001We'll go ahead and call this Cleveland County Board of Education meeting for Monday, March the 9th, 2026 to order. Uh at this time is Mr. Dennis Smith. Mr. Dennis Smith. Okay. Mr. Borders, could you give us an invocation, please? If you don't mind, let everyone stand. Let us pray. Oh kind precious God, we come to you right now just thanking you, Lord, for this day you given us. We thank you for life, health, and strength. We ask that you just be in the midst of this meeting tonight to to bless our school board. And Lord, we thank you for our young people and that's going to be uh rewarded tonight, Lord, and we pray, Lord, that you continue to bless our students and our teachers, Lord, and and Lord, just we thank you for this
002another opportunity, oh heavenly Father. And Lord, and bless this board that they make the right decisions for our young people and our staff, Lord. And Lord, we give you the praise and glory that you deserve cuz you are the God of all gods and Lord of lords and kings of kings and we love you and we honor you in Christ Jesus' name. Let everyone say amen. Amen. If you would remain standing and I'll ask uh Mr. Sperling if he would lead us in our pledge. Thank you. Salute. Pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. All right. This time we have some special recognition. Uh I'll call on Dr.
003Jason Parker. Thank you, Chairman and Superintendent Fisher. We do have two recognitions tonight from elementary ed. The first of which is our spelling bee recognition. Uh this happened a couple weeks ago over at Shelby Middle School. Just a couple of reminders for you. The The two young men I'm getting ready to introduce, they've won at their classroom level bee, they've won at their school level bee, and they both represented Cleveland County Schools very well at the uh district level competition. However, the spelling bee doesn't happen with all of our school level coordinators. A couple of them are here with us tonight. We were blessed to have three wonderful district judges this year, Emily Airy, Carla Haynes, and Jerry Hopper. Emily works for the Hospice Foundation and Carla and Jerry work for Cleveland Community College. And
004then our long-time spelling bee district caller is Nikki Bliss Carroll. If you know Nikki, she does a wonderful job at that. She also works over at the community college. So, tonight we are pleased to recognize First and foremost, we'll start with Caleb Marlowe. Caleb, if you'll come on up. Caleb was our district runner-up and he is from Crest Middle School. Dr. Fisher has his trophy and then thanks to the Educational Foundation, a $50 check to recognize his tremendous efforts. >> [applause] >> As Caleb is going around, I did see Principal Toferdahl here from Crest Middle. And then he was co-coached this year by Jennifer Melton, who is here tonight, and then by Melissa Lincoln, who was not able to be here tonight. And then our district runner-up, and you Excuse me. Excuse me. Our district
005winner, and you may be saying to yourselves, he looks familiar. That's because he was here last year for the exact same recognition. So, he is our uh two years in a row champion and that is Mr. Grayson Wells from Cleveland Innovation. Grayson, if you'll come on up. >> [applause] >> Grayson is is receiving a $100 check from the Educational Foundation. Uh he was coached this year by Allison Moore, who I do believe is here tonight, and his principal Heather Self is here as well. Additionally, Grayson has just gotten back from the Panther Stadium in Charlotte, where he achieved the top third of all regional spellers uh representing us here in Cleveland County. >> [applause] >> And then gentlemen, if you'll stand here. Let's give one more round of applause for Caleb and Grayson. >> [applause]
006>> And then our second recognition tonight from elementary ed is some of our newest Letters local certified facilitators. We have just a little bit of a background information for Letters. We have currently about 80 teachers moving through Letters. Letters is basically a masters level course. It's a lot of seat time and a lot of uh book work time above and beyond what teachers do each and every day. Letters is not misspelled. Uh it is Language Essentials for teachers of reading and spelling. And you can see there are all the domains that we cover in after school sessions. But we could not do this without the bottom of that arc there and that's our local certified Letters facilitators. These ladies and that we are now up to eight of them, recognizing the two newest tonight, they
007go above and beyond to make sure that our sessions after school are full of good information and I especially like it because they practice what they preach. They're not up there just telling people random facts, but these are things that these wonderful folks do each and every day. So, I'm honored to ask to come down tonight our newest facilitators. That's Rebecca Padgett, who's the instructional coach over at Elizabeth, and Ms. Jennifer Bumgardner, who is the instructional coach over at West Elementary School. >> [applause] [applause] >> Good job. Good job. >> [applause] >> Congratulations, everyone. Uh this time I'll call on Mr. David Bliss. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Dr. Fisher, thanks for giving me the opportunity to recognize some of our student athletes. And I just want to say this is just a really
008cool, awesome part of my job, getting to recognize state champions. Uh first I I want to call up from Burns High School, Troy Spangler. >> [applause] >> You can stand right here. I'm going to talk about you for a minute. Won't you stand beside me for a sec? Come here. This This is Troy Spangler. Troy recently won swim state championship in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 22.31 seconds. Uh Troy's head coach is Dan McKay. And most importantly, I want to talk about Troy's GPA. Troy is a student athlete. He has a 4.5 GPA. >> [applause] >> Good job. Thank you. Good job. Appreciate it. Good job. Thank you. Good job. Appreciate it. Good job. Thank you. >> [laughter] >> Our picture day. You may have to bend down. >> [applause] >> All right.
009Next up from Kings Mountain High School, we have Will Varner. >> [applause] >> Come stand beside me. We'll talk about you a little bit. Will Varner, this is Will's actually his second state championship. He He's back back to back state champion. Uh Will's a senior. Uh last year he won 150 lb. This year, 165. Um Will's career record, 152 wins, nine losses. And also and also I want to let you know that he is coached by Harley Price. Harley's the head coach at Kings Mountain. And Will has a 3.58 GPA. Good job. >> [applause] [applause] >> All right, from Shelby High School we have Zaren Ushery, Kenaya Trammel Mason, Olivia Oliver, and Noni Oliver. Y'all come up here. >> [applause] >> These ladies right here won the state championship in the in indoor track in
010the in the 4 by 2, okay? Uh with a time of 1:45.87. And I want to mention that they were 6 seconds faster than anybody else in the state championship. >> [applause] >> The girls are coached by Dobson Collins, and these ladies have a combined GPA of 3.68. >> [applause] [applause] >> Congratulations, everyone. Next on the agenda is the adoption of the Good uh good uh recognize the three kids from Crest High School. Uh are they here? Huh? Are they here? No, they're not here, but I they'll they'll know it. Uh quickly. Okay. Uh Saturday night the FFA had a um fundraiser for the FFA and they had Alex Miller there to for their band, you know, to help raise money. But we have three Crest High School students that cranked that thing up for
011about 45 minutes. Uh that is awesome. And their names was Luke Cannon, Levi Martin, and Maddi Glenn. They are as three as good of people that you've ever heard. If you need a group to come and sing for you, you need to call on them. They're local Crest High students. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Blanton. All right. Next on the agenda is the adoption of the agenda. Do I hear a motion to adopt the agenda as presented? >> Make a motion to approve. Mr. Bridges, I hear a second. I'd like to amend the agenda. Okay. What's your amendment? I'd like to amend the agenda to uh to speak about the person uh disciplinary actions uh on a couple board members. Okay. Can you be a little bit more specific? Uh actions that took place on uh
012December the 8th and January the 8th. Right. Right. That's what I'm waiting on. All right. We have a second. Now I need some discussion. Uh before we vote, I'm sure everyone up here would like to know what we're going to be discussing. Well, we had one board member to go out into the crowd after our December meeting and uh got in pretty rough discussion with them. That's not good actions for a board member to do that. And the second one was that I got slapped right over there at that corner uh after that board meeting. Do I need to get any more specific? >> Have you filed a police report? Yep. No, I have not filed one yet. Okay. But if I need to, I can go ahead and get started. Yep. Well, here's here's
013here's the problem with nobody the >> [laughter] >> Uh Okay. All right. All right. Okay. So, just take a vote. Okay. All right. I I don't have enough information, so All right. All those in favor, raise your hand. So, all those opposed, that's five four. Motion is denied. Uh Now, do we have a motion to adopt the agenda uh as presented here? All right, Mr. Bridges. I have a second. Second by Ms. Sherman. All those in favor, raise your hand. One. Are you in favor of the agenda? Two, three, four, five, six. All those opposed, one, two, three. The agenda passes six to three. All right. Next on the agenda is approval of the minutes from February the 9th, 2026. Uh do I hear a motion to approve the minutes? All right. Second. Second. Second
014by Ms. Snipes. All those in favor, that's nine to zero. All right. Uh Next is the finance and personnel report, Mr. Bridges. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The February 26th finance and personnel committee meeting was called to order by committee chairman Aaron Bridges. Rob McDaniel uh shared a budget update in the budget processing or budgeting process. We still do not have a budget from the state. Mr. McDaniel plans to bring a draft proposed budget for 2026-2027 to the committee next month. The committee discussed the budgeting process and expenses. Mr. McDaniel shared the external audit contracts from Anderson Smith and Wike. We are required by law to have an external audit. The state determines the things that are on the audit. There are no changes to the terms of the contract. Uh the contract is not to
015exceed 45,000. The committee unanimously recommended the contract for approval. The contract will go to the full board uh for approval at the March meeting. Dr. Fisher shared an invoice uh from Cleveland County I'm sorry, Cleveland Community College for CCP courses taken by our traditional high schools in the fall and spring. In total, Cleveland County Schools pays up to $150,000 per year according to our agreement with the college. This is good for the school system with our highs with our high use of CCP courses. Ginger Jackson shared a renewal quote for approval for Vivi in the amount of $94,203.20. This is a 3-year year three of 3-year contract with Vivi. The committee unanimously supported this renewal and it will go to the full board for approval at their March meeting. Ms. Jackson also shared a technology
016update related to E-rate. Ms. Jackson requested the board's approval of needed equipment and services for our internet network including switches, fiber, battery backups, implementation services for elementary and intermediate sites, and switch upgrades for secondary sites. This request will cover the remaining 15% which will be funded once the state releases the PRC 073 allocation. No expenditures will occur until those funds drop, but early approval ensures the project stays on schedule to be completed during the summer. The request is for approval of an AC quote ANC quote at our cost of $253,663.07. The committee unanimously agreed with the request and it will go to the full board for approval at their March meeting. Dr. Jennifer Lawmpler shared the staffing meeting uh staff meetings for the 2026-2027 school year uh and they have started with principals. The committee
017discussed current staffing and hiring. With no new business, the meeting was adjourned and the next finance and personnel committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April the 1st, 2026 at 11:45 in room 308. Thank you, Mr. Bridges. Next, we have three items uh that does come from committee uh audit contract approval, E-rate quote, and the Vivi renewal. Does that come from committee? And uh any questions on that? All right. All those in favor, that's nine zero. Mr. Chairman, Yes. I'd like to say one thing about this. This is very important topic, the audit report, and I will speak again that this needs to come before the full board, not just a committee. I think that the full board should be uh knowledgeable of what's going on and what we're doing. Uh I know we're doing a
018fantastic job, but uh rest of you folks don't know anything about this. So, I think this it used to come before the full board and for some reason it got changed and I'll recommend that we have these people here again to discuss this audit. >> Point of order, Chairman. All right. Is this on the agenda? Are we taking a vote on it or No, let's let's let's move on. All right. Let's move on to personnel report. Uh Now, I need a motion for the personnel report. >> I'd like a motion to approve. All right. Do I have a second? I got a question. All right. Now, be be careful on the personnel. I think I can be careful. Okay. Uh there are one person on this personnel report that uh supposedly I'd like to know
019if the board had done voted on it. It's on here tonight. But uh a resignation had already been put in and it said it was accepted by the board. And I don't remember ever seeing this. I might not have could have voted on it. Uh I can't I can't hear you. She said but getting the specifics we'd need to go to close session. Cuz it's a personnel matter. Okay, I asked that question earlier and I told that to bring it up right here. So. Okay. That'd be fine. All right. Thank you. Uh I want that added to the closed session. We don't need to vote on that then. All right. To add something into the closed session, we would have to have a super majority vote to amend the agenda now. Uh Okay. Second. Let
020me just unfreeze. All right. And you're saying now discussion. Unfreeze. Oh. Mr. Bridges is approve and Mr. Umphrey's is second. Okay. And it's my understanding to change the agenda after it's adopted, we have to have a super majority. Okay. So, we're just going to vote on the personnel report. Okay. Mr. Chairman, I would like to see that uh stated in the law or in policy, please. You can do that later, but I would like to see that. I haven't heard of that and I would like to see where there has to be a super majority. >> Mr. That's Robert's Rules of Order. Uh actually it is, sir. I mean I I would ask you to go No, you're talking about law now about the having to be uh su- super majority. By Robert's Rules of
021Order, when you when you approve an agenda, to change the agenda after the agenda has been approved, Robert's Rules of Order says the next vote would have to be a super majority to change it. You can go read that. I will. Okay, thank you. So, now we're voting on the personnel report. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All those in favor. 1 2 3 4 5. All those opposed? 4. Passes 5 to 4. All right. Did the chairman vote? >> [clears throat] >> Yeah. Okay. Uh Safety and operating Mr. Sperling. February 23rd Safety and Operations Committee meeting was called to order by committee chair Walter Sperling. Daniel House shared that our district level team has completed intermediate, middle, and high school safety updates. We have also made security updates to Central
022Services. Rodney Borders shared that last week was National SRO Appreciation Week. We are we are blessed with great SROs. The SRO conference is coming up soon and we plan to send two SROs again this year. Sandy Hamrick shared updates on the work of school counselors and social workers especially related to the recent student loss at Crest High School. Mrs. Hamrick shared that we have we have upcoming professional development planned for student support services. She also shared that we are looking to add Kindergart- Kendra, I don't I don't know if that's the right word or not. Think Oh, Kentegra. It's company, excuse me. Kentegra Services to uh two to three services to two to three additional schools next year, which is at no additional cost to the district. Uh David Pless and Brian McCollum shared a
023presentation related to seat belts on yellow buses. The committee discussed the pros and cons of the seat belts on school buses. Ginger Jackson shared that some camera updates have occurred at the schools and have been shared with schools during the recent safety visit. Ms. Jackson shared that she will bring be bringing the vivid renewal to the board in March. She also shared information related to e-rate. Uh there were no agency reports. Dr. Wampler and Chip Childers shared the capital projects report. This report will be shared with the full board as an informa- an information item at the March meeting. Dr. Wampler and Mr. Childers shared information related to an emergency repair to the chiller coils at Burns High. Temporary units may have to be used if temperatures rise in the next month. Te- Dr. Wampler
024and Daniel Sherman shared bids for a septic system replacement and upgrade at the bus garage. The lowest bid was from Wesson Septic Tank Incorporated was recommended for approval with contingency in the amount of $98,700. The committee a unanimous unanimous Woo. Help me. The committee Everybody on the committee approved the recommendation which will go to the full board for approval at their March meeting. Jamie Currier shared bids from from Child Nutrition. Ms. Currier recommended that the board approve an extension of the PET milk dairy the PET dairy milk bid in the amount of $535,258.78 as well as an extension of the Goo- Gordon Food Service bid in the amount of $3,380,156.10 for the 2026-2027 school year. Ms. Currier also recommended the approval of Foster Caviness for the fresh produce contract in the amount of $96,788.45. The
025committee Everybody on the committee approved the recommendation which will go to the full board for approval at their March meeting. Dr. Wampler shared a request from Cleveland County chapter of NAACP for a commemorative plaque being placed at Shelby High School honoring the Shelby Four of 1963 who were the first four black students integra- to integrate Shelby High School. The committee discussed and supported this request. The committee would like for Dr. Fisher to work with the NAACP to determine the best location and design for the plaque. This recommendation will go to the full board for approval at the March meeting. With no additional business, the meeting was adjourned. The next Safety and Operations Committee meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 30th, 2026 at 11:45 a.m. in staff development. Thank you, Mr. Sperling. Yes, sir. All right.
026We have three items that do come from committee. The first is the bus garage septic tank system replacement and upgrade. The child nutrition bids and the NAACP request. Uh any discussion? Yes. Is there any of the four here tonight? Would you raise your hands? Just raise your hands. Oh, okay. >> [applause] >> Any Anybody else? All right. We're going to vote on that. All in favor. All three. Yeah, that's 9-0. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. >> [applause] >> All right. Mr. Chairman Yes. With the amount of money that we're spending on child nutrition, I know our turnover report in that uh particular area is high. But, the money we're spending in this child nutrition, we should be feeding these kids pretty good, shouldn't we? Uh Chairman point of order, we've already had discussion and a
027vote. Yep. >> [laughter] >> All right. >> Are you afraid to discuss it, Mr. Sperling? Mr. Let me explain something right here. The reason for an agenda is to be transparent to people where they know what we're talking about. That's the whole reason for an agenda. So, when somebody says point of order, that means someone has gotten off the agenda and want to talk about something else. So, please take that into consideration that we make an agenda for a reason. If some of you want something added to the agenda, you can call me, Dr. Fisher, if we don't approve and don't do it, you can do just like you did tonight. You can bring it for a vote. But, don't get frustrated with other members when they object to something that's not on the agenda.
028Educational programs and policies >> uh if I might add the the uh If I might add, I don't care. You don't care? >> No. You should be listening to this. The chairman is not listening to this. >> Order. If you don't like those rules, change them. Okay? If y'all don't like them, get five board members to change them. As long as I'm sitting here, we're going to follow Robert's Rules of Order. Okay? >> still should listen to this. >> but when you get off agenda, it's time to stop. agenda. He asked for a discussion before the vote. Yeah, we took the vote, we moved on. The discus- I asked for discussion. All right, Mr. Chairman. >> [clears throat] >> The February 24th Educational Programs and Policy Committee meeting was called to order by Committee Chair
029Ron Auffres. Dr. Stephen Fisher reminded the committee that two policies with legal updates based on recent legislation are up for a second read and approval at their March meeting. Those policies are Policy 3460 Graduation Requirements and Policy 3460R Promotion and Graduation Requirements. As part of these policy updates, Policy 3460E Early Graduation Application is being replaced with school-based applications and is let no longer needed. As part of for of the normal review of policies, seven policies in the 7000 section personnel were reviewed. Those policies were 7280 Prohibition Against Retaliation, 7300 Staff Responsibilities, Staff Student Relations, 7311 Bullying and Harassing Behavior Prohibited, 7312 Child Abuse and Related Threats to Child Safety, 7313 Reporting Requirements and Investigation of Misconduct, Confidential Information. No changes were recommended to these policies. Ginger Jackson shared a technology update. She shared that she
030will bring BB renewal to the board in March. She also shared information related to E-rate. Dr. Brian Hunnel shared that Pre-K is going through a Head Start federal review this week. He also shared preschool information for approval including January 2026 financial reports. Head Start grant application for year three 2026-2027 Head Start eligibility status sheet and employee handbook. Dr. Hunnel shared an accident report from February 10th, 2026 along with the 2025-26 mid-year status report and community assessment updates as of January 2026. The committee approved these items and they will go to the full board for approval at their March meeting. Dr. Hunnel shared the CCP invoices from Cleveland Community College. As a reminder, our max payment is $150,000 per agreement. The fall invoice is for $120,000 and spring will be similar. Which means we will pay
031the full $150,000. Approval was recommended by the committee and it will go to the full board for approval in March. With no additional new business, the meeting was adjourned. The next educational and policy committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 31st, 2026 at 11:30 a.m. in room 308. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Next, we have two policies that does come from committee for approval. The first one is graduation requirements and the second one is promotion and graduation requirements. Any discussion? All right. All those in favor? That's 9-0. Next, we do have from committee also is the requisition. Uh you got the invoices there for for the fall and the spring. Uh any discussion on the requisition? I have a discussion on that. I will excuse myself because I am on the uh Board of Trustees for
032the uh community college, so I will not vote on this. Okay. Mr. Ledford will be recusing himself from this vote. Any further discussion? Do I need to recuse myself? >> If you think it's that there is a conflict, I would encourage you to recuse yourself, but that is your decision. >> I will recuse myself. >> Okay, Mr. Sperling be recusing himself. Anybody else? All right. No further, all those in favor? That's 7-0. The Head Start uh all these you have the January 2026 PCSB report, HS financial summary, the grant application handbook for review. Uh this all comes from uh committee. Any discussion on any of that? All right. All those in favor? That's 9-0. Thank you. Administrative uh Mr. Dr. Fisher Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Um my pleasure to bring you
033a couple items tonight on the under the administrative section. First is the Marion School resolution. As you know, uh we spent a lot of time uh talking about Marion School, we looked at several different options. Uh tonight, we bring uh as we communicated with you a different uh recommendation resolution about Marion School. Um as we've had conversations with you over the last couple months and looking at different ways of disposal of this property, uh it has become apparent based on several circumstances that we uh recommend using uh the resolutions that you've got at your your spots uh that are on is on our website or on um Elliott Community and showing on the screen to move forward to uh dispose uh sell Marion Elementary using the upset bid process. Um that information is highlighted not
034just in the resolution, uh but if you'll flip on the back side of the resolution, there gives you a little more details about how that would happen. Um we would accept bids um for have a a closed bid date uh there in April. Uh and then the board at their April meeting would have the opportunity to approve uh that bid. Uh then we would enter into an upset bid day upset bid process. Uh this is not new for the board. This is way we've disposed of properties uh in the past. So, you've got the resolution. Our recommendation would be to accept that this resolution uh and then tomorrow we would post uh that property to be uh eligible for bid. Uh you've got again, you've got that information there. Um the resolution is what you'll
035be approving. The the other information is just FYI for you in terms of timetable. That all that would be communicated on our website uh and through uh local communication. Okay. Uh any questions for Dr. Fisher before I ask Well, let me ask for a motion first. I got a question. I got some questions. Let me let me get a motion and a second, then we'll have discussions. All right. Mr. Bridges made a motion. Do I have a second? Second by Mr. Humphrey. Now, [clears throat] Mr. Blanton. Uh Would not pay us to do a little homework to make sure that we're not going to need this building down the road. We're already renting mobile units because our schools are full in Shelby. There are houses going up on every corner. They've been eight built in
036the last eight weeks at Pinnacle. Uh down next to Pinnacle. But I honestly believe that we need to hold up in case we need this building. And somebody brought it to my attention now whether it's been brought to y'all's attention that's that the community thought about leasing that building. And then they'd let one more one less use it. And we could give them 60 days. And they'd move out of it and we could uh go right back to school there if we needed that building. But we don't have the money to build a new building and if that's what we're driving at up here. Uh we need uh we need to check and make sure and have our city and our county to give us a survey of what's being done. And this construction that's
037taking place here in Cleveland County. Somebody's going to move in them houses. And it's not just retired people for the simple reason they all look like they got upstairs to it. And may I can't go upstairs. Uh so I'm I'm going to have to put this on uh we tabled it one time. Let's table it and let's let's get some numbers from our county and our city. To make sure uh that we're doing the right thing. Because the numbers has been put before us in the past from that group. I'm not seeing those numbers because right here on the uh our capital projects. We've had three jobs done it was on that list that amounted to $13 million and we got it done for $1 million instead of what those people said. So we can
038remodel that school much cheaper than we can build a new one. So folks I honestly I hope this board would consider that us get the city and the numbers. And I'd like as a board member to go I looked at that school when we moved out of it. They say [clears throat] it's a disaster now. I think this board needs to go look at that school. >> [applause] >> I'm I guess I'm done. Dr. Fisher I'd like to say something. I want [applause] to say something. All right. Mr. Bridges. So Dr. Fisher gave us a email last week. So in 2017 we had 14,826 students. As of 2026 we have 13,862. So within from 2017 till 2026 we've lost almost 1,000 students. So I understand the housing market is growing but we we're losing students.
039I mean we've lost 1,000 students from 2017. We're down to 3 13,862 students. Can I add something? Uh Mr. Are you done? I'm sorry. No I'm done. Yeah. All right. Mr. Spurling. So uh we've been doing this for a couple years now. And when we closed it there were there was data brought forward. Uh during during the uh recent failed sale there was data brought forward. Uh and one of the pieces of that of data that stood out to me is uh in North Carolina 28% of all uh family units. That's apartments, houses, everything. 28% has a child in that house. 28% and and definition of a child 0 to 18. Eight houses are not going to even is not even a drop in the bucket for a whole school. You would have to be
040build 10,000 plus houses e- even to come close to needing a new school. So it and it's and it's just math. I mean all you got to do is math. Okay. Thanks Mr. Spurling. Mr. Let me You you done spoke. All right. Mr. Craig. I understand the statistics and all but the statistics I get are by getting in my car and riding through the community. And riding around Shelby, North Carolina. That's what my statistics come from. I think and I've mentioned it before we need to wait. We need to get the statistics from our um commissioners. They had agreed that they would do something at one time. I think we need to see what they can do before we make a decision to sell the school. I don't think that we need to be trying
041to sell the school yet because I believe it is going to be needed. You know when you talk about statistics I was told I was going to lose in the uh primaries. But I didn't. Statistics were wrong. So they can be wrong at anything. But I'd like to see the numbers. What what what hold hold >> [applause] >> Wait please folks when I call on you please say all you're going to say when you when I call on you instead of me having to go back and forth, okay? Uh Miss Sherman or Mr. Ledford. Well I would just like to say that based on I have seen numbers and statistics and I've we think we've heard from we've offered it to Oh okay. We've offered it to the county I know at least two times.
042Um being the last time not very long ago. Maybe a month month ago. And it's been offered to the city. And I have um I I'm I'm understanding that we had some statistics that were given um during a forum with county commissioners that we are a down approximately 4,000 um maybe since 2017 in our in our county. And one thing that I look at too is I don't think we're looking to build a new school. We've been looking at where if we would where would it be feasible? And it would be feasible at where the housing market is booming. That's where it would be feasible. And um in order to fill a school where Marion is currently we would have to revoke transfers. We would have to redraw district lines. And you take the children
043from Jefferson and you put the children in Elizabeth. So I don't think anybody would be in favor of revoking transfers because everyone likes where they are. Um there's a lot of different things that go into it that I think that's into play when you look at what we've looked at. And believe me I've looked at all different areas and ways. Um I I hate that it didn't work out um with what we had proposed because I I felt like that was a really good thing because we were trying to look out for the community and the neighborhood but that's not the feedback we got. Um I got very little feedback that that was a good thing. So I was you know before they came along I think um the school was on the it was
044next to go to bed. And then we had this possibility. But that wasn't um very well received. And um then I heard you know they they they backed out. So that may maybe you know better. But I'm not making a decision without looking at numbers. And looking at different things that it would affect. It's my understanding if we have an influx we can add on to um Jefferson school. Um that would be we always can add on to present buildings. Um if we really got in a bind we could look at Graham school. Um Graham school is possibly could still be available to us from the county if that's needed. Um so that's what I've been told. Um so that those are some things that I've heard that I'm trying to have filtered into um
045listen to all sides. Thank you Mr. Sherman. Mr. Blanton. Yes thank you. Let me say this. I have had courses in statistics and I will say that statistics can lie. I know that to be a fact. If you'll also go over to Jefferson behind Jefferson there's houses being built over there that are two-story. And there's uh as been said already Mr. Blanton already said that us old people may not be able to move into those. But that's all right. Um we can't tell how many kids are going to move into our area. We've already seen projections that have been done with money and they're already off. We've already seen projections that have done with the other things and it's been off. Uh number one if you look at the resolution I don't think this board
046would want to uh sell a piece of property unless it knows what the property looks like and know that uh what kind of shape it's in. So yes I agree with Mr. Blanton we need to go look at that property period. Another thing I'm not in favor of selling this uh school right now because uh we could be having uh, additional students. If we don't, it's not going to do nothing but gain property, gain money. So, I'm I'm not in favor of doing this at this particular time. Thank you. Thank you. All right. >> [applause] >> Briefly. So, the board several years ago decided to shut that school down. That's that is come and gone. Um, unfortunately at this at this point, Marion, this came up. Either we were going to give it to this
047project or we're going to put it up for bid. The discussion was never that it was going to reopen as a school, unfortunately. Um, once the school district declared it surplus, there was no going back. I mean, you have to have a super majority of the board to make that decision. Now, we we tried to look out for the building, for the community. We had several meetings and was transparent and that didn't work out. And so, uh, we had several emails. You know, I've got emails in my inbox from from members of this community that said if if we got to get rid of it, I want you to get top dollar for it. And I think that's just the best option at this point. We've we've already passed the decision to reopen it as
048a school. I mean, this is the path forward, unfortunately. Briefly. We can open it back up tomorrow because we didn't cut the power off. >> [applause] >> So, uh, I did go get the some statistics at at the city of Shelby and there are 312 houses that's finished. Ready for people to move in. Uh, but I think we need a really a complete discussion. I'm not saying that that's the best school for us. Graham and but I'm just saying that before we spend 360,000 plus dollars renting mobile units, put kids back in the school. Okay. All right, I've said this before and I'm just going to say it again. I'm not throwing insults at you. I'm just saying we cannot open that school tomorrow and here's why. I hope all of y'all read the email.
049We are getting cut 1.8 million dollars from the state next year because of our decline in students. We're going to have to cut positions, folks. We're going to have to lay people off. To open that school, you need a principal, assistant principal, custodians, office staff. Uh, cafeteria staff. The state don't pay any of that. That comes from local funds. That's millions of dollars we don't have. If somebody can tell me where to come up with all that money, I'll be glad to talk to you. But, we cannot open that school because it number one, we don't have the money. We're getting cut from the state. We're not getting extra millions to open a school. We're getting cut because of our enrollment has declined. 1.8 million and I hate to bear the bad news, but somebody's
050going to lose their job. And 2017, we had 14,826 students. We got 13,862 now. Every year since, if you want to go back to 2005, we had 17,217 students in Cleveland County Schools. Every year we've went down, down, down and the state's caught on and says we're cutting your money next year. How can we afford to put two new elevators in this school? We know that. We've been told it would have to have two new elevators. Where are we going to get the money? Would somebody please tell me where we're going to get the money to put the principal, the assistant principal, the custodians? We don't have that money. We don't have it. Where are we going to get it? My plan, everybody always says we don't have a plan. My plan I hope Cleveland
051County grows. We need it, folks. We need it to grow. Mr. Griggs, I agree riding with you. I rode over to King's Mountain and I I thought I was in a new world at some of those houses that were being built over there. But, all those houses went up King's Mountain, guess what? Our enrollments went down. It doesn't make sense to me where our population's going up, but our enrollment's going down. Can I tell you why? But, we just can't look and here's the other thing. We have 290 open uh, spots. 290 open spots in the Shelby zone right now. 290. We got to fill them up first before and for us letting that building sit there, folks, we're throwing money, thousands of dollars a month of your tax dollars, we're throwing it down the
052drain to maintain that building. It's just like throwing it in the trash. Huh? What kind of spots are you talking about? What do you mean spots? >> You said spots. I didn't say spots. Kids seats. Seats. Yeah. So, Why did we get a mobile unit then? It was for safety. I remember sitting in on that meeting because of the safety we needed to put mobile units where they were at. And it would be a lot cheaper to do exactly what we did at Crest High School, to Jefferson, James Love, or any of that. Put a six class extension on it would be a whole lot cheaper because you don't have to get the principal, the assistant principal, all the the millions of dollars you're looking at saving taxpayers and that's what I want to look
053at is for your dollars. If we open that school back up, we're wasting your your money to put what? 50 kids in there? 100 kids? One of our best schools in Cleveland County has 600 kids. And we're going to open up a school for one or 200 and waste tax dollars? I can't do it. But, you know, when something is wrong when we went from 2005 17,217 and the population was 98,000. Our population in 2017 when we had 14,000 kids, for in 2017, Cleveland County's population was 97,037 people. The enrollment was 14,826. Well, guess what? Over the last 9 years, Cleveland County has grown to 102,194 people. But, our school enrollment has went down to 13,862. Those are facts. Those ain't statistics. Those are facts. So, for some reason we're declining. That's all I want
054to say about it. I'm just looking after the taxpayer. And with that said, we'll take the vote. There'll be a motion and a second. All those in favor? Wait a minute. I've got one question first. It was brought up that the uh, community had requested the school to lease. In the past, we have given that school to the community before we put it on bid. Now, has that happened or has it not happened? I've not seen any. Have you seen anything, Dr. Fisher? I I just heard it. Okay. Uh, he said he just heard it. There's been no official. Are we going to give them the opportunity to come back? >> going on for 3 years. It's time to put it to bed. >> Call the question. All right. All in favor? All opposed? Passes
0555 to 4. All right. Uh, let me find it. What was that? Legislative uh, committee. Um, they have sent us a request wanting each board to nominate someone to sit on the North Carolina State Board Association Legislative Committee. Uh, Mr. Ledford has expressed his desire in doing so. Uh, Mr. Ledford, I just have uh, there is two meetings. One was going to be in June in Raleigh and one was going to be in July in Raleigh. Right. Are is if that if you were to get on that, would you be able to take make those meetings? Okay. All right. So, we have an I need a motion and a second to approve Mr. Ledford to be All right. I hear it from Mr. Griggs. Mr. Blanton? All those in favor? All those opposed? So, you
056didn't vote. So, that will be 7 1. Yeah. All right. Super Oh, Ow. Uh, superintendent's update. Let me jump up and get legislative priorities right quick first. >> Okay. Did I skip that? Sorry. >> Yes, I did. I'm sorry. I apologize. If you would just continue on into your update. >> So, this is a recommend for your approval. We've talked a little bit a lot about legislative priorities. Kind of worked through it in our work session and this has been kind of an ongoing conversation on the Friday updates. Some of you have uh, provided some really good information. Um, with that I've tried to consolidate what we had originally into some conversations that that uh, you guys have have proposed. So, there are seven uh, legislative priorities, if you will. As you said in seeing
057the text at the top, there is no particular order, but um, while no particular with the board believes these priorities are essential in in achieving North Carolina's goal of becoming best in the nation and in providing our students with exceptional educational experiences every day. The the the seven priorities are number one, competitive compensation. And again, there are multiple layers to that. Number two, school performance grade redesign. Number three, uh, provide adequate and equitable resources. Number four, provide efficient operations and safe learning environments. Number five, the weighted student funding for exceptional children. Number six, local calendar flexibility. And number seven, a state construction bond. Why is it important for us to have legislative priorities? It is important so we can align ourselves with what other districts are doing as we have conversations with with folks from
058the General Assembly, with people in the legislature. We know these are things that are important to Cleveland County Schools. These are things that that we feel like are will make our school system better, but also make the state of education in North Carolina even better. Uh so, Mr. Chairman, I I submit these to you. This is really your work, uh but I submit this to you for approval. That way as we we meet with folks across the state, we can push and say these are the things uh seven main priorities that our board feels are is very important. Okay. Do I hear a motion to adopt the legislative priorities as presented by the superintendent? I heard Mr. Ledford first, and Mr. Bridges, any discussion? I understand there may be some changes down there. Maybe we
059can get something done with this calendar thing, so uh we'll see what happens. Any any other discussion? >> an email. Yeah. All right. All those in favor? That's 9 to 0. All right, thank you. And last, uh but not least, we do have a couple updates. Tomorrow, uh just a reminder, Teaching Excellence Awards are tomorrow at the Le Grand. Uh that starts at 6:30. You have the opportunity to honor uh some teachers for their exceptional work in the classroom. Um we also will be able to give out some grant money to some teachers uh in our in our um school system. So, a great event at Le Grand, 6:30, come uh enjoy that. Um there is a reception afterward. Just remember, this is the one that's not the meal. This is just a a snack
060reception at the end. Uh elementary honors course uh is Thursday. Also on Thursday evening, I didn't put it on here, Kings Mountain High School basketball team will play for the state championship. So, hopefully uh in another meeting we'll have another uh state champion to introduce to you. Uh we do have kindergar- K day on Friday, and it's just a reminder, our schools have sent this communication out. K- uh Friday, March 13th, is now a student day for everyone except kindergarten and pre-K. Uh you'll also see a couple things on there, next next round of committee meetings at the end of March, beginning of April. It is hard to believe we're already talking about spring break in less than a month. So, spring break begins Friday, April 3rd. Well, that's Good Friday. It will run through
061that entire next week. Students return to school on Monday, April 13th. Um we have that's uh also a board meeting night. Uh we'll make you aware of a spring Title I parent event, April 17th at 10:00 a.m. here at Central Services and Staff Development. Usually lunch is about 11:30, um but we would love to have you come and and be a part of that event. You can see the next board meeting uh and committee meetings uh there. So, that gets you out a little bit um until the beginning of May. All right. Thank you, Dr. Fisher. All right. Next is our public participation. Um Mr. Bridges, if you'd read our rules, I only have one here. Okay. Public comments should not address any specific confidential student or personnel matter. Specific concerns related to confidential student
062or personnel matter should be directed to the superintendent or designee. Comments must be relevant to the matters that are within the authority of the board. Speakers shall refrain from personal attacks or threats directed towards staff, elected board members, or members of the public. Speakers shall be courteous in their language and presentation. Insults, profanity, use of vulgar language or gestures, or other inappropriate behaviors are not allowed. The board vests in its chair and/or presiding officer to terminate the remarks of any individual when he or she does not adhere to the rules established above. Any person who willfully interrupts or distrupts disturbs a board meeting may be directed to leave the meeting by the presiding officer. Any person who refuses to leave may be prosecuted for disrupting a public meeting. Persons appearing before the board are reminded
063as a point of information that the members of the Cleveland County Board of Education are without authority to act independently as individuals in official matters. Immediate answers are not generally possible and must be deferred pending investigation and consideration by the full board. Thank you, Mr. Bridges. The name I have is Renee Palermo, I believe. Good evening, members of the school board. My name is Renee Palermo, and I'm here today to speak about something that honestly shouldn't even need to be spoken about. Making sure that every student in our in Cleveland County has access to lunch. For many students, school lunch is not just a convenience. It's the most reliable meal that they will get all day. When a child is hungry, they cannot focus. Their mood and behaviors are off the wall. In other words,
064a hungry child being asked to be successful in school while their basic needs are not being met is crazy. We ask our students to come to school ready and respectful, ready to learn. But how can we expect that when we don't even make sure they're fed edible food? I'd like to know if any of you's know what happens at Burns Middle School when they don't get served lunch, or they don't have enough lunch, or they don't make a lunch. They get tickets, red tickets handed to them, and they are told to wait 15, 20 minutes. Sometimes they don't even get lunch. When they are wait asked to wait, they are told that they don't get extra time to finish their meals. They are sent back to class hungry. Last week, I picked my child up
065because there was no lunch, and she called me from the office. When I got there, Ms. Fulbright knew why I was there. She said, "Your daughter got a cheeseburger." She went back and watched the camera because my daughter told her that she did not to realize that no, she didn't get lunch. She was handed a ticket. She grabbed She did grab a pickle, a piece of lettuce, and a tomato because she was hungry. That did not fill her, which led to the phone call. When I got there, I had a meeting with Ms. Fulbright. Ms. Fulbright informed me that 24 students that day were given a red ticket. 24. 24 children were sent back to school or back to class hungry. Her next statement was, "Sometimes we don't make enough. And if we serve them
066pizza, that is what they should take." I'm sorry. I didn't know she could just dictate on whether or not people have allergies, sensory issues, or care about nutrition. To me, that statement said, "Your child is an inconvenience and a burden as soon as lunch period ends." When students are properly nourished, attendance improves, behaviors improves, and academic performances improve. Feeding children is not only the right thing to do, it's an investment into their success and the future of their community. I urge this we to pri- this board to pri- to prioritize policies that guarantee our children are not just fed every day, but fed el- edible food. I also challenge each and every one of you to go have lunch with my child at Burns Middle. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Palermo. >> [applause] >> Next
067is board member comments. Uh we'll start with this side. Anybody got anything over here? I'd just like to say we welcome all of you folks being here. We're pleased to see you. This is a good crowd, and we hope you will continue to come and be with us. Uh yes, as you've seen, we don't always agree with each other, but at least we try to work things out. Um I want to thank you for bringing that information to us on school lunches. Uh I was trying to compliment as far as school lunches a while ago. That's not a compliment. Uh but if we're paying $3 million for lunches, we all be able get food in here. Uh another thing is I want to congratulate the ones that received awards today. Uh our runners, our our
068swimmers, wrestlers, and so forth. And we're very proud of them. It's good to recognize our kids because that's what it's all about. And we recognize some teachers, and uh they work hard and do everything that they can. So, we're proud of teachers. And uh thank you very much again for being here. And with that, I adjourn. All right. Mr. Chairman? I would like to congratulate the um spelling champs and the swimming champs, the state champs. I can't believe how many state honors we've had um in Cleveland County Schools this year. So, congratulations. I also want to take a minute and um tell Dr. Fisher congratulations on his announcement for his retirement. And um tell you that I really appreciate There's many things I appreciate about your leadership. I've had the opportunity to work under your
069leadership in different roles, and I've always um felt you you put children first. And you also put your employees first. And make good, hard decisions. Um I felt supported even in very hard decisions that I had to make. And um always felt supported by Dr. Fisher, and um I just commend you. I'm happy for you with your retirement. Maybe you'll be one of those that can actually retire and stay home. I haven't been able to do that yet because I just can't seem to slow down, but congratulations. I'm sure we'll be able to say that more. And thank you for what you've done for Cleveland County Schools. Also, I was able to attend the pre-K state Fit No, it's federal. Federal review um and sit in and and be questioned and talked with some the
070the federal reviewers about our pre-K process. And I was very honored to be able to do that and proud of our pre-K program. I hope the review went well. It seemed to in the portion I was in, and I'm sure it'll be a few days or weeks before they hear, but um I'm glad I was happy to represent our board in that review, and also others in the school system. Thank you. All right. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Bridges, you have anything? I want to thank everybody that came tonight and spoke. I appreciate your getting up here and talking to us. And I I want to say that these kids that come in here and win these awards, it it's really a great accomplishment. It was good to see them all in here. But, you know, the
071lady that's here tonight, one of the four, I I that just keeps going through my mind and for her to be here and to know that she started something back in '63, or was part of starting something in '63, is really a great accomplishment. You know, you you have helped people go a long way with what you did. And thank you for being here tonight. >> [applause] >> I think it deserves a little a little more than that. >> [applause] [applause] >> All right. Mr. Sperling. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all, I too would like to say thank you for your sacrifice so many years ago to make our world better. You know, humankind has made a lot of mistakes and I hope we learn from people like you and and and better our
072communities because of things that were done so many years ago. So, thank you very much. I I too would like to congratulate our athletes. As some of those came through, I asked them when they were going to the Olympics. Wouldn't that be something? All of us get to see some of these young people in in the in the Olympics. That would be awesome. So, but not only their athletic abilities, but I hope you paid attention to their GPAs. We're not just We're not just pushing through people that can play ball or wrestle or run. We're We're teaching. And and I I want to commend our school system for not just pushing people through. You know, because the the chances of one of these young people making a living on their athletics is very small. I
073hope they do it. But but but you know, to be a athlete a professional athlete, it that's a big chance. But their education will last them forever. They'll never lose that education. So, so I'm I'm I am proud of their athletic abilities more than I can say, but I am proud that they are doing so well in school, also. Um I too want to express my congratulations to Dr. Fisher. Many of you might not know, but I spent 26 years in the army. Retired from the army. And out of 26 years, I can't tell you how many leaders I know. All the way you have squad leaders all the way to generals. And and I've known some terrible leaders. I've known some great leaders. And and I I would rank Listen, I taught under Dr.
074Fisher, just like you were saying. I served under Dr. Fisher. I I know what the what the atmos- or the environment was at the school. I've known Dr. Fisher through the community college. And now I know Dr. Fisher as a board member and a superintendent. And and not everything is perfect in Cleveland County schools. Not everything is ever going to be perfect in Cleveland County schools. The best you can strive for is to make it as perfect as possible. That's it. I don't know if y'all realize this, but Cleveland County schools is the largest employer in in Cleveland County. Employs the most employees in Cleveland County. Imagine being in charge of that many people. You know, he he cannot be personally responsible for everything, but he does take the responsibility and when something comes up
075to him, I I've seen it firsthand. He handles it. There's There's been nothing that I've ever seen pushed under the rug. He it may not be the outcome you prefer. Just like don't ask a question you don't want the answer to. But but he does his best to to do a good job. He's a good man. Dr. Fisher, thank you. I think I think a lot of people when you when you leave, especially in in the beginning, people trying this board trying to hire somebody, we'll we'll see how that goes. But I I wish you happiness. I wish your family happiness. I wish you a good life. Mr. Blanton. Oh, Mr. Fisher, I'm sorry. I thought you was like go ahead. I guess you're shocked, but uh No, no, I I I I I part
076of me is, but I am you know, I I thought I thought you just like nodded like go ahead, but I apologize. Mr. You go ahead. All righty. Well, I I guess the one thing that bothers me, which I learned about it, you know, campaigning last week, was the incident at the middle school where kids are not being served lunch, they're given a ticket. Well, I mean, I don't even think they even said what the ticket was good for. Unless it was but uh you know, there's there's no excuse for kids to go to school and do what they're there for and to not for lunch is not be available to them. Uh and that you know, that that sort of you know, gets at my heart. Of course, I like to eat, too, but
077uh you know, when a kid going to school every day and the pressures that that they're facing each and every day, which is a lot different than I faced when I was going. Uh but that was sort of unheard of that you don't have enough lunch to feed the kids. And I that that really bothers me. Because they need that. And to make their day whole. So, that's about all. Thank you, Mr. Fisher. Mr. Blanton. Yes. Well, [clears throat] I'd like You ain't going to not say nothing, are you? No. You can carry that to the bank. I can start off in two or three places. I'll congratulate the the winners that we had. But we do have a winner sitting in that audience back there. She's not only the winner of that starting at
078Shelby High School. She worked at Cleveland Community College for many years. And she's one of the best campaign people they are in North Carolina. That lady campaigned for me a few years back and she passed out my cards and I'm telling you right now, anybody that wants to win, you get on her team and you'll win. So, I got on her team. Now, I'm going to get down to my my doings. Reason our numbers is dropped, I can answer some of that. We had Central School that we sold, or we had somebody wanting to buy it for over two years. For over two years. Then at the last minute, it got sold and it got sold to somebody. Guess what? It was private school. I do not have anything against a private school or charter
079school, but I am on the board for the public school, so I have to do the best interest for them. Period. Period. The public school. As I said again, I'm going to say I repeat myself. I don't have nothing against a charter school or the private school. If a parent thinks that's what's best for their kid, but that's the reason that our numbers is dropped is because we sold the school and there are about eight or 900 kids it wouldn't surprise me that's right down there in that school. So, take that off of that 14,000 little plus and that'll bring it down to 13,000. So, plus. So, uh I have got to protect our schools for the public. And I've said it over and over. The children is my number one goal. The staff is
080my number two goal. And every last taxpayer is my number three goal. And I think in the primary that the people spoke, they like what I have to do up here and say. I will protect you as long as I'm here. I might go out in the general election. I might go out. But the one thing about as long as I'm here, I'm working for you children, your children, and the taxpayers of Cleveland County. That's a promise. Thank you, Mr. Blanton. Mr. Mr. Bridges. So, I just want to take a few moments. I've got some that I wrote down here, but also want to say I went to North Shelby on Friday and was able to read to them. And if you've never been in North Shelby, you're missing out. We have a great school
081over there. They do a great job. And I just want to commend her for being here tonight. Thank you for being here tonight. We appreciate who you are. Um I wrote this out just so I could I could say it and not miss anything, but I'm going to go ahead and and and just kind of speak tonight. Over the last 4 years, I have sat on this stage and listened as members of this board have argued, fussed, and debated many things that have little to do with education and the reason why we're actually here. During that time, I have always tried to remain professional, polite, considerate, and respectful. From the very beginning, I have made my position clear that serving on the Board of Education has never been about politics for me. It is always
082been about serving this county and ensuring that all children, and when I say all, I mean all children, receive a sound of education. I believe in supporting our teachers and staff and making the best decisions possible as an elected official to move this district forward. As everyone knows, there was a primary election last week, and I'm honored to have made it through that election. However, I will say it was a difficult battle considering the number of candidates involved. There were also There were also even sitting board members who worked at the polls for other board members. And I'm not saying that to point fingers or create drama tonight. I'm sharing this tonight to say something important. The election is over. And I'm man enough to say that if you worked against me, that's okay. Um
083now it's time for us to move forward. Let's focus on what truly matters, and that's education. Let's focus on the students of Cleveland County Schools. Let's get to work on the issues that truly matter. I'm willing to put last week behind us and continue working with every member of this board. It is time for us to focus on our school district. The past is the past. And when the board does not work together, it is our students who suffer. My challenge to this entire board tonight is simple. Go back and watch one of the meetings sometime and watch how each of us acts and ask yourself, is this how we want to represent this district? Is this how we want to represent Cleveland County Schools? Because I can tell you that is not how I
084want this board to be represented. Tonight, I'm calling on this board, all of us, to come together and discuss and be civil with the upcoming decisions that are coming up in the next month or two or year. Uh and I'll also say this again, it's not about politics for me. It's truly about the school district. As we stated in our workshop last month, we should be spending 90% of our time focused on education. When we work together, we can do great things for this district. And we work together, we can show the entire county that this board is functional, committed, and serious about improving Cleveland County Schools. I appreciate I appreciate everyone who went out to vote and participate in the democratic process last week. I also appreciate the community for choosing the individuals they
085believe should represent our schools. I am prepared to continue working hard for this district and hoping to move it in a positive direction. I also want to take a moment to thank all of our teachers, our staff, bus drivers, janitors, teacher assistants, EC teachers, substitute teachers, and everybody that plays a vital role in our district. Because without you, this district would not function. Let me end by saying this, that I care deeply about Cleveland County Schools, and I care about Cleveland County. It is important to me that we make the best possible decisions for this district. As I always have and always will continue to work hard, and I will not let politics guide my decisions. Instead, I plan to stay focused on the reason why we are here, and that reason is education. Thank
086you. Thank you, Mr. Bridges. >> [applause] >> Uh Is Miss Wood Is Is Bud Bud. Are you able to make your way up here? Yes. I'm Uh I'm I think it would be appropriate that we get our picture made. You invite whoever you want to come with you, and you come up here and we're going to get a picture made. How's that? And we'll get some country ham, too. She loves country ham. Y'all feel free to come right here if you want to to take a picture. You ask whoever you want. Okay. Okay. All right. All right. If y'all will just tuck right in here at the middle a little bit. Do you want to read off That's all four of their names. Okay. I'll Let me uh Let me get this picture, then I'll
087read them off. All right. And the names are Oh, I'm sorry. Okay. Uh >> [applause] >> The Shelby four are Miss Cynthia Love, Rayfield Cabiness, Mary Borders, and is it Severn? Is that right? Severn Bud. All righty. Thank you. Thank you, and thank everybody. >> [applause] >> All right. Close session. Entertain [clears throat] a motion to pursuant to General Statute 143-31811 subsection A to enter into closed session to just consult with our attorney. Have a motion by Mr. Bridges. Do I have a second? >> Mr. Griggs. All in favor. All right. We'll be in closed session.