001We'd like to welcome everyone to the public schools Rob County Board meeting August 12th, 2025. Um, please note that Mr. Henry Brewer is absent and Mr. Vonte Leech and Miss Melissa Oceans is on her way. She was stuck in traffic on 95. At this time, we'd like to take a moment of silence. Thank you. Now we're going to roll on into our pledge of allegiance of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Next up, we have adoption of the agenda. Have a motion by Mr. John Simmons, a second by Mr. Crystal Monroe. All those in favor? All opposed? Approval of minutes. Motion by Commissioner Crystal Monroe. Second by Mr. John Simmons. All those in favor? All oppose? Um the revised open session
002June 10th, 2025 had to be revised. Motion to approve. Motion been made by John Simmons. Second by Mr. Craig Lowry. All those in favor? Eyes have it. information items. First one is 2025 2026 board committees. Um Mr. Cole, are you putting that on the screen? Is that on the screen? No. Okay, I'll share it. Um first, um all the board members have the paper in front of them, but curriculum and student services as far as the chairs, Dr. Emanuel, Henry Brewer, Dr. Terry Lle, Crystal Monroe, and Bradley Phillips. On the grievance committee, you have chair Mr. Craig Lowry, John Simmons, Melissa Ocean, Dr. Emanuel, and Mr. Vonte Leech. On finance, we have chairs Miss Christy Fields, Dr. Terry Lleair, Vonte Leech, Crystal Monroe, and Bradley Phillips. On the policy committee, chair is going to be
003Bradley Phillips, Melissa Oceans, Craig Lowry, Dr. Terry Lleair, and Henry Brewer. On the construction is chaired by Mr. John Simmons, Henry Brewer, Vonte Leech, Crystal Monroe, and Christy Fields. Mr. Cherry Lleair, >> before we vote on that, M Mr. Trey or Chairman Brit, I just have a a comment. >> It's an information item. We don't have to >> Thank you. I just have a comment. Um I would really like for the board to consider uh reinstating um the personnel or HR committee. uh in according to our policy code uh 2232 advisory committees uh we do have the authority to create a committee and uh on a temporary basis. The committee that you uh the the the assignments that you just handed out were for you know ongoing committees that we're required to to create or
004to have ongoing you know annually. But I really think we should consider creating um or establishing an HR committee um to to really deal and discuss some of the uh some of our staffing issues that are becoming more and more apparent uh every month that we meet. >> Okay. Anybody Anybody else got anything to add? >> Moving on. Dr. Deborah Dallas, Brandy Bullard, and Kim Demery for K2 Dibbles 8 data. Good evening, Chairman Britt, Superintendent Williamson, and board members. I would like to start off by introducing Miss Kim Demery who is our K5 curriculum supervisor and Miss Brandy Bullard who is our early literacy specialist. These two spend an incredible amount of time supporting teachers with literacy skills and strategies including support with Dibbles 8 which is our benchmark assessment that is given three times
005a year to students to assess their foundational reading skills. This evening we are going to showcase our endofear Dibbles 8 data. Just a reminder that Dibbles 8 is a standardized assessment used to assess basic early literacy skills that are foundational for reading success. Now a lot of times you'll hear some terms used interchangeably. You'll hear amplify, MClass, Dibbles. So just a reminder that Amplify is the name of the company. McLass is the technology platform for administering the assessment. Dibbles 8 is the actual name of the assessment. Word reading fluency is just an example of a measure that is included in Dibbles 8. MClass will automatically assign color-coded performance descriptors to students benchmark results. These descriptors are not focused on proficiency, but they identify students who may be at risk. Each of the following measures gives
006insight into how students are developing as readers. As you can see, there are several. You can see the measure, the actual skill, and what that is actually measuring. This slide just serves as a visual reminder of the progression of reading skills. When we meet with teachers, we always talk about starting at the beginning, which would be your oral language and your fun ph funological awareness and phmic awareness before you build and actually can move towards the reading for meaning. There should be all the data. Okay. So, this just demonstrates all of the measures that are given at each grade level. So, you can see some appear at more than one grade level, some appear in all of the grade levels. So I want to situate ourselves with this graph. So when you look at the
007bars, the bars in the black and the gray will represent state data. The bars in the blue represent our PSRC K2 data for each school year. You can see that the state BOI data which is beginning of year, MOI data, which is middle of the year, and EOI data, which is end of year, are represented in gray and black bars. and our public schools of Robinson County K2, BOI, MOI, and EOI data are represented in blue bars. This graph shows the change in data over the past four school years. So, let's go ahead and look at some of the findings for kindergarten. So, over Nope, go back. Thank you. Over the past several years, we've seen gains in the EOI data for kindergarten. We've moved from 58% to 62% to 65%. We are also slowly
008closing the gap between our EOI data and the state EOI data. We have a greater percentage of kindergarten students who are in entering kindergarten more likely to be at grade level at the end of the year. In 20 2122 we had 10% of our kindergarten students who entered who were ready and that could be predicted to be at grade level. Last year we had 16% of our students come into kindergarten being a being projected to be at grade level at the end of the year. So unfortunately we still have a much smaller percentage of students entering who are likely to perform at grade level by the end of the year. When we compare ourselves to the state, the state's at 33% and we have 16%. So we know that our students are still coming into
009kindergarten behind where students across the state are entering kindergarten. Our students in kindergarten though are making great gains throughout the year. This past year they grew by 49% compared to the state's 39%. We went from 16% to 65% at the end of the year. Okay, looking at first grade. So over the past several years, we've seen gains in the end of endofear data in first grade. We've moved from 36% to 52% to 56 to 57%. So not as significant as what we see in kindergarten. Although our growth pattern does mirror the state data with smaller gains over the past three years. we have a greater percentage of students who are entering K uh first grade more likely to be at grade level at the end of the year. So if you notice we had 39%
010come in 2122 we had 15% and last year we had 39% who are coming in of limited risk. This is great progress for us over the past several years. Our students in first grade also made great gains throughout the year. They grew by 18% which is the same rate that the state grew. >> M Christie Fields >> hit it again. Miss Christie. >> So I'm looking at your first grade. You were in beginning of the year and middle of the year. There's really no change. What does that mean to the parents that are listening to you tonight? >> So, we've had a lot of conversation about that. If you look across our the last couple years, we've been kind of stagnant from the beginning of the year to the middle of the year. So, we
011have a district team. We work with our regional team and we've really tried to diagnose what's going on with that. Um, we have a couple things that we know to be true. One of those is not all of our schools are staying stagnant. We had about seven schools that went down and that's what's kind of causing that to level out. We're also finding that when we're t trying to target skills, when I showed you that progression, sometimes we have teachers that will tend to try to target a higher skill that kids are not ready for instead of going down to the foundational skills. So, we've been looking a lot at the IRPs that are put in place for first grade, which is an individualized reading plan. and we're looking at to see how teachers are
012actually targeting that intervention. So, that's something we're going to work on this year because that is a concern because we've seen it for more than two years. >> Dr. Emanuel, >> um it's an easy explanation as to why students came in in kindergarten behind because a lot of it is the preparation they have before they start. Do they have reading materials in the home? right? >> Um, have they had a lot of coaching by the parents? So, it's very easy to understand why they score so low when they come in. >> Right. >> Also, the same thing happens with I think with Christiey's question. Uh, parents are very interested in their students. They're very into this deal amplifies. They can say to me amplify dibbles. they use them together >> is to make sure when
013they get that baseline of their child, they want to make sure that they push them. Push them. Absolutely. Push them because you know >> they al always they ask, not always, sometimes where is my child? They're very interested what can I do to move them on, right? >> Because it's very competitive among many parents to make sure that their child improves. >> So that's an interesting thing. But I have another one that carries over. What do you think happens to the dip? In other words, they go through K2 and they do very well on dibbles, but when they get to the third grade, at the end of grade, they >> What do you think? Why aren't those skills carrying over? >> Well, I'll let you guys add in, but for me, K2, the the beginning
014dibbles is really about the foundational skills. only in second grade does it really start to touch reading comprehension. Third grade is all reading comprehension. So even though they have some of those foundational skills, right, and they might be a green or blue and they're doing okay, it's that reading comprehension piece that we need to address more in third grade because that's what the end of grade is going to test in third grade, reading comprehension. It doesn't take into account any of those other submeasures. Do >> you guys want to add to that at all? Okay. Well, I think you come to the come to the >> I think you did a great job explaining that, but this goes back to the science of reading that the state is really pushing when it comes to letters
015PD. So, this goes back to understanding that reading comprehension is a combination of language comprehension and word recognition skills. Dibbles A only assesses your word recognition skills. So, language comprehension goes back to background knowledge, vocabulary, and a lot of other components. So those are harder skills to actually develop and that should be developed over time. That's kindergarten ongoing. Even as adults, we're still developing those skills. So it is harder to see gains in that area versus your foundational skills. I I guess that our concern is I would have to say our anybody working with curriculum is what can we do to to help with that dip because we're saying that they're getting the foundations in K2, but it's so radically different in third grade. There's somebody somewhere somehow that we need to work with that
016dip because it's obvious it's there. It's like they'd forgotten the foundation. So, you got to start with a foundation and build, but it seems like somebody left a whole part of the construction out there with those children. >> I'mma also go to in second grade and third grade, the complexity of words are a little bit different. So, multi-elabic words for instance, you have a lot of kids who are very successful at like CBC, those very small words. So, consonant, vowel, consonant like cat. But when you go into those multi multi-selabic words, it's very hard to break those down. So, we're really trying to support teachers with how do we take those foundational skills and use them to break down those bigger words in order to help support them in reading those longer passages. >> Well,
017one more statement, Mr. Chair. >> Okay, you've diagnosed the problem. You've diagnosed everything. You get an A. But my question is, what can we do? All of us, I'm not just saying you guys, what can we do to help solve the problem? >> So, one of the things that we're seeing, um, and just to go back to reiterate, so we got to remember with Dibbles 8 comprehension is not assisting kindergarten and first grade. So, it starts in second. But to answer your question, some we're trying to work with 35 and to understand that there still may be gaps with foundational skills for students entering third grade and how can we close those gaps. So we're working with teachers on third grade and through fifth grade and understanding how can you take those skills block which
018is part of the K2 instruction and merge it into the 35 instruction to make sure that we're closing those foundational skills because until we close those skills we're not going to see the results on the EOG because they're not able to lift the words off the page. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> And and to your point Dr. manual. One of the things we're also doing is when a student has an individualized reading plan, like I said, this year we'll have a monitoring team that actually has to go through and vet those IRPS to ensure that teachers have selected the right skill to focus on. >> So, right now, we spent a lot of time building the IRPS and teaching them how to match it, but now we're going to have to start monitoring
019that differently so that we can intervene a lot faster. >> Dr. Emanuel, your question really builds a case >> for universal prek. >> We need our kids in prek. It would bridge that gap that >> and kids would catch up. Right. >> Again, you build a case that we've been building for years for universal prek for all kids. >> Right. And so currently, Dr. We have, I think, about 900 students that were in preK going into the 2425 school year between our private site, Shining Stars, NC PreK. But that's when you think about how many kindergarters we have, we average about 1,600 kindergarteners. So that shows you what our percentage is still. So we don't have as many kids as we would like getting that pre before they come into kindergarten. >> Thank you. >>
020To Dr. Williamson's point of universal prek would be wonderful. >> Dr. May, are you good? >> I'm I'm happy. Not happy, but I'm good. >> Mr. Craig, uh Dr. Dallas just answered my question. The difference of prek and then kindergarten. How many kids do we have just not getting that prek and they're going straight into kindergarten? So, that answer. Thank you. >> Okay. Okay. So, we'll move on to second grade data. So when you look at some of our second grade findings, you're going to see that over the past several years, we have seen gains in the end ofear data per second. We have moved from 35% to 39 to 47 to 51%. We are also slowly closing the gap between our endofear data and the state's endofear data. The four years, four years ago,
021we were only at 23% behind the state. Last year, we were 15%. So we are working very hard to close that gap and make sure that our students are prepared for the next grade level. A greater percentage of students are also entering second grade more likely to be at grade level at the end of the year. In 2122 we only had 20% of our students entering ready. In this past year we had 41% of our students who are entering ready. So that's a big difference because that means the teachers who are receiving those students, right, are having students in class that are more ready to receive the skills in the strategies that are being delivered. So that that's positive for us. Okay. And to your point as well, how do we let parents know? Just
022a reminder that at the end of the BOI, the MOI and the EOI, we do send home home connect letters to our parents so that they can clearly see where their child is. So if they want to know how is my child performing, right? That's an idea. And then on the next slide, it shows you some of the the the text that it will provide to the parent of what that student needs for support. Okay. So, we are trying to make sure that parents are aware of where their children are performing and they're also notified if a child is on an IRP so that they're aware of what strategies are in place. >> Okay. >> Mr. Chair, >> any questions? >> Mr. Terry Lley, >> Dr. Dallas. Um, for going back to that data, it
023looked like from the beginning of the year to the middle, there were the our gains were were not as consistent as the states, but we made higher gains at the end of the year. >> What What do you think that that's attributed to? One of the things that we've discussed with that is sometimes it's the sense of urgency that's at the beginning of the year. Sometimes it's also just building in some of those gaps that I have. So if I need to be able to perform on grade level, I can't have a lot of pre-existing gaps. So a lot of times when they come in and start the school year, we're trying to still fill in any gaps that they had from the previous year. So that's what they spend a lot of time on
024the beginning is trying to fill those gaps so that they're ready to actually move on and that's where you see the acceleration happen after the MOI to the EOI. >> So So what were you saying again about that sense of urgency? >> Yeah. Sometimes it's just making sure that we're targeting the right things. Once again it's having that end in mind, right? Knowing what that assessment looks like. So sometimes it's just making sure we're targeting right away. There should be no waiting, right? We have our data. We should be moving on quickly. Any other questions? Okay. >> Dr. Dallas, Miss Bullard, Miss Demorry. Thank you'all. >> Thank you. >> Up next, we have Beta Club National Convention District of Distinction, Dr. Deborah Dallas. >> Okay. So, good evening, Chairman Britt, Superintendent Williamson, and board members.
025We are excited this evening to recognize our National Beta Convention Award winners. So the national beta conventions took place towards the end of June this year in Orlando, Florida. During the conventions, we had students who advanced from their state level competitions who were invited to participate in a wide range of events and categories showcasing their intellect, creativity, and skills on a national stage. We are super excited tonight to recognize our students who participated in the national conference and actually placed. So I'm going to ask them to come forward. If their beta sponsor is here, they'll come forward as well with their administrator. So at this time, if we could have the board members please come forward and line up in front of the podium. Yeah, that's fine. And then we'll just have them come around
026and shake your hand. So, just >> You're good. You're good. You're good. >> Yeah. Okay. >> You're right there. Yes. I will pause so you can do a picture. Dr. You want to move up a little bit? We'll have them come right through the line. Okay. Okay. So, students, when I call your name, if you would please come forward. We also would like our administrators and beta sponsors to please join them as well because we know how much work you put into having these students actually showcase their work at the national convention. So, from Penrook Elementary School, we had Olivia Hunt. So, if Olivia Hunt would come forward, shake your board members hands, honey. Olivia had on-site art drawing elementary second place and she also placed 10th in the painting elementary category. Congratulations, Olivia. Let's
027give her a round of applause. from St. Paul's Elementary School. We have Tiko Villan Noeva Perez who had first place in the performing arts elementary solo duo trio instrumentalist. So I'd say he's a national champion. From Union Elementary School, we have Dean Bowen, who also placed first in the recyclable arts elementary. So, that sounds like another national champion. We have [Applause] Next slide, Cole. And from the public schools of Robinson County Early College at RCC, we have Marley Pigen who placed sixth in the drawing division. She would come forward. All right, Marley. Good job. >> We have Miss Nvea Bullard who placed fourth in the jewelry division. if she'd come forward. Okay. Not here. We also have Isabella Floyd who was third place in performing arts senior solo duo trio dancer. Next is Miss Vetica
028Zope. She was first place in the poetry division, so sounds like a national champion. Good job, Vetica. I'm sorry. [Applause] Okay. And we also have Brian Diaz, who is third place, Spanish 10th grade, who could not be here this night. So, congratulations. So, I'm going to ask the board members to please stay standing. Mr. Brent, I'm going to ask you to come forward so I can make sure I give you the plaques. So this evening we are excited to recognize all of our school administrators and our board for earning the prestigious title of National Beta District of Distinction. So the National Beta District of Distinction designation is awarded to school districts who demonstrate a commitment to academic excellence, leadership, development, and service involvement. In order to qualify, all of our schools must offer national beta
029and induct qualifying students in grades fourth through 12th within every school. So, we are so excited. So, thank you for our board support and beta. So, at this time, we're going to actually present the board with our National District of Distinction. So, you guys can There we go. >> Good job, y'all. >> Thank you. Thank you for the board support. So, at this time, we are going to call up our administrators. Some of their beta sponsors are here to please come forward. They will receive a plaque. Um, some of them will receive two plaques because they might have an elementary and a junior beta. Okay. So, some of our schools have two. So, at this time, Mr. Brit, I'm going to have you come here. I'm going to hand you the plaque. So, we're going
030to start with Carol Middle School. If you come forward, please. I just put this down here. [Applause] Next is Deep Branch Elementary. They have an elementary and a junior beta. They would come forward, please. Yes, sir. [Applause] God bless. [Applause] We have Fairmont Middle who also has an elementary and junior beta. [Applause] There you go, sir. Next is Fair Grove Elementary School. [Applause] Next we have Littlefield Middle School. They also have an elementary and a junior beta. [Applause] Next is Long Branch Elementary School. [Applause] Lumberton Junior High School is next with a junior beta. [Applause] Magnolia Elementary School is next. They have an elementary and a junior beta. [Applause] One more. [Applause] Yes, sir. Or Middle School is next. They have an elementary and a junior beta. [Applause] Oxendine Elementary is next with an elementary
031and a junior beta. [Applause] We have Parkton Elementary School who has an elementary and a junior beta club. [Applause] Penrook Elementary School has an elementary beta. [Applause] Penrook Middle School is next with a junior beta. [Applause] Oh, should I say that? >> Uh, the Peterson Elementary School with a elementary beta. [Applause] Next is Piney Grove Elementary School. They have an elementary and a junior beta club. [Applause] Senator [Applause] >> Okay, our next school is Prospect Elementary School. They have an elementary and a junior beta club. [Applause] Put a little bit [Applause] Red Springs Middle School. They have an elementary and a junior beta club. [Applause] Couple more. Couple more. We're getting there. We're getting there. Rex Renard has an elementary beta club. [Applause] Our next school is Rosenald Elementary School. They have an elementary beta
032club. [Applause] Next is South Robinson Middle School with a Junior Beta Club. [Applause] [Laughter] Get them in live. Get them in line. Our next school is Southside Ashpole Elementary School who has an elementary beta club. [Applause] Our next school is St. Paul's Middle School who has an elementary and a junior beta club. [Applause] We have Townsen Elementary School who has an elementary beta club. [Applause] Our next school is Union Chapel, who has an Elementary and a junior beta club. Our [Applause] next school is Union Elementary School. Has an elementary and a junior beta club. [Applause] We have St. Paul's High School for their senior beta senior beta club. [Applause] Okay, we have Pernell Sweat High School, their senior beta club. [Applause] Lumberton Senior High School [Applause] We have the early college, their senior your beta
033club. [Applause] Red Springs High School for their senior beta. Yes. >> Last but not least >> in the peanut gallery in the back wants me to say save the best for last. Fairmont High School for their senior beta. you couldn't be here tonight, but I just wanted >> and we did also want to recognize St. Paul's Elementary School who could not be here this evening. So, thank you. Thank you board for all of your support. Thank you very much. Good job. All right. Next up on the agenda, we have uh SSR3 products or project updates. Mr. Bobby Lleair. >> Good evening, Chairman Brit, Superintendent Williamson, board members. included in your packet was an is or is an update of our SR3 projects that are continuing this summer. Uh first let me point out this was
034as of August the 1st. So we have approximately 10 days of work that has been completed since this was included in your packet. But just to highlight some uh work is still continuing at Lumberton Senior High. Uh that work is progressing on schedule. I do believe one of the major concerns there that most of us had was was the school going to get clean and it is my understanding that the custodians are working through that process. Switch gear has arrived and is stored in a bonded warehouse. I included that certificate of bond in your packet packet as well so that we understand that once we get to Christmas break or time allows us we will get that installed in the school. Our other three projects again are ongoing. Uh St. Paul's Elementary construction, you can
035see as of a week over a week ago, they were about 95% along with Oxin being complete. Our biggest project and they're still working. I was out at the school. One day last week, as of the first, they were 50% complete. Um as of last week, they are waiting on all the doors to come in to those outside pods. It is my understanding that doors have been installed at this time. They're waiting on glass. There will be some minor finishes that are going to need to take place once kids get into the building at Pimark Elementary, but nothing that we are aware of at this point that will prevent kids from being in the building on August 25th. Any questions for Mr. Bobby? Thank you, Mr. Bobby. Next up, we have communications year and report.
036Miss Jessica Cely. >> Good evening, Chairman Britt, Dr. Williamson, and board members. What a night for student achievement. Can we just give everybody a hand one more time? It is my honor to share with you what all we've been up to in our communications department. I am a onewoman team. It is me here with all of my personalities and we have staff meetings daily. So, um we have a lot of fun in the communications department. We have a great sense of humor. Um I have before you um our slideshow. Do you have any questions before I get into it? Questions or comments? Okay, let's get into it. Okay, so communications. What does my department do? There's a lot that my department does. Um we and the most important thing to to share is that this
037is collaborative work right although I am one person with many layers. I work with a lot of folks across our departments to make sure things happen and everything goes smoothly. So if it was not for all the wonderful partnerships that we have in communications we could not tell the story effectively of the public schools Robinson County students and staff. So this is just a brief overview. Um, I think some people think I I just ride around and take photos and post on Facebook. Um, so this is just a quick idea of of what we're up to. Um, we work on the website, social media, crisis communications, uh, and also I have a nice relationship with our local media partners to try to get our stories published. And Dr. Williamson expects two positive stories every week.
038So we try not to let him down. We try to have at least two or more every week. So that's what we're up to in the communications department. Okay. So again, I'll just breeze through some of this stuff. We had a wonderful year um a wonderful year full of um support for our HR department with recruitment, uh staff recognition, internal communication. I send I send regular updates which you all get every week uh Monday and Friday. So and then again we are student centered and future focused. So this year we really focused on which is always an ongoing thing in our plan. We always focus on building internal and external trust supporting staff recruitment and retention. And again letting people know we're transparent. If you have a question just let us know and we'll do
039our best to get you the answer that you need. Okay. So some initiatives and some success points were the back to school bash as last year we had over 7,000 people attend. So this year we had the same thing as we had last year which is a wonderful point of um having over 7,000 attendees to our back to school celebration. So can we give Miss Bindle a hand for that as well? And then I want to highlight our HR department. uh our career fair, our hiring event last year had 106 participants and that is folks that came in and came through and then 21 for recommendations. So let's give him a hand as well for that. Um and and again, so last year we had a teacher recruitment campaign and it was a six-w weekek
040digital blitz in February of ads for our teacher recruitment. And again, like I said, weekly staff newsletters and I have our board meeting highlights up on Facebook for people to stay up to date on what we talk about. So I'll have some of those fresh tomorrow off the press. Uh let's see next for exciting celebrations. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Dr. Williamson being the regional and state superintendent of the year. Let's give him a hand. So again, we'd love to we'd love to support these wonderful things that happened and Dr. Williamson's leadership. It was such a pleasure to to help in that process for him to get the recognition he deserves as a wonderful leader. And we had award-winning work. We're recognized for our writing, marketing, and design from the state public
041relations association. Next. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, the whole department was recognized. Thank you so much. All right. For our social media stats, reaching the community online. So for our for my numbers folks, this is for you. Um it shows we have 30,000 plus followers, our impressions from the period of January 1 to June 23rd. And it just shows our link link our link clicks and what we've been up to. 5.31 million impressions. So, that's great. We're looking good and healthy online. All right. This is my really I'm really excited about this. Um, we we actually had a 10% increase of media mentions, news media mentions, and a lot of it was great news. So, that is wonderful. And our stories, this is my brag point right here. If we paid for what we got
042in news media, it would be 5.91 million in advertisement value. So that is a great value right there. U just just pushing my department here. Um and we had a 95.7 positive or neutral public sentiment. So that's great. Just got to brag on my department. And this is how our work aligns with our strategic plan. I won't bore you with all this, but it just shows um you know, high performance communication, some of the stats we've had, our stakeholder engagement. I'm also part of the Lumberton Chamber Ambassador um group that they have. Um and also for support for recruitment and retention. Again, we highlighted the career fair on that bottom right. So, a lot of lot of great things this year that we're really just proud of. So what's next? We're looking at increasing our
043videos across our platforms because a lot of people like it used to be pictures was a thing and now it's videos. People have short attention spans but they love to watch videos and they get stuck on the algorithm. They get stuck for hours watching videos. So, we want to put more videos out there about our district and expand our recruitment and employee recognition efforts on LinkedIn and enhance our Instagram story usage for live event coverage. And again, um continue to launch campaigns for school lunch and that new CTE center that's coming soon. Um anybody have any questions about the report or any data? Dr. Emanuel? Um, since you are a full department. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Do you have a budget? >> I do. Well, I Miss Erica, I have 25,000 in a line that
044helps me do what I do. And there's some advertising that's paid for elsewhere. So, that helps support what we do. So, like some advertising for even projects that we have to do as part of the scope. So, >> I feel better now that you have a budget. >> Yes, ma'am. If you want to lift that budget up some more, that would be great, too. Dr. Emanuel. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions, comments, concerns? >> Uh, Miss Fields. >> I do want to say you do an excellent job promoting on social media. >> Thank you so much. >> So, I'm ready to see your videos and what those will be like. >> They're going to be wonderful. >> And you're right. That is the new trend. >> It is. Thank you. And I'll echo what
045Miss Christie said. You do a great job, Jessica. >> I appreciate that. Thank you so much. >> Next up, we have Superintendent Advisory Council, Miss Jessica Sely, as well. >> So, this is a uh Oh, can they still see that? So, this is a new initiative we're going to launch this year. The superintendent's advisory council is going to meet quarterly. And so the purpose for this is going to be it's going to serve the superintendent's advisory council will serve as a collaborative body of stakeholders, students, educators, parents, and community members to provide input, feedback, and ideas to support our school district's priorities, enhance transparency, and improve outcomes for all students. So that's the purpose. Um, again, we're going to meet quarterly. We're thinking about six o'clock is going to be the time. And then um
046we're going to cater a meal so everybody's happy and not hungry. Um our members, we are looking at um high school students, the high school students um one for each high school. And ideally it could be somebody like in the SGA. And then we'll have our district level teacher of the year, principal of the year, assistant principal, and district teacher assistant of the year. Every school will also select a community member to serve. And then high schools will have both a community member and that student I mentioned. So, we're going to have pretty good representation from the community, from the schools, and from our um from our educators as well. So, that's what we're looking at. Does anybody have any questions? >> Yes, Mr. Craig. >> Uh Miss Jessica, it's not really a question. I
047think it might be a good time to squeeze this in. Uh this committee might could look at this. Uh, I've had people ask, we know we got open house I think that Thursday and one of the comments I get is the families that have children in different grades. >> Could we look at going to two days open houses or something like that because some families have three schools to go to in that time frame and it does put a strain on them and maybe even looking at the times. I know at one time if you did it from school day being 8 hours, uh teachers might go in that day at 11:00 and they left at 7 or they went in at, you know, whatever time 10 and left at six. They work things like
048that. So that's just something I'd like next year to just look at having an open house on more than one day taking in consideration those families. >> Thank you. We can we can look into that. >> Dr. Secretary Ller, >> thank you for this report, Miss uh Jessica. So, you you said something about maybe a parent. >> It'll be community members. So, I'm sure parents will be a part of that. >> Enter. Okay. >> So, each school will have one community member, parent. >> I think it could be a parent. It might not have to be a parent. Could be like a leader in the community. >> Maybe it could be a pastor or somebody. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Because you'll have 30 over 30, you know, and it'll get to be a pretty big
049group. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Pretty pretty big group there. >> And Miss Jessica, I'll make all the board members aware and that's not listed in there, but um any board member can come to this as well. >> Absolutely. We invite you to come and we're going to finalize those dates and everything and and information will be forthcoming on that, forthcoming on that for sure. Any other questions for me and my staff? Thank you, Miss Jessica. >> Thank you so much. >> Next up, we have monthly impact award staff recognition, Mr. Jamal Campbell. >> Good evening, Superintendent Dr. Williamson, board chair, Mr. Trey Brit, and members of the school board. On behalf of the human resource department, I am excited to share a new recognition initiative launching this September. the public school drops and county
050impact award. Each month at our regular board meeting, we will honor one classified and one certified employee who have made significant positive contributions within their dis within their school and the broader community. The impact award celebrates those who demonstrate exceptional dedication to student success, actively support the professional growth of other colleagues, and embodies our district's one team, one goal model by fostering a supportive, thriving environment for all. Each month, schools across the district will nominate deserving employees and the selected honores will be recognized here before the board for their exceptional service and commitment. I would like to personally and sincerely thank Dr. Williamson and Mr. Trey Brick for their support in making this initiative a reality. We're also deeply grateful for our local business partners, Sign City for um sponsoring the monthly plaques and cakes
051and pastries along with Chick-fil-A for graciously providing monthly gifts to our honores. Through this recognition, we aim to highlight the outstanding people who make the public school county a premier district to work for. And once again, I'm excited about this. This is going to be a great thing for our district to highlight these um wonderful employees within our district starting next month. And so the the uh intent is that we'll make sure that it's even. So there'll be three um representation months for high school, three representation months for middle school, and three representation months for elementary school. So from September through May. And so get ready for that. And so principles will receive those links um this week as well. and so we're excited for that recognition for our staff. So, thank you again for
052your support in that. >> Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Jamal. [Applause] >> At this time, I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Williamson real quick. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman and board members. Last month, you approved a new principal for Parkton Elementary. She was in the mountains I I think on that. And so tonight I'm going to present her to you um and give opportunity to make a few comments. Miss T. [Applause] >> Like I said, I'm just here to formally introduce myself. My name is Christine Tricenti, otherwise known as Miss T. Um, I'm very excited to be continuing the work at Parkton as the new principal already serving as as he likes to let me know. Um, we had a great meet and greet the other night and we have been working hard
053at getting everything prepared for the school year. So, I'm very excited and it's nice to meet all of you >> and I and I will say, Miss T, you were I was at that meet and greet and um the staff and the community has bought in and I'm looking forward to some great things. They're good people. They're good people. >> Thank you. Thank you, Miss T. >> Thank you. >> Next up is uh public comments. I'm taking it we don't have any because I don't have one. We do not have any. All right. Moving on to action items. First one is a North Carolina cat honored educator scholarship. Dr. Williamson. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members. Last month as information, we did share the ENCAT honor education scholarship. Um the fully endowed scholarship is
054$25,000. We did indicate that we do have those funds on hand. Right, Erica? Thank you. Um and so we ask that you spend some time the past month considering look at the key features. One is tribute to educators individually or to the board as a whole funding for professional development classroom enhancement in amount of $250. Um and again the endowment requirement is $25,000 which we can provide. So, my request tonight is that you approve that and that you as a board determine how you want the endowment to be named. >> Oh, Mr. Mr. Bradley Phillips, >> I make a motion to accept. Um, does anybody have a a name in mind like who to name this for? >> If not, I would make a recommendation that the endowment be for board of education for the
055public school of Robertson County. That for the entire board would be my recommendation. You ask >> Dr. Chair. So, if we if we fund $25,000, it it says recipients will receive a 250 cash award for classroom projects enhancing education. I'm I'm wondering what does that look like for us in terms of an investment? >> It is a one-time investment of 25,000 fully endowed. Mr. Chair, >> is that Mr. Henry? >> Yes, sir. >> First of all, I want to apologize. Uh uh Mr. uh Teal just left my home and just got my computer going. But um I I agree with that motion. If Mr. Terry will go ahead and finish it out. I'll second it. >> Mr. Terry didn't make a motion. Bradley made the motion to >> or Mr. Bradley, I'm sorry. >> Okay,
056we got a motion by Bradley and a second by Mr. Henry Brewer. Could uh Mr. Phil, could you just clarify your motion? Is it to accept the endowment and then name it for the board of education for the public schools of Robinson County? Okay. All those in favor discussion. >> So my concern is we have 25,000 to give to an endowment, but we can't put a shelter up at Roland Norman. We can't fill potholes, but we're going to give $25,000 for an endowment when we haven't fixed home yet. The endowment would actually serve teachers from the public school in Robinson County. So, we're actually making investment in our employees. >> I understand that. But we we have things at home that need to be taken care of first. >> And that comes from a different
057fund source, out of capital. So, it's a different fund source. We couldn't use this money to do that anyway. >> Well, what could we use this money for inhouse? It's actually coming out of a contingency fund that we set up that's unbudgeted um in terms of projects. And so in the past we've used funds for this. >> So Chairman Bri, we need to take into consideration that if this does pass and we go to our local county asking for more funds that we can justify why we gave up $25,000. >> Okay. Mr. Terry, is this coming from local funds? >> Yes, we voted. All those in favor? We're going to vote again or you good? Can I have a recount of the votes for him? All those in favor, please raise your hand. All oppose.
058>> Uh, Mr. Brewer, could you restate you voted in the affirmative, right? >> Yes. >> Motion passed. >> Great. Thank you. >> The uh district mental health plan, Miss Jennifer Freeman and Dr. Sherry Hearnden. Good evening, Chairman Brett, uh, Superintendent Dr. Williamson, and board members. At this time, I would like to yield the district mental health review plan over to Dr. Sherry Hearnden. Thank you. >> Good evening, Chairman Britt, Superintendent Dr. Williamson, and board members. I stand before you to request approval of our mental health plan which is aligned with the school-based mental health policy. As you know, a student's mental health is affected or their wellness is a it's it impacts uh their learning. Um it could impacts be impact behavior attendance as well as social and emotional well-being. >> Dr. Emanuel, do you
059have any questions? Uh rather than you having to read all of it to us, if if the board doesn't mind, I have some specific questions. >> Okay. May I do that? Yes, ma'am. >> Uh you mentioned it's mentioned someplace in here, so don't ask me what page that we have diagnostic information on the children. You know, we have information on I'm curious as to know where that information came from. Is it just discipline records? D. >> So, so we have several different sources. We have the classworks, social and emotional screener. Um, this past year, students in grades K through 12 were assessed. I think it is in grades K2, the teachers complete that survey. And then in grades 3 through 12, the students complete the assessment. and the the student support team at the schools
060can review that data and determine students who are at risk. Um we also have behavior data that we look at um counselor data, any social worker data, it could be attendance data, it could be counselor check-in, checkout data. So different sources. >> Okay. There's another a resource that was mentioned in here. May I continue on the the resource that was mentioned here that you use and I'm not sure if it's the hazel project or whatever and it's a tele market I mean tell health like and it's paid for by medic Medicaid and personal insurance do you have a any kind of other funds maybe a partnership with anybody that would pay for kids to use that teleaalth health because some people some parents do not have Medicaid or some do not have personal insurance. >>
061So all schools would be included in this initiative. This is a partnership with um North Carolina public schools and it is no charge >> uh >> for our students. Uh maybe I read it wrong, but it said that they collected their money through Medicaid and person insurance and my my uh I was curious about parents who did not have that but so >> you might need to check that. So, we have discussed that we did have a virtual meeting um with representatives from Hazel Health. If there are any students who do not have Medicaid or any other type of insurance, they still can be served. >> Okay. I think that's and you you do have to have parent permission. Am I wrong or right? >> In order for Hazel Health to be involved or any
062teleaotherapy services to be provided, there will be a consent form on file. So they would have the f the consent form ahead of time. The reason I'm asking this question, there have been instances when we thought kids were suicidal and it took a while to try to get some professional help. So this is great that you can actually call up a therapist and get them pronto right in 30 minutes, 10, 15 minutes to try to get help for children. So I I think this is a great thing. I was just worried about kids that who didn't have coverage, you know, that couldn't receive that service. So, I'm glad that you've had that discussion. >> And we also we have piloted gaggle therapy at um our at RAZ this year. >> So, that is one initiative
063we want to continue next year. >> A couple more minor things and then I want to make a motion if the board doesn't mind. Um the Trillium T R I L L U M. Is that a new company? I've never heard of it. Tell me about that. >> So Trillium that is the So we have Monarch. >> Yeah. >> And Trillium is now everything falls under Trillium. Now it's the overarching >> uh name. >> All right. Let's see if there's anything else. Um I think those are >> Mr. Chair and and board members I spent a lot of time going through this and this follows an exemplary plan. It addresses I think everything that we need to address. It follows the law and I I would make a motion if the board would allow me.
064Okay. Go ahead. Before I make the motion, >> Miss Melissa Ocean right here, Miss Melissa Ocean. Okay, >> Miss Christie Fields >> on the say something anonymous. How do we ensure that this is going to remain anonymous >> as it relates to your staff? >> Mr. Bobby, would you like to Chairman Brit, Dr. Williamson, board members. So, the say see something, say something anonymous, uh, reporting tool, it's something that's provided by the state. Uh, a student or staff member would call in to a 1-800 number. The operator on the other line would take that report and then funnel it to the school. So, at no point in time are those phone calls coming to us. There's no identifiable information. It just simply goes to that call center and the call center will for forward it
065to where the information to the appropriate people at the school. >> And is that the same for gaggle alerts? >> Is that the same protocol >> w with the gaggle alerts? Um the school team receives an email or a text and they have time to respond to that alert. Um there is a team at each school who will receive that alert and based on the alert um those two team members will respond. If they do not respond in a certain amount of time uh I will receive an alert along with Miss Freeman and Mr. Phil Oxendine to follow up. >> Mr. Chair, if I may, Alex, you you and I talked uh last week. Um other districts that your law firm serve use Hazel and so >> they they've started providing services. Yes. >> And
066and then Dr. Emanuel, to your point with Hazel Health, our next step in this process is to share with you a contract that we asked Alex to to draw up and is in the editing process now. So we will have that contract in front of you as a board next month and then from that hope that we can approve that contract. >> Get your button. Dr. Man, >> I I make a motion that we adopt the mental health plan as written and presented. Got a motion made by Dr. Emanuel, second by Melissa Oceans. All those in favor? >> I oppose. >> Thank y'all. Thank you. >> Next up, we have spring policy updates with Mr. Bobby Lleair. >> Good evening again, Chairman Brit, Dr. programs and board members. So on July 29th, our policy committee
067met to review all of our spring updates from 2025. So, our policy comm uh policy committee review um looked over the looked over the spring updates and I believe at that policy committee meeting um the committee was in agreement to approve all of the spring updates as long as we exclude the updates to policy 2302 and we will communicate that to the schoolboard association once we send these over to them. And if I'm not mistaken, I do believe we want to handle our cell phone policy separate from the spring updates. >> Melissa, you got a question? >> So, we're asking the full board for approval of our spring updates. I got a motion by Miss Melissa Oceans, a second by Mr. Craig. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Any oppose? >> I have.
068>> Mr. Sure. >> So, uh, when we came in, there was a a paper on our desk about contractors and the the how we retain those. Is that is this information have anything to do with policy? >> No, no, that's close. >> Thank you. So also chairman Brid at our policy committee on that same day um we discussed policy 4318 use of wireless communication devices based upon ha house bill 959 which requires all PSUs to develop a policy by September 1 that outlines uh use of cell phones or wireless communication devices during the school day instructional day I'm sorry. So at at our last meeting, we reviewed a um recommendation from the schoolboard association. Uh two recommendations or revisions were recommended during that policy meeting and I've given you the updated policy with those revisions
069in it. The first revision um would be on page one A2, the addition of smart watches to be added to the definition of a wireless communication device. On page three, uh under B, there was the recommendation to add to change the last sentence on when can a child use a cell phone uh in the classroom. And that's uh our policy will read teachers and administrators may authorize individual students to use their devices provided that they supervise the students um in the event of emergency such as but not limited to personal health emergency arrange transportation or need for school to communicate with parents or guardians. And so we are asking for approval of policy 4318 to fulfill the requirement of House Bill uh 959. >> Mr. Craig, >> I'll make a motion to approve 4318. >>
070Got a motion by Mr. Craig. >> Second by Dr. Emanuel. All those in favor? Any >> Thank you, Mr. B. Next up, we have school fundraisers, Miss Erica Czer. >> Good evening, Chairman Britt, Superintendent Dr. Williamson, and board members. Um, you should have had in your packet a list of fundraisers we've received so far from our schools for approval. And I can answer any questions anyone has about those at this time. >> I have a motion by Miss Crystal Monroe for the school fundraisers, a second by Mr. Bradley Phillips. All those in favor? >> Any opposed? Have it. Miss Erica, monthly financial report >> and that's also included in your packet. I did want to mention um that we have received a mini budget bill. Um I'm sure more information will be coming from that.
071The biggest impact to public schools at this point, it only authorizes step increases for our employees. So at this point, there are no other raises for the staff yet until we get a full budget. But that part of the mini budget bill did authorize step increases. So we will be moving forward processing that in um our department. >> Miss Christy Fields. >> So the the academic coaches and and assistant principles that are attending the leadership training this week, what line and item are they being paid from in the budget for attendance? The principles don't get paid to attend. >> No, these are the academic coaches and the assistant principles that are attending. >> They're not being paid for >> attendance. uh we're trading off days with them and they can use those days during the
072year. >> So they're getting comp time basically. [Music] >> I don't know that it's comp time that we would define it that way. Mr. Terry, for for uh assistant principles and academic coaches that are on contract, I guess they're contracted 10-month employees, APS, and >> correct. That's correct. >> Do those contracts have beginning and end dates? I'm not sure if they have specific beginning and end dates. They may have a month. I would have to ask Mr. Jamal. Um >> I'll answer that one. Our academic coaches are not on contract. Um our APS, those contracts do have a beginning and ending date. For an initial administrative, it's a two-year contract. After that, it can be up to four years. Did they have a date like August the 1st or and and in a lot of
073cases it actually in some cases end up being two and a half years depends on when we approve them u with that beginning date or four and a half but yes there's a beginning date >> are are they all the same is it all the same um date each year for APS or academic coaches. I mean, I understand what you're saying. It's a two-year contract, but it does it have a specific date. If you're a 10-month employee, >> if you're a 10-month employee, in most cases, you're going to start on August the 19th. Unless you're custodian, you might start um at a different time. But like our teachers and assistant principles would be starting on August the 19th, unless they're at the early college, then they would have the early college date. >> Yeah, Mr.
074T, I think your question is a calendar question, really, not a contract question. Um and those APS are 10-month employees. Historically, we've always worked with them to come in um additional two weeks that we would train that off. So if your question is should the APS be in our training at this point? The answer is yes. But that's a calendar question I think that you're asked more so than contract. >> Well, that's not necessarily my question. Um, were they paid to attend the training last year? >> I I don't I don't actually recall. I'd have to look up and see. I'm I'm not sure. >> So, your question is, should they be receiving the training payment for training attending training? >> Right. >> Okay. Thank you. Yes. If >> I do recall, I don't have
075a motion for the monthly financial report. I got a motion by Miss Melissa Oceans, second by Mr. Craig. All those in favor? >> Thank you, Mr. >> M. Melissa. >> I move that the board of education for the public schools of Robson County go into close session for the purposes of discussing certified and classified personnel North Carolina general statutes 143 through 318.281 2 A1 and six and to consult with the attorney retained by the board in order to preserve the attorney client privilege between the attorney and the board of education for the public schools of Robinson County and to discuss opinion litigation matter of Kloe Oxenine versus the Robson County Board of Education 23-CVS under North Carolina General Statute 143 through 318.1 I'm sorry 1A1 13. >> I got a motion by Miss Melissa Oceans.
076>> Second. We're now in close. a motion that we modify the agenda to in uh amended EC contracts for um 2526 school year. >> I got a motion by Mr. Terry Ller and a second by Miss Christie Fields. I'd like to make >> Dr. Emanuel. >> I'd like to make a motion that we amend the contract of overflow. Is that the name of it? Uh just for one semester, change it from one semester. >> I got a substitute motion by Dr. Emanuel, second by Miss Melissa Oceans. We will vote on the substitute motion first. >> I thought we had to vote on the agenda. the neither >> neither of those is on your agenda right now. The substitute motion is on the floor. >> Substitute motion being on the floor. All those in favor of
077Dr. Emanuel's motion >> I >> All oppose eyes have it. >> Is that too >> Mr. Alex, >> I thought you said we had to vote to amend the agenda. >> I think Dr. Emanuel, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but your motion was to amend was a substitute motion to amend the agenda for the overflow contract. >> Yes, sir. >> And then this will be a vote on the contract specifically for overflow. >> So, I believe that Dr. Emanuel was amending the agenda to just add the overflow contract. >> I just heard you, Dr. Emanuel. >> You sit too far from me. You like >> you need to come over here and sit side of me so I can keep you straight and me straight. >> We'll get a motion on the floor
078for me to be moved over there. Thank you. >> All right. >> What do you want me to do, Mr. Turn? I'll leave you with >> All right. Now, we've got a motion, substitute motion by Dr. Emanuel. Pass. Now we need a motion to >> vote on the Yeah. >> approve on the overflow contract. I got a motion. I got a motion by Miss Melissa Oceans. >> Second by Mr. Bradley Phillips. Discussion. >> Christy Fields. >> Is this to put this amendment in there for a semester? Is this what this is for? >> I took uh and Dr. Emanuel can correct me if I'm wrong, but that she was um asking about the overflow contract that was presented uh to the board members. Um, I took your statement about the semester to mean the one
079presented, but to be clear, it is a a fullear contract with a semester opt out. Correct. >> With the language presented to the board in close session on the piece of paper. >> Yes. What the amendment is, it is a one-year contract with a sixmon ops out. >> Need a motion. >> We have a motion on the floor to to approve the contract at this point. Um, it was by Miss Ocean and seconded by Mr. Phillips. >> All right. All those in favor? >> I have. >> Motion to approve certified and classified personnel. >> Crystal with a motion. Second with Mr. C. >> Second. >> Need a motion on close session. >> Yeah. >> Need a motion on close session minutes. Miss Melissa. Ocean. Second by Mr. Craig Lowry. All those in favor? >> I
080say what? >> We don't have to leave. >> No. Good. >> Thank you. >> Oh, gotcha. Anybody else? Good. Everybody else good? Okay. Um, couple things. One, um, when do you want to have our board retreat? It will be here at central office. We're looking at a Friday again. if you would get out the calendar and let's discuss it real quick. A Friday, a Friday afternoon from 12:00 to 5. I'm open if y'all would tell me. >> I was think I was thinking more along the lines in September was what I was thinking, but I work at y'all's pleasure. Y'all tell me what you would like to see. >> 29th of this month. That's two weeks. >> How about September the 12th? Dr. Williamson, does that give you and your cabinet enough time? >> We'll
081be okay. >> You'll be out. Okay. September 12th will not work. >> What date? >> 19th. >> September the 19th. That is a Friday. From 12:00 to 5:00 here at central office. We will be here. Has anybody got any problems, concerns with that? from 12:00 to 5:00 on an you can be virtual. We need Mr. Henry, are you good with that? >> Yes. >> September the 19th, 12 to 5 will be our board retreat. We've got a lot of issues and conversations that need to be had. Cabinet, are y'all good with that as well? All right. September the 19th. Need a motion to adjurnn. Go ahead, Dr. M. >> That will be uh at the retreat. I hope that the curriculum instruction that they look at all new things that have come up and clarity
082um and that will save us from having to do a big curriculum meeting over and over and over. Thank you. >> All right. I got a motion by Mr. John Simmons to adjurnn, a second by Mr. Craig Lowry. All those in favor? >> I