001Where they white. Good afternoon. Like to welcome you to our school board meeting for tonight. Firstly, I'll ask you for a moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance. Thank you to the flag of the United States of America. and to the fors indivisible with liberty and justice for all. First item of business is the approval of the minutes of March 10, 2025 record leading and listening to M. Smith, second Miss Becker. Any discussion? If not, all in favor raise your hand. Opposed? Motion's carried. Thank you. Uh, next item, approve of the agenda. Be reminded that you had your place on transfer uh, which will be under the consent agenda. The motion for the agend second. Any discussion? If not, all in favor raise your hand. Opposed? Motion carried. Thank you. Announcements, Miss. Yes.
002Board members, tonight we have our special recognitions from Stony Creek and Oakwood. We have our students here with us tonight and their parents and family. And we also have teachers who will be recognized tonight as well. So, I will allow Mr. Morris to um give his spiel on each student and I will provide them with their awards for this evening. Thank you, Superintendent Gwen. We are very happy to recognize on behalf of the board and the superintendent these outstanding staff and students who are excellent in so many ways and have been selected by their principles uh principal Robinson and principal Moore for recognition tonight. And we thank you to all the family members that are here in support of these students tonight as well. U first of all from Oakwood Elementary School we would call
003up Lillian Bird and these words are written by their principal. Lillian works to achieve her personal goals every day. She has been mastering many grade level skills and is a positive influence in the classroom. Lillian is very respected, engaged, and a leader, which are all traits of an amazing cardinal. We give Lillian a round of applause. [Applause] All right, we will next recognize also from Oakwood Elementary Schools, Tyrese Center. [Applause] Principal Robinson says, "Tyrese consistently works hard each day in school. He has shown significant growth in all subject areas. Tyrese is a wonderful pure assistant to other students in his classroom as well as any staff member he meets. He is a joy to have at Oakwood. Let's have a round of applause. [Applause] We'll now recognize our students from Stony Creek Elementary School, beginning
004with Montana Lee. [Applause] These kind words are written by Principal Moore. Montana is always kind. She is willing to help others and always has a smile on her face. She works diligently and maintains great effort. Let's have another round of applause for [Applause] Montana. And our final student excellence award of the night, also from Stony Creek Elementary, is for Gabriella Lazales. [Applause] Gabby works very hard and is kind to others. She always does her work and stays on task. She is an excellent student. So, let's have a round of applause. Mr. Yachi, he's going to take a photograph for everyone. Thank you. Thank you. Let him take the photograph. Do you get it, sir? Thank you, sir. Board members, if you all come on up, please stand in your places. Congratulations. All about you all
005right there. There you go. I was say we can't see. All right. This is wonderful. Everybody's in here. [Applause] We're very proud of all of our students. We're going to continue our recognitions now with some staff recognitions beginning with Miss Julie Allen from Oakwood Elementary. [Applause] These kind words are also written by the principles. Miss Allen is an asset not only to the EC department, but the entire school. She's willing to help with any students as well as staff members for specific student needs. Miss Allen's also willing to assist with driving buses to help students get home on time. Thank you, Miss Allen. [Applause] Also from Oakwood, we will now call up Miss Maria [Applause] Willis. Miss Robinson says, "Miss Willis is an amazing instructional assistant in one of the adaptive classrooms in Oakwood. She
006provides instruction to all students in the classroom, supporting them all in their own individualized goals. Miss Willis is willing to go the extra mile every day. [Applause] And now from Stony Creek Elementary, let's begin with Miss Casey Evans. Miss [Applause] Evans. And these kind words are written by Principal Moore. Dr. Moore says, "Miss Evans assists whenever there's a need. She's very diligent in her work. She has a mind for detail and always contributes to the Stony Creek family." Thank you, Miss Evans. [Applause] And last but not least, our final recognition of the night, also from Stony Creek Elementary, is Miss Sharon [Applause] Jones. Miss Jones has great work ethic. She's very creative and a true team player. Her reliability and dependability help things run smoothly every day. Thank you to all of our staff and
007Congratulations. [Applause] [Music] Come on. Thank you. We're so proud of you. [Applause] Congratulations to all the students, all the staff members. Appreciate having you, family support. And as always, you're welcome to stay as long as you like to tonight or you can leave now. Thank you for coming. Thank you. We appreciate [Music] Hey, how you doing? Okay, you have any public comments? Next on the agenda. Yes, board members. I'm excited to present this evening Miss Vivana. Um she is the brain behind our ELLL program for Casper County Schools. The program has grown considerably and Miss V, which is what we call her, is here to provide some insight on the status of the program and how she can be supported with the program to ultimately serve our students. She has a presentation for you this
008evening. And with that information, Miss B. Thank you. So, good afternoon everybody. I am very happy to be here tonight and share with you this presentation about our wonderful ELLL department. So, so this is our the summary of my presentation. First, we will go through our ELLL program, the responsibilities, challenges and of course success and positive impact. So this is the ELLL program overview. Uh the coordinator a single coordinator overseas all the program. Uh second is student growth. Uh during the 2021 2022 school year the EL program was composed by 26 students. Now I currently serve more than 60 students. I also serve those families that the kid is proficient in English but the parents are not. Uh also in our district we have diverse need. Uh we have different students that represent multiple cultural
009languages. We have his a huge Hispanic population but we also have some Chinese um Arabic and Indian population as well. Uh we received students with different educational background and then we continue with so this is my week schedule at a glance. This is during a normal week uh without I mean this a normal week of instruction an average week. Okay. So let's keep going. So now let's move on to coordinator responsibility. Number one uh is teaching and academic support. I deliver English language instruction for all the ELLL students. I support I do and help with supporting core subjects for teachers and students. I help the classroom teachers with um instruction. I help also administrators and teachers with discipline. Of course, I communicate with parents all the time. I plan the strategies and create the e
010plan for all the new colors. Number two is the family engagement. I translate all the documents and communication. I interpret during part teacher conference, IP meetings, speech, school events. I help data managers and families with enrollment. I notify the parents for upcoming events and inclement weather decisions. And Noah, please. Um, then I also work handtohand with the social worker. I work uh with other departments to assist those families with housing, healthcare and to cover all their basic needs. I advocate for all the students facing challenges beyond the academics with all the counselors. I organize the network of resources that are open for these newcomer families. I also do the program management. I design and implement lessons for different language proficiency level. I track student progress and meet the state reporting requirements. I create and design
011the ELLL plan for each one of them and IO okay for this plan to be fully implemented throughout the year. I organize all the information that is in power school the folder and the EL plan and I make all that information to match. Um I also have to do the compliance with testing and DPI requirement. I roll participate take and pass all the way training for testing. So the with the screener is the initial test that we do to all the students when they first arrive to the country and then I enroll participate take and pass all the access and alternate access training for testing. The access test is the test that measures and monitors how their English level is growing. So with the help with a big help of Miss Shannon Apple that is
012our district testing coordinator, I planned a schedule that will fit access testing season along with all the other responsibilities. I applied them with a screener, the access test, the alternate access. The alternate access is the test that the students that are DC take. Um and I bring all the accurate data and reports to DPI. I create and organize all the review of accommodations for all the students for all the ELL students. Thank you. So now let's move on with challenges. So number one is the rapid enrollment growth because the resources have not kept pace with all the student needs. Number two is time constraints because it's very complex to balance teaching, translation, testing and all the social work task. We also have some cultural gaps and academic gaps. So the families usually they require additional
013orientation to our school system and we have received also some students that arrive here with very limited to zero educational background even in their first language. So number four is lack of additional staff because one individual handles all the responsibilities. Number five is the 10-month employment limitations because during the summer that that is the end of the contract all the bilingual enrollment and all the bilingual process get behind until the new school year starts and then successes stories and positive impact. So academic achievement many students they really have improved according to the access testing they have improved their skills in listening writing and reading. Um we have increased also classroom participation engagement as students show progress when they are asked to improve grades to somebody they trust that is me and they feel more confident
014to present any test or assignment when they see somebody that understands their first language. Number two is the family trust because the families view the ELLL coordinator as a vital resource and advocate. um the families feel very confident with the EL program because they have somebody to rely on when the school issues arise. So therefore they help to bring new families and relatives to enroll here in Castro. Oh no. And number three is the community connection. the ELL families feel more integrated into the school community and they understand that they can find here all the resources they need to their kids to be successful in school. Uh so as a conclusion then growth uh castle car school population has grown significantly over the years. Um number two is one coordinator. The current model relying on
015one coordinator will be unsustainable in a couple of years with the increasing demand and investment. A strategic investment is in the program is crucial for equity. Student success and family engagement um with some more support programs. And finally, I just want to say thank you so much to Superintendent Win and to all of you for all the help. It's not easy, but I'm very happy. Thank you for all the help. The teachers, principals, they help me a lot. Um, and it takes a village to rise a child, but we are doing a great job, all of us. And thank you. Thank you. [Applause] I forgot if you have questions. I'm sorry. Now, from what I do, do you need additional help? I would say yes. Yes. Yes. It's not only me, but also I'm speaking
016for the teachers, the principals, and families in general. they is it's for then is vital to have somebody to connect with but also for the students somebody to help them with their language for with the language needs. So it's it's hard just to be just one to do and comply with everything testing and well like you just so I would say yes. Thank you. Good luck. You have uh best 60 students that's throughout the county. Yes. school. Currently I have 67 that are marked as EL okay of our school but I also serve all the others that they are proficient in English but then mom dad Rama they are not okay so they require also support so you're going to each school yes so do you have a certain days that you go to different
017schools yes my schedule I don't know if you can put um the presentation. Oh, okay. But it it is right there. Um I usually go I try to go to each Yes. And I try to do north and study twice because they have the population that is the most Okay. That's what I Hispanic. Uhhuh. And then the other ones I try for example south they just have like four like two or four. Okay. So they require services but not as much as the other two. M but I try I try my best to be there at least once a week with somebody else. What makes a student ELLL? they don't speak any English or they're well the first thing is the that when they enroll here the parents have to fill up a survey and
018then if in one of those answers a language survey and if one of those answers they they say that they speak English and let's say Spanish then I will have to do the screener to that student and then if they don't pass the screener they qualify as ELLL Okay. Anyone else? Thank you, Mother V. Oh, thank you so much. Next item, uh, inspection reports. Yes. So, board members, um, under reports are the evaluations in your packets from SEL from each school. Hopefully, you've had an opportunity to scan each of these reports. The scores for each school have been calculated and they are available for your review. Principles have also been contacted concerning the reports and recommendations made to follow up with their staff. Any questions? Miss Queen, would they be doing like uh some of
019the areas of concerns that was at the school? Would it be like placed on like a spreadsheet and then do a check off and get back within a certain amount of time to see if it's being done? I can't speak on how the principles are going to do it, but I have asked them to follow up. Okay. Thank you. They come once once a year. It used to come twice a year. This is the first one that we've had that I'm that I am aware of. I wanted to normally just make the October and then we just spring. Okay. All right. Anyone else? All right. Thank you very much. Are our schools staffed now with custodians? We don't have vacancies. I know we did, but right now everything is staffed. You have any vacancies for
020custodian? Um I don't I think Oakwood has one. I think there's one at Oakwood. Uh some principles may like more help, but in terms of positions, they're open just over. Just a memory thing. We had a several meetings ago, we had a guy was supposed to go to South was going to be asked to go to the high school. Did that take place? Yes, sir. He's full-time now at the high school. Understand he's happily employed there. Good. Okay. Thank you very much. Yeah, I've seen him working there. He's doing well. All right. Anyone else? All right. Thank you very much. All right. Unfinished business. Uh first item on the screen is policy 4342. This is the second read. Yes, board members. This is the second read for metal detectors. There were a few things that
021have been highlighted in the document under number two special considerations. Letter B, the clear bag policy and letter G, clear bag policy guidelines. There any questions before second read? Anyone else? Question. Well, not really a question, more or less a comment, I guess. Um, you know, the board makes policy and as the superintendent has told us, how the policy is work is up to the school. Um, so I just want to say we've had some teachers reach out about having to get out their planning period to work security at the metal detectors. Um, as a board member, I'm not for that because that's between the superintendent and the principal. But I just want to make teachers know that was not the board's recommendation for have teachers work that like that. All right. Anyone else? But
022we also were aware that uh we were asking that it be monitored and um a lot of the schools do not have TAs or you know somebody out there. So it usually it will come into play where the staff I don't know whether it be teacher or whomever but where the staff would have to fill in for that um placement but under the clear bag policy u I just want parents to be made aware that that is in existence that uh we need to start to maybe put it on our website or whatever to uh notification to parents and that that will be happening. Just a follow up with that. When we do a policy, we do put on the website once we approve it. School board does, but this is a regulation. It's not
023a policy. I know I'm saying so it won't be posted. It will be not. It should be we can't make an amendment to our like in Rockingham County. I looked at theirs. They've got this as an amendment a to their search policy. Well, if you want it as an amendment, but they hyped it up as a regulation. I need to have them change it. But that clear bag policy is posted on our website. We did that. We know approved it. Okay. I would like this to be an amendment. So, it is on our policy manual. Everybody need to approve it. So, it's there. Okay. That's I was going to let Miss Blackwell know that they started that beginning school year, right? And they have they have a sign up there when you first come in.
024So, we already follow, right? But I just think, you know, sometimes when you get to that, the more we can talk about it, the better. So, is that the consensus of the whole board that you all want the amendment? I thought that's what we're doing. Is that what you all are doing? Okay. So, do we need to redo this as a first read for an amendment to the original policy? Approve it as an amendment to the second. Mr. I make a motion to remove for a table for second read as an amendment to the current polic. Any discussion? If not, all in favor the motion raise your hand. Opposed. Motion carries. Thank you very much. All right. Next item is sign on bonus proposed. Yes. So, board members, um, at the last board meeting, we
025discussed the sign bonuses for teachers. So, Mr. Morris is here to, um, answer any questions that you might have about that. There is a proposal in your packets that I hope you all have had an opportunity to look over. So, if you have any questions, he's here to answer those questions for you. Good evening, board members. Does everyone have a copy of the proposal? I have extra copies of them. Okay. Um, this is a followup on our last meeting where we discussed title two and this is an opportunity for the board to give direction to set a direction going forward as to how we would like signing bonuses to be carried out from this point forward. Uh, we did seek input from our secondary principal, from an elementary principal, as well as from several of
026our directors and from uh, Miss Underwood. And we also were able to come together and incorporate different elements of what have been proposed by different people. Um, of course, this is just presented for discussion. Ultimately, this will be up to the board. What you what you all would like to do will be the final the final say tonight. And I'll be happy to implement whatever is decided. But I would suggest that we should try to increase the amount to something that could really be an amount that would bring quality teachers to our district. I don't think one or two thousand was enough, but if we increase to 5,000, I think we could possibly incentivize some good teachers to consider coming to Hazwell County. The downside of that is we will not be able to bring
027as many uh we won't be able to give as many signing bonuses due to financial limitations if we increase the amount. Um so we had balanced that by saying we'd have to only give out a certain number if we increase the amount that substantially. Uh we also talked about the amount the areas EC is probably our number one need right now and that's all the way prek to 12. EC seems to be a major need. Secondarily is would be secondary math teachers. Um also receiving some support was elementary school teachers and CTE teachers are also areas of need although they did not make the ultimate recommendation of the group. So I'll leave that to the board for discussion. Couple questions. Yes sir. Why was science eliminated? We currently have u no science vacancies at the
028middle or high school going into next year. Well, what I'm looking at you, you can have a vacancy tomorrow. Yes, sir. That's what I'm saying. It's always been EC math and science. So, you're saying because we don't have any vacancies. Now, if you did not include that was the rationale for not including science. Yes, sir. But if you'd like to include science, if the board include science, we'll include. To me it was always a area that we needed in the past but that's just food for thought. Understand. Second question I have. How did you come up with the first 10? We were looking at limiting our budget and we knew we had $50,000 we could allocate to this and we didn't want to create a situation where we got into spending more money than we
029could afford. Um we we're a high turnover district. Um, and if we had, say this year, I think we turned over over 30 teaching positions, that would be up to $150,000, for example, if we gave them all $5,000, which would be more than our title two budget would support. So, we had to have some limitation on that if we're going to go the larger amount. Okay, let's back up then on the front end. You said 50,000. That's the max that we could allot. Um, well, we'd have to make some serious, you know, other compromises and move other things around, right? Um, we'd have to make other big changes to the budget. But the reason I'm asking that by doing it this way, you put to me, you put yourself in a box, right? I've got
03050,000, that's it. You come in after that, I don't have anything for you. That's that's that's what I'm driving at. The last few years, just for comparison, I think the last several years, we've allocated 45,000. So this is an actually slight increase over what we've been doing the past few years. Okay. Last thing I would say then I somebody else if it can be placed in this proposal that it would be a caveat any additional that we have the opportunity to go back absolutely that rather than saying this is it you know I don't want to cut ourselves short in case we have somebody come in. Okay. This is a proposal, right? I understand. That's why I'm making my comments because I think that you don't want to box yourself in and you not go
031forward. Those are good suggestions. Joel, I had a couple things. I mean, one, this is just getting us to the end of this year. We have not yet approved the 2526 title 2 budget. So, I think there's more money we can move around. I think 10 like Mr. Battle said is. So, I think there's some things we could trim out to get this figured out. Hiring teachers should be the most important thing I think that we're doing and recruiting. Um, the other thing I would like to know before we move forward is what are our surrounding counties offering and doing like so what is Gilbert, Alamance, Pson, Rockingham, Orange, the counties that we touch, what are their sign on bonuses look like? And then I think this has to be I don't think we approved
032this document and this document going forward. I think every year this document has to come back um because it depends on vacancies and that was the last thing you know when we bring the proposal back I would like to see what are the vacancies we have uh in math and EC that we're looking at filling for the the 2526 school year. Um and then the payments you know I don't think it's very enticing to pay it out like that. understand why we want to pay it out like that because we get caught if a teacher leaves that we've already give the money to. But for a teacher you're trying to recruit and you go to Alamance and say I can offer you $5,000 sign on bonus but we're going to pay the $250 a month
033that becomes part of their salary and they don't really realize they getting that bonus. It's kind of like the low wealth supplement. We stopped paying it out like that because it become a dependency and people not realizing it was there. So for me, I think I would like to see this paid out maybe in two equal payments. Uh like we do low wealth, one at Christmas and one at the end of the year. Uh the chances of, you know, them leaving if they leave after the middle of year, they've earned that money. If they leave at the end of the year, they've already earned that money. But you're giving them, I guess, a chunk of change where I don't think they see the value when it's embedded in the month. Um so just for me,
034that's the things I would like to see before we decide if we're going to go forward. But I do agree with you that more money is enticing to be able to pull people over and we're at the point now where we need to be still on teachers. Yeah, we're in competition with surrounding counties for sure. Well, that's why I'd like to see what they're doing. You know, I know we can't compete in supplements and things like that, but we may get our sign on bonus competitors. And I can and I can give you a little bit of an idea in talking to people um you know, at job fairs and around. It really does come down to what you just said, which is the supplement. And a signing bonus really doesn't completely replace a supplement.
035That's the first question people will ask me at the job fairs is what's your county supplement? Um, and you know, they're getting supplements of around 10% a year, give or take. We were competitive when we had the Esser supplement. And I know that's, you know, that's hard to offer. That's that'd be a discussion for another day. Well, we're getting I mean, if you take a teacher that's $40,000, they're making a 10% supplement here with low wealth. Yeah. So, we're close. And then hopefully we're putting in our budget for something else and you'll have a different tool to take. But, but I understand. Good point. And I and I agree with Mr. Lord. Think something for the board to consider maybe another day would be if we can commit to offering that lowwealth money in the
036future so that we can go ahead and say that that'll be there, you know, as we're recruiting for next school year. That's a good We got to see what the federal funds are. But but as soon as we know we got the federal funds. Yes, sir. But I think that's a hard commitment because you're right, it does balance out. It acts a little bit like a supplement if it's there. I think we can say as of right now and we hope to continue this is what we're going to pay. But I think it's hard to lock that in. and and I actually like your suggestion about paying it in December and June and I think Miss Gwen actually had mentioned a similar idea some she had considered as well. I have no problem with that.
037Good idea. Anyone else? So I guess what is the what are we telling him to go back and do more for clarification to go and do more research to see what the neighboring counties are doing so that we can take a look at it and then we decide um would our decision be based on once can we make a decision without knowing the what the actual funding will be for us for next year like we're saying 10 teachers but it may need to be more teachers. You can always propose this is the document and then as things change then you can change your document come back with that. This gives us something like I don't want to be boxed in. What I one thing I don't want us to do is allocate a lot of
038title two money to other things if we need it for this like we are right now. Right now we're scring to figure out how we're going to hire the rest of the year. Um we making move some title two funding around. But also I think vacancies make a big difference. where we think we're going to be in vacancies. Um we may only have 10 vacancies that we need to fill in math and we've tried a lot of ECTs this year. Hopefully they're staying and we won't have a ton of that are not staying. Okay. So we may have a lot of EC bases too but I think if we get that information yes more so I think that would help us make decision. I think this is a great start. Yeah. I guess I'm ranking
039those as our top two areas of need that I foresee as number one and number two. Anybody else? Okay. Thank you, sir. So, the board the board is asking me to come back then with research on surrounding county signing bonuses at the next meeting. But I would say if you get a math candidate between now and then, you know, I think we'll have to circle back. I mean, I wouldn't let anybody walk over a sign on bonus. I think we probably will do a sign on bonus. So, if you've got somebody in the works, I think we got to hold them next. All right. So, we'll continue this discussion April 14th. Thank you all. Thank you. All right. The next item is child nutrition equipment upgrades. Yes. So board members, the next document outlines the
040maintenance repairs on school nutrition equipment. You have one document with the list of repairs conducted by the maintenance department to ensure that the equipment is operating correctly and properly. Then you have another page of equipment that needs servicing from outside of the maintenance department. and um what they provide. The school nutrition direct director is working on obtaining service contracts and she will collaborate with the maintenance director for the best options. If you have any questions pertaining to specific equipment needs, we can work on getting those answers to you. If you have questions about that question about now is she going she's doing that now. Working on that now. Yes. Okay. I think maintenance, huh? They do a lot of work. Oh, yeah. I thank them for all the Okay. All right. Next item is child
041nutrition van refrigerated truck update. Yes. So, next on the agenda is the refrigerated box truck. And you all in your packets have the correspondence concerning the repairs and the timeline. After speaking with Mr. were done. They've already started the repairs process. The school nutrition department was still working on making room for the food that was stored in the refrigerated truck. So, the reason it has not been pulled into a bay is because there was still food in the truck. School nutrition had a shipment to come in from the USDA and they needed to make room in the warehouse. So, the mechanics were waiting for the food to be moved out of the truck before they pull it into the bag. Mr. Bdine is aware of the process. He understands that this is a priority. Um,
042and that I need the diagnostics for the repairs to be completed and the truck repaired as soon as possible. You have any questions, he is here to answer those questions for you tonight. Mr. Bai with the truck. Where are you now? We're waiting for the child nutrition to empty the the back of it. Okay. Um, but there's a snafu in that Monday. They're expecting another 100 cases from USDA to come in so the truck won't be moved for a while. Can you tell the board what repairs you've already started? We've uh diagnosed um well, we've already changed the batteries out of the truck. Um we've diagnosed that we're pretty sure it's the um um injectors on it. Uh we're waiting for Whites International. The sales rep came down. He looked at the motor. He got
043the information off the motor that he needed and we're just waiting for him to to give us an an estimate on cost. Question with the um the food items is in the truck and then some new coming. Is there no other place to house that so that they can work on the truck? It's a good question. Okay. I mean that would be because that's the ultimate thing is to get it running and if he's talking about 100 cases then that's delaying the process all the cafeteria prisoners are they full okay so can we not wire a plug in the garage so it can be put in the bay and still hold the food we can't work have food clo that close to hazardous material. We've got oils, solvents, and all that. You can't put food
044that close to it. You don't want that perception going out in the community. So, how often are we getting shipments? Because we've been talking about this for over 30 days, and we really know where other than where you were. I mean, the food has been on there and can't be moved anywhere else in all that time frame. I can't answer that question. I understand that. Um, they've already started moving the food, but they just haven't emptied the truck. They've already started that process, but the truck's just not empty yet. Understand this has been going on a month. We haven't emptied the truck. Now we got another 100 cases going in. So what needs to be already taking place? It keeps getting drug out and drug out. I mean, this needs to be done like yesterday.
045So I don't understand why people dragging their feet and we're not putting all hands on deck to get this done and get this truck fixed. I mean, we got food in it, then we got to work on yellow buses and we can't get this in. It just looks like is excuse after excuse after excuse that we're not getting this done. Yet our food's being hauled in a non-refrigerated vehicle to the schools. So it just seems to be nowhere. So, Miss W, will you get back with us to let us know once you check at each school to see whether they can house the food and so that this process can maybe by the end of the week have some sort of solution. Sure. Thank you. See if they can put it in a different location.
046Yes, ma'am. Some solution. Mr. B, give me an idea. You say 100 cases. How big is the case? Um, okay. I will be shooting completely in the dark. I really don't I don't know. Very very stupid. But it would fill up the truck. It would fill up the truck. It would probably fill the with what they've got still in the truck. It would still it would probably fill the truck back up from what I was told today by the director. And it needs to be in a situation where you can safely pull it into the truck. Miss Beley, the freezer here. Is that something that we could get working? We have a freezer over here. I don't know if you can do that because we're a central office building. We're not a school. So, we
047would have to use either local money or capital outlay to get that freezer running. We couldn't use any of child nutrition or lunch funds or anything like that. Does the child nutrition have a freezer inside the building this building? No. Have two. Is that full? Yes. Really? Yeah. Okay. Depends on the consumption requirement, too, cuz when they re rehab this building, Yeah. Mr. Pet told me they did away with three-phase service. It doesn't have that anymore. That requires three phase service. It doesn't work. Okay. So, you're going to let us know what we're somewhere else. All right. Anything else? Not for that. Thanks a lot. Thank you. All right, moving right along the consent agenda. Is there a motion to include consent agenda? Remember now we have one additional transfer. Is that your place? Is
048there a motion to approve the consent agenda? I make a motion. Miss Blackwood second is not. Any discussion? If not, all in favor raise your hand. Opposion. Thank you. All right. Next item, uh, location. Yes. So, board members, um, the first item under new business comes from our special programs department with Mr. Shoalter for the purchase of Lego kits at the cost of $21,652.58. As outlined in the packet, the cost is for four LEGO kits used for AIG students and split um with title four funding. The kits will also support steam learning, which stands for science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. Um the advantages of using the Lego sets are listed in your packet as well. You have any questions, Mr. Shoalter is here to answer those questions. See any question? Anybody? Can you give
049an overview of how to work? How the kids work? Yes. Well, you know, they're Legos. It's what we all hear, fun and play, but it's that the concept of putting things together, but there's a motor that goes with it. And that motor is going to sync up to the technology that we have. That's one of the advantages of this kit is that it's web- based um technology that'll sync up to it versus having to have special apps which becomes a problem because not Chromebooks don't carry all the apps and iPads don't carry all the apps consistently. So they'll be able to then program into the into the computer the um expectations of what they want that motor to do for those particular lessons. Now let me clarify this is not just for AIG students. This
050is for all students, okay? And we wanted to be able to give an enhanced opportunity for them um to be creative and do some problem solving um in in what they do. This is we do this through the media center. So all kids are going to be able to have that access. Um and it's like if the main thing is we have some Lego kits, they're just becoming more obsolete and their the parts and pieces are becoming missing. And one of the things with this is that parts and pieces are replaceable with this kit, whereas the other one they were not as consistently replaceable. Okay. Anybody else? So what's your breakdown? Like how many are you going to put at each school? One at each school because each media teacher would operate it um there.
051Now if the school were to need more, we can shuffle them around. Now with the um kids that we have that are becoming more obsolete, we're going to bring them here and use those for like our Saturday programs that are for just AIG. that they were purchased maybe seven years ago I think. Anything else? Is there any additional training for teachers or the training comes free? Okay. So, there will be training for the media teachers and also there's curriculum that's that the media teachers can collaborate with their general ed teachers on how to take the the STEM lessons into the general ed classrooms as well. Oh, that's good. Okay. Nobody else. All right. Make a motion really makes a motion second. Any discussion? If not, all in favor raise your hand. Post motion's car. Thank
052you. Thank you, sir. Uh child nutrition bid renewal. Yes. So board members, um you all have a list of the bid renewals from school nutrition. We are requesting the renewals for number one, two, three, and five. So we are requesting the renewals for one, two, three and five. We will need to bring number four which is the Pepsi bid back because they have increase their prices. So that bid will need revisions or we might um have to explore some other options when that bid comes back. There was a question concerning number one Cisco if they provided fruits and vegetables. The answer is no. They only provide grocery which is indicated on the second page. Um the second document outlines each bid renewal year, the service for each bid, contract history and delivery method um either
053at the school site or the delivery to the warehouse. So I am recommending approval of the bids. If you have any questions that cannot be answered tonight, I'll bring that back um to you. But these where are the bids? I see no dollar. Those come later as Mr. battle indicated in our premeating. Um, in his experience, they've come later and that's what she told me as well when I asked dollar amounts attached. Well, we're bidding for something that's no dollar. I mean, you just said we're going to look somewhere for Pepsi because it was going up. I'm not voting on anything dollar attached. Okay. Now, if I remember, Miss Grant, normally this would come like maybe or June and then the dollar would be there. That's that's what I'm trying. I think she's trying to
054get this done before she leaves. So, she's trying to get the bid renewal, you know, in and then come back with or maybe that will be the next person if she's gone. That might be it. Okay. So I think she's bringing it to the board so she can so she can get that approved before she leaves. Mr. Chairman, I don't see why we would approve. I mean that is for the for the horse. That's crazy. Well, and certainly it's you all's pleasure. You can wait. That is that's I don't know why this would be sent without a dollar amount. That's Yeah, they they trying to get Well, we've always had the price. So let's hold that till you most certainly can. Yes, I just had a question because I actually asked to look at the
055Pepsi Cola um I mean Pepsi contract. Um is that is it time for that to renew now? So that's it. I think it was originally like five years and I could see why we were holding off cuz it was normally like you say it's either three or five with the long as long as I've been here it's always been Yeah. You're talking about one the high school, right? I think that's the Okay. So, we hold that one. Okay. All right. Uh silver. Yes. So, the next item is the replacement of the old PRI circuits for the elementary schools and middle school. Mr. You said you has information on that. Um this was also provided in your packets. If you have any questions, he's going to answer those questions for you. It's been a nut. Yeah,
056just explain that to me. So, basically what we're trying to do with this, we have currently a contract with Surell or Savior Technologies that provides the telephone services for this building and for the high school. Okay. And so what we're trying to do is we're going to extend that service to all the schools. And by doing that, we're looking at improving the cost um about 360,000% in terms of the savings because we're going to a cloud service versus bright speed which is the current server uh provider at those locations. Now the beauty of this propos the this system is is called a zip drum which is going to replace basically what we're doing instead of connecting to bridede we're pulling that equipment out from bride speed and put it this new equipment and this new
057equipment we don't have to replace anything else in the in the schools the equipment that we have put there in recent years like telephones and all of that it will remain the same so there's no need for training or no need to learn new system it's all the same except that when they pick up the phone and they make a phone call instead of going through Bright Speed is going through Savia and the cost is going to be dropped tremendously and we have uh worked with this company for over four years with telephone services and they are absolutely reliable when it comes to tech support. So we know that that's one of the issues we having with central link and bright right now. Okay, question M. So the the upfront expense on this is that
058just come out of our still come out of our phone line item or is it got to come from somewhere? Uh I believe from the phone uh line. Yes sir. Okay. And then my second question is um this will be the building everywhere like we're put in. We're going to the building already is in our system. So, so once we do that, if a call comes in here and Elaine answers it, can it be transferred to South School once this is all the same technology? No, not with this system yet because it still has to go out and in. Okay. But uh there would be a possibility to uh upgrade that in the future with additional equipment. Okay. You know, that's that's doable. Okay. Thank you. Anybody else? All right. Motion to approve. Miss Delet
059second is not any discussion if not all in favor raise your hand. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next item number five the coaches approval of volunteer coaches removal of coaches. Okay. So, board members, this was brought to my attention um that you all would like to have more input on the hiring of coaches and approval of volunteer coaches. Is there any discussion that you would like to have about that? Well, so I asked for this to be put on the agenda. I guess everybody's probably familiar with what was happening at Hal County. Go ahead. No. So, Southern Alamance High School, Southern AM High School had an issue where two coaches um that just like us, they were just hired by the principal like we've always done. Um but they made
060a little fella, I think 105 pounds fight every wrestler on the team. And so it was considered hazing. And so now they have a lawsuit against the board of education against both coaches. One coach worked for the sheriff's office. I think the other one worked for police department. um matter doing all those things and the the board's thing there is they didn't make the actual hire and so I asked to be put on the agenda because I think that we hire every position here except for coaches and I don't think that really takes out the principal's hands. I think it's just like if they're hiring a teacher tomorrow, they make the recommendation and it comes to us and we either approve or deny. And in my opinion, that should be done for all coaches, all
061volunteer coaches, all assistant coaches, anybody that's going to be around our students in athletics. And then I think every year the renewal should come back to us just like it does with a teacher's contract. Um, I just think we need to put it back in the board's hands because we got coaches now we've never we don't even know. Can anybody tell me who the nothing against her, but anybody say who the softball coach is? I've never met her or saw any paper on her or anything. She's just hired and nothing against her. She may be a great coach. I'm just saying we have coaches and volunteer coaches that are entering the system that we don't even know about. All right, Mr. I I'm going to say I agree and for one personal reason when my
062daughter was in high school, different superintendent and all of that, different board members too. Um they had a situation with their cheerleader coach and I volunteered. I was a coordin system at that time. I volunteered to just be their advisor for the rest of the school um the basketball season because it was almost the end of the season and I was told that the board had approved it and then I guess but then when I learned a couple years later that that was the case it didn't sit well with me. Doesn't matter now either here or there but it should be some consistency. I think it gives you an oversight. Uh because just to give you an example, not saying when people sue, they sue the biggest pocketbook. They don't sue a lot slow pocket.
063But what happened to that kid in in Alamance County was uncalled for. And uh they were not employees of the school system, but they were hired to coach. And of course, they are both gone now. and uh not a good look. But if the principal say, "Hey, I want you to approve this regularly for my baseball coach." Whatever. Then we go through all the paperwork with background and everything. Then the board say uh because they change from year to year to year. It's hard to keep coaches. Uh and it gives you oversight. you know, you you represent Casual County Schools and uh whoever those coaches are. I have Yes, ma'am. question. Um dealing with that situation in Southern uh at Southern Alamance. So, are they able to So, now the board is being sued. You
064giving the That's my That's my understanding. They go through everybody education lawsuit. Hey, the bus stop the bus. me and from year to year you have different employees going back and forth. M you had Yes sir. I just have a question or comment for the board to consider that we really have two tracks. We have the employee track and the volunteer track and really we I think we've always treated coaches as kind of being on the volunteer track which is why that we really have them chosen by the principles. I think that's something for the board to think about. Um, you know, this may be sort of the tip of an iceberg question. If we have them be board approved and if we're going to pay them a siphon, they start to look more like
065employees, but do we want our coaches to be employees? That may be a question for the board or the board attorney, but it starts to bring up some other questions as well. Well, the coaches are getting paid. They they are getting a stipen. Yes. And uh but the board has never hired it, right? The principal turns it in. John Jones is my football coach. his stipen is $4,000. Uh we see the paperwork but we don't approve that. So that may be a larger question. Is that person still a volunteer or do they need to start coming through our employee on boarding processes? Well, you got different Well, let me respond quickly. Somebody else I'll tell. You got people that are working at the schools already. Yes, sir. Then you got outside people who are volunteers,
066but there's a slash between coach, volunteer. All right. All volunteers do not get paid, but whether they're working with our children, I think they need to be vetted by our school system and approved by our school system. That's my opinion, Mr. Milton. So, I shared this with Miss W in our premium. I think they ought to be screened as employees. So, the county is doing it that way. If you coach at parks and recreation in casual county, you go through minus the drug screen, you go through the exact process, the fingerprinting, the full background check, the whole nine yards before you're allowed to coach children where now we're just running through the level two background. But as I told Miss Gwen, you have a lot more ability for one-on-one coach students. I think they need
067to have more than a level two background check. I think it needs to f print the whole nine yards because level two is only telling you if they committed a crime. Yeah. Um those fingerprints tag a lot of stuff. Yeah. Is that where you at? That's kind I do. I just think we're bringing up a It's a good question. It's a a worthy question, but it's a big question because we're starting to discuss do we want to allow volunteers to be coaches or do we basically want coaches to have to become employees in order to Well, sometimes we have no choice. Yeah, we cannot fill slots. Uh, and a lot of times we run into when volunteers not employed in the school system that their child is playing, they're the coach. When the child leaves,
068they leave. Child come, another child comes in, they want to come back. But I think if we go through the process of treating everybody the same, I think it's a better situation to keep us out of hot water. Uh because what in Alamance the way I look at it they left the well not left the school system but they not in employees other school system so they gone now but at the same time the damage has already been done to that child for that to be allowed that was not good and based on you know what I'm hearing you all say too when you're thinking about a volunteer that same scenario could have happened with the volunteer participating. So I guess everybody will become into the employee status because they, you know, will be doing
069that screening everything because it could you can have them volunteer but uh if the volunteer had done the same thing, it's still the same principle, right? Agree. So that was a good point he was bringing up. campaign two in some cases volunteer coaches are the head coaches, right? And so if we only run a level two on them, they're putting kids on a bus and taking them right wherever, you know, but you also have volunteer coaches like Logan Speed. She helped us softball. She didn't get paid. She volunteered her time. But I still think she should have the same background requirements that the head coach does because she still could be one-on-one with those kids in a non-supervised situation. A level two volunteer that that Miss Gwyn can approve to go into a school. Very
070little times are they left alone, right? They may watch a classroom for a few minutes, but it's a teacher across the hall. It's a teacher here. They may watch kids in the cafeteria. They may do a small group, but that really doesn't give it's not a lot of one-on-one time where things can happen. So, I just think we ought to be doing fullbacks and some some systems do that. Uh, but we've never done it since I've been here and uh I think it will protect us in the long run. Is that something that has to become policy or what what does what needs to happen with that? Because it is a procedure that we're getting ready or thinking about changing. So if we haven't done it in the past, then we need to put something
071in writing to say this is the procedure that we're going to follow and will that be for this school year coming up. So we'll need to, you know, talk to the attorney and, you know, come up with for Mr. Brasher to bring that back to us and to be effective with the 25 26 school year and that put everybody don't notice if we approve it. Everybody knows what's going on because during this summertime that's when the principal will say, "Hey, these are my football coaches. These are my volleyball coaches." What else they do? Soccer, cross country. That's it. A lot of ball school. Yeah, it's not in school yet. You used to have policies that provided that that level like Mr. Little was talking about. We don't we don't have anything right now in the
072for how we treat how coaches are done. It's just unwritten rule how we done. I just want you to bring that back for us to put it in the box. Yes, sir. Okay. They were just under the volunteer umbrella, right? So, we follow the same process for coaches as we did, but they were required to complete an application. They submitted their driver's license. They did the background check. So, we do have a we did keep a file did I don't know what they do now, but they we did keep a file on every coach that was paid, but volunteers were just background check. Okay. Okay. Any other comments on this? All right. Thank you very much. All right. Uh, next item is county vehicle leasing options. Yes. So, board members, Mr. Bat is also here
073to discuss the exploration of leasing um for the district. You all have been provided with a list of vehicles in the district that are available for use on a check-in checkout basis. These are used for in district travel from school to school or for out of district travel related to school business such as conferences. Um in your packet you have been provided with the vehicle number make model of each vehicle bin number and the odometer reading for each vehicle. Mr. Mr. B Mr. for down the metric question uh in looking at this uh the first sheet vehicle number from what I see over here there's a white car that stays out here I don't know what it is or something uh it's an empower empower okay that's a white that's used for central office is
074that correct then over here on the side is a gray Is that the one you drive? Yes. Okay. Then over at it, there's two vans and two cars. And I think all that started basically with co correct. Okay. Now, are those those all the vehicles that are over here? Is that right? No. No. What else is over here? No. You got the teal Avenger over here or blue. There's an argument on the color of it. Okay. Um, you've got the white Avenger that Miss Gwyn drives. Uh, I believe that's it. Okay. And the gray Impala and the gray Impala is now over here. Do they need to be over here? In my opinion, no. Okay. If they're if they're to be used for checkout, then we we need to be able to to get the
075cars as it is right now. If we get a phone call and say, "We need you to come over and pick up a car to clean it." Gotcha. Okay. It's we've got them over there, we can do it all right there. But my experience has been they've been inside the lot, they've been checked out on the lot, they've been brought back to the lot. If like that gives you an opportunity to service the vehicle, clean the vehicle, etc., etc. Okay, that that that's one piece. Now, uh I want to shift gears a little bit about the leasing thing and give you another scenario. First, I never believed in leasing because you're limited with the miles, but it's, you know, if you going to trade something every two or three years, I can understand that. But
076have you ever been to the state surplus in Raleigh? Have I? Have you? Okay. all state vehicles that are surplus, not just highway control cars, any state vehicle. Uh you can uh my understanding, you can actually go down and purchase them and get a title the same day. And I was wondering if that would be a better option than leasing. You're going to pay less money in the long run, but you don't necessarily know what's wrong with that. I understand that's a chance you're taking. Yes, you're taking a chance. But I'm looking at dollars, too. Right. Give you an example. Take a state highway patrol car. Uh my son-in-law, it is a retired captain. And he was the vehicle he drove got miles on it, but it didn't get what he call hard miles. Want
077no chasing, you know, like that, right? And like some other trucks that are in there the same way. But there comes a time when they have to be surplus. And I don't know whether it's like buying a pig in a pole. Is that compared to you know am I willing to go out and lease it? I understand leasing but uh he said sometimes you know you get some you get a chance to inspect them but you can't necessarily see inside the moment if anything's wrong. You know I I was talking to him about it and Joe and I was talking about that too because you know we're a small county and can we afford to lease them? That's the bottom line, right? That's where I'm driving at. But those are two things I wanted to
078discuss. Anybody else have any concerns you want to discuss? I'm sorry, M. Just looking on the um the dollar reading, you know, only I would say three of the vehicles, four of the vehicles have over 150,000 miles. Yes. You know, to me that's the rest of those vehicles, that's pretty low mileage as far as I'm concerned. Do you feel that way or Yes. Okay. Okay. Anything under 100,000 miles to me is still low mileage. And so, board members, um, Mr. Berdine and I um, and Mr. Ugi did have a conversation about a plan that, um, I want to go ahead and put in place, but I wanted to bring it to your attention first. Um, if you all take a look at the vehicle numbers, 8205, that is the um, that's the first number. That
079is the one that's assigned to Mr. Youi. Um, 8208 will go back into the rotation for checkin and checkout. 8211, that is, um, the Dodge Avenger that I drive. 8219, that's the Chevy. Is that one going to go back into rotation? No, that's the one that's the pickup truck I'm pick up. Okay. So, that's the pickup truck that Mr. Verdine is going to be driving from now on. Um, 8402 is going to go back into the rotation. 8404 will go back into the rotation. 8405 will go into the rotation. 8106, I think we discussed surplus for that one. It's been surplus. Okay. No, it has not been surplus. It has not been voted on yet. Okay. Um 8,200. That's the Ford Explorer that Mr. Fowler is driving right now. Uh 8201 belongs to it. That
080is the red Dodge um Charger that's faded and and we don't think anyone else would want to drive that in the rotation. We tried to put all of the nicer cars in the rotation for check in and check out. The 8207 is also it. the Chevy Malibu. 829 is the Chevy van that we would like to um give to school nutrition and outfit school nutrition um with that van. And the reason being is because the new van that is being used um in it already has the shelving and it's been outfitted for um technology. So if you all would agree then school nutrition can use that band that is the older band that technology is currently using and that might save you all some money and some time on buying a new van and that's
081to put the refrigeration in. Yes, we would still need to go through all of that. I can't see spending that kind of money. It's just that's just a proposal. That's what we we talked about in our plan. Of course, you know, you all can decide to do something different. And then, um, let's see, 8210 that is going to go back into rotation. And 8212, um, is the new Nissan van that it uses. And that's just to give you all perspective on where these vehicles are. And we're going to house them back at the Whitley building. That is my plan. They will clean them before every use. When there will be a check in and check out and when folks check it back in, they'll have to fill out a form, make sure they take out
082all their belongings. They will do an inspection to make sure the car is clean before they clean it for the next um user. Go back to uh 8212, the Nissan V. That mile is correct. It is. I will I will making the clarification. We call it the new van, but it's actually 295,000 miles. It just looks it's just well kept. It's just well kept. And I've also been in touch with the high school for doing touchups on some of these vehicles. I've um emailed Mr. Carver. He did respond so we can get some of these vehicles in there and start touching them up and having them presentable for our employees to drive. bigger. Okay. So, I if I recall right, you only called out three vehicles for it, but we used to have four. So,
083we're we have four guys. So, one guy won't have a vehicle to drive. There's two vehicles and two vans. They'll be driving the pickup truck because Mr. Berdine will be driving the Ford Explorer once James Fowler is done with that. So, James can drive the older van. Go ahead. Can we go ahead and move that older van right now without putting the refrigeration unit on it? So Jason, because it's wide open in the background. Yes. The other question I have is that's great if auto body can do a couple cars, but somebody was just telling me the other day that they had a car painted at um Mako D. It was like 800 bucks. It look pretty good. So, I mean, can we check on maybe like that van and some of the other cars
084because we certainly can afford a few $800 paint jobs if we could get them done for that, especially on these low mileage cars like, you know, that Chevy Mel assigned to Rick with 96,000 miles. I mean, I've already checked with with that. Um, and the paint job isn't guaranteed for very long. It's no clear coat. No, it's just a quick it's going to wear out in less than two years and you'll be back to what we have right now. So, it's it if we want to spend that money for a couple years, yeah, it's a quick fix, a cheap fix, but that's exactly what it is. It's a cheap fix. And what I talked with Mr. Carver, he can't do a complete paint job because it's not in his curriculum, state approved curriculum to do
085that. So, he can he can do the hood, he can do the top, and he can do the trunk, but he can't do the sides. So, the hood and the top and the trunk will look good and the sides will look, you know, that's kind of strange. Right behind us right here, we used to do that. Uh, we had a building there. JC Winstead had paint the whole car. And uh if y'all don't know what I'm talking about, you there's a cement slab back there you'll find. But uh that's kind of all is restricted like that. So question is we got like these extra maintenance vehicles. Are they like one says need battery brakes and tires? That's the one that pulls the gooseeneck. The only reason they've got it is because the cookbook, it pulls
086the gooseeneck trailer. It's the only one with the gooseseneck hook up in the back of it. Okay. And how about the brown? The brown one, 7210. Uh, it just needs tires. Um, they still use it on occasion. It's a utility truck. So, I guess my question is like that brown one, could we send it to surplus? And if we surplus enough stuff that's not in use, then we might I mean, one thing we got to get a new activity bus, but we also make a look at, you know, can we get a couple cars if we surplus some stuff? I know you said this 80 8006 could be surplus. 800. She was asking about the 806 bus, but this is No, no, that cannot be. That's No, that's a brand new bus. 8006 is a
0872019. That's the the brand new handicap. 8106. Oh, the Ford van. The Ford van. Yeah. 80. Yes. That's the van that the current child nutrition van that Right. Okay. So, do we have any other vehicles that could go to surplus status? As far as I know, that's the only one. All the others are currently on surplus status. And we all took a class with Gov Deals on Friday. And the auction should be going live this week. So I guess we got three extra trucks in maintenance. Yes. I don't deal with them though. Understand? But I guess we need to find from Allen if we're not using them. That's three trucks sitting. We could either reallocate somewhere else for somebody to drive or get rid of. Oh, that 8502. Is that the one that's at the
088high school? 85. Yes. Yes. That's that's the green truck. Yes, understand. Okay. And that one's in dire need of everything. It needs to be replaced. Yes. Yeah. I mean, I guess if we can surplus and maybe take that brown truck and send it over there, you know, and reuse some of that stuff. All right. 7232. Yes. Is he driving that truck with the heading headlights? Okay. The the Yes, he is still driving the truck. We keep replacing the headlight lamp. Okay. Anyone else? So, how do we make sure it vehicles if they're going to stay here or staying clean, maintained, serviced? Is that something we're checking on? Okay. Services are automatic through DPI with every 5,000 miles. It comes up automatically for us. And then we call um either Rick or Mr. usi and say
089we need 8200 or whatever brought over here for a PM. They'll bring it over, drop it off, and then we'll call them when it's done. As far as being clean, no, I do not follow up on that with with anybody because that's the director's responsibility. Okay. And how about the logs? If the if a car is being left here, but if you miss when or theirs and not coming over there are still following up and pulling the logs of the cars. I have not been pulling logs. No. Um, they sent me the log sheet when it was filled out completely from over here and we put it in a file. Um, but do with keeping them all over at our office, they would we would go to something like this, which is what the activity
090bus drivers fill out. It's basically the same thing except it says county vehicles. And every time somebody would get a car, they fill this out and it would be build to that. We could send the bill to each department or or it would be separated to each department. You got a question? No. Uh, no. I was actually He asked about cleaning. Uh, we actually clean our own vehicles. Like, uh, Jeremy was up here Saturday doing something. Uh, and he actually like cleaned his van up while he was here. Okay. Very good. All right. Anything else? I had a question. Yes. Um, just wanted to get some clarification for understanding. So, we have one vehicle on this sheet that's going to surplus. Is that correct? It needs to go to surplus, but I I'm not I
091I'm not the director of that vehicle, so I can't present it. It's child nutrition ban. Okay. Okay. So, are we do we have to make a motion as to whether to um let's say do some uh painting? I have used that u make co you know it's okay. Yeah, it it gives you a nice look, you know, upgrade. But, however, you know, are we looking to try to purchase? And I guess that's what we need to does the board. How what is it that we're being recommended to do to upkeep the ones that we have by doing some painting or purchasing uh you know, two new vehicles or going to an auction. Um, I bought from there, too. And it just depends, you know. Sometimes I honestly, um, my sister went to one and it
092had 6,000 miles. I I owned it at 6,000 miles. I have 250,000 on it. So, you can get some good deals like you said, but sometimes you get a bad deal. So, I guess we just need to see what direction. Um, I know we've made some suggestions here, but what are we really trying to do um with this information? Joey, well, I think I mean, personally, I think some of the directors are just embarrassed to drive the cars in the shade that they are, and I'd probably be embarrassed to drive a couple of these cars out of the county. But if we could get Mr. were dying to get us some prices on painting. Would it be Mako and maybe comparable to somewhere else or what if Mo did put the clear coat on there?
093We got some pretty low mileage vehicles that we know what we're doing. Now, I mean, if you think we got one that's going to give us problems in the next year, I don't think we're spending money on paint. You know, we asked which ones can make a trip over an hour and most all over my mark. Yes. Yes. So, we got, you know, one, two, three, four, or five that need to be painted. I mean, you're talking about5 or $6 thousand and we got our cars running if they're worth it. We're gonna we're going to have to buy an activity bus this year or definitely by next year. We got to get on that cycle of buying buses. So, if we can put a band-aid on these cars and make them look decent, then I
094think that's what we ought to do if they're in okay shape. And John thinks they're going to make it through the long haul. Um, you know, I say we spend the money on them to to let's paint them right. Well, that's that, you know, I'm going back and forth, but I wanted what is it that we want to do. So, I think that's good. Can we do it like this to let Mr. Berdine, M or Mr. S, whatever to bring us back some definite recommendation because we just going back and forth right now and say these vehicles need to be surplus. We recommend we paint these vehicles. We recommend that we keep these vehicles. That would be our best approach. Uh because we can go back and forth all night about this. But you don't
095want to do any leasing. I mean, we've got Stay away from the lease. I've got a call tomorrow. No, no lease. Okay. No lease. Okay. Sure. Well, I think for now I'm not yet. We don't know what the future may hold, but I think if we can make do with this and clean our cars and get down the road. Okay. Okay. Let's do that, Mr. Okay. Are the are the cars coming back over there? Yes. Okay. Okay. And then the van will be turned over to Chffition, right? Yes. But I think we ought to hold on that cooler just a little longer. Although don't have a 30,000 mile. Okay. See what you do with the So that means that all the vehicles will go over all the ones that are in the rotation rotation. Yes.
096Okay. All right then. Thank you, M. All right. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next item, the budget review. Yes. So, board members, um, some members, uh, want more information in terms of budget and how budget works. Um, I know that we do have a budget committee as well. So just moving forward, I would like to know, do you all want a presentation as a board from Miss Underwood in terms of budget and explaining the budget or would you like a more personalized approach where you have some one-on-one time? Um, board members have one-on-one time with Miss Underwood to get some more information about the budget and how that works. Exactly. I think um you know bringing it for us before us and then if we need a little bit more clarification and and we can
097go individually if we so desire but to present it all to us at one time and then we can ask questions there and then go back to her on a personal basis at least gets the information out to everyone at the same time. That's my suggestion. tonight. I mean, being new and I guess I met with Miss W the other week and I guess we'll meet on Thursday. Um, I would still like some oneonone or before it gets to the big group because I guess I had some good questions and she was able to answer them, but I guess you know that will help me to fully understand the process. You know, I know about title one money and title two and you know the what local funds, but I don't know all the particulars
098about all of it. So, I guess I would like a better understanding of all of that before something is presented to us to vote on. Anybody else? I requested oneonone because I wanted to get some history and background of the budget prior to it being presented to us so that I would be familiar with it on my level. Um, and that would give me an opportunity to ask questions, specific questions because I think a lot of times we ask questions that the board already knows and then we're kind of like holding back and things up a little bit. So that's why I requested a one-on-one initially and then when she presents it, I will be more familiar with it versus um the night of. Now board members, I will say this to you. If you
099have something that you want to suggest to be in the budget for 2526, you need to go ahead and send that in. Don't wait till after the budget's done and then hey, I forgot this. Like I've already turned in one to the committee for uh your board member stipens for 256, you know, whether it's approved or not, but it's already there. So if you have something that you want to be in there like for example you're talking about the supplements for the pro you know um let's don't do it after the fact that let's do it before the fact okay and then by that what's the April meeting what's the date 14th whatever so you know we'll be looking at a preliminary version 42526 yeah question. Well, I was just going to say this may
100be a good time to discuss we have a meeting on the 14th which will be the first presentation of the budget, right? Miss Gwyn and the county is that April April is our regular meeting. That that'll be our first time seeing the budget and so we'll tear it apart during that meeting and go back. So we talked with Miss Gwyn and want to pitch it to the board tonight. We have to give it to the county the last week in April and we canled our board meeting because we will be on Easter break the 21st through the 25th. So, how does the board feel about having a work session on the night of the 28th with the sole purpose being to discuss and approve the budget? And that would finalize everything that's going to go.
101You see, so let may I ask a question? Yeah. So you're saying she would present it on April the 14th, right, to everyone, right? And those who needed to go before and ask some questions can do that, you know, based on what, you know, I heard the two new board members say that uh they could have that opportunity before she presents the budget since they made that suggestion and I know what it's like being new. So that's that's a good suggestion, too. So, uh, they would have to do that before the April the 14th if they wanted to get with Miss Underwood. Right. That that would be good. Right. We would ask her on the 14th of any changes we wanted to be made um once it's presented and then she would come back with
102a final budget the night of the 28th where we would approve it. Okay. So, when should we give our suggestions if we have any suggestions? Anytime. Anytime. That's what I'm saying. But do you have a deadline for it? By the end of this week, we're meeting this week. We're meeting on Thursday. Okay. Try to put it by Thursday. Okay. Okay. Anybody else? And this is of any ideas that we may want to include see fund. Now, let me ask you something. Are you doing it you doing from your standpoint? Are you doing the work for teach? Yes. Okay. You doing that? That's going to be a separate separate. Okay. Well, that won't be I know. Yeah. Have it in there. Okay. All right. Anything else on that? So, everybody's good with the 5:30 or y'all
103want to do it at 3:30 forward. Everybody, it won't be a formal agenda or packet because everybody will have been on vacation with just So, this is April the 28th. What day is that? PM. All right. Okay. Moving right along. Civic Center it operator. This was Mr. Play. um request for approval for individual to work at the Cody Dance Company. I'm just asking for approval question. No, you make motion motion. Okay. And I'll second move second. Any discussion? None. All in favor raise your hand. Post motion carries. Thank you very much. Two good updates. Yes, board members. I just have a few. Um, legislators and schools week will be the week of April the 7th. I've asked Miss Kimry to contact our uh representatives Meyer and Price to visit our schools. So, um, waiting for
104response uh from them to see if they would be willing to come in and tour schools. It's the week of April the 7th. So, we've given them um all the dates that week except for Tuesday to see if they'd be willing to come. Also, um just for your information, we have applied for several grants. Um Miss Reagan has helped with some of these grants as well. Dr. Jones does her grants and then Miss Reagan has explored some grant options. Uh this one is with the Danville Regional Foundation. is the responsive grant in the amount of $500,000 distributed between four elementary schools for intensive interventions and tutoring programs. If awarded, the funding could start as early as this summer and it continues over a three-year period. Wow. Okay. So, that's your information. The next one we've
105applied for is the Golden Leaf School Initiative uh grant. If awarded this grant, we could receive up to $1,800 over the next five years for Dillard Middle School. This grant um is for transformative schools. It uses a researchbased strategy with Marzano's high reliability uh schools framework. The framework model includes increasing levels of reliability, safe, supportive, collaborative culture, effective teaching in every classroom, and viable curriculum. And that's just to name a few. We're also applying for the NC Digital Learning Initiative Impact Grant. If awarded, we can receive up to $90,000 over a five-year period. The grant could potentially offset the cost for a curriculum interventionalist that can be used for ELA and math at the elementary schools. In addition, the um Ada ADA Zeta chapter uh five beta sorority chapter in Casle County has very generously
106offered a limited time local grant opportunity to enhance support for beginning teachers at a school in Caswell. They are offering one of our schools a $1,000 grant to support beginning teachers and we're asking every all of our teachers to apply for that. And lastly, for your information, I'm brainstorming with principles on how to transform schools using a thematic approach. Um, since there is a focus on engineering at the high school, we're starting to conduct some research to support a more streamlined vision for our elementary schools. North Elementary is interested in a splash program, language immersion, particular Spanish. South Elementary will focus on math. Stony Creek will be science and Oakwood, the arts. So, um, as our students metriculate through the middle and high school, there will be a focus on engineering, robotics, drones, and of
107course, agriculture and health science. So, we're looking at streamlining our elementary schools more to the middle and high school level. That's all I have. That's it. Sure. Moment of observations, Miss Zach. Uh I had an opportunity uh to I went to North Elementary and uh got to sit down and talk to um the principal principal artist and um the leadership uh and I'll just combine the different schools that I actually went to which was um North and I went to South and I went to Oakwood and just to sit down and listen I was wanting to know how are they preparing for the upcoming uh test that the students will have to take and what are some of the things that they've done all year and uh the different each school was doing something different
108uh but all of them had the same goal but I can just say that after listening to the principles that their leadership skill and knowing their students and knowing their staff like uh I like at one school where the teachers if they're strong in math I'll just use third grade if they're strong in math then that teacher is teaching all the third grades the math and reading and I think that that's very uh impressive because you don't see that happening in elementary grades and uh so then at the other schools you know the amount of parent contact uh and just to see while I was in at one school uh I was just looking at discipline and saw how even doing the conversation or whatever the principal, you know, was interacting with the student and
109and they had the little uh saying thing where, you know, uh to get the and they just said to the student, you know, you still have an opportunity to get it together, you know, to get back where you needed to be. So, it wasn't, oh, this is going to be a bad day day. You know, the encouragement that I saw that the principles were doing. So, I just like to give a shout out to uh the leadership that I saw at all schools, but I did speak with those. And I saw something at uh South Elementary when I had to go in. Uh I'm used to doing the paper. So, South Elementary is doing theirs on the computer. I think Mr. Norris has uh gotten that up and running and you know that was that
110was really nice. I I didn't I hadn't done that any of the schools uh yet. And then they also had their yearbook that had come in. So I saw a lot of nice impressive things going on in those schools. So shout out to those. And I got to meet with Ms. Grace who was a guidance counselor at Oakwood and a lot of good things going on. Oh yeah. should know. Um, so couple things. One, um, I've attended some baseball at at both schools, but one thing that really impressed me at Dillard was, um, all the administrators were present at some time during the ball game. And I was pretty impressed that that all three administrators were there at some point and somebody was there during the whole thing. Um, and normally there's at least one
111administrator at a high school, you know, but I thought that was very good. Um, me and Miss Barely visit a couple schools on Friday. And my suggestion to board members when you're going in, and I think we often forget about it, is um, visit your cafeterias. So, um, Friday we went at lunchtime at Dillard and the lady was so excited telling me about the food. Wanted me to try a um I had got the barbecue and a couple corn dog nuggets and she wanted me to try these potato wedges that they were trying and she wanted me to try these chicken chunks and felt like my plate was over full by the time I got up there. But they were so excited about some of the new things. And then today I had lunch at
112North U and the manager was telling me you know about some things they were trying to do and wanted to do and um you know it seems like they got a little bit of excitement hearing that you know we're trying to push a few new menu items and so um you know they said the school board never never visits the cafeteria so that's why you know usually we're in classrooms or or looking at the academic stuff and I think often times we forget um some of the areas like that the custodians and the cafeteria but um you Please make an effort when you're in there because they're excited about trying some new stuff. Since you said that, I need to give a shout out to Miss Joanne Williams because I did go to South Elementary.
113Yeah, we went with the cafeteria was closed there. Yes, I did. Okay, Miss Smith, I want to um thank Miss Gillian for the special recognition. You know, today when you um recognize some of these young people, like I noticed one mom, she cried almost the entire time. She was so moved. So it seems like something small you acknowledging their child and giving them a piece of paper, but you just never know what somebody's going through. So I thank you for doing that. It's a good thing. Um I volunteered to South two Fridays ago during that super science hour with Miss Cole's class and then a couple weeks ago when I did go down um South saw the fourth grade teacher. She sent an email to tell me on Friday morning at 8:00 they are having
114a speed of celebration for their fourth grade students. Um I guess the speed of celebration will be to celebrate the I already growth for the first half of the year. So I'm going to go down and attend that since those are the kids that I worked with last year. I got a good opportunity to work in with Miss Chavez at Oakwood doing art which I love doing. She is so wonderful. And I also got to work for EC kids in art and um ate lunch there with this nice dressed little young man here today and it was very eventful and I did visit some other schools with Mr. Lillard. One thing I'd like to say is like when you visit somewhere else not in your county, watch how they do things. You can pick up
115things for better or worse. Uh we had a thing the other day uh which was impressive to me. Ben and I went to Bethany Community School and the baseball field was from foot here to Bans. Wonder way in the world I can handle that. But they had uh some guys that he was acting they did. He had golf cart took us over there came over with bought us back and I really appreciated that. And uh and in fact when talking to him he knew some people I knew from Cumberland County. So uh the little small things you do hospitality means a lot at from school to school and no matter where the school is whether it's a charter or whatever you you do learn a lot from that. Okay. If not, I move that the
116C County Board of Public Education go into close session for the purpose of considering a personnel action that involves the officer employee of this board NC general status 14318.116 and for the purpose of discussing information is privileged confidential or not NC statute 143 par motion to that effect. Mr. Miller back with second in discussion. Not all in favor. Okay. We now sit in close session. M.