001Let me call this meeting to order. This is a board work session for October 6, 2025. Before we get started, like to ask Ms. Wendy Hodges for a pledge and allegiance and an invocation. Heavenly Father, please be with the board tonight as we come together to work and make sure that everything that we do is for the kids. And please be sure to be with our faculty, our staff and everyone as we enter into October and make sure this is a safe and productive year. In your heavenly name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Please rise. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic, for which stands one nation, under God, the indivisible. Thank you. Now, okay, next we're going to have two agendas are going to
002be approved under one motion for the 17th and 22nd. I have a motion, Mr. Chairman. Yes. Before we do that, we might want to approve the agenda. That's what. Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. Need to approve the agenda. Make a motion to approve the agenda. Mr. Favor say aye. Aye. Hearing none, so moved. Okay, now we need the approval of the amendments. Move to approve. Mr. Chairman. Second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Hearing none, so moved. Let's go into discussion. Mr. Edwards, Finance Committee report. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Board members. Mr. Gardner, earlier @ our finance committee meeting, shared the preliminary ending fund fund balance for the general Fund as of June 30, 2025. The ending fund balance is expected to be 175.5 million, which is 10.2 million greater than 2023, 2324. And after considering
003the board's minimum fund balance designation of 15%. 39.1 million is available for other needs. Mr. Garner reminded the committee of the ask that were made September 17th at the board retreat. Total being two and a half million in that request. And that could be funded from the 39.1 million available for those needs. And the committee moved to voted to move that to the full board. In addition, he mentioned that the portion of the remaining funds could be committed to support further rise reading initiatives. Mr. Gardner also shared a debt service update with the committee. The current amount of outstanding debt is $301,450,000. He also shared that that amount will be paid off in full by 2031. In response to a previous board inquiry. Our outstanding 8% debt capacity. He shared that the previous estimates of
00469 million is currently available. And in 2031 that amount is projected to increase to 3.343.9 million. He also shared that the estimated additional Sales tax proceeds. Currently, there is 12.6 million available for additional projects with an estimated cumulative total of 75.2 million in 2829. Next, Mr. Gardner shared a capital funding update. Based on preliminary September 30, 2025 financial information. 38.9 million is available to fund additional capital projects. He mentioned that the majority of the available funds came from the interest earnings of 18.4 million and then 12.6 million from the additional sales tax revenue. Lastly, he mentioned that with the exception of the annual capital improvements of 56 million that all projects were fully funded. This includes the major construction projects in the 202429 capital improvement plan that totals 285 million. Do we have any questions?
005Any questions? If not, we turn it back over to you, Mr. Chair. Thank you so much, Mr. Edwards. Last job, Ms. Dawson. Policy Committee report please. Thank you. Chairman Cox, fellow board members, Mr. Jones and staff. I want to begin by thanking our policy committee members, Ms. Winters, Ms. Hodges, Ms. Graham for being present today for our meeting for our meeting and to our other board members who were present and who participated. Mr. Cook, Mr. Barnard, Mr. Edwards. During our policy committee meeting, our agenda centered on the following areas. We approved our September 22 minutes. We reviewed the draft district unencumbered time policy and approved it to be forwarded to the full board for consideration. We all shared our lessons learned from the wisdom sharing conference on coherent governance. We then performed actual policy work
006today on policy sections BSR 2 and BSR 2 excuse me BSR 3. Both were found to require minimal revisions which the superintendent has taken on as an action item to come back to us with a draft to consider at our next policy committee meeting. We also discussed to. We also discussed the unencumbered times process and that because not all district policies come to the policy committee or to the full board for review. In this case, because the the State House required board adoption of the unencumbered time policy and the live streaming policy. Both of those have been approved by the policy committee and both will be adopted presented for adoption by the board. So the process is a little bit different for district policies in those cases. Looking ahead in November, the committee will continue
007to follow our year long roadmap. And next month we will begin by creating our multi year template roadmap template and align that roadmap to our strategic plan. And in closing, our policy committee again showed its commitment to a strong governance foundation focused on student outcomes. So thank you again, Mr. Chairman. That completes my my report. Thank you, Ms. Dawson. Well done. Next, I'd ask Mr. Generette, step forward to further continue conversation about unencumbered time policy. Good evening, Chairman cox. Board members. Mr. Jones. This item, unencumbered time, is a draft policy that has been circulated throughout the state by the school boards association for consideration and approval for boards by November 5th. The unencumbered time policy incorporates also including school nurses with at least 30 minutes of unencumbered time during the regular workday absent any emergency
008type situations in the care of students. So it is in draft form for you to take a look at with approval at your next board meeting, which will be October 20, prior to the November 5 deadline. Are there any questions at this time? Any questions, Mr. Chairman? I just have a question of the superintendent, please. When this comes back before us, I was hoping that we might consider adopting some of the learning that took place over the last few days at our conference and begin to look at the actual interpretation of the policy is presented on our monitoring report. When we review this policy. That way it allows us to ensure that that monitoring report is aligned with our strategic plan. So, thank you. Thank you, Mr. James. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Jen, I
009have one quick question. What is the mechanism in place for a staff member to utilize when their encumber time is, I guess, used for other purposes? I mean, we give some examples of, you know, we try not to do this, but I know sometimes we get in a habit and before long somebody's been used and in different roles. How do we ensure that staff have, or teachers have a mechanism to report when their time is being used for other purposes? I think one way is to make sure that we encourage dialogue to occur between the employee and the supervisor or the administration, and also perhaps dialogue at the district level just to make sure that time frame of unencumbered time is protected. Should we have an established protocol for that? I know we're saying conversation,
010but you're tattling on your boss if your boss is using you to do other roles. So is there a. The established protocol, if there are concerns or issues, is that you, you can report those matters or speak with or communicate with the executive director for that particular level, which is the supervisor of the. Of the administration. There's no. You're asking for a written, spelled out policy. Yeah, we don't have that. Well, certainly we can look into having a clear outlined protocol for staff. It's. It's one of those ones where it could be used not just for this, but for other, other possibilities. And I've, I've seen it work really, really well. So certainly we can look at that. Okay. I just think it's important, you know, this is great policy. The intent is crystal clear.
011But I know in the course of a day, if you're not careful, your time gets used and it may become a habit. It's used in other roles every day. So how do we ensure that someone, if they're being constantly used, that they have a way of identifying that? Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I apologize. I jumped ahead with my comment to the next agenda item. It's okay. Anything else? Yes, thank you. We thank you. Mr. Generant, ask Mr. Lee James to come up. OE10 instruction manual Good evening, Chairman Cox board members. Mr. Jones, thank you for the opportunity to come up this evening to discuss the monitoring report OE10. Included in your agenda packet for tonight's meeting is a copy of the OE10 monitoring report, and I will now share a presentation that summarizes
012some of the details of this report with you. Before I do that, I would like to point out that OE10 is a different report than what you typically see from me or from learning services. OE10 outlines the IT is different from the results report in that it outlines the expectations for processes and procedures used within the Learning Services Division. Unlike other monitoring reports, it focuses on the department's internal operations report rather than student outcomes. The data that result from these procedures and processes will be discussed in the upcoming results report that I'll be sharing with you throughout the school year. This report highlights several key departmental processes which are cyclical in nature and are supportive of one another. The cyclical design of these processes allows for continual refinement of procedures to better serve our students.
013OE10 details how we implement this cycle, providing opportunities for review, feedback, and revision. We will start on the left of this graphic with Academic Standards. Academic standards serve as the foundation for all instructional decisions in our district. From the standards alignment, we evaluate and select instructional materials at every grade level, ensuring stakeholders have meaningful opportunities to review and provide input on these materials. These standards and vetted materials directly inform our curriculum and instruction practices. We integrate research based best practices with carefully selected content to create a comprehensive learning framework that meet both academic rigor and engagement needs of our students. Our instructional programs emerged from this foundation. Whether developing specialized program schools, targeted remediation initiatives, summer learning opportunities, or core general education programs, each is designed to fulfill state and local expectations while serving the
014diverse needs of all students. The cycle culminates in continuous evaluation and improvement. We systematically analyze student progress and analyze trends in data, we gather stakeholder feedback, use this data to refine our programs. This evaluation phase ensures that we're consistent, consistently providing educational opportunities that truly serve the best interests of our students and optimize learning outcomes. This cyclical approach from standards to materials to curriculum to programs and evaluation creates a dynamic system that evolves based on evidence and community input, always returning to our foundational commitment of instructional excellence. We will now look at each of these a little more closely. The South Carolina College and Career Readiness Standards provide the foundation for curriculum instruction in Horry County Schools. These standards establish a clear learning progression from kindergarten through 12th grade by outlining the knowledge and skills
015that students must master at each grade level. Instruction across the district is fully aligned to state standards, ensuring both consistency and rigor. To support this work or county schools, teachers use high quality instructional resources and assessment tools and that guide planning, inform instruction, and enhance student learning. The selection of instructional materials begins at the state level where teams of educators ensure alignment with the academic standards. A list of these vetted materials is then shared with districts and all textbooks on that list are made available for review by teachers, administrators, and community members. Following this review period, input is collected from these stakeholders, with parents parental involvement serving as a key component. In fact, to strengthen the practice the strengthen the practice of acquiring input from our parents, the district is revising both the text, the
016parent textbook selection rubric, and expanding opportunities for parents to review these instructional materials across our county. Once instructional materials are selected, their use is evaluated annually to ensure alignment with district expectations and and student needs. Importantly, I'd like to point out that our parents may request a formal review of all instructional materials by contacting my office or their child's school at any time. Curriculum and Instruction to provide consistency and instruction across the district, Horry County Schools provides teachers with curriculum maps and pacing guides that outline instructional resources God planning and informing sequencing of lessons developed by Horry County Schools teachers. These materials are reevaluated annually and based on the previous year's implementation and student assessment data. Each summer, teams of lead teachers from across the district gather to review and refine these guiding documents and
017the resources they reference, seeking to add new materials and incorporate research research based best practices to enhance instruction. In addition to a strong standards based core academic program, Horry County Schools offers a variety of programs designed to meet the students diverse needs and develop skills in specialized areas. These programs include advanced academic courses, career and technical educational exploration, fine arts and performing arts opportunities, world languages and extracurricular enrichment. Each program is designed to provide students with targeted support skill development and experiences to prepare them for colleges, careers, and lifelong learning. In addition to the robust career and technical education pathways offered at all base high schools, Horry County Schools operates two specialized career academies. These are the Academy of Arts, Science and Technology or Astronomy, and the Academy for Technology and Academics, or ata. HCS
018also provides programs designed to give students a head start on college, including dual enrollment at Horry, Georgetown Tech in Coastal Carolina, the Early College High School, and the Scholars Academy to meet the specific needs of certain students. Our district also offers SOAR Academy and the Therapeutic Learning center along with the Adult education program, which supports lifelong learning in our community. A data driven decision making culture permeates Horry county schools. Beginning with a robust system of formative and summative assessments, teachers, school administrators, and district leaders evaluate the effectiveness of instructional decisions based on student outcomes. Results from these assessments guide decision making at both the district and school level and are used to revise curriculum documents, inform instructional practices, and plan student programs. The data considered in these processes extend beyond assessments. Qualitative input from teachers,
019parents, and community members is also incorporated at each step of the decision making process. Student data and input from stakeholders are essential, enabling our leaders to make the most informed instructional decisions possible. And that concludes my presentation for OE10. At this time I'll entertain any questions. Mr. Chairman, I have a question. Lee, you may not have this information available tonight, but if you don't, I would appreciate it if you could get it to us on the last page of your OE10 report. It states that five HCS staff members completed the cohort for training as Letters Facilitated Facilitators. And I'm just curious how many more we intend to train as facilitators. What is our goal and what percentage have we completed? I will say that we're a leader in the state in terms of training our
020own letters facilitators not having clear direction from the state on how they would fund and how they would continue to provide this training moving forward beyond the first two years. We got ahead of that and started training our own at that time, though we did not have a a stipend planned that will come the part of our of this coming year's review of all of our supplements and stipends. We discussed that actually this morning in terms of the number of teachers that we would like to have as facilitators. We're going to review teachers who finish this next round of training and hopefully double or even triple that number. We would love to have as many facilitators as our teachers need as we bring new teachers. So is our plan to have a span of control
021basically for each facilitator. So you have one facilitator per x number of teachers, whatever that is, whatever reasonable number that is at each level? Ideally, yes, ma'. Am. And when we talk about each level, remember that letters is primarily focused on those early grades. We have expanded it in certain circumstances beyond that to support students who have those foundational literacy gaps. But primarily we'll be focusing on kindergarten. Thank you very much. I would appreciate that. I just think that would be very edifying and it would also lay the groundwork for us for by the budgeting cycle. So thank you. Thank you for that question. Any other questions? Hearing none. Thank you, Mr. James. Thank you. Now, Mr. Joe Burch would be speaking, I think, for Mr. Good evening, Chairman Cox, Mr. Jones, members of the
022board, I appreciate the opportunity to stand before you tonight and update you on our quarter three OE13 reports. There are a total of 27 reports in the packet which I have shared with you. I wanted to begin by highlighting our nine reports from our project managers that are labeled for final reports. These projects are now substantially complete, and I am happy to report that they are completed on time and within budget. The remaining 21 reports focus on other ongoing projects. We are pleased with the overall success of these projects at this point, and we will continue to provide updates to the board as necessary. We continue to highlight our ongoing capital projects with our building on the penny banners that are placed on sites throughout the county. And I want to thank you for your
023continued support with that. And I'm happy to take any Questions on the OE 13s. Questions no. Hearing none. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Burch. Great. Superintendent Jones, turn well. Thank you, Chairman Cox. Board members and staff and community. October is an exciting month here in Horry county schools. Tonight we're going to start off the superintendent's report by doing some recognitions. This first young man I sat next to on the graduation stage at Myrtle Beach High school. He's a 2025 US Presidential Scholar, Falian Lala. And congratulations to Fabian. He's a member, as I mentioned, is the Myrtle Beach High school's Class of 2025. U.S. secretary of Education Linda McMahon announced that Fabian is one of 161 students recognized in the United States as a U.S. presidential Scholar. This is an accomplishment that's recognized in academics, the
024arts and career tech education. So when you think about the best of the best and where they live, learn and reside here In Horry county schools is where you'll find them. So congratulations, Fabian. Next, there's a group of leaders, board members that oftentimes are the heart and soul of our organization. These. These group. This group of leaders is the one who's there on the good days and the one who has to oftentimes be there on the bad days. They shoulder the weight of what the expectations are in our community, in our nation, but most importantly, in the homes of the residents here in Horry county schools. And this month is national Principles Month. And so we want to express our heartfelt gratitude to the American amazing principals who lead our schools. Their dedication, passion and
025commitment shape the educational experiences of our students and foster positive school cultures on a daily basis. Our principals inspire teachers, they inspire their staff, and most importantly, they inspire their students. They navigate challenges with grace and create environments where every student can be seen and thrive. This month, please join me in recognizing our 58 principals in Horry county schools and thanking these remarkable leaders. As part of this, we have one of these remarkable leaders with us today. So to close out the superintendent's comments, I have somebody else who's going to talk to the board and the community today. I'd like to call up Dr. Don Brooks, principal of Kingston Elementary. Come on on up, dawn, and share information related to your school and their fantastic performance this year. Thank you. I am very proud of
026Kingston. And when asked about the success of Kingston, I always think I'm in a great situation. It's the students, the staff, and the parents together because we have amazing students, an amazing staff and amazing parents. And when you put all that together, you have to be successful. So I've got a few slides I want to share with you to just tell a little bit about the school. I did just a snippet of our data there just for you to see. This is our SC Ready data in ELA for the past two years, and it meets and exceeds on the SC Ready test. Third grade, we were at 67%, grew to 82%. Fourth grade six, 76% to 78. Fifth grade, 68% to 75%. And that's of all the students scoring meets and exceeds on the state
027test in ELA. The next is math for third grade, 73% to 74. Fourth grade, we did take a slight dip, but I'm still very proud of where we're at.77 to 75 and then fifth grade, 59.7 to 59 there. So that's just a little snippet of our data there for You. But when we talk about what makes Kingston successful for the students, our students come to school each day ready to learn. Our focus is on what we call the three R's. That's being respectful, responsible and ready. It goes back years to when we talked about PBIS schools, and from that came the respectful, responsible and ready. But it's for the students to show that they're respectful, responsible and ready. And the staff, we're the model there. So it's really. It's beyond just the students. But our
028students try their best. Even when they feel that the work is challenging, they always show respect to classmates, teachers and staff. I say always. Majority of the time. We do have, you know, little situations here and there, but for the most part, our students, they are just fantastic respectful of classmates, teachers and staff. And when you have that, you're able to teach and learn. Our students participate actively in lessons and discussions, and we celebrate successes because that's huge for our kids. We expect them to work hard, but we have to recognize them for their hard work, too. And with that. And they do learn from mistakes and all. But with the celebrating successes, we recognize them through academic celebrations. We do that in our multipurpose room. And we do a virtual link, too, so that
029parents, if they're not able to come into the school for those academic celebrations, maybe they couldn't get off work. That way they can join in virtually and still see their child being recognized for their hard work. We recognize for Honor Roll, Lexia for the primary grades, achieve 3,000. Alex. We try to anything that we can really use to build the students up, we try to recognize them for that hard work. In these programs and throughout the year, our quarterly behavior incentives. That also ties back into the three R's being respectful, responsible and ready each quarter. If you have consistently shown that you're respectful, responsible and ready, then we have a quarterly behavior incentive. It may be a few extra minutes of recess. It may be a snack with that, it may be some time of
030game time that we do with the grade levels. It doesn't take a lot just to let the kids know we appreciate what you've been doing. Then when we talk about the staff, we ended up doing a Venn diagram here. We wanted to break it down between our leadership team, teachers and staff and then what we do together. As far as the leadership team, the master schedule that we have in place, it is designed with very small amounts of transitional time. You can pick up a lot of minutes overall if you cut transition times to just. Just what you need and by doing that, you increase instructional time. And I keep telling staff if I pick up five or if I lose five minutes today, if I do it every day, do the math, that's a
031lot of instructional time. So we have to value every minute there instructional time is valued and that goes to even like we'll do. I love field trips. Field trips are great educational opportunity to learn, but we limit those to one each semester because we've got to be in the classroom if there are like the academic celebrations or anything else that's going to take kids out of the instructional time. We're very strategic in when those things happen because you can't always take out of your ELA block or your math block and achieve success. So you really have to be very aware of what is going on when during the day and value the time. As far as visible presence in the classroom and in our PLCs, that's our meetings with the teachers. We have to be
032in there with them because I have to be able to hear what teachers are doing, what they're thinking. Thinking our assistant principal does. It's a team effort. And so we have to be visible and know what's going on and a part of the PLCs that we have. And then we have intentional coaching and feedback. We've got to be in there and working with the teachers, knowing what's going on and being able to give that feedback to them, whether it's positive, whether it's something as a tidbit to grow with is also important. And then you look at the teachers and staff part. Our teachers and staff, they utilize the curriculum documents that the district has put in place. We do standards based instruction. You have to follow that in order to be successful. Our teachers and
033staff, they're very active participants in the professional development. And then in turn it's not just being active participants in that, but it's taking it back and implementing it in the classroom. And they do a great job with that. Whether it's design the district PD like in August and throughout the year or what we do during our professional learning community time. And then I believe very firmly and we do an additional 10 days of professional development with beyond the Classroom. Jessica Phillips and Kara Johnson, they have been amazing to work with and we have done this for several years. It takes a team working together to get success. And that's been one group that we've been able to work with I think makes a huge difference. And then we look at our special area teachers, our
034instructional assistants, our interventionists and our like Multi parents. It takes all of us working together to support the homeroom teachers. For example, our special area teachers, if they have a block where they don't have like our art teacher, if, if she may not have an art class at a certain block then she pushes into the homeroom class and she provides extra support there, maybe in workstations or with math focus. But it's very intentional with the schedule to where we're utilizing everyone. It's all hands on deck. And then we utilize engagement structures. I absolutely love the Kagan cooperative learning structures. When you can increase engagement and have have the kids participating, it makes a difference. They have to be active learners. And then we do Monday after school planning as teams. We stay together on Mondays
035and we plan until 4 o' clock at 3:40. Like our special area teachers, special ed teachers, they go and meet with the homeroom teachers. You have to have time to have that dialogue so that everybody's on, everybody knows what everyone doing. So it takes that time there. And then lastly, a couple years ago we started Hagerty in our CD through second grade classrooms. And that's for phonemic awareness and phonics. And it's 10 minutes, that's all it takes. But it is absolutely amazing to watch our children with the teachers instructing with heggerty for that 10 minutes. And I think that has made a big difference just recently. And then in the middle, where is all of us working together? The accountability has to be there. We all. It's all of us working together and having the
036accountability in place. High expectations for all. I have high expectations for our staff. Our teachers have high expectations for the children. Our parents have high expectations. So it's really all encompassing there and the building relationships, positive actions and attitudes that all goes together. You have to build those positive relationships, let the kids and staff know that we care about them and in turn you want to do and grow. I do not have anyone at all on the staff at Kingston that is not a team player. Everyone wants to work together and that is amazing. And that in turn creates a successful climate and culture. Our parents. Our parents set high expectations for their children. They encourage a positive attitude about school at home. They support good attendance by making sure children arrive on time and
037they limit unnecessary absences. They communicate regularly with teachers and staff. They participate in school events when possible. Like we have family nights and things like that. We have a Christmas drive through. It is amazing to see the number of parents that come out with their kids and then they read with their children and talk about what they're learning and they work with the school as a team to support our student growth. I have great parents. They want the best for their kids and that makes a huge difference this our kids have to be able to have fun outside the school day too. There's a good balance there. So we have several clubs going on. We have a fifth grade course us we have this is new this year our girls on the run club. They're
038a running club and they have some other positive self esteem things going on with that club Beta Club we start I think this is our third year with Beta. And then our K kids we've been doing that for several years. That's from Conway Kiwanis Club. And then our family night that's we do that twice a year. But we have to have the opportunities for the kids to participate and know that school is fun. And we also didn't put on here. Our fifth graders go to Washington so it's something they always look forward to. And our fourth graders go to play card for the overnight camping there. But it's things the kids look forward to year after year coming up this year we're starting a new club Kids that code. Our STEM teacher wanted to start
039that. So I have buy in from staff that want to do things for our kids and that makes a huge difference. And then I asked teachers if you could tell me some things that you think about why Kingston is successful and I just want to read a few of these to you. Kingston shines because our teachers are driven to be the best. We pour into our children at school and in the community and every single child belongs to every teacher. At Kingston, we are more than a school. We are a family. There is no place like home. Next one. Kingston has strong teams that have a high expectation to work together and collaborate for student success. Teams work together flawlessly and everyone's main goal is what is best for their students. Teachers give their all
040each and every day at Kingston and are always willing to be flexible and try new things and that's huge. The students want to learn and enjoy seeing their own success as they grow academically. Our school community is very strong and curriculum coaches and admin are always there for support when teachers need it. And then lastly, it starts at the top. Our admin and leadership team have high expectations for our staff in return. Our teachers have high expectations for our students and take pride in reaching our class, school and district goals. I am proud to be a cool and can't wait to see how much we can achieve together. I thought those were Very nice comments at staffgate and that is all I have. But are there any questions for me? I wanted to say I've
041already told you, but thank you and your staff and your students for doing such a fabulous job and setting a wonderful example. And if you could go back to the Venn diagram again, everything that those comments said from your teachers is in here. And in the middle of the diagram we see where the leadership and the teachers and staff work together. But the students are in there too and there's a huge buy in on every level and it's working. So thank you for showing all of us that at the heart of it, our why is for the children and they want to succeed. They want to do extremely well. They want to make us proud. So. So we just got to all learn how to get in there and do it together. And thank you
042for shining that light for us. Thank you. Any more comments, Mr. James? Mr. Chairman, Dr. Brooks, I just want to share something. We've seen the results. We know about the dedication to the profession, the dedication to the kids, the appreciation of the community. But what you may not know is Dr. Brooks is dealing with the loss of a family member and she is here tonight, despite that, to show her commitment and passion for for Kingston Elementary. So dawn, thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Good evening, Dawn. Are you a title one scope? Yes, sir. Would you explain to our listening audience what a Title one school is? Well, Title I, the way you get to Title I is a little bit different than it was in the years past. But we have kids that
043based on poverty indexes and all, they could use a little extra help there. And so it's not always the ones that have the parents that make the most money necessary. Even though we do have some very well off parents. I don't want to say not, but there's a lot of factors that go into it and it's some kids that may just need a little extra based on whatever reason. But there are different guidelines that put you into title one status. Well, the point I want to make is your school is extraordinary and most I schools aren't. That's a real kudo to you and your staff. Could you back up please to the reading slide? That's it. Look at third grade with me for a second and tell me how you made such a large jump
044in reading from 24 to 25. Very intentional planning, delivery of instruction. It's really just everyone working together and I think because of there's lots of factors that play in part like I Talked about Hegarty. We started that with the little ones and that's some of the kids there that have gotten some, some instruction from Hegarty. But we just learned over time different means to put in place that will make a difference. And we're growing as we're learning and I think hopefully we will continue to see trends like that. Well, that was my next question. You gonna be able to replicate that in 26 with the third grade? I certainly hope so. Well, that is an extraordinary number one, one of the highest in our school system. And we're really proud and we continue to break
045down where we're at and always be willing to grow from that point and see where our kids strengths and weaknesses are and then continue to grow them from that point. And that's what we try to do. Well, you come back to see us next year. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Mr. Chairman. Yes. Ms. Tusson. Ms. Brooks, thank you so much. I was so pleased when I visited Kingston with our group recently. But I just wanted to point out and ask you for the our listeners, what is your poverty level at Kingston percentage? Isn't it 82? I think it's a little bit less than that in the 70s. But it's, it's significant. It's significant. And again, my point is that another fine Title one school in our district is Socastee Elementary School, who
046won the Palmetto's Finest award last year. So let's remember that just because a student status may not be economically advantaged, they are capable of learning most definitely. And the funding we get, the additional Title 1 funding that comes in to assist us. And I believe you told us that you used some of that funds for additional professional development. Believe it was 10 days for you, your teachers this past year. That funding plays into this. It does. So I just want our public to know that the perception that poverty stricken students or students that are in our subgroups can learn, most definitely. I agree. So thank you. Further questions. Hearing none. We thank you. Don't. Thank you. Well done. Agreed. Well done. Chairman Cox, that concludes my comments. Thank you. Mr. Johns. We need a motion
047to go into executive session. So move. Mr. Chair. Second. All in favor say I oppose. Like not like. Sign. Hearing None. We're adjourned until we come back. Executive session. But during executive session we discussed potential sale or purchase of land. During that executive session, no votes were taken, no decisions were made. Thank you. Need a second? Second. All in favor say Aye. Aye. Opposed, like signed? We're back into business. Now I need a Motion to go into business. Adjourn the executive the workstation. Going to special code board meeting. So moved. Second. All in favor say aye. Aye. There's like, son. We're now into business. As Ms. Scott to come up consider financial support. Okay. Good evening, Chairman Cox, board members and Mr. Jones. At our last board meeting, we presented a request on behalf of
048Conway High School for. For national competition funding. I'd be glad to answer any questions you may have about this request. Questions? Okay. Motion to approve. Second, Mr. Chairman. Okay, here's your machine. Let's vote. There you go. It's unanimous. Thank you. Thank you for your support. Okay. Is there anyone that needs. That needs to fill an advisory board? Yes. Okay. Thank you. I would like for the board to consider adding Richard Williams to Conway Area Advisory Board for a two year period. He has children attending Whittemore Park Middle School. Thank you. In a second. Second. Please use your machine. Okay. Thank you. Ms. Graham. Who was next? I've got one. Okay. Mr. Chairman, I want to nominate Ms. Haley Staples for the Aynor Area Advisory board. Okay. Second, Mr. Chairman. Okay. Please vote. Is there anyone
049else? We're good. Okay. Perfect. So now, Mr. Chairman, I move that we approve consent agenda items. Second in favor say aye. And then guess what? Second. We're done.