NHCS Board of Education Regular Board Meeting | October 4, 2022 (FULL REUPLOAD)

001who knows okay um thank you finally Mr Shields info I'll go ahead and give it out so we don't have no more he's got a whole binder here presentation but I need to remind him it's like two minutes opportunity I've seen it but he says it's good stuff he didn't give me 10. series thank you again thought yeah truck information thank you good evening talking about foreign okay um quit bragging at least a total lemon if you need to excuse yourself and go home if they're just you can well no here's the next one oh look who we have a performer hello um thank you about how much yeah thank you that's good yeah the guy was just a curry favor with you um foreign totally ready everybody writing that in good evening everyone the

002October 2022 regular meeting of 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 your Judy Justice here he McManus and Pete wildebear also okay um welcome once again to the New Hanover County Board of education's October regular meeting thank you for joining us in person or in the remote viewing audience we value and appreciate your interest and your participation and your advocacy on behalf of all New Hanover County students and staff for those in attendance would you please take a moment to silence your cell phones we have an unusually heavy agenda tonight as a courtesy to and respect for the time of my fellow board members the New Hanover County School staff and the community

003at large I will try to move through it as quickly and as efficiently as possible that means I will stick as closely as possible to the estimated times to keep discussion focused and on point you can see the estimated times for each topic on the agenda and you can watch the countdown clock in the upper right corner of the large screens to see how much time we have tonight we can discuss the remaining topics at another meeting to remind all of us to treat each other with dignity and respect throughout the whole entire meeting so that no matter what our thoughts and feelings are about an issue or even a particular group or person the board can remain focused on completing the governance work so necessary for our students and staff in schools to be

004successful disruptions to our meetings will not be tolerated just as they are not tolerated at any other of our local government body meetings and rules of common courtesy and professionalism remain in action that said people who are disrupting the meeting will be asked to leave if this happens you can view the meeting via live stream on New Hanover County Schools YouTube channel or later for later on the YouTube channel so now moving into board business is there a motion to accept the agenda so moved was there a second second okay any discussion yes I would like to add to the agenda okay okay all right I would like to add an organizational meeting to the agenda okay is there a second there's a second the um any discussion oh yes definitely I think we absolutely

005need this for those up here that aren't aware um this is the way that you uh reorganize the leadership on the board uh I think that at this point our chair because of numerous in the last two months alone behaviors that have been literally an embarrassment to the board that we need to look at possibly that behavior so that behavior includes last two months and properly trying to adjourn a meeting and then conveniently nobody got to see it but we did when she threw a temper tantrum and yelled in the face of other board members um and then she had to get called back she'd Sue away Roger's rules had to be called back and corrected I think it was by the lawyer and said we had to return and continue our meeting that was

006just one event then we also had the disaster with the calendar uh us there's at least four of us up here that wanted to meet in August in order to avoid what's going on right now with the confusion over our current calendar instead she intentionally kept putting it off and putting it off until we weren't able to meet until the middle of September and now it's still to a certain extent a disaster because we haven't come to conclusion and even more com more confusion has occurred and then probably the most egregious event was the current chair attacking a staff member who was assisting students that came to speak to the board that is something that as our we are they're well we're the employer of we have one that we have oversight on that's our

007superintendent but then below that are literally 3 500 people and to attack one of our employees in that manner publicly is an extreme fear puts fear into our other employees for retaliation and other events she has not publicly apologized I think she did Apologize individually that person but she I don't think she's considered publicly apologizing uh that is only one of many events she's yelled at audience members she's violated people's uh constitutional rights she had to apologize for that then she's very consistent in how she handles the call of the audience at one point she'll tell somebody you cannot read pornography and if you do I'll send you out and then she turns it around and ignores somebody that reads like three or four pages of it this is a real problem with this board

008behind the scenes we have been subjected to manipulation lies constant confusion about what's going on almost intentionally and that's why I myself am calling for this now there's seven people up here that experience this on a regular basis and I know at least four of us up here have expressed continually continuously the problems notice and look on her face right this is the kind of stuff that we have to deal with constantly this is a very respected position our schools are the most to me the most important organizations in our community and we need to have role models for our students I see them sitting here now and that has not happened since she's been chair in fact it's deteriorated okay any other comments I just have one thing to do I was very concerned

009and I brought this up with what other board members about the incident that happened in our special meeting I don't want to leave this meeting without saying that I genuinely disagree with how it was handled I know she did apologize to this staff member but I just feel like it is not the way to set precedence for this board and I don't think it's a civil way to treat staff so that's all I'm going to add to that Miss Adams I do not feel this should be added to the agenda because it does not directly impact our students in schools which is what we are doing and I am tired of the distraction of these types of behaviors from our board okay any other comments all right um Miss Billy will you please call the

010role I have it right I have a right to follow up according to Robert's Rules we have wasted more time over the last year with the behind the scenes maneuvering that keeps putting things off point of order Madam chair no question before the board is whether or not to add an organizational meeting that is the question this body is considering okay um Miss Billy will you please call the roll Justice yes Mr McManus no Miss Walker yes Miss crabill no Miss Adams no Mr Voldemort no and Mr Boyer no okay so that motion um does not does not pass so we will meet any other items to add to the agenda okay um all in favor of adopting the agenda as proposed say aye aye any post okay that we're moving on attended a agenda

011adopted next we have um our presentation no we have our invocation the invocation tonight is being given to us by Socorro Costa from the Latino Community liaison at Christ Community Church foreign welcome thank you [Music] I invite you all to join me in prayer the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. he makes me to lie down in Green Pastures he leaves me beside the Still Waters he restores my soul he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me Your Rod and your staff they comfort me you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies you anoint my head with oil my cup runs over surely

012goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever father I thank you that you are here your spirit is here that you are the Good Shepherd I thank you for each person that is present in this room tonight for whatever the reason they're here tonight I just ask Lord that you would be with each person because you know each one of us you know our hearts you know our lives you know the things that we're passionate about the things that we love so I just pray God that for each person that needs to walk beside the Still Waters maybe because life is pretty chaotic these days or for those God who are hurting and broken and need to have their stores

013need to have their souls restored for those that are walking through the valley of the shadow of death I need to be comforted I pray that you would be all things to each person here that needs to feel your comfort I thank you for each board member that is here I thank you for their willingness to serve the public and to serve the schools and our students our children who we love so so much and I ask tonight that you would lead and guide that your presence that your peace would be in this place because we have a lot of love and we have a lot of passion and sometimes that makes it difficult so I just ask God that your peace would reign in this place above all things I thank you that we

014can trust you and that you will lead in God and direct me pastor in Campos de Verdes pasos cancer foreign reunion is next we have the presentation of colors the Laney Air Force Junior ROTC under the command of Colonel Harrison Smith and master sergeant Bruce C please present the colors others [Music] I am [Music] thank you are you ready [Applause] foreign [Music] now we'll have the Pledge of Allegiance led by our board Vice chair Ms Walker I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all right right oh okay Crystal thank you so now before you leave you you can't get away without being introduced or introduce yourself thank you I'm Alex Vetter I'm

015the Hoggard High School orchestra teacher and these are my students awesome students I'm Cassidy Thompson a junior and I'm honestly for South a freshman and we would like to thank the take the opportunity to thank you for inviting us we really enjoyed playing for you this evening got goosebumps it was awesome thank you so much thank you I'm morate van kemko and I'm 12th grade I'm Cameron ganat uh many high school afjrotc I'm a sophomore I'm Logan Reese afjrotc I'm in 10th Grade I'm Ileana McDowell jrtc Lenny high school I'm in 11th grade thank you [Applause] and um Colonel Smith and Master's argency if you want to just give a salute or wave yet thank you for thank you for bringing your your Cadets to be with us tonight thank you okay so next up

016on our agenda is recognitions um Russell Clark from our Communications Department will be doing that for us absolutely [Music] good evening board members Dr Faust Madam chair the New Hanover County Board Vice chair Stephanie A.C Walker successfully completed the advanced leadership corpse ALC training offered annually to select local elected officials by the school of government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ALC is an intensive leadership development program designed by the school Center for Public leadership and governance the week-long residential program is a dynamic experience that helps participants learn about their leadership style Inspire others to work toward a shared vision and gain insight into working together to build better relationships and Achieve far-reaching results more than 155 local elected leaders from across North Carolina have completed this selective program since its Inception

017congratulations Miss Walker thank you now with this time I would like to give the floor to board member Judy Justice for a tribute to a former educator hello everyone thank you for coming this evening and I'm just going to remain up here because I'm in front of everyone um recently I believe it was September the 12th a local education icon Florence Warren passed away unexpectedly she had been ill but this is not I think what anybody expected I know I just talked to her a couple weeks previously and I was pretty upset and shocked she actually grew up in Hillcrest she was a graduate of the greatest school Under the Sun Williston in 1963. she was one of the first five black graduates of Wilmington of UNCW at the time it was Wilmington College and

018then she teaching science she started teaching at Williston she was only able to teach one year before they closed Wilson down sadly because of the situation going on on desegregation on a national level here that's one of the responses the local board at the time did they close Wilson down which was heartbreaking for her she talked about that quite sadly and openly she went and taught at New Hanover for about three or four years and worked for the city often on with some educational programs and during that time she actually ran for school board I found out I hadn't known that she wasn't successful so she's got a pretty good amount of votes then she went back to Williston and she was there for 35 years and what's amazing about Florence is she wasn't just

019a fantastic teacher and I know that there's many in here that had her at a teacher but she was also a mentor and a teacher of teachers and she was very dedicated to changing the lives of these kids and instructing and helping teachers be able to do it when she wasn't able to she worked actively in the community for social justice for equity in education I met her here my good this four years ago the first night I was sworn into the board and she was I believe she was still working at the time of the schools and she was absolutely fantastic as far as assisting me understanding what was going on historically um and and the relationship that we were still working on here locally to try to bring back bring about the social

020justice and equity in our schools that we desperately need one of her observations and sadly this is something we as a board need to focus on and something she worked for was that we our schools we segregated over the last 15 years and that was heartbreaking to her and she noticed that it wasn't just along racial lines it was also economic lines and that's one of the reasons we have these struggling schools now and that's what she was working on when she passed I was going out in the community and trying to bring about change so we could change that in our schools so you know that was a very brief tribute to Warren to a Florence Warren in 19 I mean 2019 she actually received the Centennial NAACP education award among the many awards

021she's had and she entered the last couple of years of her life she was working actively with her church too and a lot of local organizations that brought about a lot of positive change in our community so you know just I would actually like to take a minute for myself and everybody else just to reflect on Lawrence's Contra Florence Florence's contributions to our schools and the great impact she's had on some of the students as I said and definitely the teachers here tonight so I'd like to take a minute thank you so um our our condolences to the family of Miss Warren thank you Miss Justice for that um very sweet speech next up on the agenda is approval of the minutes do I hear a motion so I moved second um any discussion okay

022thank you I got that thanks um all in favor say aye aye any post okay minutes are approved next up on our agenda is student voice and with us tonight are our student voice leaders and their current student Ally um Shala Harper and Mr Johnson if you'd like to join them at the podium okay so this is a little unusual tonight that we don't um this this is a policy for second reading that a new policy for second reading and we usually do all these together with policy but um this is going to be the new Landing place for student voice so I wanted to be um that's hysterical the I hope the cameras are getting that the um so the um and just in case you're wondering what we're laughing at there there are

023student out there's adult Ally Who Um recently um resigned from New Hanover County Schools to pursue some other interests um she is with us I'm sure she's watching from Italy in the middle of the night so the uh right so normally we do not you know do the policies at this time but I would like to since you're all here give you that opportunity um is there any um discussion do you want to add anything more to your policy based on any of the meetings that you've had okay are there any questions from anybody on the board okay I had one question that um maybe just for you all to consider at a later point in letter D number one b um it's it's highlighted in yellow where it says includes representation from all high

024schools and middle schools and I just wanted to remind you that middle school students are not currently a part of the superintendent's advisory Council so that will be something that your team will need to work if Mr Johnson and Dr Faust I'm not going to not approve it because of that I just wanted to bring that to your attention um and then the one on D2 you see the red line where we took the assistance of the chief Equity officer out as a selection person that will be something that you all you know will work out and he doesn't need to be your committee picker and um that was all I had you said one question I I think I've read it correct correctly but we're not at this point saying that the a member

025would be a voting member of our board because they they were never allowed to be a voting member because it's not in our in our um State Statute so that's why you cannot officially vote um but and they declined the offer to be on the dies with us um in lieu of being members of other committees um is that correct okay all right so um is there a motion to accept to adopt policy four zero zero four as presented moved with pride okay we got a couple shoes in there first you came in second slide in okay um any discussion all right all in favor say aye aye any post okay so you are approved thank you [Applause] so going did you answer back you guys will have this same spot after approval of the

026minutes on our agenda and anything that you need to report out you don't have to report if you don't have anything um save us five minutes but um but we always welcome your voice and um Mr Johnson will coordinate that for you madam chair yes um Mr Johnson did say you know maybe we should put only as needed I mean Mr John did you want to weigh in on that because I know they're on our agenda permanently but maybe sometimes if they don't have anything is that what you brought up yesterday about maybe as needed or is that doesn't need to go on there yes um just to clarify it now I just want to speak to you guys as well um you do have a standing spot on the agenda um but there might

027not always be something yeah um so in that case it's going to stay there but there's not an obligation we'll be there okay welcome to the team officially okay [Applause] you're very welcome okay um next on our agenda is information part one and for those of you who aren't in who aren't um that is something new on our agenda what we are going to start doing is having part of our information where we have invited guests um move that to the front so that our invited guests can can come and um lead we value their time for that so first up is um the Novant mou the Health Sciences program Dr Faison um Hello thank you um there has been a couple questions so we actually have um Mrs Barbara Burke from DPI with us

028tonight who is an RN and over the health science division of CTE we also have um Holly Reynolds who is the director of professional development and nursing education and Mrs Amy Acres Chief nursing officer these ladies will we just providing us some information and we're going to start with Miss Burke to just highlight or point out anything that's different with going to Novant versus our lawn care facilities so Ms Burke I'll turn it over to you thank you for allowing me to be here um there's actually no difference between the students completing their clinicals that are in the nurse A1 Training Program at a long-term care facility versus a hospital they still have to check off on the same uh 15 skills that they'll require to show that they are competent in performing those skills

029on our actual live resident or patient it's just that the place that they're performing in it does change they're still supervised by RN who is approved to be there with the students okay all right and um I I don't know Miss Justice do you have a comment you have a question I certainly do have a question I have documents from the 2021-22 school year for the nurses aid training program and I guess it's Nats what they call it nursing fundamentals and practicum practice system I'm not sure how to pronounce that word but the point is there's 64 skills on here and there's only um from understanding you're you're if they are functioning in a acute facility then they're only able to check off on those 15 skills and not the required 64. is okay so

030those skills that first of all the purpose of nursing one training they have to be taught how to be a nurse aide first of all we're not teaching them to test or anything they're taught to work as a nurse aide so those 64 skills that you see are the skills that they have to check off in the lab not all of them they will check off them some of them are taught for example we don't have for your lifts in a high school life we don't have stretchers those are not expect to be taught uh to be checked out for on page three of the nursing training summer sheet those are the skills that the students have to check off of and they only have to check off on 15 of those skills which includes

031things like a basic uh complete bed bath feeding uh assistant to ambulate which to have to have a instructor with them to do that so they're not expected to check off on all 64 skills there's an addendum there's a second sheet that you don't have I have the addendum here uh I'm all and I see those skills I believe all together there's 24 of them yes um my concern is in a with our past contracts with the um I guess you call them nursing homes that we can call convalescent homes and other names um this is for long-term care facilities that's the proper term all 64 of these skills were checked off previous they were with our nursing I I've got copies of it with our with our schools with the programs that we had

032in place before the contract with Nova Nova they were signed and checked off those skills were checked out in the lab part three of the nursing training summer sheet are the skills that are checked off in the actual facility the students can attend a long-term care they also can do their skills checked off at a hospital they have to be on medical units which generally will have a larger population of the elderly an orthopedic nursing unit a rehab hospital for their clinical well aren't they I believe they're doing their clinicals through these programs I'm not an expert but we do have some experts I would like to get more information for them in order to understand why the difference between what's going on this year and what has happened in the past and in the

033past they were using this format and they were successfully going through all these skills required and now you're saying they just need 15. in the past the students always check those 64 skills on in the skills nursing lab either on mannequins or with each other they are only required to do part three of the nurse aide training summary sheet which includes those 24 skills and they have to do 15 of those or more if they can get more okay thank you Miss Birds hang on for us um if you would um and I'd like for Dr Faison and I would just say um that and I'll bring Novant um up here but our students still will be at a geriatric facility it still would be Jerry they will be working with geriatric patients um I'm

034sorry it's not a matter of geriatrics it's the difference between acute and long term okay I will bring up Mrs Reynolds and Mrs acres to address that thank you Miss Akers for being here with us hi I'm Holly Reynolds I'm sorry that's okay um so as was discussed we do have placement in the hospital and we do plan on putting them in our rehab facility the majority of which is geriatric patients for them to get checked off on those 15 skills we have been successfully doing this with Brunswick County schools for a number of years now with no issues we're excited about this partnership with New Hanover County schools and about bringing those students in and don't anticipate having any issues the students will successfully be checked off on those 15 skills with their instructor

035they would be assigned to those geriatric patients for the purpose of being checked off on those skills okay any questions for Ms Reynolds well I don't know if it's for instance Reynolds or not you want to hear the third speaker and then ask your question just to make sure okay um do you have a third speaker for us tonight okay and does Miss Futrell need to add anything or okay all right I would add one thing that I wanted to add it um we've heard our staff's concerns so we do have a plan in place for this spring where we will have an outside nurse we are working with Mrs Burke to actually bring our students to Novant to do the 10 hours of clinicals there keep in mind our students have 40 hours of

036clinicals we're just asking right now that they get 10 because Novant has a program if our students do their clinical their nursing if they've become a nurse I'm sorry a CNA they will actually pay for them to be a nurse so we don't want to take that opportunity away from our students but we've heard our staff so we have for these 10 hours that the students and this this is the spring this spring right we will have 10 hours they will go we're going to start with 10 hours during the 10 hours where these students are with another nurse at Novant our teachers will be collaborating with the nurses at Novant we have not we want to share I want to share this with with you guys first before we even shared it with our

037nurse but that is our plan because we've heard them but we do not want to take away this opportunity for our students so we've got a plan in place for the spring for that and also any questions and we've got all three of us sure well to your last point I mean this was brought to us I guess as an opportunity for our students I guess the feedback we've gotten so far that it it's kind of messed with the program that was already doing well um say it again I'm sorry the which part didn't you hear you say some other program is doing well well I'm saying I figured the program was already doing well I think we have a very established program that has been doing well I know we teamed with Novant but

038the feedback that we've gotten well at least so far um and I guess it's just a situation with one of the schools maybe more we haven't heard um but I will move on from that for a second one of the questions was about liability insurance for nurses and um from what the feedback we got was that they don't get coverage the nurse instructors don't get liability insurance and they're not comfortable with that is that correct so and um Miss portrayal Mike can speak more on it if I she shared all of our teachers have a certain amount of insurance no matter if you are the culinary teacher with knives or if you are the fire teacher you have a certain amount we are looking to make sure because Novant has a particular amount of insurance

039that their teachers I mean their nurses our teachers will have to have we are looking to make sure if they do have to have additional Insurance the district will cover that as well okay so that's something new that we haven't heard yet um Miss Justice yeah I read the document they have to have a million dollars themselves of their own personal liability to work there I do understand that our nurses that were running this program for one of them a decade very successfully if not longer have resigned because not just that but they're expected to go down on their own time and work with Novant without being paid in order to be allowed to be in the hospital and work with the students is that do you know anything about that so what we did

040was I mean if first you want to make sure teachers are comfortable so Novant offered that our teachers could come and spend some time so we were going to pay them for um you want to talk about the program we were going to pay them over the summer so they could have that opportunity everyone um yes we were going to page teachers teachers get curriculum development pay but any work that teachers do outside of their regular Duty we have to pay them for that so it was always the plan to compensate our teachers even for the training was that next summer or this summer it was last summer if they had taken advantage of that opportunity they were going to be paid well and we shared they weren't aware of that opportunity because they're the

041one that had contacted us said that they were going to have to do it without their without being paid on their own time uh I think that's illegal I don't think we can work people without being paid well I agree but but we always compensate our teachers we had other teachers working this summer and they were all compensated so we wouldn't have treated Health Science teachers any differently and the orientation that Novant requires for them to come and do like four hours they will also be compensated for that as well all through CTE dollars thank you Mr Trump the um I just wanted to add something in that um since some of these concerns have been coming up I had the opportunity to talk with a number of um nurse aide alumni that have gone

042through these programs that we have all acknowledged are working well and asked them what they thought about the opportunity of being able to go to the hospital and every single one of them said they thought well that might be a little scary but wouldn't that be cool because that's where I'm probably going to work and so I took that too you know and then listening to the opportunity as um as just a more of a um a support for what we're doing so I appreciate the fact that you know you guys are Forward Thinking and looking at that um and uh Miss Burt thank you um for coming in um our expert from DPI we appreciate you all so much um for looking out for all of our students in North Carolina um and so

043that we can look out for our students in New Hanover County okay and Mr Barnes said one thing he wanted to share good evening just to speak there was a concern and allegation about possible retaliation for our nurses for any employee if that's ever feeling like that in the interest of transparency and security they can just contact me directly and we'll help them deal with that thank you Dr Barnes appreciate that vote of confidence okay um any more questions another question any comment Miss Walker thank you thank you I just want to say if this is a year-long mou correct we signed it this year Well I guess we I think we signed it like in the spring actually yeah well it might be worth I mean evaluating make sure the program is working out

044for students um because if it was working before obviously we want to make sure it keeps continuing to be successful and if I guess it's up to the board to look at that mou and make sure that everything's going well sorry thank you okay thank you all I appreciate the time there and the um no action was needed on that information only all right so next up we have um JC Rowe and principal Morrissey and Julie Farnham to give us a little presentation about the fabulous things that are going on at JC row right now good evening I am really excited to um stand here and then hand off the mic where'd you go hand off to principal Morrissey um I feel like I've had the great opportunity to kind of work alongside her for

045many many years since she was a special ed teacher and moved through her growth in that and then through Administration so I'm really excited to share I'm going to give you just a little a brief one or two um sentences here and then I want her to be able to jump in and tell you all about what she is able to provide through her leadership within JC Rowe so in accordance with board policy 3470 and 4305 because you know I really like to cite policy I live in the policy manual there may be a period of time in a student's educational career when an alternative learning program placement needs to be provided to address certain social and emotional needs and we also know in that in that placement our academic programming is of the utmost

046importance so students may be transferred to the Alternative Learning Program on a voluntary or involuntary basis and it can be under many different circumstances and involuntary placements are what we offer in lieu of long-term suspension for the majority of our cases and those are a disciplinary reassignment but we have probably a record number of voluntary requests for the Alternative Learning Program at JC Rowe which is something that parents are seeking and our administrators are having those conversations with them so that Miss Morrissey and her team can establish an individualized plan for these students so I want her to jump in and then we'll answer any questions you have so hi I'm Kim Morrissey I am the principal at JC Rowe this is my second year as principal there um so the first thing that I've

047really been focusing on is trying to change The Narrative of JC Rowe I've been in this County for 15 years I'm quite familiar with what people think about it and I think that it's unfortunately because they haven't been exposed to all the great things that we have to offer um the infographic unfortunately you can't see the whole thing but yes so we have a couple different programs there the short-term program um last year 144 middle school students and 95 High School students these were students that were suspended from their home school so they actually came through JC Rowe and got to sit with certified teachers to work on their classwork that really helped with that lost instructional time EC students are also provided their services while they're at jcro we do have three EC teachers

048on staff and para Educators while they're in short term we also do daily SEL lessons we try to focus those around the reasons that the students were suspended or other things that the short-term suspension teacher will notice that's going on in the classroom we do have technology available for all of our students that are there and then it's also an opportunity to make up work a lot of times students that are suspended have gaps they've been suspended before sitting in ISS this gives them an opportunity to make up the makeup work to really get back on track before they go back to their home school then the second part of what we do is our transition in the Alp program that Ms varnum was mentioning so last year we had 29 students so it's a

049great small student to teacher ratio we did add last year a full-time mental health specialist which is huge we also have a full-time counselor and a full-time social worker so part of what we do with that program is we also have daily SEL lessons we do exit projects where the students talk about coping skills they've learned and ways that they can be more successful back in their home school we have transition meetings with the home schools we make sure that they have people in point of contact to go to we also have a full-time behavior interventionist that will pull them for small groups and social skills lessons and then this is also the potential to serve all middle and high school students in the county so that's like a great out opportunity for students that

050are struggling in a Traditional School environment in the long-term program last year we had 57 students we do offer through that program 14 core graduation requirements taught face to face I think the first misconception is that the students are sitting on the computer all day we have certified teachers they're changing classes we did our master's schedule so it mimics the home school so they're used to sitting in 80 minute blocks so we're truly really trying to make that transition as smooth as possible we have also multiple credit recovery options a lot of the times the students that come to us in high school or have been retained or missing some credit so we offer opportunities to work with certified teachers on those things daily SEL lessons for them also and small social skills groups then

051we also have a really strong school-wide Behavior expectations we have daily Behavior charts there's levels that the students move up to earn more Privileges and then we have a token economy system that the students earn Robux and they get to trade that in for treats at the end of the week so then the other infographic I did was just to try to highlight some of the things that we've been doing with community outreach we have a garden group partnership with the Arboretum and they come every Tuesday to work with our students Reverend Jerry Pearson which a lot of people are familiar with in the county has come he volunteers there he's actually working on becoming a substitute because of his work with JC Rowe so that he can offer that service also we just participated

052in the New Hanover County five-day selpd that was our entire staff participated in that last year we had speakers that we've already set up for this year including Cape Fear local banks and the National Guard the first two weeks of school myself and our my assistant principal went and visited all of our students that transitioned back to make sure that they had met someone that they could have a connection with that they had gone to classes and try to have connections with them even though they're not in our building anymore we had an art therapist that we had last year with the grant that we're hoping to maybe get back and then we had a performance in the spring where they did spoken word interpretive dance and and a play scene we have a fall

053and spring Community night this fall it is November 16th which is a Wednesday and life points actually helping us sponsor that so we're inviting people to come out and participate in that with us and then our teachers constantly participate in county-wide professional development our core content teachers are teaching all grade levels so my high school English teacher is teaching all englishes just like my math and everything else yet they're still participating in everything else that the county is expecting of them which I think says a lot about the dedication of the staff we have at JC Rowe so I just kind of wanted to share some of the things that we've been doing and start to open up that kind of dialogue about this is a great opportunity for students to help get them back

054on track and to offer an opportunity for them to feel success in a different environment so that they can transition back to their home school and really be successful fingers up yeah Mr Boyer uh thank you madam chair Mr wildabour I know you've requested this I'm really grateful that you did because we don't often get a chance to hear from you and and hear about some of the really incredible things we did and that we're doing and you know I just really wanted to highlight that because I think coming out of the pandemic moving forward and you've already said this year your needs have never been greater and this program is really important what we offer these students is absolutely critical and so they need us to be our best and I know you are

055and I'm just really grateful to get a chance to see some good work so thank you very much thank you Mr water board first off I want to thank you for all you and your staff are doing uh I think it's exceptional I can't get the words out that's how good I think it is um but I also uh could you tell talk to us a little bit about some of the all because we have a whole bunch of folks going to be talking we're asking about um you know alternatives to seclusion and I know that that you guys do a lot of great things in in you know instead of seclusion can you talk to us just a little about some of the things you might do yes I think a lot of the

056things we do is the proactive piece because we're able to have those relationships because of our student-to-teacher ratio we're able to find out things that I think a lot of the times in a Traditional School you're not able to know so we're able to kind of read students and check in with them a lot more than a traditional school is able to each student talks to adults before they go to class that's part of our program in our homeroom they go over their behavior points uh chart from the day before with teachers so there's a lot of things in place where we're able to see some things and then step in as needed so because we have the staff that we do and I know we're expensive but because we have the staff that we

057do then we're able to give them those resources that they need and pull them out and do social skills lessons based on what's going on with them or if we found out something happened in one of the neighborhoods the night before then we're ready to kind of have everyone in a crisis type mode to really you know encourage the kids to talk about what's going on and for us to focus on working through those things before we get to the academics so we're able to focus on the whole child piece you know a lot of our students are coming hungry and that's our first thing where all of our teachers know and they all have snacks in each of their classrooms that if a student isn't responding then maybe it's something else going along those

058lines so because of the way our school is structured we're able to take some time away with our other staff members to focus on the kids needs and then allow the teachers to still teach content to the other students that are able awesome thank you Mr McManus that's really important what you do in your whole staff and I genuinely think there's a definite place for us and I don't want this to sound negative but I think it's a fair question if I recall we spend 83 000 per student at JC Road what follow-up do we have after they finish JC wrote with regards to where they are and what they're doing informing otherwise so let me clarify the cost per student that cost per student is taken in a snapshot kind of at a period

059in time and so I think while last year it may have I'm not looking at the chart but I'm going to go into my into my visual memory I think it may have counted maybe 50 some students and and it's the cost per student but as you can see from the data provided by principal Morrissey she served more students than that so that cost per student is a little skewed because it's got to be taken in a snapshot time frame or else you're trying to move dollars I can't imagine actually trying to create that kind of that kind of visual so it's at it's not quite accurate because the students that she also served were still counted at their home school so what would be accurate I don't know how we would calculate that because

060because our students it's so fluid our students are coming in for we're offering um as Miss Mari she shared that our students from middle and high school can come in for a short-term suspension alternative so they're not actually suspended they're in an alternative setting for that suspension so she'll have kids five days at a time four days at a time and and then you might have students that come in for the remainder of a semester or they transition in for six weeks and then move to their school it's got to be so fluid to be student centered that it's really hard to do a true capturing of the cost per student and I don't want to try to step into Ashley's Lane I think she's amazing and I can't calculate that Ms Morrissey can you

061talk about what you and your team do Transition to transitioning in at the beginning of this year what you did with the students who had gone back to their their respective school oh when we were doing the visits yes we did set up with the home home schools Mr menini is the assistant principal we went and saw all of our students and we met with all of them with an administrator or with a staff member from the home school to make sure that they were aware of who the JC row students were we pulled up their PowerSchool we put all the students down we talked about classes they had been to a couple of them we actually did schedule changes while we were there because the student wasn't attending because they didn't like the class

062and so it gave a time for us to help the student advocate for themselves in their home school with people there that they can go to versus kind of just sending them back and then expecting them to have that skill set carried over from the summer and they to do that on their own so that was something different we did this year that I think was really successful Judy Miss Justice oh you want more you got more to go okay uh yes I was looking at this little informational boxes you gave us I see that the short-term program provides EC students with Services uh what about the transition and long-term program oh yes absolutely I just wanted to make a point that the short term was also receiving Services yes um and the reason I

063pointed that out is because the short-term students are not in my power school so that's part of the reason that the numbers are skewed because they stay in their home power school but we receive a copy of the IEP from the home school and we make sure that those services are still given at JC Rowe Miss Walker how's lunch things about your lunch um lunch is brought in Daily from Hoggard and breakfast is it okay to eat I mean we've had pictures sent to us I mean I'm just curious if it's okay to eat or the students with the lunch yes I know they probably do but okay we can talk later I guess I we I the students are fed absolutely we make sure that we have food for the students they eat the

064lunches um they eat breakfast too no student goes hungry no I'm glad about that I'm just was thinking about quality yeah Mr McManus are we following up with those who graduate I made it made to do a good job with that from JC bro yes sir where they are of their success yeah actually that's another beautiful part I think about us having those relationships last year we had five seniors that started with us and all five graduated and different staff members keep in touch with them all the time a bunch of Staff members went to graduation actual family parties that's how much we kind of become a part of what the families are it's the first time I worked at Ashley for eight years I never gave out my cell phone number and I give

065out parents my cell phone number at row all the time it's just one of those great opportunities we have to really have a different type of relationship let me cover this and I want to add in that um this summer Miss Marcy reached out or maybe it was asked last spring Miss Marcy reached out and asked to sit down with me and kind of redevelop our process for Alternative Learning programs to have even more connection and braiding of collaboration from the home school and so the process that our principals follow now has a transition to and a transition from the Alternative Learning Program with specific steps that they have to agree to in order to make that referral and that's been really helpful um I think it's an important piece for the student too because

066in the principal and myself are working together on a plan for the student and then the student in the family is aware of that so it's really kind of that partnership that we have going on that we're one team versus JC Rowe versus the home school yeah I just wanted to add in real quickly the um the work that you guys are doing is amazing and the one thing that really jumps out at me all the time is that back to the home school visit because I don't know about you but many of us have had you know family members or friends who have been in a program where they had to go get fixed and then are put back into the environment that maybe contributed to the problem so I think that is wonderful

067you know to make sure that they feel good about that and just you know I've subtit your school before and in it's not an easy place on some days and some days it's just like every other school so I'm happy that you you treat them as such an individuals and meet them where they are so thank you very much for being here with us today thank you thank you all righty next on our agenda um Jarrell Lewis and Kelly Lewis and oh Julie varnum you're back up um if you if you're participating um the Title IX Athletics audit I was so excited for Miss Marcy to be able to do that I just like ran away um with with all of my papers and everything um so I'm just doing the introduction and then handing

068this off as you know um our district voluntarily engaged in the in the Athletics audit for Title IX in order to focus on continued compliance with Title IX and I'm really excited that um Jarrell Lewis and um and Kelly Lewis they are not Brothers but I am happy to have both of them come and talk to you about this good evening so uh this evening there is a presentation I think someone's gonna pull it up here so this evening I will be speaking along with Mr Kelly about the Title IX Athletics audit that we performed um back in the spring of 2022. you can go to the next slide so uh this presentation will be brief but we'll focus on three different process of three different parts uh the first is the audit process overview

069what that looked like uh number two is the Title IX regulation itself and then number three are the results from the athletic audit so the audit process overview we utilize a third-party auditor consultant Helen Grant Consulting LLC um that third party reviewed four high schools in seven middle schools all of the schools in New Hanover County schools that have athletic opportunities for them for their students the audit was actually performed in April of 20 um April 18th through 22nd of uh this school year what that looked like included the auditor coming to the New Hampshire County schools and visiting uh performing site visits as well and then the data collection was also part of it and so the auditor collected data from the 2021-2020 school uh school year and the data that was collected included

070official team rosters enrollment by gender of each respective School participating in the audit um a listing of all head assistant and volunteer coaches compensation stipends for coaching Duty and if the coaches faculty faculty member or only a coach or non-faculty member uh the data collection also included a questionnaires for coaches and students uh the questionnaires gave insight about student perspectives participating in athletics as long as in addition to the coaches as well related to some of the Title IX compliance factors and then the last part of the data collection included in-person interviews of the athletic directors at each respective school and coaches as well so for the Title IX regulation itself the federal government the regulation speaks very specifically to how schools must districts must comply with the Title IX regulation and there's two components

071to that one is Equitable opportunity which ensures that the underrepresented sex has an equal opportunity to play in sports and the second prong is Equitable treatment which ensures that athletes are treated equitably when participating in sports So speaking to the first prong Equitable opportunity that includes a three-part test is outlined by a case law and the regulations substantial proportionality test what that means is that the district must show that enrollment in athletics is substantially proportionate to High School enrollment based on sex and our athletic audit focused on that prong number one problem number two to me I'm sorry number two to meet prong number one is history and continuing practice of program expansion meaning that the district has shown in history and can continue practice of adding athletic programs for the underrepresented sex and the

072last is a combination of interest and abilities uh the district shows that the district has reviewed the athletic interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex and sought to accommodate those interests with new athletic teams and sports offerings so again this is how a district may show compliance with an equitable opportunity prong ensuring that the underrepresented sex has an equal opportunity to play in sports moving forward to number two for the Title Nine regulations Equitable treatment I think these are just pieces that most people are familiar with when it comes to Title IX Athletics compliance the Federal Regulations are nicknamed uh this part the laundry list there are a number of factors that are included that must be met to show that uh the district is ensuring that athletes are treated equitably when participating in sports

073and I won't go through every one of the laundry list of factors but these are those factors as shown on the screen foreign the audit was performed in April and we received the results um mid to late summer and I took the time to highlight some of the areas and opportunities for improvement based on the audit itself and the first area is the first prong Equitable opportunity particularly related to substantial proportionality the audit found that Myrtle Grove Middle School Williston middle school and Roland Grice Middle School were the only schools that met this particular prong by having student participation their athletes be substantially proportionate to enrollment at the school so for example if a school has you know 47 female enrollment then theoretically the athletes should be around 47 percent female that's what that substantial

074proportionality Test shows and again Myrtle Grove Middle School Williston middle school and Roland rice met those tests out of all the schools in our district so for next steps to address this concern according to the auditor was for Middle School the district needs to increase a girl's participation or do a combination of increasing the girls roster and then also decreasing the boys roster so some type of roster management to be able to control these numbers and make sure that they're substantially proportionate to the overall enrollment at the school itself for high school the auditor stated that increasing uh girls participation or increasing girls rosters or decreasing boys rosters and also ensuring that there are junior varsity teams for female sports similar to male sports like there's a JV basketball team there needs to be a

075JV girls uh basketball team things like that make each other JV opportunities to increase or participation numbers for the females uh athletes um the next prong is Equitable treatment and so the otter examined whether New Hanover County Schools provides male and female athletes with Benefits opportunities and treatment that are equivalent in availability quality and kind based on the relevant factors the auditor noted any disparities that were found and then categorized the level of the disparity determine if the disparities resulted in denial of equal athletic opportunity to male or female athletes um in regards to this uh prong the auditor found that there were concerns with the availability and use of athletic facilities uh to the detriment of female athletes at hogger Ashley and Laney and specifically related to the weight room and the hitting facilities

076just making sure that at those particular schools those um facilities were being used equitably based on male and female so that was a concern that was highlighted there I think that for next steps and having the athletic director Mr Kelly Lewis have more oversight into work with the local athletic directors to develop procedures to make sure that those facilities are being shared equitably schedules things such as that would be able to address some of those concerns uh number two there were concerns with the availability and exclusive use of athletic facilities to the detriment of female athletes at Holly Shelter Middle Myrtle Grove and Williston Middle School similar to the high school uh specifically related to the weight rooms at those particular middle schools and so next step for that are similar to the high school

077just making sure that we're providing more oversight and having procedures that address how and when these facilities will be used and shared so we can make sure that they're not the time is not being provided to only male athletes and it's being shared with female athletes as well um number three for Equitable treatment uh talking about the quality of life you can go go back to the next slide I'm sorry six yeah um so the last concern that the auditor highlighted that related to Title IX was uh there were potential Title IX violations found related to Hoggard softball and New Hanover High School softball facilities so related to hogger I again the auditor did come and do site visits and uh she stated specifically that there were concerns related to Quality related to the softball

078field at new at Hoggard High School the the entrance the Press Box the home plate The Dugout the stands the bull print the bullpen uh the brick knee wall and netting When comparing it to the baseball facility for the males um in addition to that the softball hitting cage was down I think there was some type of weather damage at the time when the auditor came and so she addressed that concern as well making sure that the hitting facility was up so that it can be used by the softball team uh for New Hanover High School there were quality and cosmetic concerns related to the softball field but specifically related to The Press Box the stands the backstop the batting cage The Dugout locker room um on all that in comparison in comparison to the

079mail facilities the baseball team so these are substantial concerns that could you know be title non-violations so for this particular concern the district myself Title Nine office would is partnering with the operations Mr Eddie Anderson to address these concerns was his division um we've already had some of those discussions not sure if you want to add anything specifically or I'll open it up to you if you do I would just like to add that after the report the report identified uh areas of concern but it didn't provide a scope of work and cost estimates for completing those so in operations our goal is we've we've hired a designer that's going to do their assessment and provide those very detailed scope of work and cost estimates for your consideration in the upcoming capital budget thank you

080yes so Title IX compliance there's we can't say that we don't have to comply with Title IX because we don't actually own the field that our students play on it's still impacting their educational environment if they're provided with the facility that's lesser than males so it's still Our obligation to address those concerns outlining uh with the com with the laundry list that Title IX outlines so the district does have a more unique hurdle of New Hanover high schools particularly because we're sharing that space with the city and or the county I don't know for sure uh so we have to partner with those individuals to make sure that we're providing a facility that's um in compliance with Title IX and if we that's not the case then it's still the district studies to make sure

081we provide some facility that meets someone compliance I know we talked about Hanover softball last year and I'm so so happy that this was done um was this done by private I know maybe I missed it or was it now that there are violations that are shown or is there a timeline that we have to meet in order to get it remedied or what are the follow-ups yeah so the consultant was uh private I guess that that was your first question uh the second part of the question the timeline so when there are potential timelines violations related to Quality and facilities and things like that of course that's going to require budget to be able to address some of those concerns so I I don't believe that OCR has an expectation that districts must you

082know provide these fixes by the end of a particular school year their understanding as long as the district has a plan I think that's the most important aspect but sometimes it could be a year to three years to address a particular facility issue it really just depends on the scope of the issue and um I I would agree that particularly related to New Hampshire and hogger there is substantial work to be done so there isn't a you know hard fast deadline but we just need to show that we're working on that and with due diligence Mr McManus thank you John answer two questions booster clubs however you want them I was probably going to put it under are they allowed to give the money to upgrade facilities that's their choice yeah so um Title IX

083is definitely concerned with the funding aspect making sure that that money is being spent equitably um you know schools have booster clubs and booster clubs are able to raise funds to the benefit of the school itself or maybe even a particular team that does not violate Title IX in any way the concern would be if a booster club is providing funds to the district particularly your specific team or even more specifically a male team that could create an imbalance if the district is not matching those funds in some way shape or form for female athletes if they are which they generally are the underrepresented sex so long story short boosters can provide funds but it's the district's responsibility to make sure that those funds are being utilized in a manner that does not violate Title

084IX and that would be the athletic directors or the assistant principal slash athletic directors at each school right and manages that that increases oversight Mr Kelly Lewis uh would be able to provide females males I think that's a better question for uh Mr Kelly Lewis to speak about how the budget works at the local schools when it comes to Athletics if the you're saying if well the booster club obviously when we're doing budget we prioritize which is the best of our ability to what we think we know at the time so how do you do that now that you have identified obviously women's facilities versus men's facilities how do you prioritize the expenditure who goes first and then we don't know what the priorities are right with regard to who's getting money right well I

085don't think that would happen until we have the scope of work done from the um The Firm that maintenance operations is hired and then from that result then our officers would be able to work to to then prioritize where where we're going to start and I know Mr Wilmore had a question for that what is that going to be done in the next six months a year so two because you said two or three years down the road in some cases um and Mr Lewis was talking about having that work completed so the timetable for uh for for me and my team um we're identifying what the specific scope of work is to bring the facilities at Hoggard and Hanover into compliance with the audit we're also identifying the cost of work associated with that

086we will present that to the capital outlay budget committee probably in the January February time frame and then it would go to the full board as part of your upcoming budget like Miss Barnum did you have something you kept looking like you were leaning in I only only wanted to mention that um we would prioritize in our budget process much like we did this past year where we start working on our um asks and then our team the senior staff the cabinet prioritizes and then brings it to the to the board thank you Miss Justice uh yes uh you were talking about the Equitable opportunity and you mentioned three middle schools that they said they need to work on but you said it sounded like you were talking about the high schools is it all

087the high schools have got that issue because you didn't identify particular ones is it all four high schools yes these three middle schools that were if I'm understanding you correctly talking about the Equitable opportunity those three middle schools were the only schools in our district that met that test every other school that has an athletic team did not meet that substantial proportionality test so also high schools all four high schools and the majority of the middle schools did not wow so that District needs the district needs to work on um our rosters to be able to make sure that those numbers are substantially proportionate to the overall enrollment at those others thank you Dr faster so what you're saying is for instance because of football football puts us out of whack because of how many

088male players actually play football and we don't have a girls team that is as large as a football team and then we also have to consider that sometimes when they get to high school or middle school some of our athletes choose not to play um so that I think that kind of puts our numbers out of sync yeah and and with Title IX the Equitable opportunity test like I said there's three ways that you can meet that Equitable opportunity piece number one is the substantial proportionality which only three of the middle schools meet which only three schools meet in the district however number two and number three such as history and continuing practices program expansion and accommodating the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex are another Avenue to meet Title IX compliance when it

089comes to Equitable opportunity being that we're K-12 it is a bit more unique because you know we have an athletic association that really kind of tells us what sports we're going to be able to offer so the audit did not find necessarily a Tylenol violation because of those other two tests but just speaking about the first test substantial proportionality that is what the audit found that only those three middle schools meant but for Title IX compliance wise um we're okay to test two or three if that makes sense Mr billion thank you Mr Lewis my understanding that part of this audit uh either Mr Lewis Mr Lewis's uh is that part of this audit uh had to do with uh pay for coaches um and assistant coaches for The stipend that they receive so Title

090IX I think that might be no the non-title nine piece that was uh the equity with regards to pay looked at I guess sure that our female coaches are being paid as Equitable as the male coaches my real question has to do with the pay for Middle School athletic directors I was told that there is underpaid as Scottie Pippen on the 90s Bulls um I don't know if you can can speak to that um or if there's something similar with regards to what Mr Anderson is doing to sort of look at that and address it yeah I will say this is this is talking about man um yeah but we do I I am in the request that I have to send them this morning uh that is going to be a request that I

091put in uh that the Middle School athletic directors would receive and an increase in their stipend because as you know our middle schools uh we sponsor 15 Sports which is more than some of the largest school systems in the state and they are full-time teachers with with no extra Duty for it for athletic growth so that is going to be a request of mine through so Mr Bowyer hold that question until a more appropriate budget time Miss Adam said I see your hand up okay Miss Walker I mean Miss Justice okay um I gotta say for a second I lost it what the question was now uh Dr foulson mentioned football but then there's things like softball for the females that that most of the males I don't think that's are any male players on

092softball so you know and that is a way that there is equitability in the types of sports it's not because there's a there's one group more than another that could be uh involved and active yeah I think the point was that uh football presents challenges to schools in kc-12 and higher ed because it is generally only for males and The rosters are are large so when you're talking about substantial proportionality to overall enrollment that's use it very heavily in favor of males and so I think that's the aspect of it so football does present that challenge here as well that rosters are so large uh that when we're talking about the proportionality it there's going to be more male athletes than females generally because the team rosters are just larger based on the sports that

093are Miss Walker well I just wanted to say because it looks like you had broken those up into different categories with violations where Hoggard and Hannah Hanover softball girls facilities and I know that was reported a long time ago and I think that speaks to I mean we really do love our Sports here and we're really good at them and I think do we get more participation from for female athletes which I guess softball is the equivalent to to baseball here um but if their facilities were better and their practice places were better you would probably get more participation I think and I know there's booster clubs that support various Sports here you know we all we all know about them but um I think if we make it better they will come I think

094yeah and in addition to that you know um when I was a student here when I was a student here we had females that played on the lacrosse team with the males now we have girls across in addition to that I believe Mr Kelly let me know if I'm wrong that there's going to be female wrestling as well this year [Music] just for the females as a trial run because the High School Association just added female wrestling as a sport for the next school year so that they will have their own Regional and they will have their own state championship as their own sport that that is for next year and one other thing the High School Association did this year they separated women's lacrosse out of combo state championship they've now taken and they've

095taken 4A and now 4A women's lacrosse is now going to have their own individual state championship so the state is also making some changes which which gives us more opportunities here at the district yeah I would just piggyback on that you know we could create Sports offerings in the district but the problem that comes is you know who do we play if we don't have anyone else the other school districts that are offering those same sports teams we don't really have much of a competition at all so that's a challenge um but I do think that the state is working on providing us with more offerings as well for our female athletes um I think the last slide thank you I'm about done the second to last I'm sorry eight and so yeah we talked

096about so I think some additional thoughts that I I found from the audit was that the District athletic directors uh could do a better job at record keeping uh their rosters their their schedules uh their budgeting items so that we can do more proactive Audits and not have to struggle to fund that material so that's another area for opportunity uh for improvement as well making sure that we are doing a good job of documenting at the school level okay um do you want to finish your slide and then we'll go well at this point I'm done at this point okay um Miss Justice okay and and this might seem silly to some people but I'm looking at the pictures that are going along with this presentation and they don't have nothing to do with sports

097no offense guys I love to watch see action pictures with sports so in the future whoever put this together get some players going that was me I used the slide from the I'm not technologically savvy one and I use the slides from the communications divisions I did not change the pictures but I think this looks very nice systems they forget that what we are is a business people really willing to get that that the finance and the Personnel is Major absolutely nature and so I hope people keep that in mind as we hope to develop and improve all of it but it is a business very expensive and we all had to pull in the same direction all right last comment for Miss Justice thank you Mr McMahon we're raising children and educating children not

098building widgets so we know the very first priority should be our kids and not at the bottom although the bottom line comes from so many sources that's a good one trying to figure that one out all righty Mr Lewis Mr very much for your time appreciate it and we look forward to hearing back from you when you have more things to share okay next up on our agenda is call the audience but I would like to take a five-minute break before we head into the next hour long session so um it's 6 25 so can we come back oh it's 6 27 and we come back by six thank you awesome awesome [Music] foreign thank you um yes foreign [Music] oh yeah two minutes [Music] foreign this is awesome [Music] foreign is that foreign questions

099foreign [Music] thank you he makes your teacher would be made okay um foreign can we get into our seats please ready to get started all right next on our agenda is call to the audience the first person up is Donna gargan folks we're starting Donna garget is up first for call to the audience I did see her here earlier okay okay thank you um next up is Peter Rauch mid drink sorry [Music] okay Mr Roberts whenever you're ready I hope you have started to read the school Improvement plans I've reviewed nine schools so far and they were from the list of the 10 schools that use seclusion rooms last year the good news is that all of the schools had Upstream goals that is their plans included positive behavior strategies that their staff could use

100to prevent major disruptions or safety issues in the classroom Alderman Elementary is a good example I counted at least eight goals related to student behavior and social emotional supports part of their plan includes having calm down areas in all classes and having all staff and students use common language to discuss feelings behaviors expectations and redirections best of all the target date to reach these goals is the end of this school year do you have any doubt that they will achieve their goals it's interesting to note that none of the nine schools I checked mentioned seclusion rooms in their school Improvement plans policy 4302r allows for the use of physical restraint which may be needed when a student's Behavior poses a threat of imminent physical harm to themselves or others but what we don't need is

101to lock our children in padded closets I urge the other board members to follow the leadership of Miss Justice Miss Walker and Mr wildebor vote to end seclusion rooms by the start of the 2023-24 school year and use this year to train the staff in positive behavior Alternatives thank you Mr Riley prior to Casting any type of vote be intentionally informed all of us will pay for mistakes of unqualified or unethical officials today's investigation into facilities is important not necessarily critical the well-being and safety of people is critical and a higher priority than basketballs we must remain intentionally informed by ongoing investigations of child sex crimes dating back to the 1990s three decades later we are still advocating for facilities and victims the schools where I taught have long been the focus of inequity data

102and reports suggest it has worsened thus igniting emotional responses in 1994 I encountered a school board candidate going up the stairwell in of Snipes which had a gym but no elevator the library was on the second floor inaccessible to students with special needs who could not come to me I was going down the stairwell to them while balancing a computer monitor and several books based on the candidate's support of the school bond issue I made an emotional decision to consider him but discovered that he lacked the skill set to hold office five years later there still was no elevator you and newly elected members must be capable and accountable to handle continuing and future problems without delay intentionally informed about delay um good evening my name is pronounced Malay knee Milani thank you this poem

103that I will recite tonight is Untitled the past of yesterday is alive and well the practices of seclusion are the new Jim Crow can't you tell watch how the education system pulls strings in blackface new decade same history still a disgrace first we could not attend their schools and now that we do 66 of the 18 of black children are thrown in seclusion rooms the numbers don't lie some of the board do is there no other option besides seclusion rooms no need to dress in costumes for this Halloween you can't hide from the monsters we've already seen ghosts and goblins this is the season for which is Brew children rather sleep in haunted houses than be locked in seclusion rooms no child should be locked up like a Monster in a cage the entire city

104of Wilmington should be outraged I have a couple of quotes this first one it's almost like the slogan where you see something say something Dr Charles fouse w-h-q-r published 9 10 20. that's why I'm here tonight this next quote I'm for truth no matter who tells it I'm for justice no matter who it is for or against I'm a human being first and foremost and as much and as such I'm for whoever and whatever benefits Humanity as a whole Malcolm X end the policy and stop locking up our children in seclusion rooms thank you thank you [Applause] Melissa Mason good evening thank you my name is Melissa Mason and I started doing all of this about 11 months ago and what's been really cool is I've been so inspired and humbled by the hundreds of

105parents community members who show up to fight for our kids every single month so thank you I'm proud to have taken the lead on exposing the gender support plan that was shared in October 2020 it hides crucial mental health information about students from their parents I'm proud to have informed parents and community members about the obscene literature in our school libraries and I've endured a lot of attacks on my character but that's fine I'm not a politician I'm a mom and I didn't come here to make friends I came here to help our kids our country is divided right now but I believe this community and our parents are united we're United in wanting a school board that serves this community not administrators here or in Raleigh we want a school board that works to

106involve parents not to cut them out of the process school boards are elected because local control of schools is our right and our voice should be reflected in school policy this community is United across party lines across the use about against the use of seclusion rooms this community wants to be able to remove failing administrators parents don't want schools to violate their children's boundaries parents don't want schools to teach kids to judge people by the color of their skin parents don't want schools to hide information about their kids from them or try to parent their kids for them and parents don't want schools to achieve the same outcome for every student by lowering the standards for all students we want Common Sense we're United in that and together we'll take our schools back thank you

107thank you Miss Mason Natasha too Natasha too okay um Marissa horrell they get that right Coral sorry good evening New Hanover County school board thank you for allowing me to speak on the topic of conclusion rooms my name is Marissa horl I'm in eighth grade I spent my entire School career in this County when I learned about seclusion rooms I was shocked it's exciting to think the selling that happens in America in my county in 2022. I can only assume you don't want to intentionally damage children that are in your care I can't imagine you want to hurt kids on purpose as a student in the school district I need to believe that you have my best interests in mind so I ask you to remember behavior is a form of communication especially for the

108younger kids challenging Behavior should make adults ask what is this child trying to communicate a struggling child isn't a monster to be locked away there are a child that needs your help and understanding studies show that seclusion rooms can lead to lifelong trauma correct me if I'm wrong but it's in the whole point of school to raise successful adults while traumatizing young children does not produce sex successful adults it's time to adopt a 21st century approach there are better ways to support children to help them when they struggle no child should be harmed at school if you think what you're doing it's best for the kids yet you allow children in this community to be secluded locked away like a prisoner while in the care of their school you need to rethink the decision to

109be on this board this practice is misguided and outdated and it's not what's best for any child foreign [Applause] good evening love our children support stay in the seclusion rooms period we are not advocating for the end of restraints some board members keep lumping those two things together as far as seclusion rooms also cause solitary confinement are not in keeping with the Dignity of a human person they tell students that they are bad people and need to be punished this type of punishment destroys any attempt that has been made to develop a healthy relationship with the child and does not address the direct causes of for the behavior instead it amplifies more trauma causing more negative behavior seclusion rooms do not teach children more socially desired behaviors clearly children that escalate need teaching on what

110they can do to control their own behaviors seclusion rooms are not educated at all at best students who is placed in the seclusion rooms might learn what not to do but they do not provide support designed to teach the student what to do it's ISO it's cruel and unusual punishment psychologically to place a child into isolation it can be traumatized into the child and detrimental to their mental growth it may cause long-term effects such as anxiety and depression finally seclusion rooms are in violation of the student's right of autonomy and dignity as a human being and places them in a hostile environment every child needs to feel safe and be safe in school in order to thrive I have yet to hear any child say being thrown in a seclusion room was a positive turning

111point in their life perhaps some of you on the board need to be placed in the seclusion room but be for being Gatekeepers of policies that have proven to be ineffective and psychologically damaging to our children where's the humanity and locking a child in a padded closet shame on you vote to ensu school seclusion rooms like I said there your time is up okay thank you Michael Sheridan [Applause] Michael Sheridan I am speaking to the board for the first time I'm here to urge you to end the use of seclusion in New Hanover County schools and adopt more Humane and effective approaches I am speaking from professional experience working with children in a variety of settings what I have learned is the use of seclusion to address disruptive behavior often backfires often exacerbating problems that

112it was supposed to eliminate why would this be so well research on seclusion shows that children can suffer severe psychological harm including significant trauma and even post-traumatic stress disorder they're often left with feelings of humiliation anger resentment Despair and depression as well as distrust of adults in Authority including their teachers this last impact distrust of those in Authority is particularly important to understand at a time in their lives when they need to be developing trusting relationships with their teachers seclusion breaks this vital Bond and sets up a negative feedback loop that benefits no one Trauma from seclusion leads to feelings of Despair and distrust leads to more disruptive behaviors leads to more seclusion the cycle goes round and round created a negative environment for all concerned for the targeted child for the teacher and even

113for the other children witnessing this there are alternative approaches that address these issues and teach children to engage in self-regulating behaviors before a disruptive event takes place Julie varnum has talked with you about two such programs lives in the balance and trauma-sensitive tools training you now have 10 months to train teachers and staff on these more effective and Humane approaches I urge you to do that vote to end seclusion by the start of the 23-24 school year let's make New Hanover County Schools a model for the rest of the state by showcasing our ability to create safe productive and respectful learning Hazel Hazel Isles look I really don't want to be here but I am here because you need to fix this problem the little girl standing next to me has asked me to read

114these words to you three years ago I was locked in a closet at school when I was seven I was locked in a seclusion room because I was afraid to say goodbye to my mommy and daddy school was hard for me because I would get overwhelmed and anxious PE would make me anxious and feel overwhelmed because it was loud and there were a lot of kids running around in the loud gym I would try to I would try to avoid going to the PE but teachers would carry me kicking and screaming and make me go when I was put in the closet I was scared mad and upset I even hit hid under a table to protect myself but they moved the table and forced me into the room I was screaming and crying I

115begged them to let me out but they would not let me out please put be being put in the closet did not help me calm down and it made me more afraid of school I told my mom and I switched schools I was still afraid of school because I did not feel safe it is hard for me to trust teachers because I think they might hurt me this year I'm at a new school and I have a very nice teacher she helps me feel safe but I still get afraid I am not a violent or bad kid I am now 10 years old and I am still afraid of school and I never deserve to be locked in a closet thank you [Applause] Sandy Isles when a ten-year-old child has the moral courage to share

116her story about seclusion but four of you have not demonstrated the moral courage to protect her what will it take to make you care what will it take to make you do something you see the pain in the eyes of families and children yet you do nothing you've seen the data yet you do nothing you have numerous Solutions yet you do nothing you know it causes harm and Trauma yet you do nothing every month for 22 months you find a new excuse on why you will continue to do nothing you have been telling us that we have to wait for the school Improvement plans now you have those plans yet there's no mention of seclusion on the agenda let me guess once again you plan to do nothing Mr Rogers once said anyone who does

117anything to help a child in his life is a hero to me I have to agree Heroes always help children they do something anything but four of you continue to do nothing the ten-year-old child who shared her voice tonight is my hero she did something she is a hero for all children daily she shows bravery and strength beyond what should ever be asked of her as as does every child who faces their trauma and fear by going to school each day all while four of you sit at the diocese and do nothing Ms Walker Mr wildebear Miss Justice thank you for caring about our children and for trying to do something to protect them I think it's about time the other four join you and do something it's time to end seclusion thank you miss

118crabill our kids at JC Road do not need to be fixed that's horrifying I can't believe you said that [Applause] Robert Bellamy Robert Bellamy my name is Robert Bellamy I'm in support of love our children every time I come here I write my thoughts only hours and minutes before I speak because I really don't know what to say I just know how I feel and how I feel at that time even at my age that's still the kid in me it was great the kid speaking just a little while ago today that's even the kid to me today I I want to feel like a kid that has been in seclusion and who has been restrained so I want to tell everyone what you're doing to me and how wrong this is and let you

119hear why you should stop this cruel practice on kids like me because this is how I feel I hate my teachers I hate you I hate the world I hate that no one understands me I hate my mom I hate my dad for allowing you to do this to me I hate the other kids that laugh at me and tease me uh none of this makes me any better this makes me meaner makes me bad because I hate everything I hate this day I hate that I was treated worse than what I may have done I am not a criminal I hate the school I even hate the school bus I know that I was wrong I am not stupid I just need to know that I am still loved you know when a dog

120poops you still love him when you restrain and lock me up I don't feel loved I feel you hate me so I feel that's what you think of me so I hate you too and I hate more I hate you more thank you very much Lynn Fulton good evening my name is Dr Lynn Williams Fulton I've been in the education business for about 38 years 28 were spent right here in New Hanover County as a special education teacher an observery evaluator an assistant principal and a principal in my 29th year I got hired by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to become a school transformation coach and work in low performing schools across this District I've worked with numerous superintendents principals teachers and students and so I tell you all that not because I

121want you to guess my age believe me I tell you that to give you context for my following observations in my time and in my experiences I've come to believe there are some basic fundamental elements to Quality schools and quality organizations and it all boils down to the people and when you look at the people you say Okay they've got lots of people that add value to this organization they do positive things in this organization they show common courtesy for one another even in Discord even in disagreement even when they don't agree with outcomes or situations they don't lose sight of common courtesy because they're all working for the same purpose to improve the education of children and to say that in 38 years I've been more appalled than I was recently when certain comments

122on social media came to my attention I can't tell you how appalled I was I've been in some of the most low performing dysfunctional districts you have ever seen and have never ever read or heard some of the comments that I recently did and I was offended not only for Chase Fulton but for the Fulton family because that's my name too thank you Miss Bolton Dr Fulton [Music] Alana Davis good evening my name is Elena Davis and I reside pay taxes and vote here in New Hanover County I'm here to ask the board to take this year to train the staff in the 10 schools that put kids in locked padded closets last year in positive Alternatives such as living the balance program and end all seclusions by the beginning of the 2023-24 school year

123I am moved by my faith to pursue justice as the sun sets the Jewish High holiday of Yom Kippur begins and the yomim nuraim or the days of awe come to an end these are the holiest days of the year where our community is called to reflect on and repair our mistakes the Jewish practice of repentance is known as teshuva or return our tradition teaches us that teshuva is not an easy process it demands that we ask for forgiveness from those that we have harmed and most importantly we change ourselves to ensure that these mistakes never happen again we are taught that the sign of two to True teshuva is when one finds themselves with the opportunity to commit the same mistake again and make a different choice we are now at a moment where

124we can continue to make the same mistakes of the past we can continue cruel and ineffective practices of seclusion rooms where we can choose New Paths rooted in safety and care for everyone the school district has 10 months to train the teachers and staff at the 10 schools that secluded children last year on using alternative strategies we acknowledge that a child is who is trying to harm themselves or other people may need for safety reasons to be restrained but children should not be locked in padded closets they should be treated with dignity and respect thank you for your time thank you very much Loretta Stackhouse good evening policy 4300 states that student Behavior policies will ensure the Equitable treatment of all students the school board's data shows that is not happening with application of policy

1254302r have you read your policy manual lately seclusion rooms were used 282 times in 10 schools between August and March of the last school year 71 children were placed in seclusion 66 percent were Black 47 of the 71 children were black reason enough to end seclusion rooms policy 4300 includes the principles that will apply in managing student Behavior one positive behavioral interventions will be employed as appropriate to improve student Behavior two strategies and consequences will be age and developmentally appropriate when has locking a child in a padded closet improved of child's Behavior when has locked in a child in a padded closet ever been aged and developmentally appropriate some of you are concerned about the recent school Improvement plans maybe you should be concerned about creating a policy manual Improvement plan have you read your

126policy manually lately policy 4302r needs Improvement vote to end seclusion by the start of the 2023-24 school year thank you thank you [Applause] foreign good evening thank you for the opportunity to talk with you tonight I'm a retired School social worker and I do urge you to please end this policy meanwhile I did want to talk a little bit and I'm I'm not going to repeat what's been said but I wanted to encourage you to strengthen the social emotional supports and positive behavioral programs that you have in place and Kudos oh my goodness kudos to JC Rowe and Dr varnum and the program programs that are working and I just hope that social emotional programs can be strengthened throughout the district Barbara Garrow good evening I am truly disappointed that you've not put on the

127agenda ending the use of seclusion rooms I urge you to vote on a policy that uses this school year to further train teachers and alternative methods and end the use of seclusion rooms this school year or sooner other school districts Pender County for example have found successful ways of providing safe spaces other than padded rooms it is horrifying that these rooms are being used in New Hanover County you've made a strategic error by not putting this issue already on the agenda and by not voting on a policy that ends the use of seclusion rooms by the end of this school year current board members who seem to support their use and are running for re-election most likely will not be elected to continue to serve on this board after December thank you thank you good

128evening see this you know what harm seclusion rooms do to our young children you have alternative programs they're working nine out of ten schools one apparently as an online yet have these excellent support programs for these children did you listen to Hazel did you listen to oh God I'm old George bill I can't think of your name I apologize did you listen to first-hand experience of harm this shouldn't be a monthly debate this should be voted now end seclusion rooms they do nothing positive you know the negativity and if you hadn't heard it firsthand before we heard it tonight 10 years old and she had the courage to come and tell you just what that did to her do you really want it to continue vote it down now thank you thank you [Applause] Chase

129Fulton hi as you heard my name is Chase Fulton and I am the person that sits back in that room in live streams all these meetings every week recently last month board member Judy Justice took it upon herself to go on social media and publicly accuse me of conspiring and trying to censor these board meetings she has taken it upon herself to personally slander into Fame my name she says that the communications department and more specifically me are trying to conceal quote the truth end quote about what really happened during that meeting if you want a full breakdown of what happened you can read the Port City Daily article I am not here to talk about that I'm here to talk about the completely baseless and unfounded accusations Miss Justice made about me on her

130public campaign page Miss Justice the only truth is that your comments are fictitious and libelous firstly you accuse me of editing a live stream Ms Justice you cannot edit a live stream that is the point of it being live you said yourself you worked in television you have all people would know this secondly you repeatedly accuse me of censoring the stream Ms Justice it is not my job to censor anything I set up the meeting I stream the meeting and I end the stream when it is adjourned that is it to think I would risk my job my name and my reputation to supposedly protect another board member or the image of the district is absolutely ridiculous furthermore for someone to question my Integrity the way you have without any actual evidence of misconduct or

131any knowledge of who you are even accusing is appalling and I would expect more from a member of our Board of Education Miss Justice I want you to know you are not a victim I am a victim a victim of your lies a victim of your slander any victim of your bullying I will continue to do my DOT my job diligently as I have always done thank you so next up John Rutter [Applause] so a month ago I talked to you guys about Transportation issues finally what five days ago you created a solution but is it really a solution um your policies are trash your administration's trash your leadership is trash it's that simple Your solution is to double up kids middle school and high school kids on a bus together what could possibly go

132wrong there you've got the the risk of bullying abuse and like I said in my email that maybe some of you read God forbid sexual abuse but you guys are good at covering that stuff up this is absolutely obscene parents are still not being given information from your school administrators and what are you doing about it nothing kids are not getting home until late in the evening what are you doing about it nothing you there's the excuses we get are we've got to drive our shortage have you done anything to incentivize hiring more drivers did you ask for more funding no your decision was to just double up on the drivers that you do have that's absolutely ridiculous you're overworking them you're underpaying them and you're putting our kids at risk I've spent the last

133month talking to parents from across the district your transportation department in an effort to fix this moved at least one bus stop closer to a registered sex offender it's on a website check it out I've seen better planning from PV ones with one day in the damn Army than I have from your Administration this is absolutely ridiculous you sit up there and half of you have this smug ass look on your face you want us to maintain your rules of decorum but you guys don't even maintain them you're rude you're disrespectful and I've spent the last month listening to more parents than most of you have this needs to stop Mr butter your time is up Tiffany fullwood okay Leslie Posey foreign are you coming I'm sorry good evening I am Tiffany fullwood chair of

134the social emotional health and learning Committee of the New Hanover County Special Education PTA our committee drafted the following statement which was adopted unanimously by the SEPTA board of directors on September 21st 2022. New Hanover County Special Education parent teacher Association believes that schools must do everything possible to ensure all children can develop learn and participate in instructional programs that promote high levels of academic achievement and social emotional development to accomplish that schools must make every effort to structure safe environments and provide a behavioral framework incorporating the use of behavior intervention strategies based in Neuroscience social emotional learning compassion and respect that apply to all children all staff in all places in the school as such New Hanover County SEPTA supports prohibiting and preventing seclusion mechanical restraint chemical restraint and dangerous restraints that restrict breathing

135in New Hanover County SEPTA supports reducing and preventing the need for the use of physical restraint in schools every effort should be made to prevent the need for the use of physical restraint and any behavior intervention must be consistent with every child's basic human rights to be treated with dignity and to be free from abuse physical restraints should never be used except in situation where child's Behavior poses imminent danger of physical of serious physical harm to self or others immediately following the first use of physical restraint the school team must develop a plan that appropriately meets the students needs applies appropriate interventions and thereby eliminates the further use of physical restraint thank you thank you Leslie Posey good evening I would like to clear up what I perceived as some misunderstanding at last month's town

136hall meeting Christina Mercier spoke about the fact that there are certain expectations being communicated between central office administration and the schools after she spoke several board members responded with stories about how often they visit the schools and how welcome they feel that was not the point and I would like to clarify in the past year Mrs Mercier and I have heard from teachers at a number of schools that after the monthly administrators meeting their principals told them in faculty meetings that teachers and staff are not allowed to attend or speak at the Board of Education meetings without approval from their principal many were told there would be repercussions from a sometimes unnamed level teachers are being directly threatened if they speak about local educational concerns in public this is coming from senior Administration via their

137principles verbally so there is no paper trail I urge you to consider if an atmosphere of retaliation not to mention removal of First Amendment rights is how our schools should be run thank you Miss Posey Denise janone good evening I am Denise younon president of the New Hanover County Special Education PTA the only SEPTA in North Carolina I want to thank you on behalf of our staff debt and especially our student advisory committee for passing student voice into policy this is a wonderful achievement our student advisory committee is currently made up of six remarkable New Hanover County School students in grades five six seven and eight some of the advisory committee members attended the student voice Roundtable in June the experience affected them profoundly all the students have been focusing on student voice for months

138if we stop and think for a moment student voice is the opposite of seclusion and restraint student voice respects our students and honors their Humanity student voice creates a space for respectful collaboration and problem solving student voice cherishes the human rights and mental health of our students seclusion and restraint destroy our students the statement I'm about to read was drafted by the New Hanover County SEPTA student advisory committee and adopted unanimously by our board of directors this is drafted by the students New Hanover County SEPTA supports New Hanover County student voice and believes in New Hanover County School students if students are not able to share what the problems are then most problems will never be solved students can come up with their own solutions to solve their problems with the support of adult allies

139it is important for students to have a voice in school district policies because everything that happens in schools affects students the most New Hanover County SEPTA supports the New Hanover County Schools student voice policy as it was developed by our students through feedback with New Hanover County School Board committee and as it reflects the original needs and intentions of the students thank you again thank you for passing that policy Christina hers here good evening each month as I sit here or watch online it is my hope that I will see and hear evidence that you are knowledgeable about not just some schools students and employees but all of them within the past few months I've heard the international school at Gregory referred to as Gregory School of Science math and Technology I've heard a board

140member be surprised at how overcrowded the high schools are and I've heard Mary Mosley compared to JC Rowe when in reality the suspension program left Mosley in 2016. I have said this before and I will say it again in order to effectively represent all of New Hanover County Schools you must be in the schools you must visit them and interact seeing statistics on spreadsheets and making decisions based only on that is an injustice to those you serve behind each number is a human what does an overcrowded High School look like maybe you should go at class change or lunch time and see how the staff and students make it work does paperwork say an average class size at a school is 24 that sounds wonderful Until you realize that the number comes from ulcer certified

141people in the building whether they have classes or not I know many of my middle school language arts classes had 35 or more students in them I never had a class that was close to 24. what schools don't have nurses or a library the only way you know this is to visit all schools regularly and while you're there it is imperative you speak with the teachers and staff many employees are still reluctant to attend board meetings in person due to pushback from their principles who are getting pushback from their superiors that means that it may take time to build a relationship with the employees much in the same way we expect teachers to build relationships with their students but once you do these teachers and support staff can provide valuable insight into what the school

142students or staff need most and if in your mind you're thinking about schools you don't want to visit because you're scared of the location or the student body maybe you should ask yourself why then you expect others to go there every day and teach and learn that however is a discussion for Another Day represent all schools and all students with Fidelity thank you Angie painting the victims of sexual assault and their attorneys have spent the last two days in court fighting your attorneys who purposely intend to impede Justice the latest New Hanover County School attorney Steve Rawson paid for by our tax money ask the court first day order pending the outcome of a three-judge panel in the question of whether or not to dismiss 10 of the 14 victims of Michael Kelly who we

143already know by his own admission is guilty this would potentially delay this case further for another two to four years dragging these victims through the courts something that is ill-advised by a highly qualified forensic psychologist who has submitted testimony that this would have a devastating impact on the victims to continue these delay tactics it is unconstitutional under judicial economy which only allows the court to delay action when all other attempts of appeal have been exhausted which is not the case Michael Kelly was convicted of 59 felony counts of sexual abuse of students at Laney High School in Isaac bear on June 25th 2019. there have been more than 50 depositions over 70 thousand pages of legal documents 60 to 80 80 he Witnesses and interviews one of which we've lost to suicide and others who

144are at risk of being lost Decades of abuse four and a half years of broken promises multiple Predators victims hearings corrupt accomplices no accountability to move forward in these Court proceedings a resolution on the facial challenges not needed because whether 14 victims are allowed or four the facts still remain in this case nothing is contingent on this three-judge panel ruling and the victims are asking simply to proceed so they can move on with their lives to quote the plaintiff's council Justice delayed is Justice denied it is past time for this school board to cease denying the victims of these heinous crimes Justice some who protect pedophiles over children are still employed by this District stop obstructing justice and give these survivors the closure they deserve and if this board doesn't care enough to make those

145choices in closed session then perhaps the voices of the community behind me can join mine thank you Miss keaney Emily pigeon [Applause] good evening my name is Emily pridgeon I'm a career development coordinator at Ashley High School I sent an email to this board on September 16th about what is happening with our health science programs and specifically our nursing fundamentals teachers I appreciate Mr McManus and Miss Justice responding and adding it to your agenda tonight our county is losing our health science teachers specifically our RN nursing fundamentals teachers because they have been mandated to train students at novon Health instead of their Community long-term care facilities recommended by ncdpi these programs are some of the most successful in our County and nothing was broken with them over summer you lost an RN at Hoggard who

146was replaced by a non-rn teacher at the beginning of the year the Laney teacher resigned and has not been replaced and there is no interest in her position then on September 14th Miss Gambino at Ashley High School retired resigned after being told she'd be written up for insubordination and on an action plan towards termination for not attending trading at Novant we have one applicant and she is not qualified to teach nursing fundamentals I just returned from a conference where I heard over and over again how Irreplaceable our teachers are especially in CTE right now so why are these teachers being pushed out the rest of the teachers will leave if this mandate or policy remains in place you will lose your health science programs I already cannot promise students a program next semester I'm asking

147this board to value our teachers as the educational experts these plans and trainings have been developed without the consultation of the teachers including the frequently asked questions that was provided to you this evening teachers asked for a nurse refresher course and more in-depth training than six hours of on-site training your own Insurance Specialist recommended against this training at Novant Health the one meeting teachers were given with senior leadership they were basically told this is what you will do partnering with Novant Health can be accomplished and your time is up in so many other ways thank you Shields Buck O's Shields foreign Shields I'm a lifelong resident in New Hanover County I've been involved with down at the County schools for 70 years I was a county commissioner from 1974 through 86 so I helped finance

148a lot of the things that got done in New Hanover County I'm here today with an intense interest in the Title IX recommendations that have been presented to you and I would like to request that a written copy of that and what the specific recommendations are for the high schools especially at Harvard that's the one I'm primarily concerned about uh be provided to me uh I'm aware of how Title IX works my wife and I from March of 89 through 95 Battle of North Carolina High School Athletic Association to get past pitch softball in North Carolina it took serious six years to do that but the United States Department of Agriculture of Education office of Civil Rights was a great assist I've prepared notebooks that I presented to the chairman I think she's passed them

149out uh in regard to these facilities at Harvard that were anticipated being built in 1999 I know that's 23 years but you're inheriting some of the things that didn't get done it should have been done but weren't done so I'm going to ask you to review those documents you will not understand them you can read them but there's only three people in the position to know about what I have presented to you Mr Eddie Anderson Mr Ronald Sparks and myself so what I'm asking is that you prepare a committee or somebody that we can sit down and talk about these things before the uh you take any accidents on thank you thank you Mr O's Shields um April Farr hello I'm April Farr I'm one of the officers of the New Hanover County Democratic Party

150I'm speaking today to urge you to revise the 22-23 school calendar back to what the calendar committee wanted before the process was interfered with by the superintendent the superintendent's revised counter causes many issues which are a detriment to our students they need the first semester to end in December which doesn't require significant adjustments twenty percent of our Traditional High School students take AP courses in the second semester ending the semester in December adds 13 instructional days for those taking AP courses for obvious reasons relating to exam performance and mental health EOC exams should not be after the holiday break overlapping cfcc classes in January along with the exams at the end of semester causes undue stress and inevitably interferes with exam performance they can't be in two places at once this is one of many

151examples of the superintendent's decisions and interferences resulting in bad implications for our students in this case by disregarding the overwhelming recommendations of the calendar committee made up of principals students teachers and staff and given the last two days of court I want to thank Judy Justice for being the only one of the original Seven board members to support investigations into child sexual abuse in New Hanover County Schools if we had heated we wouldn't be in court now thank you for upsetting people with the truth and taking abuse for it we see you and we support you again [Music] good evening my name is Margaret Gambino I am one of the three registered nurses that has recently resigned I have been training nurse aides for 20 years at Ashley High School and prior to that I

152trained nurse aides at Cape Fear Community College in addition I've also served as the New Hanover County nurse aide program coordinator for the last 20 years during my tenure at Ashley I launched the nurse aid program in 2003. and I have successfully run that program for 20 years I'm here tonight to bring your attention to concerns I have regarding the Novant Health mou for health science as an expert in the field of Nurse Aid education I am concerned why I was not consulted regarding this decision do any of you know what it is like to bring a teenager into a clinical setting there is no long-term care unit at Novant Health any beds that the hospital May deem long-term care is a nursing home resident in need of acute Medical Care when we questioned our

153licensed and liability we were literally told we all have a license to lose that was by a CTE administrator how many more nurses are going to leave this County because of this new policy I'm the Third more are going to follow me I can promise you that we still have not received any information or update on liability insurance as promised thank you Miss Gambino [Applause] Madam chair I just would like to yield back my time to Donna gargan she's going to get to go um at the end we're going to add her back in okay all right but thank you yeah well thank you I'll just like to say that I was going to say something else tonight but I'm not based on what's going on here tonight and I think that you guys should

154spend more time working together to get things done especially the ones that are up for re-election there's a lot of upset people here and a lot of the problems that are being presented tonight can be solved within about 20 30 minutes of just talking to each other I mean if you guys can't problem solve in 20 or 30 minutes but student voices can then there's a bigger problem I wish that you guys could just learn how to talk to each other communicate effectively use the people I mean Mr McManus you said that education is a business and if this was a business I would be afraid to invest in it I wouldn't I mean transportation is an issue food at JC Rosen issue seclusion and restraints and issue academic achievement's an issue four high schools

155are in trouble and people are just not happy and I don't think necessarily they're not happy with the schools they're just not happy how you guys are dysfunctional you know it's it's very toxic staff is leaving and they're not leaving like you know one about they're leaving people want to be here but they're not feeling wanted so I just urge you guys to work together because education is elevation and every child needs that that's the product we're trying to turn out an educated child thank you thank you Mr Marty first I'd like to say Miss Gambino and Miss Pridgen are prime examples of why call to audience should have went before discussions like the Nova mou imagine how different y'all's discussion would have been tonight if you got to hear from those ladies before y'all

156had that discussion with no bonds secondly Judy I appreciate you trying to tackle the issue that occurred a dangerous presidents did get a set at this last meeting we had someone reprimand a teacher while she sat in the audience you even called her out by name the problem is when you knew you didn't have the votes you should have swiveled you should have turned this into a policy violation discussion because instead you forced Every Other Board member here to decide between kicking the chair and doing this instead of focusing on the problem okay it's just one of those things um of course my phone locked bad timing right uh let's see here teacher was reprimanded for the actions without due process she didn't have the ability to defend herself if she would have tried to

157speak up you would have had her rejected just like you've had other people rejected okay same thing with the rules of decorum simple basic rules of decorum when she called for a point of order you should have yielded the floor you yielded it Nelson Bollier tonight so obviously you understand it you did that you didn't do it for him you've got to be equal no bias this is why you should have been removed as chair and speaking of you Mr Bollier last Town Hall you stated I brought up the fact that you were contacted by Lynn Schumacher about the investigation the sexual assault cover-up right I I brought it up and said you did not go to law enforcement when did you go to them a month days weeks the thing is you didn't do

158your job you went to who the superintendent the deputy superintendent the people implicated in the sexual assault cover-up that's who you went to and you wonder why we keep laying this at your feet I'm sick and tired of having these conversations with you you yet again didn't stick up for her for the point of order you yet again didn't even go on the record today stating that what she did is wrong you could have voted no to removing the chair and still stuck up for the teachers oh I'm sorry Donna sorry thank you for coming back thank you October is dyslexia and ADHD awareness month did you know these learning differences make up 80 of our exceptional children population this is the same population often underserved but corrected for Behavioral issues this is the same

159marginalized population that is being secluded this is the same population where IEPs are violated this is the same group of Learners that need specialized tools so they can succeed when will the board take a hard look at the data and vote to end seclusion and restraint putting a child with attention issues in a padded room is not the solution the lack of urgency and best practices are so concerning as a parent and a Community member I have asked before and I'll ask again that you approve teachers to take the specialized training such as Orton Gillingham during their work day my non-profit is paying for these trainings but many teachers that are willing to take the 30-hour training can't fit it in their schedule without these teachers taking that training we're furthering the Gap dyslexia can

160be remediated and I'm requesting the further partnership to put the solution in place I want to empower this board to make these decisions you can decide tonight to further the education of our teachers and to end seclusion and restraint thank you so much thank you thank you okay that does end our call to the audience thank you all for coming and voicing your concerns next up is closed session and we will enter I need a motion to enter into closed session pursuant to um the statutes that cover Personnel matters and confidentiality um around family education rights is there's emotion is there a second favorite say aye aye thank you yes because Juliet foreign [Music] Society um foreign [Music] foreign [Applause] foreign questions foreign interesting foreign [Music] okay all right teacher tonight yes [Music] thank you

161so much information [Music] foreign um [Music] thank you tonight yes hydration foreign anything tonight exactly foreign information amazing okay foreign promise thank you foreign oh thank you it is foreign in Spanish foreign Solutions [Music] thank you foreign [Music] foreign [Music] thank you sure foreign December yeah thank you foreign that's right a little bit foreign this is going on this is foreign what's up work s foreign is it is foreign questions in between foreign thank you please thank you foreign [Music] foreign amazing yes thank you foreign good Ness yes foreign thank you foreign so thank you foreign is foreign very much because foreign Jesus education foreign thank you so foreign opportunity belongings [Music] okay thank you foreign thank you foreign Facebook not right now foreign I don't know thank you very much years notifications is thank

162you if you just showed me here thank you very much that's it learning community [Music] anything else everybody foreign I can do this thank you um [Music] foreign they're still there okay foreign expressing after fun foreign problems doesn't matter personally foreign thank you so much foreign aerospace engineers again foreign connections from my life oh yeah foreign thank you foreign thank you very much questions boxes [Music] okay this is what we need more more of this oh thank you I know it's October especially at this time hopefully there it is yes ma'am I'm sorry what I do that's wrong I already am according to newspaper we have what 138 more minutes yeah I know I don't know I don't know if anybody else is going to do it but I think he's going to make a

163motion I'm going to Second it to go home is it at like 10 30. I mean let's let's go I mean right now why are we not going right now I don't think we have to talk anymore [Music] device driver somebody where is she making plans she's missing the party that was interesting all night long all night report s foreign here we go maybe not she turned back I had her I went in there and I got her going in the right direction general direction oh she's gonna go ahead and talk to them for a bit what's next what time is it oh it's only 9 30. that's our next well and he's sick you're an adult too I know I'm not I mean what's what's wrong let's try to get this let's get a

164good chunk of it let's get a quick superintendence report click forward chair support she you left this do you want this yeah no I did not folks thank you for being patient with us as we work through a couple issues this evening so next on our agenda is let me find um is the um superintendent's report so Dr Faust you're the superintendent in case you didn't know I'd like to start by acknowledging and thanking our business partners in the community who have donated more than sixty thousand dollars to our school system since August 1st of this year um these generous donations include twenty five thousand dollars from Carolina beach Jersey Mike's to Carolina Beach Elementary 20 000 from Dick's Sporting Goods to Holly Shelter Middle School for athletics and fifteen thousand dollars from Publix tools

165first back to school initiative from Community donations other notable contributions include Books-A-Million donation of 16 boxes of brand new books to the New Hanover County Council of ptas various school supply drives from communities and schools navigate reality Wild Wing Cafe School of rocks and Theta chai fraternity and Wilmington Rotary Club donations of Staples gift cards to all of our first year beginning teachers and finally of course Hendrick Toyota who is an addition to their generous contributions to our Teacher of the Year celebrations gifted our NCAA teacher or beginning teacher with 250 dollar gift card earlier this week um we are incredibly grateful for our Community Partners and 100 of the donations directly support our schools and staff I'm pleased to announce that Ashley High School earned its level one status in the National Federation of

166State High School honor roll program for the 22-23 school year the national Federation of high school is a body that writes the rules of competition for most high school sports and activities in the United States this achievement is a testament to Ashley High School's incredible staff dedication to professional development speaking of incredible staff October is National principal's month and I want to take a moment to thank and acknowledge all our all of our principles and more specifically the 45 principles as many of us know principles are often among the hardest working yet least recognize individuals in education set the academic tone and culture for their schools through their vision and determination they create a learning environment that Fosters Student Success I'm thankful for such a strong team and look forward to seeing what they achieved

167this year in their schools thank you concludes thank you Dr Faust so um next on our agenda is let's see let's talk is um this board chair report so I can't believe I missed principal awareness months because I got a bunch of months to be aware of right now um so first of all yesterday was National custodian day and I must give a huge shout out to all of our districts custodial staff you are the quiet Heroes of our school and Facilities you're everybody's friend you're the glue that holds us together and definitely you clean and you clear the pathway to learning so thank you thank you um and I'm gonna just bump up something from correspondence I did want to just read this little note from the family of Robert Wayne Chavis one of

168our custodial staff who recently passed away unexpectedly and they just wanted to thank us for our thoughtfulness in remembering him and their family in their time of Sorrow so um Chavis family we love you we are in the middle of national Hispanic Heritage Month which runs from September 15th to October 15th a lot of good activities have been going on throughout our district and our community and I commend New Hanover County schools for being right in the middle of all of those next week is national school lunch week October the 10th through the 14th I would encourage everybody to go eat lunch with your child and buy a lunch and support our Child Nutrition department October is also National dyslexia Awareness Month ADHD awareness month and disability employment awareness month if you feel like your

169child has special learning needs please contact your school's principal for more information on services that might be available to your child October is also bullying awareness month and again please reach out to your child's principal and or school counselor and or teacher to report bullying to that your child may be experiencing several members of our board and the school system along with City and County elected officials and the community celebrated Constitution Day on Saturday September 17th by attending the ceremony performances and activities on the Riverwalk it was a great event very moving very stirring Castle Hayne I would have the opportunity to participate with Dr Faust and his team at Castle Haynes Elementary School growth award they went from not having met growth to exceeded growth in a time that it was really hard to

170be doing that and so with a generous donation from Publix they were we were celebrated them with the appropriate cake and icing but also too I wanted to leave a note with that is after the meeting some of the teachers had their students there and I had the opportunity to try try my best at finding out about their learning Target goals for the day and so I was able to ask three different children what not how was your day but what did you learn today and I'm gonna tell you what you knew kindergarten man was on it with his foundations o r c cat you know cat octopus you know so he was all on that his sister was not to be outdone she was all about math and fractions and she didn't need to

171have all this um review that was being done for her assessment because she was on it and the third child knew it was his turn and he went running down the hall but um it's working so thank you to our staffs and our principals for um getting on board with the learning Target goals um New Hanover County I just want to let folks know New Hanover County Schools receives many requests to advertise programs contests and other opportunities for our students our policy 5210 distribution of school materials outlines how they can get information into the hands of our students so please reach out to Caleb price in our Communications Department at communications Outreach department for more information on how to advertise your events I'm honored to report that I again have been asked to co-present with

172Specialists from the NC court at the ncsba law Conference next week on the school Justice Partnership New Hanover counties is considered a leader in this collaborative Community effort work to keep our students out of the courtroom and in the classrooms and New Hanover County Schools is committed to doing its part of the solution to do what's right and what is best for our students so um yay us um I wanted to remind us that election season is in full swing all candidates and staff are reminded to adhere to board policy 5215 political campaigning on school property and board policy 7720 employee political activities um as well as other state laws and finally last but not least I'd like to welcome Jason Weber who's sitting over here to my right red tie the he is our

173board's new legal counsel from Farrington Smith Jason specializes in education law and has served as an associate Council and interim general counsel at the North Carolina State Board of Education um prior to attending Wake Forest School of Law the he was a fifth grade teacher in Henderson and department chair in Henderson County so I feel like we are in good hands so welcome Jason the um that completes my report next on our agenda is the consensus items and so do I hear a motion to approve the consensus items um Walker and then Boyer the um the um any discussion on any of those all in favor say aye aye any post okay that one passes flying on through now we are in policy consensus and so um I just wanted to you know again call

174the attention that we are doing policy one I mean consensus one on regular contracts and um programming and things that we do in the school and we are going to put policy that all of our amended policies into policy consensus so Mr Boyer can I turn it over to you yes thank you madam chair uh the policy sorry the following minor amendments from the North Carolina School Board Association for existing New Hanover County Schools policies are listed there for approval they go from 1200 down to 9220 of course not every single policy is in there but they cover a wide variety and in addition the following substance changes from North Carolina School boards Association to addition to existing New Hanover County Schools policies are also listed for approval also for amendment is policy 21 20

175code of ethics for school board members which was discussed in the 19 9 13 22 policy committee meeting to include substantive changes from the New Hanover County School boards Association and to add a new paragraph C employment of board member upon expiration of term my request Madam chair um yes so um yes Miss Woodbourne I would like to pull 2120 for further discussion please all right let me just get there hold on 2120 okay is there anybody else that we need to pull something Miss Walker I would like to pull 23 30. 22 30 23 30. the board agenda yes ma'am okay 2410 which is policy development adoption review and 3300 which is school calendar and time for learning okay so um we will pull out those four do I have a motion to approve

176the policy consensus without those four in consideration so moved okay is there a second second okay any discussion all in favor say aye aye aye um any post okay so um let's just go Um one by one so Mr wildebear um 2120 that is board ethics yes uh and the section added is employment of Board of Education uh board members upon exploration of term uh I don't really think as I mentioned at the policy meeting I voted against this policy if you move forward at that point I don't think there's any uh need for that I think that we are in a an area that we need to be able to hire the best people available and I totally trust our HR department to do that so I don't think that there's any need for

177us to block board members if after they uh they're off off the board from them being rehired if so needed by the school system so you are opposed to the the amendment that a six-month waiting period um yeah the whole section should be strong okay um Mr Boyer so with regards to section c I have a number of thoughts first um you know for months and months and months and months and years on the board uh one thing I've heard consistently from our community is a desire for increased transparency I think that in order to you know breach the community where they are little steps are needed baby steps are needed this would be another baby step a six-month period where if you come off a board from our school system you can't immediately go

178into a central office or administrative position I think that is eminently reasonable the county has something similar with regards to going to the endowment both the Trump and Obama administrations and the Biden administration had lobbying policies that were very similar to what I'm discussing I don't think we want a board member to get on the board of a new company or take a position in a new company and to have new Andover County Schools suddenly enter into a new contract that would create a conflict of interest a six-month period is required for retirement um so to be honest you know Mr Voldemort I'm not really comfortable with a six-month period I was pushing for a two-year period but uh baby steps as I said I think this is a reasonable policy that ensures transparency and

179ethics for our board okay um also to Nelson did you bring your um cleanup table or do you want me to use mine so um with this policy was also up for a minute from the ncsba um and it said we needed to add I see the we needed to add a subsection in b14 to reference new Provisions in policy 2120 that we just that we just approved stating that a board member will not influence any Personnel matter pertaining to the board's spouse's employment with the school system and that should be added to the policy only if we adopted 2121 which we did so this has not this has nothing to do with our Amendment but I just wanted everyone to hear what the ncsba was also recommending that we add and we did put

180that in so Ms Justice okay I'm not even sure where do you watching transparency uh we don't know what's been happening about preventing somebody from taking a position here in the district if somebody's qualified after they have sent on four months for six years I really am not you know I'm not sure where this came from I've heard some odd rumors but I really think that it it's not necessary um why I mean this is hard to get on the board working for office and snowflake being on the board is a lot of work a lot of stress it's a lot different from working as a profession outside of an important situation anyway so somebody leaves the board and maybe and I've forgiven believe that I have no desire to get a job anywhere not

181supposedly but if somebody else leaves the board and they're still young and they're a professional educator and if anything they've learned an awful lot of knowledge word you know we might decide one or two months down a lot of things hey wait this person be great and we couldn't hire and we talk to it you know this is this is a small City and very you know in many ways I explained this part of every country even though other parts of North Carolina is hugely populated uh you know you might find that somebody lives in the next town somebody lives in this County and they'd be the only person qualified who couldn't hire them because they've worked on the board I've not work been a board member I I just personally I'm very confused about

182why this is either being added um as I said I've heard rumors that some of the rumors are outrageously silly but I I know I'm having no desire I don't think of my husband but we can't tell what's going to happen in the future and why limits our opportunities to get big employees and believe me if you've been on this board for four years it's done a great job of learning things you never thought you were okay Miss Walker I too have heard rumors to why this was added this was not recommended by the School Board Association I believe this is a maybe one particular Boardman that wanted to add this um it also talks about um what is this we're not entering a new contract with an organization to former has personal financial I

183just don't understand if you're off the board you're off the board I don't know there's any particular advantage to not hiring somebody so I'm just going to just Mr Boyer so um you know as you say that this is a small account and I understand that but how many times have we sat here and heard people come up here and talk about the good old boy Network and now we're saying well boy if we know a guy who is sitting here with us a few months ago let's just hire that guy and it creates that continued appearance of a good old boy system six months buys us distance and room and assures the public that we've done our due diligence and that the appearance of corruption is completely removed so and by the way it

184says in here that is this was my recommendation this is something I've been passionate about for a long time okay so the um I just wanted to add in that um we can't say if you're if you're not if you're young enough because that would be violating all kinds of personnel rules so we're not going to even entertain that comment um the the second thing is um this does not apply to anybody being on a board outside of our board it is only leaving our board and going into our school system um Miss Adams I think sort of in the same vein what Mr bullier said I feel it would be unethical we have access to information as board members that the general public does not and I think that this could be viewed if

185you took and I and I am a business owner I don't think anybody on this board would be really happy if I am leaving this board in December how would you feel if I was hired a month later to come in and provide services and that that's the thought process and so I I I don't think I don't in my my opinion I don't feel it's ethical for board members to have the opportunity to come in and work within the system and I actually would have been more comfortable with with a longer a longer um period of time but you know if six months is six months um I'm comfortable with it okay um well we have Mr World aboard Miss Justice and then we'll go I'd like to go ahead and call the question

186be all right all right so um the question is are we passing yes or no yes for policy I don't believe an emotion was was somebody has to make them yeah there's no so I think the motion you would make Mr World of War would be to strike uh uh section c and adopt the policy uh all of section c that was added in red I'll say again thank you okay wait a minute and that that that's not b14 okay so I'll only section c yeah okay so the motion is eliminate session section c in red um all additions in red okay um section c red okay um okay so okay thank you Pete Walker okay huh oh um all right let me pull it back up and do you have it pulled up yes

187all right would you read it the Board of Education recognizes that election of the board is a service and that the office should never be seen as a tool or mechanism for personal gain therefore it will be the policy of the Board of Education to refuse the consideration of former board members for employment in any administrative position for a period of six months after the expiration of a board member's term furthermore New Hanover County Schools will not enter into any new contract with any organization to which a former board member has a personal financial or professional interest for a period of six months from the date of separation of said member okay Miss Billy will you please call the roll really driving a bus no only administrative positions administrative thank you Mr McManus with Miss

188Walker he's called sorry um yes there was um the um Pete and Walker I'm sorry I'm sorry I can't hear Jason yes sir to strike that section the section he just read motion passenger fails the board would still need to vote on the policy either as amended or um or depending on the outcome yes okay not a problem all right so uh Miss Billy will you please call the roll Miss Justice Mr McManus yes Miss Walker yes Miss crabill no Miss Adams no Mr wildebear absolutely is that a yes and Mr Boyer no so how did I get three to three oh four to three yes four to three to strike okay move to adopt the policy as amended pardon me move to adopt the policy is amended second as amended without the strikes I

189mean we just amended it okay okay what has amended with the with the ones from the ncsba okay Miss Billy will you please call the roll Miss Justice yes Mr McManus yes Miss Walker yes Miss craville yes Miss Adams aye Mr wildeborg aye and Mr bullier no okay so that um passes six to one um okay the um all right so next one that we got asked to pull is 23 30. Miss Walker or a meeting agenda it's for board meeting agenda um I had a question we adopted this policy Amendment ages ago in blue as Part B I'm going to say if you flip it we last adopted it in September 2021 right it's in blue text and I believe the wording is not correct on it it reads here in blue underlined and

190the item will be added to an agenda within the next two regular meetings I think what the wording was the next the next two board meetings because if you specify regular meetings you're looking at you know a couple months yep we're looking at one month two months this is what um this is what when I went back and listened this is what we said well uh if that is true and I have not confirmed that um the intention was to do it the next two meetings I mean that could be a month or two but it could be an interim as well so I think that was the meaning behind it so and it should have been changed ages ago and I know it wasn't it was not it I put it back in because

191we missed it when I was reviewing this I added that in okay to make sure that we because that was absent before well okay well since I'm not listened to it like you said I know the intention it was because I was the one that asked for the change was for it to be added within the next two next two board meetings so so are you asking to amend the amendment well as far as you were you said it wasn't even put in there so well I added it because we we did vote on it yeah right correct so and this is not this is not red like it normally is it's just blue because I don't know why it's just blue but these are all the blue means nothing as far as differentness well

192do you think it would be better in that case if you wanted to come if we want to confirm or do you want to go and just change it now because I'd rather the wording be what the intention was was to say the next two board meetings not regular meetings all right so you need to make a motion for that okay I would like to make a motion to amend that particular it looks like a change that is in blue they're all in blue yeah and the item will be added to an agenda within the next two board meetings not yeah okay Walker um Pete sorry any more discussion oh Judy yeah well I'm just confused because I thought that was already what was there and I'm not sure where did you just say that

193you accidentally put me gettings instead of next no I it didn't get updated it was it a steak either South Kim Joy or McKenna McCall so we're just correcting a mistake that's not supposed to be in here it says regular we we met we're not correcting a mistake I put in what we voted on and Miss Walker is disputing that and would like for it not to say regular meetings she wants it to say the next to me to strike the word regular is what I'm hearing is that correct yeah you put Lord instead of regular next to board meeting and I was actually under the impression that that's what we had done originally not too regularly but two board meetings yes okay so we just want to take out the word regular is everything

194else okay first of all I know for a fact that it was the next two regular meetings um perhaps you know it being 10 o'clock now it could have been 11 30 when we did it and maybe that's the reason for the confusion but I'm 100 sure yeah what I'm saying is that there's no reason it's it's already late enough there's no reason Madam chair Madam chair what I am saying is that if you continue to add things to every monthly meeting we have absolutely no flexibility we have even less than we have right now okay all right so um let's go ahead and vote on that the motion on the floor is to strike um to make that say strike regular and put board no isn't it the next two board meetings so it's

195strike out regular and then put in board um Miss Bowie will you please call the roll Miss Justice yes Mr McManus yes Miss craville no Miss Walker yes Miss Adams no Mr wildebear aye um and Mr Bowyer no okay so that passes four to three we will strike that out okay next up on the list was 24 10. do what . move to accept it okay all in favor say I am accepting this the wait we just voted on that we're accepting the policy we're checking changing out those words um okay right correctly it was to revise the policies so now there would need to be a motion to approve it as revised for for subsequent policies a member could certainly make a motion to approve with revisions which you could do in one Fell

196Swoop or you could do a piecemeal like this but with regards to this current policy because I thought the motion was accept the policy with these changes there needs to be a motion to approve it as supervised okay um give me a motion who to accept okay um all in favor say ah no let's not do that call the roll please Miss Justice all right Mr McManus yes Miss Walker yes no Miss Adams no Mr wildebear aye and Mr Bowyer no all right who'd I miss who said yes Judy Walker yes yes okay all right so four to three we passed the policy as amended okay next up is 2410 board development that was me right what do you want to do uh well I have a question about the paragraph on under part C

197revision or rescission of existing policy it says the board May revise or rescind an existing board policy only by majority vote if we're proposed to if a proposal to revise or a senate policy is included in the published meeting agenda the board may take action The Proposal could you tell me which letter you're reading please see it's on the back side okay um if however proposal to reviser Senate policies presented at the board meeting as an addendum to the published agenda the board will not take action on the proposal until the subsequent meeting I guess I just wanted to know why that was changed I know we we had a policy that there was a problem with that y'all didn't want to pass it no it was um came straight from the ncsba to revise

198language throughout for clarity okay this doesn't solve so this doesn't change the policy necessarily is it just rewording of the policy it's just rewarding of the policy to to let us know that we have to have board majority I guess the way it was written before that they didn't um they added the lines that were in there was the first line that they struck out and then the they added in all the rest of the words okay so this wording actually takes away our ability to pass any policy that is I'm just trying to understand what this is I mean if I don't rather pull this and just talk about it at the next meeting that's fine I feel like everybody is just not quite that metaphor hold on hold on Mr bully I'm gonna

199look at up for our policy discussion because I made notes so if I can just explain basically what it says here if a proposal or advisor or send a policy is included in our published meeting agenda the meeting agenda that we put out days before so the public can be prepared for the actions that we take the board may take action on the proposal at that board meeting we can revise the policy right there at the meeting we can change the policy right there at the meeting we can do everything that we've always done if we come to a meeting and somebody says hey let's just do this policy and we add it to the beginning if a proposal reviser or send a policy is presented at the board meeting as an addendum to the

200published agenda the board will not take action on the proposal until the next meeting so we can discuss it we can argue about it we can talk about it and then we can vote on it at the next meeting to give the public time to look at it and comment right so we can't add it and discuss it okay because typically first second read is like 30 days this is suggesting the next meeting right so if there was an interview this is not suggesting that this is we're sticking with the same timeline with regards to that what this is saying is that if we come up and add to it we add a new policy to the agenda that was not on the published agenda we can't do something to that policy at that agenda

201but I will remind the board that we are always at Liberty to waive policy correct so I apologize the reason I was just clarifying is because it says the next until a subsequent meeting so it could be the next interim meeting or it could be the next regulator I would I would read that as either one I also too want to point out in this in this policy this is for policy development adoption and review we do not have to have a first and second reading for policy amendments that um we can go through it in in policy and we can amend it and we can approve it at the next meeting our policy committee um and when I spoke with Colin at the time is that it is is best practice not to have

202a policy a policy committee and then have it on the agenda for the interim meeting because there wouldn't have been enough time for board comment and public comment so we do not have to have first and second reading for policies that are amended which right now after we do two policies in um old business we will have no new policies to go through we will have our new student voice we will have our superintendent and we will have the evaluation and we will have the Title IX definitions all those will be the last of our new policies so going forward we do not have to have first and second readings okay so is there a is there a motion to um adopt this policy with oh and here's what they yeah so that the the

203school board's policy just said that we are revising it um these are our suggestions for language clarity is there a motion to accept the policy moved as amended move second okay Nelson Adams all right um any discussion okay Miss Bowie will you call the roll please Ms Justice yes Mr McManus yes Miss Walker yes describe Bill yes Miss Adams aye Mr wildeborg aye and Mr bullier aye okay that passes um seven to zero okay so next up that Miss Walker um Wanted excuse me wanted to pull out was policy 3300 school calendar and time for instruction so let me just before you ask your questions I would love to read in to record what the school board said to us it says just includes minor changes to organizational and wording um that's all I know

204I did want to call your attention to in case anybody's interested when we're talking about hours of instruction that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance is considered instruction time so for that five minutes in your classroom that counts um if we're going to keep this policy as as it is all right so Miss Walker so I had questions and thank you for clarifying the wording but I feel like this there are big chunks I know since we're having calendar discussion um I feel like these are what you describe substantive changes um you had a whole list I think you guys had a whole list of things that were pretty much minor you know changes commas Etc this is in the second part of that list under consensus which is substantive which I think should not be

205lumped in with a consensus item on this particular paragraph uh talks about instructional day let me know the state of North Carolina that that school boards can can decide the instructional you know day um but I'm not sure who put the wording was this a School Board Association everything in red is them everything in here red and blue is them and the only thing I really wanted to call out to our attention is that um under school calendar um where it talks about the calendar committee will dread letter B that used to be letter c um that is where there is a direct conflict between policy 2230 and 3300 so that is what I wanted us to talk about Ms justice has a major problem with the calendar committee so I assumed that she'd want

206to talk about this oh I can say a lot too yeah you want me to talk now so um who wants to go first Miss Walker since you brought it up you want to start uh well now I'll let Michelle I'll yield to miss Justice okay I've been I'm not on the calendar committee when I first came on the board four years ago I didn't volunteer for that because I've been on many calendar committees calendar committees are working committees right now the last I asked for a list of who was on them the last one had like 23 people on it and half the time only half the people showed up this one's got now up to 43 that's not a working committee I don't know how it's morphed into this but I've never seen

207anything like it uh it's very specific in who they say is on it and it doesn't say 43 people it just says one person from here one person from there one part and it covers there's at least one well I said one at least is different than excuse me I'm wow um I what we need to do is we need to we need to be smart we need to have public input but we don't need to have calendars any kind of committee actually that can't serve its function because it's so huge and then what you happen is you have one person leading the whole pack because there's no real discussion that's going to be able to go on oh you break them up in the little areas and you give them goals but I mean

208that takes forever every calendar committee I've ever worked on has been very efficient they've wanted to work together and get it done fast they certainly but didn't want to have 43 people on it and even last time for 23 people and another thing is it says one person here one person there the calendar committee last year and this year's got over half a central off I mean half of them are central office of principles very few parents I think one parent last year one student I mean you got to have a representative Bunch but you don't have it stacked in one area you got to hear voices from everybody so um I think if we're going to have a calendar committee we need to stick to what we've got actually teacher or parent a student

209a principal from each um we need to stick to that I don't I don't understand why there's 43 people on the command committee right now except for somebody trying to trying to do something that's not efficient and good grief we're here right now this late at night I'm going to quit talking because we're taking everybody's time off these people over here they've been working all day I know you're exhausted Judy can you get to the point that's the point we don't you know if we're going to leave it to this and we need to stick to this we don't need to vary and go off into all kinds of strange Creations maybe we should put in here then no more than 20 people or 15. Miss Walker um so this this you're uh correct this

210kind of we have what 23 30 is the board committee policy I might be wrong with that 22 30. thank you very much um that addresses the calendar committee but this is meant to do what being more clarifying about who adopts the calendar or this this the I the the comments in blue here are um our are from the calendar committee that I put those in to match our calendar um to match our calendar committee I mean our board committee policy so the the ncsba says the calendar committee will draft school calendars for the ensuing school year to be presented for board approval the committee will be chaired by the superintendent or designee um and before it said it would be chaired by the board but um actually I don't even see that it just

211said they will be chaired by yeah a member of the board so it's chaired by the superintendent or designee and must include at least one board member a teacher a parent High School student I added in to get our student voice there and a principal from each of the school levels all calendars adopted by the board will be consistent with the requirements so so those are what the ncsba is um is requiring what we discussed at our calendar committee meeting was that do we want to not a counter committee I'm sorry our policy committee is do we want representative a teacher rep a parent rep a student rep a principal rep from all the different levels because one student an element a high school student can't possibly speak for an elementary school I got you

212Nelson I got you um can't possibly speak and so in order to make a robust informed decision was to have as much input as we could have Mr Boyer Madam chair in the interest of time I wish to know if board member Justice would like to motion that the calendar committee be limited to 20 people if that would be the change that she would like to make with the understanding she said 20. she said 20. board member Justice said 20. I know are you making a motion no I'm not making a motion I'm asking what Miss Justice would like us to change is that the emotion that she's making can I clarify what this is you you just said that the blue was added by you or you said I'm confused what's what is coming

213from the uh the the School Board Association what's coming from us all I did was I struck out the bore a mem a member of the board as the chair and put down that the superintendent or designee would be that the the leader and it says must include a senior leadership team member um which would be the superintendent or superintendent's designee I just moved the words around um and then I put at least one board member teacher parent why couldn't why couldn't it means we can add more so you decided to strike out a member of the board as chair yes because it did not match our our board policy of board committees so I one of them had to change so I picked one and I made the recommendation so this is what we're

214all here to decide do you want to who do you want to lead it and who do you what do you want our makeup to be that is the Crux of all of what we're discussing right now so our count so our actual policy about who can be a member and the role that they play in in committees says that we can't have a member of the board as a chair of a committee our policy 2230 which we are about to get to States clearly that the chair is the superintendent or designee the subject matter expert and the board is just on it because it is a advisory committee it is not a board committee an advisory committees do not have board members as chairs they only have subject matter experts and those are those

215people sitting over there those are the chairs um or people that they that they have reporting to them are the chairs of our advisory committees advisors so we make the vote so calendar is not a board committee calendar is an advisory committee so if we want to hold off on passing this one until we talk about 2230 and we just decide which direction we want to go then we'll know how to make adjustments so I'm maybe that's a good idea and we can discuss the next one or we can just pull it off all right so um the um is there a motion to do that to table the discussion I move the table the discussion until after the other one okay is there a second ah okay jjbw all right um Miss Billy will

216you please oh is there any more discussion all right uh Miss Billy will you please call the roll Mr Bowyer no Mr Voldemort is that no to table note a table okay Mr wildeborg hi Miss Adams aye Ms crabill aye Ms Walker yes Mr McManus see is that a yes he's tired I'm telling you okay um yes okay six to one all right so that one will be tabled all right so um that brings us to the end of all the ones that are done so that we have finished up policy consensus and policy amendments next on our agenda is the old business calendar committee report um Dr Faison would you please join us at the podium the calendar committee met on 9 28 the calendar committee voted to keep the current calendar the way

217it is okay hearing that is there a motion um to do anything with that recommendation move to adopt the committee's recommendation okay is there a second Okay so we've got Mr Nelson Mr Boyer and Mr McManus I like discussion I'm gonna get it okay the um let me get back up to my notes here all right so we have a motion on the table to accept the calendar committee's recommendation and there is a second um any discussion we're going to start off with Mr McManus would you like to go don't yeah start over there um does anybody over here have any discussions um thank you session over here that's over here go ahead I was going to say thank you well I'll make it a little simple we don't play well how many times I

218said that since the building board it's 10 20. so I don't think we did as good a job with the calendar committee the meetings the consistency of who attended the meetings who was on the meetings the numbers at the meetings I think we could do a better job with that that's why I recommended the last time to send it back to the calendar committee we can argue and go back to policy whatever to determine the number but right now we need to resolve we're in October and so I'll tell you how I feel I feel that I we've had so many divisions as this calendar has moved along right or wrong or indifferent this calendar committee made a decision they all agreed they wanted exhaled before first semester that I was there I am on

219this new committee that's why I wanted to be on it thank you put me on it because I wanted to hear what people said they were clear that they wanted exams for a semester and along with first semester however they also it appeared to me and who else saw it was there if they were adamant it was too late to change to principals high school principals that were there who obviously out of respect haven't been in that situation said they would like they agreed with this exams for a semester but it would just absolutely create so many issues so my opinion is I bow to the calendar committee and those who were there who said yes they wanted to change it next year and I would say while we're talking that the superintendent and whoever's

220in charge of the calendar committee that they need to start working not you need to start thinking about that next year you were there it's very clear what they think now we're voting on is about change or accept um Judy thank you this has been an awful mess and I said at that meeting when they caliber committee me it met this present one which has got 43 people on it and half of them are probably administrators um that we made a mistake and we did make a mistake there's no doubt about it and the mistake wasn't the original cattle committee from last year they wanted to end too this mistake was that central office decided to put pressure and changed it and had it end in January Judy we're talking about I'm talking now it's

221important now yes we are in October and that was caused by you whoever else he was working with we have got to take responsibility and things have started and teachers are are teaching and I happen to think if we stop right now and we kept they showed they could keep the work days they could keep all the training they could do everything that we wanted I really think we could still turn it around but we can't wait any longer we got to do it now because it's not fair to the teachers Elementary and Middle School are fine the holidays won't change this is the work days won't change and is appalling to me that people aren't taking responsibility for this mistake and I will and I know that the teachers 8 000 students are affected

222by this I don't know what the heck's going to happen when Kate fear and everything collides in January do you think that's right it can be fixed it can be fixed wait excuse me UNCW the collisions there the problems with ap the kids that are going to be going to have the effects from what goes on over Christmas break when they have to come back and probably review for two weeks this was done for the wrong reasons and it wasn't done by the original calendar committee and we're stuck with it because we were sort of LED astray well I have somebody that was led astray I'm coming back in line to do the right thing by our kids so I think that we should do the right thing for a change and and think of

223the kids we got 8 000 kids negatively affected by that and those two principles I think that they were being pressured from the whole environment from what they were going through because you could see the looks on faces in fact I know one of those principles wanted the original calendar and she's not happy none of us are Miss Walker I know it's late uh I understand nobody wants to sit here and talk and talk and talk this calendar discussion has been we've been trying to have this before school started and I I knew it was important based on the feedback we were getting from the community and especially the high school kids that were going to have the biggest issue with it and these problems still have not been solved um we were presented and

224I brought a calendar because I didn't think we could have a calendar committee discussion without looking at Alternatives I didn't think we were there just to vote on you know and I did it I did a count on the numbers and they were it was a very lopsided committee and I feel like people that were there were there to vote with how the district wanted to vote they was one student two parents I don't think it was enough people to really get a good grasp and you know it wasn't it was 17 to 10 but it could have been a lot closer if it hadn't been such a lopsided committee and I really wanted to talk about solutions to of the problems and even if we vote tonight to not change it um it's still

225going to leave problems for our students and nobody is suggesting any solutions to these problems in this calendar right here that I had brought as an example was worked on very hard to solve the problems keeping the holidays the same the letters training the same I'm hearing from people that it can be done and I'm actually getting a community communication from people about asking us why don't we like kids I don't I don't know you know why our high school kids you know I've heard the discussion of equity it's well taken at the same time you know they're the ones that are having to deal with the effects of what we did and I just think we have an opportunity to change it and we should change it Miss Adams did you have a comment

226I just think it's 10 25 and I'd like to call the question on this one okay Ms Billy will you please call the roll the motion on the table is to accept the calendar committee's recommendation to keep the calendar the same for school year 22-23 okay go ahead Mr Bowyer aye Mr World of War Miss Adams aye Ms crabill aye Miss Walker no Mr McManus yes and Miss Justice no okay that passes five to two okay on our agenda Madam chair Mr McManus I would like to just I don't know where this is going to fit in but the High School principles must coordinate with those dual enrolled students bring that to the calendar committee you're on it you're on but I want to say it I want everybody to hear that is a must

227that we work with those students and that includes affecting attendance I'm sure Mr McManus we do have to move on okay all right so um your opinion is important and they've they're waiting they're waiting for you um all right so um we it is 10 25 and we um okay uh I will I'd like to make motion we voted immediately to adjourn what's left we put in the next meeting so everybody can go home this time okay so the motion is to um adjourn the meeting and carry over all the items to the interim meeting is that your motion um Mr um Mr Weber can we do that is that an appropriate motion I mean talk us through like all the ramifications so we don't have to vote five times okay so sticking right in

228there motion the motion is to adjourn and I'm sorry are you seeking guidance on whether the motion is in order yes I'm seeking guidance on if the motion to adjourn is in order and if we have to add any more words to it no so so a motion to adjourn um ends the meeting it's it's a privileged motion takes privilege over other matters even if there are matters pending before the um body on the agenda don't be attached to the next meeting did you you could certainly do that in your motion or it could just be a simple motion so do you want to make your motion to move it all to the intro meeting or what do you want to make a motion to a discussion okay to whatever meeting your emotions to adjourn

229and so can we just and your emotion is the second time so so emotions so motion to adjourn ends the meeting and the meeting if there are any items remaining on the agenda those can be taken up as a subsequent at a subsequent meeting that just automatically follows suit with an adjournment right all right so miss Justice do you have a comment yes I would like to amend a discussion go ahead well actually I'd like to amend the the motion and add one item there's been a young lady that's been sitting here for the whole meeting that was going to do correspondence for me if she did not leave did she there she is yay she just wanted to talk briefly and we'd spoke about this uh this is correspondence I received and she was

230going to adjust her name is uh Gina worth and she Jennifer Judy Judy I already spoke to her her part the announcements have to come to the board chair and I already addressed hers and I spoke with her people at her office wait a sec wait is look she came out she's been waiting for it the motion is the motion to adjourn the motion to adjourn is on the table how about amending it's not subject to debate or Amendment in a second one miss Billy will you please call the roll no Judy because you're you're breaking the rules oh yeah you do it all the time go ahead Mr Bowyer Please Mr Bowyer yes no she's been sitting there for six hours and she's being uh yes uh Miss okay so Mr Bowyer yes Mr

231World War aye Miss Adams aye Ms crabill aye Miss Walker yes Mr McManus and Miss Justice no okay meeting is adjourned earlier your Spaniel I don't mind leaving but I just wanted her to speak for three minutes thank you I think it was when time good to me please I'm not happy because that young lady sitting here all night I don't blame you for being mad you can spend three minutes worth of salt foreign [Music] was that worth it I think some people saw some truth they didn't want to see doesn't mean it means anything they saw it foreign around Kelly um [Music] thank you [Music] before I'm sorry thank you right now foreign please okay foreign thank you foreign um um you can whatever you I think we're done you know what put those

232into archives um in case we have to pull them out and at some future date okay yourself yeah and I think everything in there maybe save like one copy thank you folks ingredients