001Good evening and thank you all for being here. This is the board meeting of September the 22nd. 2025. Before I call this meeting to order, I have a statement. As the elected chairman, I understand that my words carry weight and I use the wrong choice of words in a recent social media post, to those who were hurt and offended, I am sorry. The post has been deleted. And in the future I will be mindful and I will no longer. Post on social media. My focus has always been and remains serving the students, families and members of the community. With respect and integrity. I've been working with children in over county schools since 1990. Seven. My focus has always been kids first, thank you very much. Now, without further ado, I'd like to ask. For. The.
002We need to be called into order. Orders. Are you ready for an invocation? Yes, sir. Please. Pray with me. Dear heavenly Father, we come to you tonight, Lord. With hearts full of love and grace, and we ask for your guidance. For your nudging and for all the wisdom that you can possibly give us. And I just pray, Lord, that each and every person here. Will lead and leave this room with their hearts full of love and grace, and we thank you. For this time together. In Jesus name, amen. Thank you. Next, I would like to ask the Loris army JROTC to present the colors and pledge of allegiance, please stand. March. Pellegard. Left turn. March. Freeze in colors. Please join me on the flag. Of. Republic. Under God. Individual. With liberty and justice for all.
003Order colors. Right turn. March. Forward march. Left. Thank you. Be seated. Next on the agenda would be the introduction of board members, starting with Ms. Evans. Hello, my name. Is Debbie Edmonds, and I serve district two, which covers Myrtle beach and a small portion of Carolina forest. Good evening. I'm Tracy Winters. I serve district three, which is Carolina Forest, and I also. Serve as regional director for on the South Carolina School Board Association. Good evening. I'm Wendy Hodges and I represent district four, and I serve as soccer city. St. James and Myrtle Beach. Good evening. I'm Howard Barnard. I represent district five. St. James burgess and. Sox. Good evening. I'm Pam Dawson, and I am grateful to be serving the community since. St. James Sarkosti. And a small portion of Carolina forest. Good evening. I'm
004Janet Graham. It is my pleasure to serve district seven, which is Conway. And a portion of Carolina Forest. I also serve on the South Carolina School Boards association as secretary treasurer and the South Carolina School Board's insurance Trust as board chair and the South Carolina. Accountability Advisory committee. Good evening, everyone. My name is James Edwards. I serve district nine, and it encompasses screen C, Floyd's. Lore North Myrta Beach, a small portion of Carolina forest and a small portion of Myrtle beach. Good evening, everyone. My name is Neil James. My pleasure to serve district ten, which includes. Portions of the Lors Green Sea. Floyds Conway. And Carolina forest attendance areas. Good evening. I'm Darryl Rickis. I serve district eleven, which. Is the angel attendance area for the Conway attendance area and the Floyd section of the
005Greensby. Floyds and Dennis area. Thank you, board members. And my name is David Cox. I have the pleasure of being the chairman, and I was elected countywide. Next, we need the appro. Approval of the agenda motion. Second. All in favor say aye. Hearing none, the motion passes. And going on to the approval of the minutes. Move to approve, Mr. Chairman. All right. All in favor, say aye. Opposed. Like sign hearing none. The minutes of the minutes have passed. Next we'll go into discussion. Ms. Edmund's curriculum and instruction committee meeting report. Thank you. I wish every one of you in this room could have been at the curriculum meeting today. It was absolutely amazing. Uplifting. There's so many wonderful things going on in our school. Schools and our teachers are working really, really hard. This afternoon.
006In our committee meeting opened with a video featuring teachers, students and school leaders from Riverside elementary in palmetto Bayes elementary, and they demonstrated the use of what is now called sound walls and it has pictures of how to pronounce sounds, and so that kids have that visual of how their mouth should be form. Forming the sounds and the letters, which helps them to learn those and to read more easily. The committee then reviewed steps taken to prepare teachers for the implementation of the new math standards that have been issued by the state of South Carolina. And some of the instructional shifts that will occur in math classrooms this year. Next, we received a presentation on a new resource, soon to be publicly available on our website, that provides detailed information about student performance on last
007year's end of year assessment. It's been adapted from the state's assessment site, and it includes data that is separated by school and by student groups. So that's a very thorough opportunity for you to see how your students did in every school. In different age groups, all grades. And I would invite you to take a look at that, too. Then you can follow along with the successes that are going to be happening this year. Following the data review grade level executive director shared strategies for responding to student performance at each grade level two priority areas were identified. And specific strategies will be used to improve the results. The meeting concluded with an overview of the professional development sessions that are offered to teachers in August, and this was amazing to me. Over 650 face to face.
008Sessions were offered to teachers to select from so that they could enhance their skill set in areas of interest and all, and I thought that was really wonderful. I love that we're doing that because that's investing in teachers and their growth. And it's a wonderful, wonderful thing. And again, it was face to face sessions, so it's a lot different than watching a video online. And I really appreciate all the time and effort that goes into that as well. So that concludes our curriculum meeting today. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Edmonds. Ms. Dawson. Thank you, chairman Cox, fellow board member, staff and community. I want to welcome all of you here. Too. On behalf of the policy committee that met this afternoon. I want to thank my fellow committee members and other board members who participated
009in our fruitful meeting this afternoon. On today's agenda, we centered on the following items. We approve the August 25 minutes, we discuss two important policy follow up items. One was our live streaming policy, which the policy committee. Approved for recommendation by the full board. And secondly. A revision to the unencumbered time policy to add nurses to that policy. And a draft of that. Will be presented to the policy committee at a later date. We began discussions about our board governance policy. We particularly used as an example board superintendent relationships, and we discussed the creation of a survey as required by our board policy. GC six looking ahead. The committee will continue to follow our year. Long roadmap. In October, we'll continue our September work on vision, framework and policy. Priorities. Also on. October 1, board
010members will be attending a conference that has topics that will center on the results. Of students exploring the balance between. Consistent goals and addressing emerging needs. We will be learning from leaders of the most innovative boards and districts. And how to take away actionable. Actions that can be adopted and adapted by our board and. We will be exploring methodologies enabling us to build trust. And stronger relationships throughout the community. In November, we will conduct our roadmap discussion. In closing, the committee continued its work to build a strong governance foundation focused on student outcomes and I want to thank everyone again for your participation and for Superintendent Jones leadership and Mr. Generet's. Valuable help. Thank you so much. That completes my policy committee report. Thank you, Mr. Austin Wilson, both of you. Next would ask Mr.
011Birch to come up to consider approval of architect. For St. James elementary replacement school. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, board members. Mr. Jones. It's my pleasure tonight to bring to you the recommendation from the architect selection committee for the replacement facility for St. James Elementary School. We put out an rfq. Earlier this summer. We had eight submittals from various architectural firms. We met and evaluated those and reduced them down to three, which we interviewed in September. It is our recommendation from the committee. That you select smha architects. For the design, engineering and permitting for this new facility. To give you a little more background on that architect. That is a group out of Mount Pleasant. And they are the ones that design the prototype for the two elementary schools we just opened in Carolina forest. So
012this will be another version of that prototype that will be built. It will save us time and money to do so, and I'll be happy to answer. Any questions about the committee's work or have a discussion about that architect. Any questions, Mr. Chairman? Cox? Yes, I would just like to confirm with Mr. Birch. Can you confirm? That all of our standard procurement policies. Were followed during this process? Yes, ma'am, I can. We followed the guidelines to the letter. We stated in our RFP that we would select a minimum of 3d interview. We did that, and we followed all those procedures and the rankings and the gradings in the interview process. Thank you. I just think it's very important for the public to understand. We have a process. It's published, and we followed it to the
013t. Absolutely. Thank you, Ms. Graham. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Okay, when we say prototype, just to be sure. That we all understand. We have the prototype for the two schools that we just did so with that basic foundation. We're going to construct this new school based on that, and we're going to tweak it based on the needs typography or whatever, of where this new school is so we don't have to start from scratch. That is correct. It will be. What? We call a site adapt. So we are taking. The same footprint of the building. And adapting it to the location, which. We're going to be building that on which, as you all know, is the existing site. Of the current school, so that's going to be quite a challenge. But we're up for it. And
014we believe this architect can handle it. Thank you. You're welcome. Any more questions? Hearing none. Thank you, Mr. Birch. Thank you, Scott. Consider financial support for school training team participating in school sanctions national competitions, if you please. Good evening. Chairman Cox, board members of Mr. Jones. This evening I'm bringing a request for national competition. Funding support on Beh. Behalf of Conway High School. Back on April 13, 2015, the board approved a yearly allocation of $100,000 in the general fund budget to assist schools with national competition costs. In the event or these funds are limited to $3,000 per school, per national event. In the event that the registration is greater than $10,000, requests may be made to the board for special consideration. The board may fund up to 50% of the registration fees if approved in
015the materials provided for you tonight for this meeting. You received a special consideration request for national competition funding on behalf of Conway high school. We are bringing this request. Because the funding amount is over $10,000. In previous years, several of you have shared that you would like to provide additional support by utilizing your board discretionary funds beyond the designated national competition funds. If you would like to contribute, please. Email me and I'll serve as your point of contact. For that, I'll be happy to answer any questions that you may have at this time. Regarding this request, I have one. Okay, Jim. Thank you. How much money are you needing to complete the dollar amount that they require? So the total amount for the event, which is the national FFA competition, which will be held. October
01627 through 31st in Indianapolis, Indiana. The total cost is $15,330. Half of that is $7,675, which can be utilized from the $100,000, for national competition funding. I talked to Dr. McKissick at Conway High School and. They're going to use some of their plant sale to offset some of the costs. So. There's still 7675 short. Thank you. All right, any more questions here? No. Thank you, Ms. Scott. Thank you. This time I'll turn the microphone over to Mr. Jones for a superintendent's report. Thank you, Chairman Cox, board. Members and community members. Just a reminder. September is National Literacy Month. That's right. Superintendent needs us reading altogether. And it's a time to celebrate the power of reading and the doors that opens for all of our students. I want to remind the community of the superintendent's reading
017challenge. I've got breaking news. Board members that were up to 8 million pages read in two weeks. And so this is really catching fire, as the kids would say. And it's something that. Is really, really going to change futures. It encourages this initiative, encourages every student from our youngest learners to our high schoolers to set personal goals. Embrace the joy of reading. And share what they've read about. Share it not only in person. In any way that young people interact. When they are sharing what they're reading. We're winning as adults together. We're building a culture. We're reading is celebrated daily. Let's continue to raise our expectations and ensure every child rises with reading here. In Orie county schools. And today I was at Waterway elementary, where young Ainsley. Is a top three reader in the
018world. In the Malcolm Mitchell summer reading competition. And I will tell you, that school was so excited for Ainsley and her commitment to reading. I know that she personally raised the bar for her peers. Today. Finally. I want to take a moment, just for a second. And brag, brag on this wonderful district. Sometimes our teachers and our students need us to lift them up. They need us to quiet the noise and see the greatness that's going on in our classrooms, in our schools and we can't miss an opportunity. To say the great things and reflect the great things that they're doing when I visit. Schools. And when I hear from principals, like I did this morning, here are some things I hear about? I hear about dedicated. Teachers. Going above and beyond for the needs
019of the students that they are in charge of, I hear. About resilient students. Who are digging in to do better. I hear about the excellence in a school that a school leader is leading every day so that they can see a brighter future. All of that is happening in ore county schools. And board. ACS is a special place, let's not forget. Our students continue to maze us with their achievements and academics, the arts and athletics. It's. The Aaa here. But also in service. We're going to talk about that a little bit later. And none of this would be possible without the tireless commitment of the adults. Our teachers, our support staff. Our leaders, our parents, who ensure that every child. Is seen and their future is in front of us. So the passion and the
020hard work that I see that. I know you see as well. Sometimes we just have to say, good job. They need to hear it. I encourage us all board members just to say good job. Good job, ore county schools. Now on to some recognitions. We're going to start with. 193 students last year, third through 8th graders, who earn the highest possible score on at least one of the SC ready tests, so let me just repeat that. 193 of our students maximize their score. In an SC ready test. The test is made up of ELA, math or science, and of those students earning the possible scores. Eleven earned a score on two portions of the test. These are true academic students, right? Two tests and one outstanding student earned the highest possible score on three portions
021of the test. So you'll be seeing some kudos and some celebrations going on. Throughout our community. Third through 8th graders join in on that. Join in on those celebrations. Our kids work way too hard not to be celebrated for their academic success. Next is we have national merit semifinalists. I've told this board, in this community, many times. Don't compare us to South Carolina. Compare us to the nation. Set the expectations high. And the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the name of 26 Orie County School students as semifinalist. In their 71st annual National Merit program. These ACS students are among approximately 16,000 semifinalists who have the opportunity to compete for 7000 national merit. Scholarships with nearly $26 million available. When you look at the schools, they include Loris, North Myrtle beach, scholar, socketsy, St. James. From
022approximately 16,000 of the semifinalists that are named, and you can see the ones from hcs on the screen. About 15,000 typically advanced to the finalist level, and every finalist will compete for 2500 national merit $25,000 scholarships. So we'll know more as the competition keeps going. But HCS is well positioned nationally. To have a ton of national merit scholars. Great job, students, and great job, teachers. Next, we're going to go to North Myrtle beach. And this is Tracy. Mitchell, and she's a special education teacher at North Myrtle Beach High. She's been awarded the Richard M. Couple excellence in Education award from the South Carolina Vocational rehabilitation department. This award is presented to someone who understands the importance of collaboration. And exemplifies an innovative approach to providing quality service to students. Tracy will be honored at the
023Se vocational. Rehabilitation association conference in October. Great job, Tracy. Next. We have great partners in Orie County School, people who want to stand next to us as we raise the bar for our kids. HTC is one of those partners and ore county schools received a capital credit refund from HTC for $50,641. This HTC board of directors approved a 2025 capital credit refund of approximately 8.8 million in total to its membership, and HTC has refunded over 193,000,000 to its members since 1979. Thank you, partners like HTC for supporting our students and our staff. Next. I got to go to a Coastal Carolina university football game. First time I've been to that. And. The Sun Belt Conference, Coastal Carolina University and CCU football program announced that Coastal Carolina University had received a $7,500 gift from the College
024Football Playoff foundation and their extra yard for teachers program as part of the CFP Extra yard for teachers week across the nation. CCU. Presented the gift to Orie county schools on an on field presentation, the home football game, September 13. I had a lot of fun. I thought I was going to get to go play, but. That was not part of the cards for me that day. And the $7,500 gift. Is a benefit for the partnership between the university, coastal athletics and ore count. County schools. Another example. Of a high level partnership doing what it needs to get done for our kids. And that concludes the superintendent's report for today, sir. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Next we will. Encourage public speaking. At the appropriate time, you will be recognized by me, the board chair, and
025you will be given. Two minutes and 30 seconds. A maximum of 30 minutes during a regular board meeting has been allocated for citizens to speak because there are twelve citizens speaking. You get two minutes and 30 seconds in case of abusive or vulgar language, profanity, threatening. Remarks or comments of purely personal attacks on students, staff, or board members. I will rule this person out of order and require him or her to relinquish. The floor. In case of speakers promoting unsolicited commercial services or products, or of speakers promoting political candidates or related political activities. Or confidential information about. Students, employees, board members or others. The chair will rule the person out of order and require him or her to relinquish the floor. Please note, the purpose of the public forum is to give the public an
026opportunity to make the board aware of issues. The administrative staff has been unable to resolve or to express a viewpoint concerning board business. The board will listen to the viewpoint Express, but we will not respond to individuals at the meeting. The board will direct the superintendent to do so within two weeks, if possible or if needed. First we have. There it is. Okay. First, I would ask Ms. Judy Parks, are you available? Miss judy parks. She outside? No, she's not here. Next, miss elizabeth bron. Is she outside? Next, Natasha ayagodi. Well, not a clear. Mr. Henry crockett. My goodness. And I know Ms. Patricia is here. Come forward, Ms. Pat. Good evening, board. And superintendent. Jones. I'm very happy to be here. You don't know how happy I am. Because I'm 86 now. Still going.
027Anyway, I want you to start evaluating. Students, teachers. As compared to. The average IQ of the state, the average IQ of the nation, and the average IQ opinion. Because if you evaluate them on their average iqs compared to what other people are doing, you can see that our children are doing well and they don't need to be stressed out. Like they're being stressed out. Off, for example. The average IQ of South Carolina is 30 when it is 100. I got to get this straight. Our average IQ is 98.2, I think, and New Hampshire is 102. .2. So if you look at the scores, this states where the average high IQ. Have high scores, the others are lower, and that's to be expected if you have a child with a 60 IQ and they read, run
028deep, Ron. That's a great accomplishment. And they should be awarded two accordingly. So that's what I'm asking you to do. In Finland, they let children be. Children. I read today that if you have add. For every ten minutes of instruction, you need three minutes of exercise. So if you figure that out, I would write for six hour day for 4 hours of instruction. You need 2 hours of lunch and reset. And if you look at Finland, They limit you to 4 hours of formal instruction. And I'll come back next time and. Finish this because I didn't get to finish. So I'll send you all a copy, and I'll be back. But. I want you really to think about letting our children be children because you've got stressed. Out pictures. Stressed out students have even stressed
029out bus drivers. And a teacher told me last week that this was the most stressful year in history in this county. An old teacher in Colombia has to eat while she monitors the lunchroom. I mean, it's. All over the state. It's not just Owie county we need to look at. Our whole state system. And get and eliminate the stress. Thank you. The main thing is stress. We appreciate you. I had two more seconds. What can you say in 2 seconds? You're coming back next time. Let me tell you, stressed out teachers get anxiety attacks, nervous Cola. High blood pressure. That's good. Thank you, Dix. I would ask Mr. JD Davis to. Take the podium. Mr. Chairman, school board members, thank you for the opportunity to speak today. Meaning you know me from. My years as
030director of junior OTC. Well, this is like the reunion, coming back and seeing everyone here today but my brothers from Omega Sci-Fi fraternity. Has entrusted me to be their leader, and with that, I'm honored to share with you. Some of the great things that we're doing to partner with Dory county schools. So in the later part of the summer, we collaborated with other greek organizations and did a school. Supply giveaway. Now, these supplies help all of our students start the school year off and be prepared for whatever is ahead of them and be able to secede. We also just started our annual essay contest where the first, second and third place winners of this contest will get scholarships. In the spring, we're going to look forward to once again collaborating and being judges for the
031Orie County School Technology fair. Our members probably serve as judges each year, and we love to do that because there's an opportunity to recognize the innovation and the creativity of our students. Tomorrow we're going to start a new partnership with Lawrence Middle School. And the distinguished gentleman program. We're going to be mentoring and providing character development, career preparation, and academic growth for the students at Lawrence Middle School. We want to keep up momentum that we had with someone from our read camp. And we're going to reignite a program that we did years ago called Omega Reed. Omega Reed is where we go and meet with elementary school, and we read to the students, so. We can encourage reading and learning at an early age. We're going to join many of our other community organizations in
032the spring and. We're going to acknowledge students with awards and scholarships. Last year we gave them $5,000. In awards to our students throughout our district. I'm talking fast, but we have partnered with, we have a 501 C three, Omega Minor. Orie county that we work through, and we just want to share with you that we're here to partner with Orie county schools and educational initiatives. And when you see us, we are the omegas. You'll see us in purple. We'll be wearing our purple. You'll see us, so. Just know that we're here as an asset and as a resource. And with that, Mr. Chairman. I'm going to yield my time to you. I'm not going to be. Like Ms. Pat and ask my 7 seconds, but that's okay. Thank you, JD, for all you do. We
033appreciate you. Next, I'd ask Mr. Luciana. Boy or Bowie. Jacqueline fignoli. Hi. My name is Jack from Finile. I'm a mom of four children in the district. I'm here tonight because I'm very concerned about the recent statements made on social media. By a board member when someone in charge of our children's education uses phrases like lock and load. It's not just careless, it's alarming. District has clear policies for students and educators regarding social media. If a student made a statement online urging others to lock and load. It would be handled immediately. Teachers have lost jobs over far less yet this behavior from a board member has been ignored. If we hold students and educators accountable, then leaders must be. Held to the same standards, if not higher. The post may have been deleted, but this
034board member gave a direct quote to the media where it was once again reiterated that quote we all need to be prepared. This shows that this post was not just poor wording, the intent to promote hostility was clear. That mindset does not reflect the morals of a leader. Members of the board should represent all children, families and educators in this district, not just the ones that align with them. Board members are not above the standard we set for others. Words that create the earned vision have no place in our school. I urge the board to act and make it clear that inflammatory threats, violence have no place in our district. Our children and educators deserve a leader who chooses safety over violence and unity over hate. Thank you. Ms christy catler. At leah catla. Point
035of order, Mr. Chairman, could we remind our audience that they are not to react with applause? Please. Thank you for saying that, Ms. Thomas. Good evening, members of the board. Parents, educators and community members. I am also here tonight not only as a parent, but as a community member who deeply believes that. It's the responsibility that we entrust in our school board. To act. With respect. On social media. And I am disappointed as well. That responsibility is to safeguard the well being of our children. It's to foster respect in our schools and uphold the trust of this community. Unfortunately. That trust has been violated. Just last week, Mr. Cox. 's publicly engaged in comments that were reckless, divisive. And dangerous. On social media. He responded to a post that called for the destruction of the
036modern leftist movement. Also writing that he agreed and lock and load. Let us be very clear. Words matter. Lock and load is not a harmless phrase. It is a call to arm yourself. It's a call to action to use violence. At a time when our children face lockdown drills. And many across this nation are scarred by political violence and school shootings. No leader in education should be using language. That normalizes the threat of guns against political opponents. Whether Mr. Cox claims regret or misunderstanding is irrelevant. Leaders do not get to casually incite violent imagery and then ask us to pretend it didn't. Happen. His words cannot be erased simply by deleting a post. They revealed a mindset that is incompatible with the responsibility of guiding the education and safety of our youth. This is not
037about political party. This is about public trust, leadership. And the example we set for our children. When a school board chairman uses violent language to discuss political disagreements, he forfeits the privilege of leading. Therefore, I call on David Cox to resign from his position. Your time's up. Thank you. Ms. Hobgood, please remain from applauding Ms. Hobgood. Susan Hobgood Mr. Chairman, I wanted to comment on the other point of order. We've had several people to applaud before during public comment, and I do not remember anybody ever calling for a point of order. A note taken. Ms. Hobgood. Good evening. My name is Susan Hobgood. I am the Ori County Education association president. Also in Ori county school's teacher and a member of the community. I want to begin by acknowledging the statement made by the chair
038at the beginning. Taking responsibility is an important step, and I believe it sets a more respectful and constructive tone for our schools and our broader community. As many of you know, educators have recently faced discipline for post on their personal social media pages. Screenshots are shared, and this has created an environment of increased scrutiny. In response, I posted a reminder on the HCEA Facebook page that included the following we are living in politically charged time. Please be mindful of how political post may be received or used. And exercise caution before posting or sharing. This advice doesn't only apply to educators, it should extend to our elected leaders as well. We saw where posts from leadership have stirred controversy using divisive political language, even invoking language associated with preparing a weapon, even if that was not
039the intent. The impact of those words matter. Posts like these can deepen division and make some staff and families feel unwelcome. In our schools. So while I appreciate the statement and believe it is sincere, it doesn't. Erase the need for continued accountability and reflection. Educators are held to strict standards, and it's only fair that our elected officials, those who set the tone and make critical decisions are held to at least the same standard, if not higher. Our leaders must serve all students, families and staff, not just those who share their political perspective. We continue to ask for fairness, consistency and leadership that unites rather than divide. Thank you. Thank you. Cedric. Blaine. Spain, please. Greeting Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, Mr. Chairman, school board members and the Orie county community. Today I come as one, but I
040stand as tens of thousand as I speak on behalf of students, parents and every individual responsible for the safety and well. Being of our children. Why would anyone post be in a position of leadership feel comfortable type in such words knowing their weight only to later delete them. If employees have been dismissed for far less of social media why is a certain person still sitting on the dears? Let's be honest. If you're bold enough to post, lock and load. You may also be bold enough to act on it, and alone should that should be a concern. For every parent, every teacher, every employee in the district. We cannot gamble with the safety of our children. What if those words weren't just political rhetoric? What if they became action? What if. They were aimed at certain.
041Students, staff and family members who didn't align with one man's ideology. When you deleted the post, you acknowledged you were wrong. And with that acknowledgment, your resignation should have followed not as punishment, but as accountability. On September the 16th, 2025, Ellen Weaver, state superintendent of Education, sent out a memorandum clarification. Regarding. Unprofessional educator conduct. Our children deserve to feel safe. Every HCS employee deserved to feel safe. The words, thoughts and prayers would be no comfort in the face of tragedy caused by reckless words that we saw coming and fail to do anything about. Let's remember we all created an image and. Likeness of God, regardless of race, color, creed, political belief, our identity, our income level. If we share the same blood. We can be life sustaining to one another. We must agree to disagree
042without crossing. The line into violence or even suggesting it. Lock and load. It's not just figure speech. Not when spoken by someone in a position of power. If you are unwilling to protect the dignity and the safety of every student, then you are unworthy for the position you hold. The longer you remain, the more at risk or recounting. Schools become. When man fails, God never fails. Every parent in this district should be alarmed. Every board member, every employee who defends such behavior should ask themselves, are they fit to leave or serve in education? We will not let our children's future be jeopardized by those who threaten. Okay, next, we need to go into executive session. I need a motion. Mr. Chairman, I move that. We pause our business session and enter into an executive session
043for the purpose of discussion of personnel. Matters. Second. All in favor say aye. Opposed like sign hearing none. We'll be back when we're finished. Thank you for waiting. I'd like to call this. Back into order, Mr. Chairman. Yes, I'd like to report that. We are, I guess, resuming our business meeting. We have had an executive session, and during that executive session. No votes were taken. No decisions were made. Thank you, Mr. James. Yes. Ms. emily gossip. I hope so. I inadvertently just get right over it. Mr. Chairman. I guess we need to officially make that emotion. So I make a motion that we return from. Executive session and resume our regular business meeting. I'll second that. All in favor? Aye. Those like sign hearing none. Mr. Chair, I think the individual may have left. We're
044going to check outside once more. But she may have left. I'll just check one more time. Bear with me. Just give me 1 minute. Amanda, would you call her tomorrow just to make sure she wants to come back? I'm so sorry about that. Mr. Chair. She just told me she'll come back next month. Okay, thank you. Thank you. So we're moving into business. I need a motion. All in favor? Aye. Opposed, like. Sign and we're back into business. Now, from here on, out. We'll be using our machines to vote. The first up would be Mr. Birch. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As we discussed earlier, Tonight. We have brought to you a recommendation from the architect selection committee for SMHA architects and we would request that you authorize us to issue the notice of intent to
045award to them to perform. Design services for replacement of the St. James Elementary School. All in favor? Let's just. Vote. That's unanimous. Thank you, Ms. Birch. Thank you very much. Next. Mr. Jenerat, treatment. Of stakeholders. Agent, Mr. Cox, board members. Superintendent Jones, you have before you oe three, which is in reference. To treatment of stakeholders. The information was shared with you at our work session last board meeting. And this is in reference to making sure that we have avenues which we can speak with, communicate. With our stakeholders, whether they're parents, students, staff, and the community at large. Any questions? I'll be able to answer this. Questions need a motion. I move to approve second. Okay. That was also unanimous. Thank you, Mr. Jenner. And you're up again for the live. Streaming policy review. Yes, sir.
046This is in reference to live stream at board meetings. Board meetings also. Include committee meetings. As I mentioned at the last board meeting, Ore county board of education has been ahead of this. We've been. Live streaming for quite some time, but. This particular policy is for all districts and school boards across the state. We made sure that in presenting this policy. We use the model policy that was provided to us through the South Carolina school. Boards Association. Also the last meeting, we made a swipe modification which asked that in the event that the system goes down. It says that the board would make efforts to work the system back up. We included the board and its designee, which we have staff that's available for that also. There was a question in reference to making sure
047that we have available. To the public accessibility through YouTube. And we have that in place as well. We have ran it through the policy committee meeting earlier. Today, and a question came up about the posting of something in reference to. YouTube, and we will meet the 48 hours requirement to get that up with YouTube as well as we do with our website. Take any questions that you may have at this time. Questions. Hearing none of any emotion, Mr. Chairman. What? I move that we. Adopt the policy is presented. Thank you so much. Second Mr. Chairman. Perfect. It's also unanimous. Thank you, Mr. General. Thank you. Next, I'd ask Mr. Gardner to come up. Good evening, Chairman Cox, board members, Mr. Jones. At our September eigth meeting, we present in the minority business utilization plan. And
048tonight we're asking the board to give approval to that. Motion. Move to approve, Mr. Chair. Okay. Please vote. That's likewise unanimous. Okay, next. Are there any advisory board appointments that need to be done? Do you have one, Tracy? Okay. Yes. I would like to nominate the following for the Carolina Forest Advisory Board. For tom. Oaks elementary school. Lonnie k. Two year term for carolina forest high school. Kelly hanley two year term, okay? Favor, say aye, or let's fight with these of these things. Yeah, we're doing. It. So let's do it. That was unanimous. Thank you so much. Anyone else have advisory board? Mr. James. Mr. Chairman, I would like to nominate bath Fox Cannon for a two year term to the Lois advisory committee. I'll second that. Should be unanimous. Thank you so much, Mr.
049James. Anyone else, Mr. Chairman? Yes? Mr. Chairman, I'd like to nominate Haley Kelly to complete the unexpired term of Mary Hooks, which will be a year, and also nominate Philip Brown for two year turnist community member. Thank you so much, Mr. Riggins. Second. Okay, please vote. All right. There you go. And that was likewise unanimous. And then it comes to the best part of the meeting. We have the consent agenda. Move to approve, Mr. Chairman. Second. All in favor, say aye. Hearing none. And last but not least would be the adjournment. Move. We adjourn. Mr. Chairman. Thank you. All in favor, say aye. Opposed, like sign. We are adjourned.