001English language arts teacher at Sandy Grove Middle School. Her principal Dr. Bowing uh shared that it is a great honor to have Miss Churnney on the Panther team and she is truly a teacher leader who goes above and beyond for her students and colleagues. Please join me in congratulating Miss Andrea Churnney for this month's cherish pick. Thank you so much. I'd like to present to you the certificate. It's my honor. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> And it pretty much says everything I just said. Also, you're going to get a $250 check. You can spend however you want. Okay. I already paid the taxes on you. Thank you. All right. Um I would like to uh open it uh up to my colleagues. Uh I know that uh tell you what being an
002active board requires a lot of commitment from all the our colleagues. We have so many events especially as it goes towards the end of uh the school year and uh I I can only attend so many uh events as well as my colleagues. So, if you want to share, I would like to start with uh Miss uh Katherine Blue. If you have anything that none of the other board members that attended that you like to share or anything um that you want to share. >> Um I had an opportunity um Dr. Cal McCrae to attend West Elementary School uh prek graduation. It was so nice. The kids were excited. Um it was put together by a great uh prek team. Um, so that's one of the events we went to. Then we also went to
003>> um, we had our softball team hosted the first round of the state playoffs. >> So we won that game. So I was excited to be there. >> Our men's volleyball team also to the first round of their state playoffs and won um, as well. And let's see. We the band had a great concert. I think a couple of board members were there. Um they did a great job. It was at Turlington. It was wonderful. >> Um and also shout out to San Hook Early College who had their um scholarship bank, but I believe they said they gave out they had earned more than $4 million in scholarship. >> Awesome. >> Um I had opportunity to go to the same um um event as Flip San Hul. uh early college and those kids, I tell
004you, they won so much money. Um it was up to like I think four or five of them won like $250,000 in scholarships and I thought that was such a blessing um that our county was able to give out that amount of money to kids, you know, to to further their career, their education. Um $4 million that says a lot for Hope County and um I believe it's going to grow. So, we'll be able to help many, many more students. But my highlight is coming up. I'm going to have a grandson that's going to graduate. Um, and then I have one that's in kindergarten. He's going to be promoted to sixth grade, I mean to first grade at Don C. So, I'm excited about that. So, I just look forward to um many great things
005happening in Hope County. >> Um, I went to the same events with with Katherine and she said that, so I'm good. >> Okay. Okay. And the other thing that I would like to share is um uh we're doing a lot of stuff and uh obviously with the do uh the help of Dr. Spell's uh staff we're able to do even more things. Uh as you already know uh we have this on Facebook on the official u uh hook uh schools uh Facebook and also the website. We are needing uh all hands on deck as far as we need to update a specific amount of uh of policies that involve discipline and behavior issues with students. And so I think we just went through the first set and then we got a second set going on
006right now. So if you uh if you want to help us out, by all means go over to the uh uh Facebook page and share that. uh we need your help. Um when I got first here, obviously we all my colleagues, they all had the same comments from from parents, discipline and behavior issue. Now here is the opportunity for everybody to get involved and provide feedback uh and then we will look at the feedback and modify these uh policies accordingly. If you have uh a Facebook page uh I don't think we have Instagram. I don't I don't know if we do. If we do, I didn't know about it. Uh but I mean uh help us uh um improve these policies. There's not that many policies. I think like 22 policies I think. And so
007if we can get your support to get this thing done, we're going to be in a better uh situation. Uh parents, if you're listening, right now is your opportunity uh to help us out uh with this. And um that's all we have. Anybody else have anything before we move on to our next item? The next item is the superintendent report. >> All right. Good evening everyone. >> Good evening. A lot of great events going on, but our Super Bowls are coming up. I like to call them that. Tomorrow night we have our San Hope Early College graduation. It'll be 6:00 p. p.m. at Raz Autry Stadium. And then on the 29th, we have Hope County High School graduation 6 p.m. Rats Officer Stadium. The 29th, we also have East Hope at 10:30 a.m. in the
008gymnasium. And on the 27th at 2:00 p.m. we have Standing Grove Middle. And on the 29th, we have West Co at 9:00 a.m. So, it's on Facebook and it's also online. And I gave board members a copy of the all the graduations to make sure everybody knows about those big item we have coming up. I just found out today. So, I'm letting everybody know next next Wednesday at 1:00, our team will present the budget to the county commissioners on May 20th, 100 p.m. That's called today and we'll be ready throughout the world. So, we're very excited to get that done. So, a lot of things going on. There's two sports that the North Carolina High School Association is going to be recognizing and Mr. Covenant, could you share those with us? >> Uh yes sir.
009Um good afternoon, evening everyone. Um Mr. Chair, board members, superintendent Dr. sales. Um on last week, um the state went into a two-day conversation uh board meeting for the uh North Carolina High School Athletic Association. And the outcome of those uh those hours of meeting turns out that we are now sanctioning boys volleyball and girls flag football. So those two sports are now sanctioned. What the difference is, I know we've had a second year with our boys volleyball team. What that sanctioning means is that now they can be recognized by the state of North Carolina hospital athletic association and they can compete for a state recognized uh championship. >> So that's big news. >> That's huge. That's huge news. >> So um Mr. C will be gauging interest in girls flag football. >> Yeah, I've
010already I've already did surveys. I've already uh talked to several teachers that want to be on board. We actually went around to the middle schools today talking introducing um our current coaches and got interrupted at we were at Easttoke and uh East Oak and West today we're doing Sandy Grove next week and already the kids know the information. Uh the young lady said you didn't introduce us to the girls flag football coach and I said we're still in that we're still in that process and got the same type of comment from the other middle school. So it's definitely big buzz right now. Um, uh, the NFL is pumping a whole lot of, uh, grants into it. They're really pushing it, um, with their heads up football program from the from the youth and it kind
011of develops into this, uh, girls flag football. We were at the, um, uh, last Friday the girls softball team was in the, uh, state uh, playoffs in second round up in Charlotte and behind us was a girls flag football tournament. >> Wow. >> And with that being said, it was very I mean, very exciting. Um, so what they're doing now is they're working on the rules and the logistics of how many, you know, the limitations of how many games, you know, when can the season start. That information is not out yet, but I'm, you know, got my ear to it and we're getting ready to develop if we need to, uh, make that decision to move forward in whole county. >> That's awesome. So, it's going to start in the middle school. >> No, ma'am,
012but the middle schools have heard about >> Yeah. if we wrote if we wrote it out um because this is also like boys volleyball and um flag football they're really low cost um startup they don't wear they don't wear a lot of equipment the equipment that we have like for example when we launched boys volleyball last year um we already had the nets we it's the same balls as the as the uh girls play with um the uh flag football is very similar um what we do uh the dimensions of the field are different, but when it comes to uh the flags and the kits, those things are not that expensive and maybe some jerseys. Um I've already talked with uh Dr. Dr. Owens and student support. She actually was a part of a grant
013or something earlier that we already have some of the flag football kids along with that shape uh North Carolina shape uh initiative that our PE teachers uh were part of. They also have us some uh equipment already. So it it would probably be a very um we probably be playing pay paying for transportation and um probably efficient. So it' be a very lowc cost um intervention if we win that. >> And tell us about the brand too. >> Carolina Panthers. >> The Carol Well, I don't know the amount of but the Carolina Panthers are they're they're really pushing it for North Carolina. they want um we're the next state to go because the other states I think the same week um New York went um and the New York Giants, you know, when they they
014all trying to compete and we want to outdo this other state and we want to outdo this other team. So, the Carolina Panthers are really backing it. Um you know, they're in close communications with the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. They want to see this really grow. >> So, these two sports have been sanctioned. So that means that we pretty much got doors open now for other grants and stuff like that for these uh two sports. So I'm kind of curious how uh are we going to recruit the uh rugby uh team club girls into the because that was the biggest thing. They didn't have a rough uh uh sport. So I'm clearance. Are they going to funnel into the uh into the other side? I tell you what we'll do is like every
015we put out the interest and we have we have tryyous. The sports are slightly different. I'm smiling at that because if you said that in front of our rugby coach, he'd be like, "No, we ain't taking my sport." But but for lack of better words, what we would do is we would um you know do triyouts just like every other sport. Um at this point the conversation has been about where is it going to be in the in the year and it look it's looking like it's going to be in the falls. So, we already had conversation of what what is that impact going to make on volleyball? What is that impact going to make on cross country? Um because those are the female sports that are going on during that same time of year.
016So, um but I know that the girls are interested. Um we were, you know, we didn't have enough information to start this current year, but I get stopped probably once a week by a young lady that says, "Hey, Mr. I thought we was doing this girl uh you know, girl football thing. Where's it at? Where's that?" So, they they they want to do it. I know that much. >> Thank you. Yes, sir. Any more questions? >> And the last thing I had, I was with Dr. Os today. We with a pinninging ceremony for our nurses aids. >> Yes. >> And we had about I would say about 15 to 20 that graduate today. >> Yes. >> So, it was a very very good ceremony. >> They were very excited about it. >> All right. The
017next item is the spotlight success. Uh, Iris Pierce, >> Mr. Chair, Madame Vice Chair, Mr. Superintendent, and members of the board. Good evening. >> Good evening. >> I am delighted this evening to introduce to some, but mainly to present Mrs. Iris Pierce who is our Oak County schools school leaison officer with Fort Brad. This evening I personally and I know many of my colleagues we have some mixed emotions but tonight we want to say to you Mrs. peers. Congratulation on an incredible 20 years with Hope County Schools as our school LADY during these uh 20 years. Um Iris has shared various resources meeting the needs of our military students and our military parents. She's navigated change, the various landscapes uh that we've experienced with policies throughout the years. And so, Iris, you served two decades
018or more here. So, it has been more than a job. It's a legacy that you leave tonight with us as Hope County uh employees and staff and student. You have helped to shape the minds, mentored peers, and you have left an unwaverable mark on our school system. So, we are a little bit sad, but we are also happy to see you step into that welldeserved next chapter of your life. And I know that uh Mr. peers is excited about that as well. So, we want to say thank you for your patience. Thank you for your wisdom and your unwavering dedication to our students at large, but specifically to our military students and their families over the course of the years. And you can see on the slide presentation, these are programs that Iris has brought
019to Hope County Schools. our Apen program um the uh Deo uh the the do deo the dodeo grants and uh Dr. Ramshire and many of us have been involved in that and I know that it has been several million dollars that has come right here to Hope County schools. our impact aid and you've assisted Marsha and Wolina with that to ensure that our military families are getting those forms in our Military One source which is a um agency that has so many resources that our counselors and social workers have utilized over the years. And lastly, but really not lastly, our military youth counselors that's in the system and they serve our school as well. So all of these activities and as you know, we were um named a purple star district. Much of that is
020contributed to you ensuring that we have what we need and our military families have what they need. So on tonight, Mr. Superintendent We want to present you >> with this award for your 20 years of service and dedication to Oak County Schools. >> Mr. Yes, I just want to thank everybody here in the room. Some you all I've been known for over 20 years. Some of you all have very very church memories. Well, not only was I employed, um, I got 35 years of federal service, and it's time for me to go on a new journey, but I'm still going to be embedded in the community. Um, I started off not as a school lison officer. I started off as a military spouse parent in Hope County. Our children all graduate from Hope County High
021School. So when we um got orders to come to Fort Bragg, we found Hope County and that's where we landed in Hope County and we were able to make those connections and just get integrated in the community through the school system. So that's how important the school system is. So and we we loved it so much and when I got the job as a school lison officer, it really made it easier because I already knew a lot of you anyway and it just made it so easy for me to do my job. And I look at Rachel's mentor. My daughter was a um teacher at West Hulk um elementary school and um Miss Hammond has Dr. Hammond now she has been her her mentor and she took her on in a tough time of her
022life is you know transitioning from a from a military kid to you know adulthood. So it's you all are doing some great things and um I don't want to go on and on but I appreciate everybody. I thank my husband so much for supporting me and always being there for me. And I'm just a phone call away. Just thank y'all so much for what y'all do. Thank you. If I can for just a second, I have to interject something. Um, I met uh Miss Iris Pier um just the other day. She just started talking to me like she knew who I was and I was the whole time she's talking to me. I'm like confused. I like who is this lady? Then I turn around to Dr. I say who is this lady? And then
023she she told me oh she's so I said where she been all the time and she and then I asked her where you been all the time. Said I've been very busy. Thank you very much. Fantastic job. The next item is uh Sandy Grove Middle School athletic team. >> That'd be Mrs. Coington and M Dr. Bow. >> All right. This is a large group, lots of celebrations going on uh in athletics and it starts at our feed of programs for Hope County High School, which is one of our middle schools, Sandy Grove Middle School. So, we're going to bring them because the group Yes, sir. Since the group is so large, what we're going to do is we're going to do one team at a time. And um if you guys ain't going in, but
024I'm going to do my research because it all just happened. The final game was yesterday. Um to have one school be so dominant in multiple sports like this is something unheard of. So, this school year, um, Sandy Grove has won four championships, >> and we have three of these, uh, three of these teams here tonight. We've already recognized the first one earlier in the year. Um, but these, you know, six. >> Okay. >> Well, tonight we're going to recognize the three from the spring sports. They played in four spring championships this year and won three of them. And we're gonna start with uh uh and I'm gonna turn it over to the coach and uh Dr. Bow, but this is the Sandy Grove Middle School's boys track team. >> Okay. >> Uh thank you board
025and board chair attendant. Um I'm I'm very proud of all our athletes there. I think it's really good for our district uh to win championships. because I think it attracts uh students, makes them want to stay. Uh it's one of the things we kind of thought about and I'm fortunate enough to be at a place where we have some good coaches for spring and they've done an excellent job. So, I'm going to ask Coach Woodson to come up. She's also my athletic director and let her take it from there and talk about her voice track team. >> Good evening everyone. I am Coach Woodson. Um along with me I have coach Sers, Coach Redmond, and Coach Harris. So um not only did our boys win the conference, but they went on a little bit further
026than that. Um they came in second place at the Kathy McMillan um night under the lights um invitational. Um they came in first place at the Bear Invitational that was after that. And out of the 100 1,686 middle schools here in the state of North Carolina, they qualified and went and competed in the all state middle school championship that was in Concord, North Carolina. So they have done a magnificent job. So, a couple of our um athletes that we have, we have Corey um Mc Reynolds. He competed in the 300 meter hurdles at the state championship. First time ever doing it and um placed very well. Um he's also our the number one long jumper. Number one, number two in the conference. >> Yeah, >> number one in the conference. Um, we have Jonathan Bullock
027who also competed in 300 meter hur first time out the gate. Um, because that's not a um that's not a race that middle schoolers normally typically run in, but they plays very well. Um, he's also part of our 4x1 4x2 team, one of our top 200 runners that are on the team. Um, we have Xander Redmond who is also part of the 4x1 team. He's a 100 runner. Um, And we have Cadence U Mc Reynolds and he is the Did you finish number two in the conference? >> Number one >> number two in the conference. Um and discus by throwing a distance of what was it? >> 105 ft. Um, we have London Sellers who was one of our 800 meter runners as well as one of our long jumpers and we have Aiden Holloway
028who was one of our distance runners. So, they have done a magnificent job. And here we have um Aiden's mother and his little brother. Okay. So, we're going to congratulate this team. Give them another hand to this group. >> We're going to have you guys leave out this door. We're going to bring in the next group. We going to keep them rolling. I'm I'm small but mighty, sir. Uh this is uh our girls softball team. They went undefeated, won the conference championship. Very proud of them all. They had one game that kind of scared me a little bit. Uh and they they got a little bit behind. Uh but uh it was very impressive comeback. It showed the kind of tenacity that they had and they did an absolutely outstanding job. great great bunch of
029kids uh not just on the on on the diamond, but they're also a great bunch of kids in school. So, it's a really good team coached very well by coach Ransom and I'll let her come up and talk about the team. >> So, as Dr. Bab said our uh conference chancer this year 10 and0 they put in a lot of work um and again on and off the field probably some of the highest GPA you'll see in the school um we have a lot of kids with the math one we have some straight A students um and a lot of hard workers. Uh we had a good group of sixth graders come in and we got a a great group of eighth graders that are leaving, but they're leaving behind um a good legacy for
030these girls to fill in. Um my eighth graders not only were great leaders off the field, but also in the classroom. Um I didn't have any behavioral issues the whole time. Um none of my girls were ISS or suspended. We don't play that, do we? We run as a team. We win as a team. we lose as a team, we are a team inside and out. And they understood that mission and and it showed with their 10 and0. So, I appreciate them. I appreciate my parents for trusting them with me and Coach Dustin. He's been my assistant coach the last two years. >> Um definitely going to miss my eighth graders. We'll see them again. They're going to be at Hokai starting varsity speaking it into existence. Okay. Um, and then we'll be back here
031next year to see y'all too because the the girls that's left behind are ready to step up. >> Also, my two captains the last two years in a row voted by their team. And I know I don't have to go back over to the podium. I can stand right here. But um just definitely a great group of uh young ladies. Um we spent a whole lot of time in this tournament time over at Sandy Grove. Me and the high school coaches. We just stood on the fence. We just writing down numbers. And is that when in eighth grade? We ready. We ready for y'all to come to high school. Trust me. You know, we we were talking about that the other day and uh I know you guys met Coach Glass and we actually came
032out in support of the championship game. even took the the high school uh high school team cut their practice short to come on out to support. But we're really proud of you guys and look forward to you guys coming on over to Hope High keeping it going and seventh uh sixth and seventh grade. Let's keep it going at Sandy Grove. Once again, congratulations. >> It's her birthday. We beat everybody, sir. >> I like >> If you want one, let me know. >> I do. Your mom go all the way around. That's good. Uh this is our fus ball team is still in Germany. Uh this is our boys soccer team. >> Uh they have done u um very very well. Um and they played against some teams that uh um Buckingham is one of them
033that has their own little club that they play in offseason and we still beat them. >> They went undefeated. Come on, parents. This is a proud night. Come on in. We'll make room for you. Come on in. I don't want y'all to miss anything. Parents are a large part of what we do. >> That's right. That's right. >> Can't make it to practice. We can't We can't play. >> That's right. That's right. y, >> you know, and I saw I've been back. You the girls soccer team played for the championship. Uh so we're we're almost there with them as well. I'm I'm very proud of the athletes that we have uh at Sandy Grove Middle. Uh they have played hard, they've worked hard. uh they set a standard that we're going to uh keep up
034and uh I'm just very proud of them. I can't I can't really say too much. Uh I couldn't say too much about them. They really really have done an excellent job and the coaches have done uh a magnificent job and I don't see where Oh, that makes coming up and talk about you think coach M. >> I lost you. >> I guess you're going to make co Hi everybody. >> Um quite a few of these young men here I've coached for three years at least, right? Um and coach just joined with me this year, >> which has been an amazing um addition to our group here. Um I I can't say nothing like enough about these boys. They have been amazing. They have been locked in from the very very beginning and I'm just I
035get like goosebumps like they're amazing. So, we also have a um Erin's got a jersey. Um >> yeah, so this was Edwin's jersey. Um I don't know if you guys remember Edwin. He's um passed away two two years ago. Um, but in memory of him, we've always worn a band, you know, with his name and we wrote Edwin on it and his number and we've always like hung that this season. So, just in memory of him, we've >> It was just an amazing season. Uh, the boys like they accepted every challenge we put out there. Um, the eighth graders were really locked in as leaders. the seventh graders, sixth graders, they fell right in behind and it was just I call it a per it was a perfect season but to me it honestly was
036perfect season all of you kind of share almost the same thing. You guys were outside waiting to come in. But um you guys saw me at the game yesterday taking pictures and I told you the high school coaches are right there on the fence again. Really excited about that talent that's coming up. Talent is coming up to Hope County High School and want to keep those traditions going. Um seventh and sixth graders keep it going. You have some great coaches. Um great administration. Um and then great parent support. So a lot of parents are we can't do it without the parents. Absolutely appreciate you. and big brother even though he was talking to my coach for a little bit. But the community is the community is so tight-knit. So tightknit that you know uh I
037know coach McDavid knows some of these boys already cuz some of them came out to summer workouts and the summer program is so important. That's why we're able to do things over the summer. Just building connections. Um he's like, "Oh, well this kid is this, this kid is that. He's going to be here this year. This kid is seventh grade." The high school coach already know who who they were. Um, of course that's a parent right now, but he's one of our assistant coaches at the high school that just really marries this community piece together. Yes, >> that's what it's all about. So, um, you know, one thing I would always say when I go to the different middle schools is, you know, you just won the Sandy Grove championship this year, >> but then
038you're going to merge with East Hope and West Hope and we're going to build a super team for Hope County High School. So, we're really excited about what's going on and I think that's all I have. I talk to y'all today and we're going to come out here and take a picture. So, congratulations. Hey, one one quick thing. I I listen to people on the stand. They were amazed at Aaron at goalie. >> He made some unbelievable middle school play at that level at go. I've seen maybe some college players at that level. He is absolutely remarkable and I want to give him some praise at this time because he did a unbelievable job. He's one of the main reasons they won. yesterday to add to that. Um, he was wasn't even there in our
039first game. He didn't try out with all of us. He was the newcomer coming in >> and we needed a goalie and this boy right here has like >> superseded all of us. He's been amazing addition to our to our team. So, >> take a picture. You guys come around. Come on. Good job. Thanks parents sharing your kids for this. Thank you. Appreciate it. >> All right. Next item on the agenda is the public comment. >> Great. Um, members of the public are invited to speak during the public comment portion of the board's regularly scheduled monthly board meeting. A signup sheet is made available prior to the start of the board meeting. Only individuals or groups who have signed up are permitted to speak and comments are limited to three minutes. Board members do not
040respond to or address speakers comments. Comments regarding particular individual employees, student records or other matters which are required to be kept confidential may not be discussed in this open form setting. Uh we do not have any public comments today. >> Thank you. >> All right. Uh moving along, the next um uh topic is consent agenda. Uh can I uh get a uh we agree to do them all at the same time? >> Sign. um >> they didn't get a chance to >> um I would like to um suspend that rule for this location and moving forward especially if they can justify they did not know we we did start kind of late so it was pretty um very intense uh meetings that we Okay. So, >> I would like to u have all the women
041to agree with me. I don't think we need to get a vote for this, but do we agree that we should allow this uh young man to speak? >> Anybody that didn't have a chance to speak. >> Okay. Do we have anybody else that was scheduled to want to speak and uh somehow we missed the vote on it? >> Yeah. >> If you can go ahead and sign uh your name on the uh on the sheet and first come, first serve. You can give that time sheet back to the lawyer. >> Yes, sir. Are you this person? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. Can you give me your um first and last name? >> All right. All right. Um so just as a reminder um comments regarding uh board members do not respond to or address
042speakers comments, comments regarding particular individual employees, student records or other matters which are required to be kept confidential may not be discussed in this open forum setting. All comments must be respectful and civil per ordinary rules of order in this forum. And um speaking is limited to three minutes. So I'll be the time keeper for that. And the first person that we have is Lauren Esinger. Is that correct? >> Yes, ma'am. All right. >> Hi, my name is Lauren Esinger. I'm a recent graduate of NCT and um I recently did my internship with the cooperative extension working under our horiculture agent, Miss Ashley Grubs, and then also Miss Gina Davis Daniels, I'm sorry, our life skills agent. and we um proposed and we started during my internship the weed wonders curriculum where we entered Sandy
043Grove Elementary to supply them with the Larae habitats and educational material um master gardeners of Hope County have gone in and helped facilitate lessons and material for the life cycle curriculum that the second grade teachers teach and next year I hope to roll it out to a countywide project for all of the second graders in Hope County and we're having a release ceremon ony on Tuesday, May 26. Yes, May 26. And y'all are invited to attend. I would love to have y'all there. And that's just what I would like to speak about. That's it. >> What's Can we ask what the ceremony is? What is that event? >> Yes, it's um it's at Sandy Grove Elementary. It'll just be a release ceremony. It's just ceremony of them now that all their caterpillars are in currently
044in the cryis stage. By then, they should all be fully emerged. And it's just going to be a ceremony where we get together and kind of reflect on the whole process of metamorphis and the life cycle. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Oh, what time is that? >> We have not have an official time yet because it'll just be get getting done with the EOG. And once Miss Jacob Daniels lets me know, then I'll reflect with you. >> Thank you. You're welcome. >> All right. And next we have Michael Janis. >> Oh, you said perfect. >> I used to be a teacher. >> All right. I don't think I'll be able to like say my thing. It's my first time talking like back and forth. We can answer questions. Uh I was looking to
045find out information how to file a formal complaint against East Hope Middle School administration. McIll specifically by default Dr. Rich regarding a sixth grade teacher named Miss O. Mr. McIll is fully aware. I feel I've exhausted all the guardian principal. Uh so I'd like to take it a step further. I was told North Carolina Board of Education, but I felt superintendent probably first. >> So if I can meet with somebody to discuss that because I I'd like to do a full formal component administration. >> That will start with me and we don't mention names here. We just >> Yes, sir. Sorry. Okay. So I could just call your office. >> Thanks, sir. >> You'll ask for Marshall Carol. Okay. Yes, sir. >> Okay. Is that it? All right. Uh >> all right. Uh next item
046on the agenda to consent agenda. Ask the question and we approve all or one at a time. >> We you do one at a time. >> Okay. The first item is minutes for April 14, 2026. Can I get a motion on that? >> I make a motion that we approve uh the minutes for April 14th. >> Second. >> Okay. Those in favor say I. I. Those against. Okay. Eyes have it. Passes. Uh second item is the minutes for the April 2020 uh 2026. >> I move to approve the April 20th uh minutes. Second. >> Okay. Those in favor say I. I. Those against. Okay. Passes. Uh item number three, school board policy first read. >> Make a motion that we pass the school board policy first read. >> Those in favor say I. I. Second.
047My apologies. proceed on. Who said second? >> Okay. >> Those in favor say I. >> I. >> What's against? Okay. I silent. Uh the next item is the information um item. Uh the first uh sub item is Leandro. Um I don't know what you're calling now. Case information. >> This is short. Um I was listening to a we had a conference call me and Dr. Ramure is not over. There's still some avenues that our lawyers want to cross. Um they talked about that a little bit. They're going to share more with us at a later date. There's some other avenues that they can um attack this from. Um, so I just wanted the board to know that we haven't dropped it and we're still working on it and and it's not open. >> Okay. >>
048Anything else, Dr. >> Do we have any questions from the my colleagues? >> Okay. Well, I have a question regarding this u uh topic. Uh since we're trying to lead the the way on this uh topic, are we coordinating with uh the other uh school districts that were also affected? >> Yes, they they want to call too. >> Okay. Cuz the more the more power we have. Okay. >> All of us were on the call. We have the same attorney. >> Good. Good. Our next item is the uh driver's education update. Good evening. >> Tonight I'll provide an update regarding our driver's education within county schools and just basically an update to our process so far. Next slide, please. beginning um I think it was the fall of 2526 school year and the summer of
0492526 registration operated using an age an age proprietary model meaning that the oldest students would be served first or provided the opportunity to participate in driver's ed beginning with the age 17 and then working our way down to age 14 and a half. Um during the contract that we entered into with the NC driving school, we also discussed maintaining at least a 35 um maximum number of students in an instructional classroom, but those classes also consist of 30 hours of classroom instruction and six hours of behind the wheel training. Um students were allowed to miss no more than three hours um three more in three instructional hours on the face toface class. after they missed the three hours of the face-to-face class, they kind of fell behind. So that's essentially um one day or one
050and a half days of the instructional class. Although the classes could hold up to 35 students during the fall, we averaged only approximately 14.75 or if you want to round that up, that's 15 students per class. So that was roughly half of the 35 students that we anticipated or our goal of 35 students. There were several contributing factors that were identified that um caused this decrease. Many older students opted to wait until they were age of 18 and then no longer had to take driver's education in order to get their driver's license. Students also experienced conflicts with extracurricular activities such as athletics, employment, and other commitments. But as a result, instructional capacity was not being maximized despite a continued demand for driver's education services for our students at Hope County High School and San Hope
051College. Next slide, please. Beginning January 1, 2026, the district refined its registration procedures and essentially we reverted back to the way that we were doing it prior to the summer and fall of last year, which was a first come, first- serve basis to our registration. During this process, we prioritized Hook County High School students first and San Hook Crowley College students first. So, essentially the students that was registered with us um as full-time students. And then after that, we took into consideration the students that may be may be living within the community of Hope County, meaning that they could be a homeschool student or a charter school student. We also implemented additional flexibility so that um if a student was aged 17 and was not were not able to register in a timely process, as
052long as they let us know, we work with that family to get them into the class regardless if they were at 35 capacity or not. So we could have pushed you up to 37 38 as an example. The district also reviewed guidance and observations from NCDPI. Mr. Carl Logan is the contact person at NCDPI um just to talk about a strategy on how to increase our numbers. And this was the model that he also recommended was utilize first come first serve or working with the students who were the youngest first and then working all the way up. So age 14 and a half and going up to age 17. And so our refined process that we implemented on January 1 better align with the recommendation made by NCDPI and what they've since seen success with
053since implementing these refined practices. Our um enrollment number in driver's education courses have increased and you can see the count there on the right hand side. During the month of January we had 33 students. During March, we had 28 and that's an average of 30.5 students per class in those um two months. Next slide, please. So here is a proposal that um beginning July 1, 2026 that we implement a parent students parent student drivers education agreement which is basically recommending or asking the parents that when a student enrolls into this class that they are committed to completing the class. Um and we're going to get into some reasons why about that. But also too, to go along with that, there is a recommendation or we are presenting a recommendation to begin to charge students um
054up to $65 who do not complete the class, but also two to implement that $65 fee for those students that are not um full-time enrolled students with Hope County Schools. So that would be for home homeschool student, charter school student, etc. And the driver's education seats are going to continue to remain at a capacity of 35 students per class. And when students register but fail to participate or complete the course, um essentially what that means is that our students the students who want to be in that class are missing out. They're not able to participate and sometimes they're having to wait one or two more months before they actually are registered into the class. Um, but this proposal helps reinforce that enrollment represent a commitment rather than a placeholder. The proposal also encourages students and
055families to take attendance and participation seriously, continuing to miss up to three hours only. So that would be one class period. It establishes clear expectations while promoting responsibility and commitment to the driver's education course. So next slide, please. The proposal is also designed to improve overall program efficiency by reducing no shows and late withdrawals. Our goal is to keep uh classes at a 35 number or higher. That way we're getting more students into the class, continuing to um complete the class and then getting into the driver driver portion of the class. The district's goal is to maximize opportunity for our students. And the goal here is that increased accountability will help ensure that our classes remain full. Proposed collective funds will be used to support items that cannot be currently spent on um materials that
056are not allotted or in the allotted budget by NCI. Such examples could could include additional storage space um some security technology upgrades such as any type of software that may need to be purchased and provided to students. And these type of expenditures can be necessary for maintaining and expanding a safe and effective driver's education program. And next slide, please. Thank you, Dr. Hunt. So, so how do we um I was having a conversation um cuz I got an email from a parent that if you recall last year we agreed uh because one of the biggest things that we were dealing with was that uh seniors were not being able to uh get in the uh program because first come first serve and uh it's it's a very competitive click click click process and so we
057Uh I had a uh parent that reached out to me and so I inquired Dr. Hunt at which time um I was informed that uh there were students uh sort of committing but then other things that were more important to them they decided not to show up whatever it might be sports part-time jobs whatever so um I asked uh along with Dr. through Dr. elves that um we do some research to see if uh we can uh have the parents commit uh because we are committed the board's committed to make sure uh that these students get this training if they desire. So along with us committing to them, they also have to commit to us. And so once they sign, if they fall off uh for whatever reason, short of we talked about short of,
058you know, family matters that we're talking about part-time jobs, sports, and so on, uh then they're they're going to have to pay uh uh the money back uh because we're paying for this and it's free for them. And I think it's very unfair to the to the district uh that we're providing the service for free and it's uh just pretty much uh you know it's not regarded as an important thing. Uh so this is why I asked Dr. Spells why actually asked Dr. uh Spells to I wanted this to be brought so in case any of my colleagues got emails uh we know where we are. But having said that, that does not mean that for the seniors that that mean that does not mean that they cannot get in. It's uh once they notified
059uh the high school, they know that they are supposed to uh uh move those people uh also to the front. So this first comes first serve. However, if somebody misses it and they commit to it, they can still get into the program. Okay? So you can just pass the word out. that way you're informed and you know um how we're going to be doing this. Okay. >> I have a question. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Uh under the proposal where it says require a fee up to $65. How would you come up with >> uh through DPI? DPI does state that that's the maximum amount that could be charged. >> Okay. >> So, not to exceed $65. >> Okay. So, Dr. What's 14 and a half? age 14 and a half. Yeah. Yeah. So, age 14
060and six months. Um that's the DPI requirements or the the state legislative requirements that the student has to be minimum >> 14 and a half in order to take driver's ed. >> So that way when they turn 15, if they've completed the class and they got their driver's um hours in, then they can go straight to DMV with their DEQ and get that um their permit for >> learn permit. >> Okay. It used to be 15. >> Right. >> We're learning already. >> Any more questions? All right. Moving right along to uh the next item, surplus property disposal. All right. Good evening again. So, this presentation is going to be um presenting a request regarding the disposal of surplus district and transportation units that are no longer operational. Okay, we're on slide two. Now, also
061I wanted to mention that we do have Mr. Heath here with us, the director of transportation, as well as Mr. Manis, the director of maintenance, in case you have any questions that I might not be able to answer because these vehicles do relate to those two departments. All right. So, we have identified several county owned vehicles that are no longer necessary or desirable for school purposes. Um these includes both district operational vehicles and transportation buses. Many of the district vehicles have exceeded their useful life as have significant mechanical or body issues are un unreliable and are no longer operational. Um continuing to maintain or store these vehicles no longer represent efficient use of district resources. For transportation, there are several buses that are going to be identified in this request that also meet that same
062criteria. And um you'll be able to see some pictures so that you can see parts that have actually been established off of those buses and reuse on other buses, which is okay to do um as long as they're not severely damaged so that we can continue to have an operational fleet. But um so salvaging those unusable components has or salvaging those usable components has allowed transportation to maximize their resources as well. Um but removing the surplus vehicles also helps free up valuable storage spaces and parking spaces improve organization and safety within the maintenance and transportation areas and reduce the unnecessary liability and upkeep associated with unused vehicles. Next slide, please. This slide identifies the district vehicles being recommended for surplus disposal. These vehicles have served the district for many years, and I mean, they were
063good in their prime, but they're not in their prime anymore. So, several of these vehicles um date back to the 1990s and early 2000s. And basically what you see up here is our district identification, fourdigit code, the making model of the vehicles, the year of the vehicles as well as the bin number of the vehicles and um surplus in these vehicles reflect the responsible asset management and allows the district to focus on the resources on maintaining safe and dependable operational equipment. Next slide, please. Um Chad, what's the 8003 Dodge van? What year is that? Uh, go back. >> I 1897. >> I went back at the top. >> Okay. >> Same thing for the 7032 >> probably. >> So, the issue with some of these is that we didn't have the um what's the what's
064the card I'm taking? The the owner card. Um, some of these we we don't have the title because we've had these for so long and they've been shuffled and lost in translation somewhere. Um, which is why I didn't have that year on there or the VIN number. Um, but we do have I'd say at least 75% of those um titles. So with the bus conditions um multiple buses have experienced catastrophic engine failures and are beyond repair. Some buses have had viable components removed to support the operational needs and in some cases buses um have significantly exceeded their service life and they no longer function. Before recommending disposal, transportation evaluated whether the viable parts could be used and repurposed and those parts that could be have been reused. Um so next slide please. This slide identifies
065bus number 80079. While it is obsolete um it does not meet the DPI requirements anymore for buses um to transport students. It is functioning. So therefore there is a request to sell this one instead of um scrapping it. So next slide please. So, um, each of the board members have access to these two links. Um, they have been shared with you. So, if you click on the links, it'll open up a Google Drive so you can see all of the maintenance vehicles or um other department vehicles as well as the transportation buses. Um, so feel free to to look at those whenever you get the chance. But the recommendation for all of the other buses as well as those vehicles is to um go over to Omnisource which is right across the road to scrap
066those vehicles. We have had um some community members offer to buy them for a set price which was very low and during those conversations they said that they're going to do the same thing which is take them across and scrap. Um, so we feel like that would be the maximum bang for the buck on that is to I think it's like $8 per x amount of pounds and they'll write the check to the school system and we can put those back into our budget. >> Okay. >> And um, next slide and that'll be it. >> Thank you. >> No questions. >> Thank you, Dr. H. Thank you. Uh, next item is the alter the alternative accountability model 2026 2027. >> Good evening. Um, I'd like to share information with you tonight regarding the alternative schools
067modified accountability model. The participation option selected for the model must be determined and approved by the local board each year. The model is designed for schools that often get students midyear, have high turnover, and serve higher need populations. If alternative schools are evaluated without the modified model, they could appear as if they were failing. The modified model allows them to be judged more fairly based on impacts and interventions, not just outcomes. Next slide, please. The school that we're talking about, of course, is Turlington Alternative School. And uh the modified model provides a supplement to the school performance grade. It does not in any way substitute the every student succeeds act requirements. Depending on the option that is selected by the school board, the school will still have an SPG calculated and used when there are
068sufficient data for federal identifications. The SPG or school performance grade is used to identify schools for comprehensive support or targeted support and improvement as defined by ESSA. And the designation of performance will be displayed on the new North Carolina school per report card and SPGs will not be used to determine low performing district status. The school report card will say no SPG available. The school is approved for alternate accountability model. And as stated before, the level board of education must approve the selected option and we have to turn that into DPI's office of accountability and testing prior to August 1st, 2026. Next slide, please. This slide looks at the options that are available. Uh, option A is that schools participate in the traditional school performance grade as defined by general statute 115 C83.1. Keep in
069mind that with the traditional model that schools would appear to be failing and would be used in determining the low performance district status. For option B, schools participate by calculating an overall score using student persistence of 20% which is the percent of alternate alternative school students who remain enrolled in any North Carolina public school through the year. a school achievement of 20% which is of course EOG, EOCC, ACT, ACT work cap work keys and math course data and they use three years of data to determine that number because the enrollment is smaller at the alternative schools a growth of 60% which is calculated by SAS EVOS and then they get a rating that is based on the change rate comparing the previous year to the current here. If there is a change rate greater than
070three, the school is rated as progressing. If there is a change rate between -2.9 to positive 2.9, then the school is rated as maintaining. And if a school has a change rate of greater than -3, they are rated as declining. And option C is that the public school unit proposes modifications for approval by the state board of education. Next slide please. In addition to choosing an option, uh they must choose which in the board must choose which insufficient data option that they would like to use under ESSA. There are two options for calculation of the SPG using current year data. One is to return scores. In this instance, all data is returned to the homebased schools and the alternative school is assigned the SPG of the school where the highest percentages of students are sent
071back. Keep in mind that if these scores are lower, they could negatively impact homechools as well. and then three years which is where the three years of data is used to calculate the growth for the alternative school that is the 60% of option B and the following slide this takes a look at Tarlington alternative school uh we have been using option B uh since 201819 this is the last five years of data that are available if you will notice you will see that 60% uh for the last 5 years 60% of the years Turlington has been successful in maintaining or progressing with model option B and in 2425 Turlington's success is demonstrated in the fact that they were one of only 18% of alternative schools in North Carolina to receive a progressing status the last
072slide please. The proposed recommendation for 2627 for Turlington Alternative School is that we continue on the alternative accountability option of option B and the insufficient data option for three years worth of data. Next slide. >> Anybody have any questions? >> Thank you. >> All right. Uh next item is the Hope County School San uh memorandum of understanding. Good evening. Good evening. All right. So, the memorandum of understanding is being brought forward as an information item um related to that partnership and we've already uh looked at this as a board. We're bringing this back because we've received some additional guidance from DPI. We were informed that there are a few clerical edits that were needed to align theou with some additional current requirements which are new requirements from DPI. they now require that the uh agreement
073be completed annually. Uh so the document needs to be adjusted um to remove language that suggested a multi-year term. So if you look at where it says partnership agreement um the edit is limited to removing the phrase to run through June 30, 2028. And then there's one additional space below under the agreement section, right? It says uh to be reviewed um annually as I believe it says as necessary and if we strike as necessary. Uh so those are the two uh edits that are need to be made. These changes clarify theou um uh will be reviewed and completed annually if we take those two phrases out um which is required by DPI. There's no substantive changes uh to the purpose of the partnership um the scope of work or our intent when we initially looked
074at it. This is simply to ensure that our agreement language is in line with DPI. And so at this time we're just sharing that that is information. We've been in contact with um the representative from San Hills Community College and um they are in agreement as well. So we just wanted to make sure that you were aware that those the changes that we made. >> Can you go to page one? >> Um the dates are going to change >> just the to run through. So it was revised on July 1, 2025. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yes, sir. >> Any questions? >> Okay. >> All right. Moving to the next item is the UC contract. >> Good evening, Mr. Chair, vice chair, Dr. Spels, and board members. I'm here to present the EC contracts for
075review for the 2627 school year. >> And these are just renewal. >> Okay. >> That's it. No, no changes. Just renewal. >> Thank you. >> Anybody got any questions? Okay. All right. The next item is the vacancy report. >> Good evening. >> I'm here to present the vacancy report for May 2026. As you can see, our certified vacancies that we as of May 7th, we're sitting at 53 vacancies. And in our classified, we're sitting at 23 for a total of 76 vacancies. Hopefully after tonight that we'll be down um to 65. >> So those are our current vacancies. Question. All right. Next item uh topic of the action items. The first one is the uh summer leadership conference. Can I get a motion to approve this? >> I make a motion to approve the summer
076leadership conference. >> Second. >> Okay. Those in favor say I. I. >> Okay. Those against. Okay. It passes. Second item is the child nutrition bids list. I get a motion. Make a motion to accept those child nutrition bids. Second. >> Those in favor say I. I. Those against. Okay. asses. Uh the third item is the state teacher compensation PRC071. Can I get a motion? >> Uh just to clarify, there's no change from uh that those uh that agreement from the last month, right? Correct. Were there any changes? >> We Is that correct? Cuz we got this percented. I mean, I I I can't answer the question because I don't remember. >> You say that's the the amount that we're paying. >> Yes. There are no changes to what we went over last month. Is that
077correct? >> Right. There's no changes. >> Thank you. I'll make a motion to approve the state teacher compensation. >> Okay. Those in favor say I. I. >> Those against. Okay. It passes. Uh item four is reading horizons. Make a motion. >> I'll make a motion to um approve reading horizon. >> Second. >> Okay. Those in favor say I. I. Those against. Okay. Passes. Item five, technology uh RP RFPs for new uh high school building. >> I make a motion to approve the technology RFPs for the high school building. >> Second. >> Those in favor say I. I. >> Those in favor say I. >> I. Okay, it passes. >> All right. Uh, I don't have a a fun. Can I uh get a motion to go into uh close session? >> Chairman Castalon. >> Yes,
078I make a motion that we go into close session under the North Carolina General Statute 143 318 11A13 and six to prevent the disclosure of confidential personnel and student matters to consider matters relating to initial employment of individual employees and to consult with board's attorney to reserve the attorney client privilege. >> A second. >> All right. Those in favor say I. I. >> Those against? Okay. All right. We're going to take a fiveinut uh break.