001water foreign he might look over there foreign before I can pull it up for you right no these this yeah oh yeah right okay I swear to God I'm gonna pinch you so far I've been sweating for that it's very warm in here oh folks we're gonna I'm gonna go ahead and start foreign everybody please take your seats the December 2022 regular board meeting at the board of education is called to order Miss Bowie will you please call the roll good evening Stephanie craville here Stephanie Walker here Stephanie Adams here Nelson Boyer here Judy Justice here he McManus and Pete wildeborg president I apologize for the noise we'll get that door closed in just a moment Welcome to the New Hanover County Board of education's December regular board meeting thank you all for joining us
002in person or in the remote viewing audience we value and appreciate your interest your participation and your advocacy on behalf of all New Hanover County Schools students and staff for those in attendance would you please take a moment to silence your cell phones we have a very exciting agenda tonight as we swear in new board members and one that I hope will remain short and sweet by sticking as closely as possible to our estimated times and keeping our discussion focused and on point before we get before we get started I would like to take just a moment to recognize our some of our elected officials who are in the audience so if you are an elected official would you please rise so that we can I see new board chair County Commissioner board chair bill
003rivenbark I see Deb Hayes and Leanne Pierce from the County Commission the senator nut Center sorry representative Ted Davis judge Jake corpening oh say I want to point you out yet um judge J corpening judge Phyllis Gorham judge Frank Jones and oh and Shelley she's retired but I'm going to go ahead and include her as somebody important so Shelley wave your hand wherever you wherever there she is everything important okay so thank you all for joining us tonight [Applause] foreign and supporting New Hanover County Schools um in all the ways that you do so as always but especially tonight with so many specially invited guests in attendance including judges elected officials adult and youth family and friends of new and outgoing board members I'd like to remind us all that we need to treat each
004other with dignity and respect throughout this meeting no matter what our thoughts and feelings are about the issue or even a particular group or person the Board needs to remain focused on completing its governance work that is so very necessary for our students staff and schools to be successful disruptions to our meeting will not be tolerated just as they are not tolerated at any other local governmental body meeting where rules of common courtesy and professionalism are in action that said people who are disrupting the meeting will be asked to leave if that happens you can watch via live stream um New Hanover County Schools TV or later on the New Hanover County Schools YouTube channel so moving right along into board business do I hear a motion to accept the agenda so moved Mr Boyer
005second motion to accept the agenda is there a second second second um Judy and Adams any discussion all in favor say aye aye aye any opposed okay next up let me get back to that uh continue next up is our invitation which our indication tonight will invocation tonight will be provided by Senior Pastor Jonathan P Conrad of St Paul's evangelist Lutheran Church everyone please rise and silence those cell phones please Pastor Conrad I want to wish the Board of Education members the staff and those in attendance of blessed and beautiful holiday I want to extend a special thank you to Russell Park for the invitation at St Paul's Lutheran Church we celebrate Holy Communion every week and during that celebration we say it is right to give our thanks and praise and lately when I
006hear those words I am reminded of a scene from one of my favorite movies featuring one of my favorite characters and I think it's a character we all know and love you guessed it Batman now at the end of the movie Batman Begins after he has beaten an army of villains his friend Jim Gordon tells Batman I never said Thank you and Batman says and you'll never have to you'll never have to that statement hits home to me because I believe we should never do a good deed in order to hear someone tell us thank you because that makes the Deeds All About Us we do good deeds because we are called to do what is best for others when we do good deeds we are showing praise to God we are giving God the
007real thanks for the gifts we have been given and for the opportunities to make the lives of our neighbors better this Christmas season I ask everyone in this room to focus on the lives of the people around you and ask yourselves how can I make this day better for my neighbor let that be your guiding question this holiday and for all days in our lives that's why we do what we do we don't do it to get the thank you we do it to give thanks let us pray holy God As We Gather for tonight's meeting show us ways to live out our thanks in the way we treat our neighbors your children we also pray for all elected officials nationally and those who have gathered here tonight locally and this evening I lift up
008to you especially Charles and Stephanie Nelson and Judy Stephanie Hugh Pete Stephanie and those who will be joining the board next year Pat Josie and Melissa I pray that each of them will give of their time and heart to work together for the benefit of all children in our County and I also lift up the Board of Education staff those who are doing amazing work behind the scenes for those working security to keep us safe lead us to a productive and positive meeting and show us ways to work together for a better tomorrow in your holy name we pray amen amen thank you next up Air Force Junior ROTC Color Guard will present colors and is under the direction this evening of Captain Lance Gaither Army science instructor foreign will lead us in the Pledge
009of Allegiance thank you I pledge allegiance of the United States of America and to the Republic foreign [Music] and thank you for all the students who know that Pledge of Allegiance we're so proud of you tonight and so next we will hear our national anthem played by members of the Murray Middle School orchestra the Murray middle middle school orchestra is under the direction of Jasmine mendonic and principal Justin foschetti foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] foreign Murray middle school students would you like to come up and introduce yourself please it's pretty cool I like it flowers my thing Washington oh are you playing an encore so um I'll just walk down or you can pass it just say your name I'm Josephine Clem I'm in eighth grade I'm Ashlyn Gainey and I'm in ninth
010grade I'm ayot at 8th grade I'm Mariana Roth 8th grade eighth grade I'm Matthew Wertz seventh grade I'm Jared and Boykin seventh grade I'm Santana Wade I'm in eighth grade I'm JP Summers and I'm in eighth grade thank you your pre-music was fabulous and your rendition of the national anthem was amazing so thank you again for joining us thank you all for welcoming my students here my name is Jasmine madunik I'm the orchestra teacher over at Murray middle and I am so blessed and so thankful for these young kids here many of them have only been playing for one to two years and some of them started on Zoom so I'm so proud of them thank you all have a wonderful holiday thank you will the ROTC folks the ones that had another engagement they
011did okay just getting my steps in going going around all right so next up on our agenda is approval of the Amendments do I hear a motion to approve the minutes as presented so moved um motion to approve the minutes as presented by Pete wildebear is there a second second by Nelson Boyer any discussion all those in favor say aye aye any opposed okay moving right along to our next thing I'd like to invite caress Clegg up to the microphone for our December recognitions foreign good evening board members current and coming on this evening we I would like to present to you our recognitions of Excellence for the month since 1964 the U.S presidential Scholars Program has recognized and honored over 8 000 outstanding High School seniors and encourage High attainment among all students for
012the 21-22 school year North Carolina was honored to have three students recognized as U.S presidential Scholars New Hanover County schools has two students nominated for the U.S presidential Scholars Program for the 22-23-23 school year please join me in congratulating and recognizing the following tansy Brown of New Hanover High School foreign if you could come accept her certificate for her and Oscar Cleveland of Ashley High School [Applause] 's coming up tansy has been nominated in the general academic category and Oscar has been nominated for a career in technical education category foreign [Applause] our final recognition of the evening is for the New Hanover County School 2023 outstanding teacher and teacher of the gifted award the recipient of this award has been a gifted educator since 2015 and has been a significant asset to the New Hanover
013County Schools AIG program in addition to her role as the gifts gifted specialist this individual also serves as a PLC leader a coach co-teacher team teacher and when asked about what sets hurt this individual Apart Her leadership stated AIG and high achieving students are inspired by Reagan Mock's enthusiasm she motivates all the students she comes in contact with Reagan is extremely active at Myrtle Grove not just with the gifted student population but with all students she supports the Junior Beta Club holds lunch for academic support Monday math Madness Tuesday book groups creative writing Thursdays and fan Fridays catering to the interest and fandoms of her students join me in recognizing Reagan mock as our 2023 teacher of gifted students [Applause] and Miss Bliss you want to come up and get in the photo also that
014concludes our recognitions for the evening thank you [Applause] [Music] thank you [Music] [Applause] so tonight this we are awarding the Excellence in public service and I would like to give my heartfelt thanks I hope you don't cry sorry the um to our whole entire board and especially our outgoing board members um Nelson lawyer Stephanie with an F Adams and um Judy Justice this has been probably one of the most tumultuous times in the history of our country and our county is no different um it has been very hard to lead and to govern in this in this time and so all I can say to you is thank you you know for your service for your dedication for your perseverance um and just your your insights your persevere perseverance again I think that word is
015out there so um on behalf of the whole entire board thank you thank you thank you [Applause] take another picture so you are welcome to take a poinsettia I grew this in my Greenhouse for you and um on behalf of our whole school board we have this project something nice for your desk your your shelf yourself for excellence in public service as a member of the New Hanover County Board of Education December the 8th 2018 to December of 2022 presented by the New Hanover County Board of Education this day [Applause] thank you [Applause] okay so next up on our agenda is the superintendent's report oh sorry I'm sorry this is the most one of the most important things so we give each um our outgoing board member an opportunity to just say a few words
016as they as they exit the diet so you don't have to exit the dice you can sit up here until these sense but the um and so this is like a three three minutes in four minutes kind of thing um so and I promise I won't gavel anybody who goes over but um let's go um Judy would you like to start thank you normally I don't write things down and you guys know that it comes right Alpha usually but I wanted to just go ahead and briefly State a couple things four years ago I ran for the school board because of my decades-long commitment to our Public Schools as an educator and Community member my main goal was to ensure that all children in our schools had access to a quality education and a safe
017and nurturing environment so that they can be successful in life our two main responsibilities as board members according to State Statute is to provide oversight of our superintendent and create education policy along with overseeing its implementation so that goal can successfully be carried out due to some unimaginable situations that arose during the past four years which Mr crabill's already referred to such as a discovery of the dozens of sexual assaults on our students for decades the coveted pandemic our staff leaving and unheard numbers and the resulting dysfunction of our school board and school leadership carrying out that goal has been really hard but not entirely impossible I could not have those many successes and I have had the ones I've had if it wasn't for the support of the public and the staff who also
018want to see all children have access to a quality education now here as a result are my suggestions to the new school board if you want strong Public Schools always put what is best for students and staff at the center of all decisions just don't say it do it please you cannot separate the two you got to put the staff and the kids together in this trust and support the staff in the buildings they are well educated hard-working professionals listen to them listen to our students listen to their families and please listen to the community members before you make decisions provide real oversight for the superintendent ask questions make sure you are not just relying on the information provided by school leadership unless you are comfortable with trusting their professional advice when something is wrong
019do not ignore it or make excuses that has not been done properly honestly since I've been on the board to the which has been to the detriment of our district get out in the schools the community talk to all stakeholders and make your decisions on what is best for our students not what is best to protect the organization it's the students that count work together but also respectfully disagree if you have to and listen to each other so that you can resolve issues according again to what is best for all students compromise is part of working as a team but never agree to something that compromises what is best for our students remember that our public schools are the backbone of our democracy and I heard that a lot from people running remember that they
020need strong public schools in our in our country and and definitely in our district our children are literally our future and I see some beautiful children out here now that's why we're here and right now it is up to you the new members to provide the leadership that will lead to the type of education that will help them achieve a fulfilling life and really thank you again for everybody that has supported our schools thank you for our staff thank you for a wonderful student thank you Miss Justice um Mr Boyer [Applause] yeah well yeah I um I I also just want to thank the staff um ma'am working with you guys over four years has been a lot of fun uh you know the Miracles that we've brought through some very difficult times so I
021just want to thank their leadership to the new board congratulations um you know I stood up here what four years ago and said that uh I I thanked everybody I said I won't let you down I think it's the dumbest thing you could possibly say tonight you will let people down um it's a guarantee if you're doing this job right or if you're doing it at all you're going to let half the people down all of the time and that's okay if I could go back and and say something else I would say don't let yourself down be true to who you are and uh you know I I do wish you I think it's the best job in the entire world I wish you all so much luck um if there's any advice that
022you need anything you want to run by me I'm always here I can say congratulations again to you and uh I guess that's it I do want to thank my family so okay um Miss Adams all right I will finish this up um I also would like to say congratulations to the new members first it's it takes a very brave person to step up and and want to do this um it's going to be an interesting four years for you so get ready for a wild ride but I applaud you and your bravery for being here um all of you ran saying that it's about you want to be able to speak for parents well I am now officially a parent in this District just as a parent so I'd like you to remember 49
023of this population did not vote for you so remember as you are representing you are representing for all students so I just want that to be it's hard sometimes as a board member to remember that we've got to hear all the voices and I just encourage you to listen and listen to the voices next I would like to thank my fellow board members um nobody knows what it's like to sit in the seat except us and it's been a very interesting experience and I am grateful for your service and I'm grateful for the dialogues although sometimes crazy but it has been an incredible learning opportunity and I thank you for your dedication to the community um also New Hanover County Schools you are this has been such a gift the staff that works in this
024District are some of the most talented passionate intelligent people I I've ever thought I could meet thank you for your dedication to our students Dr Faust I am proud to be part of the team that hired you and I am grateful for what you have done for this district and it is my hope that you are able to continue the progress and the good work that you and your team have been doing lastly I'd like to thank the community it's been an honor to represent you for the past four years and my final is my family who are sitting in the audience first off my mom you raised me to show kindness and respect to all people and I hope I have made you proud in that time thank you for always being there to
025listen to me on the really tough days my son Braden yesterday I asked him what has he learned from me being on the board and he said I'm never going to run for public office and and then he followed it up with a very interesting comment and he said I also learned that it's important to listen to people so if that has been his takeaway from my four years of being here then it was worth it um and last but not least my husband Scott I honestly I wouldn't have survived these four years without you um you are the only one that truly understands what this role takes um you saw all of it you provided me the strength to keep moving you helped me rise above the ignorance and there was a lot of
026it and you helped me make sure that I was keeping students and schools at the center of my thought process and so forever I love you I thank you for supporting me in this journey and that's it so thank you very much okay thank you board members you are not dismissed yet so don't be packing up we got one more thing to do and then you may be dismissed um so next on the agenda is the um board chairs report oh I'm sorry I as we approach the holiday season we at the school district would like to extend our warmest wishes to our students staff and families we hope that you have a wonderful holiday and that you are able to spend time with loved ones enjoy so much needed rest and relaxation we would
027also like to welcome the new members of the Board of Education we're excited to work with you and benefit and to benefit from your unique perspectives and experiences we are confident that your contributions will help us to make our school district even stronger we also would like to thank the outgoing board members and for their hard-working dedication to our school district your contributions have been invaluable and we are grateful for your service we wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors I'm honored to have accepted Chancellor of your ladies invitation to serve as the commencement speaker for the Cameron School of Business and Watson College of Education at UNCW the ceremony is Friday December 16 2020 at 6 pm and I look forward to the opportunity to speak to the graduating class finally
028we're excited for the second half of the school year we look forward to the opportunities and the challenges that lie ahead and we are committed to providing the best possible education for our students and helping them achieve their goals we look forward to working together to make this successful and rewarding school year for all this concludes my support thank you Dr Faust all right so now I can read correctly board chairs report so this week is National Computer Science Education week many of our schools are celebrating in ways unique to them so please ask your teachers and principals what exciting things they have planned and offer support where you can um on November 17th I had the honor of participating in the ribbon cutting for the grand reopening of Brogden Hall so um it was
029a fun night for alumni and students both in the stands and on the courts and I just want to take one one more opportunity to thank our County Commissioners who may still be with us for their support in making that happen and to our operations Department Leanne you know representing for doing a fabulous job you know um under many different adversities so you know thank you for that um you have to stop by Brogden Hall you need sunglasses in there because the room is so bright the floor is so bright um but it was so nice just to hear fans in there cheering um and watching some of the alumni try and keep up with the with the young people you know they they almost needed oxygen you know on the side there also too
030wanted to let you know that um I had attended the North Carolina School boards association annual meeting on November 14th through 16th last month where District delegates voted on the ncsba's agenda to present to the State Board of Education and the general assembly in their next long session so I had the opportunity to cast my vote and I also had the opportunity to make a motion to amend one of the things we were doing through and that amendment was to ask the general assembly to allow districts to have options for creating calendars that best fit their community so we'll see how that goes Stephanie Adams and Stephanie Walker were recognized for attending training in the 12 to 24 hour category so thank you for and this is forward training this is all stuff that they
031do to you know make themselves and make our board better I received a merit award for attending training in the 32 100 hour category so um it's all in the name of doing what's best for our students we can always learn from each other across the state and um and so that's good um but I want to encourage our new board you know to continue to do that I also want to thank this board for electing me to serve as their board chair this past year I'm humbled I was humbled by their support whenever I could get it um I always did my best to lead to find opportunities for us to improve ourselves and just to be um better comrades so sometimes that works sometimes that did not but that's okay because that's what
032that's what being at board is all about um I also want to Echo what Dr Faust said about um thank you to our hard-working staff you know for this up till the the holiday break um encourage all of you to take time over this holiday season to just reflect on the many blessings we have the good school district that we um that we lead and spend time you know with your families um so with that said um that's it that's my report and so that brings us to the end of part of um December 6 board meeting part A we are going to take um Miss Billy 15 minutes is what we need I'm going to take a 15-minute break and so that um that'll bring us back like at 6 30. so that's actually
033you know right before 6 30. so one more round of applause for our outgoing board members foreign [Music] [Applause] somebody um [Music] you know it depends on who who shouted out I think Joseph might be sitting here thanks foreign welcome thank you tonight foreign thank you foreign [Applause] foreign thank you announcement s foreign thank you [Music] foreign [Music] experience [Music] thank you yes okay um foreign some other guy yeah I can do that what do you want it for on this side thank you okay [Music] thank you very much thank you foreign thank you very much [Music] thank you very much there you go [Applause] [Music] all right [Music] thank you foreign [Applause] [Music] foreign next on our agenda is the oath of office judge Jones Miss Barnhart you all can come Miss Barnhart and
034your and your party May party of five is ready um judge Jones okay so we're going to have judge judge behind the the podium you hear your Bible holder next to you and the kids can stay with you or they can stay over here wherever they want to go okay you're gonna help okay that is awesome okay so next on our agenda is um taking the oath of office for our new board members the first up is Josie Barnhart The Honorable Frank Jones resident Superior Court judge for the fifth Judicial District will swear her in memories staff elected state and local officials members of our community and most importantly our children note to self don't lean too hard it is it is my distinct honor to administer the oath of office to Josie Barnhart when
035asked if I knew Josie I said yes let me answer with two remarks first if you want something well done ask a woman secondly if you want something done exceptionally well ask this woman foreign to you the oath of office and at the conclusion I'm going to ask if you solemnly swear I Josie Barnhart do solemnly swear that I will support and maintain the Constitution and laws of the United States and the Constitution and laws of North Carolina not inconsistent there with and that I will Faithfully discharge the duties of my office as a member of the New Hanover County Board of Education this the sixth day of December 2022 do you so solemnly swear I saw someone swear congratulations [Applause] do you want us to execute these um you can go ahead and execute
036right now yeah but not Josie we need her yeah and then when you're done Miss Barnard you can take your seat right to the left of Mr wildeboard [Music] [Applause] but you can pass them off to our board clerk Miss Bowie thank you thank you again judge Jones okay next up is Pat Bradford thank you okay so um judge Gorham you saw where to stand and you saw not to press down too hard Pat who's your Bible holder you got your Bible holder okay and so you all can stand around her or you could flank on the other side wherever you want to be okay so Pat Bradford is being sworn in tonight by The Honorable Phyllis Gorham senior resident Superior Court judge for the fifth Judicial District I thank you for this opportunity to
037be here this evening I do want to introduce Pat Bradford to the community he has a new board member she is a member of my church Clover River Church her pastor is here this evening along with many other members of our church if you will please stay I'm glad out this time I will ask you I will read this off to you and at the end of this hope if you so agree say I do Pat Bradford do you solemnly swear that you will support and maintain the constitution of the laws of the United States and the Constitution and the laws of North Carolina knocking consistent there with and that you will Faithfully discharge the duties of your office as a member of the New Hanover County Board of Education is the sixth day of
038December 2022. I did congratulations [Applause] for those of you who don't know judge Gorham swore me in as a guardian ad litem over 17 years ago so this is a continuation of something very important to me [Applause] Miss Bradford you can grab your things and come sit to the right of Mr wildeborg thank you judge Gorham thank you for being here our board clerk will take your papers [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] [Applause] I see you have your Bible holder swearing in Melissa Mason this evening is The Honorable Julius corpening chief justice for the Fifth District Court thank you for being with us no they're okay okay all right last you put your hand on the bottle raise your a fan that's fine I'm going to read this oath to you if you agree to abide
039by it I'll ask you to answer appropriately at the end I do solemnly swear that I will support and maintain the Constitution and laws of the United States and the constitutional laws of North Carolina not inconsistent there with and that I will Faithfully discharge my duties of my office as a member of the New Hanover County Board of Education this the sixth day of December 2022 if you agree please say I will I will congratulations [Applause] thank you all right that's official congratulations foreign [Applause] foreign [Applause] and as the others did I'm going to read this and ask you at the end if you agree and swear to it do you Pete wildebe or solemnly swear that you will support and maintain the Constitution and laws of the United States and the Constitution and laws
040of North Carolina not inconsistent there with and that you will Faithfully discharge the duties of your office as a member of the New Hanover County Board of Education this the sixth day of December 2022 do you solemnly swear I do congratulations [Applause] and allow me to introduce the swear inner who I forgot the swear winner um The Honorable Shelly Holt retired District Court judge and a friend of mine for 20 years Kirsten and I decided we should say play ball instead of it yeah exactly oh thank you you don't pay attention [Applause] okay so next up on our agenda is um call to order with the new sitting board Miss Billy will you please call the roll ing Jesse Barnhart here Pat Bradford here Stephanie craybill here here Melissa Mason here he McManus president Stephanie
041Walker here and Pete wildebear present okay next up on our agenda is the election of the board chair I'm sure what yes okay the I need to turn the gavel over to um [Music] We need he has to do his part in a moment I will call for nominations thank you for the officer chair of New Hanover County Board of Elections nominations do not require a second if more than one person is nominated the board will vote on nominees in order to in in order of nomination the first person to receive a majority of board members present is the elected chair nominations are in the order of the office of board chair are there any nominations okay second we don't have time are there any other nominations okay oh sorry we will now now move
042to vote on nominees and of the nomination those in favor of people at the board is Sheriff say aye aye for those opposed say no the Wilder board's elected chair of the vote 7-0 [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thank you I'd like to just I will now pass the gamble to Pete congratulations I want to take a moment to thank the people of New Hanover County for putting their trust in the new board members by electing us with a clear majority we see that as a mandate for uh change I also want to thank my fellow board members for their faith and my leadership by electing me chair with the people of New Hanover County can expect in the short term is for us to dig into the serious issues facing our school district we assure you
043that we have heard the community's concerns loud and clear we will hold the board retreat in the coming weeks at the end of that Retreat we will have a 100-day plan of action which will further address top Community concerns including parents rights curriculum student safety and raising students academic achievement to make our County the very best in the state further we plan to partner with the County Commissioners and meet with them regularly to discuss ways to improve our school system again thank you and thank you all thank you [Applause] our first order of business is to elect a board Vice chair either a nomination the nominations are in order of the office of Vice chair are there any nominations Mr chairman I nominate Pat Bradford I know it was first I'll nominate Desi Barnhart I
044think I actually heard Miss Barnhart first no you didn't that's fine so we have you said Miss Bradford yes sir okay other nominations well I was first but I nominated Jesse Barnhart it's Barnhart are there other nominations hearing none um if the hearing none the the office of the vice chair nominations is closed um what we'll do is we'll do a roll call we will start with Miss uh Bradford would you please call the role I don't know what you're calling for uh we're voting for voting yes okay those in favor of Miss uh Barnhart assume Miss Bradford Excuse Me Miss Bradford uh please say aye aye that's one two three four that will be a corn that will be the number needed before were Miss Barnhart Ms Bradford myself and Mr McManus so that
045we do not need to vote for the second so at that point we will have MS Bradford as congratulations you are this thanks [Applause] morning foreign this time we will start with our cold audience remember you have two minutes I will follow up three people I will do my best with your names if I do mispronounce your name I apologize in the front end please remember to be mindful of the two minutes we do look forward to listening to you and hearing you very closely Miss Mercer will be first Mr Sheridan II Mr Whitehead will be third so if those folks will come up to the front please Cena Mercer let me see her I'm sorry I apologize good evening we are in the 90 [Music] -year whether by designer accident the superintendent Mark sosny
046gave the same speech each year to motivate the staff what he said was this parents send us the best kids they have they don't hide the good ones at home then he'd remind us that we were there to educate the students who are in front of us not imaginary ones that was solid advice then it remained so today and it applies not only to teachers but everyone involved in education as a board you will have two years to serve New Hanover County Schools together the students in the schools now are the best New Hanover County has to offer every policy consideration and vote needs to be with their best interest in mind personal beliefs and relationships have no place in determining what is best for our students the only question you should ask before making
047a vote is how will this benefit the children and I'd like to go a step further as a board you are also tasked with making New Hanover County Schools the best working environment for teachers and staff teaching was difficult before covered shutdowns and it's even more difficult now teachers are having to do more with less and they are struggling with overwhelming workloads when you are updating or making new policies I've already asked that you consider what's if it's best for students but you also need to consider and weigh the effect it may have on teachers and staff as well learning and teaching should be positive and enjoyable Endeavors I am asking you all to work together for the next two years to improve the working conditions at all schools and to Halt the degradation of
048all teachers and staff do not get sidetracked by false issues that create acrimony between the public and the school system if you choose to work together on concrete important issues you will create a positive learning environment that will benefit all students and employees they deserve that from their school board thank you thank you [Applause] just before and brown if you would join please thank you good evening I am Dr Michael Sheridan and this is the third time I've spoken to the board about this topic have you read policy 1510 on school safety recently here is one paragraph from it when employees with responsibility for supervising students have personal knowledge or actual notice of a student altercation or other situation that poses an immediate threat to safety they shall use their professional judgment to determine how
049best to address the situation to protect the safety of everyone in the vicinity emergency procedures identified in a student's behavior intervention plan shall be followed to the maximum extent possible under the circumstances for minor threats or altercations or altercations involving young children the employee shall intervene directly to end the fight or address the safety threat if the employee can do so safely an employee who encounters a situation that cannot be managed safely and effectively by that employee immediately shall request assistance from other employees or administrative staff and shall take steps to remove bystanders from the area only the degree of force or physical control reasonably necessary shall be used to re-establish a safe environment love our children is asking you to add six words to this policy tonight other speaker speakers will address the six
050words and why you can use the safety policy instead of the seclusion policy to keep everyone safe in our schools thank you Mr Whitehead thank you good evening congratulations new board members uh just saying if if you're here to protest the new board it's a little early um I've come up and protested the board and as a 24-year veteran teacher New Hanover County high schools let me give you a sad compendium of the legacy of our outgoing board Thursday the 10th of November the 11th was a holiday and left a few assignments including the crossword puzzle on Monday I checked the crossword puzzle with the students finished nearly half of the puzzle they received a grade of 50. if they got close to finishing they received a grade of a hundred out of approximately 52
051students three received a grade of 100 and maybe five received a grade of 50 in two classes these were honors students the vast majority of whom did not know to capitalize the name of a country do not know what a verb or a noun are think Europe is a country and cannot tell time on an analog clock I literally knew more about the world than elementary school as a c and d student and it's not their fault it's the fault of the people who have eliminated all standards for our students we also have PLC meetings once a week where our history department will talk about whatever new and woke fad the board has chosen for us to fail with this takes up precious planning time and we in the history Department have been told by
052two administrators we have the most productive PLC meetings yet we hate them and find them useless when I asked our department today what we did in the last for meetings no one could answer other than say we're checking a box for someone's job students also regularly curse out teachers and receive no punishment I was going to quote some of that today but they're kids here I don't care if I get thrown out of the meeting these kids get no consequence we're not allowed to talk like this here why are children allowed to talk to adults that way this morning just before the bell I heard an administrator tell a student five times to go to class five I counted because I knew I was coming in tonight I finally walked away it was so pathetic
053do a survey and see how many high school teachers think our diplomas are worth the the paper they're printed on you're going to find very very few thank you very much for your time thank you Miss McLaren Brown Miss uh major and miss two please first I want to congratulate and welcome the newest members of the Board of Education I hope you will work towards providing all children with an opportunity for Superior education and a safe and positive learning environment love our children is here tonight to ask you to end the practice of seclusion we are calling for three actions one provide training support and full Staffing of teachers and staff so that the use of seclusion as a behavior of management tool will no longer be needed by the start of the 2023-24 school
054year secondly in seclusion in all of the New Hanover County schools and educational programs by adding the sentence use of secure seclusion is prohibited in New Hanover County schools and educational programs to regulation 4302-r rules for use of seclusion and restraint in schools and thirdly add six words to policy code 1510 4200 slash 7270 school safety the six words are and risks of serious bodily injury the pop this the policy committee could work on revision to regulation 4302-r and policy 1510 at their next meeting this would allow the full board to vote on ending seclusion and the updated school policy in March these policy changes can help increase the opportunity for all of our children to experience a superior education in a safe and positive learning environment I repeat these policy changes can help increase
055the opportunity for all of our children to experience a superior education thank you your time is up foreign [Music] welcome new members a new chair and vice chair um I'm here today on behalf of facts 2.0 um we're here I'm the coordinator New Hanover County we started in Alamance we also have one coming in Pender but we're here today to inform you and we're very thankful that I think combined together all of you we can get the things that need to be done through the laws that we have been working on a lot of it's kind of started for two years so let me be quick um starting with the first one 115 c98 that gives you the board sole Authority as you govern so 115 c98 then we look at your policy all right
056so this is where we're talking today about books but what we will be sending out Dr Faust which you will be receiving in a day or two is a grievance also known as a case File so with that gives you the evidence and the research and documentation and I like to refer to it as that so everyone understands it is factual it is proof so when we look at 3200 the procurement excuse me B1 Clause one the procurement of materials must be accomplished in accordance with law including the First Amendment of the United States Constitution I will jump down to um being unlawful as defined in 14 190.1 um it is unlawful in North Carolina for any person to intentionally disseminate obscenity we understand that 14 19015 exempts employees in public officials in performance of
057Duties but does not exempt employees and other public officials from illegal activity if they knew or should have known that their Acts were unlawful which means they are subject to payment or severe monetary damage and I'm taking that as information okay you're I'm giving that to you information one on followed by Mr Auto West miss two good evening my name is Natasha Tu I am the chair of New Hanover County chapter of moms for Liberty I would like to congratulate our four new um recently elected board members on your campaign victories I'd also like to express my sincere gratitude for your willingness to step up and fight for our children and the future of our country Samuel Adams once said If ever a time should come when Vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest
058seats in government our our country will stand in need of its experienced Patriots to prevent its ruin that time is now and you are those Patriots the New Hanover County School Board is just one of 17 school boards Nationwide that flipped to a conservative majority which supports respects and defends our fundamental rights as parents the four of you are not sitting in those seats just to follow along with recommendations and suggestions from certain County Commissioners rather each of you were elected to your position by New Hanover County voters who have decided it is time to hold our decision makers accountable by voting for candidates that promise to support respect and defend our fundamental parental rights against all levels of government overreach we're asking to remove CRT SEL EDI and vote indoctrination from our curriculum and
059administration make school choice available to all parents including advocating for 100 of the money to follow the child remove all obscene material from the schools and age inappropriate sexual content from all curricula and end the gender support plan now allow me to State for the record just once more we refuse to co-parent with the government that is why I'm asking each of you each member of the New Hanover County School Board of Education designed the following parent pledge which will be emailed to all school school board members tomorrow I pledge to honor the fundamental rights of parents including but not limited to the right to direct education Medical Care and moral upbringing of their children I pledge to advance policies that strengthen parental involvement and decision making increase transparency defend well you'll get the rest
060of it tomorrow thank you thank you [Applause] followed by this gundelli sorry excuse me good evening I'm Denise you know I'm president of New Hanover County SEPTA we advocate for differently abled marginalized and all students we are the only special education PTA in North Carolina we support parents families education staff and schools New Hanover County Education staff is still underpaid and overworked causing a critical Staffing shortage of special education teachers teacher assistants Mental Health Specialists speech language Pathologists physical and occupational therapists substitute teachers bus drivers custodians and Food Service workers the shortage of Staff hurts our students and our teachers special education teachers are forced to serve in more than one school teachers and teacher assistants resign daily our teachers lack sufficient classroom resources scepter receives many requests for basic classroom supplies our teachers mantle
061and physical health software and our students mental and physical health suffer exiting teachers report that their college courses did not adequately prepare them for the challenges they face in New Hanover County and they feel unsupported by the school board teachers do not want to resign but the choice between staying or suffering serious illness like high blood pressure is no choice at all how does all this affect our students the reported High School graduation rate for special education students is 17 below that of general education students delivery of many needed and mandated Services is impossible pandemic learning loss is set to widen this Gap you the school board have the means and the wonderful new opportunity to support our students and staff you can choose to do the right thing and fulfill your oath of office
062and your obligation to our children thank you put her out of it please [Applause] last month when talking about the revisions to the seclusion regulation Miss Farnham said seclusion would only be used in the emergency situations listed in a through D and that would be those situations you would then call on law enforcement to come and support later she described the emergency situations as ones that could not have been predicted emergency situations a through D include weapons fights self-defense and imminent harm to self and others sounds good right except the words emergency situations law enforcement and could not have been predicted don't appear anywhere in seclusion regulation 4203r that was approved 7-0 the newly approved regulation only changes the location of where our youngest and most vulnerable Learners will be locked up the fact is
063with school safety policy 1510 you don't even need the seclusion regulation as you heard earlier policy 1510 includes the word emergency it defines when employees shall request assistance and it specifically addresses situations involving young children love our children ask the new board to train and support our teachers and fully staff our schools and seclusion by the start of the 23-24 school year and add six words to policy 1510 which are and risk of serious bodily injury start the new year right love our children thank you thank you sir [Applause] get good evening last week we received the seclusion data for the first two full months of school there were 44 seclusions in September and October that's more than one seclusion every school day or 44 of the seclusions were in elementary schools 95 percent of
064the seclusions were special education students were IEPs 61 of the seclusion rooms of black students last month the board voted to end seclusion rules but their vote maintained the practice of seclusion shame on them No One Believes that all 44 of those seclusions were emergency situations that could have not have been predicted No One Believes that all 44 of those seclusions were the most rare circumstances where law enforcement was called the data suggests that seclusions is being used like a hammer with special ed and black kids look like the dams as the new board of Education in the seclusion policy instead use school safety policy 1510 for situations that pose an immediate threat of risk of serious bodily injury that would limit the possible use of seclusions to only dangerous emergency situations the ones Mr
065Barnum said could not have been predicted and where the law enforcement would be called in for support everyone must be safe in our schools support and fully staff each building and treat every child with dignity and respect I appreciate you looking all attentive thank you that's refreshing thank you very much and Miss Stackhouse good evening board my name is Patricia College I'm with fax 2.0 from New Hanover County um I am actually from Pender County working with Fox 2.0 for New Hanover County I don't want to take much of your time but I just wanted to emphasize a little bit on what Gail major had to say we have laws I've sit and listened to this board for the past two years the same parents are coming with the same complaints nothing was done over
066the past two years seclusion books the law clearly states and we've done the research we have legislation laws we have immunity to look at how far can you take that immunity by the laws of the federal justice system we've checked with the Department of Justice we have displayed the information that's available to you in the Grievances you will be receiving I'm here to empower you the board with the laws apparently we have not known the laws and they have to be abided and if not there are repercussions there will be civil lawsuits going out if these matters are not paid attention to we have pornography in our schools 3200 gives you the sole permission to remove these books based on your decision there's one thing I hate more is coming here as a public speaker
067because I am not a public speaker but I have been forced because the board before to you did not do their job I don't know whether it's the attorney misdirecting you not letting you understand what the repercussions are for your job but I'm here to help you know what your job is because your attorney's not doing the job that's necessary if you look at the federal laws by Trey Allen you will clearly understand in our grievance what needs what measures need to be taken and for those working on seclusion we've been here far too long talking about that something can be done and it's found in the federal so if you look into the federal and contact facts 2.0 we will help you with those struggles and we will get you in front of the
068judge thank you thank you congratulations thank you [Applause] Target followed by Miss Stackhouse and then miss Cannon please good evening a couple weeks ago my daughter asked me did you know there's a seclusion room at my school she looked very concerned I asked if she saw the room and she said no but she was alarmed by a loud sound coming from the classroom next to hers she said she asked the teacher about the noise and she explained that that's the room where students go when they're angry it's located right next to the EC classroom our most vulnerable students left to try to learn why they listened to a fellow classmate thrash around my daughter was horrified at the noises coming from the room no one can learn if they are afraid I share this story
069with you today to show how much work is ahead of this board not just to update policies but to shift the mindset that noises of an angry child left to deal with these emotions alone is not normal or effective we must do better to end seclusion especially for minor behavior and help our teachers and redirect students to use important life skills to help regulate their emotions we must continue to use SEL to help with prevention and other tools to avoid seclusion and keep our students and teachers safe I share my daughter's perspective tonight because our student voices are important and they should be valued so I'm concerned to not see the official student voices on the agenda this policy passed two months ago and they have not been added to the agenda please ensure that
070they will be on the next agenda because our student voices earned the right to be heard thank you so much thank you stop guys followed by Ms Cannon and then mosquero good evening school safety policy 1510 says that if there's a situation in the school with an immediate threat to safety an employee must use their professional judgment to protect the safety of everyone in the vicinity that professional judgment might be to lock a child in a room until law enforcement arrives to ensure that seclusion is only used in the most dangerous emergency situations love our children ask that six words be added to the policy 1510 those words are and risk of serious bodily harm U.S code 1365 HC defined serious serious bodily harm as a substantial risk of death extreme physical pain protracted and
071obvious disfigurement or retracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member or organ or mental faculty here's what the revised sentence would say when employees would with responsibility for supervising students have personal knowledge or actual notice of a student altercation or other situation that poses an immediate threat to safety and risk of serious bodily injury they shall use their professional judgment to determine how best to address the situation to protect the safety of everyone in the vicinity our goal is to keep everyone safe in our schools school safety policy 1510 helps to do that in seclusion as a behavior management tool it has harmed too many of our children thank you thank you [Applause] Miss Cannon followed by Miss Garrow please hello everyone my name is Jessica Cannon and I'm a long time
072follower but a first time speaker first of all congratulations to all the new members running for office is very hard it can affect your families we appreciate your public service um having said that I would like to respectfully share some of my concerns I have about a few aspects of your campaigns and your previous public remarks I'm going to put on multiple hats as the secretary of the board of directors of our local water utility cfpua I know that hundreds of families have their water cut off every month because they can't afford to pay our bills we're working on that but kids are coming to school every day with no access to running water in their homes social emotional learning isn't a woke project it is a critical tool so teachers can make sure these
073types of kids have a Level Playing Field when they get to school as as a retired OB GYN doctor I can tell you that structural racism is real and it is in our Health Care system and it kills women and babies every day structural racism means generational poverty and teaching our children about this history isn't CRT and it isn't woke it is a common sense way to make sure that we learn from and stop repeating the mistakes of the past finally as a volunteer counselor for a National Suicide Prevention Organization for gay and trans youth almost every week I communicate with teens who are struggling with depression and Suicidal Thoughts often they are terrified to come out to their parents because it may mean getting kicked out of their home or other extreme punishment forcing
074teachers to out these children to their families before they are ready to do so could literally translate into more youth suicides I am not exaggerating I believe that all of you truly want the best for our kids and our schools I am asking that you put down the anti-public school propaganda playbooks books that you have been given teachers aren't rumors learning our true history doesn't hurt white children giving every kid a Level Playing Field won't hurt our schools it will give us the best test scores in the state thank you foreign [Applause] school board members and thank you to all the school board members for your oath of support in the United States Constitution I also want to speak on and appreciate the removal of seclusion rooms beginning next school year and continuing to train
075teachers that receiving that are receiving behavioral student management but there's still a problem the use of seclusion should only occur in extreme circumstances and only potentially be used when there is a threat of bodily injury to students or staff please remove seclusion as a management tool except in these extreme circumstances you can address this by adding the six words we've talked about tonight to policy code 1510 4200 7270. those words are and the risk of serious bodily injury it should not be used in any other circumstance this takes care of why seclusion is used or should be used it is very sad that a child get locked up without real supervision for circumstances that are normally beyond their control thank you man [Applause] I understand that Mr Cooper Miss belt Mr Bellamy or not Mr
076Cooper and Mr Bellamy not here so we'll go to Mr Miss Edelman please miss Edelman followed by Mr Brown and Mr Isles please good evening my name is Anne eidelman I'm the co-chair of the League of Women Voters lower Cape Fear education action team I owe another member of our team have been observing school board meetings for over six years now this evening we welcome you our new book and newly elected school board members you all have assumed a great responsibility as your decisions will affect the quality of the education our students receive and our students are our future team closely monitors education issues at the state and local levels and one of our advocacy goals involves supporting students social and emotional health we supported love our children and other advocacy groups last year in
077asking that the district Implement alternatives to out-of-school suspensions for young children We join them again this year in asking the district to use school safety policy 1510 to limit the use of seclusion and restraint to only what is necessary in emergency situations to protect the safety of the student and others involved in the situation to accomplish this we need to train our Administration and staff to use evidence-based strategies from trauma-informed problem solving and positive behavior programs and make sure that they are sufficient teacher aides and support staff to enable teachers to implement these strategies thank you thank you Mr Paul Brown please my name is Carl D Brown I was born here in Wilmington and a graduate of Williston industrial High School in the class of 1953. congratulations to all of your newly elected board
078members I sincerely hope that this board will work as a team to create and maintain a culture for excellence for all students in education a culture that's what is needed for this system I strongly believe that you should have a strong Vision in your strategic plan a strong vision and follow it and also have a timetable with goals so that you can establish and maintain whatever the Strategic plan leads you to because currently that don't seem to be any guideline in terms of where you're going and how you're going to get there so I asked all of you board members to please please work with each school to establish us to the Strategic plan with goals and timetables let me also say that all the schools that are failing you need gold timetables to bring
079those kids up to where they should be and provide the necessary resources to get them there because after all they are our future and they desperately need all of you to work together as a unified team to get them there recently I attended Williston Middle School to a conference I was applaud at the way that school looked ceiling lights were out bulbs were burned out and there appeared to be no interest in correcting those deficiencies please mandate your facilities people to go in and take care of that school as well as audit all the other remaining schools to make sure that the facility is applicable to learn it thank you Mr Isles followed by Miss keaney and Mr Cromartie imagine if we could end seclusion while saving Millions on workman's comp increasing staff retention improving
080staff morale and improving student achievement too good to be true after all the narrative from the district is that we must use seclusion this narrative is false akiru is a seclusion and restraint-free crisis Management program that does all of that and they have almost two decades of proven results last month Miss Isles sent an email to the board Dr Faust at Ms varnum begging them to look at the uq program and to specifically empower the staff at Forest Hills Elementary she talks with staff and knows they are afraid and unprepared she also knows they don't want to seclude young children which is why safety and teacher empowerment has been her the foundation of her advocacy unfortunately our board and District have failed to support staff as confirmed by the recent teacher working conditions survey for
081over six months Miss Isles has requested that we hear a presentation outlining how staff will be supported we're still waiting when are we going to see that plan our district uses what-if scenarios to defend seclusion such as what if a kid has a weapon except New Hanover County Schools stated there are no records from the past five school years that show seclusion was used for possession of a weapon this year alone children aged 10 and under have been secluded 44 times in our district averaging one seclusion each school day and last month the board voted to end the use of seclusion rooms but continue using seclusion only making the policy more dangerous for students and staff if staff are not supported that is not the fault of Advocates refusing to support staff is not an
082excuse to continue the use of seclusion thank you thank you sir [Applause] this painting followed by Miss Mr Cromartie followed by Miss Posey please first want to thank Judy John leadership and advocacy for staff students and families over the last four years you're represented us with Integrity truth and transparency and accountability that you promised when campaigning it's been an honor and a privilege to stand beside you and this community has committed a great disservice to children who have failed to secure your second term while Nelson and Adams failed to protect students and attacked you at every turn you've never wavered from your values and have fought both parties when necessary in the best interest of children showing loyalty to children not party affiliation in 25 years of advocacy I've never been more proud of a
083board member and Judy never more disappointed in Nelson and Adams and never more worried than I am right now as an activist I lack faith in both parties neither neither represents the kids I have K4 and I'll continue to hold both accountable each new board member ran on the claim that they welcome parent involvement but some current members superintendent and even senior staff have already found ways to silence us through false accusations and charges and even trespassing will you continue that Trend many claim to support student voice yet for the second month since the policy passed student voice was omitted from the agenda in addition students are in school when you open the link first call to audience and unable to sign up to speak using that platform and I can an act of tokenism
084perhaps there's lack of communication and safety concerns in our schools from lockdowns and threat to violence to bullying and discrimination these are real will you do your job and protect and provide quality education to all students or just a select few it sounds nice to say you'll protect the victims of sexual assault yet we've seen the previous two boards fail to do this will you continue to allow endless Court battles re-traumatizing victims or will you finally bring about Justice to those who protect pedophiles no matter what the cause I sincerely hope we catch a glimpse of true leadership again with allegiance to our children and not a party gratitude and respect to Judy good riddance to Nelson and Adams and to the rest we are watching to see what your next move is thank you
085thank you Mr commodity followed by Miss Posey followed by Mr Carter congratulations like the old folks say a lie don't care who tell it they just needs somebody to listen our schools do not teach CRT our school counselors do not groom children if anything we need more of them seclusion and it's not a tool to benefit children we need to do away with it immediately you heard the six words you know what the policy is you can vote on it tonight if you want to be aggressive about anything get rid of seclusion tonight our teachers need support in the classroom our Title One schools are suffering they need everybody on this board to work together as a team and be cohesive to be slow to talk and quit to understand but the plans that I
086hear here tonight they are rumors right now but they're not good rumors our kids need everybody here to work together our teachers need you to work together teaching true American history does not make race relations worse ignoring them makes things worse we need to know what we did in order to not repeat them again having Equity diversity and inclusion does not harm harm people it doesn't we need it in order for me to dream as a kid to know what I'm going to do I have to see my I have to see representation I have to see that teacher that looks like me to know that I can do it that I can leave Creekwood that I can leave Houston more you cannot be one-sided on every single issue you have to work together you
087have to listen thank you for your time [Applause] and then uh Jamie pond retired teacher with 30 years experience in New Hanover County Schools I want to speak to you about reading when I started teaching reading was fun kids were allowed to read based on their interests as well as material in the curriculum reading levels were assessed by trained Educators not government committees then came No Child Left Behind its intentions were good but its implementation was awful someone else decided what a third grader should be able to read more and more classroom time had to be allotted to teaching kids how to fill out bubble sheets reading material in class was progressively moved farther and farther from kids interest and more to short readings with lots of practice questions reading wasn't fun anymore now we
088have large numbers of kids and adults who hate to read as a simple way to think about testing I'd like to leave you with this first they said they needed data about the children to find out what they're learning then they said they needed data about the children to make sure they are learning then the children only learned what could be turned into Data then the children became data I hope this board will move to Hanover County Schools past the incredibly awful Reliance on tests and back to where teachers can really teach and reading will be fun again and children will stop being data thank you Mr Carter followed by Jamie Pond and April Farr thank you for allowing me this time to speak to you I'm a former educator and the father of two
089children currently in the New Hanover County Schools during our recent Euro recent campaigns you complained about the disorganization of meetings and the length of them and you've even openly blamed former board members to remedy this problem I'd suggest you get a copy of Robert's Rules of Order and keep them at your desks I'd also suggest you you would elect among you a parliamentarian to be sure that the rules are following secondly you seem to be concerned with parental rights I assure you that in my 25 years of my residency in New Hanover County over those years I've had six students in this system I have never been denied the right to enter a school to volunteer at a school to I've never been the right to deny the right to see classrooms in action that
090you claim are somehow secretive I have served on school Improvement councils served as a watchdog a mentor I've even been an EOG Proctor your insinuation that parents don't have rights is incorrect and to me nothing more than a wedge for agitating a base of supporters my final request is that when you address faculty staff and Volunteers in the schools you need a policy a policy of politeness and respect after a year of a career of over 32 years I know for a fact teaching is difficult and it's made even harder when Savaged by the words of irresponsible board members who lack empathy with the blood and guts of this school system thank you foreign [Applause] [Music] I have a bachelor's in English a master's in literature I am a teacher and a parent tonight I'm
091going to speak about freedom of speech as it relates to Banning books last year my daughter participated in her school's Battle of the books and one of the books she read was ban this book by Alan Kratz she loved this book so much she bought a copy with her own money and for the next several days we've read it together the moral of the story was on what basis do we ban books it's all based on perspective and individuals own interpretation of what's quote appropriate as a lover of books and a teacher I want to encourage you to refrain from Banning books books encourage individuals to think critically about the world around them they also help people develop empathy and understanding of those who are different in addition if kids feel different themselves it gives
092them an opportunity to feel like they belong on books are essential tools that help readers understand the world around us and on complex terms books are complicated they have several layers books challenge us to think differently about the world around us they challenge us to think differently from each other with all of this in mind books are so very glorious in all that they do I am fortunate to have a daughter who loves to read and if she reads the books and has questions I'm there to help her navigate her questions and the book Banning books is about enforcing a specific viewpoint on kids around us and controlling people's thoughts they are telling them you should not read X you should not think differently you should not think critically in our divisive world today people
093need the opportunity to think critically and differently and books provide this opportunity as such we should not be banning books and thank you for upholding the First Amendment and your time foreign [Applause] and then Mr Fisher please congratulations new board members and welcome thank you for taking the time out of your lives to be here and start down a road that might be very difficult as the last few years have shown four years ago we needed someone to be the loudest voice in the room and attempt for our sexually abused students to be heard and abusers to be held accountable without Judy Justice's tenacity determination and willingness to be vilified for the audacity to demand action and accountability attention might never have been paid to the horrifying reality in which our community lives she is
094a true Advocate we thank you Judy [Applause] My Hope Is that the new board members dare to represent our students and our teachers as selflessly as she has even when it costs you personally we need you to work together for these purposes welcome Mr Sutton followed by Mr Fisher and then Jeff Butterworth please I was going to be uh 10 seconds over my time just to be the first to get gaveled by you but other people stole that from me you know hey hit him one time there um congratulations to the new board congratulations to the vice chair pat Bradford congratulations to the new chair Pete wildebear hopefully under your leadership we will have a board that is transparent holds people accountable and strives for a true fiscal Conservancy that pushes funding back into our
095classrooms instead of central office and middle management positions each of you pushed for these common goals during election and I feel the community as a whole with support and embrace this board if y'all push to follow through with these promises I ask our new board members to please do me one favor protect the meek protect those who have no voice be not only the shield defending or basic rights but also the sword that holds those accountable who have wronged our community our students tonight there will be a discussion regarding the school calendar and I hope the board does not settle for the August 28th start date option and instead votes to request a waiver from the state to begin classes August 21st this is what I feel is best for the students and overwhelmingly it
096appears that's what the teachers would like as well another thing the board soon is going to have to discuss potentially terminating the superintendent for cause that is a conversation that needs to happen behind closed door and my suggestion would be to hold a vote to hire an independent third party person like Jill Wilson did with Tim Markley to investigate and provide details to the board to say hey look he violated this statute he violated this policy he violated his contract lastly Sandy Isles was removed and banned for one year at the last meeting after multiple meetings of being antagonized back and forth her and Stephanie Adams obviously do not like each other and they had a rift she was antagonized they had it out and she got to yelling and the video shows the true
097evidence she's standing in the corner over there antagonizedro bye bye playing games with her uh the board is going to be in charge of that appeal I'm hoping whoever does at least give her another chance to come back she's already lost one month here and I believe that would be fine obviously she would be on tonight thank you y'all have a good night [Applause] Mr Fisher followed by uh Butterworth good evening I'd like to First congratulate the new board members this race was very important and it demonstrates the mindset of the population with new school board members being sworn in Rapid action has already taken place in other areas and we're excited for what New Hanover County has in store over the past couple of years a huge part of the population have truly been
098awakened to issues far and wide and the swamp is being drained starting with the most local level where it matters most you'll never know it if you only watch mainstream news but rest assured corrupt individuals are in full-on panic mode and they should be not much matters more than the way our children's minds are shaped no longer will parents be sitting idle on the sides while their kids are indoctrinated into Wicked mentalities the citizens of this nation are alert and ready to guard against any tyrannical regime that seeks to poison our wells Americans know that our greatness comes from a bottom-up power structure outside the reach of a corrupt political establishment which seeks only to present the illusion of change there's a movement spreading like wildfire citizens are independently banding together and taking actions to
099restore Integrity in our institutions and it is my hope that this board will Embrace this amazing phenomenon We the People recognize and appreciate the sacrifice that it takes to occupy one of your seats we too hold responsibility to express our perspectives on how things should be and to advise when we anticipate a path of demise understanding that this is unfortunately a dirty game with consequences it is our job to help you to do the right thing and to hold accountable anyone who betrays the trust bestowed upon them we the people are here to take back the reins and our ranks are growing by the day in closing may God bless the children of New Hanover County by guiding those who are here to protect them thank you [Applause] followed by um Miss Davis please hi
100good evening I have 25 years experience in public schools playing a fly on the wall but this is my first time speaking to the board I'm here tonight in support of love our children's three asks the first is to train and support our teachers and fully staff our schools the best way to implement a revised policy is by making sure everyone has the training they need and that each building is fully staffed to implement it you have the rest of this school year to do that the second end seclusion by the start of 2023-24 school year research and data about the harm of seclusion has been presented to the board for two years now there's no research or data to truly support seclusion it harms finally that's the third add six words to public safety
101policy 1510 these words are and risk of serious bodily harm secluding a child only makes sense in these rarest of circumstances involving the immediate threat and safety and risk of death extreme physical pain disfigurement or impairment of the body the seclusion would last a few minutes until law enforcement arrives ask Miss varman how many times has this happened in the last four years a new board offers a new opportunity start the new year with ending seclusion in New Hanover County please thank you thank you well as we have uh Miss Davis Gabrielle Marie Davis is there any additional additions Mr chairman yes mission tonight I believe we would need a second uh for that is there a second I'll suck at that the second that um we would Mr Justin we would need a two-thirds
102vote to reopen the event the to amend the agenda this point correct that's correct after the agenda has been adopted it requires a two-thirds vote two-thirds vote which would be five people is that correct that's correct okay so we have a first and a second uh Miss Bowie would you do a role or Russell would you do a roll call for that please so the amendment uh the uh the motion at in front of us is to reopen to amendium agenda at this point Miss Barnhart yes Miss crabill no Miss Mason yes Mr McManus Miss Walker no and Mr wildebear yes that I believe is defeated because we needed a five vote vote so with that in mind let us continue uh I call for a motion to enter into closed session pursuant to General
103statute 143-318 11a 1 3 and 6 to consider personal matters and to maintain the confidential confidentiality of personal records under General statute 115 c um through 319-321 to prevent the disclosure of student education records and personally identifiable information render confidential under the family Equity assuming educational rights and Privacy Act 20 USA USS C excuse me one two three two G and a consult with the board's attorney to preserve the attorney-client privilege including cases captured John Doe one and two versus New Hanover County School Board of Education at all and 20 CVS uh 1392 and Jane Doe three versus New Hanover County Board of Education at all see 21 CBS 44707 do I have a motion 13 I'm sorry 13.85. I'll make a motion motion okay second all in favor say aye aye aye we are
104in closed session anything you need to go through here thank you how much of your junk do you carry or did you sleep oh yeah because I think your emails are wide now I just don't know how to use it yet and then you'll put your username in at Dr Bradford is there a break between now sections because nope didn't take it okay so I'm in and this password is which one the first one I created yes thank you I appreciate you staying till late foreign [Music] foreign thank you yeah it was like foreign drugs volunteers thank you information is possible foreign conditions too much foreign a movie um thank you foreign you guys is thank you foreign I need them um foreign thank you um foreign position s history three times foreign but tons
105three seconds well oh the actual actually not um is foreign thank you [Music] very much no um [Music] foreign [Music] foreign apartment thank you congratulations I don't know small businesses is just wonderful things thank you is too much foreign exactly changes supposed to be today one of the houses thank you foreign as you teach us each other foreign thank you foreign um completely um foreign thank you foreign driving issue yourself thank you foreign happy okay it's on there it's you did it thank you very much I said I didn't start out too well but I think you got better yeah well we got other stuff to deal with it's very important consensus the um the password to the generator are amazing I mean they're like creative and stuff the stream will come back waiting for
106the screen yeah probably no we have small bites but we have two different colors we have silver and gold is that bigger okay I'm not in the mood that helps to judge somebody's age remember the board would please come back foreign I want one of those things do you think is there a theme yeah no I just need something for myself you can't see me anymore all right board members they can get you back please all right welcome back we are back ready to carry on baby almost thank you Peter's almost up all right we will continue on yeah with our consensus items um yes we're at consensus items uh do we need anything pulled off there or can we make a motion that we approve it motion to approve the concession consent sales thank
107you Mr crabill second Miss Walker thank you is there any discussion Ms Bradford I would ask to pull four items off four items off okay would you like me to tell you what they are yes letter C the mou Western Carolina and letter D career coaches mou Cape Fear Community College I just have one question um letter oh letter H learning perspective for discussion letter i m o u black bin for questions um one or two questions there and that's it would you say those again please letter C the mou Western Carolina c d h and I H and I okay okay so everything except for CD H and I we have a motion to approve and second all in favor say aye aye aye all opposed may they all pass we'll start with uh
108C the um Western Carolina we can actually combine C and D my question was on the um the universities looking at the sex offender registry only on an annual basis and um I sent an email to Dr Faust for Dr Barnes and I didn't hear back from Dr Barnes but I did hear back from Dr Faust but I still have the question if if if the school place is a student teacher into our school system and halfway through their period they have a sex offense documented against them we don't find out because it's a year-long period is this a template that we use for everyone are they all the same and um has anybody ever suggested that we shorten that period that window up Barnes you sir uh yes ma'am we do use um the
109standard template for all universities and have sort of modeled that after what most universities do one of the things that we do is we connect very closely with the partners that we're working with so we had an incident last year where uh something had happened with the student teacher we found out about it the next day uh it's it's usually a part of that communication that they will call us if anything happens with one of their students and then we address it thereby through that way further questions on that no I'm good thank you okay um that was C and do you said together um yeah there's two it was the same it was the same question on both and it looked to me like it was a template um letter H the learning perspectives
110is that something that someone is going to explain because we were under contract to spend just right around three hundred thousand dollars for the contract and then they put in a change order for 700 and some thousand dollars to take the total to just under a million dollars that's a pretty big deal I'd like to understand why we're going to spend that money and and what it's going to go to please yes um can you hear me yeah it doesn't sound anyway okay um so that question was posed earlier um today as well and Dr Faust um I believe sent a message back to the board um but the LPI contract learning perspective contract was initially written for um two hundred thousand and some change I don't have this one right here I have the
111reason so in the uh there we go um and it was only written with that dollar amount because all of our federal funds had not dropped and had not been released to us so we knew we were going to be spending more in that contract but we didn't commit until the rest of our federal funds were released to us in the past so last year our contract with learning perspectives was more than eight hundred thousand dollars and so we knew especially post covid that we would have a greater need we just weren't sure exactly how much so it has actually gone up um from 828 000 to 999 000. so not from 200 and some thousand to 999 000. and specifically those services are for para Educators that are specifically trained to work with our
112students with significant behavioral and emotional disability abilities within our population of students with disabilities so the in the end from the eight to the 998 gets us what there's that just Cost of Living no that's actually an increase in the number of contracted staff we are using so we are using 35 contracted staff this year which is an increase over last year so the rate did not really increase for us thank you and finally uh I um Jesse you want to take this I have a question about this because in fact about trainings and so I was just concerned it seemed like this was a pretty form letter so when we have organizations coming into our schools what trainings are they providing our teachers um and kind of the feedback has been given that that's
113kind of a more generalized form that might be a meeting with the staff an update of what's going on not necessarily a training per se I just I know how much her staff is going through and to add on different trainings that they have to sit through and undergo with an outside organization it just concerned me so I just so what letter so we're talking about I I and then if you look again in Indiana if you look at letter F in the mou um or obligations for the other let me click on it I think it's 3F provided orientation ongoing needed training for staff yes ma'am okay someone give us some more clarification I can sir oh thank you sir uh there's not a setup program or amount of training it would just be
114in there in case they wanted to do something with the staff and we would always sort of dialogue with principals and staff and approve that before it happened more discussion I thought I would entertain a motion to okay I thought you amended that so I did but the devoted to the amendment okay okay second it so all in favor of approving the consensus items as stated please signify by saying aye aye all opposed s is seven zero we'll carry on with policy amendments um scramble you want to take this um yeah so um the eye will make a motion to approve the policy consensus items as presented okay we have 2400 3300 34 30 3610 40 240 44 hundred and forty seven twenty there any discussion do we have a second I'm sorry I'd like
115to make a motion to actually send policy 3430 3610 and 4720 back to policy 36 10 and 47 20. oh 3 300 excuse me 3300 3300 I apologize yes ma'am and 47.20 okay we have a motion to to take 34 30 47 20 336 10 is that correct and send them back to policy do we have a second second Mr Bradford uh all in favor is there any discussion all right order I made a motion to accept the policies as presented so the next motion was to we're pulling them pulling these out right so we can vote on passing the policy consensus for the items that have not been pulled out okay okay did you get a second yeah I thought somebody consecuted me one second okay nobody's talking to me a second okay give
116me a second for approving those policies 400 34 30 42 40 and 4400. the ones that were not pulled what we have a second I'll second it okay and so now we've discussed so now is there any discussion yes sir um I didn't hear 3300 did you say she said she did but you're pulling that one she's pulling 3 300 36 10 and 47. okay thank you okay so our motion right now is for the uh remaining uh policies except for 34 30 47 20 3 30 340 uh 3610 uh we have a first and a second all in favor of passing those other policies please signify by saying aye aye aye all opposed that passes 7-0 now we have a second motion on the table to pull 43 30 47 20 3 300 and
1173610 and send it back to policy we have a first and a second 34 30 was not on that list she misspoke okay okay so we have those uh is there any discussion about that looking over the language I found that some inconsistencies referencing ncdpi and I'd like to streamline that process and one of the policies also there's been a lot of concern with surveying our students since I'd like to have further discussion um and I I know if we continue this discussion here on the dice we're going to be here much longer than what we want for the five minute time so with with respect to everybody's time I believe that we can open it to discussion and have greater detailed and greater conversation and policy thank you Miss Walker um I agree that
118but either way when it comes here we will be having discussion anyway I take your point because we don't want to be here very late um I feel like uh 3300 if you're sending it back to policy I mean it's going to get back to us eventually and we're going to have discussion um since we don't know who's going to be on policy committee yet uh I guess if you're interested in those policies then we will attend the meeting correct is that so there's not a scheduled policy meeting until January next week okay okay thank you so and I'm sorry I've I've missed one so we're discussing 47 20 36 10 and that's all that's it okay that's right okay I had an extra one so we do have a motion and do we have
119a second to put them back in policy uh well second the second Pat did but also okay I'm sorry yes okay uh all in favor of sending 47 20 3 300 and 3610 back to policy for for the discussion please signify by saying aye aye all opposed that's the 7-0 policy for second reading will carry on quickly to uh I'm sorry um I just want to remind the the new board members or inform them that policies for second reading are only necessary for new policies and um we do not have to go through first and second reading for policy amendments and that's why we have the policy consensus item because those were all amendments to existing policies so I just wanted that to be a point of clarification and 36 3460 is not technically a
120policy it's a regulation but it's a regulation tied to policy 3460 but it is still new okay so that is a policy for second reading we have a motion to accept the 3460r reduce elective credit I make a motion to accept policy 3460r as presented second wait a second for Miss Mason uh is there a discussion hearing none let's let's vote all in favor of accepting policy uh 34 3460r as written please signify by saying aye aye aye all opposed again 7-0 carrying on calendar committee update Dr Faison I believe you're going to be helping us with this please so um the calendar committee was charged to bring the board to calendars the committee met and during that time the committee selected there were three calendars but the committee selected two calendars to bring to
121the board that is draft a and draft B draft a is the traditional calendar draft B is a calendar that defies school calendar law both calendars have the instructional amount of hours of 10.50 there is a three-day difference in the semester for calendar a and for calendar B There is a nine day difference school would start for students on the 14th again this does not match calendar law and school would end for students on the 24th this is what the committee um asks that I bring to the board as the board has reminded me I am just facilitating the committee so the committee asks questions realized that they would be asking the board to defy calendar law but insisted that these were the two counters that I bring to the board so I need for
122us to vote and approve a calendar because right now we're at a standstill for our other counters and our school calendar right now we do not have a calendar for 23 24. it's a will of the board Ms Graybill um I just wanted to point out also that not for calendar draft B we are non-compliant not only for the day that we start but for the number of consecutive days um that teachers must have off in draft a where there are 44 days from the last teacher work day until the first teacher last teacher work day of 2022 2023 to the new calendar 23-24 and in draft B there are only 38 days and 42 is the required from last work last day that a teacher is expected to report to the first day a
123teacher is expected to report so we have two different two different discrepancies in the calendar I have I have not seen that law but I'm trying to understand what you're saying I haven't seen that's not a law that I have seen Jason but I guess my question is are you okay yeah it's right here okay so my my question that you're saying teachers last day will be the 31st or the fourth so the on the 2022 calendar our last day of the teachers are expected to report is June the 14th that is an undesignated work day okay um and then the the first day that they are expected to report in draft a is um the 17th of August and the first day they are expected to report in draft B is the 9th of
124August okay and that is not just for year round now this is because I knew that I knew year round had that that law Miss Weber you would speak to that please right so the calendar Law requires 42 consecutive days when teachers are not required to report I mean it's not specific to year-round schools thank you yeah I know it's getting late um I I know we were present I know I I insisted on a couple calendars I know there were three calendars I feel like we have did you I'm sorry the clarification scribble was was the B1 that was out or the a one that was out a 44 days or in compliance B we're out by um four days okay so um I really don't want to be forced to vote on one
125count I mean I would I feel since the loss of States we don't have to get a calendar to the state until April I'm not saying put it off completely until April but when I'm and since graduation dates have already been announced and either way in either of these calendars graduation dates or fall beyond the date um I just think that we need to maybe look at all the the calendar committee that I watched basically and the way the community feels is that they want to end by December and I feel only one of these calendars currently um meet that and that's probably why the committee one need to send this one forward but there was a third choice that a committee did not want to present the board of third choice they did not
126know okay well I know he's wondering all three calendars and they bring these two right well well I know what the desire was last year and what the desire is this year is that we align the calendars with the community colleges for the dual enroll kids and that um that is super important and it's not just because we want to defy law I think it's because we know that's important I don't know what the kids are going to do this year and it worries me and I don't want us to make that same mistake so I'm hoping as far as I called a mistake because I feel like the the community is desperate for the calendars to align with those dorm roll kids and it's going to be a problem for them and I don't
127want that to do that again so if we have to send the calendar back or if we have to have further discussion maybe look at some more ideas or maybe even bring that one back whatever we have to do that's going to help the students I'm in favor of that I don't know how this board feels about it but which I recognizes this morning um thank you Mr chairman I would like to throw out there when I was researching this it makes me very uncomfortable that one even though we put 3 300 back in policy the calendar committee submitted a calendar draft B that violates our own policy so if you look at the old policy for 3300 and indeed violates that so they presented us an option that went against our own policy first
128thing second thing is there is an exception for a waiver Rule now it is highly unlikely that we will get that exception but it is the pathway in which we can actually obey the law and still get the calendar that the calendar committee has selected coming forth so I would like for this board in addition to taking this into consideration I would like for us to come together with a referendum of sorts that we can go up to Raleigh when the general assembly comes in session I've spoken with two of the education committee reps they're an advocate on behalf of our students and maybe we can reach out to Brunswick and Pinder and get some accommodations so that we can change the law and be in compliance with the law which is what we swore
129in our Oaths that we were going to do here tonight um because I think our kids and our staff are worth fighting for and I want to do that on through the right channels so that's my previous session it's amazing I strongly agree with her if you want to consider the calendar committee meeting again before you go or before we put something together I open feedback and I would gladly represent them because that's who we are representing as elected officials and I welcome anybody else who wants to come with me yeah yeah so you're going to do all the work sure I'd be glad to I'll go with her Mr Miss Mason sorry um I agree with Josie I I think that we got resounding votes people that reached out to us kids um staff
130parents that really want Plan B um Plan B nope calendar V sorry um wrong word um so I want to accommodate that but again we want to make sure that we're following the law so if we can get a waiver because we are a town that does suffer suffer through uh hurricanes um in the school that I was in in the state that I was in uh in New York previously we had built-in snow days and we don't have those here and so obviously we don't have those here we don't have hurricane days either and so I think that if we can submit a waiver because of of the Hurricanes that we have had the natural disasters we have had that that could be a promising way for us to be able to vote Yes
131for this calendar B and not be breaking when you look at the waiver because I actually pulled the waiver today to fill the waiver form out you have to have in the 10-year span four years whether you miss eight days we only have Florence so I don't know how we would even complete the waiver um that that would be a challenge for us because that is part of the application process we do not have that I mean Jason unless you know something different I had heard it was 10 years but it is it's a 10-year span and in that 10 years you have to have four years where eight you miss eight days in that 10-year span eight days cumulative over 10 years no ma'am eight days each for four years each so 24 days
13224 days Mr weather 15 years for mess for weather whoever I'd be happy to provide clarification on that so that the calendar law does allow for a waiver process and it gives the State Board of Education the authority to Grant a waiver for a good cause and the statute defines good cause very narrowly to mean and I'll just read it for you that schools in any school district in the county have been closed eight days per year during any four of the last 10 years because of severe weather energy shortages power failures or other emergency situations my understanding of the process that Dr Faison is describing with ncdpi is that they really only approve weather related waivers and again it's eight days four out of the last 10 years and I'd like to explore the
133waiver the exception I thought I had read um Mr Weber something about an exception and it did apply to weather and you know we've been overwhelmed with parents and teachers asking to go with b not one single person said pick the opposite even explaining we have to break the calendar law so I spent some time thinking about okay what happens when it's a bad law or in this case it might be flawed for right now in the way that the calendars are running in terms of you know what days fall when and you know it takes me back to you know the Tea Party in Boston and it's not that extreme but we have 24 000 students that are going to be affected by this so it's a huge decision and I agree with everything
134that's been said um Miss Barnhart you know um and and and and Stephanie Walker we owe it to the kids to get it right and so if we table this until the January meeting but you know in in in Florida and in Georgia in South Carolina I cannot believe that they they're much bigger tourism places in a lot of ways than we are and I can't believe that I remember when this law was written and it sounded good at the time but now it's causing this problem so we need to take that to the legislator uh let's legislature and say hey can we get an exception can we get a waiver for weather what can we do and work with them before we adopt something that hurts all of our students that's that's this is
135where I'm where I am tonight I'm not ready to vote sure the um I just want to make a statement that 24 000 kids are not affected by this calendar it's really only our 8 900 high school students and because elementary and middle school students it doesn't matter when we break because they just continue on so this policy really is affecting high school students only and so I just wanted to point that part out as well and it is in the general assembly it is going to be discussed in their long session about student-focused versus economy focused calendars and so the it is best you know students do would like to be out I like that calendar as well but am not willing to um break the law and to try and write a waiver
136that is also not um really what's happening in our County which I recognizes Miss Walker thank you very much um so I've done a lot of research on this especially because last year and then all what what happened to us when we came up to the school year and people were like what are our high school kids going to do and they and that was very legitimate concern um I agree with Ms Bradford this law has been in on the book since 2004 but it does not accommodate the fact that we have a lot of high school students now that are taking dual enroll classes so we absolutely have a large number doing that and we have to keep that in mind also we know there are other counties that uh that aren't defying law
137that are still managing to get calendars Pender being one of them there are probably about 10 that I know of that that that's the whole conundrum with the uneven semesters and that is what they we're trying to avoid I talked to my daughter I used to be a high school student graduating 2017. she said it was like that when she went there the uneven semester so they make it work the teachers let it let you know they let you know that okay next semester is going to be a little bit longer than this semester but they adjust for it because they want to one accommodate them as far as their their dual enrollment but also finishing exams by December so if we can send it back and we can look at more calendars maybe look
138at some other examples of what the other districts are doing we might come up with something better I don't want to break the law but all over this state 100 plus counties a portion of them are breaking the law this week I know that for a fact in terms of talking to school board members School Board chairs and other counties and they're putting their kids first and so we're in this we're in this conundrum and I just think that we just need to postpone this till the next meeting and we need more input we need more input to be able to make the best decision I had emails from parents who don't have high school students begging me to choose b um so with all respect to its only the high school students I disagree
139based on the volume of requests I got from parents begging please go with me the other thing I want to add is I know I've been openly critical of the board making a decision and then backtracking on their decision and so Dr Payson I want to ask you have we entertained the idea of surveying our families here in New Hanover County to see if it's an overwhelming majority or just loud voices in the room um I actually and Mr McMahon's will will Echo this I actually presented that to the calendar committee to actually put up both of these calendars even all three of them because we actually have three calendars the committee did not want to do that as well the committee wanted to bring you these two calendars so we did entertain that I
140just want to remind you guys I am just the facilitator of the process and I was reminding that so I I facilitate it and this is what the calendar committee asked me to bring to you so I will do what whatever um you know the board would like me to do but the calendar committee did not want to entertain that would you take it home please yes the um I just the other point that I I was looking at my desk I forgot to make is that um again I like the draft B but if we intentionally break the law what message are we sending to our our teachers not to not do what Their principals say and to our principles not to do what Dr Faust and his senior staff say and what our
141board policies say and therefore to allow parents to just say to principals I'm not doing it I don't like it it's done and so I just want us to think about that too if we are intentionally setting it up that we are going to break the law then we are setting up a the possibility for a culture that says it's okay to thumb our nose at Authority um so at this point I would entertain a motion anyone like to make a motion I make a motion that we table it until the January meeting hoping to get more information about the idea of a waiver maybe having y'all have conversation with with our state representatives and see if there's any hope to do this and stay within the law and the word we want to use
142is postponed because table means we're going to talk about it later in the in the meeting but it's postponed to January if we have a motion to postpone until January of a second second Miss Mason uh let's say all in favor please discussion just one important clarification I didn't want to amend her because I think her emotion uh Miss Bradford's motion because um I agree but I also wanted to find out whether we can ask or compel the committee to send us the third calendar as well just for consideration or maybe even next calendar committee meeting they talk about it more because if it's not in compliance anyway they we got that in our board packet well I know so but I meant bring to us as a board to consider I don't know that
143that needs emotion but maybe just as an ask wait this is oh obviously we still are very supportive of trying our very best to make this happen without taking this and meeting with the legislature will you including our local reps uh so I've reached out to two of our reps um one in the general assembly and one of the senate about presenting at an education committee and they welcome that with open arms because they want to hear from us and so that was one of when watching the calendar committee meetings one of the things that I found was that was the voice in the room was saying well what have we been doing well that's a great question what have we been doing have we been really advocating for our staff at a state level
144or federal level because if we want things to be changed to get done it's going to take us to do it and I'm not saying that as a negative I'm saying that with with gumption to say let's take charge to help what you said I thank you because we do not advocate for ourselves here enough nor do we defend ourselves need to Advocate thank you very much so I have done that as well so it's not a New Jersey thing and we've talked about it at the ncsba you know so it's not new just remember yeah I have reached out to a state representative and um and a house representative and the House Representatives said wow that that sounds logical we're here on the coast there's got to be some exception state representatives said have
145you asked staff to think outside the box and I know you have um but that's that that was the response they have been very receptive those who I've talked to I did reach out to the to the speaker of the house and he has not yet responded to me well we will I I can tell you that the committee has thought of hours outside of the box honestly I think we have we looked at changing the semester for this one we just could not figure it out because you do have the laws for teachers in the time so if you increase the time one time if you increase the time you had your teachers getting out so early because they have to where the students are getting out way early and the teachers are still
146contracted to work we could not figure it out as a calendar committee um there were people in the calendar committee who said we need to take this to Raleigh we need to do some things um so there were definitely that call I would do whatever the board's pleasure there is not a another calendar committee schedule there the calendar committee developed these calendars they brought you this calendar there's not another calendar committee scheduled I honestly don't think we could schedule another one before we get out for Christmas break and then I know the board comes back so I don't know if that's the question or if we're going to advocate so just need some direction of what you want me to do because I will support you of course but I just need to know what
147the role you want me to play sure as Miss uh Walker so I I looking back at the calendar Community meetings from the year before with the calendar that everybody liked the biggest problem was the uneven semesters but that has been done in the past and that has worked and I I it got changed the calendar committee last year decided that was the calendar that what they wanted and then the fourth meeting got completely given this one anybody in the board I'm happy to talk to you guys about what I've found so what what I think is there's a solution out there whether or not we have to compromise and say you know we're not going to have even semesters which doesn't defy calendar law then we should do it because the the calendar last
148year was very popular not this one's but the one last year and I think that's what parents liked and want to keep so I if I don't know if we're not going to have a calendar community meeting perhaps our Retreat or you know that's before I'm eating weasel board we need to talk about it then maybe the order of the day I'd like to call for order of the day okay go ahead I'll do it after you that means we have to stop so I know that we kept referring we keep referring to last year's calendar so they can make it work you have to take all of the um work days out with them at the beginning and at the end there's no breaks in there and so when that happened last year the
149month of November there was an emergency board meeting and the board decided that you need to do an scl as social emotional day because the teachers needed a break they were in the middle of creating a calendar so when that calendar was made and the board said this and then we were also looking at the trainings for the teachers it was the literacy training and it was also the um it was the 10 schools for the the discipline that we were training so we did not have any time in there so teachers and principals were having to create times in there so when the board decided they were going to vote on um the the the suspension we ask that we be able to train teachers that we had to train teachers we had to
150put days in the calendar for teachers to be trained we then of course if you go back and you look at that emergency board number the board said we need breaks so what we did is went back and put brakes in so we did exactly what the board said do everyone forgot about that meeting where it was an emergency meeting that changed your calendar and then it was we made something different but you have to go back and watch the meeting where it said because if you'll remember it said call it a snow day and I said we can't call it a snow day because there's no snow tell me we have to be able to pay teachers and we explain that it's you know x amount of um hundreds of thousands to for one
151day for for teachers and to run payroll and so that's what happened to the calendar but all you have to do is take out all of your um days put the 15 or however many at the beginning of the year and put them at the end there are no breaks for teachers and that'll fix your calendar yeah but you know what I just noticed that the the what I was calling for was orders of the day which means we have to follow the agenda including time limits um No Interruption no debate no Amendment no vote um but I am looking here that we didn't write 15 minutes on the on the the agenda I wrote that in so I will retract that would like to move I would like to we've already moved I would
152like to move that we move on questions is there any way I can amend that slightly whoever [Music] you're gonna mental emotions so as I understand there's been a motion to postpone right this item until January there's been a second to that motion and now it I'm sorry isn't it there now a motion to amend the motion she's asking if she can amend it slightly you're the one who made the motion I know that so you can come in yes can we direct the staff to find out what what what is happening in the other counties in North Carolina we do have some research on that I actually had that and for the board there are some counties that are of course defying um there are counties that are not the I think some of
153our of our sister calendar and forgive me I am talking about when I looked at this before when they're making it work they're doing something like Miss Walker said one group one group of kids are going to school a month more so the calendar committee did not and you can go back and look at the meeting that's why they did not bring you calendar C because calendar C has one semester of students getting 21 days of instruction more than the other semester so that is what a few schools are doing so you have a combination of schools that are doing that and then you have a combination of schools that are just breaking the law right under under move the previous question which is what I just did must get recognized from the chair thank
154you no debate no Amendment two-thirds vote right so we can't amend when I call for the question let us go ahead call the vote so all in favor of the motion which again is to postpone the discussion uh of this until January please signify by saying aye aye all opposed seven zero it will not just ask the chair to please if if I can know what my role in responsibility you don't have to tell me now I just want to make sure that I do what the board expects me to do for January we are going to have a retreat and we'll be return you to that discussion thank you sir carry on all right back to you I believe okay it is and um so we um back in September we approved our school
155Improvement plan but per state law you have to the low performing School Improvement plans are tentative we have to post them for any feedback and add indicator B101 which basically says there's a school Improvement team that works with these schools we have done that so I now am asking the board to approve our school Improvement plans for our low performing schools I will also be sent of course all of the school Improvement plans you can go on the school website and you can get the password but I will be sending the board a generic password for you that you can just log in and see all of the um School Improvement plans but now I'm asking you to for approval of the um School Improvement plans please keep in mind that there are living breathing
156document schools are working in them constantly because it is dictating The Innovation and the things that they're doing yes sir we got a little hand down yes sir they didn't get they didn't know I couldn't give it to him yet so I'll send I've got it ready to send to them tomorrow it's a handout and you can just get into all the documents so you don't have to go in and out of schools it'll let you have access to every school in the county but right now I need approval for the plans is it like is there any discussion yeah the um so how can we approve if the new board members haven't read them yet they've read these ones they've read these these plans are being approved not these plans are being approved that
157they have B101 and that they have been posted for feedback you've already proved you've already approved their plans you're approving now that we've done that we have not received any feedback and the plans have the B101 because this is a state timeline okay then I make a motion that we approve School Improvement plans for low performing schools be here a second oh second second discussion yes can you tell me I I looked at this on Thursday um can you tell me why Holly Shelter Middle only has six action items and then some of the other schools have as many as 30 because the schools actually have to have a certain amount of indicators they have to have four indicators and um they can do the action they build their own plan so they would do
158that I would actually have to and look at Holly Shelter and tell you why I think they have that but it is up to them to determine you have some principals who say we're going to do all this and then you have some principals say we're going to focus on these areas and make sure we do them with Fidelity so that's what I would assume but it is up to them to have they build these plans so what happens next there they meet the plans they meet the plans the school Improvement the set team they meet with the plans this is for parents and they actually review the indicators and that's the things that they're saying they're doing and they actually determine if they are limited developed or fully implemented and then they can add
159additional indicators so it continues to grow we have Motion in seconds or any other discussion if not all in favor of approving these plans basically by saying aye aye all opposed carry 7-0 thank you thank you guys thank you thank you and now I saw Miss miles here uh we are on to new business uh the Head Start Don competing continuation Grant the smiles good evening thank you Mr Wilson so this is for um starting May 1 for Grant year 05 for our Head Start students three and four-year-olds um 260 students to be at Dorothy B Johnson Pre-K Center um 2.2 million 26 843 will be your PA 20 which is your training funds and then of course our non-federal match so um Grant your 05 not new go ahead I'm sorry we're done any
160questions I wanted to make sure that our new board knew why we were doing Head Start um so to give a little overview that we are the board of directors for Head Start I don't I didn't know if they so approval of this grant approval of this grant would be to as you guys as the governing board to take on the fiscal responsibility and the services for the 260 students three and four-year-old qualifying for the Head Start Federal program yes ma'am thank you we have a motion to approve the item a I'll make a motion to approve item a good second wait a second we do have a second Miss Barnhart all in favor please signify by saying aye aye all opposed area seven zero it's miles thank you sir did we do B yeah
161we have two other items yeah it would require separate votes yes so we have um so the next item we have transportation oh policy Council so the bylaws for policy Council it's the composition um so policy council is within our Head Start program performance standards so this is the composition of our parents and also our community members so it's an annual an annual report that the board chair signs along with the policy Council chairperson who is a parent so I make a motion that we approve the Head Start policy Council bylaws for the school year 2022-2023. thank you Mrs Grayville do we have a second second Ms Mason thank you all in favor signify is there any discussion if not all all uh signify by saying aye aye aye any opposed carry 7-0 and Miss
162miles we're on to section c please so the transportation waiver um is it goes along with your submission of your grant that is due February 1. and this is just to protect us as a school system if we were to be able to stretch those services for transportation and be able to allow our three and four-year-olds placed at Johnson Pre-K Center to ride our um K-5 buses our Elementary buses currently there's there are two separate buses but this provides you a way for a protection if we're able to do those kind of services for those students in it it goes along with the submission of the grant it's a new requirement to have a new approval of this item on a yearly basis thank you Miss miles do we hear a motion to approve item
163C I make a motion to approve 2023 2024 Head Start Transportation request Amendment do I hear a second second or until are there any discussion if not all in favor please signify by saying aye aye aye any opposed carry 7-0 thank you Miss miles thank you very much thank you very um with Section uh 11. it's gonna be Twenty One um information I don't think there's anything under that so we'll carry on to committee reports I did have a brief committee report I met with Legion Stadium committee twice in the last two months Mr Hansen was with me on the first one they there is a new group a soccer group professional soccer group that is wanting to use Allegiant Stadium which on the front on the front sounds outstanding they also want to set
164up a restaurant taking up much of the parking at Legion stadium and also offer beer at that site so there's a lot of concern from the County Commissioners and other members as well as myself at Legion stadium so that is an ongoing discussion just wanted to let you know about that you know we're all we love the idea of soccer but the uh the idea of possibly even at our high school events having that restaurant working they were going to use like containers and have that out in front so the more information coming from the legion Stadium committee but we just want to let everybody know about that um any questions about that nope uh correspondence does anyone have any correspondence to share with us if not announcements um January regular Board of Education meeting
165will be on Tuesday January 10 2023 at 5 pm at the Board of Education Center the general public will have an option to view remotely on our nhcs tv YouTube additionally I think the majority of us in fact all of us will be going next week to core training in Raleigh so that will be a very a wonderful event and we'll all learn a lot I'm sure and we also will have a retreat next month we more to follow on that I do have temporary board assignments these are again just temporary until we do talk about at these at the retreat but right now I've placed on EDI uh Walt Miss Walker Mr McManus and Miss Mason uh the legislative Ms crabill Ms Bradford and Miss Mason policy myself Miss Barnhart and Miss crabill Title
166IX will continue to be Ms crabill and Miss Walker curriculum Ms Bradford calendar Miss uh Mr McManus and Miss Walker uh Head Start will be Miss Barnhart gifted Miss Bradford and EC Miss Mason so that was again our temporary until will you email us that I will do that I will I will email that absolutely it also will be emailing you possible dates for the retreat answer Mr chair you said those these were temporary till we have the retreat until we kind of give our okay that's yeah that's that's at that point we'll be able to discuss those at length yes am I staying on Shaq there's a couple committees you left off or should we just not worry about that until well like Shaq yes you have you on that it's it's these are
167the ones where we had someone that was on there that we've lost I don't think we have a need for a second closed session so at this point I would entertain a motion to adjourned so moving strad for a second second Mr Mason second all in favor signify by saying aye aye I do want to thank everyone for tonight very first meeting absolutely foreign I don't know I haven't seen mine yet where's mine all right again oh there it is okay I mean my hair was like because [Music] questions you do and that's a good thing that's a good thing your eyes are going too is that what you're trying to tell us all right no one down all right foreign um Pat if you want to point that and take it um foreign thank
168you [Music] amazing [Music] straight up thought I just wanted it to be festive so Saturday Facebook um there's so much better yeah um today was one of those things we discussed okay [Music] so my trash away you can do you have two kids okay whatever you want thank you is Deborah in the office at all um you can do nothing else yes right now thank you do you guys want to point seven out what are these little tiny ones you know what oh my God all right I'm gonna go home hopefully I'll sleep better you didn't sleep yeah but fortunately I stayed late just working everything out you know but I had to take two hours off in the afternoon when and then and then um and that happened I said to to take to
169get Lila here and then so many people came it was really cool um and the only way I'm going to see them again yeah um and I talked to Dr Faust about it just Fernando a second today and he said let's see what we can do because [Music] he's already so anyway so I just I mean oh yeah it sounds that way all right thank you everybody