001Welcome everyone. We'll call the June Elizabeth and Board of Education meeting uh to order. Uh at this time, I will call on Director Van Hus to lead us in a moment of silence and a pledge to the flag. Please stand. Please pause for a moment of silence. Thank you. Attention. Salute. Pledge. I pledge algiance 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. Okay, it's now time to approve the consent agenda and regular agenda. Can I get a motion to approve? Motion to approve and a second. Second. Okay. Um, any questions about either one? Um, I would as far as the regular, we we may approach that a little differently. Instead of breaking that, we may
002lump all those together if everyone's acceptable with that. But we'll read that in at that time. But just kind of keep that in mind. Okay. Any comments or questions? All right. The items to approve consent agenda and regular agenda. All those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? And there are none. It's now time for citizens to speak. We did not have anyone request to speak before the board and due to being the summer, we don't have our normal uh full house for uh recognitions. So, we will move on to the director's update. So, again, I'll turn it over to Mr. Van Hus to fill us in on everything. Thank you, Mr. Ples. Uh to start with, um we have a couple guests with us. We have Dr. Mohouse and Dr. Los with Ballad
003Health and Dr. Los is going to share some information about the Ballad Health Academy of which our students at Elizabeth and High School are a part of just some really really exciting things and so first of all thank you for being here with us and thank you for the information that you've shared and again just letting our school system be a part of this. Absolutely. and this school system was one of the very first who raised their hand and said yes we want to be a part of this really not knowing much about what this is they took that leap of faith with us and so thank you all very very much what I provided to you this year well my name is Matthew Los I'm the chief academic officer for ballot I'm a recovering
004general surgeon try not to hold that against you um and um Dr. Dr. Mohouse has coached me that the most important thing about my presentation tonight is brevity. So, I will be brief, but I want to leave plenty of time if you all have questions. I want to answer every question you might have. But I provided you a packet of information uh because I assume like me, you get stopped by your constituents with questions and the academy has been in the news quite a bit. So, I wanted you all to be armed with some some key information, some key points about the what the academy is. I want to kind of direct your attention to page six if I could. And on page six, what you'll see there is what we envision the academy to
005be at its full implementation. What we're doing over these first five years really is just the pilot phase. We're really just working on trying to develop the pathways for our children in high school to be able to graduate high school and move directly into a job that it pays a living wage. So, we started with LPN because coming out of high school getting an LPN, you can earn $48,000 a year. And so, you can live on that, you can build a family on that, you can stay in our region on that, which is super important as we all know. So, that's why we started there. On page six, you'll see the breadth of what we want to do eventually with the academy. And not only does it concern patientf facing opportunities, so all the like
006x-ray techs, rad tech, you know, all that sort of stuff, but also non-patientf facing. So we know a lot of kids think when they think about healthcare, think about doctors and nurses for example. Oops. What we want to one educate them on is there's a whole spectrum of ways that you can contribute including nondirect patient care. So if they're scared of blood, for example, or those sorts of things, they can still contribute. They can still get a good uh livable wage job through this program and through this pathway in things like it, in things like HVAC, in things, you know, that are not as I mentioned directly patient business. So I wanted you to have that information as well. And then finally on the next page, page seven, this was an experiment as I mentioned
007and it was a leap of faith and Elizabeth been uh incredible to work with so far and we're just getting started and we hoped to recruit across the region 120 students. We recruited over 200 and that is just an absolute testament to our school systems, to our teachers, to our educators to help our kids and parents understand the potential of what this program or a program like this can offer to a young person. And so we're so thankful to that. And as you'll notice from the numbers down there, I apologize, the blues, at least to my eyes, look very similar. You all are, you know, basically kicking the pants off of some of our other larger high schools across the region. Uh, and as far as the number of kids who are engaged in the
008Ballot Health Academy. So, thank you once again. I'm I'll stop there. I will happily answer any questions you all have about the academy. And um, again, just really appreciate the opportunity to come before you this evening. I'll tell you, I had a chance to attend the signing event that they had at Elizabeth and High School. They did it first class. It was incredible. Really made all the students that have signed up to be a part of the academy really feel special. Just been really impressed again with Ballot and their their commitment to make this program work. And it's not just in words. They they've they've put the money behind it to do that. So, I just want to echo again how appreciative we are being included. I'm really excited about opportunities for our students in
009Elizabeth. Dr. Losside a question. The the middle school. Yes. That you're the numbers I'm seeing for are those is are you recruiting those would be rising ninth graders? That's right. Do you see that coming to our middle school here? I don't see our middle school. Yes, absolutely. So, so in that Yes, we've been engaging with your middle school teachers uh and introducing the academy And so yes, those will be that we continue to focus on program development, career exploration, things of that nature. Great. And to be honest with you, from a staffing from our side, from the staff, we we're, you know, basically trying to staff up. We're almost full staff now, but during the time of recruitment, we tried to get to as many places as we could. And so I think that's probably
010the the reason for this year, but moving forward for sure, we'll be screwed. Yeah, for some reason in my mind I I I thought that we had a few eighth graders that moved up that were that were in line to participate as well. It may just not show, you know, and they could be included in those high school numbers that are there as well. is our higher education partner. It's a quality program for us and I see several things on there that yeah that we're we participate in at that level. Yeah, we're excited. Okay. Okay. You have questions, questions, comments? Thank you. Thank you. We appreciate you being here. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Mhouse. Yes. So, uh, continuing on with my report. Again, just want to welcome our newest board member again, Josh Smith.
011Uh, been friends for a long time. So so excited about you being on the board and uh the all the public the positive publicity that you've given us that we don't normally get. So uh just lots of uh positive comments about you and your willingness to serve. So we welcome you and look forward to working with you and your um you know your contributions to the board. So thank you. A couple of updates. First of all, as far as um the Dave Ryder Center for Athletic Performance, uh work has really picked up there in the last couple of weeks. All of the uh roofing structure is in place. They've started on the uh the wall siding. They have the the entry area and the restroom and storage areas. Those are all all those wall panels
012are up down there actually today. And on the uh I guess that is the the north side, they've started coming down between the stadium and the building. They've started coming down that side with the wall sheeting. And so they're also in there putting in the sprinkler system. The uh electrical subcontractors are in there putting all their rough in and things like that in the ceiling for the lighting. So lots of lots of progress there. At this point, it looks as though the projected date is somewhere there around the second or third week of August that it will all be completed. There's been a lot of talk about, as you know, the Tweetsy Trail Jams concerts that will be in the stadium. I think it's Saturday, August the 8th, if I'm not mistaken, the date there,
013Chris Tomlin, but uh they need access into the stadium for the uh the stage, the truck that brings the stage in. And so we've been assured that all the asphalt work will be completed around the building so they can get that that uh that truck in for the stage. So again, things continue to progress. Every day that we have without rain is a is a positive on that. Uh still still a few more weeks until things are are completely dried in that that won't be quite as much of an issue. Um, if anyone has any desire to go down and take a look, feel free to give me a call anytime and we can we can swing down there and let you see the progress. Uh, I'd be remiss if we didn't again thank uh,
014city council and obviously we have Mike Simmerly here, the board liaison. Again, just can't thank city council enough for their investment uh in our students that, you know, as you know, during budget season, they're pulled a million different directions on all the the different departments and all of them are extremely important, but I I can't thank them enough for putting our students and our school system so high on their priority list uh to make it a point to give us the largest the largest increase we've had in at least 25 to 30 years from the district. So, We're very appreciative of the entire council uh especially Mr. Simly leading that charge as well. So publicly thank you again. So uh again we again just heard from Dr. Los with ballot academy that is really something
015special. We'll continue to share information uh with you on that and the opportunities again that students in Elizabeth and will have to partner with them and and put them in line for uh some some really uh quality, you know, livable wage wage jobs in this area so they don't have to move away. Part of our goal is we want to provide students with opportunities to pursue whatever they want to, but part of our mission is we want them to stay in Elizabeth. We want them to stay in the area, you know, if that's what they want to do. We just want to make sure there are opportunities for them to do this to do that if they if they so desire to stay here. So, this program is one of those avenues for individuals that
016are interested in the healthc care field to stay in the area. So, we appreciate them very very much. Uh, also want to mention, as you know, um, John Hutchkins is retiring here. He's got about two weeks left. He's counting them down. He's got a big calendar on his wall in there. He's marking the days off. That's not That's not true. That's not true. But we appreciate him for all of his many years of service and just can't imagine. Uh, you know, when I came up here, I can't even remember how many years ago. Uh, he took the little guy under his wing and, you know, taught me all the good, the bad, and the ugly. And he he's one of the last one that knows where all the skeletons are in all the closets. So,
017uh, but we we sincerely appreciate him and all of all his work and dedication to the school system. So, thank you. Uh, also, uh, lots of work, as you can imagine, closing out the past school year and trying to get ready for the next one. Uh, along those same lines, just some dates that I wanted, uh, to mention for you to remember. Uh, again, just remember the next board meeting will be Tuesday, July 15th. And again, we uh requested to move that one in order for those of us that are attending the TSBA uh legislative institute. That will give us a chance to uh not be crammed quite so uh you know with for time to get down there Thursday evening. So again, that's Tuesday, July 15th at 5:30. Again, summer law starts the morning
018of the 18th and will run through midday on the 19th. And again, that's in Gatlinburg. Uh back to school bash. The back to school bash this year will be Tuesday, July the 29th and that will be at Elizabeth and High School and that will be from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. And again, if you've not had a chance to be there for that, I would encourage you to be there. Typically, you if you come and you want to volunteer some time, you can do whatever you want to. There are several different ways that you could participate. In the past, we've had a lot of board members that will be at the station where we're handing out backpacks to students. That's a great way to a lot of people in one spot and and we would love
019for you to to to come if you have time to hand out backpacks. So, lots of work. If you've not been to that event, you need to come. It's one of the greatest things we've ever done as a school system. We provide all kinds of different services for students and families. The probably the biggest hit are free haircuts. Uh we'll probably have about 15 to 20 uh different uh barbers and hair people there to to provide haircuts. free of charge to the students. You know, again, we're partnering with TCAT there. I think they're going to send about 10 uh different students in their in their program to come and assist. But just tons of great things going on. So, if you can if there's any way you can attend, uh I would I highly encourage
020that. I wanted to mention one other thing. You know, communication is so important this day and time and we've, as you can imagine, across the different schools across the system, you know, we have different platforms that teachers in classrooms may use, coaches and athletics, the band, the system itself sending out information. There's all these different platforms. So, if you're a parent and you have a student that's in elementary school at the junior high and maybe one at the high school, you may have five or six different platforms you're trying to keep up and maintain information about your your different uh children. So we have um entered into partnership with a company called Parent Square and all of our school communication from delays for uh or cancellations for snow uh information from teachers to parents in
021the classroom again coaches band all of those it will all be under one umbrella with parent square so there'll be one app parents will have they can get all of that information for all their students. Uh we're excited about all the functionality of that as well. Uh so we're we're we're we really think that that's going to we've heard from a lot of parents that's hard to keep up with. So we we we've listened and we've tried to put something in place that again will streamline that and make that much more uh stakeholder friendly I guess is a good way to put it. So but that's all I have. Uh thank you very much and that's it for Thank you. Thank you Mr. Van Hus. Uh it's now time for board member uh reports. I
022don't know if anyone has anything. I don't think we've had meetings um or events since. I know July we have the what I think is one of my favorite is the summer law. I just think it's really good uh information. So look forward to that. Anybody? Anything. All right. Next, uh Mr. Simly, city council liaison report. Again, welcome Mr. Mike again. It's summertime. Excuse the attire of baseball tonight and it's going to be real short. Know we got a big agenda. We've only got one thing I've mentioned to a couple of you before the meeting started. Mr. Van Hust and I've had a couple conversations about this now. Baseball. We play baseball in this town. Our Cyclone field, our River Riders Field. If you've not been down lately, you need to go down and check
023it out. It's beautiful. Great ball being played down there all year long. But we have a problem with the scoreboard. We've had a problem with this scoreboard for years. Every time it rains, it doesn't work. I don't know what's wrong with it. Last year, every year, we spend 10 to $20,000 on repairs on the scoreboard. It's these little computer modules that something shorts out. It gets wet. It doesn't work. Anyway, we need to replace the scoreboard. So, just want to put that out there. I know we just met our budget. We're right in the middle of starting our new budgets this year. Uh, but I had mentioned before the meeting that I'm working on a lot of different angles. I've talked to Kea Fueler, who is the drone manager with River Ridersh with Mr. void,
024see maybe if we can beg and plead maybe a little bit of money from boy sports, maybe a little bit of money from the school system, maybe a little money from the city, maybe a little money for some other sourcing. I don't know. But again, just have that in the back of your head because I'll be bringing that hopefully back to you. I'm hoping maybe this summer sometime. I I really don't know. It's just again when we can get some numbers together. Have no idea. It's a big scoreboard. Maybe we don't I know Mr. Van Hus mentioned maybe we don't need one as big. I don't know. Maybe we need one that says food city on it or co or Car's a law firm. That's the doctor you Yeah. Maybe it may be the Louiswis
025a dental practice. I'm just I'm throwing darts. But we got a long meeting. I just want to I want to throw that out there. Dr. Lewis just spoken for some fun. But uh but in any case, we do need a new scoreboard and that's going to be coming up eventually on all of our agendas to work on. So again, just please work with me. Appreciate it. I know we just worked on our money. We just closed our budgets out, but something we'll have to look at down the road. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Mr. Simly, and again for your you and the council's continued support. Um, our student liaison is appropriately on summer break, our outgoing and our incoming. So, I'm sure that our new young lady will be with us either in
026July, but at least in August. So, uh, again, we appreciate Mr. Smith following in his son's footsteps. So he was certainly uh a a quality person for us as a liaison. Yeah. Big shoes. Big shoes. Big shoes. Yeah. Literal big big shoes to to fill. So all right, it's time to move into the regular agenda. First item is to approve agreement with Raptor Technologies for the Raptor Emergency Management Suite and Badge Alert System for the 2526 school year at a cost not to exceed $46,000 using TIPS cooperative purchasing. Can I get a motion to approve? Motion to approve. Okay. And a second. Second. All right. So very quickly, you may remember Raptor Technologies is the system that we use internally in the school system. Uh every employee that we have has access to the Raptor
027app. And what that allows them to do if they're in a situation where uh they need assistance from administrators or there's a need to call a lockdown in the school, they have an app that will allow them to do that. They basically push a button and it sends that information to who needs to have that and we go through that whole process. As you know, there's been a lot of talk recently about you may have heard other districts that have purchased panic buttons basically where around the neck you push a you push the button on the the item itself and it will send an alert basically the same thing telling everyone that there's an emergency. So, we currently don't have that technology. I really feel like in the next year or two the state is
028going to mandate that. They're very close to doing that now. I'm really surprised it didn't happen this year. So, RA we really like all of the the suite of of of services that Raptor provide for us. So, they also have a reunification plan. So, god forbid we have an emergency and we have to relocate and then we're trying to put together a plan to uh return students back to their parents. There's a whole part of that technology system that allows us to do that. All the students are in there. We actually had a drill for this about two weeks ago internally with some teachers as well as administrators to kind of what would that reunification process look like. So we didn't want to do away with with Raptor. So Raptor has now added the panic
029button capabilities. So that's what we're proposing. That's what this particular item is. The good thing is when you look at the price point there. It's about half. It's about twice what we normally pay, which is basically it's going to be $5,000 per school once we get the implementation in. So, that's why this number is as large. There's obviously equipment that has to be purchased. It works on its own system. So, they'll come in and install all of the equipment needed to operate this. So, if once it's in place, if a teacher pushes that button, it automatically sends that alert to who needs it. and it also will show them exactly where they are in the school so they know exactly what the location is within six feet. So, we're excited about this. This this raises
030our level of u responsiveness if there's an issue. It, you know, now instead of having to maybe pull your phone out and open it and try to find the app, it's literally just pushing some buttons on the badge itself. So, um I think it's worth every penny that we're investing in this. You think about the other safety features that we have in place, upgrades over the last few years, again the comps grant we just did that put card readers on all the interior doors in the schools. Uh the secure vestibules at every school, the um impact resistant film that we've placed on all the windows across the school system. You know, other than putting up barb wire fences, we've done about we've done about all that we can do from from from that standpoint. So,
031um just really uh encourage you to to consider this uh this purchase again because I think it's worth every penny that that we spend on it. So, just kind So, once this initial uh cost of this a little under $46,000 once we do that moving forward, it's somewhere around $25,000 a year. Uh we'll have it again at every school. We're not going to add it here at the central office at this point. That may be something we look at the following year once we how the system works. But we don't have students here either. So that's one. Not that we don't value the people that work here, but we don't have any students here either. We keep the doors locked here. And everyone here has access to the Raptor app as well if there's something
032that needs to happen. So any other questions on that? So that would start in the fall. That's right. So it may take them a few months. It may not be ready the first day of school. They have to come in and put some sensors. The good thing is it doesn't affect our network, our Wi-Fi, anything like that. It works on its own system. If there's an issue where a badge fails, they just replace it. If one of the sensors fails, they replace it. So, there's not a recurring um equipment cost. That's all built built into it. Yeah. Yeah. There the batteries are rechargeable. The excuse me, the buttons are rechargeable. It will actually send an email to whoever that badge is assigned to. We can set whatever percentage like if the battery reaches 40% and
033we want it to send it'll send an email to that person send that email every day until they recharge it and it'll just recharge off of typical USB type or something that you can lay on a magnet those magnet chargers. So we're looking at some ways that maybe we just make it mandatory at the start of every school year you charge it so we know that we're starting with a fresh charge. So, um, I was really excited about the fact that there's no additional equipment charges moving forward. They just take care of all that. That's part of the package moving forward. So, what we have has been good. So, we know that's why Yeah. And all those other components that, you know, builds into the system. Okay. You have an emergency. Well, what's next? You
034know, well, the first thing you're going to have to keep track of everyone. So, we use Raptor whenever we have a fire drill. So, students evacuate the building. sure they have their class roll on there and they click every student that's there. Well, you know, Richard's not here today. He was absent. So, they mark that on there. So, there's an immediate accounting of, you know, every person in the building. It'll also, if we have a This also works with our visitor management system, which is also Raptor. So, if you've been to a school and you've had to present your ID and they scan that in, it's also built into it. So, if we have an emergency that we need to evacuate, those individuals show up on there. So, there's a way for them too. So,
035it's it's pretty robust. I think adding this the panic button feature uh to what we have I I think we have about the best round. Any other questions or comments? The items to approve agreement with Raptor Technologies for the Raptor Emergency Management Suite and Badge Alert System for the 2526 school year at a cost not to exceed $46,000 using TIPS cooperative purchase purchasing. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? And there are none. Uh next item to approve innovative 2.0 O grant agreement totaling $180,000 with the University of Connecticut for athletic training services to begin July 1st, 2025 and end June 30th, 2028. I'll make the motion on that. Can I get a second? A second. Okay. And a second. Okay. So, I wanted to bring this to your attention. As you know,
036we've been very blessed in Elizabeth and Elizabeth and city schools for 45 plus years to have Danny Smith and now his son Justin who provided services for our students and student athletes uh if if there are physical issues you know due to their activities. Uh the reality is the way that the way that uh there there's so much activity uh so many more um um requirements that students have from a a prep standpoint even in the off season. We have more and more students that are on campus all the time after hours. So we really need to have an athletic trainer, someone that's there basically the entire day that can help us address some of these issues. As you know, right now, a huge thing is, especially in the summer, are practices in the heat
037index and someone to keep up with the heat index. That's very hard for a coach to do. There needs to be almost someone independent of that, checking that information, following that, and making that decision. Uh we we don't want any of our coaches to be in that situation to have to make that call. So, that's just one example. You think about uh students that may not drive and they get injured at a ball game on Friday night. They come in Monday, they need to have some physical therapy. Well, what are they going to have to do? They're going to have to make an appointment. They're going to have to get transportation. Parents are probably going to have to take off work, come and get them, take them to the appointment, bring them back. Having this
038athletic trainer on campus, that's then all they're going to have to do is walk down actually to the new Dave Ryder Center for athletic performance. there will be a clinic in there where this individual is housed and they can have their training done there maybe at lunch maybe uh during PE or or sometime during the day so they don't have to uh don't have to leave campus. So I've asked Dr. Smith if he would come as well. So, the the essence of the grant, they're they're giving us $180,000, and that will basically pay for the the trainer for those three years, and that gives us a chance to build into our budget to absorb that cost after three years. Uh thanks to Dr. Smith, he's he has someone lined up that will be starting uh
039July one. So when you think about coming back from dead dead period uh and you know fall sports are going to really crank up this summer all the things that football's doing again outside soccer cross country all these activities are outside where heat's going to be an issue that person is going to be there to start helping us monitor that. So again this is a grant Dr. Smith, if you want to come up and if there's I'm sure there's some your side, you're the technical guy, but uh I want to also thank Forest Holt. When Forest Holt was the AD, he brought this uh grant opportunity to us, of course. Then uh he stepped down and we uh had Ryan Presel in there who kind of took this to the next level. He actually appi
040took the grant and actually applied for the grant. We weren't very optimistic. They're like, "Well, you know, I mean, how many people are trying for this?" And lo and behold, about two months ago, we get an email that, "Hey, we've gotten it." So, uh, thanks to Ryan and then, of course, Joe Diaz now and of course Dr. Smith, we're in a position to really get this give us a three-year period to get this program ramped up. So, the athletic trainer will be an employee of physical therapy services. So, we'll basically be reimbursing physical therapy services for this person being providing these services in our school. Now, during this three-year period, we'll look and see if that's the best arrangement for us and for physical therapy services or do we want to transition that person into
041being an employee of the school system. A lot of school systems around Northeast around the country, they hire their own. As a matter of fact, I think Johnson City, they may have three or four on staff. Uh, so there's different models. We just want to find out what's the best model for us. So, you have anything else to to share on that? I think you hit the nail on the head. I mean, I don't really have anything else to to add. It was interesting when Coach Presel brought this to my attention about this grant. He's like, "There's no way we'll ever get it, but let's apply for it nonetheless." And I'm like, "You're crazy, but I'll help you." And um he phoned me after he uh submitted the grant. He's like, "Hey, we've done screwed
042up. We got approved for the grant." Because here's the thing is that it would be easier for Elizabeth and City Schools to find a dentist to put in to do this than it would be an athletic trainer or to put in a pet because athletic trainers there it's just it's very hard to find them due to the typical job requirements, the time constraints that they have and the educational constraints um with a master's program and all this. Um we've already hired the athletic trainer. starts with us July 1st who will then be there on the sidelines to take basically this healthcare burden away from uh the coaches and hopefully from the parents. Um I I've treated a lot of your all's kids. So um you know that what when a kid or when your kid
043gets hurt, one of the things that you want to know is what do I need to do? So having Amethyst is her name, Amethyst Crawford. uh having Amethyst there is going to have somebody there day in and day out from the first kid that arrives at practice to the last kid goes home. Um it's going to take a huge uh time constraint burden away from me which will be wonderful but it'll also have another set of very well very trained hands. She's got about eight years under her belt as a athletic trainer. Um we're very excited to have her with us to be able to kind of loan out you all with Elizabeth and City Schools. I think it'll be a great great thing. And then hopefully like what Mr. Van Hus was saying is
044that after three years you all will reconvene and be like, "Hey, this has been a great setup. We love it or this was awful. We don't want to do this anymore." Which is fine as well. Beautiful thing with this grant is it allows basically you all as a school system kind of the financial freedom to be able to provide these services and see if it works. So, the the grant is kind of interesting how it's set up is that the majority of the money the first year goes to salary the uh and then the salary component decreases I think for the next two years but then it allows you to do more infrastructure projects within the training room and getting more uh emergency medical um apparatuses there that that you need. We had talked about
045the um the lightning sensor that can go on top of the school with the radar um that can then be sent out to ads and principles and coaches for anybody that's having practices. Um and it's not just for Elizabeth and high school, it's also for the middle school as well. So questions that you all have for me, I had this whole like thing about what the innovate grant is and the Corey Stringer Institute. This all all of this money comes from the NFL players association. So when these guys get fined and all that stuff, this is where some of this money goes. So keep finding them for mouthing off and all that stuff. So and Corey Stringer actually died I think in 2001 from a heat related illness. His core body temperature was I think
046108 and um they they made all kinds of other changes due to that death. But this is the big um outreach that has started through the University of Connecticut with this. So if you go and look online the innovate grant, you're going to find a bunch of stuff about arts and schools. That's not this. So you got to look up the Corey or the Innovate Grant Corey Stringer Institute or University of Connecticut give you all kinds of information. It's an awesome thing. So very excited. So questions for me before I continue with the word vomit. So, just to remind you, if you remember a few um I guess it was maybe last year, we entered into an agreement September, we entered into an agreement with physical therapy services to try to provide uh some of
047these things for us at a at a increased rate than what we had in the past. So, we already have some money in the budget uh that's going toward these services. All that to say, when you when you pair that with the grant, that's going to allow us to take care of the person as well as as he mentioned start building up our equipment and and different beard. It's be really really nice. Yeah. So yeah. So our kids will will have the best. We also have we have community partners as well with uh Appalachin to Orthopedics also with Buck Sports through Ballad Health as well with Dr. Johnson and Dr. Mills. So we we have the the integration to be able to make sure and this is my big pet peeve that when the kid
048or kids get injured that they the right people the first time and not getting the wrong information. So that's the I think that that's one of the biggest things is so that that the kids and the parents get the right not necessarily diagnosis but get the right bit of information on how to care for this kid the first 24 48 hours whatever and there's also the opportunity with Buck Sports for some maybe some interns is that that right or what that's well so it's not necessarily part of this grant right no no it's not part of the grant that actually been kind of redirected because the money that was allocated by ballot for that was for school systems that do not have access to an athletic trainer. So the train they have they're going to
049have one trainer at one of the county schools the trainer that they were going to use for us. I don't know where they're going. There's plenty of opportunities for them. Yeah. So um questions for me did a good job. Thank you. Looking forward to it. Appreciate it. Thank you, Justin. All right. So, the item is to approve innovative 2.0 grant agreement totaling $180,000 with the University of Connecticut for athletic training services to begin July 1, 2025 and end June 30th, 2028. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? And there are none. Next item. Approve the purchase of Chromebooks through the Chromebook Chromebook replacement cycle in the amount of $149,96.96. Can I get a motion to approve? Motion to approve and a second. Second. Okay. I know this is just part of what we
050started. Yeah. Any any questions on that? We were just in a cycle where we are replacing Chromebooks as they um their service life ended. We've had this built in the budget for the for the last few years. This just that normal normal cycle. Okay. Any questions? Okay. I'm to approve the purchase of Chromebooks through the Chromebook replacement cycle in the amount of $149,96.96. All those in favor, please say I. I. And any opposed? Motion carries. U next item. Approve the purchase of weight and strength equipment from Total Strength and Speed Incorporated for an amount not to exceed $151,000 using a TIPS cooperative purchasing agreement. Can I get a motion to approve? Motion. Okay. Motion. A second. Second. Second. All right. Okay. So, first of all, don't panic. So, uh, this is this is the total
051list of equipment based on the the the staff there at the high school to equip the new weight room area in the Day Rider Center for Athletic Performance. The reason we're bringing this to you now is we're going through the process of trying to seek donations uh for a large portion of this, but what we wanted to be ready was that the board has approved this for us to do so that we're not a time crunch to try to get the equipment in there once the building is ready. Um, there's also the chance that inside our budget for the actual construction of the building, there's some contingency money and some allowances in there that looks like we may have anywhere from 40 to $45,000 uh left over that I would recommend that we push toward
052this project to to to equip the weight room. Last thing we want to do is build a great a great not have the equipment in there. But again, that's just basically a third of that. So, the athletic department, you you may have seen some things on social media, different groups have have donated to the to the project, and we're very appreciative of that. So, at this point, we don't have all the funding to buy all 151,000. We're working toward that, but again, the what we would like for you to consider is approving that amount. And obviously, we're not going to purchase anything that we don't have money for. So, u put your mind at ease there. So, if we end up with, you know, $80,000, we're going to buy $80,000 worth of equipment and then
053we'll we'll look for some other avenues to add some additional equipment over time. And and I want to put your mind to that the area is not going to be empty. The weight room that we have now, quite frankly, is probably a little heavy with some equipment. So, there's some things that will move out of that space into the new, but our intention is to continue to use the current weight room just because we have so many students and student athletes that want to use that space. So, this will give us uh two areas uh to use. So, our intention is to not completely dismantle the other one, but we can probably take some of those items out, move it in the new space, and actually make the old space a little more functional. So,
054if you've been in there, it's a little it's a little crowded. It's not, you know, it's a long narrow section underneath one set of bleachers in the gym. It's just not really set up, you know, floor space wise to be very efficient for weightlifting. So, any any questions on that? It is the one thing that's hardest to schedule in our town is is for our athletes to do the weight training because I mean, used to really one group did that mostly and now all groups are into that, you know, development and you have that one little narrow space, everybody wants to claim it and use it and you've got uh, you know, girls and guys, it I just think out of even though the gym will be great, the turf area will be great and
055everything, but the one thing that'll make maybe the biggest difference may be that weight room area because I mean we're growing by what 200% what we have now or something. I think it's huge. I don't I don't want to date any of you in here, but for those of you that remember when we moved into the school, I' I've heard this that there was basically one piece of universal weight equipment in that space. It was, you know, a square and it had, you know, these different things off and that that was it. That was pretty much the weight room. I witnessed it. That is accurate. But it isn't. Yeah. I don't know that I used it, but I did see it. So, I tried to avoid it. But number three sport athletes, you know, I
056played sports just to keep from having to do workout. So, um but it is going to be a great thing. Yeah. So, yeah. All right. Okay. Any other questions? Um the item is to approve uh the purchase of weight and strength equipment from total strength and speed incorporated for the amount not to exceed 151,000 using tips cooperative purchase agreement. And all those in favor say I. I. Any opposed. And motion carries. Next item, approve the award of bid number ECS 2024-2025-01 for sealing and striping EHS student parking lot to be awarded to Raptor Seal Coding in the amount of $78,474. Can I get a motion to approve? So moved. So moved and a second. Second. Okay. Okay. If you're like me, your stomach probably turned when you saw the amount to seal and strip a
057parking lot. But you know, when you think about that parking lot, it's massive. To go in there and mill that asphalt down and put a new coat on, which is really what needs to happen. You you're probably talking between half a million $600,000 probably at least to do that. And I may I may be low on that number. Um, but the real problem if you've ever pulled into the parking lot off of Benberg Road in the evening about like right now, the sun's out and it's setting in the west. When you pull in the parking lot, it's very hard to distinguish which lines are the real lines or lines that have been painted over over the years as the as the traffic pattern and flows changed. So when we built the stadium, they came in
058basically did that. They sealed it and restriped the whole parking lot. Uh it was great, but just, you know, after a while, it's, you know, that's been 10 years ago, so it's worn away. So, in this number, we're we're we put in there to put two coats of sealant on it. So, hopefully it will last longer uh than the last one. So, again, it's to put two coats of the sealant. They'll go in and fill all clean all the cracks, fill those up, uh you know, to try to address those issues. seal it two coats and then come back in and repaint all of the the lines in the in the space. To me, it's a it's a safety concern if you've been in there. U again, the markings are old. They're starting to fade
059and that's probably the most dangerous place that we have on campus on a daily basis when those student drivers are leaving. And so, it it concerns me there. It concerns me people pulling on campus that may not be super familiar with with the parking lot and and mis mistaken some lines thinking that they're uh you know in an aisle, you know, in a in a in a space to park, but they're actually in an aisle way or something like that. You know, miss a stop sign or, you know, some things like that. So, I really feel like this is a need and it's it's more about safety than anything. You know, both of my daughters cost me money in that part. Both of them. Really? Oh, yeah. little minor dips and things. I've had one.
060Well, and kids just in general, they don't understand how dangerous driving in parking lots are. Well, at the end of the day, they're all leaving at the same time. Yeah. Yeah. I can vaguely remember, but my memory, we only budgeted about 505,000. Yes. Yes, we did. Obviously come in over. Yes. So, we we opened the bids last week ago, Monday, I think. Yeah. Before the agenda came out on Tuesday, and again, we we we debated about do we need to pull it back down and just do one coat. But we really felt like the investment in doing the two coats was the right thing to do to to make it last as long as we can. And the reality is that's probably the next thing needs to happen. We're going to have to consider milling
061that and reassoling that entire space. It'll be done this summer before Yes. Yes. If it's approved tonight, they're chomping at the bit. So, our hope is try to get it finished over that period approved. Are you looking at all at the other parking? So, if we address this now and this is a band-aid and we look at doing that, what my suggestion would be is we may need to look at basically from the student parking lot all the way around the old band because as you know, new project at the Dave Roder Center. It's going to reassol all that drive all the way back between the softball field and the building all the way out to Jason Wh. So, we basically need to go down in front of the well the new band and the
062old band around the flag pole area back through CTE in the student parking lot and then we'd have it all. But again, it's been there for since you know it's 50 years old. 74. Yeah. 73. Okay. Any other comments or questions? Okay. The items to approve the award of bid number ECS2024-2025-01 for sealing and striping EHS student parking lot to be awarded to Raptor seal coding in the amount of 78,474. All those in favor, please say I. I. And any opposed? And there are none. Next item, approve Elizabeth and City Schools five-year strategic plan for 2025 through 2030. Can I get a motion to approve? Motion to approve. And a second. I'll second. Okay. So, as you know, this is a requirement every five years that we have a strategic plan in place. And so,
063we started looking at this well really over a year ago in preparation. Uh, if you look through the plan itself, you'll you'll There's a section on core beliefs. Uh there's strategic intent as well. We spent a lot of time trying to line this up with some other things that we have within the school system. There's an appendix page. You'll notice there's the cyclone circle of support. This is something that we implemented uh back when I became uh director of schools about six years ago. It talks about the different aspects that we feel like are important to give students a quality education. Uh so we've we've tried to build the And also in light of that that circle and those things that we feel are most important, there's also a curriculum instruction frame framework that's included
064uh that uh the curriculum committee has worked on as well. There's a foundational literacy skills plan when you think about all the work that we've spent on early literacy in the school system in the last four or five years. That's attached as well. There's a five year fiveyear capital improvement plan that's part of that as well. There's a technology plan talking you know, you address one of those things today. When you think about teacher computers, uh there's all kinds of um infrastructure that we'll have to be looking at replacing as as the years go on. So, that's part of that technology plan. There's a uh our family engagement plan is attached to that as well. And then information from our family resource center, uh as you know, that's housed at the C deck. That's a
065new program for us uh in in spite of her dad. Chelsea's doing a great job there getting that up and running. Doing a lot of great things to help students and families in our community. So that's that's a part of it as well. But very proud of the group that that work to put this plan together. You know, some of these plans you see they're you know all these pages long and all this. The appendices, the extra pieces here are the longest part. When you look at the strategic plan itself, I think it's very self-explanatory. has a strategic priority sections how we're going to monitor uh those pieces. So I think it's a document that we can take as a school system and really guide what we do uh you know as a district in
066the next five years and you know things change so rapidly. So this will be something that we continue to look at uh you know annually to see if we need to to work into. So uh any any questions on that? Thanks to all the people that is a big it's a big Yeah. And uh Dr. Newman obviously spent a lot of time on this and the different committees. Carrie Taylor helped us put together. So graphically it's it, you know, visually it's it's appealing. So thanks to them uh certainly for their efforts in that. All right. Another comments or questions? Items to approve Elizabeth City Schools 5-year strategic plan for the 2025 year through 2030. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? And there are none. Next item. Um to approve the board of
067education meetings for the 2526 school year. Can I get a motion to approve and a second? So I got a second there. All right. Yeah. Very typical, very standard. What we always like to do with this is look through the calendar and make sure we don't have a meeting scheduled maybe during fall break for instance or does the meeting fall you know on a holiday or something like that. So at this point the only issue we ran across was for July but you all have already approved to move that based on the TSBA legal institute. So everything else uh falls in line for the third Thursday of the month. If there obviously if there are issues that we encounter along the way, we can always uh you can look at that as a board to
068to to adjust meetings as long as we have enough time to give notice. Okay. All right. Items to approve the board of education meetings for the 2025 2026 school year. All those in favor say I. I. And any opposed? Motion carries. Next item. approve three-year pricing agreement between Elizabeth City Schools and Magic School for artificial intelligence software package. Can I get a motion to approve? So moved. So moved and I'll make a second there. So we we formed an artificial intelligence committee about three months ago to start trying to get a handle on just the vastness of artificial intelligence and how it affects the school system, how it our teachers, instruction, students, all of that. And so there's two or three big buckets that we're really focusing on. The first one and the probably the
069most important is training, you know, training on appropriate use, training on what tools are there. So you think about that, there's tools that staff can use and again you think about our students. The reality is students are already using artificial intelligence. There's no question whether they're, you know, at school, at home, they're using it. Really about anything that you do, you and I do on our phone really is affected by artificial intelligence. Everything from, you know, you talk about something and you look at Facebook and it just so happens an ad for whatever you were talking about with your wife pops up on there. Just amazing, isn't it? But there's just, it's just permeating everything in our lives. So, we feel a real sense of responsibility that it's theirs. are going to use it. It's
070our job to teach them how to use it appropriately. So, that's that's one big bucket we're looking at. Uh we've already had a couple of different trainings for staff. We've got another one uh before the school year starts with Grand Canyon University that will come in and and do some additional training for staff. Again, looking at those tools and again talking about things like it's great to use, but make sure you don't put any of your personal information in there. You know, that's that's the kind of training that we're talking about. they're going to use it. We want them to use it uh you know the right way and responsibly. So that's staff and students as well. A big part that we want to be we feel like is important as a school system. They're
071going to use it. We want to use them in in a safe way and when they're with us it's our responsibility to provide them with a tool that they can use it responsibly. So, Magic School has a component. For instance, if you go in, if any of you all have ever used Chat GPT and you go in and you you ask it to generate a reference letter or what whatever it may be, if you put any information, it takes whatever you put into it and it adds it to that knowledge base of AI. So, it continues to grow as people uh, you know, input things into it and request things. What Magic School does, it still gives students the access to all those, but Magic Schools, they pay these different AI companies like Chat GPT,
072Gemini, the different ones. They pay them for access, so the student can access that information, but nothing from the student is fed into the system, if that makes sense. So, it's basically a one-way street. They can access it. Yeah, they can access it, but their information doesn't become part of the system itself. So that's what Magic School does. We we had a demo on this uh last week and another program as well. It is massive. There are so many things in there that teachers can use, students can use. I mean it's almost overwhelming. Uh so we're also working within the region. Magic schools agreed if if there's so many student they're basing it on the number of students across the region. If we reach a certain uh level of students across the region as districts
073add on, if we reach that number of students, they'll they'll reduce the cost. So, we're looking at two or three things there. The original uh cost projection we had was it's basically cost $6 a student. If you notice this this three-year pricing agreement, this year we would only pay 350. We pay 350 per student for the first year. Next year, it would be 450. The next year, it would be 550. So, still cheaper than what our original quote was. So, this allows us to gradually work into that. It also allows us to invest a smaller amount now until we get our feel on how we can use it and make sure that it's for us. Uh they're all they will also bill us each year. So, we're not paying for all three years right now.
074We'll pay for the first year if it's approved now and we'll pay for year two, you know, this time next year. So, again, training and then we want to be able to provide a tool for our students and our teachers that we feel like safe that they can use. Uh I I won't say u it's not you know totally without some responsibility on their part but it's it's got some pretty good guard rails on it there that it's still functional but we feel like it's safe. Thank you. Any comments or questions there? It is where we are. It is. Um, so we need to do what we can. We know it be interesting to see what's next. I mean, I just think the what's next comes quicker all the time. So, um, okay. The items
075to approve. Three year three-year pricing agreement between Elizabeth and City Schools and the Magic School for Artificial Intelligence Software package. All those in favor, please say I. I. And anybody opposed? And there are none. Um, and just I'll go ahead and say uh to Bob and to Josh, this is probably your first rodeo with this next part, but it it is kind of our biggest one of our biggest responsibility is setting policy. So, we appreciate TSBA. But what I'll do, I'm going to read all the policies and then if you have questions about a particular one, then we'll let Mr. Vanus address that and we'll kind of approach it that way. So bear with me. The next item is to approve first reading of the following board policies. 1.1021 student board member 1.407 school district
076records 1.01 901 Charter School Applications 1.903 Charter School Oversight 1.905 Charter School Renewal 1.906 Charter School Revocation 2.43 Surplus Property Sales 3.202 Emergency Preparedness Plan 3.24 Threat Assessment Team 4.10 10 0 instructional program 550 discrimination harassment of employees sexual racial ethnic religious um 6304 student discrimination harassment bullying cyber bullying and intimidation 4.212 virtual education program 4301 intercolastic athletics 4.43 Library materials 4.4 406 use of internet 4.601 reporting student progress 5.10 Personnel goals 5.110 compensation guides and contracts 5.119 employment of retirees 5.305 family and medical leave 5.701 substitute teachers 6.2000 2000 attendance 6303 questioning students and searches 6.411 student wellness 6.312 use of wireless communication devices 6.60 student records 630 code of conduct 6.307 drug-free schools 6.309 3090 tolerance offenses and 6.316 suspension. Can I get a motion to approve? Good job. Yeah. Motion. A motion.
077All right. And a second. Second. All right. And again, just get them read into the record. Um now we've had a chance to see them um and see the changes. Um, so are there particular questions over any policy or there are there Mr. Van Hus things that you want to emphasize? The first one is the very first one.21 student board member. That's obviously something we've had in place for many years. There's just now the requirement for the board to have a policy. So that's a brand new policy that's not in our policy manual right now. So just wanted to draw your attention to that one. Obviously, all those those in section 1.9 there are four of those. Those those all deal with charter school rules. Everything on here except the last section that I'll talk
078to you about are a direct result of legislative action that was taken this last uh general uh assembly. So, these are all things that came directly again from TSVA. They that's one of the things that we pay for. They review our policies and they make recommendations on how to change language in the policy that meets the new state law. So that's that's the vast majority of these. Uh if there are specific questions about them that you have, I can certainly do that. The uh the other group at the bottom starting with 6.30, the code of conduct, drug-free schools, zero tolerance offenses, and suspensions. We placed th those on there after consultation with Mrs. Owen, our schoolboard attorney. As you know, there's a problem across the country with THC and how readily accessible THC is for
079really anyone and unfortunately our students. So, in in talking with her, there's some real challenges there around, okay, if you if you have a student that has a THC bait, but what kind of THC is it? There's all of these different levels. There's some THC that's just illegal for anyone to have. There's others that, you know, you can have, but obviously a student can't have. So there's some question about when you look at the zero tolerance offenses where it talks about illegal drugs typically that means something that's illegal to have period. It doesn't mean it's illegal. The the ramification for that or the intent is not that it's illegal for a student to have. That's not the intent. So based on that and the difficulty in testing, it's virtually it's super expensive and virtually impossible
080for a school system to you know every time they have one of these to take it and determine what kind it is. It's it's it's impossible. So, in light of that, what we've added to mainly in the zero tolerance offenses, you're going to have all of those offenses that were always there that are in statute. Uh so, it's the you know, all all those things, you know, violence in a school, all those things. But we've added another section that's board approved, zero tolerance. And what zero tolerance means is if this happens, this is the punishment. That's what a lot of times we just assume zero tolerance means you're out for 180 days. Well, it just so happens all those statutory ones, they're all associated with you're out of school for 180 days. But that's not
081really what the policy means. Again, it just so happens all of those uh violations result in 180 days. So, the section that we have for board says the first time a student uh you know uh is is caught with THC of any kind, they'll be suspended for 30 days. Second time will be a 90-day suspension. The third time will be 180 days. So, um that's basically what the structure is and why we felt like we needed to put that in policy again because of all the challenges on how you how you test and and again, it's just a real issue. We really need help at the state level where they make it more difficult. Uh you know, it's just it's just so easy to access. I mean, it's just so readily available and you know,
082if we do have someone that that has one. I mean, chances are there's three other people that walking by them that have one as well that we don't even know about. And, you know, it's socially it just seems like, oh, it's just a cool thing to do. You know, they just don't understand the danger, you know, behind that. So, we continue to work on educating students on that, you know, and the dangers of that. You know, be careful. You don't know what you're ingesting anytime you take one of those bait. even if it says, you know, it's just tobacco or you just you just don't know. So, that's a real problem again across the country, you know, not just here. So, I wanted to to point out those um because those are different. Those are
083ones that that we as an administration uh in uh consultation with our board attorney uh that we're recommending to the board. So, that's that whole b. The last four on the page. Is there is there any of those that you have a specific question about? Some of yours they're a little bit more difficult. They're a little more intricate. All of these for the most part were pretty self-explanatory. There's a section 4.10, 550, 6.304 that all deal with legislation passed about anti-semitism and anti-discrimination policies. So, those are all things that we're looking at changing based on those. And our attorney reviews all of these to make sure comply. And again, if we if we do ever feel like there needs to be change, we can go in and use our language, but then we still send
084it to our attorney to make sure it meets the letter of the law and everything. So that is part of what we do. But we do appreciate TSBA um and for their uh help with these things. So okay, any comments or questions? Okay. And I believe what I'm going to do here is acceptable. The items to approve first reading of the following board policies that were read into the agenda earlier. Okay. All those in favor say I. I any opposed? And there are none. All right. Again, before we mention the last meeting, thank you, Mr. Hutcherson, Mr. Hutchkins, for all your work. Look forward to maybe seeing you around again. Welcome again, Mr. Smith. Thank you so much. You honor us as did Bob for coming to be a part of us. Thank you for
085uh helping us with our responsibility here. The next uh regularly scheduled board meeting will again be Tuesday, July 15th here at 5:30. And I get a motion to adjurnn. Motion to adjurnn. All right. Have a great evening.