001and welcome to the Shelby County Board of Education March 15th meeting work session. Miss Clark, please call the role. Board member MK 18th, excuse me. Board member McKisik, present. Board member Garcia, present. Board member Murphy, present. Board. Board member Williams and Vice Chair Love present. You have five in the affirmative. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please remain standing for a moment of silence. Um, and acknowledging the untimely death of Jordan Stocks, an educational assistant at Raleigh, Egypt High School. I'd also like And I'd also like for us to keep in our hearts the family of Pastor Ricky Floyd, who also lost his life last week.
002You may be seated. The next item on the agenda is a spotlight of the arts. The chair recognizes Rashan Jenkins. Good evening. Tonight's Spotlight on the Arts performance highlights the 2025 ORF music all city concert Memphis ORF and Soul. The co-chairs for this year's concert are Jan Crrum from Chimney Rock Elementary and Julius Dabs from Riverview K8. The ORF All City concert is a tradition dating back to 1973. Wow. This unique experience provides students from our ORF music program the opportunity to perform with peers from schools across our district. As part of this collaboration, 332 students representing 60 elementary schools will sing, say, dance, and play to music arranged by our very own music teachers. Tonight's showcase will feature select elementary students from Chimney Rock, Delano, Riverview, Dexter, Kate Bun, Keystone, Oak Forest, Richland, Rosselle,
003Sherwood, and William H. Brewster. They will be performing Somebody Someday written by our very own Julius Dabs from Riverview, K8. You are all invited to attend the 55th annual All City concert on April 3rd, 2025 at 7 p.m. at the Canon Center for the Performing Arts. Thank [Applause] you. Thank I get it. I get it. Your blues may not be my blues, but you're right. The blues is for anybody. Yeah. So maybe next time you're feeling low. Maybe a good blues song is the way to go. True, true. But you know, by us being young and all, I need a little something some lit, fresh, cool, new school, some rap, some hip hop. You feel me? I feel you. Well, listen. I heard this remix on a poem by a wellknown Memphian named William Herbert
004Brewster. For real? I never heard of him. Me neither. It just came out today on my snap. That bass bounces like our boy J dribbles the ball down to the court. The lyrics are legit, too. And check this out. He even got a school named after him. Well, I'm down with I'm down for it. Are you? Let's go, DJ Towns in All City. Play that song. [Music] Pres present conditions and circumstances may make it appear that I run out of chances. odds are against me just the fact I must admit not really boasting just a fade of Memphis GR in spite of things standing in my way in spite of things I'm standing here [Music] day. I'm determined to be [Music] somebodyday. I'm determined to be somebodyday. [Music] Some may think that I made a
005very poor start. Well, maybe I have. But no worries, I handle that part. Cuz at the end of the round, I'll be on my feet. For there's something that's within me that's too hard to beat. The fight may be tough, but I'm in to stay. The fight may be tough, but I'm on my way. [Music] I'm determined to be somebodyday. I'm [Music] somebodyday. His word is on our [Music] track by ground. [Music] There are truly some things I would like to know and truly some [Music] places I would like to go. There are certainly some things that I'd like to see and something very special that I'd like to be. So let others do what they will or may. So let others do, but for me I'll say [Music] Someday I'm determined to be [Music]
006somebody. I'm determined to be somebodyday. I'm determined to be somebody. And I will be someday. Great job. [Applause] Good job. Good job. of this crazy. Tell me what you need. [Applause] Good morning. The next item is special recognitions. There are no special recognitions at the workplace. Excuse me, chair. Um, I just wanted to for my colleague, uh, board member Natalie McKenna. I wanted to acknowledge that she is present via video. So, she's out there in the internet somewhere, but she sent a text just to make sure that she There she is. All right. Hello, Natalie. Thank you. Hello. All right. The next item is the s uh interim superintendent report. Thank you, Vice Chair Love. Uh before I go into my report, I want to just thank our students for doing an outstanding job with
007the arts [Applause] today. Excellent job. Excellent job. Uh, Vice Chair Love, I'd like to request a removal of item 9.12, removal of the property seal reversion clause for the former Hollywood Elementary. And 9.13, approval of the property sale reversion clause for the former Graceland uh, elementary land from tonight's agenda for further review and discussion. I made a mistake. Approval of the agenda is next. Are there any amendments? Yes. Yes. Yes. Uh Porter, I move that we remove item 10.4 from the agenda. I'll second that. We need It's been moved and second by um Porter and Amber who Natalie. Yes. I have one addition. Are you ready for him? Um, we have to take a vote on it on the back. We have to take a vote on the item that we removed. Okay. Roll call.
008Board member McKisik. I. Board member Garcia. I. Board member Porter. Hi. Board member Murphy. I. Board member McKini. I. Board member Williams. And Chair Love. Hi. You have six in the affirmative and one nay. That motion passes. Natalie. Yes. I'd like to move to add the resolution um Shelby County Board of Education resolution to support First Aid Memphis PreK for All initiative. Second. Any objections? This resolution is added to the agenda. Are there any more? Are there further amendments? Natalie. Hello. Did you want to add something else? No, I think it's Are both of them on there? I think the other one I'll add it just to make sure because I can't see the agenda. But also resolution opposing changes in the authority of the duly elected Shelby County Board of Education. Is that already
009on the agenda? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Those were the only two. If there are no objections, the amendment is moved. Added. Are there further amendments? Being that there are no further amendments, we have a motion to adopt the agenda item as amended. I move to adopt the initial item as amended. Second. Second. Roll call vote. Board member McKisik. I. Board member Garcia. I. Board member Porter. Hi. Board member Murphy. Hi. Board member McKini. Hi. Board member Williams. Hi. Vice Chair Love. You have seven in the affirmative. The agenda is adopted. The next item of board business is this interim superintendence report. At this time, vice chair, I don't have any any report for tonight. No report. The next item is the staff business the staff item business. Yes, Vice Chair Love, I would like to request
010the removal of 9.12, approve of the property sale revision clause from the former Hollywood Elementary and 9.13, approval of the property sale reversion clause for the former Gracland Elementary land from tonight's agenda for further review and discussion. 9.12 and 9.13. It will take a 23 vote to move the items. We're moving Damn it. The first item is knowledge tree summer learning academy supplies. Vice Chair Love, it is recommended that Shelby County Board of Education approve the purchase of supplies from Knowledge Tree in the amount of $425,60 for the 2025 Summer Learning Academy. Question. The next item is Tennessee Prevention Network. Vice Chair Love, it is recommended. Shelby County Board of Education approved the amendment to contract number 82389 2024 20225 with the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services increasing the total amount
011to $90,800. This includes the original $75,600 plus an additional $15,200 with no change to the contract's end date of June 30th, 2025. Any questions? CCT technology equipment vice chairs recommend that the Shelby County Board of Education approves the purchase to Ary Jones Educational Solutions in the amount of $239,1995 for computer hardware and Unisar Spartico Sparkco Computers Inc. for deployment and asset tagging in the amount of $4,933.50 for the CCT centers. It's not a question, but in a committee meeting, I asked for um the the computers themselves. How many computers were out of compliance or out of warranty? And what I received was I think the next item was about the uh cosmetology equipment. So, it it seemed like it just a mixup, but I want the uh the computers that have been identified that's out
012of warranty to justify the amount that we're going to spend. Okay. Thank you, board member Porter. We'll get that information, too. No problem. Item 9.4. Vice Chair Love, it is recommended that the Shelby County Board of Education approves the acceptance of award funding in the amount of $100,000 from the city of Memphis. Any questions? 9.5 Cosmetology and Barbering Equipment Purchase. Vice Chair Love, it is recommended the Shelby County Board of Education approves the purchase of Kmart in the amount of 134,427.97 for the purchase of equipment for CCT cosmetology and Barbering Program in the four centers uh which include Kingsberry, Sheffield, Southwest CTC and Tresman CTC. This purchase is based on the TIPS cooperative agreement tips number 230301. Item 9.6 Shelby County Government Pre-Tild Servicesou. Vice Chair Love, it is recommended that the Shelby County Board
013of Education approves the memorandum of understanding with Shelby County government pre-child services that will allow referrals of eligible preschool age children of incarcerated parents to the early childhood program for consideration for enrollment. This partnership will enable referrals to the Memphis Shelby County Schools prek through the intake phase of the Shelby County government pre-trial services process. This opportunity will assist parents in pre-trial with enrollment into the program in the event of incarceration questions. Item 9.7 Goodwill Excel Center Midsouth. Vice Chair Love, it is recommended that the Shelby County Board of Education approves the Goodwill Excel Center Mids South to open two new locations, one in each of the zip codes, 38108 and 38134. These new locations will replace two previous approved zip codes, upholding the board's consent for GECM to operate a total of four expansion
014sites. Questions? Item 9.78. Vice Chair Love, it is recommended that the Memphis Chevy County Schools Memphis County Board of Education approves the purchase order to master distribution in the amount of 132,90 uh for 11,700 cases of bottled water at the cost of $510 per case for the district-wide distribution to students. This is for an initial purchase of $72,420 and $59,670 for the rest of the year. Any questions? The next item is an grant acceptance for the community foundation of the Greater Memphis uh Barish Chapel School. Vice Chair Love, it is recommended that the Shelby County Board of Education approves a grant of $24,959.40 40 cents from the county community from the community foundation of greater Memphis awarded to Bears Chapel School to be used to support the instructional program enhancement to the playground and support
015the athletic department. Any questions 9.10 10. The food service management um food management service. Vice Chair Love, it is recommended that the Shelby County Board of Education approves the contract for renewal of Hardland School Solutions in the amount of 227,25 for the maintenance and support of cloud hosted applications. This includes food management software subscription services in the amount of $184,500 and meal viewer digital suite in the amount of $42,75. Any questions 9.11? Vice Chair Love, it is recommended that the Shelby County Board of Education approves the contract to Smart Cents for a total amount not to exceed $827,854 to purchase 95 sensors to ensure the food stored in the warehouse, coolers, and walk-in freezers are kept in the desired temperature range. The initial service term is for three years in the amount of $538,192 with
016two additional one-year options of $144,831. This is based on MSCS RFP0110204W. Any questions? Thank you, vice chair. Just want to have clarification. So the amount of the 827,000 plus is to purchase the sensors and then there's in addition to that uh a contract for service that piggybacks onto that. Yes. For two additional one-year terms of $144,831. Okay. Thank you. We have a hand raised Natalie. Board member Natalie Kenny. Board member McKenna. Yes. I didn't say anything. Your hand is raised. You hit your You hit your hand button. Oh, it is. I'm sorry. That was a long time ago. Ignore that. Did you have a question? Not on that. No. Um the next two items are removed. Chiller service uh maintenance contract 94. Thank you, Vice Chair Love. It is recommended that the Shelby County Board
017of Education approves the contract to Kim Treat, Inc. in the amount of $174,430 for prevent for preventative maintenance services for all district chillers. This is a one-year contract with two one-year renewal options. Any questions? Um, board member Keith Williams. Does this provide for any new chillers or just service? I'll defer to Miss Stewart. It's just service. It's just the chemicals that go in the water that's in the chiller. So, how many chillers are you servicing? All chillers in the district. How many is that? Um, so some schools have two chillers and some schools have three. I would have to get you an accurate number to tell you exactly how many. And what are they going to do in this service? So if you don't treat the water with these chemicals, then the pipes get all
018uh corroded and blocked up. Um it's think of it as like freon or antifreeze in your car like changing the oil in your car. It's the same thing with the chiller. But this is not this is water for the cooler for the for the uh air conditioning system. Is that correct? Yes, sir. It's not drink. Okay. one five vice chair maintenance department utility trucks vice chair love it is recommended that the Shelby County Board of Education approved the purchase of 14 vans and one truck for the district's facility maintenance team for84 47,495 from Ham's Motor Company. Any questions? Yeah, just one. Sorry. Um, Amber, the the slide reads 600,000 and we just heard 800 and something thousand, which is the correct number. It's in red, so I assume maybe we did change it after the
019fact, but I just want to clarify what the cost is. Uh, Miss Stewart, just one second. I'll pull up my documentation. The correct cost is $847,495 from Helms Motor Company. Point of order. So, we just need to make the proper corrections. Thanks. Uh, please update that slide. And then I my question was what is the useful life of a utility truck? How often do we need to purchase these sewer? So um you'll notice in those uh in the description in background or maybe it's on the next slide. Can you go a slide down Miss Timberlake? Um this is all the wrong slide altogether. I apologize. Um I'll make sure the board office has the correct one. Um, so we have vehicles that are o over a 100,000 miles you see there and some over 200,000
020miles over 20 years. So what we're trying to do is get retire some of those that are constantly in the shop. And going forward we will have a rolling budget line item every year so that our fleet never gets this old and so that we have a truck for every person to drive every maintenance tech. That makes sense. Thank you. Board member Williams, your light is on. The Any more questions? The U I'm sorry, it's this is for member McKini. I'm sorry, it's a echo, so I want to make sure that I understood. The cost is $600,000. I think the reference to the 700,000 was to what the cost of repairs have been. Is that right? No, board member McKenna, the cost is $847,495. We need to update that slide. Okay, I appreciate that. And
021if I if I recall during our board committee meeting as well where you explained what you were doing there, one of the things we can do is also retire some of those vehicles and we can potentially auction them. Yes. Okay. Thank you 916. Vice Chair Love, it is recommended that the Shelby County Board of Education approve the contract for the fire system upgrades at Germantown High School uh to state system for $986,775. Any questions? 9.17. Vice Chair Love, it is recommended that the Shelby County Board of Education approve the contract to AM Construction, Inc. for $257,37820 for the auditorium sound and stage lighting upgrades at Weiss Station High School. Uh, board member Williams, do you have a question? Going back to Germantown, are we not getting out of that building before we put that kind
022of money in it? When will they be moving? What is the expectation that they will have a school? Seven years. Yes, we still have another seven years. They will be in that school another seven years that they're in possibly. I thought we had a contract on something. Yes. No, sir. Not at this time. We're We're still looking uh board member Williams, we're still looking for land for the new east school. So, how much money are you going to put into that building? How how much is this? If we go back to the Germantown slide, it says $986,775. That's a lot of money. Right at a million dollars to tear down. That's a lot of money. I have I have a question. Um, if the timing is right, we can move that sound system to another
023school once we it's I think we're talking about two separate schools. This is Germantown. We went back to item 916. The sound system is at White Station 9.17. Yeah, the fire system. One is a fire system and the other is a sound system. And Dr. Richmond, correct me. This is a matter of safety. So, this is a kind of a non-negotiable. Correct. That is correct. Correct. Any more questions? While it is a matter of safety, we do have a a process by which we service schools. And I know that there are some schools who've been waiting a long time for heating, for air, and for certain things. And I want to make sure that the rotation is proper. And we're not putting money into a building that we are about to abandon because there are
024schools who don't have heat and air already. And I know that you have this process for doing it, but I want to make sure that it is amicable and fair. Thank you, board member Williams. Uh, I'd also like for Mr. Langston to just kind of weigh in to give a little more context. Mr. Langston. Thank you, Dr. Richmond. Members of the board, I want to point our attention to the gap analysis. And you'll see here that currently the building is under what's called firewatch. That means when we don't have working fire components in the building, we have to do it. We are spending $24,192 a month on a firewatch. So, um, over the the the span of time is going to pay for itself. So either we have to do firewatch by code or we
025replace the components of the building. So it's either or. So we have to spend the money and it makes sense to go ahead and take care of the equipment. It's not just for uh Germantown, but that's any of our buildings. One of the things we'll talk about in our board retreat is some life safety issues that we have. And again, when we have fire marshals to come out and they assess our components of the of life safeties, particularly in fire, if we don't have working fire systems, we have to have some people around the clock watching the building in case um something happens. Under fire watch? No, sir. How many other schools are? I can get we can get there for you um u quickly fairly quickly but um even in your district in one
026of the schools the fire marshall came by white haven during spring break this month so again with those components for a firewatch we're either going to have to pay for a roundthe-clock firewatch and eventually we have to replace those components of those buildings. Yeah, I was just concerned because I do know that we will be abandoning that buildings at some point and to put this kind of money in it and their schools are still without in the same condition that we're not doing it. So, I don't know how much sense it makes. Yes, sir. I think that's a fair statement. Again, we're going to spend it one way or the other. We're going to either spend it on the firewatch or we're going to replace the fire system. Um and at 24,000 uh over the
027course of a year, we would have spent over close to $300,000 in just one year. And depending on what we do with no eventually solving for North Eastern Region High School, this would have paid for itself um in a two-year span. Good. Good a good evening. I'm sorry. Uh board member McKenna, you have a question. Yes. Thank you. I think I think one of the clarifications that I think some of us would like to to know, I know at least I would, is um what is what are the parameters for returning um or providing that school to Germantown in seven years? Is it something that we are merely handing over or are there um some sort of contractual terms in terms of um getting any compensation for that building? If so, then anything that we're
028putting into the building would be part of um increasing the value of that building. So, while I totally agree that we need to make sure this the the uh building is safe, I have no problems with that. But to the question that I think um vice chair love was leading to it was about the lighting system and there were some other things that we've done to make that building um more um usable and um for our students that are currently in that school. So that's some clarification I think we would need to have for all of us as we move down this road. So, so board member McKenna, is that a statement or do you want me to ask Mr. Langston uh to answer that question? Uh, I think it's both. Okay. Mr. Langston, would
029you answer that question for board member McKenna? Yes, sir. Uh, again, members of the board, Dr. Richmond. Uh, board member McKenna, excellent question. Um what I would say is that again we still own Germantown High School. Under the resolution that we have with the county commission is that um the proceeds of the sale of this school um in legislation we have seven years. So the proceeds of the sale of that school will will still belong to us and we will use that towards a future high school obviously a northeast region high school as well. So you brought up a great component even that um is a selling point. So obviously when it comes time to sell the building, it'll be appraised and one of the appraisals obviously it's a life safety thing. We'll have a
030new fire system in it and then they should raise the cost of the appraisal of the building when it's time to sell it if that makes sense. Right. And we also added a new gym floor. Correct. Yes, ma'am. And again, the gym floor is is for the athletes. So with them being uh able to compete over the next however long we're in that building, we just wanted to have an opportunity for um them as well. But to your point, the gym floor will be a part of it. It raises the the value of the building. So again, when it time when it's time to appraise it and ultimately sell the building, it'll go towards the proceeds of whatever new East Region High School we uh buy. Right. So these are cap these are capital improvements
031that we're making that will add value to the um the possible sale of the built. Correct. Yes. Okay. Thank Thank you. Thank you. Now, do we have any more questions about 9.17? Question, the summation that I have is that I don't think Germantown has the is not their plan to to use the facility. They plan to tear it down and build a mall or something is what they have on their records. So, that will not be we're not building it for another school. We're moving because we no longer own the property and we, you know, we having to relocate because of the merger, but their intent is not to build the school. That's correct. Uh, TGO um, Mr. Chair recognizes vice chair love. Uh, Mr. Tito, can the fire alarm system be moved to another
032school? Answer that for me, Mr. Langston. Thank you, Dr. Richmond. Excellent question, Miss Love. Parts of it could possibly be be um what I would say is that would depending on the size of a school, it would have to be retrofitted for that size of a school. So, I don't want to there's a it's a yes and a no. parts of the components could be used for it. Um, but not it it's not necessarily a uh take it away and then replace it with another one if that makes sense. And I have a another question. Um, superintendent, it isn't on the agenda, but it is the same as um this school. Um, I would like a presentation to go before the board. Lucy E. Campbell. It is in the same situation as to school, Germantown
033High School. It's not on the agenda, but I would like a presentation. within that presentation, what what would you like for us to share with you, Vice Chair Love? Where the kids are going to go, um the time frame and the um community meetings because we don't want to wait till the last minute. Thank you for that uh clarification. I think uh we're talking about there's Lucy E. Campbell and there's Lucy Campbell. Uh for the le for the listening audience that's in a similar position there. Lucy E. Campbell which is located in my district um eastern uh Shelby County. Yes. Near Millington. Yeah. Yes. Millington acquired the building several years ago and they are turning that into uh school and we need to keep all those students. Yes, ma'am. We'll bring you a presentation. For
034the record, I am I'm here tonight. Joyce Doris Coleman. For the record, I was told I need to announce that I am here. I was sorry I'm late. I was traveling. The chair recognizes board member Murphy. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just for clarity, when are we um going to demolish the school? I think this is Germantown, right? Is this what you talking about? Yeah, Germantown because he go ahead. Go ahead. Yes. Uh we will not demolish the school. What board member Williams was speaking to is if and when the schools are turned back over to Germantown Municipal District. Okay. What we've been told will the the schools will be demolished, but we don't know that for a fact until that happens. Okay. Thank you for clarity. The chair recognizes board member Williams. Yeah. Thank you.
035Okay. Are there any further questions on 9.17? Not. We're moving on. We're now on to board items. The chair recognizes Mr. Anisha Clark. The first item is 10.1 approval resolution declaring review of the Shelby County Board of Education policy manual. resolution declaring review of the Shelby County Board of Education policy man. Whereas the Shelby County Board of Education, hereby referred to as the board, is responsible for compiling and publishing an official operating policy manual. And whereas pursuit to the Tennessee code anointed 49-2206, the policy man manual must be updated every two years. And whereas from September 2024 through February 2025, the board conducted a comprehensive review of the policy manual led by the Office of Governmental Affairs and Compliance. Be it resolved that the board hereby confirms its fulfillment of the statutory obligations to review
036the policy manual as required by Tennessee co code anointed 49-2-06 and committed to the ongoing review and updates of the policy on this day the 25th day of March 2025 sponsored by policy governance and legislative Committee co-chairs Natalie J. McKini, District 2, and Stephanie Love, District 3. Are there any questions or comments on that resolution, proposed resolution? I just want to all of the changes that we suggested and agreed upon during policy retreats, have they all been updated and are they reflected in the board docs version of our policy manual? Is Miss Stewart or Miss Wade here? Thank you, Miss Wade. This is Natalie Kenny. If I can hold on, hold on one moment. Let Miss Wade answer and then you can go. I'll tell you when just a second, please. Thank you, Superintendent, Madam
037Chair. Um, yes. Um, we are in the process of making those revisions now. Once they are made, we will bring them forward as proposed revisions so that you all may, um, provide your feedback. we will bring them forth according to the review process and then upon your approval those will be published to the manual. Okay. So this resolution just acknowledging that we've done we've given our review of all the policies but we will still have to go through the the multiple readings for each policy to adopt the changes that we suggested. That's correct. What the resolution is saying is that we have met the requirement of the law to do the review. Now, we will go back and we will do the work of what we have brought forward as recommendations, what you all have
038requested as far as revisions. So, we're in that process now. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you. The chair recognizes board member McKenna. No, I think she responded to it. Thank you. You're welcome. The chair recognizes board member Williams. How will policy? You will have a lot of policies to redo with the new laws that have been passed in the state legislature. For example, cell phones in the school. Now, if they have passed that, our policy will obviously have to change because to address how they will be used and how we will m handle that process along with the other legislative changes that the state legislature are currently trying to put on this district. I guess policy has to go back and reconsider all of those things to make sure that we're in sync with
039them. Yes. Yes. Board member Williams. Each and every year we review and update policies as they change based on statute and that impacts our policies, right? Yes, sir. State legislature. Okay. Yes, sir. The chair recognizes vice chair love. Interim superintendent. How often do you go over policies with the employees? Uh, that's an excellent question, Vice Chair Love. Um, I sent out policies regularly uh to employees. Most of the employees will tell you as part of my Monday memo, particularly this year, I've sent policies out. If I see where there's certain policies uh that we see uh people are not adhering to uh we send those policies as a reminder. What are the consequences for not following a policy? All all policies state uh first of all we want to use progressive discipline but up into
040termination is what most policies state um in the policy. Final question. Is the principal responsible for making sure all the staff in her um her building or his building administers to the policies. Yes. Uh but as recently as today uh the team will tell you that I have requested that as we onboard new employees uh we go over policies as part of their uh onboarding process because I've been on the board for 11 years and I don't know every policy but Um the employees have to know policy as it relates to our children. I totally agree and again the team will tell you as well as principles and people in the field uh this year I have sent policies weekly for them to review. Um may I add a suggestion? You can do videos. Yes,
041ma'am. Thank you. Thank you. Bo, the chair recognizes board member McKenna. Thank you, um, Vice Chair Love for asking those questions. I'd also like to um make an observation and also um a suggestion for Dr. Richmond's consideration. Um one, I I'd like to thank Dr. Richmond for attending the policy retreat. Um I believe you might be the first super um superintendent that's done done that. Secondly, have you have you considered uh doing anything on an annual basis? I know that you all have your um principles um retreat I don't know no training right before school starts and I know at one time the district did um in invite the policy office in to train the principles on a regular basis on policies that were pertinent to not only the operation of the schools but also
042that were pertinent for their their teachers and their staff and um have I'd like to ask you to consider something to that effect in addition to continuing to do what you do which is on a consistent and regular basis um bring policies that are relevant to the attention of your staff in administration. So thank you. Thank you board member McKenna. Uh my team will tell you I I often reflect on when I was an assistant principal and my first assistant principal assignment and the principal that I had at the time would make me take home the policy manual each and every day which at that time was a big blue notebook for those of you all who've been around for a while. Uh now all of our policies are online but again most of the
043staff will tell you I often talk of policy and I'm often uh reminding the team of following policy. What I would like for us to do more of is to evaluate policy. Implementation and evaluating policy are extremely important because we may have some policies uh that are either outdated or antiquated that we need to look at but we also need to be reviewing them to ensure that they're being implemented with fidelity. So, uh thank you for that question. Uh and we will uh ensure that we're training principles as well as other staff on policy. Thank you. And one You're welcome. One followup to that, while you are checking on the if they're being implemented with Fidelity, may I suggest that you also think about the impact. Is it actually what you need? And so, um,
044and and how you need it. So, thank you for that. Yeah. And if you all recall, the one thing that stood out during our retreat was the example policy that tied student goals and expectations. and we discussed if we wanted to add that component particularly around student achievement so that we would make sure that our policies aligned with our core business which was student achievement which was I appreciate that reminder. Thank you. Yes, I appreciate that. Thank you. Any more? We move to 10 10.2 to approval resolution opposing changes in elected school board's authority. Miss Clark Okay, I'm trying to navigate this. Hold on for me. All right. Um board members, this is a resolution that I have brought before you today given the uh what is going on now with the proposed bill 662
045and any other uh proposed bills from the state that may impact our authority as an elected body. I'm trying to get to see the All right. So I'll read that into the record. resolution opposing changes in the authority of the dulyeleed Shelby County Board of Education. Whereas Memphis Shelby County Schools is the largest school district in Tennessee, serving over 100,000 students and plays a critical role in the education and development of the children and families in our community. And whereas the Shelby County Board of Education recognizes the importance of continuous governance, training, and development to enhance its effectiveness and has proactively engaged in these efforts to strengthen district leadership and oversight. And whereas the Shelby County Board of Education has demonstrated its commitment to long-term academic success by directing the superintendent to develop an academic
046plan within 90 days and by seeking to engage a consultant to help establish new district-wide goals following the conclusion of destination 2025. And whereas the board has identified and prioritized strategic actions including the development of a comprehensive academic plan, academic accountability measures, and a facilities plan to address immediate and long-term needs of the district. And whereas MSCS has acted in full accordance with all applicable state laws and board policies, ensuring responsible and legally sound governance in the best interest of Shelby County's children and families. And whereas local governance of public schools ensures that decisions are made by elected representatives who are directly accountable to the residents of Memphis and Shelby County, reflecting the unique needs, challenges, and priorities of our community. And whereas efforts to alter or diminish the authority of the dulyeleed Shelby County
047Board of Education through legislative or executive action undermine the fundamental principles of local control and democratic representation in public education. And whereas state interventions, including the Tennessee Achievement School District, al also known as ASD, in public school governance, have historically yielded mixed or negative results, often leading to disruptions in student learning, loss of local oversight and accountability, and a diminished role for community stakeholders in decision-making processes. And whereas where whereas there has been no evidence presented to justify any legislative or executive action to diminish or al alter the authority of the Shelby County Board of Education, particularly as the board has been actively addressing governance and strategic planning priorities in good faith. And whereas the Shelby County Board of Education recognizes that the most effective way to improve student achievement is through collaboration with stakeholders,
048including parents, educators, community leaders, and local elected officials rather than through state imposed governance changes that may not align with the needs of our students. And whereas proposed changes to the governance of MSCS would divert attention and resources away from ongoing local efforts to improve academic performance, student support services, and long-term strategic planning for the district. And whereas a coalition of community organizations, faith leaders, and education advocates have voiced strong opposition to any efforts to diminish the authority of the Shelby County Board of Education, emphasizing the importance of locally driven decision-making in public education. And now therefore, it be resolved that the Shelby County Board of Education formally opposes any legislation or executive actions that would alter, diminish, or transfer its authority to any external governing body and urges the Tennessee General general assembly, the
049governor, and the state department of education to respect the autonomy and responsibilities of the dulyeleed school board. And be it further resolved that the Shelby County Board of Education calls upon all elected officials representing Memphis and Shelby County, including the Shelby County Commission, Memphis City School, I'm sorry, Memphis City Council, the Shelby County and City of Memphis mayors, to publicly oppose any governance changes that would weaken the authority of the Shelby County Board of Education and support the continued local governance of of MSCS. And be it further resolved that the Shelby County Board of Education directs the superintendent and district leadership to continue engaging with state legislators, community leaders, and stakeholders to advocate against any actions that would alter its governance structure, and to reaffirm MSCS's commitment to student centered leadership and continuous district improvement.
050And be it further resolved that the Shelby County Board of Education calls upon other school boards across Tennessee to join in opposition to any legislative or executive measures that seek to limit the authority of dulyeleed school boards and disenfranchise voters by stripping locally elected officials of their governance responsibilities. And be it further resolved that copies of this resolution shall be sent to the governor of Tennessee, the Tennessee General Assembly, the Tennessee Department of Education, the Shelby County Commission, the Memphis City Council, and other relevant stakeholders to ensure broad awareness of the board's position. Chair recognizes Go ahead. I'm sorry. I was getting the questions. U board member Kenny. Mhm. The chair recognizes vice chair love. Um, Miss McKini, I wanted to be added on a sponsor. And the second question is super uh interim superintendent,
051can you ask Angela Whitaw to get me the data on literacy rates in Tennessee as a whole? and to compare our literacy rates to that of the Tennessee House um the Tennessee um statewide. Uh Vice Chair Love, we will work on we will work on getting that data uh for the team. Um, I want it in this meeting because I have another question in the queue. Okay. I'll ask uh Bill Wyatt. Can you help us, Mr. White, with the literacy rates uh across the state? US and for compared to the state. Yeah. Are you able to pull it up now? I'm sorry. I may I may need a few minutes, but yes. Thank you. I'll wait. Well, you'll wait and we're going to and then we'll come back. Okay. The chair recognizes board member Murphy.
052Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, Commissioner McKenna, I would like to be added to this uh resolution as well. Thank you. Thank you. So, we want I know for starters we were at 27 We were at 27.5 uh for literacy. Uh, Mr. White. So, what we may need to do is look at what the state's literacy rate was compared to our 27.5. The state is not doing too well in literacy as a whole. The board of education is reliant on the state to do TECAP testing. curriculum and a whole list of other things. I will wait to next week to um ask some more questions. The state needs to do a better job in the state. Don't focus on us. do a better job in the state. Chair recognizes board member Hu Garcia. Thank you. I
053think over the last few days I've been pretty vocal that the the triggering event or at least the supposed triggering event for this I stood on a different side of several of my colleagues up here, the majority of my colleagues up here. Um, I feel like I've been working hard to find common ground to that we all agree on more than we don't. But I also understand that the community wants to see some change, but relinquishing our democratic right to choose leaders is not it. I stand in opposition to anything that resembles a full takeover of stripping rights. Um that puts the power in voters hands. But I want to acknowledge that we can't maintain the status quo. And it does not feel good to say I told you so. It that doesn't feel good.
054But that that is the that is the shaking anger which a lot of community members feel. But there has to be a middle ground and I am working on that with other community leaders right now hopefully that we can get to a different path. But hear me threatening democracy is not it. So I'll support this resolution. Thank you. The board recognizes Vice Chair Love. Um, board member Amber Garcia. I don't know if you were listening to the meeting this morning. Chair White indicated that he has been working on this bill for two years. I have been on the board for 11 years. And there is always mention of a state takeover. The ASD was a dumping ground in my community. I heard on the um meeting today that six schools came off the priority list.
055Where did all the other students? What happened to them? Frasier was taken over by the state and in 10 years they had five superintendents. I agree with you. It needs to be changed. We are doing a disservice if we let one student go by the wayside. We are all elected officials. Our community voted us in and they can feel free to vote us out. The state doesn't have a say so in this. Um, of course they do have a say so, but we have a capable super uh interim superintendent and the uh uh the chiefs of our departments are doing the best job they can and I'm willing to bet the teachers are doing the best job they can't kids can't learn if they aren't in school. Um there are a myriad of issues that
056go along with the school system and we can't fix that by ourselves. The chair recognizes board member McKisik. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just thought I would weigh in on this regarding this resolution, which I'm inclined to add my name to it, but it would be a bit disingenuous for us as a board to state that actions taken place over the last couple of months did not contribute. It was the um we we kind of handed them what they wanted on a silver platter. Yes, this has been a concern where Representative White has sought to um intervene on this school district for quite some time, but at the time in which this was taking place, MSCS was not on their radar at that time. They were focused on their vouchers in this particular moment. Um and
057so the actions taken by the board fasttracked it and brought it to the forefront. And then they had the they had the support of the community that overwhelmingly were outraged with the actions of this board. And so that also contributed toward where we are today. I think it's a very rash decision what uh is being attempted in Nashville by legislators there. And I'm disappointed by the vote taking place today in subcommittee and what is surely to come. But at the same time, as I've stated before, this is just not good for our community, for voters to have their voice squashed out. And so, as a result of that, I I will sign my name onto this resolution because I too along with everyone on this board believes in a democracy where voters get to choose
058who represents them. Thank you. The chair recognizes board member Murphy. Thank you, Madam Chair. I agree with my colleagues. Um, we are in we are in a position where we have to come together as one, no matter what our differences may be. I stood out there in front of central office two years ago when they tried to uh take over the school or even add managers over the nine of the commissioners and I wasn't a commissioner at the time but I disagreed with it. So I stood in front of central office to uh speak up for the commissioners that was sitting at the time and where we are now. It is stripping our power away from us. Voters nullification is where we are and what they're trying to do. We were well within our rights
059and I think they overstepped their boundaries. But what happened with them that pushed them over the top was the county commissioners voting for us being incompetent. That was their end to say that these commissioners don't know how to do their job. But we were well within our rights. And I am happy that we have our interim superintendent because we see the change and the change is different. The atmosphere in this place is different and we want to move forward to get our district back on track. So, we don't need to backtrack. We need to fight a little bit harder because this is our district. This is our city. These are our children and it's up to us to make the difference in the lives of these children. It is not their decision. It is our
060decision. And we need to keep our power. So we have to do what we need to do to move to the next level. What's happened has happened. We can't change that. But we do have to do our jobs. We do have to follow policy and that's what we've done. Thank you. Thank you. Chair recognizes board member Porter. Hey, thank you, Madam Chair. um since since I've been elected, I've we've spent almost all of my time talking about the recent personnel changes that we've made. And so now we find ourselves in a situation where we have to regain public trust. So I I definitely sign on to the resolution as well because I'm not for state takeovers or interventions, whatever way they want to use the word. But um yeah, we have to get it right.
061We have to get it right. And so um we don't have all the answers. I ran for school board to try to be a part of the solutions. So, we don't have all the answers, but I'm willing to work and collaborate with uh with all stakeholders that's involved in this. Chair recognizes Vice Chair Love. Chair recognizes board member Williams. Thank you. We may not have all the answers, but we do know right from wrong. And we do know that we did what was right and what was good for this community and this city. There is no part of me that tells me that Mark White and that whole group cares anything about Memphis and Shelby County. So you can't come to my house making rules for me and I why we need to be dice
062about it and candid about it. The truth will stand and what they attempted to do or attempted to do. You can't go back and put that on this elected board. You cannot come to Memphis because we all the black part of this state and take advantage of the citizens here. You've done it for years and you've destroyed tried to destroy Tennessee State University. What else you going to do? So, I do not make it an apologist for the things that they've done and it didn't work and it won't work. There's no way that Mark White and his group or his minions has control of what goes on in Memphis. They don't vote here. They don't live here. And if at the end of the day, the citizens of Memphis proper pay to support public education
063and that's what we use. State doesn't give us that kind of money. We get money out of the the taxpayer dollars from this county. And so they are elected as we are and you don't come here with your rightsizing something. Fix what you're doing. Fix your area where you are in the city council in the county commission. We got this. So we don't need for you to come. If you want to be a school board member, then run for that position. So, I make no apologies, but I certainly have uh some some reservations about anything that they serve because it is not for the good of my children and this community. And I lived and I came through this district, taught this district for 50 years and stayed in the district for a long time,
064educated here. I know this district and I know what they know about us. We are the only African-Americans district in this state that they're coming for and there's a reason. Thank you. Board member McKenna, will you please add my name? Yes. Um I I have my head on head hand up, but you want Go ahead. Okay. Um first I want to say I want to make sure I got everybody's name. Is everybody signing on? I can't see everybody that's there. Yeah. Yes, everybody signing on. Yes, ma'am. Okay. And I appreciate that. I I do want to put some framing on this. Um I heard several things in um all of my fellow board members making a statement about this. I think that we need to um be let's avoid being disingenuous and talking about the
065why of this. I think that we all need to recognize not only as board members, new board members sitting on this board, but also as the more seasoned board members on this board, but that the state has been involved in trying to take over this district for decades. This is not um simply a one-time thing and we sort and as I think one of the board members said we opened the door I think maybe this is more of for the state this was yes it was an opportunity this was a this is an opportunistic grab for lack of a better way to say we um might have disagreed on the decision we made that perpetuated this however as we all understand and have began to learn about governance is that when the board makes a
066democratic decision, when the majority rules, whether there are those who agree or disagree, when the majority rules, that is the decision of the board. So, I I appreciate everyone bringing um bringing to light sort of their thoughts around what may or may not have partic pre precipitated this, but I do want to say that we have to be reminded as I think board member Love has said over and over again, that we too are elected officials and we are held accountable through a democratic process and that is called voting. And we made a decision and I'm sure we're going to make more decisions that may be unpopular. For instance, we're getting ready to go through facilities plan. We're going to create a plan. We're going to have to shut down and consolidate schools and that
067doesn't make anyone happy. So, I want to say this that we have heard we we heard from community around that decision. We made the personnel decision. We're now hearing from community about the takeover. And I think community as a whole are like, "No, we don't want our democratic rights to be taken away. We do not want to be disenfranchised because that's exactly what this move with the state would do. I further want to um emphasize that we did seek to um talk to Chair White for alternatives, seeking alternatives that would be inclusive of the community. I think I shared that with the board during the policy retreat that we had a couple of weeks ago. We had what we called the intergovernmental um um Asia advisory council where we wanted to seek some of the
068same things that I find interesting that are in that piece of legislation where we wanted to work collaboratively with the community and make sure that they had some some eyes and transparency into and window into sight into what we were doing and offer suggestions and advice on how to move forward collectively. So I think um as we move forward as a board and do our governance work I think we have this um we don't need this in our way to get that done and so I appreciate everyone's comments. I appreciate more importantly what I appreciate is that we are all on the same page when it comes to this. We can agree to disagree, but the one thing that I know we all agree to is that we all, as my board, my fellow board
069member um board member McKin, vice chair love said, we all stood in the hot sun. The time board members, our parliamentarian has you on a time and the time has be quiet. Be quiet. Thank you. Thank you. The board, the chair recognizes board member love. Um, thank you Natalie for your comments. Um, the turnaround state project is doing well in two of my schools. That is comprised of the board, the principal and parents and the school board members. They got that right. one that is doing well in my district. We don't need a state takeover. We need the same thing as the turnaround work that the state implemented and we have the mechanism to duplicate that in all of our schools. if the state so chooses. Tresmin and Hawkins Mill are off the list because
070of that. the teachers, parents, and students and this board along with the board of education staff members work together to create a plan and that is the ending solution. We don't need a takeover. We need collaboration from the state and the county and the city to get our kids where they need to be. Thank you everyone. Now we move to 10.3 and this the strengthen governance through collaboration resolution and this is a resolution that has been read a couple of times but we had to have some edification done and we just want to make sure that the everything is correct on it one last time before Tuesday. We'll turn it over to board member Porter. Yeah. So, um because I think it may be corrected online, but I think the ones that we have in
071front of us has the wrong language. But just a quick overview is exactly what um board members love just said. This was a a proactive resolution to uh speak to what's been happening. And so, we do need more collaboration and now more so than ever just to rebuild community trust. So, this is what this particular resolution that we'll um that we'll vote on next for the next board meeting. This is what this speaks to. So, more so collaboration and and and how do we what does rebuilding community trust looks like within this within this resolution? Any questions on it? No questions. We'll move to 10.4. Approval resolution approving MSCS board member strategic school fund allocations for March. Um, they will be read into record on Tuesday if you have not turned all your allocations in.
072Yes, I have not yet. I will get them in before Thursday. Uh, Superintendent, is this the last that we can do for this school year or can we continue in April and May. I'll check with staff to see. Okay. So, we may have to govern ourselves according board members if this is the last that we can do with our school funding with our strategic uh fund allocations. I'm sorry. Um, for chair Coleman, I think we received an email indicating that that this would be the last month so that they could close whatever they need to do in terms of closing the books for this year. Okay. This is the last month. So, if you have school allocation funding that you would like to spend, please get it to Karen by Friday. I know we're traveling
073Friday, but please, so she can have time to put them all in, please. There being no therefore being there being no further business this meeting is a journ have a actually well we have one other thing I'm sorry we have I'm sorry it's not in my in my paperwork here it's not in the parliamentarians is it the prek yes the prek is there I know it wasn't added the strip. It wasn't added. No. Yeah. I do apologize. Miss board member Kenny. We can Okay. Um, thank you. You're welcome. I'm going to read this. Thank you. Um, and I think is board member McKisick still there? No. Okay. Um, this is a resolution that's being presented by both myself and board member McKisik. If there are any questions, I do have um, Candace Thomas in the
074um, audience available for any questions. But let me go ahead and read this in. Shelby County Board of Education resolution to support first eight Memphis PreK for all initiative. Whereas Memphis Shelby County Schools Early Childhood Program serves approximately 5200 preK students annually. And whereas First 8 funds 50 preK classrooms operated by MSCS benefiting approximately 1,000 students. And whereas research indicates that 90% of brain development occurs before the age of five, underscoring the critical importance of highquality early childhood education in promoting cognitive, social, and emotional development. And whereas increased access to highquality prek is a strategic investment that yields long-term benefits including improved academic achievement, enhanced workforce readiness, reduce criminal activity, and improve overall economic and community well-being. And whereas expanding access to highquality prek is a strategy to close opportunity gaps and promote educational equity
075for all children in Memphis and Shelby County. And whereas a service gap currently exists for MSCS families whose household income exceeds income eligibility requirements but would still benefit from publicly funded prek programs. And whereas the term of prek for all refers to a high quality program dedicated to preparing all Memphis and Shelby County students for lifelong success. And whereas prek for all ensures that every three and four year old in Memphis and Shelby County um Okay. Huh. year is moving to best enhanced work. Okay. I guess whereas um increased research indicates 90% of brain development occurs before the age of five underscoring the critical importance of highquality early childhood education and promoting cognitive, social, and emotional development. And whereas increased access to highquality prek is strategic investment is a strategic investment that yields long-term benefits
076including improved academic achievement, enhanced workforce readiness, reduce criminal activity, and improve overall economic and community well-being. And whereas expanding access to high qu high quality prek is a strategy to close opportunity gaps and promote educational equity for all children in Memphis and Shelby County. And whereas a service gap currently exists for MSCS families who whose household income exceeds income eligibilities but would still benefit from publicly funded prek programs. And whereas the term prek for all refers to a high quality program dedicated to preparing all Memphis Shelby County students for lifelong success. And whereas prek for all ensures that every three and four year old in Memphis and Shelby County has access to highquality publicly funded early childhood education regardless of income. And whereas prek aims prek for all aims to enhance the alignment of program
077quality across all providers by promoting high quality standards across all prek programs within Memphis Shelby County Schools. And whereas early childhood program would be able to serve additional prek students annually. And whereas MS MSCS can leverage blended and braided funding strategies utilizing state voluntary prek investments alongside local and philanthropic funding to maximize resources for highquality prek programs. Be it therefore resolved that the Shelby County Board of Education will work in collaboration with joint city and countyapp appointed prek fiscal agent and other local stakeholders to ensure access, quality, and data sharing necessary to implement, sustain, and continuously support PK for all. Be it further resolved that the Shelby County Board of Education expresses a strong support for um PK4A, advocating for the expansion of access to early childhood education, the increase of publicly funded prek seats,
078and the establishment of highquality standards for the all preK classrooms within Memphis Shelby County Schools, ensuring that every child, regardless of income, has an opportunity to benefit from highquality early childhood education. Sponsored by Naval J. McKenna District 2 and Michelle McKit District 1. Just for FYI, if you all are not aware, uh the county and the city are currently involved in are currently um moving through their process a joint ordinance to um um to establish a fiscal agent to to um I guess to raise funds to um allocate resources and help us to stand up high quality prek seats for all students regardless of their income level. Yeah, that is awesome to hear. Board member McKenna. We've suffered too many times that a child is a dollar or less sometimes over the income bracket and
079they cannot attend one of the preK classes. So, the collaboration, this is what we're talking about, working together. So all of our children will be able to receive those services. Thank you. Thank you. Vice Chair Love, the board recogni the chair recognizes Vice Chair Love. Sign my name on the dotted line. This is amazing considering the benefit it will have for early prek and our school system. The data shows that the earlier a child can get into prek, they are most likely to succeed. I have four children who all went through prek. They are doing well in their lives. Um Ro uh Superintendent Rod Richmond, I have a question for you. Um, how many seats are uh do we have in prek that accommodate four year olds? I defer to Miss Gordon. Miss Gordon. Good
080evening to interim superintendent um Dr. Richmond and board commissioners. We're currently a funded 5200 in first state we're thousand students with Head Start is 3,200 and then with the VPK it's uh of course you know we do the blended funding with VPK and Head Start so it's 1460 and then we have the 1520. How many seats are needed in Shelby County alone? Well, when we look at the research and when we look at the number of students that are the live birth rates, we need and then when we look at our kindergarten enrollment, we serve a little bit over 10,000 kindergarten students. I know at one time we talked about having a one for one match with the number of kindergarten students that we serve in the school district that we would have that number
081of prek students, but total there's a total of 12,000. I think it's a little over 12,100 and something uh live births of number of children that are being born in the county around four year old for that that would match the four-year-old seats that we will need. And the next question, if this funding is available um your um first aid is going to disperse them seats all across Memphis. So from from my understanding is that the city and the county would come together and they would decide the number of seats that they would add per year to get to the overall goal the prek for all. So each each year the seats will increase until we are able to totally fund preK just like the state did with kindergarten where they gradually added it and
082then we end up being able to serve all children at the age of 5 years old entering kindergarten. We're hoping to get to that with preschool. Um this is more of a comment. it. Um I have been um involved in prek since for 20 years. Um I'm not disclosing my age. Um I know that it works. Yes, ma'am. So, this is a gamecher if the city and the county do as this resolution uh entails. Um I have a principal, she tells me all the time her teachers and her parents are disenvantaged because uh there isn't a seat at that school. over income. The kids need a place to educate. This is a gamecher and I am waiting on the day that the county commission and city council approves that ordinance. Yes, me too. The chair
083recognizes board member Murphy. Thank you so much, Madam Chair. I am excited about this because my son is from prek and so it it does help when a child starts at prek and then go on. And so just sitting in the meetings and listening to them saying, "Hey, we're going to collaborate and we're going to get more children to come to prek even if their income is a little bit over, you know, the $1." That gives all the kids the opportunity to go to prek. And I know that this company, this is they're undefeated for success. They that that's all they want is success for our children. And so I am honored to sit here and be a part of that. So I am waiting just like the rest of us for them to collaborate
084and say, "Hey, let's make this work." Because we need our kids to read. We need our kids to learn. And so I'm just excited. Thank y'all so much. I don't have no question. I'm just excited. We we want to thank Director Gordon and Miss Candace. I don't know if she's still in, but there she is in the back waving. Vice Chair Love and I had the opportunity to go to the county commission meeting and how they talked about working together and they had one common goal and that was to make sure our babies are taken care of and we thank you for that. Thank you so much. I want to thank them as well. I know ever since the merger, we've been looking to be able to provide universal prek to about 12,000 students. So,
085I appreciate you sharing that information. It would have a significant impact on our community, especially when you think about we've heard Director Gordon tell us that they turned away parents that were 47, am I right? 47 cents over the threshold. now to know that that baby will be able to start in prek and one day they'll be sitting up here in our seats. Yeah, they'll be sitting up here. Okay, I didn't push my button, but um Madam Chair, thank you. Um I think this is good considering our children can't read by the third grade. starting at prek, it will kick that off and we wouldn't have so much trouble with our kids reading at or above grade level. Um, I know this that um my my son said something the other day to me and
086he was saying, "Mom, well, he can't read." I said, "Well, help him." Well, mom, he didn't go to prek. Son, I need you to help, but because prek helped him, he reads above grade level. So, our children needs to be exposed to prek experience. Thank you, Commissioner. Um Murphy, Vice Chair, the chair recognizes Vice Chair Love. Um, Dablin. Um, Miss Dablin, Director Bordon. Um, I really hope you can collaborate with the first aid grant to get parents to see the importance of bringing their kids to school and making sure they stay every hour. because it does no good to have a seat open and the kids aren't coming to school every day. The foundation starts at home, but we can continue the foundation once the kids get to school. I see so many empty seats.
087We can't require a student, a parent to send their students to school, but we can enforce the importance of coming to school each and every day. Thank you. There being no further business, this meeting is adjourned. Have a good evening. Thank you. Thank you.