him, the Title One Title One CSI should be able to support these um positions indefinitely. Any questions? Any questions? I do have just maybe not a correction. I mean a question but a correction. So instead of three zone I mean I'm sorry instead of five zone coordinators I believe there are three zone coordinators. Just okay. Oh okay. I'm sorry I misspoke. I'm sorry. So yes, three zone coordinators. And so now there will be four to support the efforts of the special education department. All right. Any additional questions? All right. Thank you, Miss Watkins. Our next agenda item will be brought to us by Miss Pamela Poris, family and engagement committee update. This is going to be quick since I didn't do
168all my homework. But as you know, um we have been working on um the family engagement committee has been working uh with Dr. Daniels diligently um trying to make sure that we do one of the things we wanted to make sure we do and is an initiative of Dr. the bird as well as the board is to beef up our family engagement structure. Um we can do a much better job. We've identified um some areas that we want to focus on. And one of the main things we talked about was getting a location. Well, Chad identified for us the old Bellinger Hills building, which is going to work really well for us. There's offices there. There's a uh common area there. We will we are working right now. The advisory team for this committee has
169already been put in place. Um the facility we have the facility they are cleaning it now. The setup is going on. We're going to u beg Chad for some AC units uh from somewhere because we know he may find a few in the district and we won't have to buy any. Um but we are uh there's office rooms in that building for board members if they so choose. Um this may give them an opportunity to meet with their committees uh inside the building. One of the things that we I have talked with uh Dr. Bird about is a soft opening. How are we going to let the community know that this is coming? How are we going to let our stakeholders know that here's an opportunity to provide assistance and help? One of the first
170things we identified we needed to do is have a resource roundup. We want to know who in the city wants to help. What do they There are so many small businesses um so many nonprofits that do great things and they think for some reason we're large so we don't need the help. We want to dispel that and let them know they're invited, they're welcome, and we need their help. So, that'll be one of the first things we do. We'll get on um Dr. Bird's calendar hopefully uh the last week in the month. Um next week, we're in conference. So, the next week, we'll get on his calendar to find out what a soft opening looks like. Now, you know, different people think different things. I'm thinking barbecue grills, bouncy houses, lots of people, and music.
171Um, that may may or may not happen, but I think it needs to be that important. I think it needs to be um we will work. We have some partners that have already reached out to us to help. We'll be looking as soon as the new partnership um person is in place to help with some partnerships and and get this idea open. One of the things that we talked about as a committee is ideas for transportation. There are people in this city. How do how will they get to us? We want to look at all those avenues, hours of operation. We also are looking forward to the um secretary position that will be filled because we need help and and so that person will lend some assistance um to the board. And now this undertaking
172will not replace what goes on in schools. So we won't take anything from the schools. This is just adding to it. This is just um we want our parents to be able to go to the schools. We want our schools to be able to plan for them. But when there are other things when there's um other things we can do um reading initiatives not only for students but for parents uh long goal is we would like to at some time offer GED classes for parents in that building. So we we do have some long goals. The short goals is to get it up running um get it in the public, get it uh get everybody anticipating it and then open the building and do great things for our community. Thank you, Miss Portis. Are there
173any questions? All right. Our next agenda item is new business. Does anyone have any new business? Dr. Key, just just a reminder that I I want, you know, it's it's not an update, but I keep working on that committee for the new teachers, especially the non-certified. And I and I've mainly been looking at, you know, why is there such low retention? wise such turnout. We've talked about policies, changing policies. So, I I definitely want to make sure that when that policy committee is put together, it's not that I really want to be on it, but I would be on it if to make sure that that would that would like motivate me to be on that policy committee because I'm I'm big on that. But I also, you know, looked in and called some of
174the universities around here to find out I looked at the programs to see what does it cost for the alternative program. We're looking at $18,000. That that right there is a turnoff. And I don't I' I'd heard that there was a possibility of maybe funds maybe helping these teachers, but I also found out this that there is an alternative program uh other than the 18,000. Now, it's more for your CTE end of it, but um it's just some things I think we should look into for retaining these teachers. And you know, even the PD that I talked about earlier, I just I can't tell you how important it is to me ex for that component to to not just go to the back. That's it. Thank you, Dr. Cube. Miss Cloud, I would uh Miss
175Jones, I would like an update on the Carter Starks Chapel dedication and where we are right there, when it's going to be, and if anything's changed, please. Aren't you leading that? Good evening. Um uh madame president uh board members um and Dr. Bird uh we did have a tentative date but I received an update um where we are going to speak to Dr. Bird I do believe uh the principal Dr. Ruffen and then also an organization that supports uh the school. So I just got that update I do believe on Monday and or maybe Friday or Thursday. So, I will review that and then I will get the updates to Dr. Bird and he will probably have it in your board connection this week. Dr. Bird, are you talking about Are you talking about fame?
176Fame. Yes. I didn't want to say lamp lighters. My goodness. I'm sorry. So, they run. Yeah. Fame. Yes, ma'am. So, I know that the tenative date was supposed to be August the 29th. Teachers are trying to get new teachers are trying to get in the building. I would really, if possible, like to have it before school gets started because you've got that's going to be like a three- ring circus. I want the dedication to be formal enough and apacious enough that these two individuals that have worked so hard for this program to be really truly um acknowledged. Yes, ma'am. I think we'll bring everyone to the table. Is that correct, Dr. Bird? and make sure that everyone's voice is heard and then get that update over to the board. Sounds good. All righty. And if
177I may chime in, I just want to say that um I know some of the work you mentioned, Jay, but Chad is also Mr. Anderson is also involved in that process. And I know with so much going on with the 100 day plan and the opening of school, we want to make sure that it's done at a time that's convenient. So, if we don't make the August 29th deadline, I'm sure that there will be some earlier dates probably in September we could look at, but just to get everything underway. So, I appreciate their patience and I think they're understanding and knowing what we have going on. So, um we'll we'll get there. All right. Um Miss Poris, um or I know we've requested it before. I just want to request it again. We enter this
178critical time every time with employment and how we get them on board, how we keep them on board. Uh, and I just really want to request an onboarding process. I want to see the I know a lot of it's automated, but I want to see the timeline from when they come to us. What happens? Because I know we're in July and I know there are people out there looking for um September checks and then we sit in board meeting and say we have open positions and then you hear that somebody's looking for has already look for that job. So I just want to see make sure that the process is where it is. If it's a problem, we'll write a policy. we, you know, we we'll get you what you need, but I I would
179like to see something that says this is what we do each and every time. Thank you. Get that process explained. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. All right. And then um just mine is new business, but with updates, the board will do a we'll have a board self assessment with AASB August 21st from 4 to 6. And we will begin once I speak with Dr. bird on planning our board retreat that so that we can also get updates on things that are happening in the district. Um that concludes this Oh. Um All right. There will be another special call meeting um in two weeks. July 22nd, same place. Um same time. I know, right? Five o'clock in the training room one. Uh we'll have our regular schedule board meeting August 12th at 5:00 here in the regular
180board meeting training room number one. With no further business, this meeting is now adjourned. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]