NHCS Board of Education Regular Board Meeting - December 6, 2022

001oh okay beautiful thank you specialize now thank you that's weird foreign I think Safety First this yeah oh yeah right okay oh saying stuff like that though folks we're gonna I'm gonna go ahead and start yeah definitely this is okay folks we're gonna go ahead and get started everybody please take your seats the December 2022 regular board meeting at the Ed 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 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 in person or in the remote

002viewing 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 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 rivenbark I see Deb Hayes and Leanne Pierce from

003the County Commission the senator nut Center sorry um 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 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 other with dignity and respect throughout this meeting no

004matter 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 knows you to accept the agenda is there a

005second second second um Judy and Adams any discussion all in favor say aye aye any pose okay next up let me get back to that um continue next up is our invitation which our indication tonight will invocation tonight will be provided by Senior Pastor Jonathan P Conrad of Saint 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 hear those words I am reminded of a scene from

006one 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 real thanks for the gifts we have been given and

007for 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 to you especially Charles and Stephanie Nelson and Judy Stephanie

008Hugh 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 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 of Allegiance thank you I pledge allegiance of the United States of

009America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all 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] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign middle school students would you like to come up and introduce yourself please it's pretty good I like it flowers my thing oh yeah are you playing an encore 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

010and I'm in ninth grade I'm ayot at 8th grade I'm Mariana Roth 8th grade eighth grade I'm Matthew Wertz 7th grade I'm Jared and Boykin 7th 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 [Music] 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 or two years and some of them started on Zoom so I'm so proud of them thank you all have a wonderful holiday [Applause] where the ROTC folks the

011ones that had another engagement they did okay okay just getting the 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 um caress Clegg up to the microphone for our December recognitions foreign good evening board members current and coming on um 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

012seniors and encourage High attainment among all students for the 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 [Applause] and tansy was unable to be here so miss phasing if you could come accept her certificate for and Oscar Cleveland of Ashley High School [Applause] coming up tansy has been nominated in the general academic category and Oscar has been nominated for a Career and Technical education category [Applause] 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

013award has been a gifted educator since 2015 and has been a significant asset to the New Hanover County 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 her this individual apart leadership stated AIG and high achieving students are inspired by Reagan mocks 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

014students [Applause] and Miss Bliss you want to come up and get in the photo also that concludes our recognitions for the evening thank you [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] the Excellence in public service and I would like to give my heartfelt thanks the um to our whole entire board and especially our outgoing board members um Nelson Boyer 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

015think that word is out there so um on behalf of the whole entire board thank you thank you thank you [Applause] take another picture on behalf of our whole school board we have this project something nice for your guests your shelf yourself for excellence in public service as a member of the New Hanover County Board of Education from December 8 2018 to December of 2022 presented by the New York County Board of educational foreign [Applause] thank you [Applause] okay so next up on our agenda is the superintendent's report so we give each um our outgoing board member an opportunity to just say a few words as they as they exit the diet you don't have to exit the dice you can sit up here until these sense but the um and so this is like

016a three three minutes in four minutes kind of thing um so and I promise I won't gavel anybody who's over but um let's go um Judy would you like to start thank you sir 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 and maturing 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

017education 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 the 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 want 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

018put 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 do 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

019get out into 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 need 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

020we'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] [Music] yeah I um I I also just want to thank the staff um working with you guys over four years has been a lot of fun uh you know the Miracles that we've wrought through some very difficult times so I just want to thank their leadership to the new board congratulations um so I stood up here what four years ago and said that uh I I thanked everybody I said I won't let

021you 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 you 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 [Applause] um

022Miss Adams all right I will finish this up um I also would like to say congratulations to the new members first um 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 in 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 of 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

023to 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 District 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

024the 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 listen to me on the really tough days son Braden yesterday I asked him what has he learned for me being on the board and he said I'm never going to run for public

025office 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 had 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 it 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

026journey and that's it so thank you very much foreign 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 um oh I'm sorry I dropped you sorry superintendent's report please as we approach the holiday season we at the school district would like to extend our warmest wishes to our students Seth and bingleys 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 also 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

027experiences 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 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 we'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

028best 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 Foust all right so now I can read correctly board chairs report so um 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 grand reopening of Brogden Hall so um it was a fun night for alumni and students um both in the stands and on the course and I just want to take one Opera one more opportunity to thank our

029County Commissioners who may still be with us for their support in making it happen and to our operations Department Leanne you know representing um 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 almost needed oxygen you know on the side there also too wanted to let you know that I attended the North Carolina School Board association annual meeting on November 14th through 16th last month where District delegates voted on

030the 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 do 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

031the 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 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 better comrades so sometimes that works sometimes that did not but that's okay because that's what that's what being at board is all about um I also want to Echo what Dr Foust said about um thank you to our hard-working staff you know for this up till

032the 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 gonna take a 15-minute break and so that um that'll bring us back like it's six stories so that's actually you know right before 6 30. so one more round of applause for our outgoing board members [Music] [Applause] foreign thank you things [Music] thank you today foreign [Applause] thank you [Music] thank

033you exactly foreign [Music] thank you okay um is the strip for the bike chair in my in my attitude they're about the internet um [Music] foreign [Music] foreign all right yeah I knew that what do you want um thank you okay [Music] thank you several times okay what time [Music] um thank you um thank you [Music] very much thank you foreign [Music] thank you next on our agenda is the oath of office good luck applications judge Jones Miss Barnhart you all can come to the Miss Barnhart and your 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 or they

034can be in the front wherever they want to go okay you're going to help okay that is awesome okay so next on our agenda is um taking the oath of office for our new board members first up is Josie Barnhart the honorable Frank Jones resident Superior Court judge for the fifth Judicial District will swear her in [Music] 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 foreign to administer the oath of office to Josie Barnhart when asked 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 [Applause] Josie I am going to

035read at this time 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 do you want us to execute these here or later um you can go ahead and execute right 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 wilderboard foreign

036[Applause] thank 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 I finish 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 be 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 Global River Church

037her pastor is here this evening along with many other members of our church if you will please stay I'm glad all this time how I 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 for the laws of the United States and the Constitution and the laws of 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 is the sixth day of December 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

038a 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 for being here our board clerk will take your papers [Music] foreign [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 by 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 Constitution laws of

039North Carolina and 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] episode right it's official congratulations foreign [Applause] of Mr McManus okay and that and last but certainly not least Pete Baltimore 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 wildebear solemnly swear that you 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 you will Faithfully discharge the duties of your office as a member of

040the 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 square inner who I forgot the swear inner on 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 yeah exactly oh it's a pizza she does pay attention [Applause] [Music] [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 Jesse Barnhart here Pat Bradford here Stephanie craybill here Melissa Mason here he McManus president Stephanie Walker here and Pete wildeborg present okay next up on our agenda is the election of the board chair I'm not sure

041what yes okay the I need to turn the gavel over to um the um to Dr fast who will conduct the elections of the board chair s We need he has to do this part in a moment I will call for nominations thank you what the officer chair of New Hanover County Board of Elections nominations do not require 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 were there any other nominations okay oh sorry we will now move to vote on nominees and of the nomination those in favor of Pete will the

042board is share say aye aye for those opposed say no Pete Wilder board's elected chair of the vote 7-0 [Applause] thank you I'd like to just have a sandwich I will now pass the gavel to Pete congratulations I just 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 in 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 that we have heard the community's concerns loud and clear we will hold

043the 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 our first order of business is to elect a board Vice chair other 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 think I actually heard Miss Barnhart first no you didn't that's fine okay so we

044have you said Miss Bradford yes sir okay other nominations well I was first but I nominated Jersey Barnhart it's born heart there are 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 we're roll calling for uh we're voting for voting yes okay those in favor of Miss uh Barnhart that's me Miss Bradford Excuse Me Miss Bradford please say aye aye that's one two three four that will be a corn that will be the number needed four were Miss Barnhart Miss Bradford myself and Mr McManus so that we do not need to vote for the second so at that

045point we will have Miss Bradford as congratulations you are this foreign [Applause] excuse me this time we will start with our cold audience remember you have uh two minutes uh we'll call off 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 those folks will come up to the front please Christina Mercer who's here I'm sorry I apologize good evening started my tea here in the 90s under a year whether by designer accident the superintendent Mark sosny gave the same speech each year to motivate the staff what

046he 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 a vote is how will this benefit the children and I'd

047like 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 all teachers and staff do not get sidetracked by false issues

048that 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 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 best to address the situation to protect the safety of everyone in

049the 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 words and why you can use the safety policy instead of the

050seclusion policy to keep everyone safe in our schools thank you thank you Mr Whitehead uh good evening congratulations new board members uh just saying if you're here to protest the new board it's a little early um I've come up and protested the board and that's a 24-year veteran teacher New Hanover County high schools let me give you a sad compendium of the legacy of our outgoing board I was 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 students three received a grade of 100 and maybe five received

051a 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 planting time and we in the history Department have been told by two administrators we have the most productive PLC meetings yet we

052hate them and find them useless when I asked our department today what we did in the last four meeting weeks 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 do a survey and see how many high school teachers

053think 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 [Applause] Miss mccorm 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 year secondly in seclusion in all of the New

054Hanover 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 in 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 the opportunity for all of our children to experience

055a superior education thank you your time is up foreign [Music] good evening welcome new members a new chair and vice chair 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 so this is where we're talking today about

056books 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 um 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 Duties but does not exempt employees and

057other 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 thank you thank you followed by Mr Rogers 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 seats in government our our country

058will 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's time to hold our decision makers accountable by voting for candidates that promise to support and respect and defend our fundamental parental rights against all levels of government overreach we're asking to remove CRT s-e-l-edi and vote indoctrination from our curriculum and administration make school choice available to all

059parents 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 of it tomorrow thank you thank you

060followed 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 mental and physical health software and our students mental

061and 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 and your obligation to our children thank you

062thank 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 with school safety policy 1510 you

063don'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] hello my name is 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 the seclusions were

064special education students were IEPs 61 of the seclusion rooms of black students last month the board voted to end seclusion rules for 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 enforcements 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 Mrs Barnum said could

065not 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 [Applause] good evening board my name is Patricia kolich I'm with fax 2.0 from New Hanover County um I am actually from Pender County working with facts 2 porno 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 the past two years

066seclusion 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 because I am not

067a public speaker if 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 judge thank you thank

068you 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 with you today to

069show 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 they will be on

070the next agenda because our student voices earned the right to be heard thank you so much [Applause] 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 a 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 obvious disfigurement or

071retracted 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 Brandon followed by Miss Garrow please hello everyone my name is Jessica Cannon and I'm a long time follower but a

072first-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 types of kids have

073a 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 teachers to out these

074children 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 [Applause] foreign [Applause] school board members and thank you to all the school board members for your oath of supporting United States Constitution I also want to speak on and appreciate the removal of seclusion rooms beginning next school year and continuing to train teachers that receiving that are

075receiving 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 Cooper and Mr Bellamy not

076here 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 asking that the district Implement

077alternatives 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 members I sincerely hope that

078this 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 a strategic plan with goals and timetables let me also say that all the schools that are failing you need gold timetables to bring those kids up to where they should

079be 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 foreign [Applause] imagine if we could end seclusion while saving Millions on workman's comp increasing staff retention improving staff morale and improving student achievement too good to be true after all the

080narrative 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 over six months Miss Isles has requested that we hear a presentation outlining how

081staff 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 excuse to continue the use of seclusion thank you thank you sir this painting

082followed by Miss Mr Cromartie followed by Miss Posey please I first want to thank Judy just 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 board member and Judy never more disappointed in Nelson and Adams and never more

083worried than I am right now as an activist I lack faith in both parties neither neither represents the kids I have k-4 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 perhaps there's lack of communication and safety concerns in our schools from lockdowns and

084threats of 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 thank you Mr commodity followed by Miss Posey followed by Mr Carter congratulations like

085the 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 is 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 hear here tonight they are rumors right now but they're not good rumors our kids

086need 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 have to listen thank you for your time [Applause] and then uh Jamie pond good

087evening Posey a 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 interests and more to short readings with lots of practice questions reading wasn't fun anymore now we have large numbers of kids and adults who hate to read

088as 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 that I hope this board will move from New 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 children currently in the New Hanover County Schools during our

089recent 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 you claim are somehow secretive I have served on school

090Improvement 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 [Music] because it's time followed by Miss Farr and Mr Sun good evening school name is Jamie Pond I have a bachelor's in English a master's in literature I am a teacher

091and a parent tonight I'm going to speak about freedom of speech as it relates to Banning books last year my daughter participated in her school's battle the books and one of the books she read was ban this book by Alan Gratz 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

092different themselves it gives them 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 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

093world today people need 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

094lives she is a true Advocate we thank you Judy 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

095into our classrooms 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

096overwhelmingly it appears 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

097the true evidence 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 Mr Fisher followed by uh jet 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 and 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

098have truly been awakened 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

099taking actions to restore 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 that Butterworth followed by Miss

100Davis please hi good 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

101to public safety policy 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 for us we have uh Miss Davis Gabrielle Marie Davis there any additional additions Mr chairman 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 um Mr Justin we would need

102a two-thirds vote to reopen the event to amend the agenda at this point correct that's correct after the agenda that 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 that's what 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 yes Miss crabill no Miss Mason yes Mr McManus hello Miss Walker no and Mr wildabour yes that I believe is defeated because we needed a five vote vote but with that in mind let us continue uh I call for a motion to enter

103into closed session pursuant to General statute 143-318 11a 1 3 and 6 to consider personal matters and to maintain the confidential confidentiality of personal records under General statute 115c 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 all in favor say aye

104aye aye we are in closed session anything you need to go through 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 Radford is there a break between section uh yeah she's already on the server nope didn't take it you gotta click okay oops I'm just so used to not used to PCS and I have a trackpad and so okay so I'm in and this password is which one the first one I created yes the first one that you created to log into the computer anymore like there we go the agenda okay so I will show you it's going to take a couple of

105minutes and then when you come back yes ma'am you got it bye you're not allowed to approach the dice man thank you I appreciate you staying till late thank you Jesus is [Music] it realization thank you [Music] foreign [Music] numbers is today thank you let's see [Music] foreign yes um goodness I'm ready how do you think [Music] foreign because um foreign thank you is tomorrow foreign thank you today foreign thank you six times [Music] thank you people Maybe nice I'm sorry the driver conditions hi Amanda it's easy anyway foreign yes so far um Jesus Christ positions foreign bring something foreign questions thank you exclamation point oh the actual events again um right thank you because his name is adamant thank you [Music] thank you um [Music] foreign this is