001foreign Our Father we thank you for the day that you sent our way and the many blessings there and we pray that as we go through this meeting you will give us wisdom that you would help us to make the correct decision for this year blessings on our students our staff and everyone involved amen amen to the flag join me salute the flag and join me we say the Pledge of this pledge allegiance to the flag of the States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all foreign I will entertain a motion to go into closed session he's gonna be old thank you I moved to Johnston County Board of Education convening closed sessions and to consider a confidential Personnel matters is
002comprised confidential student matters is provided in peace .11 A1 and NC gs115 C s402 in the family educational rights and Privacy Act 20 USC 1232 G to discuss the material terms regarding the acquisition of real property in ncgs 143-318 with the Board of Education attorney to preserve the attorney command privilege as provided in ncgs 143-318.1184 . I have a motion do I have a second second okay promotion and second any discussion all those in favor of going into closed session would you indicate by saying aye join seven vote all right we're now in close we've already had our invocation and our Pledge of Allegiance first order of business would be to approval of the minutes board members we are looking at the minutes of the December 13 2022 regular session to have to have a
003motion to approve ment second Mr Johnson II by Mr Wooten all those in favor say aye aye also also to approve the board events from our special board training work session that we had on January 4th 2023 so I have a motion to accept those minutes thank you second by Mr Johnson and all those in favor in the case of saying aye and then we have a approval of one closed session minutes this would be for December the 13th 20 . I'm sure when I make a motion that we approve to December 13th closed session minute or with the correction that the chief we have is the 10th but this will be changed so he's number 13 correction of the date correction of the day so I have a motion do I have a second
004second uh all those in favor say aye do we have any uh movement to um the adjustments to the agenda are there any adjustments to the agenda that you would like to bring forward Mr Johnson no adjustments no adjustments thank you updates for the for the Committees for our standing committee Mike Donna sorry sorry um give an update for our from our chairs of our committees um I am excited to um work with the Committees to establish the Committees I do want to indicate that we are establishing a new committee the legislative committee and this committee will help to network with our elected officials to stay abreast of current legislative issues not only in the North Carolina but even with the federal government and I hope this committee will be able to network with other
005board of education members throughout our area and and and board work in order to inform help us to be better informed in the situations in which we will impact our decisions and so miss dance I would ask that from now forward that you would add the legislative committee as a standing committee and on that committee I have um I have asked Terry Tippett Michelle Antoine and myself will serve on that committee the finance committee um on that committee would be Mr Wooten Mr Tippett and Mr Donovan and Mr do you have anything any report I have no updates for finance most of our committees have not met yet so we we don't have reports for you the legal committee will be made up of Kate Carroll Terry Tippett and Kevin Donovan um Mr Carroll do
006you have any update from the legal committee I do we have received uh December 31st was the closing date for our uh I guess rfps for Legal Services we have received five applications the legal committee has scheduled a meeting January the 18th at 9 00 a.m here at the school board office and it is a open meeting and Miss dance I guess we need to make sure it is announced properly so um Terry Tippett Kevin Donovan and I'll be meeting to go through these and to determine how we want to move forward with what applications the next committee will be the policy committee Mr Tippett Mr Johnson and myself and Mr Tippett you have anything to say um yeah real real quick uh okay if we can uh if we can make sure we make
007those uh applicants available to anybody else on the board who wants to see them before that meeting we absolutely well I thought what I really thought we would do is maybe go through them as a committee because they're they're probably some that you know that would eliminate themselves by their application and just people but but yeah we can do it that's no problem yeah that's that's fine I just want to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to see what's be a part of the process and see what's going on with that and what I thought if is once we when went down to who we really want to interview then we'd share that with everybody so and and as far as the policy committee we have our first meeting on Thursday and and that's
008an open meeting all of our committee meets everybody means uh the bond committee um which will be up and rolling here soon uh Mr Carroll Mr Johnson and then I have one position to be announced yeah no no report um I do want to indicate that you know committee assignments is my responsibility I have assigned myself to two committees and I'm just trying to get us started these committees are subject to change the membership of these committees but we will always notify the public but we're excited about what the work of the Committees do the board votes on everything the Committees would just simply be the ones who receive information and discern information and report back to the board so we're excited about that so with no other information with that I will turn it
009over to Caitlyn for special recognitions Mr Tippett memes Cornetto I'm excited to be back with you this month for our special recognitions but first let me share with our families this is your so if you're just feel free to move behind our board to take photos this is your boardroom to move around we do not want to inhibit you from getting a great picture so make yourself at home with us today okay um now um the first thing we have is our special recognitions for our character education students and each month the Johnston County Board of Education recognizes students who have exemplified good character in their school and will recognize each student and have them come around and shake hands with our board after the fact please have all of our students who are being
010recognized for character education come forward at this time and you can just stand on either side of me foreign I love it when you guys take me seriously and move all around do it y'all keep smiling because you see how many cameras that is it's like it's quite a few not some proud mamas and daddies I like it the first student we're going to recognize is Scarlett otera from Archer Lodge Middle where she's an eighth grade student in Miss Jenny I'm Sorry Miss Melissa Hubbard is principal so Scarlet's Spirit of compassion and kindness is vividly seen in her relationship with teachers and students she has consistently been a student that embodies the positive spirit that makes teaching such a pleasure Scarlett makes it a point to greet the teacher and her peers with a friendly
011smile and a hello every day she works well with anyone and she is friendly and readily takes on a leadership role when working on group activities Scarlett genuinely enjoys the camaraderie of working with peers in the school community her compassion isn't evidence through her involvement in various school activities and how she goes above and beyond to think of others Scarlett is devoted to making our school and Community a better place and she brings Joy to the classroom every day congratulations Scarlett congratulations [Applause] next is Miss Ashlyn Perry a senior at Corinth Holders High School where Miss Sarah Reynolds is principal Ashland is being recognized for demonstrating respect Ashland is an active member of the circle of friends club and she signed up to be a student ta for the life schools classroom in her open
012block she is always willing to jump in and assist these teachers or students whenever and wherever she can Ashland is also duly enrolled with a firefighter program through JCC in Clayton High School she currently works with the Zebulon Zebulon fire department she looks forward to helping others during times of Crisis and serving our community As A Firefighter and nurse after her graduation Ashland treats every individual teacher and administrator with the utmost respect she always has a big smile on her face and greets everyone she sees without a doubt Ashland Perry shows respect along with compassion and dependability and all that she does congratulations Ashlyn [Applause] and next is Mr Macon Mitchell a second grade student at Corinth Holders Elementary where Mr chadman lamb is principal Macon is being recognized for demonstrating courage from birth macon's
013Journey has been anything but typical he's faced multiple scary health conditions in his eight short years of life but he still finds good things about even the scariest of situations Macon learned early on that he has to be brave he also knows that bravery isn't about not being scared but by facing difficult situations head on with courage Macon also has this heart that wants to serve other kids like him he started a non-profit making Smiles in order to purchase stuffed animals with comforting and encouraging sayings to donate to the local children's hospital for kids like him to have and hold during surgeries clinic visits and procedures this year Macon collected almost 400 stuffed animals and will be and has delivered or will be delivering those to Duke children's hospital and our team is looking forward
014to getting to know him a little bit better I am a 101.5 listener so I heard making story whenever they were doing the um Duke's children thought yes I heard him and his mom on the radio I was like I know this this student so I'm very excited to get to know him a little bit more and we're going to cover him all on our own because he's been on 101.5 and all kinds of stuff so congrats [Applause] next is Holden blinka a fifth grade student at Riverdale Elementary where Miss Jenny dirko is principal Holden is being recognized for demonstrating Integrity it is obvious that Holden has strong morals and values when interacting with teachers and classmates from asking to help clean the classroom offering to assist others with challenging assignments working well with group
015members refraining from gossiping honoring a friend's trust we're showing respect to others and following through with commitments and keeping promises Holden is honest in all things there is no doubt that Holden would do the right thing even behind closed doors he is an exceptional role model he stays true to himself keeps his word and does good when he can his word and actions reflect his strong moral principles Holden blinker is deserving of this special recognition for his outstanding character congratulations Holden congratulations and last but certainly not least is Mr Nolan Yates a fifth grade student at Thanksgiving Elementary where Mr Chad Jewett is principal Nolan is being recognized for demonstrating respect Mr Jewett said that Nolan exemplifies respect in all of his relationships within the school environment he is always seeking ways to help his
016teacher and fellow classmates any way that he can his classmates have shared that he is a great teammate when they have collaborative assignments they've shared that he is a great listener and respects and values their opinions and perspectives Nolan is always excited to be at school and is eager to do his best each day in doing so he shows how much he respects his own education and all of the hard work that his teachers put into the lessons and activities that they plan Nola does an amazing role model for the rest of the students of Thanksgiving Elementary and what respect looks like throughout the school board School building and throughout the school day congratulations Nolan thank you all right [Applause] and you can follow right behind me you got it Mr Brian patrana with our
017employees of the month assistant good afternoon everyone if you recall from our last board meeting we had one of our December employees of the month who could not be with us and uh you were gracious enough to allow her to come in today so we're going to have three um employees who are recognizing and we did not plan it but I want to go ahead and share with you that each of our employees all three of them work within the exceptional children's classes that we have so um that's just neat and I wanted to just share that with you up front all of our employees are special and important to us but I truly appreciate those who have a call in to go and work in in classrooms such as those first I'd like to
018invite next to me and what I'd like to do board members is recognize all three and then allow them to come around and greet you but first our December classified Employee of the Month who was unable to be with us miss Danita Aguilera she is an exceptional children's ta at Riverwood Elementary School and she goes above and beyond in her role she is a tremendous asset to our school system and to the school and these are things your principal said about you she serves diligently in the EC classroom and works diligently to meet the varying academic and functional needs in the classroom her students absolutely adore her and will do whatever she asks them to do Johnston County Public Schools is so fortunate that she is going back to school to become a teacher because
019she will be an excellent one so congratulations [Applause] next I'd like to invite Miss Sonya Sanchez she is an EC ta instructional assistant in our school system at Swift Creek Middle School and the person who nominated you actually have two I'm going to read a few of the comments that they shared they said Sonya is a gem and she goes above and beyond to meet the needs of the students she works with despite any obstacles presented on any given day Sonia's patience and advocacy for students is exceptional when given support from service providers Sonja always ensures the delivery recommendations and best practices for her students she's a great listener innovator and collaborator with a whatever it takes attitude to gain success she is also a bright light for her fellow colleagues and administration she is
020willing to help and do whatever is needed to best meet the needs of the students and for the school as a whole Miss Sanchez thank you so much and congratulations on being our classified employee of the month for this month last but not least Talisha Parker Polenta Elementary School you also have multiple individuals to nominate you this is Miss Parker's second year teaching in the exceptional children's classroom at Polenta Elementary School no matter how overwhelming a day may be Miss Parker is always smiling in fact I think you were smiling even out in the hallway before you came in here so that is true her calming patience is felt with her students and fellow staff members who come into her room one is put at ease walking into her classroom because it is safe nurturing
021and an educational environment Miss Parker is always willing to help and listen to ideas to help make her students build on their success she makes such a difference in the lives of children and there was lots more but as I shared with you all out front I try to convince this but Miss Parker congratulations on being our certified employee of the month thank you for all you do as well members thank you congratulations thank you okay thanks for all you do thank you they had representatives from their school here as well principals assistant principals so thank them for coming and supporting them as well thank you we will move on with advisory appointments Mr Donovan since I'm the only board member that has advisory I'm just going to go ahead and make a motion to
022approve the advisory Council recommendation from South Smithfield Elementary for Brian Jones for a three-year term for appointment I'll take that as a motion I need a second that motion any discussion all those in favor please indicate by saying aye i-7-0 thank you at this time we will move into going to go ahead and go to 10 okay Dr Bracy thank you madam chair Madam chair members of the board at this time I asked that the board approved consent items numbers one through five this is an action item I'll entertain a motion okay Mr Johnson made the motion I need a second a second okay second by Mr Wooten all those in favor indicate by saying aye uh any opposed okay carries 7-0 I don't know Dr King do we have time to do your part
023okay we'll we'll start if we get to six o'clock we're going to stop and do the public comment just for the sake of the people who've been waiting foreign good evening Madam chair board members we have two items for you tonight our first item is uh the new restart reform model application process this evening we are going to have our executive director of school Improvement and support Dr Tamara Thomas come forward and share this item with the board this is uh an action item too much that's all right great evening Madam chair Vice chair all of our board members it's my first time behind this board so welcome and um looking forward to sharing with you the new restart before model applications in the few moments that we have let me see where we are
024all right so let me give you just a little context to help you understand the restart piece itself right some of you may be familiar some of you not so familiar and that's okay the restart model a restart model school is one of four reform models that are available to recurring low performing schools under that General statute number I won't read it all to you but for a restart it's a traditional school that operates with charter-like flexibilities all right so we've got charter schools that has same exemptions from statutes and rules as a charter school authorized under that General statute number and some of those flexibilities include say budget flexibility employment requirement flexibility and I'll talk more about that a little bit later but those are some of the flexibilities that they operate with still
025a Traditional School within your Traditional School District okay so there's some goals for a school using this model and those would include using the charter like flexibility to address some barriers to school Improvement we have five low performing schools one of those five is already operating with restart flexibilities and has been doing that for several years as a restart school so that would be West Smithfield Elementary School but then there are four others one doesn't meet the eligibility and I'll talk about it in a minute but the other three do so you also want as a goal to reform the school and develop a sustainable progress that will ultimately remove them from being recurring low performing and we did successfully do that with several of of our schools because out of the six current restart
026reform schools in our district five of them are no longer designated low performing and I would be remiss if I stood here and said it was only because of the restart reform model that's not it it's a it's It's a combination of efforts and practices that we put in place and this model actually helps them get another Edge as well you want to use the restart model as a tool to provide Equitable access to a meaningful sound basic education for every student so eligibility you have to be designated as a recurring low performing School according to the accountability definition and recurring low performing school is identified as low performing in any two of the last three years so what that means is when we think about um say Virtual Academy wouldn't meet that because it
027had to be two out of the last three years all right just to clarify what that looks like so for consideration we're really only looking at three schools and that would be Triple S South Smithfield Elementary and of course our West Clayton Elementary School so the definition of flexibility is the ability to operate with an exemption from a specific statute and Rule as a charter school here you'll see the current restart schools listed across the top and the the restart flexibilities that they're currently have approval to use but doesn't mean that they're actually using it so what that means is you want to be able to have the flexibility available when you need to use it it may not be that they need to use a flexibility this particular year but they might need it
028in a subsequent year and that's how these schools have operated so you'll notice where it says 2022 they actually use that particular flexibility during that year but if the year is not listed they didn't use it in 2022 they might have used it in a year prior or will use it in the future okay flexibility is always align with the school's continuous Improvement goals enabling the school to meet or exceed set goals with the least amount of constraints possible so when we think about a school for example um Cooper Cooper Academy is a restart school right they're no longer designated low performing and one of the flexibilities that they use was that budget flexibility to hire Target tutors I just want you to hear the example right and they hired those Target tutors specifically to
029meet the needs of students in their low performing subgroups now they had several subgroups listed under their subgroup performance goal when they hired those Target tutors at the end of the year they had evidence of success and I'll read that into your hearing really quickly just this particular example a 16.5 percentage Point increase for the black student subgroup which was an area of focus a 25.7 percentage Point increase for economically disadvantaged students and a 41.9 percentage Point increase for students identifying as a multi-racial and that was just a highlight using their budget flexibility to hire Target tutors because the funding was there for them to do that with that flexibility otherwise they wouldn't normally have had that okay so I've listed here the goals that triple S so Smithville Selma High School Smith South Smithfield
030and uh West Clayton currently have again I won't read through those but all of the schools in our district are required to have at least three goals and that would be overall achievement subgroup performance and social emotional learning now South Smithfield Elementary has an additional goal and you do have that option and that goal is for classroom management they look at the current performance at of the school the data across every single area you could think of not just academic and then determine what do we need to do to meet the needs of our children in these areas so these are the goals that they've designed based on these goals we went ahead and determined well what types of flexibilities might we want to exercise if we're given that approval to operate with those flexibilities
031and so here we've listed there's some restart flexibilities for West's Clayton Elementary and for South Smithfield I merge them just because they were so similar so they're each asking for Budget flexibility and then we've listed the the sub header which would be for stipends or for professional development for additional staff Flexible Staffing new instructional programs instructional resources and then some of the strategies that they're planning to use here also they're looking at the employment requirement which would be to hire say non-certified staff and here's what's interesting with that one and I'll give you an example it's so hard to fill vacancies sometimes right we know this this has been our reality but there's this example I shared earlier if your case six certified right and you have you need to have um you have a
032vacancy at the elementary school level but there's someone with a seventh grade it's a secondary licensure in math think about this that elementary school that has that vacancy say around fifth grade or fourth grade and wants to fill it they can fill it right away with that person who has that seventh grade that secondary license if they have that flexibility and that's what we're looking to do we want to make sure we're moving every single Challenge and get we can possibly remove so that we can improve outcomes for our babies in these three schools does it yeah right I know we can say Amen to that together all right let me continue the last thing we have here will be for Smithfield Selma so what I want to share is they're options one to do
033Fast Track or to do an implementation planning year South Smithfield and West Smithfield I'm not South Smithfield excuse me in West Clayton are looking at doing that fast track which means that they would start implementing this fall if they're approved by you and then approved by the state board right and they've already started aligning all of their strategies to the gold goals that I've listed in here for this school year because you want everything to align and make sense by the time we kick in next year Triple S on the other hand is going to do a planning year which will give them all of next year to plan and deter determine exactly how they want to utilize their strategies their flexibilities to meet these strategies and improve outcomes for their children so they're not
034required by the state board to have all of their flexibilities and older strategies in place right now but we went ahead and said hey no let's really think about this and get some of them in place what I enjoyed was in speaking with a principal Allen he shared one hurdle that they're having that he really liked to eliminate is let's align our calendar better with the Community College and then we can offer more opportunities to our babies right that makes sense so of course they'd have time to Iron that out because there's some things that that might impact across the district but that's why they have that planning year and they don't have to do it right away so before I move to that screen which is simply the the um moving for Action to
035approve the application if there are any questions I'd love to take those now foreign I have one okay uh I notice in uh West Smithfield and South Smithfield the employment requirements uh it looks like they're they're going to um utilize this funding which I think is wonderful for national board certification AIG it says licensed staff course working exam fees I think that's wonderful I do notice in Smithfield Selma that it says pay for coursework and exam fees for practice so would that be for residency teachers or or I may be asking a question you can't answer right now if that's okay it might be too early okay well I'm just the idea there is if you have a residency teacher that we're helping them with their fees for practice because they're quite extensive and it
036looks like they're going to do the uh we're trying to help them with further certification or even initial certifications to remove that barrier right and DPI is fine with all of that I'm sure oh yes okay when you talk about moving a teacher who's certified and secondary to Elementary is there a is there a requirement from DPI do you have to go through DPI so when the school is under the review they can just do it okay I just didn't know whether you had to get a waiver or something as long as our board is in the agreement that they should have that employment requirement flexibility they're good too you've answered my questions thank you I have one quick question when I was at North Johnston Middle School and we did the restart program I
037can't remember but is there a certain percentage of non-certified versus certified is that still in effect that's correct so you cannot have um 50 or more of your staff must be fully certified and that would basically mirror your Charter like flexibility Madam chair and I make a motion that we approved the applications for the restart reform model for Triple S South Smithfield Elementary West Clayton Elementary a second okay I have a motion for Mr Carroll II for Mr Tippett any discussion if not all those in favor indicate by saying aye we have 7-0 thank you thank you I think we will break now and go to public comment I know there's one more item Dr King but we'll come back to that if that's okay before we begin public comment let me read the statement
038the statement we do have five speakers signed up for public comments citizens who have signed up to be recognized to address the board during the public comment session will be recognized in the order in which they signed up each speaker will have three minutes to present comments to the board however the public comment session will not exceed 60 minutes total except by a majority vote of the board the board suggests that specific Personnel or student matters be addressed to the school principal the Johnston County Public School System official responsible for the program or facility or to the superintendent citizens who address the board shall not use language that is obscene profane threatening contains fighting or inflammatory words or otherwise is disruptive to the orderly conduct of the business of this board any person who willfully
039interrupts disrupts or disturbs an official meeting and who upon being directed to leave the meeting by the presiding officer willfully refuses to leave the meeting may be found guilty of a class II misdemeanor pursuant to North Carolina General statute 143-318.17 with that being said our first public comment is from Melanie Autry I welcome you I gave you a copy in case I don't finish reading it Madam chairman Dr Bracey and members of the board I'm Melanie Autry and it's really nice to be back in front of you again thank you for the opportunity to speak to you tonight I'm here to address several issues that the classified employees of our County are having first I want to start with transportation there are several issues zul employees are overworked and instead of this year being better
040than last it's worse I was made aware today that you received several emails that I didn't realize that you were making in that school also made the notice that they would be looking at a walkout which is hurting our kids and we can't afford that um and I would not condone that at this time the hours are long and some of our classified employees are working 12-hour days they're getting up and driving three routes in the morning going to their classroom and driving three routes in the afternoon and that's just a lot because by the time they get home obviously they're exhausted their family is hurting in this their kids are missing activities because of this and it's just unfair and I realize the shortage is there but we've got to do something um 12
041hours is just too long six hours on a bus a day whether it's three in the morning and three in the afternoon you've got that break it's killing us and you're spending more time on the bus then you're spinning in the classroom and that's what you were hired for so our students are truly truly being neglected losing classroom time is really bad um some employees are not given a choice of the long hours some are some aren't but some are coerced voluntold however you want to put it that they have to drive more than what their assigned route is and you know they're being nice and helping their fellows members out but it's not fair um the other thing that we I want to look at and it is not in here because it was
042just brought up to my attention after I got here today that some of the buses are overloaded and there's more kids than the capacity can handle when it's unsafe to travel that way and the other thing is the new system that was put into effect for sign in and log out is not working properly a lot properly a lot of the time and so drivers are having to sit for 10 minutes before they can log in which means they have to go back and call their coordinator and have their coordinator fix their time and that's not good as far as the perfect attendance bonus is the classified as a whole not just the eyes feel that there's some unfairness there our drivers get a um our drivers only get a monthly stopping for perfect attendance
043and safety our regular employees only get half of that amount yearly so I realize that dual employees get overtime and it adds to more than drivers make however dual employees that would make the 1750 would make more overtime and I know I'm doing that's okay thank you Miss Andrews y'all have a good night to go to you but we uh we take this underground thank you our next public comment is Christine Livingston hello Happy New Year hope everybody as well it's good to see you all um first I just want to give a shout out to Kevin Donovan and Dr Pierce for you helping with what I'm about to speak on today so I appreciate both of you for all the work that you did with us I'm here today to ask this board to
044consider Town Hall meetings public comments for a maximum of three minutes with no response loud is not enough for voices to be heard you the board represent all the people of this County not just those that fit within your purview the best Town Hall meetings engage Inspire and rally people to support the goals Town Hall meetings represent one of the best ways to bring everyone together to share information and build relationships a town hall meeting is the perfect way to bring people together talk about what's important and get feedback on what's working and what could be better this is a time to discuss important topics and engage and build relationships with the people I believe there is a great opportunity to start Town Hall meetings here between Johnston County Board of Education members County Administration
045parents students and constituents this would be a great opportunity to get a handle on what is really going on in our schools three new members to the board and now a new chair and vice chair in this 2023 year the topic of bullying and hazing needs to be talked about and need Solutions this needs to be addressed the current Solutions in place are not working and seems nothing much has changed since when I pulled my own son out of West Johnston High School almost 11 years ago for just the same the beliefs The Bullying policies in place need to be looked at and talked about and revamped if we do not do something now to make a change this change will be made for us all later when it is too late so please be
046proactive and not reactive use the high schools as the location so that every area is able to partake gather the comments and concerns families will have the time and the space to voice their concerns have a Roundtable group of volunteers to work with the board to create a better and safer environment for all our children use the experience of others to make this safer environment I use the experience of others to make this County School System the safest in the state and in the USA School Safety and Security also falls within this scope we need to make sure that our sros and the schools are actually certified and trained we need to have metal detectors in all our schools and we need to have canine sweeping the lockers we need to have training and active
047shooter in our schools with staff students and parents be the change you want to see in the world thank you thank you so much our next speaker is Ben Chapman hello I did not send my speech I actually changed it a little bit so I can send that after this but my name is Ben Chapman and I'm here today to discuss policy under consideration I'm here for young johnstonians who are part of the lgbtq plus community I'm here because until very recently explicit protections for them were absent from County policy uh we asked the board to restore these protections and they acted quickly to do so I was prepared to speak about how this change is important because it ensures equal protections are explicit policy that it's necessary because we receive funds from FNS but
048most importantly in acting to make this change you can make a positive statement that LGBT youth currently enrolled in Johnson County Schools will appreciate data tells us with about 12 000 youth enrolled in high schools in Johnson County about one thousand will self-identify as LGBT so that's who I'm here for that's why I'm here and that's why you should pass policy 6220 as amended I was standing in line at Food Lion recently when I saw the person in front of me had Love Is Love on their sweater and I commended her on it she told me that she wore it to support her daughter who would come out to her abashedly she said that she hadn't always supported her daughter but in that well-worn sweater I saw the love of a mother and it was
049beautiful I want to strongly encourage the board to pass this policy as amended because fundamentally this is about non-discrimination policy but this is also about love the love of parents who don't want their children treated differently just because of who they are since I have a little bit of extra time at the end here I'd like to take a minute and give the board and listen to audience a little bit of homework I'm passionate about non-discrimination advocacy and I would like for you all to look up what the crown Act is and educate yourselves About Hair discrimination and protected hairstyles these race-based inclusive non-discrimination protections are relatively new but the policies are already in place in Wake County and many other communities in North Carolina without controversy I'm 100 convinced that we can come together
050on this so thank you for your time thank you for your comment our next speaker is Alan Hall all right I came here this evening to ask the school board who I am supposed to go to for assistance when the school board member assigned to my children's School called me a pedophile and a groomer they threatened to call the police on me outside of a church because I asked them about something they'd post it on Twitter and how they Define normal Daryl Mitchell and this person publicly ridiculed me they had removed by the police for attending a Republican party meeting and I am a registered Republican this board member and their spouse have wasted my money and the taxpayer money by summoned me to criminal point of order astronomy and Criminal Court he can speak
051about intimidate board members family members are off of limits on a difference of opinion chair conversations two of my children are soon I have continuously supported public education and the components which put JCPS on track to becoming the best in the state at the same time just personally constantly comments on their desire to eliminate public education the false public Claim about me could harm my children and their future within the public school system you all swore to help support and provide students with a fair safe and valuable education support for all students is a complex challenge for one of you so that you have the nerve to spread harmful defamation about me I find it highly inappropriate that his Boardman would take private action against citizens that will compromise the Board of Education and the
052administration it does not seem like the most significant concern is all public school students educational and emotional welfare they are more concerned with fear-mongering about robot I do not trust this individual to make the right choices for all students especially my own sadly I know my family is not the only people this person is bullied and victimized we'll scoop down something we're going around that time some things this person says on social media are offensive and deplorable such as Lincoln cell social emotional learning to satanism members and allies of the lgbti plus Community to pedophilia and referring to gay people was nothing more than a social movement tonight a public request at this board work with their legal team to analyze the current code of ethics to investigate as board members receive any regulations our
053general statutes are broken or violated with our public displayed for the gay community in their blatant hatred of public education also request that public apology for myself and those that they have attacked if there is no resolution or an explanation for this misconduct and defamation I would offend my children and my character with legal action the people of Johnson County don't deserve to be negatively affected by Michelle Antoine and her repulsive beliefs thank you Mr Hall Madam chair I'm going to ask going forward if we have public speakers that come in and speak about spouses or families that you please shut the comment down I agree uh next speaker is Erica Hall debrisi chairman in and all the board members so on December 13th 2022 I recalled an individual who made a public comment focusing
054on the liabilities of Johnson County's Board of Education so I fully understand that the people of Johnson County voted for our new members and with a lot of assistance from local political action committees as is there right this board member has proven incapable and likely will not follow policy 1010 section 9 and policy 2120 found under board member ethical requirements number three but here are certain examples of the past that might happen in the future on October 12 2021 this board member targeted attacked an entire School innovation academy claiming there was social justice depravity sexualized education and woke agendas being taught by staff there is no proof of this claim this is a liability on May 23rd 2022 this board member publicly stated that queer Theory ends in pedophilia this is a liability on June
0553rd 2022 this board member publicly defamed and targeted a parent and local business owner that has children attending Johnson County Public Schools they publicly announced that he was a pedophile and a groomer all because he supports a foreign gbtqi plus students and their families this is a liability there has been a consistent Target to conflate transgender students to autistic students with no viable proof this is a liability on October 18 2022 this board member claimed that another candidate who is a parent and that has children JCPS who is running for a seat wanted pornographic materials and her school system yet again with no proof this is a liability last Friday this board member gossiped about our newly elected chairwoman Lenny Andrews on their advocacy page which has many constituents blocked from from Fair access to
056this information that's a liability I just I gotta ask like what does JCPS intend to do with these incidents what did we do with the continuous liabilities that are around this horseshoe I mean we have one member sitting here who is specifically assigned to my child's schools if I were to have any issue God forbid in the in the future how can I depend on this board member to assist me if she publicly called my husband the father of my children a pedophile and a groomer so this disgusting accusation that was made is an entire liability to my life my livelihood and my children three soon to be three children in the public school system I have nothing left to say it's disgusting it's you should be ashamed of yourself and um I really hope
057that you do not try to ruin other people's lives including other school children by calling their parents a pedophile publicly on social media you should be ashamed of yourself Michelle thank you thank you miss all that concludes our public comments Dr King I believe you have one more order of business thank you madam chair Madam chair this evening the CIA Department uh would like to ask the board to approve a contract pending the board attorney's approval approval relative to the provision of uh capturing kids Hearts training for schools in our district JCPS was recently awarded funding through the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Center for safer schools and the NCD HHS and those spending deadlines deadlines are fastly approaching the CIA Department specifically our department of student services has determined and it would like
058to plan training around capturing kids Hearts using those funds we will be using up to 285 thousand dollars of funding through that grant funding to provide this training as of right now we have three schools that are lined up to participate in the training with the possibility of adding up to an additional seven schools for capturing kids Hearts training this evening if board members have any answers our executive director of student services Dr Amanda Allen is available but we would ask the board for approval to spend this grant for funds in these particular ways any questions to Dr King or Dr Allen from the board any questions all right okay I don't um let me do the motion yeah why don't we do that and then we're just getting ready to say let's do that
059first okay I make a motion that the uh that we approve the contract for capturing kids heart for the amount not to exceed 285 thousand dollars okay I have a motion from Mr Carroll to have a second something uh Mr Wooten Ty rock paper scissors whatever okay Mr Wooten second okay now any discussion and this was first brought to us it was described as transformational SEL um I see that the definition you've kind of changed a little bit but you said a transformational process focused on social emotional learning would you say that's an accurate statement describing this program I would yes okay so when I when we talk about social emotional learning the basis typically comes back to Castle which is kind of runs the wheel of all the social emotional learning well I would
060say the castle wheel is one structure that people who work in the realm of social emotional learning um use it is not the only structure it is one of one of those structures though um point taken um so when I go to definitions though I'm going to go to the leading kind of maker of social emotional structure which is Castle would you agree that they are kind of the largest purveyor of social emotional learning structure no I wouldn't not necessarily I think again they are uh uh it is that is a model that is used by folks who work in that realm there are all there are many many folks who work in that room there are folks who work around the notion of social emotional learning that have no relationship or uh connection to
061Castle again it is a model uh one that is often used but it is not one that is um I would not characterize it uh as the leading um area I don't think there is one I think there are very many of them different organizations agencies uh use different approaches and think differently about how to move forward uh in that direction okay so when we're looking for terms we're looking to Define terms what is your preferred um you know where are we going to go look to Define what transformational SEL would be then what is well SEL is social emotional learning and transformational would certainly be a descriptor uh that would one would not Define transformational social emotional learning social emotional learning is social emotional learning the notion of it being transformational is the idea
062that if one uses social emotional learning it can be transformational for lives so it is not a matter of a definition that is a descriptor of an approach that one might use if you actually go to the castle website there's an entire two-page document that breaks down the definition of transformational SEL it breaks down the components which include academic content that integrates issues of race class culture enhancing foregrounding social and emotional competencies need for civic engagement and social change such as reflecting on personal and social identities examining Prejudice and biases interrogating social norms disrupting and resisting inequities and co-constructing Equitable and just Solutions so those are the type of definitions that I found when I looked at it after I first saw the thing which I believe might have some conflict with some of our
063policy when we look at policy 7305 there may be some conflicting problems when we're talking about transforming scl which is why I'm trying to just get Bear Down on exactly what you're talking about when you say that when I say transformative SEL what's the definition again I would not Define transformative SEL I would Define SEL and again say transformative is a descriptor of the outcome that this particular group was and again this is what Castle is suggesting we're not here to advocate for or vouch for castle castle is an organization that does work we are not here to vouch for their work okay so that so the answer is my first question so you're saying that it's just about transforming what's happening inside the school using the social emotional learning and it doesn't have any
064of the elements that you would find in some of these definitions from different structures like Castle which no no ma'am that's not that's not what I said I said I would not Define transformational SEL I said I would Define SEL and again transformational is a descriptor of what these folks are suggesting would happen in a school as a result of using SEL I would not I would not try to Define transformational SEL point being that you're not using the definition that castle has for transformative SEL when you describe this program is that correct I'm not using anything that Kessel offers in fact I you know I'll be honest with you I haven't even looked at the castle website in a couple of years frankly so I my second question then thank you for the answers
065my second question is the efficacy of this programming the most recent large cohort study that I could find was released in May of 2022 it was a black a block grant by the doj it was executed by West Ed which is a well-known educational survey you know certainly we partner with them right now that's right and they found that this particular programming by flip flipping out of Texas that it based that it being here's here is the the end results of their of their study being a student in a capturing kids Heart School decreases the rate of tardies by 0.89 and referrals by 0.27 however students in a capturing kids Heart School have a rate of 1.09 times greater for absence 1.12 times greater for unexcused absence 1.14 times greater for excused absence and 1.27
066times greater for out of school suspensions based on what students perceptions capturing kid Hearts did not enhance relationships and bonds between among students and teachers increases institutional in students social competencies or reduce aggression or violence for the archivial record measures the evidence was mixed regarding student attendance and discipline outcomes and although there were consistently no impacts although there were no consistent impacts of capturing kids hearts on both Ela and math test scores so they saw no better performance and it looks like overall that there was actually more issues in that study and and again so we we don't offer capturing kids Hearts as an instructional model we have instructional models this is a social emotional learning model again as we shared before uh the focus here is on creating schools where students feel safe and
067comfortable we certainly recognize and certainly without having the opportunity to review that study I would certainly not uh wish to debate that with you but again we don't offer uh capturing kids Hearts as a model that will improve math in ela we're doing that with the models that we've put in place to do that work right we were shown we were giving charts that that showed that there was an increase in Selma elementary school so the idea was that there was an increase in math and English scores but when you look at overall data we're finding that they aren't increased when you look at the actual study and well I would argue that that study again was as if I'm not mistaken it was a medic a meta study which means they look at a
068number of places I'm not responsible for the instructional programs and all of those places again the schools that we operate we offer programming specifically focused on improving instruction and Performing improving performance in math and English language arts for that purpose that's not what we're here for as it relates to this program and so you know I would argue that that you know what you're suggesting uh makes the case in this particular instance that because we know what we're doing from a math and English language arts perspective the results of that study don't necessarily apply to us we don't know if the schools in that study are using the same models that we're using for instructional Improvement and quite clearly based on the fact that Selma elementary school has experienced a great deal of success since
069this program has been implemented it's quite clear that the structures and strategies that we're using are producing Improvement in math in English language arts I can't be responsible or explain what's happening in hundreds or thousands of schools all over the country I can only be responsible for those schools in in Johnston County Public Schools we again are not counting on capturing kids Hearts to address those issues we have programs and structures in place to address those issues apart from capturing kids hearts so the point of this social emotional learning once then um we were told to help with classroom discipline and help with social connections and building culture I think that's fair and I'm I'm presenting to you the study that shows that those things are not happening when West Ed took a comprehensive look
070at this program yes I I read used to say that the results were mixed that means that there are places that it's happening and other places it's not again a meta study is a study of lots of places and that you know again the fact that it's not happening in one place does not mean it won't happen in our place and again the data here again is that those things are happening in our school again I can't explain to you what West Ed found I can tell you what you'll find if you go to Selma Elementary School though and I will I'll recognize that in the slides that we were shown with this presentation it talked about implementing the the pr this program with Fidelity and that's flip flipping is very specific about that where
071I believe that this is being used around 6 000 different districts in the United States and and he has 11 showcase districts that he claims are being used with fidelity and so there's some improvement in discipline and academics 11 out of six thousand and we are talking about spending uh uh about three hundred thousand dollars worth of taxpayers money on a program that West Ed says has mixed or no results that does not show a cultural difference to the students they don't find it productive um and that is where my concern is that I don't like and I do not want to put this on the teachers so you're also asking that the teachers have two days of training in this one being a Saturday I don't think teachers are counselors I think teachers are
072teachers and if we have some that need some extra help in terms of classroom discipline I am all in favor of finding programs that can help those teachers I don't know that this is that that program I I would just respond by suggesting that the 11 sites that I believe the flipping group speaks to um as um uh showcase sites I I think it would be a little bit unfair to suggest that only those 11 schools are having positive results uh that would be 11 schools that they showcase for schools around the nation so that's a little bit of a mischaracterization of what a showcase school would be those again would be simply schools that they identify uh as models of implementation I don't think they would be it would be fair to suggest that
073those 11 schools are the only schools Across the Nation of the 6 000 that are using capturing kids hearts that have experienced any kind of positive outcomes that having been said I take your uh what you just shared under advisement I would agree I would agree with you that teachers are not counselors and reiterate what I shared with you before this program is not about making teachers counselors It's about the recognition of the fact that teachers are not counselors and the fact that counselors frankly don't have enough time to address all of the issues that students may have and that it is incumbent upon coming to mind everybody who's in a school to develop and support a structure in those schools that is helpful to students make students feel comfortable all of which will help
074this is not about giving teachers extra things to do this is exactly the opposite this is about the recognition that teachers face these challenges and need skill sets to address them and that's what this program is about and and I you're I that's a fair point everything that you've said is a very fair point my point is I want things that work this program is not proven to work the only thing we have is flip flipping's own data to prove that there's work that it works with certain districts in fact in Moore County right now there is ongoing litigation with the teacher who cites this program as one of her issues inside of her classroom and that this was the only training she was giving with classroom discipline so um I would I am all
075in favor of you bringing me programming that works for teachers proven we love data over here right we work everything on data I want data that shows this actually works not from you know it's like asking Pfizer whether or not their drugs work well of course they're going to tell us their drugs work I I want I want outside data reputable sources like West Ed telling me that this is a program that's going to be beneficial and worth sending our teachers to and spending um three hundred thousand dollars worth of the taxpayers dollars well I'd invite you go over to Selma Elementary School where you can see that in action I do have a couple of questions I think it is still a two-day training I believe so yes because it was it was a
076two-day training when I went through that a couple years ago as a teacher as a staff member at North Johnston Middle School um and they are pros and cons as they are with everything in life then my question to you is this I see that as more of a program for our elementary than I did for our medal because I think uh I think it just works better as a matter of fact I was in a self-contained Elementary class this last week where they're using that program and the the student Elementary student in the EC classroom explained Lots about the program to me uh I like to never get out of that classroom but anyway uh he was going over here over there social contract on the wall which we always you always put other
077the things on the wall this to see all the affirmations all those kind of things um so I know there's there's there's things that it works and again like anything uh my question to you is is for those three schools this is 285 000 it's that's just for those three schools actually that will allow us to train up to 10 schools okay there are the three schools that we have already identified and we will be reaching out to other schools to solicit um other schools that might be interested and just to to respond to your um your statement about middle versus Elementary School I tend to agree with you with one uh caveat that one of the things that we we have to be very careful about is once we Implement a program at the
078elementary level right particularly a program you know like this that speaks to how we want students to behave and how we are going to respond to them as Educators in classrooms we develop um an expectation on the part of our parents and most importantly on the part of our students so our students expect teachers to respond to them in certain ways as a result of having this kind of training while I agree with you that it's best in elementary school sometimes we do have to think about extrapolating those programs up so that we continue to meet students needs at the secondary level right now that's not what I meant I mean no no no I'm agreeing with it it's it's so it works with Elementary and then it follows a student I'm saying when you
079implement it as a middle school without having done it in elementary that that's where we ran into the issues I'm not I'm not and I agree totally if it's not done in elementary but I can't remember the series of questions for discipline that this series of questions you go through and I'll I I don't remember those all those questions but yeah yeah there you go but but those things I mean if you you know it wasn't as effective as far as the domains of discipline doing throwing in a middle school when those kids had never seen it that was my point and if we if if we begin in elementary then I think we're going to get a lot uh more benefit from it and see more things from it and that's just been my
080experience and that's uh and and again I'm going to again going through the two days training myself there's some things and then there's some things just okay and I talked to one principal who who they don't use the program anymore but they still use the tenants that they thought worked for them sure so I mean I think there's positives to be to be gotten from it absolutely and I agree with you 100 the more we can start when students are younger when they are still you know more malleable more open to learning a particular system and structure the stronger it's going to be for us the better it's going to be for us is if we support those students from Young students going forward through their educational process don't any other and Dr King I
081know in the pre-board meeting Dr Allen had uh examples she gave and forgive me I don't want to come across as like accusatory or clueless when I'm formulating this question but you gave like a example of how a classroom teacher was able to significantly reduce their disciplinary referrals do you mind going into a little bit of description on that and I just want to be sure that we're not decreasing referrals by lowering standards of conduct does that make sense I mean I don't want to come off as accusatory or you know clueless but you know sometimes we see that in society where we'll we'll change the rules so it's not a violation of the rules and then Behavior still kind of goes under an issue so will you kind of explain that to us thank
082you I appreciate you um checking back in with principals almost 200 of our teachers were trained without the whole school being trained last year and many of those teachers it was right before summer gave feedback that this is phenomenal everybody should go through this and it really helped rejuvenate many of them one in particular came back this school year and has been according to their peers like a new person and it's really given them another outlook on education and students and how to meet their needs and that specific individual looking at their discipline data they went from a more significant number of discipline referrals all last year to up to this point in the year there hasn't been any and based on what peers have been saying is because of the attitude change towards students
083and if you read like and explain to me one more time because I'm trying like I'm watching a tennis match here I'm trying to keep up but with this transformative scl and you're saying that it's not transformative SEO transform it to the transformative part is just a descriptor used to describe the program can you go through that like in really simple terms for me it feels like we're splitting hairs over adjectives but I'm not quite uh again I'm not debating whether or not someone placed on their website that something is transformational sel I'm just saying that this is an SEL program and and I think what they're arguing is that in my experience and what I've heard and seen with this program is when it's done well it has the capability of being transformational for
084a school that that's the the the point that I'm trying to make as opposed to if someone has transformational SEL with the r in a circle somewhere on their website I I'm not speaking for that and I'm I'm not vouching for that or trying to explain that um if I could Mr Donovan we talked the other day about an opportunity for training we're we have been made aware that there's going to be an opportunity this Friday and we're going to make sure to get you a flyer in any of other board members who would like to participate I think we've already got these have you already gotten it yeah we got an email awesome and uh yeah yeah perfect and I can tell you that I've I've actually talked to principals and teachers within the
085county because I was curious about the program sure and uh a lot of the principals and teachers are both very excited about the program they said it works it gives them instructions on how to engage with the students so yeah right well we want to make sure you're aware of that because you you said that you would like to do that and we again want to invite board members to do that anytime possible called a question all right questions been called I'll ask for a vote all those in favor of the motion that has been made please indicate by saying aye aye all opposed no okay two knows five two thank you if you don't mind can we take I'd like to have a motion just to recess for a minute and come back at
086uh six is it 6 41 come back at 6 50. would that be okay um just take a maybe about nine minute break do I have a motion to recess taking motion we say second all those in favor say aye aye unanimous Mr Moore you're up good evening and I come with a head head for your heart I'm failing you I only have one item so foreign services for an addition to Benson Elementary that school school was currently 55 students over capacity not including the 116 fifth graders that are at Benson Middle School current currently do we have five mobiles there um and an addition is much needed to not not only reduce the class class sizes but also provide better indoor air quality and reduce the risk of viral transmission uh RFQ was advertised
087on October 20 27th and um following scoping meetings and with some time timeline constraints due due to Esther funding debt lines and negotiations um the facilities and construction Department selects and recommends approval to contract with height Associates uh for a fee of 432 thousand dollars or six six percent of the anticipated construction costs and additional allowance of 50 000 is also requested to cut cover surveying um Geotech technical testing and other quality assurance measures to complete the design um again that this is a Esser funded project for approval okay this is an item an action item I'll entertain a motion to approve Madam chair I would make a motion that would prove the contract would hide Associates for 432 thousand dollars or six percent plus an additional fifty thousand dollars for a surveying geotechnical and
088other assurances okay I have a motion do I have for Mr Carroll do I have a second second second by Miss Antoine any discussion uh I would I want to say to uh Brooks I appreciate him looking into this because this is uh based where we really started it's about a 200 000 savings and it's shortening our construction Time by eight months we appreciate that Mr Mark okay if no more discussion I'll call for the vote all those in favor of this motion please indicate by saying aye any opposed I vote yes 7-0 thank you I believe Mr ventron before you go I got one quick thing actually when we're just speaking to you uh one quick question for you regarding the bonds um and we the bonds come in a four-year period right and
089I guess this is a question for both you and Mr Britt is there some way we can keep we can keep a running tally up the money's coming in and what it's going for from the 177 million so with the public and see what that 177 177 million is going for I know it's in there I get all that but the reason I ask you that I think we just got the uh the cafeteria extension North Johnston High School I believe that's the end of the 2018 bond is that two two more Biden uh auxiliary gym at Triple S high school and uh auditorium at Clayton High School but that will be the end end of 18. okay and I guess just just for just so folks can again it's the folks that supported the
090bond will know where that when that money's coming where it's going from is that possible it is and we're actually working on create creating and and entire entirely new Bond website I'm very good because because I think if we're going to ask the for additional bond in two years then it's critical that everybody knows where that money's coming in and where it's going to and and status too if it's in design bidding construction completion dates all of that yeah and our plan um and I'm not to steal Mr Moore's Thunder his team has been wonderful working with our team work in the communication Department our plan is to put out either depending on the need either a monthly or a every other month video so it's something tangible for our constituents our public to see
091where we are on things and some months it might be hey we've met with an architect and this is where we are on this and this is how our bond monies are being spent we know that transparency is key and that we want people to know that we are being very good stewards of this these funds so we have dedicated space on the website it's going to look something different than what we've done in the past so we're really working to make sure that it is user friendly that it has everything that we need and it has that information on the Forefront but we do want you to keep an eye out for this campaign I guess you can call it we want it to be everyday day language that our public knows that we
092do have Bond money that we're spending but that we also want to move forward with the 2024 Bond like we're going to need more moving forward because we do have needs so we just want to that to be common knowledge for everyone in our County that's our plan right I mean no that sounds great I appreciate that yeah okay Mr ventrana good evening again board members on behalf of Dr brace we have two administrative recommendations for you this evening both are assistant principal recommendations to your contracts first Miss Marcelina Gore Riverwood middle school and then second Mr James Richardson Smithfield Middle School these are action items I'll entertain a motion I'll make a motion to approve the recommendation do I have a second second second Mr Donovan any discussion all those in favor would you
093indicate by saying aye and I vote I as well 7-0 thank you thank you I got one all right oh yes sir I have one quick question too um are we still paying or when did we stop paying uh in other words a teacher who covers uh during her planning period do we still pay that teacher we are yes sir we are if we're aware of it we work with payroll to to make sure they're they're compensated you're talking about if if there's a vacancy and the teachers um giving up their planning period and they're teaching another class yes sir so we're we are okay and the other thing is just a statement I'm gonna I will be giving you a list of positions um in central office positions throughout the entire central office and
094there's a couple things I want I want the job if I can get the job qualifications job description salary uh and the Day created on those positions um and I just have some Curiosities when positions were created during various superintendents in 10 years and if if those positions are still doing their uh what their jobs are in the Bracey Administration and I just want to look at those and I want to say that publicly because I know how gossip and rumor meals start they're going to say tip is trying to take positions I want to see what's there and see if we have a lot of positions left from the crew member crew Administration there may need to be adjusted with the Bracey Administration and that's all I want to do and if any other
095board members wants to add to that list I'll be more than happy to we can compile one list if nobody else may agree with me but that's what I want to do so I'm going to be giving that to you glad to assist Mr Tiffany and Mr patrono if you could provide me with a list of all people who are acting as employees through contracts so if you have someone for example who's coming in who may be retired and working at The Glenn building or central office under this contract where they're not an employee where they're Contracting with us upon separation if that makes sense a retired employee coming back for simplistic Natures can you comprise a list of that and send that to all of us I can but you said the word contract
096so lots of we have contract nurses contract um other Contract Services but usually when retirees come back and help us they're not under a contract they're just working temporarily while the need exists okay I'll take I'll take that list okay I just wanted to make sure we were on the same Pages yes that's what you were asking um since we're we've it feels like we've moved into informal discussion almost here but you're the Target and so based on the volume of emails we've gotten today from the classified staff being very upset with what's happening with the buses and this ongoing and lingering issue not being addressed I'm going to ask that you please provide us with something at the next board meeting to address their concerns they have a right to they have a right
097to their feelings and what's happening and and they are not off Target and what they're asking for and I think there is a drive on this new board to address this and address it pretty expeditiously sure miss Antoine and actually I was talking with Dr Pierce during the break and not putting you on the spot you can we can wait until next month but I do want to go ahead on record and let everyone on this board know and I confirm with Dr Pierce we do not require any employee to my knowledge and Dr Pierce agreed to drive both AM and PM now we have employees who may volunteer to do that and certainly it increases their compensation and there are some who appreciate that because they start earning time and a half but that
098is one thing I heard and sitting over there I I wanted to confirm with Dr Pierce because we that is not something we require but we'll be glad to to work together and and help address any any concerns and it would also be good maybe um Dr Pierce to have just a transportation help with the transportation update as well on number of full-time bus drivers the routes that are how many routes are run how many um because we break routes down this morning and afternoon just an update on that since we really haven't talked about it since the beginning of school David can you kind of get that for us monthly I mean that would be something that we'd like to keep our balls on I I perhaps they aren't required to drive both routes
099however they are required to drive one route and that is um I know I was visiting schools today and the administration is saying that's hurting them being able to have teacher assistance in place so this just needs to be separated we are either hiring teacher assistants or bus drivers but those two professions don't necessarily overlap so I don't want to preclude from hiring good people can I break can I just tackle into the ammpm they might not be required but I mean that's kind of the situation that we're in right now with the lack of bus drivers I mean we've they're dedicating their time morning and night to drive and it's greatly appreciated so correct at least got to do something for them and I agree and we have some who will volunteer because they
100love our school system they love children they want to make sure they're getting students to school and from school so I don't I don't want to take that I mean I understand that but I just I did want to make sure that that you all knew that we don't go to any employee and mandate that he or she work 12-hour days and so but but we we have some who are committed they're passionate they love this school system they do it because they feel like if I don't no one else will and we do recognize that so um and I think just a like I said to Dr Pierce if he can come in next board meeting and just give us an update of what transportation is involved in the number of bus drivers we
101need to operate and how we're trying to fulfill that right and look at that just to get it I think this the this board in particular many of them have not heard that before that's right and and we've been working for a while to look at ways to eliminate the requirement for some positions such as teacher assistance to remove that requirement to drive a bus this goes back to a policy that I believe was in place in the 80s and and so even with pre the previous board and and Dr Pierce can speak on it um at a later time as well and I'll be glad to help with that but we've been working um over the last few years to try to each year reduce the number of employees we are hiring who we
102say you also have to drive a bus and so you you've seen over the years us hiring more full-time bus drivers and the goal of that is the more full-time bus drivers we have that we can lessen the restrictions on the number of people that we're hiring in the schools school-based who were saying you have to drive a bus what number are we at with full-time bus drivers do you know 48. we were at 80 when we started salary change we need 300 to eliminate the Dual employment policy additionally and kind of in the same thing but a little different um where I'm I'm finding a lot of janitorial positions that are open inside our schools and and that needs to be addressed um and it needs to be addressed quickly and since you're human
103resource I'm bringing it to you but it's something that perhaps if you could look with facility services and maybe even look at outside contractors if we can have them bring them into the buildings do the deep cleaning during the evenings when no one's in the schools to at least get them back to a acceptable level right we have done contract and so we're still doing that we're still doing it right we have temp services that we utilize um right but thank you good good idea um any other informal discussion uh not for Mr Patron you're good to go you can get out of here it run what run while you can uh I don't I wasn't add to this uh what what Michelle was talking about uh I was I was crying through this High
104School the biggest high school in the county the other day and we had two cafeteria workers for 2 300 kids to eat lunch ah that's all that's that's just amazing to me that they were that's your staff uh that we can't find people but anyway the last cut the last thing that I wanted to address um if you were the last meeting you read the minutes you keep up with what the scoreboard is doing it's kind of old business uh section but the board voted unanimously to give uh Mr Johnson to give Ronald the opportunity to present information uh based on censors and have those sensors looked at uh all right a process to do it um I just want to give an update on that where we are at where we are at this
105point in time uh the board our border attorney is going to be speaking with his attorney uh and we're trying to to get that process expediated as much as possible um I think it was unanimous vote last time uh we we want to hear it it's an issue that we want to we want to make sure we're focusing on the kids and we want to get rid of all the baggage that was left from the last school board um quite frankly and I'm not gonna I'm not being negative but there's some carryover for some things and this is what we want to take care of so that's the process for doing that um you know I don't want to I mean I will personally say from the for the board to no to Mr Johnson
106I mean quite frankly I apologize it's taking as long as it is I possess your patience if stick with us and you're going to get your opportunity to to say everything you got to say and then the board will consider and make any considerations that need to be considered based on that information when all the information is gathered and that's right and again we're trying to expediate that process as much as possible all right anything else I did want I certainly thank you for that I did want to give an update um just on our calendar uh Monday the 16th will be a holiday am I correct um the uh from Martin Luther King Jr exams begin when in our high schools um the the first semester ends January 27th so exams will be prior
107to that list the week before that okay but just I just want you to understand that our high school students will be in exams um and then Monday the 30th January 30th and 31st will be work days for our district so just just you can check on the school calendar and see that um our next board meeting will be um February 7th which will be the first Tuesday of February rather than the second Tuesday and that was taking care of closed session begins at four o'clock any other business before the board if not I'll can I just make a quick uh announcement Madam chair we've been meeting for a couple of times but I want to introduce Mr Roderick Brewington to everybody our new High School area superintendent he's here it's his first board meeting
108just wanted everybody to know who he was welcome welcome nice to meet you if there's no other business before the board I'll entertain a motion to adjourn thank you Mr Johnson second and second Mr Donovan all those in favor indicate by saying aye aye aye as well 7-0 thank you all very much