NHCS Board of Education Regular Board Meeting | June 6, 2023

001like to call the junior uh junior June 6th um Regular Board of Education meeting to uh order at this time Ms blue would you please call the role Miss sorry Mr Russell would you please call the roll Sorry Miss Walker here Mr McManus here Miss Mason Bradford I am Mr wildebear present Miss Barnhart here and miss crabill uh thank you thank you very much at this point I would entertain a uh approval of the agenda and actually I'm going to step in before we even start with that I have just two items I need to add so um we'll go ahead and talk about those and then we can decide whether we're going to add them or not I have a motion to add a discussion of Mr sharples's law firm's contract to Old business

002is there a second second we have a second first any discussion yes ma'am can we have a closed session prior to having that conversation yes ma'am that will that will come up before that I was going to add that to Old business so it'll be down can we just add them in conjunction so we make sure that they're both together or or is that your second one no that's my first one and the second one is uh it's going to go to the consent the second one is to wait a minute let's vote on that first so we have first and second we have discussion all in favor please signify by saying aye aye aye any opposed passes seven zero second one is a Personnel report to the consent agenda if I have a second

003second first and second any discussion yes on the consensus part okay I'm just making sure this is a new part I didn't okay okay we have the first second discussion any further discussion all in favor signify by saying aye anything else before we move forward say again where you on the um discuss the law firm old business so we'll be right right after the yeah so it'll be letter d yes okay thank you thank you okay letter D under old business any other Mr s Bradford um I would like to make them to add to the agenda a discussion about discipline very quick um and I'd like to put it after the superintendent's report okay we have a first to add a discussion of discipline and that would be right after superintendents so right before

004my you're gonna have to wait on me then huh okay we have a first we have a second discussion of discipline I'll second it so first and second any discussion but in particular are we discussing um to um thank you I would like to um instruct the superintendent to instruct his principles and vice principal schools to basically take back our schools in terms of discipline what we've all been talking about um so give him a directive Mr chair I can't hear it I can't hear and understand her can you speak into your my friends a little more thank you okay um I would like to give instruction to the superintendent to instruct his principals and vice principals it is upcoming meeting to basically take back our schools in terms of discipline so that we give

005as this board a new board give him a directive to go after discipline go after respect for teachers go after keeping guns and drugs out of our schools but we give him that direct as a board I'm hoping it's a unanimous vote and then turn him loose to do his thing Miss Walker Mr chair I um I don't necessarily have a problem with having this discussion but I think it's a huge discussion and I don't think it's something you just put on and just do from the dies I feel like we should have at least a run-up to it with more information and I just don't think we should be doing it now it's a very very big issue so I'm not opposed to it I just don't think it should be talked about tonight

006we had a small discussion in our policy meeting because the student Behavior policy was being updated to add a little bit of language but there's been a lot of things that have been added to it and so miss Bradford actually had suggested a work session and so I feel like that would be a really value ad prior to a directive so I don't know if that's something that we could do in the July meeting to have a work session specifically about student behavior and student disinflam which is policy 4300 in addition to potentially having a topic of discussion and vote like you're discussing I feel like personally that would be a better fit in July and I'd love to have that conversation with everybody Miss crabill um I agree with um I'm looking right at

007you I'm looking at the other glasses lady up here um and the all the glass all the glasses ladies that Miss Bradford included the um I I think the conversation is important and um we know that the superintendent is in talks with a lot of people to and how we can bring that to fruition in our school system and I just think that this is not a good opportunity this is not what we spring on the board um if perhaps I'd be interested in talking about it if I'd have received a call to say do you want to talk about it so I can prep for it but I think we need a lot more prep time for each of us to gather our thoughts before we add that onto a pretty lengthy agenda already

008so I would prefer that we hold that off until next meeting because I feel confident that there are things in the works right now that we don't have to direct our superintendent to take back our schools because he's already making significant strides in doing that Bradford Miss Bradford I think we all got a impassioned letter from a parent at Ashley this week saying you know in the work session or in the policy meeting you proposed a work session I've waited every day for it to happen it's been three weeks I called the school they told me it's in the works we don't know when it'll be we have parents out there who are really frustrated we have a situations out there and if we can just lollygag for another month and not okay fine but

009this was pretty simple but because I'm proposing it it's okay to oppose it but I just want the parents to know that some of us really want to get the discipline problem to get the the disrespect to the teacher's problem to get the drugs drugs and the guns under control in the schools and I thought a simple directive to the superintendent take less time than it's taken to have this discussion and then let him do go out and do it so by the time we come back next month we would have accomplished a great deal in four weeks Mr McManus I do think that we need to discuss the discipline Arena of course you know I take a wider view of discipline when I say discipline I mean attendance accountability for your grades Etc but

010I don't think it's that simple Miss Bradford for us just to vote and say tighten up the ship I think we probably need to have a discussion and then maybe some names involved and or specific situations at some of the schools and then from there we can decide what we'd like to do but in defense of the suit if you told me that I need a little more particulars and I need to have a discussion with you so that we understand exactly what the issues are where they are and then because saying the same thing to all the principles is not going to make it work every school has its own personality his own community so that's just my input but I feel like we do need to discuss it but I don't think this

011is the way to do it so I would say hopefully we'll take this in another closed session another I mean work session yes work session yes sir excuse me anyone else if not miss Bowie would you call the role for this question please so again the motion in front of us is to have a to add a five-minute discussion after superintendent's um after superintendents yeah uh report to discuss discipline and give him a directive I'm sorry sparnhart no Miss craville no Miss Walker no Mr McManus no Miss Mason no Miss Bradford yes and Mr wildabour no so that was defeated six to one we are still at the motion to care to um Mr chair to approve the agenda yes ma'am I just want to add one briefing if that's okay I mean obviously I'll

012need a second but I just under recognitions I would just like to just do one brief recognition of pride month just to recognize pride month okay there's a motion I just need a second is there a second I don't know if I'm having just hearing aids I don't have hearing aids but I can't hear it's everything sounds mumbled we'd like to have an extra recognition for pride month five months oh yes thank you yeah so we have the first we have a second you want my hearing aids hello thank you yes anybody want to second that thank you okay okay uh all in favor please signify by saying aye hi all post no so carries six to one so we can add that in uh during um after replications so be a d okay uh

013anything else if now we have a motion and I believe we have a second in front of us to approve the amended agenda all in favor please signify by saying aye aye all opposed did we just vote on all of them together all of these things we just talked about oh yes okay yes we do the amended agenda okay yes ma'am all right so uh at this point um I would like to call up I'm gonna actually do one thing a little differently tonight I would like to recognize everyone who will be participating in just a moment so that I don't miss anyone so uh first we are going to have the Reverend Joseph G Hudson Hudson say right hudison associate director of the Saint James Episcopal parish and he'll be providing our invocation thank

014you for being here um we will have the Laney High School uh NJ ROTC Color Guard will provide tonight's presentation of colors that's under the direction of Colonel Thomas Smith Jr and master sergeant Bruce C principal Danny little and then we have the national anthem which is very exciting tonight members of Laney High School and Trask middle School bands will perform the national anthem the van Ensemble members will be introducing themselves in just a bit we do actually have two folks that are on the All-State band one at the high school level and one at the middle school level but we would ask everyone to stay afterwards so we can introduce everyone so at this point I would ask Reverend uh Hudson to come forth please thank you let us pray gracious and loving God

015from our various backgrounds beliefs experiences and perspectives we come together in this space by a common call and passion to serve as this school board begins their meeting today we begin first with gratitude we give you thanks for each and every one of the schools in our County and all those who work and serve within them for all of our school administrators and support staff Empower them to lead with the spirit of love and service for all those in their respective schools that these places of learning may be safe in inclusive spaces of growth and learning for all foreign we give you thanks for our teachers help them to see and know the immeasurable value they bring to our schools remind them of their joy in teaching informing students and guide them to always place

016first the students whom they serve we give you thanks especially for these our students give them curious minds Open Hearts and the courage to act with integrity help each of them to know that they are valuable and help them to see and uplift the value in each other and as they prepare for summer break let this be a time of joy and refreshment so that they may return eager to be together and learn anew and we give you thanks for this school board that has been entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing our schools for each person on this board whom you have created in whom you love in all the conversations and decisions that will take place today Empower and guide each of them to be open to be curious to be generous to be

017gracious to be humble to be honorable and especially in all things to Lead With Love and in all that they do may it be in service of the administrators staff the teachers so that they are all supported fully in their most important work and guide each of them especially to serve all the students of our County that in all their wonderful diversity they may grow into the unique and gifted people you have made each of them to be and in all these things we pray that you will lead and guide us that we may not react with fear but act with the same love with which you love us in your name we pray amen Earth are gone oh uh reason others thank you [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] to lead the Pledge

018of Allegiance pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all [Music] right thank you may be seated thank you and I'm hoping to I'm gonna get these young folks introduce themselves to you if you tell us uh your name and your breakfast I'm Miranda palisi I'm the rising Junior and I was one of the All-State members this year [Applause] my name is Bryce polisi I am graduating in two days I believe this Thursday and I this year made all district on trumpet my name is Elijah Willis I'm heading into the ninth grade and I made first share all district on euphonium um my name is Rush Garris and I'm a rising senior I didn't

019do any of that stuff but [Applause] my name is Hunter black I am a rising 8th grader and I was a member of the Allstate band my name is Barrett price I'm in seventh grade and I was a part of the all District Band my name is Tyler Shafer I am a rising senior and I made I'm sorry I made that all district band this year [Applause] we want to congratulate you all and again thank you all for being here this evening and we are truly truly lucky to have such talented people in our school system so thank you thank you so much today if you guys would introduce yourselves please uh I'm Cadet Lillian gilb and I'm a 10th grader at Laney High School hi I'm Cadet George Dylan George I'm a rising sophomore

020at Lane High School my name is Cadet Logan Reese I'm a rising Junior at Laney High School my name is Cadet Alonzo hondros and I'm a rising Junior at early High School thank you all very much for being here this evening and leading us thank you so much thank you thank you I think that was wonderful and I think we have a lot of talented young people in our school system so let's give them one more round of applause [Applause] at this time we we will continue with our recognitions and introductions Grace thank you main board members and Dr Foust I am here with your recognitions for the evening and before I get started with the schedule recognitions I want to bring the Laney a Air Force JROTC back up please for just a moment

021I was informed of a recognition that they accomplished this morning and I want to take the time to recognize them as this is Colonel Smith's last board meeting he is retiring thank you as they are coming up our Air Force JROTC unit at Laney earned the distinguished unit award for the school year 2022-2023 we extend our congratulations to each and every one of the 82 Cadets who participate participated during semesters one and two your unwavering dedication discipline and Leadership have undoubtedly played a pivotal role in this Monumental accomplishment this year's distinguished unit award holds even greater significance as it marks the 12th consecutive year of receiving this prestigious honor for Laney High School's Air Force JROTC [Applause] it exemplifies their unwavering commitment to Excellence and the remarkable consistency with which we strive to achieve greatness

022I would also like to acknowledge and express our gratitude to our esteemed Air Force JROTC instructors who have served as coaches and mentors their guidance expertise and unwavering support Have Been instrumental in shaping our Cadets into exceptional individuals who embody the core values of Integrity service and Excellence Colonel Smith what a tremendous honor and privilege congratulations on building a legacy at Laney we wish you the best in your retirement you have certainly earned it congratulations we'll get a picture in just a second if you guys will kind of get centered congratulations and thank you again [Applause] next I would like to invite up Ansley Tryon but she was unable to attend this evening so if I could have Miss Cindy Bliss come up and accept her honor congrats congratulations to Ansley Tryon a remarkable student

023at Myrtle Grove Middle School for her outstanding accomplishment of being accepted at the U.S Naval Academy stem camp out of a pool of 5 000 students Ansley has proven herself among the top 250 candidates showcasing her exceptional aptitude and dedication to science technology engineering and Mathematics ansley's acceptance at the U.S Naval Academy stem Camp is a testament to her unwavering commitment to academic excellence and her passion for exploring the Realms of stems her exceptional talents Innovative thinking and problem solving skills have undoubtedly played a significant role in securing this prestigious opportunity moreover we are thrilled to share that Ansley has been awarded a scholarship by the usna Alumni Association and with us today we have Albert haza Kaz to who has presented her with that scholarship so thank you Miss Bliss for being here to

024accept and in the trash our next recognition is for our students who have been selected to govern our school this year congratulations to the 17 exceptional New Hanover County School students for their outstanding achievement in being accepted to NC Governor's School this prestigious honor is a testament to their exceptional academic abilities intellectual curiosity and dedication to the respective fields of study the NC Governor's School serves as a platform for nurturing the brightest Minds in North Carolina and accepting these 17 students from our county is a remarkable accomplishment their selection among highly competitive candidates showcases their exceptional talents and rigorous academic preparation they have undergone we applaud the hard work perseverance and countless hours of effort that each student has invested in their education their success reflects their individual accomplishments in the unwavering support they have

025received from their families teachers in the New Hanover County Community I am going to call up the three who are with us here today and then if you will hold your applause I will continue calling up the remaining 14 and then you can applaud all of them together first up we have Malia Cassell Lillian Burger Maya Roseboro not in attendance with us today we have Anna Benfield Simon Bond Lucy Boswell Avery what wait Avery kivett T Kim Kate Ranch Gonzalo Rodriguez Loren Boyer Dylan Schmidt Garrett reader Kathleen Bradley Mia Rose Jamaya Rhoden Hyman you may now congratulate these [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] at this time we would like to recognize our rockemy regional Jamboree winners and I have quite a few so I'm going to go ahead and call them up Atia Johnson Alana Johnson

026Mackenzie landrick Malik Mack Horan Atwood Shuma Destiny Chapman lusso zamir Williams and Taryn Stokes I'm sorry and Jared and Boykin not in attendance who are also Jamboree winners we have Tiana Hutchins Mariah Bullock Malaya fulwood Natalie Johnson Jackson Saunders Langdon Jaden Roberts Julia Parker Zayden Williams Stanley Chen zamir Williams Jared and Boykin and Eli Smith [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the region o Council for the advancement of minorities in engineering better known as arakami held its Regional Jamboree New Hanover County Schools is pleased to have over 20 students who placed at the event rockme devotes time energy and resources to ensure the next Generations of students is aware of possibilities through science technology and Mathematics we are thrilled to recognize the exceptional students who have achieved remarkable success at rockcoming we also appreciate the teachers mentors and

027parents who have guided and supported these exceptional students throughout their stem Journey congratulations again to these remarkable students for their sectional performance at the rocky Jamboree [Applause] I'm gonna have you guys squeeze in really close so we can get that picture foreign [Applause] our next two recognitions are unable to attend due to graduation and award ceremony conflicts but I still wanted to take the moment to recognize them as they may be watching um we would do our National Merit Scholarship Sean M hessen and Juliana K Ellis both seniors at Harvard High School congratulations to Sean and Juliana for the remarkable achievement as recipients of the prestigious National Merit Scholarships their outstanding academic performance dedication and intellectual Pursuits have been recognized nationally their achievement reflects years of hard work determination and a passion for learning their

028success inspires their peers and is in a shining example of what can be achieved through diligence and intellectual curiosity as they continue their educational Journeys we do not doubt that Sean and Julian will continue to thrive and positively impact their respective fields we wish them continued success and fulfillment and all their future endeavors [Music] foreign [Applause] ER senior at John T hoggart High School we are thrilled to celebrate Ava Sawyer a senior at Hoggard high school for her extraordinary achievement in receiving both the Moorhead pain scholarship and the parks scholarship for North Carolina universities Ava's outstanding academic achievements leadership qualities and commitment to community service have earned her these prestigious and highly competitive scholarships the Morehead Payne scholarship awarded by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the park scholarship awarded by North

029Carolina State University are highly competitive and prestigious honors Ava's selection as a recipient of both scholarships is a testament to her exemplary achievements dedication and potential for Extraordinary future accomplishments ayla's commitment to academic Excellence leadership skills and community service dedication have set her apart as an exceptional student and an inspiring role model her achievements bring honor not only to herself but also to her family's school and Community we are immensely proud of her and excited to witness her future success as she embarks on her educational Journey congratulations to Ava [Applause] foreign of the evening is for our black history Arts contest sponsored by our friends of Williston and Mr Madden are you do you have the chance for them Mr Smith would you like you and Mr battle want to come up in addition to

030the recognitions that we have here to give them they have each student who one has also received a check from Friends of Williston for a hundred dollars for their their winnings so at this time I'd like to invite Victor montalbottom make Moroccan Ramirez Malik Mack Amaya green nariah Nelson and Jaden Laurette back up [Applause] for the third consecutive year the friends of Williston is proud to partner with Williston Middle School in conducting an art contest that honors historical black persons who have impacted history the purpose of the friends of Williston is to honor the legacy of Williston senior high school as a historic leadership icon of the African-American community in Wilmington North Carolina and to demonstrate its Legacy by promoting a well-maintained campus for Williston and the public schools in the area of Williston and

031by promoting Outreach programs aimed at supporting the student population of these schools we proudly celebrate the exceptional talent and creativity of these students who have emerged as black history Arts contest winners through their Artistic Endeavors these students have showcased their immense talents and demonstrated a deep understanding and appreciation for the contributions of black individuals throughout the history congratulations again and thank you friends of Williston [Applause] that concludes my recognitions for the evening thank you thank you [Music] next we have the classified employee recognition Dr Barnes there we go good evening I'd like to present uh no one wants to hear this voice this evening anyway so I'm going to introduce Jennifer Geller my executive director to present this wonderful award thank you good evening it is my pleasure to announce the award recipients for our

032third quarter of Excellence exemplified classified employees so I'd like to ask Carla Lewin to come on up first I think you can come on up right here you can stand right over here if you'd like thank you so Carla joined the Bellamy Staff last year during her time at Bellamy she has quickly become a highly valuable team member of the EC Department Carla goes above and beyond her Call of Duty every day she works with the students who have a high level of need and pushes her students to reach their fullest potential she believes in the students that she works with and holds them to high standards she treats her students with respect and love that they deserve she demonstrates the necessary patients needed to help her students succeed and she cheers them on when

033they reach their goals she gives them pep talks when they're having a rough day she sees her job as more than a job it's a life's mission when her kids are hurting she hurts with them and when her kids are excited she is excited with them the lives of the students she works with are better because of Carla so thank you very much and congratulations [Applause] foreign next I'd like to ask Mr Marcus Langley to come up Mr Langley is a support associate and he works in our print shop Marcus has been a huge resource for us throughout the years our teachers have come to rely on the print shop for those large jobs that they need as a grade level the time saved by submitting those jobs to Marcus is time that teachers and

034teacher assistants get to remain in the classroom with students to provide instruction on a personal level I don't think you can find a more flexible helpful co-worker who will go the extra mile to produce a quality product for our use by our staff and students he is very personable genuine and a kind individual who is a pleasure to know and to work with Marcus embodies the essence of what great customer service looks like and he is even better than Chick-fil-A because even when he is super busy he is still Pleasant to work with goes above and beyond and is humble and makes you feel like you're his only customer we are grateful for Marcus so congratulations [Applause] and I understand we have no administrative introductions at this point so uh I will entertain a motion

035to approve the minutes I just wanted to um Junior's pride month in our community and around the world um yesterday we had the opportunity if five of us to attend the County Commission meeting where they officially informally proclaimed June as and recognized Junior's pride month in New Hanover County um I would like to just say happy Pride months to all our family friends staff and students who are members of the lgbtq plus Community that's all I had to say thank you Ms Walker appreciate that and now I will carry on thank you again Ms Walker for that we will carry on with the approval of the minutes is there a motion to prove the minutes you have a motion we have a second we have a first and second uh any discussion no all in

036favor please signify by saying aye aye any opposed that carries 7-0 we'll carry on with student voice welcome hope you all are doing well surviving the end of the school year crazy we just wanted to briefly update you on our progress as we wrap up this school year uh we have been meeting weekly with different um middle school and high school principals to inform them on the student voice opportunities and how they can support us and we have gotten so much support principals are helping us to spread our interest form so that all students are aware of the opportunities that will be available to available to them next year um and we also heard that the committee application is being reviewed tonight so we are super excited about that because we have a lot of

037students that are excited to apply and to be able to be involved in those committee discussions that really are meaningful and impact our education and teneia is going to talk about our summer plans moving forward hello everyone so during the summer we are going to be working on the details for our application for our student engagement team which will be the team that comes to our board meetings such as you know what we're doing right now and report to you guys so you guys know what we're doing um so that's what we're going to be doing during the summer we're just going to make sure we have everything together so that when the next school year comes everything is put together and we can get ready to roll and we already have 30 students who

038have filled out our interest form and we have contacted them so it's exciting we have a lot of student interests across many different middle and high schools so we're very excited about what next year will bring and that we'll be able to really be involved in those meaningful conversations to impact decision making thank you again so much for your support we are so excited about this opportunity um thank you so much well thank you so many questions does anybody have any questions Miss Walker I just have a comment um I want to say how much I appreciate you guys being the leaders the student leaders here I know it's it's a big task because this is new but you guys are really working hard and and we're excited and we're going to talk about our

039Universal application here and hopefully we can work that out and get that to you as soon as possible because we would love to have your voice on our committees so thank you thank you so much whatever your phone right um ladies thank you for your update I wanted to to ask a clarifying question because I was reviewing the student voice policy 4004 and you're noting student engagement teams and that's a different verbiage that we use so it sounds to me like that policy needs to be updated and our next policy meeting is June 20th is that something that you would be present to be able to be at to be review or um I mean I can put you on the agenda for a later month but just knowing hearing that change tells me that

040we need to fix our policy so um yeah I'm sure we could figure out a lot of us are traveling this summer but I'm sure some of us would be able to be here if that's something that needs to happen send an email to me by in this week and if it can't be this June I'll put it on for the August meeting oh thank you um yes I um somebody can also attend via Zoom if you need to you know to help with that the um just wanted to you know compliment you on your tenacity for keeping going and for allowing the process to work out um I think you guys have gotten a good eyeful earful on um government bureaucracy and in getting you know policy from start to finish and then so

041now the the real work is ahead you know on actually doing something that you've committed to do so I'm looking forward to working with you and figuring this all out but um and then of course you know we're all available to answer questions and you know give guidance any time so enjoy your summer yay what else well again on behalf of the board we want to thank you for all your hard work and again please have a wonderful summer and we look forward to hearing more from you soon thank you at this point we will turn it over to the superintendent for his report I want to start by expressing our gratitude to the County Commissioners their dedication to the education of our children is reflected in an impressive 129 million they've allocated to our

042in upcoming school year this funding covers a wide range of needs from every classroom expenses to servicing our debt and notably the expansion of pre-K or pre-kindergarten classrooms go over this budget also supports essential improvements in our school infrastructure an additional 10 million has been set aside for Capital needs which include crucial security enhancements this represents a 6 million increase from last year Paving the way for safer and more secure learning environments importantly this budget also enables us to maintain competitive salaries for our locally funded positions with this investment we can provide payee raises that align with those provided by the state we believe this is essential to attract and retain high quality Educators and staff in our school system lastly I'm excited to share and will soon be sharing new principles in our New

043Hanover County School community so we will be updating our website with new principles for those who are retiring and moving on and we're confident that these dedicated professionals will bring French perspective and great greatly enrich our students learning experiences thank you thank you Dr Faust I will not be very alone with my comments but uh I was fortunate enough to join several board members and Dr Faust as we celebrated many retiring Educators from all different schools and jobs as they move on to their next phases of their lives on behalf of the board and school system we want to thank you for your excellent service to our students it's graduation time again and again we want to celebrate our seniors well done and we wish you the best in your future endeavors we are very

044very proud of you thanks to everyone involved in end of grade and end of course testing it is a challenging time for sure but again we're encouraged by the results of our faculties and our students hard work and finally as Dr Faust has mentioned the budget as we prepare for our future we're encouraged by our partnership with the County Commissioners as always we continue to do all we can to provide our students with the very best education possible I hope that our students families and staff will have a wonderful summer enjoy their time off get rest and get ready for even a better next year to those who won't be with us next year the graduated seniors and retirees again we wish you the very very best in your future that's the end of my

045report at this point we will go on to call to audience Mr chair I just have a question with them on the online because someone had asked me about the the display and everyone's information up there I don't know if that was intentional or accidental but I don't know if it's a good idea to have on the website everybody's phone number and email audience yeah Mr Smith I saw I just saw I just wanted to bring it up before we had that because I think people had asked me away certainly so when folks sign up to call the audience online we you folks can view it in real time it's a spreadsheet uh since the day that we put it up we removed the phone numbers in the email but I will note and Jason

046feel free to clarify um happy to do so but in signing up for a public comment section that does in fact create a public record so as the custodian of public records I just want folks to realize that in the act of signing up you are creating a public record which is requestable by other members of the public and so it's not something that we can hold private but it's certainly something that we don't need to display if that if that helps I would like it not to be this but I mean I just don't know if that's a good practice I mean names I would say okay but in subject matters uh that's something Mr Weber as long as we capture that do we need to have it um Mr Smith is correct so

047um if there was a request that's one thing but in terms of posting you're not required to post the names or any other information okay thank you sir can I ask a quick question if we start um so we we have 20 how many did we get like on this first go around how many did we have to not allow to talk certainly so just to remind everyone last month the board directed that we try a new approach for three months and that approach included a lottery system that allowed for 20 selectees that sign up online and then an additional five leaving us with five 25 call to the audience participants per board meeting we opened call to the audience registration last month at the conclusion of the agenda review meeting approximately five o'clock and

048we left it open until yesterday at noon when we closed it over those seven days six seven days we had individuals signing up almost every day and 25 signed up in total yesterday at one o'clock we held a lottery system which we filmed and selected 20 with a random number generator and then those 20 are who you see reflected here tonight with an additional names uh provided outside for folks to sign up in person which put us at 25. okay any other questions if not um Mr Patrick if you'd recall the names please okay here we go Michael Davidson uh I provided with you a statement that hopefully you got this morning and today sometime because it's too long to read I just want to kind of highlight it I talked about what I said

049the DNA of communities and I contrasted Lawrence Kansas where I spent many years living Lawrence Kansas was established in 1850 to assure by residents of Massachusetts who moved to Kansas to ensure that Kansas came into the Union as a free state it defined Lawrence to this day that is a most welcoming Community a community that welcomes conflict and discussions it openly and even though they do have time limits at meetings uh they limit it to five minutes but they don't limit the number of speakers and I hope you would consider that as you move ahead I'm contrasting that to Wilmington I'm just going to read part of a Despicable document that was published in 1898 in the Raleigh North Carolina news and observance and the statement I'm going to read you can read the whole

050thing it's called The White decoration of independence we the undesigned citizens of the city of Wilmington and the county of New Haven do hereby declare that we no longer be ruled and never again by ruled by men of African origin fairly despicable but I think it also sets the tone for what Wilmington has to deal with in the future uh I took more notes in my document that talked about I think the problem that not only this school board is facing but school boards around the country are facing is something called Christian nationalism it has nothing to do with Christian faith what it has to do is people who think that non-whites are not as good as them I am offended by that I am offended by your school board looking at banding books you

051just declared pride month but you're Banning books and pride citizens Mr Davidson you're out of time thank you Stephanie Fortunato [Applause] Stephanie Fortunato good evening nhcs needs to focus on academic Pride every month thank you to each and every board member seeking to create a learning environment focused on academic Excellence which is the great equalizer it is something that each and every student parent as well as educator can take pride in children's education is a major political issue and has been for years surveys of Voters have long placed education High among their priorities however we have entered a new phase with a new and pressing concern for parents it used to be that parents mostly worried about the quality of their children's education did schools employ the best methods to teach reading writing and arithmetic

052did the curriculum prepare students for well-compensated highly skilled jobs and or careers research research has for decades shown serious problems on these fronts with reports finding children's basic knowledge and competence lacking both on objectivity and in relation to other countries parents have had to confront the proliferation in our schools of woke indoctrination thanks to leftist EDI ideology that has been woven into our school policies curricular has been found to be laced with critical gender ideology and can be read of in school library books and doled out by teachers who engage in LGBT advocacy this over sexualization of kids as early as kindergarten is undermining core religious values of so many households and does nothing to enhance academic Excellence which is the true leveler of socio and economic disadvantages equality and expectation of excellence in education

053are of the utmost importance every student should have equal access to school resources in a positive and safe environment anything to the contrary should not be allowed and is detrimental to individual Student Success thank you thank you Dorian Cromartie um she is not feeling well it's not here no she's she's not well she sent a message May 30th I went up to Rachel Freeman School of Engineering to exchange the awards that my grandmother has earned on her 55 years on this planet I exchanged those Awards well I was going to exchange those awards for another set of awards uh the SRO watched me do it we conversated about it and then miss Fields walked into the front office she didn't say anything to me I got the awards I left the school at 1 30

054that same day I got an email from Administration in the email it reads that Mr Buchanan seems to believe and I quote I understand that you may have removed items that you believed to be yours now these Awards have never been in the school's possession to keep they've never been in the district's possession to keep and in a public email he decided to accuse me of theft now everyone that knows me that if I'm going to do something I'm going to do and I'm going to tell you I did it I don't care what I did I pay my own bills I do not appreciate being accused of theft by an administrator that I do not know I don't feel comfortable in his presence he did not call me he did not text me he

055emailed me accusing me of theft everyone in that school knows how to get in contact with me but he decided in his admission in his administration decided to accuse me of theft without even letting me know first I don't appreciate it I filed a ethics 360 report I asked the only way that this be remedied is for an apology that is it I don't appreciate it those Awards belong to this family they belong to my family and they've never belonged to the district I've done this for years without problems one second yes Mr chair this may be a Personnel matter if it involves School staff there's certainly avenues for submitting concerns and complaints regarding staff those can be directed to a jar or to the superintendent and those are methods for members of the community

056or anyone else who would have concerns so again Mr Marty um if you wouldn't uh Dr Barnes will reach out to you and we can further discuss that uh you can discuss that I'm sorry oh you can Dr Martin will speak with you now about it okay all right thank you sir thank you Robert Bellamy how y'all doing today my name is Robert Bellamy uh this is a quote from Zoe Tolman instead of training children to meet the expectations of adults we shall be training adults to meet the psychological emotional and development needs of children the disciplinary action is taken against these kids should not be all their fault and abusive uh in the business Society produces children that has so many emotional needs that results in them acting out in school you the system

057and grown-ups are at fault when your little brains are not fully developed when the kid is doing something wrong do you do something to make it worse do you really think that helps in situations the way the world was or is today from my own experience it makes it worse there was a time when my grandmother just talked to me before whipping my tail I realized today that she was checking my mindset to see if I really needed that switch that day then she would give me a choice do the work she needed in the yard or cut a switch so many times I have worked that yard there were so many ways to there are so many ways to punish a kid suspended them from learning from a learning moment pushes them from a

058lesson that should be taught in school I think uh schools should have developed anti-suspension unit that pick up kids take them to therapeutic sections and find out what's what their emotional needs are suspending them should be the system's Last Choice let's just take a kid for a ride thank you very much thank you Mr Bellamy Rachel doll [Applause] good evening my name is Rachel Dole I'm a pastor in this community and a mother of children in this school system I would like to say thank you to miss Walker and to the board for recognizing pride month tonight the decision has already been made and implemented but this Board needs to know that the transgender Community is suffering from your decision not just the middle school athletes that can no longer play but the entire lgbtq

059community that heard you say loudly and clearly that you are choosing to not provide a safe environment for those students to learn in you are also telling their peers that they are less than and I assure you they are not in the school system's policy code 2120 the code ethics for school board members it states and I quote each member of the board commits to do the following and number 10 reads to learn about current educational issues by individual study and through participation in programs providing needed information such as those sponsored by state and National School Board associations end quote at the meeting when you voted to stop allowing transgender middle school students to play for the team with which they identify it was suggested by a board member that you as a board get

060more information from your Title IX liaison and from your attorneys but several of you decided you already knew enough to make that decision until you have worked with and cared for anyone that identifies as transgender I assure you you did not have the information you needed to make that decision or you would have made it a different one I ask you tonight that as you listen to information about Aces adverse childhood experiences you will give thought to how this school board is choosing to treat its students its staff and families that identify as lgbtq your actions have Ripples and consequences in the lives of every family in New Hanover County and these students you're out of time overgaro [Applause] I'm delighted to see that lives and balance would be presented later in the program this

061evening love our children believes all children all students and staff deserve to be treated with dignity and respect all students and staff must feel safe and be safe in and around their schools and workplaces students benefit from being in their own classrooms and in their schools and there is positive behavior alternatives to out-of-school suspensions lives and balance offers an alternative to out-of-school suspensions that alternative is called collaborative and proactive Solutions or CPS using the model administrators teachers and staff learn that disruptive behavior stems from lagging skills in flexibility adaptability frustration tolerance emotional regulation and problem solving suspending students does not build any of these skills using the strategy of CPS will I hope there is money from the sanctioned idea funds to provide training to interested parents parents play an important role in collaborative problem

062solving with their children love our children supports lives and balance and we hope you will too thank you thank you Miss Gerald Angela [Applause] every single one of you ran with a campaign with the promise of parent voice most of you quote the Constitution almost every time you speak yet one of the first things you exercise power on is to silence our first amendment rights of freedom of speech by limiting call to audience is it because you don't like what we have to say in speaking truth perhaps if you were dedicated to reaching a settlement and doing the right thing by the victims of sexual assault as you are silencing voices the victims could receive closure and begin to heal from trauma inflicted by New Hanover County Schools if you researched and educated yourselves on

063the federal Title IX laws to the same degree that you've put forth in Banning books our students would be safe at school a few four short weeks ago you've flaunted a resolution pass to request the SBI results from Josh Stein's office did you do that to erase your own guilty conscience in a fictional Act of heroism because I'm confused as to how that benefits the victims of sexual assault and brings us closer to resolution do you really anticipate that those documents are going to be different from what we've watched them fold in court proceedings the former students at New Hanover County Schools failed to protect don't need theatrics and performative action they need for you to agree to the full settlement and that starts with a public genuine apology and a guarantee that history will

064not repeat itself by listening to and following those who who have experienced the real life hell of sexual assault through implementing programmatic prevention strategies to protect students these are things that the seven of you have absolute control over to make it happen why would you not want to acknowledge what has already been proven through confession and conviction why would you not want to put parameters in place to protect children that is the bare minimum of what you're expected to do as board members Keep Kids Safe stop making excuses stop pretending that you are victims stop stalling and re-victimizing the sexual assault survivors and settle the cases both monetarily for their pain and suffering and programmatically so that they can begin to heal from this trauma and put an end to this horrific cycle of abuse

065thank you Mr Haney Peter radowicz [Applause] [Music] short-term suspension policy 4351 states that before a student receives an out of school suspension quote the student has the right to be present at an informal hearing but does not have the right to have a parent or other representative present this is a one-size-fits-all sentence that does not make sense for our youngest learners children in kindergarten first grade and second grade should have the right to have their parent present before they are kicked out of school kindergarteners and first and second graders are only four five six and seven years old a parent could be present by either attending in person or participating over the phone or through a video conference a parent could also choose not to attend in other words having the right to be present

066does not require a parent to be present policy 4351 also states that quote School administrators will utilize Positive Behavior Support alternatives to suspensions and only use out-of-school suspensions as a last resort informal hearings should include a review of all of the interventions that have been used before a young child receives a suspension a child should have the right to have a parent present for that review love our children is asking the policy committee to revise policy 4351 with the sentence quote students under the age of eight or under grade 3 have the right to have a parent or other representative president thank you Mr radovich thank you mahalini Cooper foreign y Cooper good evening my name is pronounced Malini for all the Educators out there New Hanover County has a serious problem with disproportionately suspending

067children who look black like me who are black like me and the numbers speak for itself I'm going to share a poem with you about a student who was suspended and this is what happened to her life she's sucking her teeth rolling her eyes letting all the boys get between her thighs losing her virginity at 13 messing with a boy who's 17. she's cold as ice hitting the streets all the little boys call her sweet tea calling her the wrong names behind her back didn't graduate and these are the facts she was the class clown laughing at everything finding out the little girl couldn't even read nine months pregnant and the daddies broke statutory rape charges ain't no joke locked up now crying all alone didn't have the money for a cell phone food stamps

068ran out no EBT this is someone's true story she didn't want to listen she didn't pay attention now she's paying the consequences homeless sleeping out in the streets wishing that she didn't have a baby praying that her mama will let home let her home tired of sleeping out in the streets living her life in poverty now all the Johns call her be sweet dripping with sweat and heroin this is how her story would end moral of the story is to find out why children act out before you suspend them thank you thank you Leslie Posey foreign good evening equity and equality are two words that are being thrown around a lot in various organizations these days often they are used as synonyms they are not I would like to use the EOG testing as examples

069I'm describing the old paper version for Simplicity in one scenario the desks are arranged in the classroom in rows the students come in turn their phones off and give them to the teacher everyone sits in a seat the teacher gives everyone a test two pencils and a sheet of paper they read the instructions and everyone starts they have two and a half hours with two three-minute stretch breaks at the End of Time the teacher collects all the materials and returns them to the office that is equality everyone is treated exactly the same and that's fine for most students but to be successful some students need to be in a smaller more spread out group some need more time second language students need a translation dictionary some students may need to read the test aloud to

070themselves so they need to be in a room with just the test administrator some students need more than two stretch breaks these are called accommodations they are routinely used to be used to be sure that all students have what they need to be successful this is also called equity Equity means providing students or other people what they need to be successful it is not the same as equality I don't know what you have been politically coerced into believing but Equity is not a dirty word your job is to give the students what they need and what they need is equity not politics next month's vocabulary word will be diversity in case you want to prepare Michael Sheridan oh Michelle no Michael yep this is very small on my sheet tonight very small it's okay good

071evening my name is Dr Michael Sheridan and I am here to speak to you about out of school suspensions here is the out of school suspension data from your Communications office from the beginning of this school year through the end of April there have been 19 suspensions in kindergarten the majority of kids in kindergarten are five years old 15 suspensions in first grade where the majority are six years old 28 suspensions in second grade where the majority are seven years old that's a total of 62 out of school suspensions so far till the end of April not counting May or June 4 5 6 and 7 year olds we know from the data Ms varnum shared last month that black students are suspended in New Hanover County iterate that six times that of their peers

072and that black students with disabilities are suspended at a rate of 4.5 times that of their peers this significant disproportionality in our schools has been identified by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction for at least the past five years it is an important reason to go back and review your out of school suspension policies love our children is asking the policy committee to revise policy 4351 with a sentence quote students under the age of eight or under grade 3 have the right to have a parent or other representative present at the informal hearing we believe more parental participation will help reduce out of school suspensions for our youngest Learners thank you thank you delicate Jordan is Alicia here not here okay Miss Mercer Mercier good evening every month that I can I sign up

073to speak in order to be a voice for educators and students both who really feel they can speak out without facing retaliation I cannot stop until I know their voices are being acknowledged and their needs are being met with that being said I attended a rally of support for sexual assault victims right before this meeting these are grown men who are still crippled by the effects of abuse years later because they have been victimized and re-victimized with no closure even after all these years even if you weren't part of the board or school system when the abuse happened you should feel shame especially if you are doing nothing to remedy the issue and here we are in 2023 and all of North Carolina is experiencing a critical teacher shortage it doesn't matter what the state

074says about numbers there is a shortage and it's only going to get worse Dr Faust has already said New Hanover County is losing 10 percent of its employees do you know what is affected when there are fewer adults safety one adult only has two eyes and can only see and observe so much and more sors isn't the answer what we need adults who can work directly with students so how do you do that I had remembered that when the hospital was sold education was supposed to be a priority for the profits of the sale I did some research and apparently any non-profit New Hanover County can apply for a grant through the New Hanover County Community endowment I looked at their list of recipients and I did not see New Hanover County Schools listed so

075I'm guessing no one applied for help but what I did see was 554 900 dollars given to area Charter Schools they're already getting the school systems money for each student they enroll and now they're getting Hospital sale money as well New Hanover County schools has so many areas of need why aren't you asking for money to enrich our schools we must invest in education it is a Sound Investment and provides us with a secure future what you do or don't do today will have effects for decades thank you Veronica McLaurin Brown Representatives so love our children have been speaking to the board of education for the past 27th consecutive months one of the reasons we keep showing up is because our children our Educators our parents and our community need and deserve school policies that

076support a school climate that heals our community rather than traumatizes it it took us 13 months to promote training of Positive Behavior Support alternatives to keep our kids in school and to end out of school suspensions for four five six and seven-year-olds for minor infractions now we are asking the policy committee to revise policy 4351 with the sentence students under the age of eight or grade under grade three have the right to have a parent of other representative present at the informal hearings to everyone that is listening please watch last month's policy committee meeting what happened when policy 4351 came up the revision that was discussed was to require a parent a guardian of any pre-k through high school student to be present during any meeting or appeal after a short-term suspension have had been

077imposed we are only asking for a change for four five six and seven year olds we want parents to have the right the right not a requirement to be present we are only talking about one meeting the informal hearing and we are advocating for parent participation before you suspend children that believe in Santa Claus the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy change the change policy 4351 give parents the right to be present at an informal hearing without making it a requirement thank you thank you Miss Brown [Music] Ashley Richardson foreign hi my name is Ashley Richardson my children are fourth and fifth grade students in this District finding two loaded guns at one high school within two weeks is completely unacceptable how many more guns can we assume are in Ashley High School and this

078is just one building in our district the board is quoted in news articles and Community Communications with families that safety is your top priority and although there are efforts being made it's not enough I know you guys said you're working on stuff maybe that I don't know about but um what are we waiting for another Columbine Sandy Hook or Parkland before we take drastic measures I'm asking that at least metal detectors be installed in all of our schools elementary through high school before the fall semester begins I reached out to the superintendent and to our principal via email on April 26 about this I haven't heard from Mr Foss but I did hear back from our principal her email included a copied response she received from the district the district believes metal detectors would make

079the school feel quote unwelcoming like a prison it would give a false sense of security if metal detectors give a false sense of security then why did all of us grown adults have to walk through a metal detector coming in here tonight have our bags searched and police lining the space obviously you all feel the need to be protected but not our kids at the same level kids are already used to going through them at concerts Arenas airports theme parks sporting events even Disney World it's an all it's it's just in how they are presented having multiple entrances came up as a hurdle isn't part of the current security plan having people enter an exit buildings in a certain pattern if this safety measure is truly in place funneling students and staff through metal detectors

080should it be difficult I spoke with a board member about budgeting and said and was speaking about how funds that are already allocated that it's extremely difficult to reallocate for something thank you Miss Richardson your time is up we can do better Karen Clark [Music] in 1776 The Preamble of the North Carolina Constitution framed everything with acknowledgment of almighty God we the people of the state of North Carolina grateful to almighty God The Sovereign ruler of Nations for the preservation of the American Union and the existence of our civil political and religious liberties and acknowledging him for the continuance of those blessings to us and our posterity for the more certain security thereof and for the better government of this state ordain and establish this constitution I pray that each of you honor the Living

081Word the king of all the universe full of Glory the only God who is worthy of the highest honors throughout all of time I pray over you and understanding heart so you can passionately know and obey the truth I pray as you fight for our children the Lord's commandments are your counselors that you set your heart on his precepts and pay close attention to all his ways for an athlete who doesn't play by the rules will never receive the trophy so remain faithful to God now may the Lord himself the Lord of Peace pour into you his peace in every circumstance in every possible way the Lord's tangible presence be with you in Jesus name amen thank you Miss Clark Chris Sutton we had a shooting in Northern New Hanover County that involved one of

082our high school students the student's house was shot up with his family inside I can't I was contacted by one of the family members that told me over a dozen rounds were fired the shooter was believed to be close in age to the high school student I contacted our school district to give you all a heads up since it involved a student I received a response from miss crabill that thanked me and then proceeded to say that we all need to stay in our lanes and not share information outside our purview not exactly the response I was hoping for after recent uh multiple gun incidents at our schools I feel like our board and administration should be asking questions to see if this situation was handled to the best of our ability did law enforcement

083contact the school district to let them know that the student had that a student had their house shot up by some of their peers potentially if the school district was contacted did anyone reach out to the family to offer any resources or maybe get them in touch with our Community Partners like Port City United I saw this as an opportunity to see how well our Administration is communicating with others the public doesn't have to be privileged to the results just make the system better if you find anything that needs to tweak that's all we ask I do not understand why crabill decided to respond with the stay in their lame remark then again I also do not understand why krabel freaked out at a recent board meeting and challenged the chair to not only gavel

084her but also dared the chair to throw her out now we are discussing a policy change that would penalize board members for acting out uh an Ethics policy do I support the policy as written no I do not as it is written I believe the policy can be inappropriately used to stifle dissenting voices on the board at bare minimum this policy should be taking a super majority to activate next month I look forward to the board having a discussion about the uh teachers getting caught inappropriate relations with children that policy change we've had bad actors not be submitted to the state and were able to continue to be around children our board should protects every child and not just the children under Hanover County and I believe that is exactly what this policy does reminder

085that the new change call to audience took away one third of the spots and deprived five members of the community to be able to be heard tonight what positives which came from it thank you thank you Mr Sutton [Applause] do you know that is the is the first 20 we had four people who did not come to who did a no-show two who sent us a message just so I don't know Mr Smith is it possible that if people aren't coming they should notify so that others would that allow other people to come how could that work yeah I think you'd have several options that you'd have to explore accepting absenteeism maybe one of them um we certainly can't require folks to let us know if they can't come nor can we hold a lottery

086in real time and good conscience right before so perhaps pivoting to allow more in-person signups if you were to stick to the 25 limit I think we'd have to explore that in Greater detail we had four just four out of five signups tonight so that wasn't full either so Loretta Stackhouse is our first sorry arthritis hit something sometimes excuse me I have a lot of questions about Miss Barnum's presentation on student discipline from last month's meeting she reported that New Hanover County Schools have been sanctioned by the federal government's individuals with disabilities Acts for the past five years for the significant disproportionality of out-of-school suspensions for black special education students at 4.5 times the rate of their peers as a result fifteen percent of the money that our special education programs were to receive each

087year has been set aside to address the disproportionality she said that over five years the sanctioned money that should have gone to our special education students but didn't totaled over 4.5 million dollars so here are my questions how was the public notified about the sanctions during the past five years how does the sanction appear in the district's budget and does it appear into nice budget amendments which services and programs were not provided to our special education students during the past five years who is on the mandated review team that must review The District's policies practices and procedures related to the suspensions will the review team's report be made public I hope you'll ask Miss Varney to address those questions at the next meeting in July thank you thank you Mr Stackhouse Caleb Norris [Applause] Caleb

088Norris yeah quick question just just make sure everybody's familiar with the New Hanover High School's incidents last week before I go for the sake of time we're all familiar can you pull your mic a little closer please I knew how to ride schools incidents last week is everybody from here with all those yeah okay so essentially uh we're spending two to three days uh New Hanover High School was uh under lockdown or shelter in place due to multiple incidences related to students fighting violence the potential of violence video servicing of students in school with Firearms um I know of other school other students that were suspended as well for having knives and other paraphernalia as well um so just to um reiterate Miss Bradford your motion um I'm a Navy vet myself and uh you

089know speaking about 10 percent 10 percent of teachers you guys are losing I have a bachelor's degree and I have actually applied at New Hanover High School to try and teach there in their CTE Department however I can attest myself individually even with my background in the military and uh in site related departments I did not feel safe in that school as a teacher and the students I've been filling in with as a permanent system to have also expressed that as well so I don't believe that there is a need to wait to another meeting anything less than that is simply a statement to these students parents that you don't care for their safety or the staff safety and I've also heard of uh other various staff members that said they would not be returning

090due to safety concerns and if they they value their safety unless you're out of time okay but they value their safety over thank you thank you Judy Justice [Applause] hello smile doesn't hurt all right our schools are in crisis due to lack of adequate funding last year 13 of 39 of our schools were deemed failing by our state we are losing staff in record numbers due to low pay understaffing exhaustion poor working conditions and the lack of support from school leadership next year the district plans to cut hundreds of positions and increase class sizes this will lead to further student failure and unsafe working conditions our facilities are crumbling this year 65 million dollars in facility repair was request requested district-wide the county has said it will only provide nine million dollars by local law

091governments local governments are supposed to fund school facilities we are the eighth wealthiest county in the state yet according to the North Carolina DPI we rank 51st in the state for actual expenditure pupil what makes it worse is that North Carolina itself is ranked 48th in the nation when it comes to per-pupil expenditure this lack of resources has resulted in our failing schools with unhealthy and often dangerous environments yet our County Commissioners have access to the funds to make our schools the best in the state on October the 5th 2020 the Commissioners and Novant Health Science and at set purchase agreement for almost two billion dollars for the sale of our County Hospital 1.25 billion was placed in an endowment operated by a Community Foundation whose number one area identified for its use was public

092primary secondary and post-secondary education another 300 million dollars was placed in the county commissioner's stabilization fund and they can use that fund with a super majority vote by investing in our schools using the promised money from the sale of our hospital we will change the course of our students life we need to repair and improve our declining Public Schools this will also lead to a safer more vibrant and successful Community for all you the school board should fight and use that money as promised you have the ability to and I haven't seen it happen yet you should all be ashamed of yourself except maybe one person has seen try thank you thank you Ms Justice and our last speaker Eden Avery [Applause] foreign ful to be have the opportunity to be added to this list

093since I was my number was not lucky in the lottery um I'd like to speak to safety it's imperative we know it um sadly the board voted to actually demote safety as a top priority in your strategic plan for this year and that has been very telling as to how the board has continued to operate and I will include Dr Faust in that as well um we have Miss varnum presented incredibly powerful numbers about our students who are suffering in schools because they are being targeted for suspension disproportionately because of the color of their skin it's very clear do they feel safe do our trans students feel safe when we have heard un despicable rhetoric in this very center where our students should be centered and all of them should be insured safety and protection

094and then the board enacts policies which directly discriminate against them in our schools we have had unfortunate incidents with weapons and in response to that there has been no effort to understand exactly what our students are feeling what they're facing why they may in fact feel the need to protect themselves in schools because they are not being protected instead we're criminalizing them we're bringing in police more police who have always been present in our schools and yet they still don't feel safe we're bringing in police dogs to search out weapons to search out drugs Meanwhile we're covering up fights we're covering up overdoses these are situations that are of significant concern in our children need to be protected lastly settle settle the abuse case you can do it you've got the power thank you [Applause]

095you want to take a second to thank all the speakers this evening thank you for your time and and for your input it's definitely very important Mr will because um so can I get that lady's name did you asked your lady's name huh Eden Avery so the um going forward is it possible that um after they sign in that maybe we can make a copy and upload it so that we can all see those names it was up there it was up there right I guess all right I wasn't yeah sorry yeah it's okay yeah right there thank you she's number 24. safety all right um but let's carry on our next item for business is um closed session I would entertain a motion pursuant to NC General statute 143 318 11a 1 3 and

0966. to consider Personnel matters and maintain a confidentiality of personnel records under uh ncgs 115c 319-321 prevent disclosure of Student Records rendered confidential under the family education rights and Privacy Act 20 USC one two three two and a consult with the board's attorney and preserve the attorney-client privilege including the cases cat the caption John Doe one through fourteen versus New Hanover County Board of Education at all 19 CVS 2745 Jane does one two versus New Hanover County Board of Education at all 20 CVS 1395 and Jane Doe three versus New Hanover County Board of Education at all 21 CVS 4707 Consolidated matters and the New Hanover County Board of Education versus now Islands insurance company at all New Hanover County Superior Court case 21 CVS 4094. do I hear that motion oh wait do we

097have a second second second any discussion yes sir yes the sheer Simplicity can he not just State the statue of short deservement but if you did that he can rather than going through that whole thing every time the chair has the option of referring to the motion as it's written on the screen or just reading it it's at the cherish discretion I'll save time in the future I'm sorry all right we have a motion in second any other discussion if not all in favor please signify by saying aye aye aye any opposed we are in closed session foreign how did you I don't know I don't have one we're back in Open Session uh next we have information the gifted advisory Council annual report and we're ready thanks for being here thank you good evening

098board members superintendent pal staff members and visitors my name is Kara Johnson and I'm the chairperson of the New Hanover County gifted advisory Council I've had the privilege of serving on the council since 2014 and have worked with other members to support and advocate for our County's robust gifted program I'm a trained educator including an educational background in gifted education however my role in the council has been primarily that of the voice of a parent of three children who have been served in the County's gifted education program although the important work of the gifted advisory Council was paused during the covet pandemic I'm happy to report that our group had a full year of in-person monthly meetings site visits and special events aimed at supporting our gifted Specialists and educating parents and others involved in

099local gifted education tonight I would like to present a summary of our annual report and highlight some of the council's current work and plans as well as ask for your continued support of this important population of students the North Carolina legislative statute known as article 9B mandates identification and services for AIG students stating specifically that these students require differentiated Educational Services Beyond those ordinarily provided by the regular education program this legislation also requires local education agencies to develop plans relating to gifted education which are Rewritten and reviewed every three years which was included in our work last year one important goal in our three-year plan is examining and implementing strategies to increase the diversity of the identified AIG population as such our group visited three schools this year Alderman Elementary Williston Middle and New Hanover

100High School Each of which includes a diverse population of students and at each site visit we met with the AIG specialist as well as with identified AIG students these site visits indicated a strong commitment on the part of the specialist to meeting the needs of this unique population whether through small group learning special projects extracurricular clubs course advisings college application support and Advising and social emotional support the discussions with students indicated a strong sense of community with peers and Specialists and appreciation for differentiated opportunities to learn and grow with other AIG students of course we also observe some challenges faced by both students and Specialists such as space constraints scheduling conflicts language barriers especially with parent communication Transportation constraints when considering High School specialty programs and finding Financial Resources for special events and competitions we

101continue to diversify our Council through publicly advertising opportunities for community members to serve on our Council and this year we also published a quarterly gifted advisory Council newsletter which complemented school-based weekly newsletters published by AIG specialists our student Representatives continued their service on the council bringing important voices and perspectives to our meetings next year we also plan to include students from non-traditional high schools the gifted advisory Council hosted two special events during the school year we hosted Dr Brian hausand UNCW AIG program coordinator to speak with the community on ways to engage and challenge students outside of the classroom also in partnership with New Hanover County Schools we hosted a highly successful AIG family day which was attended by over 250 community members participants had opportunities to engage in activities designed for enrichment and high-level

102thinking as well as to gather resources on ways to support their AIG students as a council we have noted how impactful and critical AIG Specialists are within each school and considering the challenges to programming previously stated the GAC Council gift advisory Council recommends and fully supports the continued funding of one full-time AIG specialist at each New Hanover County Schools elementary and middle school and also urges the consideration of supporting a full-time gifted specialist at each Traditional High School as well as adding a specialist to serve non-traditional high schools although each school has a unique and diverse population of students all schools serve both identified gifted students and the Specialists Also Serve All K to third grade students through the important nurturing program this nurturing program is especially critical to continue to identify those students who

103have potential and often those from underrepresented populations who may not be identified solely through traditional testing in a modern climate where equity and diversification are key components to thriving and successful School communities the council believes that reducing or removing services that gifted Specialists provide within schools would be the wrong direction for our County now or in future years at the high school level Specialists are in some case tasked with serving over 800 identified students which as you can imagine is not ideal when considering how to best meet the individual and unique needs of these students the council believes maintaining a gifted specialist at each elementary and middle school and providing a full-time specialist at each high school as well as one to serve students at non-traditional high schools is key for best implementing our plan

104and continuing to serve our gifted community in the most effective way as a council we look forward to the 2023-2024 school year and continuing our efforts to monitor the gifted program and advocate for our gifted students and students with high potential we also look forward to increasing our efforts to educate and partner with parents and community members about the unique needs of these students thank you for your time and thank you for your support of New Hanover County's gifted education program thank you very much board members do you have any questions I always like to look and see this is how many we had last year this is how many you had the year before so where are we on that in terms of this spring identified schools by students is it more now or

105is it less is about the same so I'm going to let Maureen Mayhem field that question she has the county numbers um I have it open up okay yeah is Barnhart Mr chairman I have a question as well um I know you were talking about the diversity of our students and you looked at elementary middle and high why not Target our elementary schools and we can see across the board that's when students are identified and once you're identified that tags along with you so if you're talking about growing the program and ensuring students are represented we clearly have some elementary schools that have very low representation and so to help strengthen those programs I'm curious what you guys are doing to help Empower and cross-district collaborations with that because that's what I personally want to

106see happen so I'd love to hear what you're doing well I've served on the council a number of years as I mentioned and one of the things that that we have done met several of those years there has been a movement to reduce services in the elementary schools or change the services and one of the things our Council has done is advocated to keep a specialist in each Elementary School even the schools that have low numbers specifically to help work on growing those numbers and working on the nurturing programs within those elementary schools apparent on our Council so we're going to stand up and support her okay okay so yeah so this is she's doing a great job okay is see I had a couple questions one um do we have and we can get

107this later um do we have the AIG breakdown by student demographic you know um I would be interested in seeing that so we make sure that we at least are reaching out to you know minority students or students that are atypically you know in these programs and we even keep track of how many students of each ethnicity are nominated and then how many are identified even how many are tested through that nomination process so we have those that we're trying to track then through the years to see if there's an increase based on our increase to um answer Ms barnhart's question um our nurturing program and our identification process has changed slightly in that we're looking at our top 10 percent of each subgroup when we're identifying so if a student is in an underrepresented

108population we're looking at just that population and we're looking at the top 10 percent of that population as an identification measure data to the board um when we get some data we can bring some data on our AIG population to help the board do that and I was just going to say that if we could have that demographic breakup of what exactly those subgroups that we're monitoring to look at the top 10 thank you very much I think it's important to note also that the identification process although it begins in elementary school it does continue through middle school and high school and so the specialist that is one of the roles that the middle and high school Specialists serve is looking at students who are maybe scoring on end of year tests or end of

109grade tests high that have not been identified previously and I think that you're looking at English language Learners in different ways those Specialists play critical roles in middle and high school populations Miss Walker hey thank you yes for on the discussion of identifying I know I probably brought this up before maybe a couple years ago my own experience students that are maybe have IEPs that perhaps are Autistic or maybe have different learning styles or whatever I know my son was identified he never made AIG or was recommended but he had a very high IQ so I I know at one point they had said well we're going to look at other ways to identify and maybe that that would be one of them but I don't know if you guys have thought of that I

110mean I'm sure you have thought of that but I'm sure you thought of it maybe twice exceptional students in our district uh we are screening takes place in the third grade with the cogat screener and then let's say either a student moves in and never took the cogat or didn't score well enough on the kogak that doesn't mean that you can't be identified in the future we then use end of grade tests as a kind of each year as a screener we're looking at that top 10 percent by total population and by each subgroup if a student now anyone can can nominate a student for the AIG program it can be a parent it can be a teacher it can be themselves it could be a peer so once that nomination comes in that score

111of the high IQ may not show on any OG so but we're not saying that we can't take an outside sources test we have approved test instruments that we can use through our identification service no so I guess in retrospect when I'm thinking about both my kids that were different kind of Learners one kid easy to identify always did her work consistently always you know turn everything on time was a really studious the other one wasn't so much but that was because he was just a different type of learner that's the only reason I bring it up because like it's easy to identify one one kid I had that was just across the board and easy to work with but it was a challenge I think for me as a parent to advocate for him

112and say hey I'd like my kid to be in this program any challenging and it was almost like you're there looking at me like what do you mean you know he's not doing his work consistently so I think I was just speaking to the bigger point on identifying what gifted looks like absolutely and part of that is in our credentials which are our district teachers are taking um to see the what an AIG What A Gifted student looks like um but you know it's not only a test score that identifies a student we're really trying to look at the whole child anything else yes ma'am the um thank you for that report I know as a parent has been in your shoes it's not easy to get up here and and do that but you

113did it so well so you know thank you parent um I'm just going to call you that generically but we know your name the um but my question was um when we look at when I was looking at the makeup of the council we only have like one minority one one self-identified minority parent on that so is that something that your Council will be looking into yes and then the makeup actually has ebden float and and really the council um was decimated over covid and yet last year was a rebuilding year and um I think we recruited four new members this year and we have several rolling off and so we're now in the process of re-recruiting members and it's definitely something that we're working on finding and we have a forum that's coming out

114so that should help you a little bit but yeah great is there any way and maybe we've gotten this and I just have been derelict um on is there a place to go to look at all of your newsletters so that we can go back and look at all the great things that you're doing or could we be included on that distribution somehow yeah absolutely we can add that next year because I mean I was reading this one going dang that's like some good stuff or some of the activities it would be I mean I would love to have attended some of these you know just to feel the vibe and be part of it so if we knew more we could probably support you Melissa Mason is the representative from the board and has

115been Faithfully attending our meeting since she was appointed to that position it's been a great addition Melissa sure I mean you said by name um thank you guys so much for coming I love hearing what y'all are doing um and some of it I I was a little late to joining um there was I think I don't know if there was miscommunication or whatever so some of it I missed um but it they're doing some great work in there so thank you guys [Music] thank you very much and Dr face will be presenting our new math platform platform thank you I want to briefly just to tell you about a new math curriculum and resource that we will be using in middle school and math one and Desmos is the curriculum that I am speaking

116of currently I want to just tell you currently we are using in our sixth and eighth grade math we're using open up um in math one we're using envisions what we are now doing after we've listened to our teachers because we've had several Middle School teach um schools who piloted Desmos and this year we had some high schools who said can we pilot it as well for math one so as you can see the difference is Desmos has a complete digital curriculum and includes facilitation tools and opportunities for teachers to receive immediate feedback so both of these all three of these have hand of some form of digital print but Desmos can be fully digital but it also has printed material as well so what we are proposing and I say we the teachers and

117I'll show you that in just a minute as this is what we currently have we have a student-centered problem-based focus on student discourse math Focus we're using savvis which is Envision that's math one and we're using open up for six through eight we are going to be moving to Desmos for all three we've been using Desmos in some schools middle schools have been pounding it for six through eight and this year they actually received they actually started doing math one so as a district instead of doing three different things the teacher said hey let's do one and it is also more interactive this is something that the teachers particularly at New Hanover jumped on and and said hey we want to Pilot this we like this and it's important to note that Desmos is the

118calculator that we use in our integrated testing that is that company so this is anything new for our teachers they're familiar with the Desmos format so this just kind of gives you you know I wouldn't bring you anything up here without talking to the teachers first and um you can see that our teachers want to move to this curriculum a course with bringing you the teacher voice I would also bring you what Ed report says remember Ed report is our nation's report card remember what I just said that math one is new so we do not have every report for math one but of course we expect it to be aligned the same lines as being green and lastly we're going to save about a hundred and sixty thousand dollars so that's always a good

119thing so there's nothing for you to do I just wanted to make sure you knew that our teachers voices were was again heard and we will be moving to this curriculum platform and it's perfect timing because we're going to be one to one next year six through twelve and I'll take any questions any questions Miss Mason actually two okay if that's all right we'll let you go um will we be able to look at this like we were able to look at the other curriculum I can definitely send you something so you can navigate I don't know um yes we will okay and then the other question I had um you said it's a complete digital curriculum and I don't want to assume anything are there manipulatives for the students to work with as well

120because we know that there are some kids who yes staring at a screen is great but they need that Hands-On source so I'm going to take you back to this slide um so you'll see it still has all the same components as what we have now but it can be fully digital we're not we have the printed material as well and one of the things that I actually I was looking at a video because we actually have provided with the teachers um so they can see some of the teachers that were doing this the pilot teachers the teachers can control this and stop this and say hey I need everybody back with me so yes it is not it can be fully digital but we have the printed material that goes along with it as

121well so the just so I'm clear in my head we use Eureka Math for Elementary yes and we are going to Desmos only for middle and math one yes and then all the other maths you know in the high school yeah okay anyone else right if not thank you very much thank you guys next we'll have uh Ms Farnham and she'll be sharing with us lives in the balance foreign with me good evening I want to give you a lives in the balance um training update and I'll just start briefly with reminding you that lives in the balance is based on the belief that by the time a student exhibits concerning Behavior the problem causing that behavior has already occurred so this is the work of an evidence-based model called collaborative collaborative and proactive Solutions

122model in this model expectations students are having difficulty meeting are referred to as unsolved problems so this training is a 15-week proficiency training where our staff focus on the unsolved problems being identified and prioritized proactively using a specific instrument or assessment tool called the assessment of lagging skills and unsolved problems so these are based in certain schools where teams have been trained on Multi multi-step professional development sessions over 15 sessions most often those are 15 weeks sometimes there might be a week in between for scheduling but as an update College Park and Forest Hills Elementary schools have completed 11 of the 15 sessions Winter Park Elementary and Snipes have completed all 15 sessions While Lake Forest Academy in Wrightsboro have completed 10 and still have five to go so there are three cohorts and those

123are the three different cohorts and where they are in the process okay do you have any questions is is this model basically for our schools that um I don't I don't want to keep identifying as little performing but for for where they have multiple challenges and barriers um is that how you selected these six schools so we selected the schools based on the most immediate need okay but all schools would benefit from the training provided to the as the professional development for the teachers and staff because if you have one student that's experiencing or exhibiting challenging Behavior then this process would also be beneficial for that one student okay the other question is Miss Walker I'm sure I'll send some other questions I apologize is this a program that we want to expand and if

124so how much do you think it would cost us and I know we have a policy that's getting ready to change over the new year as far as the seclusion policy and I guess like my question is this will be the support be there for that change of that policy so um the the contract that we have for lives in the balance is a forty five thousand dollar contract and we negotiated with them to be able to include the number of schools here um because it's typically about nine thousand dollars per skull team if I'm looking at that correctly and we did work with them to be able to add some District staff into some of the training so we can do some evaluations of this work before I would give any answer to that

125I would want us to have some conversations with the staff the teachers and staff that have completed this work and and really help help us understand how they feel that that's been beneficial to their their support in problem solving the challenging behavior of students so I guess that would have been probably a follow-up if you've gotten feedback yeah from whether it works or not yeah I don't have feedback yet would one of the metrics that we would be using would be would it be like discipline referrals or um or in the positive you know more positive behavior in general is that how we would met one measure of success that could be one another would be um how many students in the um in the classroom settings with the staff that have been trained are

126referred for more than minor behavior concerns or maybe even referred for evaluation for Behavior concerns so I think it would be multiple points of data that we would need to to be able to pull together what else it's fine thank you very much okay and guess what you're next again stay right here so as a part of your um your board packet here you have an overview of um our trauma-informed work and this is ongoing work that has been a part of the plan that we submitted to the Department of Public Instruction [Music] with regard to our supportive mental health and social emotional learning and so the big parts of this component where I wanted to draw your attention to adverse childhood experiences study which is known as Aces the trauma sensitive schools training which

127we ran into a lot of scheduling difficulties in this year trying to add those pieces in but we're it's still on our Focus so the trauma sensitive schools training is three-day coaching and Consulting support and we had our first pilot that was funded by the County's resiliency task force and then we did have the second funded by the state safe schools Grant and we are still looking at using some of our remaining Esser funds and title IV funds to continue this and keep in mind this is not a curriculum but this is a training that school staff go through together to work on their overall School Improvement planning their overall School culture looking at their school data foreign and part of the training um indicator well before I get to that it's consistent with what

128our staff do on through NC Star and the indicators that are required as a part of that school Improvement plan so that that's really the main part of that the training objectives include an understanding of the prevalence of trauma and that's where you see the adverse childhood experiences study by no means are any of the staff in the school system experts on Aces you know many of us of vast many of us have been trained to understand Aces and understand how that aligns with our work in working with students and working in schools but mainly to the level of recognizing the impact of trauma on learning and behavior not to understand the study as a mental health provider would um and then that work continues into responding in trauma-informed ways in the classroom through classroom

129management and instructional strategies um the rest of this which isn't really about Aces but to give you this overview you also see Darkness to light stewards of children that's one of the um professional developments that is spoken about a lot I wanted you to see that um so I didn't create this document just for you I wanted you to see how these fit together with other pieces and so I did make some edits because I wanted to change um some of our ongoing work for you Darkness to light I do want to um uh mention that this was made through made possible through our partnership with the Carousel Center the Carousel Center is our child advocacy center for this part of the state they paid for all of the um the training materials and the

130cost of us having a New Hanover County Schools staff member trained as a trainer so that all of our new staff get that and we're still cycling through our existing staff and then the same thing with youth mental health first aid and then also Community resilience model training We are continuing to move that through different groups of Staff as we are able to schedule those so just wanted you to be able to see one as a part of the whole puzzle so how foreign how long is the community resilience model training like so is it a warning that gives it a workshop yes one the um the one that we are moving through the majority of our staff is really that um half day what two three hour um sometimes it can be longer workshop

131with um Javen a skiba who mainly does that dialogue piece that really just yeah expands your professional thinking on the areas of trauma and its impact on school Miss Walker So yeah thank you Julie um this was my ask and mainly because um I think that it is important for us as a board as decision makers to understand all the terms um that are being used out there as far as um looking at students and um you know I think we talked about outcomes but it was important because I know based on that presentation and a lot of the feedback that you had gotten from principals is looking at trauma and looking at resiliency discipline models in order to address some of the concerns because um it's you know I know while we want every

132every kid to do great and make Straight A's all the time it's very difficult with kids with high trauma to do that I do speak from experience but I will tell you that it's not impossible to overcome and I just think that if we can we can move towards different models for some some of our students it will be very beneficial for them so that was why I asked Julie to let us know what we are doing here and hopefully we'll do more so um [Music] I'm wondering is isn't there some sort of credential that our school district or system could get to be a trauma-informed District I mean is that something that um that you know how that we could attain that that we could perhaps or is it in our strategic plan and

133it's just kind of buried in there a little bit that we're working towards that but yes not necessarily working through District credential but I think it depends on um the different avenue you choose for training they're not a tremendous number of ways to go about trauma sensitive schools training or trauma informs close training there are different models we have particularly worked more closely with the same the same trainer who has come to us and done cohorts of multiple schools and of course that with that Foundation already built through her published materials that that would be our our best option scheduling was an issue this year but that would be our best option so I don't know if there's a credentialing but definitely a foundation built that we can continue I guess maybe I'm thinking of

134the community school model is would this be included would this be part of that kind of model if our district were to consider you know going in that direction yeah it could definitely be a part of that okay thank you miss vernum you had mentioned the results and the criteria of how we're measuring success on this so is it I'm assuming that all of our schools have undergone these three trainings or was it just targeted schools like the last the targeted just the targeted schools okay thank you for that correction so could you share with us when you have it the results of the criteria of judgment um of just how effective that these practices have been that we can see the shift and culture as is stated here and I know things like having

135set clear expectations because um even though kids have undergone trauma they can still achieve and so it's maintaining what that expectation is and being intentional with providing consistency for all students to be successful yeah and I think it's going to be difficult to control for this one piece of professional development being the one thing that you know affects the the trend when we have multiple factors going on at the same time they are contributing to change in adult thought change in adult Behavior because the first thing that you as a behavior specialist the first thing that you know you have to focus on when you're looking to change a child's behavior is adult Behavior first and it doesn't mean that adults are misbehaving it means that you affect by intervening you affect the outcome of

136the behavior so there will be multiple factors I think it's going to take a a bit of time but one thing we have seen in this school year in the data already is a focus and Dr Faust says this a lot focus on the focus when you focus on the high expectations and the use of the interventions to address student behaviors you get much cleaner data and you see much more compliance toward that so a focus on seclusion and restraint shows a decrease in seclusion and restraint a focus on this training is going to show some benefit we just have to look at whether we see it as a sustainable effort over time right Mr McManus what she calls us out today when you said the adult Behavior reaction everything that we've discussed tonight maybe

137is because it's just coming to part of our sure there's so much new and professional development with new programs new books well we have workbooks now but I hope we are being very cautious as we look at the calendar and remember that our last teacher survey and the fact that we've lost 400 teachers right or wrong good or bad that we are cognizant that we're not going to burn them out before they even get back to starting the fall and so I understand how important these programs are and it's part of what we do and we need to be doing so that's not something that I've disagree with but I do have to say just listening tonight I feel overwhelmed and I don't have to go to those professional developments so I just hope that

138we keep that right there so that and we however we make it work for them but we don't drive them out from the very get-go first impressions are Lasting Impressions so if we can start off with a positive hopefully that'll rain through the rest of the year thank you for letting me say that all right thank you very much Mrs thank you very much we'll carry on with our consensus items uh do I under do I hear a motion to accept the consensus items as provided Mr chair I I'm remove or I would like to pull um r letter r or Mr chair I'd also like x and z to a short conversation thank you okay so we need to pull r x and z foreign m okay RX and you need your v z

139and M so far um okay so r x v and M or a V2 this okay so again just double checking do we need to pull Z as in zebra I asked Miss Barnum ahead of time just to answer some questions just for the public okay that's fine I just want to make sure I was correct so we are pulling r x z m and V the hills do I have do I hear a motion to accept all but r x z m and V so moved so move do I have a second second all in favor please signify by saying I I and he posed past the seven zero let's start with R foreign and you have to and I have to recuse myself from that so because that is my other place of

140employment okay so let's do I hear a motion to accept r M thank you my mic wasn't on thank you very much for a second second all in favor please signify by saying aye aye that passes six zero check can we do V because that's just me taking out taking it yeah let's do V then do we have a motion to accept V so I moved second second we have a first and second in discussion if not all in favor please signify by saying aye aye opposed that passes six zero also let's go back to X I I wanted a clarifying question with this with the new line display board purchases is that across all of our schools and I'm specifically going to call Isaac bear when I was there I I thought it was

141strange that they didn't have like smart boards there so I just wanted to see the terminal yes is we're doing 250 a year that's going to take multiple years in order to get all the classrooms done but it's all of us yes thank you did I make a motion to approve we have a first and second to prove X any discussion if not all in favor please signify by saying aye aye all post passes seven zero let's Carry On To Z Mr chairman I had emailed Miss Barnum I just like for her just to openly address because I know there's been concern that um you know we're not doing anything in the mental health field and so seeing this I just would like for her to take the opportunity um I had emailed her a

142list of questions just to openly address so the public can be aware that we are taking measures and these are the things that we're doing um Miss Farnham I can read them out or you can openly address the questions as needed but I'd love for you I can I can share them if that's helpful for you um so one question was are these District positions meaning can they travel to the most needed school or on an as needed basis and yes they are assigned we start with an assignment um to each school but as the caseload of students for those Services either grows or doesn't grow that staff will be assigned to another school for a part of the time to accommodate those other services for students so some positions are might be partial day

143at one school and partial date another but for the majority they are assigned to schools but we can have some flexibility um and then if students are on a wait list then that they help accommodate the wait list the next is is this an increased decrease or consistency in the mental health services and this is a pretty consistent amount of services and it's based on the trend data of the students being served um a question about whether families can submit or do submit insurance and their billed and yes this is a service provided by our health and human services department within New Hanover County Public Health and private insurance is billed with parent consent in order to offset the cost to the district services and the county but there is no um out of pocket

144expense and no exchange of dollars as a part of accessing school-based mental health services so um there and there are no students denied Services if they lack Insurance whether it's public or private so again there's no transaction of payment from parents or the school district other than their consent to Bill their insurance if they choose um and then the next question um when when do students in when students interact with mental health support when do parents get notified and the parent actually must participate in an intake meeting and provide written consent before any student is able to be provided the services and that requires ongoing parental consultation so no students access school-based mental health services without the parent participating in an intake meeting and providing written consent to the services thank you Miss Martin with

145that Mr chairman I'd like to make a motion to adopt this yeah so um I had a question um a couple questions the um the 39 is it more cost effective to contract these mental health workers or than to hire them as our own so the the first answer is we don't provide specific Mental Health Services and provide supervision to for example licensed clinical social workers that provide mental health services so it is um it is much more appropriate in my professional opinion for that to be supervised by those staff who are qualified to provide the service okay and this follow-up question and this is different than our school-based clinics the services provided through what so the um yes this is provided through the county right so New Hanover County Health and Human Services Department

146at the what clinics the Wilmington Health Access for teen clinics that's run by Coastal Horizons those are full service health clinics on our high school campuses and our students can access those Services there with their therapist but if they don't choose to use Wilmington Health Access for teens we can connect students to the school-based mental health so they have multiple options thank you okay so we have a first did I hear a second we have a first and second uh any other discussion if not all in favor please signify by saying aye aye aye and we finish up with M application for Career and Technical education a review and as I um was reading back through it and also reading through the um the choices at summer Institute Zello came up in that and I

147was noticing that there was a Zello training and so I'm wondering um is the the in the application you know that when you describe the programs that this would cover um does the Zello um the use of Zello from 6 through 12 is that included in in the funding there is um or is that a separate something we yes because we have been using Zello um for the last two to three years in our district um we are using it more at this time we're in we're using it more um to do our Career Development planning and to also some of our high schools have been using it for course planning but it has been a part of what CTE does for the last couple of years so it is already a part of the

148application we're just incorporating it more in our schools the the and then when we're using Zello you know they're thinking about not doing the use science anymore because if we already have Zelo then they don't have to enter their info you know in two different places so um that doesn't really have any bearing on our school district right they I'm sorry can you repeat the question in in the cdla program for the seventh grader School chamber they are using you know they were being encouraged to use you science and so when I was learning more about you science it sounded to me exactly like Zello so um that made me start thinking you know are we using Zello for students other than um CTE students like wouldn't that be a training tool that would be

149appropriate for all of our students yes we are we will be using CTE for all of our students and you will you can expect a presentation to the board in the next couple of months about how we are incorporating it at the middle in the high school okay it is a great tool and we will be using it for our Career Development planning for all of our students and actually there's a house bill that we might actually have to do that house bill 259 exactly and we're also we have some high schools who actually pilot it and use it for course planning Ashley and New Hanover and it worked out really well so we are incorporating it more so we'll be bringing you guys some more information um on that very in the next couple

150of months and training that's included on how to use that and all that kind of stuff yes so are we will actually have some training um Ms Barnum and Miss Brinson are and the team were getting together and we'll be meeting actually Friday about the best way to collaborate um with the three different divisions and we will be providing training for the the principals at the summer Institute and then roll it out for everyone so yes we have a second second we have a first and second any other discussion if not all in favor please signify by saying aye any post pass the 7-0 let's carry on with our policy amendments Ms Barnhart you are in charge of the policy committee um yes sir I make a motion that we accept the policy consensus has

151submitted maybe first and second is there any discussion Miss Walker you go [Music] um it should be part of 2230 reversial application okay 22 30 days 22 30 okay 21 20 sorry 21. no 22.30 22 30. 41 10 41 10 what was the last one I'm sorry sorry uh last one was 2120. I apologize I didn't have my mic 20. okay so Universal application 2230 4110 and 2120. okay anything else okay uh do I hear a motion to accept all but Universal application 2230 41 10 and 2120. so I moved you have a motion second second person second any other discussion if not all in favor please signify by saying aye aye all opposed pass the seven zero let's start with the universal application um that's Walker okay thank you uh so I I think

152it looks good I guess I that there are I think a couple things that are missing and now let Miss Craig will speak to what she was she had mentioned before I didn't know if we wanted to put on here where whether it's up to each committee to put put on terms or whether we do this yearly as an application I know this is kind of an um I guess a pretty new new committee application for like all all of them because before it was done by committee and it was it's you know we're trying to get it all streamlined and I think this is a great idea to do I just didn't know if we could added whether it's a yearly term or application I don't know well um if you look I'm sorry

153Mr chairman um if you look on the bottom so we talked about having a submission date so that we would have the interested parties all together by that date um which you know this happens to be September 30th of 2023 but what we had discussed my um for my recollection and policy is in the middle section you can actually click on the link to see the Committees and that will discuss like the terms and the expectations so that it wouldn't this wouldn't get too crowded but if that's something that the board wants to do for us to go back and put in the specific terms I think we can absolutely do that um but that was that was the thought process when we were creating this I think so Mr chair I just want to

154respond yeah so yeah that makes sense I think that that's going to mean that each person that sits into or chairs a committee is going to have to decide because I don't think right now on on the website it gives the idea of terms or how long a person should serve for um so I think that's okay I think but I think that means we've got more work to do as committees and maybe we can discuss that under the board committee discussion and kind of along those same lines is there is a lot of cleanup that needs to go with that link so we would have to make sure that that is is clean with that the um the other thing that I had asked for Ms Barnhart told me I need to just bring

155it up here is in the upper right box where it says are you an employee contractor or a volunteer of New Hanover County School System I would like to add in student because that's how you know the students are going to be applying you know to their getting interest forms and the students are going to be doing that so I'd like to add that in um for and that's the only thing I think that the the committee worked hard you know to get this get this right we move things around you know trying to make it as clear as possible um we have plenty of room for people to type in you know they can always you know if it's online I guess will it will it end with characters like like you're only allowed

156to put in like 150 or like will it just push everything down that's still I think it's yet to be seen when we actually try to utilize this whether or not it's going to still look like this or if we need to convert it to some type of fillable Google format I think it's yeah okay so I I have had some questions um oh I'm sorry can we go back and let's discuss your first uh what you said so far which is adding the student up to the you're saying upper right hand corner here employee contract or volunteer or student what's what's the board's will on that I agree I agree I think I think because we have students that are involved now in committee applications oh I'm sorry you're still going oh it's Mason

157I think the obviously we can't we can't separate this out but think that a lot of the Committees for our students um the the ones that like for example the um well I guess most of them are the curriculum committee when does that meet does that meet during the day does that meet in the evening okay so that's going to be problematic for students to be able to attend those so is that I'm not sure where to go with it we don't want our kids to sign up and then be interested in that and then they can't participate because they would have to leave school to do so I guess that would be my my big concern with that is that some of them do meet during the day and so some of them students

158would not necessarily be eligible for yes ma'am no you can go Judy okay yeah and I had looked over when Ms craber brought this up I and the reason why I didn't just put this on here is because we had already submitted it so I wanted everybody to have the same document and to have an open discussion about this and so I had looked at the student voice policy and n4004 which is the student voice it talks about and number three provide opportunities to include at least one high school student on all board committees advisory committees and ad hoc committees and so I know I had mentioned it to the student voice Representatives here tonight there's some changes with that policy but then I started asking um the question looking at this this is not

159even the full list of committees and so we're violating the student voice policy as it's written right now because we do not have representation on every single committee we're not even giving that representation to the public and to our parents and so I was confused by the um by the student voice process being on all committees for the same reason reason that you brought up Miss Mason I do not have any intention of making our students miss school to come and serve on a committee with that and so that was my only hesitation of having this and then it also made me think we need to look back at this student voice policy to have some clarifying language because if that's the intent of every single committee and it's not even open to the public

160to serve on those committees then we can have a board discussion about that but that was my concern yes Walker so I I think we maybe we should look at that because I don't think the intention was just to put them on every single committee because I don't believe I don't I don't believe all of them would be able to accommodate a student on their personnel issues public settle out right you know um student you know records issues they're not allowed on so that's why they're not that's why they're not listed here so and I know that some of the Committees that I have served on or and and are talking to people is that they would like to have the option of having their meetings at the school so that a student could participate

161um the if they're not meeting once a month and they're meeting like once a quarter then they can make arrangements with their teacher um in their principal to zoom in or attend um and then and we have that option that we can take meetings on the road you know to do I mean and you don't see policy and then they would like to be on policy they would not not a voting member but you know to attend policy meetings so that would be something that we I mean I know I know but I'm just it's going to have to be massaged that one would require them missing school yeah yeah three hours yeah and you can't take it on the road because then we can't live stream it and the public depends on that live

162stream yeah so maybe at this point uh because we're having a lot of discussion here maybe we need to put this back into policy for the time being and hash out these last things in policy and then bring it back to the board does that make sense I would also like to add if we're taking it back to policy another thing that someone um two committees you know had brought up um when they were talking about term limits um wanted to know if Our intention was that everybody that's currently on a committee has to reapply um for this because you know um and so and that that would be relevant like right now you know because if we're going to meet over the summer um if we if this isn't until September 30th do we

163suspend all committee meetings until we have people fill out this form or do current members have to um reapply thank you Mr chair I think the thought process behind this was board members would just appoint members to these committees and so what this allows us is some transparency to see these were all the applicants these are who's interested so it is not who I like better or who you like better to be put on a committee and so that was the premise behind it I'm happy to bring this back to our policy committee but I really see the issue um underlying with students looking at the student voice policy and so Malcolm I don't know um I can get with you and talk with you specifically about that but there's definitely some things in here

164that to go over and hash out and so the question becomes do we want to have this open so that our parents and Community can or do we want to wait and see what committees because it sounds like not all of them or at least from my gauging of the conversation not all board members are on board with students being on every single committee and if I'm wrong please correct me now well so I miss Walker so I know when we were putting the student voice um policy together I know that we even discussed the fact that not every committee is every single ad hoc committee committee whatever we're talking about is going to be able to accommodate a student but a lot of them are and I'd like to before we start changing student

165voice policy which we spend a great deal of time on I like to bring the students back in to discuss it as well I just don't think it's um I mean I think I need to get we need to get their input I mean because they're anxious to get started and I think they do want to be part of but if we are are saying now we're unclear about whether they're going to serve on we should have that discussion yes ma'am correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Mrs Barnhart ask the students tonight if they could attend the policy meeting did I did I make that up no she did okay so she's already asked them and they think they ain't gonna indicated yes why don't uh and Mr McManus I think you already said

166it I think we should though consider kids attending a policy committee um I just their input would be valuable if it pertains to the students so not everything of course but if it pertains to the students in the school setting I think it's worth the kids if they can to attend a policy meeting yes ma'am and my last input and this would be something for us to potentially consider is if we are wanting to engage them but understanding that as adults the structures that we have in place and to rearrange schedules for dozens of people for every committee doesn't seem feasible on an adult level to accommodate students however if we're trying to engage their input could we have a portal of submission that they put their input intentionally prior to the meeting of what

167that looks like rather than you know we talked about oh a zoom in or out but if we if there was an opportunity for them to share thoughts um prior to that that could be an alternative to this but I am not going to support getting kids out of school to come to a district level meeting and I'm just saying that now well back to what someone suggested it might have been you let's ask the students what they think works best for them let's get their input it is about them so let's get their input right let's listen to them at least yeah I think we should definitely listen to them I don't think that we need to start a thing where we're pulling kids out of school and you know field trips are one

168thing and that kind of thing but you know instructional days yeah so yeah why what comment about that is that we would have to definitely um more timely in getting the stuff in simli our board policy says for board meetings we have to have everything uploaded and ready for the public to look at five days ahead of time and we are not always good on that so if we and if our board committees have to run with the same and you know help me out on this Jason if our board committees have to run with the same rules as the board regular meeting then we would have to have things out like five days in advance I want to say I think we do um Miss Bowie do we not those things five days events

169as related to the board agenda our attachments are five days in advance but as related to your individual board committees that would be at the discretion of those divisions that oversee those committees that's what I want you to ask Miss Barnhart thinks it's 48 hours and I thought it you had somebody had advised us that we had to follow the same rules I'm reviewing your board committee policy now and do not see a 48-hour requirement in that policy which one were you looking at 22 30. 22 30. it would be under board agendas and that's that's where I'm going yeah next that's where it stated the board agenda policy does not distinguish between regular board meetings and um board committee meetings so it could certainly be interpreted as applying to any um if the board

170wants Clarity on that you could add that to your board committee policy you could add it to your agenda policy and it might be another item to refer to your policy committee to review in addition to um the two that you're discussing now yeah I think that's appropriate because I think we should be consistent in um with that and if and if we want our students to participate we've got to give them time to look on assembly download the download what we're talking about so that they can provide input without actually attending the meeting so what is the will of the board for tonight yes sir so can we really think about what we're asking kids to do I'm just going to say it as a father so I have my child has homework and

171now you're asking them to read your policies and you have a lot in your policies so who's going to interpret it for that child um and then you're asking them to come here provide the information for on their side I think we have to think about a better way of doing it for students because you are giving them that's a lot and I get it you want to have their valuable insight but when you're talking about overwhelming if they're in sports if they're in any extracurricular and our policies I receive a packet and it can I mean it's almost 100 Pages or more and so you're asking kids to read 100 pages in addition to doing homework so I want us to just be realistic into what we're asking our students to do um and

172what is the actual sole purpose of student voices and I think coming back to that then getting a clear consensus of it and then then relaying it back out to this is what we want from our students is it specifics that you want to say I have a question and this is pertaining specifically to students because I can share with you not every policy will be germane to a Student Activity and they wouldn't know I mean sometimes even in policy we have to explain it and get the articulation from the um attorney so again is this are we just doing it to say that we want them on every committee or are we doing it to get a valuable experience from our students so I think that's where we possibly need to start not saying

173that we don't want to hear from students that is not what I want anyone to take away but I do want us to actually understand and make it feasible for students so that they don't feel as though they don't really have a voice because they don't want to do it Walker well and that that's like kind of point of the student voice they they know what they're doing they know what supports they have they know what they want to get involved with and I'd like to trust that they when they look at what our committee does and there's all kind of videos online they can look and see what we do they can decide the level you know I think inviting them to the conversation is the most important part of it and you know

174maybe they don't want to read you know 50 policies or whatever it is on that committee at the same time it's it's inviting them into the conversation so they can be part of what we all do here for them on their behalf is in adding their voice to it is is important I think that's the most important thing we don't want to overwhelm them that's true at the same time we do want to at least ask them come on in let's hear what you have to say so what we've had multiple discussions on this so what is the will of the board we need a motion with the universal application make a motion that we adopt the universal application as written okay we have a motion do we have a second I'll second it first

175and second we've had discussion uh Miss Bowie would you call the roll please are we out of discussion we've already discussed it not after the motion we didn't I didn't know the motion was he made to accept it because there's obviously problems with it that some of us don't think it's ready so um to accept as presented is that what we're voting on yes we are without the student's name on there we'll just go okay what would you call the role please no Miss Walker no Mr McManus no Miss Mason yes Miss Bradford yes Mr wildeborg yes and Miss Barnhart yes s is four three let's carry on with our next uh policy let's go to 41-10 is Walker 41-10 okay that was the one on immunizations I guess I had a question maybe it's

176for our policy committee people why we're striking out words that deal with just the federal government I mean it doesn't matter it does matter that it's there but it I mean just because they're struck doesn't mean that we don't want to follow federal guidelines so I just don't understand the reasoning to take that line out particularly that can be explained is anyone from policy committee win the discussion Miss Bradford we I we voted to do that because we've just come through a pandemic we've come through shuttering our schools shuttering our businesses and very sensitive to the fact that a segment of our population does not want to take any vaccines and to get to to include that in there is just it Mr Weber called it a catch-all for any vaccine um I just I

177just in good conscience I could not leave that in there and it passed policy in a vote of two to one and I'd be happy to offer Clarity on that so um vaccine requirements for admission to Public Schools that's governed by state law and rules adopted by the commission for public health um each of the vaccines listed in your current policy are either in the statute or in commission for public health rules the final provision I mean it is a catch-all you know whether it's in there or not does not have any real practical effect if there is a additional vaccine that's added into the statute or that's ended through the commission's rule making process it would also be required [Music] you know staff members if this were removed would need to either keep up

178with those changes as they may be made from time to time and you know bring revisions back to the board um you know there's certainly a hyperlink that would contain the most recent list of vaccines um the the only other point I made in policy committee is um it is our firm's legal opinion that Boards of education do not have independent authority to require any particular vaccine that Authority has been given to the commission for public health so for a point of clarity this catch-all statement does not and would not give you as a board the authority to say that a certain vaccine is required it's merely an acknowledgment of the state of existing law which delegates that authority to the commission for Public Health Mr Webber if I can ask a quick question they'll

179get to the rest of the board members as I remember from my days I as a principle there is a religious uh exemption there are several exemptions um and and I think the hyperlink in this policy provides additional information about those and if I scroll through all the way through it there might be information in the policy itself but you're right let me see yes uh Miss Barnhart and Mr wilderberg came up as far as the list this is the updated list a through I of the required and so part of the conversation was as list gets updated we would list them out rather than a catch-all statement and so this was not an acknowledgment oh we're not going to follow the law this was saying that we are going to be very clear with

180the expectation of what it is rather than having a blanket statement and make our policy update that as as it happens yes so we um through ncsba and other legal guidances and on a lot of different policies we've been it's been suggested to us that we don't make reasons for not putting things in policies based on our personal beliefs based on our political beliefs Place based on our religious beliefs and if we go back and play the tape of the policy committee meeting when we were taking the vote one of our board one of the policy committee members stated that we had a terrible pandemic I'm not voting for anything like that ever again and she didn't like you know vaccines and so um no I'm just saying you cannot shut me down when I'm

181just stating a fact what a privilege it's not going to land the personal attack on one of our board members I did not attack any board member I said one and people can go listen themselves thank you for that okay in the other discussion if not uh do I hear him make a motion to adopt the policy as as presented do we hear a second second first and second any other discussion if not miss Bowie would you call the roll please Miss Walker sorry did you say Walker yes no thank you no Mr McManus no Miss Mason yes Miss Bradford yes Mr wildabour yes Miss Barnhart yes in this crayville no and that passes four three we'll continue on with policy uh sex money up here 2120 21 20. it's the next one yeah this

182is the board bet um code of ethics for board members I have highlighted quite a few things in here and I don't I I guess again I have a question of why not understanding why we are trying to set up a policy of Ethics um it seems to me a little retaliatory perhaps it could be used that way I feel like as an elected person um I I should be allowed to voice my opinion I I think I try very very hard to address the chair most of the time like Robert's Rules suggests but it seems to me like this policy change is very could be very interpretive depending on what person decided they didn't like something and I don't think we should start going down that road so that's my first Miss Mason um

183I have to agree with Miss Walker it is concerning that um it is so drastic a measure um it it would seem as though there should be a bigger a longer process and I could definitely see how this could be abused um we have to be willing to accept that if it is turned against us that we would get those consequences and and as board members we would all have to be willing to accept that um I think that we we need accountability um but I need that I think that we need to take a slightly different approach perhaps using Accenture as a warning and then proceeding in a in a manner that way um but I think this is this is a bit drastic Mr McMahon's thank you I do believe it's it's it's

184back to my one of my sayings Trojan Horse to keep us from stating what we were elected all of us not just one or two or three we were elected by our community hopefully to speak a voice of I guess we don't always agree and as elected we don't always support but maybe our politics would like for us to and I appreciate what Ms Mason said yeah as long as I or another board member when you're not threatened with some type of physical if you're not cursed at then I think we have a right to speak our mind and what really bothers me is that we have speakers who stand up and can say basically anything about us collectively or shout out individually they're called down but once they've said it they've said it we

185had a individual yell out Ms Bradford not too long ago we elected you to do this get do it you should turn you've got to do it that Reigns of what this is not really good and so I you can't take away my right divorce my opinion as long as I don't curse or threaten you you're going to silence an elected member and you did originally say and it was from Miss Graybill when she spoke and I know but she did not curse she did not threaten and although we I get along with all y'all great I think I love you but we're not going to agree all the time but I'm not going to vote to take you off a committee to prove to you that you can't talk to me or disagree with

186me or I don't like the particular words of choice that you joke that's that's totally unreasonable so when you silence the newspaper the radio station Pete goes on the radio that's his business speaks his mind that I'm not mad at him because he does that I mean I agree with everything he says we get to say what we feel so the audience are you going to control them you can control the newspaper the TV I don't understand why are you starting with us we were the elected officials so I just totally think this is ridiculous all right so I mean I always enjoy this conversation the reason why I voted to bring forth because I believe we're talking about the last part of this policy is it presumptuous to say that when it says the

187chairperson has the right to openly address a board member or violation of this code of ethics for board members and give them option of a formal apology and upon a majority vote of the board that board member has a has committed a violation of this code of ethics for school board members the board member shall be removed from committee assignments for a period of 90 days for the first infraction 180 days for the second and the remainder of the appointed for the third are we all talking about the same thing okay thank you so um first I want to say that right now the chairperson has sole authority to do that if we recall back to previous leadership that actually happened to some people that were sitting up here and if they want to outwardly

188raise their hand they can but the chairperson can take you off of subcommittees if they choose to do so at will no reason given so um when Miss Bradford brought this up to for us to consider I said at first I was like I don't like just like you said it seems like a targeted attack to say oh but really what this is doing is this is allowing for the board to work together if there are individuals who are consistently violating policy in their code of ethics to say that this is an issue and that individual needs to stop and change course but right now the chairperson has the authority to do that the chairperson also does not have to assign committee subcommittee assignments to any one of us because he is who he is

189he did evenly distribute them but looking back on I'm I'm just I'm just sharing with you what I've seen over the last few years the chairperson has sole authority to do that and so I I'm putting this out there so if there's if we want to strike this whole thing okay but I think that there is something to be said about the consensus of the board because our job is to work together and we are going to disagree but are we supposed to be working together and what does that look like and if we want to keep it as sole Authority by the chairperson that's okay with me but what I'm saying is I feel like this is part of a a bigger conversation and I'm gonna jump in here uh you know like I

190say I as the chairperson um I I you know I don't think that the chairperson should have all the authority I think it should be a board decision some of the things from Robert's rules because I did a little homework um after I saw this it's already in Robert's rules that number one uh 43 21 uh in the right patrols uh regular book says refraining from attacking a member's motives um you know we were just talking about that Mr McManus when a question is pending the member can condemn a nature or like the consequences of the proposed measure in strong terms but he or she must avoid uh personalities under no circumstances can he or she attack or question the motives of another member and unfortunately I'll take blame that I allow that to happen

191more than I should the measure not the member is the subject of the debate if a member disagrees with a statement by another member in an event that both witnessed he or she cannot make Satan the debate that the other person's statement is false he or she might say I believe there's strong evidence that you know so again not saying that we feel because of religious or whatever else reasons you know we we're not supposed to be attacking each other's motives secondly uh decoration made by a chair and naming a person so I should you know if somebody is out of order they should be addressed in that way uh addressed the offender by name and the second person so again that for the example in Robert's Rules says that you know Mr J the

192chair repeatedly directed you to refrain from offensive personal references when speaking in this meeting three times the chair has ordered you to be seated and you have nevertheless you know and in this case where they have to be stood but it also says in 61 13 although the chair has no authority to impose or a penalty to uh to order the offending person to be removed from the hall the assembly which means the board has that power it should be noted the connection in this case of an offense against the assembly occurring in a meeting there is no need for formal trial etc etc so I mean I do see the concern I don't want us to you know I want the board to get along that's one of the things if we want to

193talk about what you know Miss Bradford somebody said to her that's one of the things I ran I was trying to get the board to work together so I definitely am opposed to anything that would uh violate that or break us apart but on the other hand we also have to follow the rules I mean you talk all the time oh excuse me I shouldn't do that so I'm breaking the own rule right there I apologize I uh and I'll apologize because I was wrong I will apologize but I mean that's the thing right there you know we talk about how we as a board talk a lot about discipline and then you know if we're not we should be watched on TV from folks saying how how well we get along and how you

194know we're not going to agree and I agree 100 on that but we should at least have uh respect for each other's opinions so I'm going to close there Miss Walker we already know before she speaks we're supposed to go everybody gets a term before we go back around and didn't you start it the um because maybe I'm going to cover something that you've covered so a couple things is um yes you know you are allowed to um appoint and remove anybody at any point in time but board members are allowed to attend any committee meeting they want so you can remove us off you know all that you want but we can still go to the meetings and we can still give input and then we still have the voting opportunity on there so

195to me that just seems kind of Superfluous whatever that soup whatever that word it seems you know yes that works um so that you know that said um I think that Robert's Rules of Order you know they um elected officials have different they are allowed to do different things than your average non-profit board or you know correct me if I'm wrong on that you know Jason that you can't take away our voice and the the one that comes to mind specifically is when a board member rejects emotion so that basically just says shut the heck up and I don't want to hear what you have to say and an elected official board you know that's not that's not good you know to reject without even any discussion because that's all of us in there and

196then I I'm just very concerned if we go with this um whose opinion is it that the behavior is so egregious that we have to be kicked off and I would like for I'm not saying anything I just want people to take a look at number 16 that says avoid being placed in a position of conflict of interest and refrain from using the board member's position on the board for personal or partisan gain so that would be one that would you know bother me you know the most with that and so I'm just and I personally um I'm going to say that I feel like this policy is almost retaliatory towards me because I dare have the audacity to call out board members when they're making misstatements and to refer people back to other meetings

197with I don't have to call out names all you have to do is refer back to other meetings so I don't think I mean we all have to put thick skin cream on you know because sometimes we're going to say things that are not wrong and they're not illegal but they might be offensive to a board member personally and not necessarily offensive you know against the law so um I just think that we're going down a wrong path when we should be not our number one responsibility for setting policies is to do what is best for students and not up here you know trying to silence our members so I would like for Jason to kind of weigh in if he could on the Roberts to Mr World of War which is in a very

198relevant um on the oh before before you do that I will take this opportunity to apologize to you you know Mr World of War for speaking out of turn when I'm gaveled um and I'm just going to say that's out of frustration for other board members rejecting things that I think are important because they think theirs are more important so I apologize to the board for doing that and I've done it twice and you talked to me twice we talked afterwards um so except I hope that you all will accept that apology but I don't think that's worthy of me being me or any other board member being thrown off committees and having my voice silenced because I have an opinion that's different now board members I'm happy to weigh in on this I think

199a couple of key points I mean the first would be that Robert's Rules of Order those are rules of procedure that the board and many boards in North Carolina have adopted to govern their proceedings you know it's not the only uh body of rules that governs how the board operates their board policies at play their statutes at play and this particular language has been added to your board code of ethics policy which is the code of ethics that you again have adopted for yourselves some of these things are also reflected in state law some are not the way I read this proposed language you know it would apply to violations of the code of ethics policy there certainly might be overlap between the board's code of ethics and the general rules for debate that are

200set forth in Robert's Rules I think in trainings I've done I've gone over those at a very high level and and board members I've given advice on this particular language enclosed I'd be happy to answer additional questions about what the particular legal implications might be as to its application I know there's a second opportunity for a closed session if you'd like to have one and if there are any other questions on this I'd be happy to to take them now okay um this board has a documented history of board member violations of this policy 2220 the code of ethics so let's talk about what the code of ethics says it says that we need to obey state and federal laws now we swore on a Bible when we first were sworn in that we would

201abide by this code of ethics the need to uphold integrity and Independence avoid impropriety and exercise of the board members official duties perform faithful duties these are just drastic things conduct the Affairs of the board in an open and public manner attend all regularly scheduled meetings Endeavor to make policy decisions so always keeping in mind the objective for providing students the opportunity to receive a sound basic education allow controversial issues to be presented render all decisions based on available facts and independent judgment model civility to students employees in all elements of the community respect the confidentiality of information that is privileged under applicable law refrain from unauthorized disclosures of matters discussed in closed session work with the board with the board members to establish effective board policies seek systematic Communications between board staff and all

202elements of the community communicate to other board members in the superintendent um expressions of public relations reaction to board policies and school policies learn about current education issues by individual study comply with North Carolina law comply with General statutes about the training for two years for ethics and the other training support the employment of those persons best qualified to service School Employees avoid personal relationships refrain from investigating or attempting to resolve complaints receive personally but instead direct the complaint into following the board's policies represent the entire County avoid being placed in a position of conflict of interest and refrain from using the board member's position on the board for personal partisan gain take no private action that would compromise the board's Administration remember that a board member is part of a governing team recognize the

203strength of the student School Board is as a board not as individuals demonstrate respect towards our County and all persons and number 21 remain always remember always that a board Member's First and greatest concern turn must be the educational welfare of the students in attending public I can't imagine that any of us would since we swore we would do that that we would object when someone violates that that we would bring together our our due process with our peers and say maybe maybe we don't need you to do that anymore we're elected to serve there are privileges that come with this job one of them is serving on board committees one of them is sitting on a stage for graduation one of them is the finances that we get for travel and so on those

204are privileges they're not what the people voted it has nothing to do with that it is a privilege not a right one week ago last night the Cleveland County Board heard under their policy which is almost identical to ours they have a sentence in theirs that allows them to it's as a breach of this code of ethics that I just read some of may result in disciplinary action so they had four Options under that disciplinary action one of them was board committees one of them was to keep take their graduation privileges there's a couple other privileges that we have and they played out the due process it was very orderly and it was good um and and I can't imagine it's not about taking in in in in the case the attorney representing the case

205is one of the attorneys that's about to be representing us and um she sent she she referenced Houston Community College versus Wilson I'm sure that Farrington knows that case um it it it this is the U.S Supreme Court's case it talks about it as being a privilege um it isn't a violabation of First Amendment rights and so this is just a it's a housekeeping thing we've tried the sanctioning or y'all the old board tried the sanctioning didn't have any effect it took a lot of time it was sort of an embarrassment it was out there in the media and it and it didn't make any difference so this Amendment would increase the due process by allowing a majority vote of the board versus just the chair it takes the pressure off the chair to be

206the only person casting a vote and I just can't imagine that we who swore on a Bible that we would abide by this code of ethics could have any objection to actually being held accountable by abiding to it Mason I'm not saying that I'm against accountability what I'm saying is there needs to be a bigger process for this I I understand the point of including more of the board members but this as written is you apologize and then the majority of the board can vote you off of a committee there's very little there's no time for um I guess Redemption is the word I'm thinking of there's no time for redemption in this as it is written and I I can't accept that there has to be some opportunity for somebody to redeem themselves you

207can't simply start to give the consequences immediately there has to be some time in between to repair the damage and to actually do the right thing I miss welcome I'm going to get you in a second I just had a one quick question myself and then I'll let you go um you know I'm wondering if we don't want to look at this again and put in like the center because Accenture is I understand but it's a public uh and it's already there we can you know probably say you know we have a problem with what the you know the Behavior Uh it also doesn't Clearly say okay if the person apologizes is that the end of it or is that we're still can you know so I guess there's still some questions I have too

208um whether you know you know as Ms crabill did today I apologize and I and I first off I will say I accept your apology 100 thank you thank you um but is that is that it or does it you know there's still questions there so or you know as this nation just said is it you know this board can can the board still say well okay we don't accept your part you know and that that is a question for me um and you know so whether we want to put the censure back in there so that there is more process as um Miss Mason just said um you know and like I say I think it really needs to be clearly defined in here whether you know okay formal apology I formally apologize I'm

209I was wrong I apologize um is that is that it or does it go on to at this point you know that the board can still vote to take the person off so Miss Walker you were next in half hour but I just will say I think this is if this is meant to help us get along it's not going to work because I think that if we want to get along then we talk to each other and I think laying down retaliatory Things based on what someone thinks now I've been on this board two and a half years like a number of us we've been through a lot yeah we had centers which I was opposed to every time mind you but I just think I'm an adult um I have a voice and

210I'm going to say what I would like to say and hopefully I'll do that in as respectful way as I can do it but I I just don't think we need to put little kids I feel like they're just little kid rules I mean I don't think they're going to do anything and in fact I think it could be a very slippery slope because then you're going to start getting board members do stuff against each other I just don't think it's the right method and if we're trying to get along I don't think a punishment system is the best way to do it with adults who are elected mind you I think we should have conversations maybe that would help better but I just think as this is written I think it's it's kind of

211insulting so I'm gonna leave it there who else Yes Man I I just want to say thank you I'm glad to have this conversation this is the entire point of putting this in here because the reality is we are going to openly disagree and I have I think with every single one of you and that's okay and the idea behind this again from previous board leadership I have seen people intentionally just be plucked off of subcommittees for no reason given no justification so I the intent behind having a conversation was so that understanding that we are a board and we operate as a board and that was stated in an earlier number so it sounds like from the consensus that this needs to go back to policy and so I'm going to make a motion

212to bring it back to policy I'll second that motion go ahead and I don't want to rub salt in a wound but now that we're venting a little bit this is probably the appropriate time to vent if I may what does Code of Ethics about for board members meeting separately and privately no matter what the rationale is it is a perception that a quorum is meeting for individually and I know that y'all tend to meet y'all forgive me the four of you tend to meet it just doesn't look good so if we're going to discuss about impressions we're going to discuss about code of ethics and the perception of that code of ethics which I think is the umbrella for it all and I think as Brunswick County I think ended up doing because the

213question was called and I think you all go to pray and that's your business and I support it 100 both most often before and after but there are four of you and if you look at the perception at this moment I think the four of you need to do that somewhere else not in the room which is behind closed doors I'm just saying we're talking about what people say and what they do it's also the actions they take and I feel like that's something that needs to be discussed as well because I don't know what you're talking about okay well I'll tell you because first off that is extremely embarrassing and extremely uh you know to be honest I will tell you we pray for each one of you we pray for a good meeting

214and for the students of New Hanover County schools and that's to me that's very insulting that you did well my integrity was fine I'm talking now my Integrity has been brought in forth because the four of us are meeting and secondly you also you spoke it uh incorrectly because there's never been a time that we've been behind closed doors well you go back into back right in fact Dr Barnes was asked if to stand there and to watch today because we want because we thought that someone might say something because we prayed but if prayer is wrong Mr McManus then uh we're all in a lot of trouble I'll tell you that right now you know what if I may I guess you can we go back a long way we surely do and I

215still think the world of you but we're going to have to agree to disagree absolutely and I have not raised my voice I've not cursed and I've not threatened you but I think it was fair to bring that up in light of what this new code of ethics is attacking those of us who may disagree right there yes ma'am so um the there has been another time when you were not praying a group of four people were not praying um so that's a whole other issue but thank you Miss Bradford for reading out so everybody who you know can't read the screen can have that but I do just want to since we read them out loud I want to call back to some comments that I made before number three allow controversial issues to

216be presented and considered fairly and without bias rejecting motions does not meet that model civility by encouraging free expression of opinion rejecting motions does not allow for that number 15 represent the entire County without fear or bias the newly elected board members were elected by 51 to 49 percent so we're all here for all the people so there's there's that the party affiliation switched but the obligation to represent everybody in our County um and I'm just getting well I'm not even going to say it one of the things that we voted someone voted no to tonight with that so I just want to make clear that um and somebody else had mentioned that we are a clown show we were a clown show before and we can't have that anymore so I nobody wants to

217bring up Behavior so you know in public but we cannot address people's behavior as board members without sitting up here and doing that so I don't see any of us that wanting to say okay miss crabill you said this and um I don't like it and so the conversation behind the scene would be a better approach but we're not allowed to do that you know we're not allowed to address board member behavior in a private setting unless it's you know one-on-one so I just want to remind us about that is that to avoid a clown show no one wants to bring it up but it's again it's silence in issues is is a statement you know if we don't you know we've talked about you know the well in not we have but like in

218the metoo era nobody wants to be the first to say something but if you don't say something then you can't get it resolved but so we are obligated as a board um to talk about all that in public so before we start you know casting the stone of removing people everybody needs to check on some of the behaviors that they have like in emailing people or calling people and asking them for favors on different kinds of things I don't think that we should be engaging in that but you know certainly don't want to call that behavior out you know up here on the diet side would rather someone approach me personally and say hey I heard that you sent you know a note to somebody and you know then the person gets a chance to

219refute it otherwise we're going to be you know censuring you know and and we don't have to censure we did a vote of no confidence one time and that really just said board member it's gotten to the point that we've all tried to talk to you and it's not working so we already have those two are Avail so you know why not you know try and use that if we need to Define what that looks like I'm all for that but I think we should stick with what we know and stick with what is protocol for elected officials we have a first and second in front of us to push this back to policy uh Ms Bowie if you call the role please Mr McManus this is again to push it back to policy yes

220sir yeah no Miss Mason yes Miss Bradford yes Mr wildebear yes Miss Barnhart yes Miss crabill yes and Miss Walker no that passes five two and our final poll I think is similar but do you still want to discuss that further 2230 yeah that is the um board committees I guess 22 30 yes ma'am um I guess there was a change to legislative committee I wasn't quite sure about um I don't know that the committee has the right to make a legislative agenda that's more of a board thing I believe um so I'm only unsure I'm kind of really unsure what legislative committee is supposed to be doing I I know the intentions were um but we really and we've only had one official meeting and I haven't been in had any discussions about this

221particular part either as a member of the legislative committee and they're still here it says that one person should be a liaison and that's not happened either so I don't I'm I'm kind of questioning this chain the legislative committee um I I think the two people that are on legislative are also on policy and of course I am not privy to the conversations about where this is supposed to go so that's why I pulled it I'd like to understand better yes ma'am there has now been no conversations and I'll be very direct I think that the black sentence before the rad letters was voted to be struck out so that there was not a liaison the idea and intent when we had our first legislative committee I was very open and direct that I think

222that we need to have a plan for our Target priority schools I met with lots of people in central office to see what that plan would look like and vision would look like and then was told after a number of things that having an idea from legislative would absolutely come before the board because it's a subcommittee the subcommittees cannot act on behalf of the board so the idea and concept and we discussed this at our first meeting we were going to come back together after the legislative session to discuss the things that had passed through and the implications the idea of having a legislative agenda was that we could have a common goal to advocate for for specific targeted funding to support our students to support our staff to support programs different things so to

223use a collective idea of our strategic plan and from our teachers and from groups and then coming together as a committee to present before the board was the idea behind it so there is there there's been multiple insinuations that there is things going on behind closed doors and that's not the case we are not allowed to have a legislative agenda because it's not in been a policy so the idea and concept behind if we can advocate for New Hanover County Schools better than I think we should do that so that was the intent behind adding this language um I mean it's a complete change of a language it's not I mean I've got here the purpose of the committee is to serve as a liaison between the Board of Education and local and state officials

224but we're I feel like this is totally changing what the committee is supposed to be doing and I mean I guess it's if you if someone wants to do that it can be done but I I don't I don't understand um I don't understand what you're saying what Mr chair I understand what a member the member's saying but I just I don't agree with it I don't I don't feel like we should be changing the whole idea of what the committee is supposed to do I mean and I really do wish I had been at least discussed and someone had called to discuss it with me as a Committee Member would have been really helpful for me because I'm feeling like I don't really understand what the pro I understand what the purpose was before

225and now it's completely changing and I you know I guess I just don't agree with the change if that's it's coming right down to it and I don't think I haven't insinuated anything I just know as a Committee Member I have not had any discussion so so um I've got two things about this policy and it comes back to a quorum and so this this is a tough one when you have committees that have three board members on it if two members talk together um technically that's a violation of our open meetings laws is that right I mean other than casual conversation you know like to be so if if I'm having a conversation with you on my committee then I should be having the same conversation with you on the same committee rather than

226and not leave anybody out of that one-on-one opportunity so I'm I'm confused and concerned a little bit about that this is a tough place to be with three people because two people have to talk about something sometimes and so to the extent that their open meetings law implications or questions here the Miss crapel is correct that board committees are public bodies under the open meetings law if it's a three-member committee then two constitutes a quorum and if those two were to meet and discuss committee business that would need to be part of a publicly properly noticed meeting so that was one one item and and that is not just with legislative committee you know it's with um policy committee as well so um the and the one about the legislative committee I have no problem

227with with the board setting a legislative agenda the legislative committee should be talking about that I just um was feeling after listening to the first legislative committee that it was the legislative committee going to the board going to senior staff and saying we want to do this versus the senior staff going we want to do this please help us legislate so that is what um what I was a little bit concerned about um the and then the the liaison we it's not struck out here but we did talk about taking that out and I was concerned about that and I had mentioned that earlier with another policy that um you had suggested Miss Barnhart that we should all be taking that responsibility but we get a lot of emails and things from the ncsba so

228we we had that in place so that somebody would take it make sure they're taking a look and present that at board meetings so it's not struck out now so I would suggest not striking it back out and then the third thing that I want to bring to our attention is the letter E the board committee expectations so Universal application we talked about that's we're coming back you know to review that at policy anyway but the our expectations is that each committee it's standing advisory in ad hoc will have a chair they will take review and approve minutes or have a group memory that is you know public information have clear mission and goals determine the member term length so each committee would be doing that on its own so that speaks to your point

229um Miss Walker about you know term limits recruit maintain a diverse committee membership we've got this form and then the other thing that we that was not addressed and kind of a little bit dismissed with on my point when it says do all committee members have to reapply so um I think that we should either address it here or reach committee should talk about what they want their re-application process to be after they've determined their their term limits so the and then periodically report progress to the entire board we don't um we usually report out when we feel like you get to report every time because the policies are on there so we have to do that but other committees you know maybe after every meeting you know that there's if there's some things that

230we need to just and and some of our committees it's defined how they have to report you know like Shack has to report CTE business advisory you know has to well the business advisor doesn't have to report but CTE does so I just wanted to make those and I would like to suggest that we send this back to I'd like to make a motion that we send this back the whole thing back to policy not just the universal application this uh 20 22 13 22 30 back we have a motion to send 22 30. we have a second for Miss Walker Mr would you call is there any other discussion nope if not uh Miss Bowie would you please again this motion is to send policy 2230 back to the policy committee Miss Billy would

231you call the roll please Miss Mason Miss Bradford no ster will Deborah Miss Barnhart no Ms crabill yes Miss Walker yes and Mr McManus yes go ahead I make a motion that we accept the policy as it's written I would like to amend that with the crossing out of the sentence one board member on this committee will also serve as the boys liaison to the ncsba per policy 2650 liaison with school boards Association and follow the ncsva legislative and other activity and Report highlights to the entire board but then I'll second it that's correct that was on it when it left policy I thought Mr chair yeah I mean we weren't even presented with the proper copy so first of all second of all if this is the way we're going to keep doing things

232I mean I I don't I don't know how we're ever gonna officially kind of compromise on anything because it seems to me like before votes are got there is done and I don't even think it's correct how are we approving a policy that's not even correct in front of us I don't think that's how we should do business so thank you that's good uh would you call the roll please Miss Bradford yes we're we're voting on the amended amended okay the amended with the cross out and where exactly I'm sorry where exactly is that crossout just the sentence right above five page one number five paragraph two six two gotcha go ahead Miss blue I'm Sorry Miss Bradford yes yes Miss Barnhart yes Miss crabill no Miss Walker Mr McManus Miss Mason yes the policy

233of his past four to three now it did not pass just the amen the amended we have to now vote on the original I'm sorry you're correct I do standard corrected so now we vote on the amended policy um four to twenty three forty uh 22 30 excuse me Miss Bowie call the roll please Mr wildeborg yes Miss Barnhart yes Miss Graybill no Miss Walker now Mr rickmanis Miss Mason yes yes sorry that passes 4-3 carry on so that ends our policy new business is our insurance policy renewal good evening good evening um I'm here to request approval of the policy insurance policy renewal in front of you the amount we spoke at the agenda review that we were still in negotiations related to the workers comp the amount in the agenda is actually the

234renewal is a little bit less it's one million 846 thousand dollars so it's about forty one thousand less than was presented in the agenda so I'm here tonight to request the approval of this renewal of these policies okay are there any questions board members discussion do we hear a motion I make a motion we accept it as it is and we have a first we have a second second the first and second any discussion it's not all in favor please signify by saying aye aye all opposed carry 7-0 thank you very much uh next we have board professional development uh Ms crabill you brought that forth um yes so um click in here all right so um brought this up you know for several months now that I just feel like um if we are

235going if our soul one of our sole purposes is to develop policy that we are educated on what we are creating policy for um we rely heavily on our senior staff you know to as part of their jobs is to monitor what's going on um within their areas of jurisdiction we look to our legal counsel you know for helping us with that but nothing can beat professional development training so this is for me this is a two-part that um I would like for us to keep like a spreadsheet of some sort on who's going to what trainings so that um maybe there's two of us that want to go or three of us that want to go to the same thing not a big deal but if there's several things that we would like to

236have covered um and we only have so much money in our in our forward accounts you know to attend so I so that you know kind of professional development um is what I was talking about you know with that and I'm thinking of things like you know the ncsba trainings and um not in trainings and conferences and workshops and um for Law and for and for updates um the Caspa which is the um the National Organization that the ncsba belongs to um they have a lot of good information that we can glean but more importantly I wanted us to consider taking you know doing attending classes training workshops that we already have going on um within our school district and some of the ones that come to mind are what you know Ms Barnum presented

237to us um trauma you know sensitive schools training that maybe one of us you know goes to that in and reports back you know how that might work in um the Darkness to light which all of our staff takes um there's not there's no cost at that and we can ask when they're conducting the training and we can just go sit in on it you know so I did you know as the Title IX chair because I wanted to know you know what our teachers were were being you know told and being trained in the expectations and it is an excellent class that they can offer for us as a board or we can sit in on trainings that are already happening um youth mental Health's first aid this has been around for a long

238time I also took that one you know a while ago when I was the New Hanover County Council of pta's chair because that really you know talks about you know what we need um for um to help our students be successful and you know I would I would present um be I asked you know Ms Barnum or any of these you know better for us to attend first and you know her suggestion was and she can retract if she wants but that the youth mental health youth Mental Health First Aid might be like a starting ground for us so that we are all you know clear on um you know staying current on the issues that we're facing with our young people um with that and then also the community resilience model that Miss Kiba

239can present to us for two or three hours um the resiliency model I just think that we need to be more informed on what our what is happening in our community and be in line with that and also so that we can keep up with you know the things that our youth are facing two other classes um or trainings um bringing in the bystander that all of our ninth graders you know receive um with that and um shifting boundaries that all of our sixth graders receive that we could easily have you know a primer you know we could we could not I'm not saying we knocked these all out you know in July but you know to let's do a schedule let's put that out let let's come to some agreement and maybe you all

240have some other trainings that you think um are important pretty soon we're going to have to have you know Title IX training when the when the new ruling comes out we're going to have to make sure that we're in compliance with that um and then there might be others that um would be helpful you know for us to sit and listen on so I just wanted us to start thinking about um and we can use our board clerk to help us with that you know keeping a spreadsheet on and thank you Crystal for you know signing us up for all of these kind of things or if there's classes that you've seen elsewhere you know online best practices I know you had one that you brought up at the agenda review um that you know

241and I just think we need to be intentional about making sure that we are up to date up to speed um and we get professional you know training let me scribble if I can speak I think that that would be an excellent idea I think you know just to have a a place where we can go online and just see all the opportunities and that way we can take hey that fits perfectly my schedule and that's only a couple hours or that might be a week you know or something like that I know we have ones coming up uh you know in the general area which makes it even easier so I think it's an excellent idea anybody else have ideas would you I don't mind taking the lead on trying to put something together

242for us to look at um but then and then yeah obviously I would be talking with you know student Support Services you know to what do they got going on um and then see like out in our community what kind of things they have going on um you know the resiliency model is you know is you know handled managed through you know Communities In Schools I'm happy to put that together and bring something back to us in July but um I need your input you know what do you what kind of things do you guys want to take are any of these of interests because they're all of interest to me so I'm gonna I'm gonna put them on a list and then um just to know that um on Monday through Friday of next

243week is the ncsba's Summer Conference for updates and their legal conference that I'm registered to attend and I was just curious if anybody else had registered to attend that okay so and and I always I attend every year and come back and report so I don't mind you know continuing to do that um and that's kind of where the legislative thing you know the liaison came somebody has to you know keep up and you know make a conscious effort because none of us are going to any of the trainings at all and so I just think that we should make more of an effort and I've actually attended a couple of the ncsba trainings and the crossover deadline and the different things that I've been doing so I mean I think it would be a

244good idea and if it's going to be the board clerk to be able to have the listed for us I think that's great um you know talking about Robert's Rules of Order as one but honestly with budget and different balancing and then I'm passionate about scaffolding and so as we're writing policy when we're talking about targeted intervention and supports we're looking at ways to support remediation growth because we have a third of our schools that are failing and so what are we doing and to support our staff and decision making to assist with that as well as our AIG program supports for our special needs students things like that and so what that looks like the targeted interventions inside the school um I would be excited to also look at those but so if I

245could ask if you just send me what you've been to send me what you think we need and I'll just put it all in a spreadsheet and we can just you know we can just look at it awesome and then give it to me I'm sorry what was that I said and then give it to miss Billy our board clerk to you know to have and then we can we can you know post it online too I bet the community would be interested to know what we're attending you good is she done are you done okay I'm sorry yes yeah so I'm I'm interested in probably most what you're interested in so I would like to see a spreadsheet of whatever you're going to put together whatever schedule is available and then see if I

246can make most of it work because I would like to I would like to probably take trainings that our staff are taking so at least I know what I'm listening to and talking about so free is good and working into your schedule is good and imperative um and like I said I'm not I'm not suggesting that we knock this all out by August yeah okay any other discussion in that if not let's carry on to Legal Services contract Miss Sutton you've been presented with the attorney for our Vogel Law Firm the contract there is in front of you and just requesting your approval of that contract tonight any questions is there any difference between the Green Copy that we got for a gender review and the copy that you the white copy that you put

247at our desk tonight there is not okay and was there a reason that we have that we got the yellow copy of the therington Smith is that for comparison purposes so we know because they're not quite the same the one that that we have the one that we have for thurington Smith is a smaller version or maybe I'm missing a page but um yes that was requested by one of the board members so I just decided to share with everyone so everyone would have the same information awesome all right assistant it's Mason I like to make a motion to accept the um contract with the amended term date to end in uh June 30 2024. I'll second that yes we have amended motion we have a second discussion Miss Walker we already had this vote

248in discussion last meeting so are we changing the terms now all of a sudden I don't like this switch and stuff I don't understand it we had a full discussion we had a formal vote in public and now we're switching the terms again I don't understand please explain and so um to go back to a point that I made then is we do have we did adopt six to one vote board expectations and one of the expectations was that board members will not surprise each other with changes of significant magnitude which this most clearly is we had a very long discussion on that and we all agreed to a probationary period so I don't know what has changed and um with that so I would like to hear if before we vote what is the

249reasoning behind that let's speak to that on the other side I will um in comparing the board contract that we had and this new one and looking back if I'm not mistaken this is an unprecedented departure from how the board has done business when it's contracts in general but definitely for attorneys we've not had a an attorney contract that was a term of six months the year has been a minimum with I was just looking at one of the other contracts in the mous the right to extend for three years if the attorney firm that we chose by a majority vote doesn't perform as expected then the majority of the board will vote to fire them but otherwise we need to empower this new team to do their best to represent us to the fullest

250in the same way we empowered the last Law Firm equal footing does anybody else want to go before I go yeah Mason okay go ahead I'm not speaking twice so I have to wait for everybody yeah I mean looking back at the contracts of different renewals and things it seems um protocol for about a year and I from from what I can understand with our policy as long as the terms are given within the 90-day period the termination process can occur prior to the contract ending so um all right so we have a motion second we have a discussion yes ma'am so I would just like to add to the comment that this is not how we usually do things um we've talked tonight about four different items about different than how we normally do

251things and so that to me is not a good enough reason to say we're just doing it like we've always done it and expect to get the same results so I think that we should stand by what we did one of the things that I know several of us had talked about you know offline was um perhaps even pursuing general counsel you know in-house general counsel versus an outside um the so I I just don't think that it's appropriate and professional courtesy to dump this on people with no notice whatsoever and no reasoning other than that's because that's the way we've always done it yes ma'am okay for me to go next I mean I just want to say the vote happened the vote was lost we agreed by majority to do this why is

252it changing now it's not good enough to say oh by the way this is how we do it we we have discussed this the last time and so I mean this is how is this how it's going to continue to be I really really would like to know this because this is not it's not a very courteous thing to do to fellow board members anyone else have a discussion appointments I think so it's buoy so uh the motion in front of us now is to honor this contract at a one-year contract Miss Bowie I don't think the motion was to honor the contract it was to change the contract yes yeah to accept the contract uh in front of us for Mr Vogel uh first I guess we'll vote on the amendment which is to

253change it to a one-year period would you so we'll do that separate then we'll vote on the whole Global Contract uh Mr McManus go ahead obviously no because we did agree before but uh Mr Vogel has absolutely nothing to do with you personally okay so do we um uh please I can if you don't you've already had your two Miss Billy please call the roll ing heart yes Miss crabill no wait a minute no Miss Walker no Mr McManus Miss Mason yes Miss Bradford yes Mr wildebear no so that just defeated four to three so we have the other the original six month in front of us I'll make a motion that we accept the vocal Law Firm six-month Legal Services second and first and second I'm way confused I thought we just voted what

254did what did we just vote for just voted to change the amendment which was to change it to a year right and so now you're making a motion to accept the six months six months correct but didn't we just does that not negate itself we didn't we just voted for a year and now we're going to go back and vote on the six months because suppose we all say that we want six months and now we've already voted on the year it's getting late it's late y'all sorry okay I'll get you one of these you can borrow it later on but first and a second is there any discussion if not miss Craven I'm Miss Grable thank you Miss Boyle we're voting on six months six months six months Miss Bowie please call roll we

255ready yes okay Miss crabill yes Miss Walker yes Mr McManus see see it's Mason yes Miss Bradford yes Mr wildebear yes and Miss Barnhart yes that passes 7-0 thank you very much carrying down let's see what's next uh the interim budget resolution yes um nope that's afterwards a request approval of the budget resolution as presented this will allow us to continue spending at our current budget operating level I'm going into the new year until we adopt um a resolution which is normally done after we at the state budget passes I'll bring back that full resolution for the board's approval foreign make a motion we accept the interim budget resolution is there a second second we have a discussion if not all in favor please signify by saying aye aye all opposed seven zero carrying on

256Legal Services contract that would be um Miss Sutton so you don't run away yet so you have the sharpless contract in in front of you and we're requesting approval of that contract that will start tomorrow if that's approved here tonight I make a motion that we accept the sharpless contract is there a second second okay okay wait a minute what's a second okay Miss Mason second I guess on that one uh is there any discussion all in favor please signify by saying aye aye all opposed carry 7-0 committee reports thank you Miss Sutton I'm sorry that was I should have said thank you uh committee reports Head Start Head Start report sure we are looking to add a parent voice to come and talk about the different things that are help that are happening excuse

257me in our pre-k program and so hopefully we will be on the agenda for July for them to come and share out some of the things that are having and going on they rolled out the app seed and that was great um got some feedback from the parents that I've been using it and they love the engagements with their students and the staff have been very excited about that they have about 50 percent I think of re-enrollment at Johnson so that was just a highlight of enrollment and they're excited about that because we know just the placement of our students and making sure that they know whether or not they're accepting the program the fall is a big deal so that and looking at my notes hold on yeah it was a great I got

258to hear a lot of the end of the year celebration and share about that and just the family and the teachers that came out and did that they just had great positive things to say awesome thank you very much for that report Legion City Miss Walker thank you Mr chair I well I guess we'll start with the most recent meeting which um Pete and I both went to um it was a zoom and then we we just basically updated the contract for the Sharks team for Legion Stadium um the meeting before that Eddie was kind enough to give me some refresh my memory on some talking points I did I did print some stuff out but his is much better than mine so um basically what we did was we revised the agreement increased the

259maintenance fee from 148 532 to 192 000. I believe that was oh yeah is an increase of 44 168 or a 29 increase the city felt like that was was what was needed to become whole because they're they're taking the load um on some of the maintenance of the facilities that we use um and it says the fee covers the actual cost for maintenance the city provides for the stadium Buck Hardy baseball and baseball field it does not include the cost for maintenance for Godwin field or Robert strange Park um uh neighbor High School maintains a minimum of 70 use of Legion stadium in Buck Hardy baseball field and uh the agreement has a five-year term so this is this is going to be stretched over for five years the commission also improved the replacement

260of the irrigation pump on Buck Hardy baseball field total cost for replacement was fifteen thousand it was agreed that the cost would be split equally between the city county and the school system and um uh let's see I think that I think I just covered the last meeting I did it in reverse so I think I covered most of that is there anything you think I missed Mr Anderson no good okay thank you very good and next we'll have Miss Walker part two turn around Task Force update yes um we had a very good first meeting um here in the Bae Center had um sorry if I turned my mic off I apologize um we went over quite a few things um his um sorry I apologize y'all my brain is about dead so Dr

261Faison started out in the meeting well we we had a welcome let her face to start out with some good information about our high priority schools I covered a discussion on Aces and Trauma and I really wanted to talk to stress the importance of community and um in their involvement in what we do in our schools because I know it's one of the pillars of our strategic plan that's definitely something that we wanted to broaden as far as Community involvement we do have a second meeting set up in in a few weeks if I'm not mistaken and we are going to we are we've done a principal survey because one of the things that Dr facing stress and I agree with is that we do each school has its own unique needs and so we're

262going to be asking them what they need and we we did a bunch of stuff at the the meeting and I can't remember every single thing it's lay feet but we did do some brainstorming on you know ideas from the group we had members of the community that that ran the kind of gamut of our community which is we had met a councilman we had a commissioner we had a retired doctor um you know there were a couple people that had a conflict but they'll be at the next meeting we had a member of the endowment the chair of the endowment that was there listening and we had someone from Coastal Horizons uh Cape Fear Community College um and uh let's see who oh Community Schools as well and did I say Port City united

263we have Port City United so and um next meeting the chamber will be there as well we have a couple members that are from the chamber so it's gonna it's it's going really well and I really was nervous about it at first to talk about because I really wanted it to to succeed but I think the feedback that I've gotten so far is that it was it was really well done we had a we had a wonderful facilitator from UNCW Miss Heather McWhorter was there and she's going to continue helping us facilitate this meeting so if any of you guys want to call and talk to me about I'd happy to share and Dr face and be happy to share as well when's your next meeting I'm sorry you said uh I think it's cheating

264me look at my calendar do you remember Dr is it June 21st I think yeah June 21st okay very good we're here can't all of them come but you know maybe we can we can all watch for sure very good thank you Ms Walker appreciate it and finally something that's popping up on my thing here I have no idea but miss Bradford if you would share curriculum committee okay oh very exciting um warm-up activity math we we covered a lot of things and it's late so I won't go into a lot of detail we had CTE Career Development with Demarcus Nixon that's a comprehensive career development plan grades 6 through 12. and um it carries all the way through but the um where is it here um we really want to get in front of

265K through five with career awareness um starting earlier and earlier and she talked to you about Zillow who appearance night is in planning dates have not been set um the committee discussed a possibility of having a combined parents night and teaming up teaming up with curriculum and instruction um the dates will be shared once they figure it out we there's something that I need to announce District C has the New Hanover summer team ship 2023 that is July 24th through August 3rd it's Mondays through Thursdays it will be held at Ashley and Laney and um Hoggard will attend with Ashley New Hanover will attend with Laney there is lunch there is bus service and there are spots open still and that is a great opportunity the students come together and solve a real business problem

266for real businesses in our community and then they pitch the idea back to the business so it's very exciting to participate in and it has bus and it has lunch In the Heat of the summer so I think that's everything Dr Faison all right does anybody have any correspondence they'd like to share yes I do I just want to say thank you after our last meeting um when we had approved the capital asked to go before the County Commissioners I had set up a tour um with the county um commissioner and vice chair um men and we went through a New Hanover High School and discussed and actually showed where some of the investment would be going to support our students and what that would mean in in our budget cycle to have that one-time

267influx of cash because how we get cash is through them and if we didn't get this Capital asked we'd have to go to a bond so just thank you Ms commissioner Pearson commissioner beibenbark thank you Mr crabill um yes I would like to take this opportunity um cover your ears Jason to um thank Farrington Smith for um their years of service as our general counsel it's been a pleasure working with you and Colin and Deborah and you know in all of the um Steve and all the people that that you work with us so we your service does not go unnoticed your professionalism and quick response to all of our concerns so thank you very much you know thank you all of your peers and your the rest of your Law Firm you're here I

268very much agreed Jason thank you very much in Balance if not uh some quick announcements uh the policy committee will be meeting Tuesday June 20 20th at 10 A.M here general public will have the option to view remotely uh on in HCS TV and we just heard the 21st we will be having the turnaround task force what time is that Miss Walker 12 o'clock okay so that'll be the next day on the 21st and the regular Board of Education meeting for July will be held on July 11th please take note of that date I will not be on the 4th of July for obvious reasons at five o'clock uh seeing no other business I would entertain a motion to adjourn so moved second second thank you and I do apologize for the lateness of the

269night