001Good evening everyone. >> I want to thank you for being here. The Hope County Board of Education monthly meeting is now in order. The time is now 6 o'clock, October 14th, 2025. I'm going to ask board member Dr. Rosa McAllister McCrae if she will give us our invitation. Just bow your heads. God, we want to just take this opportunity to say thank you. We thank you for this day, this beautiful day that you have made and uh we choose to rejoice in this day. Thank you for our board members and the cabinet and Dr. Spells for coming together to do the work of you to help the children. Lord God, we thank you for these your people, the people that are here. We ask that you be in this meeting, that we be productive. God,
002look on our world today and the president, look on our governor and all of the local officials in Jesus name we pray. Amen. >> Amen. >> Thank you so much, Dr. uh Kellis McCra. At this time, can I give a motion to approve the agenda for October the 14th, 2025? I make a motion that we approve the agenda for October what 8th 4th 14th 14 2025. >> Okay. The motion has been made to approve the agenda for today October the 14th 2025 is the second. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposers? >> Thank you so much. You snapped the chair's report. Um, I kind of wrote down what I wanted to say today because I really didn't want to leave anything out, but um, first I want to thank everyone for being
003here. All the board members, Dr. Spels and his cabinet to all the community members and distinguished guests. We're glad that you're here today. There's been a lot going on since our last board meeting. Uh, some good things. Uh we had our athletic hall of fame banquet which was held in one of our very own u board members. Jessica Brown was honored um as well as other great men and women on that night. So we're so thankful for that. We just came um off our homecoming and tailgating which uh this past Friday and um thankfully the community was safe with the help of uh sheriff department, police department and everyone else that uh played a part to ensure that our community was safe. So we want to say thank you and I was excited to see
004um Hope win that game. I was out there cheering them on. I know they couldn't hear me, but I was excited. Last but not least, so many things happened. The parade on Saturday was nice. It was good to see um the community come together, go up and down um the streets, and it was it was just a good timing. So, we're just so thankful for how Hope County showed up and showed out. Um I also want to mention uh the school improvement plan presentations that was presented to us on last month. We um we're very proud of the principles, assistant principles, their staff um and all the members that uh have a plan in place to improve their schools and we was excited to sit there as board members and see the process that they're
005taking to bring their schools up and that was led under none other than Dr. uh Mary Mloud and her team and we want to say thank you for leading that up for us. Um there are some great things happening in Hope County and whether we uh talk about it or not, whether it's um plastered on a billboard, there are great things going on and we just want to thank everybody and um this is not a perfect district, but we are seeking ways to uh better it by support to make it better and safe. And so once again, I just want to say thank you for everybody. And I want to leave room for the board members if there's anything you all want to say. I would like to say um that um during the parade
006I did see Dr. Spells and um Dr. Erica and some some others. Oh, Dr. Rancher. Um but I I had the pleasure of um well asking Mr. Heath to to drive San Hills Community College activity bus. Our uh boys came down and he graciously took that on and I just appreciate the partnership. um that we had. We didn't have anybody um to drive. They just sort of left it in my hands like three days before you know the parade and I was I was so thank you. I want to publicly thank you. You get your little monetary. Um, madam chair, if I can. >> Um, I was skimming on Facebook the other day and saw something kind of disturbing like always in this one particular group. I just wanted to read um part of the
007post that um one of our teachers have written. So, I kind of cut some of it out and I'm just going to start what she said. Safety is the number one priority for our students. And as parents, I know you appreciate that. getting on Facebook to get on a bandwagon is not solving issues. A ma as a matter of fact in some instances it creates issues. If you are not sure about something please ask a teacher any teacher first. If there is not a change direct direct it to administration. Let's be constructive in our community and not destructive. She said, "Every day I read these comments, like other educators and staff members, I feel like we can do nothing right. We have no community support. Could you imagine the constant negativity we are getting run
008through the ringer and we are tired." That came from one of our teachers and um that really bothered me because it is sad that she feel and others feel that no matter what we do, we do nothing right. And we if if the community is not going to support the teachers and support us, we need to support one another. We need to lift one another up, hold one another up because it's bad to come in your job and hate to get out and go and work that job. And then you have to look on Facebook or your social media and see all this negativity. So, I'm just hoping I'm praying. I know God going to make a change cuz God is a God of all changes and he will make a change. But we just
009have to keep one another lifted up. Um, I commend this um, teacher because she stood up and she was she said some good stuff. She didn't have to be disrespectful. She didn't put anybody down. Not even the parent that brought it up. She said some good stuff. And, um, I said if I ever see her, I'm going to hug her neck because she stood up and she stood up for other teachers. So, um, if we could just lift one another up, especially in prayer because prayer changes things. I believe in God and I trust God. I said I've said it more than one time and I just really hate that our teachers have to go through this stuff on a daily. Principles feel the same way. They have no support when they get an email
010from a parent or just some random person and then we go in on them. We got to stop that. Grace and mercy. We got to show some grace to one another. We have to. So that's all I wanted to say. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. And we just want to let everybody know we appreciate them where they are. >> Uh at this time we're going to turn it over to the superintendent, Dr. Kenneth P. >> Well, thank you. Thank you. And just wanted to piggy back what you said, Miss We have some great teachers in this district and great administrators and great people overall and they need your support. And um I try to when I talk to folks not always come to them with negativity. I'll make sure that I'm coming to
011them with positive things too cuz it does get old when all you hear is u negativity. So I I do appreciate those comments from the teachers. We want to thank um our principles because this is National Principles Month and the job that they do every day supporting teachers and our students. And we we have our leadership meeting on Thursday and we'll do a little something for our principles in that meeting because we do realize that sometimes um that's the loneliest seat in the school principal. Everybody's coming at you uh with different things, districts, students, parents. >> So, we got to recognize them for the things that they do every day, too. Put um their academics. They put out fires. They're doing a lot of things behind the scenes that people don't see to make sure
012those buildings are running smooth. So, kudos to them. And um I'm not a big person on months. I believe that you should um salute people every day. >> Every day. But this international pun month and we definitely want to salute them for what they do. But moving right along, we going to start our student advisory meetings in November. The principles at the high schools are going to pick out about 12, I would say 8 to 12 students and I want to meet with them with the principal and kind of find out what they're thinking about getting that student voice that we talk about so much. Um, that's a new thing, student voice. And student voice is very important. So, I do want to hear what they have to say and what can we do for
013them to make things better. Um, well, I'll let the principles pick those students and we'll start meeting quarterly and just having some conversation about school. So, I'm looking forward to that. We got a big event coming here. Board members are welcome to join us. We're doing a trunk or treat here on the 30th. It'll be a great time, not only trunk and treat, but meet and greet with some of our parents and students. Get see the students in a different light. Everybody's going to dress up for me now. I'm going to dress up at Ken Fel. >> Central office. >> Yeah, central office. Everybody's dressing up. >> They're dressing up their cars. >> Oh, okay. >> So, we're going to have a going to have a good time with our families for an hour and
014a half. um relax passing our candy, dressing up our cars, and um meeting our community in a relaxed environment. So, we're going to do it right out there. >> We got some experts on trunk or treat like um Mr. Heath who's going to dress up a bus. He's the expert. He going to dress up every seat and have the bus looking like Halloween and it's going to be a good day. I think he's dressed like Spider-Man, but we're going to have a good time. Trunk or treat. Then we are working on our Veterans Day dinner reception and we're looking at Monday the 3. Teachers are off on the second, I mean the second, but the 12th and Veterans Day teachers are off that Tuesday. Um, so we think it'd be a good idea to do
015it the week before. We're going to start um advertising that and posting it and talking to our veterans. See if we can get a good turnout for our veterans. We'll talk around doing a reception or dinner, but we can talk the committee can talk about what we want to do with that. I just think it'll be a good night for us veterans to socialize and talk about um >> Yeah, we'll talk about that a little bit. Not much. Most of us don't remember >> November 3rd. That's the day we're looking at, but the committee has to finalize and we'll get some things out this week and we're working on menu and things like that. November 15th is going to be a very special day for the district because Mr. Heath is going to drive for
016us again on November 15th and he's going to take us to the Hawkeye District and we're going to meet with 20 families. We have a nice um we have a nice uh bag for them of items and we also want to talk to them about attendance, good grades and try to see what they need for their students to be successful. It's going to be me in my cabinet u working with Miss Bullet that works with Chad. What's the first name? >> Christina Bullet. >> She she's identified the families that we're going to go see. I think it's going to be a good morning. So we just, you know, meet our parents at their homes >> and talk to them about school and what we what they again what they need and what we think that
017they need to be successful in helping their students. So that's going to be on November 15th, our Hawkeye visit. That's just the first one. We're going to do some more, but we're starting at Hawkeye and work our way around. Hopefully we can get five or six of them this year. But again, we'll start with Hawkey. So, I'm looking forward to that. Also was very proud of San Hulk. San Hulk High School, San Hulk Early College High School, one of the best high schools in the state of North Carolina. And they were recognized by US News and Reports. >> Oh wow. >> 2526. >> That's nice. >> So we're going to hang one Sam H. I'm going to hang one of these here. >> So we're doing great things. >> Great things. >> These are the
018kinds of things. We're not covering up other things that students do all over the nation. Um but we also need to talk about the great things that we do and the reason we open the doors. We open the doors for academics. So this is a very prestigious thing >> and it happened right here in Hope County. >> Right here in Hope County. >> So very proud of that. Also, I'm very happy um because one of the things we talked about back in July of 2023 and the five board members or four of you were there that day, but we talked about in July of 2023, we talked about our district and what we wanted to see and we got some international publicity. We're on the cover of the education magazine. [Applause] >> We're on the
019cover of Education magazine. >> And we got a good article on us. Even our high school principal is in the magazine. >> Our high school principal is in the magazine. >> Autograph. >> All right. >> So, it's pitch of the new school. Yes, >> that's nice. >> Oh, you got a book. >> The former teacher who's superintendent >> doing what we do. >> All right. >> But it was a great all like I said, we got some international publicity and um and then >> it culminates with that. >> Yeah. >> One of the greatest days on school. >> Oh yeah. Graduation. >> Graduation. >> She didn't know that. All right. >> So, the education magazine and I got a copy for all the board members. >> That's nice. [Applause] >> So, we're doing our we're
020doing what we need to do and Allison's telling our story and we're so happy that Alison is telling our story. >> All right. >> So, the people in Lisbot Town and the people in Sydney, Australia >> know about school. Oh, >> that concludes my report. >> Thank you, Dr. Sails. At this time, we have public comment and we'll turn this over to >> Hi, good evening. Um, we have two individuals that are signed up tonight for public comment. Um, I'll call each of you up in the order that you've signed up. Each of you has three minutes. I'll keep time over here and I'll just hold my hand up at the end of the three minutes. Um, and just ask that you conclude your comment at that time. Um, our first is Avanti Norwood. [Music]
021>> Good afternoon. Um, I wrote it down just so for the sake of time, but before I start, I wanted to talk about my principal. My son goes to county high school. In the beginning, when there would be a fight, he would come home and he would say, "Mom, oh my gosh, there's a fight." And then over time, he would say, "Oh, mom, there was a fight at school today." and I started to see that he had been desensitized to the violence that he would see every day. Well, a few weeks ago, he thought that his principal had been assaulted by a student. And he jokes because he says that she's my principal, which she is because she's so supportive. And when he came home that day, he was very upset because he thought that
022you had been hurt. But he didn't get the full story. So that's why I stand before you today. Um, good evening members of the board, administrators, and community members. My name is Devonte Norwood and I'm the parent of two children who attend Hope County Schools. One at Skirllock Elementary and one at Hope County High School. I stand before you tonight as both a proud parent and a deeply concerned member of this community. In just the third month of the school year, our high school has already seen an alarming number of fights, far too many. What's even more troubling is that this behavior no longer shocks our students. Fights have become so common that they've been normalized. what should be a safe space for learning has begun to feel like a hazardous duty zone and I
023am a 20-year combat I am a 20-year combat veteran. Um I retired um this I retired this this month uh at the end of uh this month. Teachers, administrators, and staff are doing everything they can but their hands are tied. Suspensions as they currently stand aren't effective. For some students being suspended isn't a consequence. It's a break. Meanwhile, our teachers and staff are the ones getting hurt both physically and emotionally trying to restore order. They shouldn't have to risk their safety just to do their jobs. Our students and educators deserve better. School should be a place where every child feels safe, not anxious or distracted by chaos in the halls. We need policies that address the root causes of this behavior and that deter violence before it starts. And it is my um assumption that
024the board is responsible for policym and just as importantly, we need parents to be held accountable because discipline and respect begins at home. I'm urging the board tonight to take a hard look at our existing policies and uh at our existing disciplinary policies and look at the following in order to hold parents more accountable. After school detention maybe requiring parents to attend a class before students who are suspended can return to school u after suspension or repeated document offenses requirement of inschool counseling with parents in attendance for initial assessment. These are just some suggestions. I am not um an expert at this. We can't keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. We need stronger, more creative measures, whether that means restorative programs that actually teach accountability or policies that reinforce consequences in a
025meaningful way. But doing nothing is no longer an option. Our children are watching us. Our um staff and administrators are no longer safe. If we accept violence and disruption as normal, then we teach them that safety and respect doesn't matter. >> Thank you so much. All right, our next speaker is Joseph Olston. >> No, >> I think he just >> Oh, just error. >> That That concludes our public comment. I'll turn it back to you, madam. >> Thank you so much. >> Glad to have Mr. Awesome. At this time, we're at the consent agenda and today we have two items under consent agenda. The first one is the minutes from September 9th, 2025. >> Yes. [Music] >> I'm going to go item by. So, I'm just telling you what's there. I haven't asked to make
026a motion yet. Okay. So, we have September 9th, 2025 minutes and we also have October 3rd, 2025 special meeting minutes. But first, can I get a motion to approve the September the 9th, 2025 minutes or if there are any questions coming? >> I'll make a motion to approve the minutes for September 9th and October 3rd, 2025. >> Second. >> Okay. The motion has been made to accept the minutes for September the 9th, 2025 um and October the 3rd, 2025 special meeting minutes. All in favor say I. >> I. I. >> I. I. Any opposers? Okay. Second, we have the school board policy. First read. Madam Chair, I move to um remove the policy from the from the uh consent agenda down to information cuz there's nothing on the um there's nothing on the policies. When
027you look, there wasn't anything on >> say second read and it should be a first read. >> It says second read on your say second read. I didn't see anything. >> I noticed the same thing too. So, um could you just tell us what the uh proposed changes were or it just doesn't >> get this? I think that I think the problem is on our >> on our heart on the computer it's saying first read but I'm here saying >> but when I heard that I don't see you know have the changes >> it doesn't highlight >> I don't see any changes >> so it looks like it's just the ones that that [Music] >> yeah I'm looking at it madam chair >> I'm looking at the policy code 5030 30. Um um it looks
028like it's the final versus what the changes were recommended to. There's no red in it. That's the first one I'm looking at right now. And let's see the 3100. >> It's the same thing. >> Okay. So without having I mean, I didn't bring my draft over. >> We just have to >> We can move it. >> We can't even get information either because we don't have it. >> Madam Chair, I I move to table this >> till the next u meeting. >> Okay. >> That way we can have the right u >> information on the right. So the motion has been made to amend the school board policy first. It's been second. All in favor say I. >> I. I. >> And hopefully we can get that correct. >> At this time we have information.
029Um the first one is construction updates. >> Good evening. That's so cheerful. There's a lot to celebrate here. Congratulations. There's so much to celebrate here. Um so, uh here tonight uh to give you the I want the update on the new high school construction. Uh again, uh you're always welcome to come out there. I'm so sorry that it could not happen the last scheduled time. We understand things happen, but as always, you're welcome to come out and tour this incredible facility at any time. So to get started uh with the uh SK update, we start with the imagery of what has happened uh to date out there. Next slide, please. Uh so from the exterior, I cut out the image, all the mud in the foreground because it's been very wet and rainy and muddy
030out there, but this is a different view. So you're looking at it from the classroom wing back towards the entry. So that big bluish purplish, whatever color thing, that's your main entry point. So that's the focus as you approach the campus to signify this is where I enter. Uh so you can see the brick work is completed around there. Uh they have final cleaning of the brick remaining to do and some touchup of caul here and there. Uh the installation system on those tall slender vertical elements between all the windows is uh got their final coat on there. So a lot of the final steps have been taken on the exterior. As I mentioned last time, you're thankfully dried in from the roof above. Uh so lot happening on the inside. Uh next slide, please.
031So again, at the main entry, you can see in the foreground, this is the parent pickup drop off loop uh that comes across there to pick up drop off students. And you can see the shape of that now with the board on there. And I'll get the metal panels uh coming shortly, gray on the outside and red on the inside. Uh, and then the administration wing is off to the right to that image and behind that's the gymnasium. Next slide, please. So, this is a closeup in there. So, it's starting to really take shape up in the ceiling. You see long thin slots up there. That is for the lighting uh that's going to be out there. It's long linear lights that are placed up high there. And you can see the storefront glass system
032frame is starting to go in where the front doors are going to be. Next slide, please. This is inside. Looking back out uh towards that direction. Um I'm looking into the lobby where there's a second set of that uh glass wall construction going up to kind of create that safety break environment of controlling access allowing access to limited areas before they have access into the building. And in the recesses in the background there is where the trophy cases are going to be displayed. Next slide please. Once you're inside, if you look towards the classroom wing, it's really starting to take shape without just the exposed metal studs and everything. As the uh drywall is going up, the taping and sanding is continuing. You can see that they've uh started painting the roof deck above. They
033have all the wood uh structure wrapped and protected. And this is so looking back this way, you're looking towards a classroom wing, the open commons area. You can see the stairs in the background there. And then that area midway across is the circulation hallway that comes around this tall two-story space. Uh in the shorter structure up on the second floor to the right that is the student services area where you have your dropout prevention, your guidance services and other student supports up there. There will be glass doors to uh separate this space from the classroom wing at the first floor and second floor, but those will go in at a later time here as they continue their finishes. Next slide, please. This is the gymnasium. They're getting some of the hanging elements up for the
034duct work so they can get ready to paint the uh roof deck and then the joist across there. You can see how they've already started on the walls and getting all the the elements in place in there as that takes shape. Nice slide. So, this is the cafeteria dining area and they have the glass uh framing system in uh that goes to the outdoor dining area just beyond that glass wall where it'll be you can see the stairs in the background that go up to the second floor and down to this space. Next slide, please. don't see this often. Uh just it's from the back looking towards that cafeteria dining area. So in the foreground where that wing wall comes out, there'll be fenced in around there for the outdoor dining area. And then inside
035you'll see that's the glass wall that goes connects to the inside where the dining is. Classroom wing is off to the right there for letting you know where you are. Next slide, please. inside of hallways down to the uh classrooms, whether you're looking on the left down towards where the locker rooms, wrestling, and PE rooms are or on the one on the right where you're looking down the classroom wing. So, all the piping, electrical, mechanical, everything overhead is getting its last items installed so they could begin getting ready to hang and install the ceilings. And that space will look a lot different very quickly here. Next slide, please. Uh, typical classroom now that they have the paint up. I know last time you saw insulation and some drywall starting. Uh, so lots happen between them.
036And this is the opening into there. Again, that'll have a glass system in there with the door. Uh, you can see inside the duct work and everything above, they're getting ready to set brick and hanger wires in there. So again, spaces are changing fast. Next slide, please. in the commons area. This is looking towards the learning stair up to the second floor. Adjacent to the learning square, kind of dead center in there is a wall that's going to have and the board approved the graphics at the previous meetings on what's going to be on that wall for display for uh the school be exciting space and it'll be a great opportunity for additional instruction uh whether it's uh during the school day after the school day uh any curricular groups after the school day meetings
037and conducting things there. It's going to be a very active space. Next slide please. It's just looking back. Uh you've seen this image before. Uh but this is a lot more finishes up now. Uh next time you see this, it'll be a lot of paint on the walls. So it's really starting to take shape out there. Next slide, please. And again, down the hallway on the second floor with the glass system up above. It has some protective plastic on there so it doesn't get paint all over it while they're painting, but gives you an idea the sense of daylight in this space. There aren't any lights on in this field. So you can see how daylight and all these photos is really playing an integral part to this building. It's going to be very different
038from what the students have been expect been experiencing. Next slide please. Instead looking back uh this is a second floor area uh learning area and it overlooks where the media center down below is and the learning stairs in the background. Next slide please. This is the science wing. Uh this is down behind the gymnasium at the second floor level. Uh they've been working from the classrooms toward this direction as you can see by the photos where now they getting the jipboard up or the drywall up inside the science labs ready to tape and sand and get ready to paint. Uh so this these will be some of the last instructional spaces they finish as they work across the building. Next slide please. And this is the chemical uh space where they've already got stored up
039and taped and sanded. So, a lot has been happening out there. And this is the hallway looking down from that science area. To the left of the windows that'll be looking down into the gymnasium. So, you'll have that connection up here in the space as students move back and forth. Next slide, please. So to give you the uh where we are to date again two phases one build part two is occupy and then demolish and finish the site with the parking the tennis courts and storm water retention. So they have uh indicated that basically uh end of February and end of March as their dates uh which puts them at about 84% along the way from when they started uh the demolition of buildings would happen after all the occupancy is done. The move in
040transition into the new school the existing buildings are completely vacated. So, we anticipate that to be about the time of July, August, and we're talking next year. So, getting close. Doesn't feel like it, but just as graduation, it's getting close. Um, the contractor, you may recall earlier on, we had an issue with water lines that we had to replace and reroute in the project, and that impacted some of the uh timeline of getting the footings and foundations in. The team thought that they'd be able to recover that throughout the uh scope of the entire project and with the weather as wet as we've had it and the trouble they've had with the rain not cooperating to dry it in, they think they may have lost some of that opportunity. So they they begin assessing what
041that timeline might impact. uh it's not going to impact anything about occupying the building and moving in and stuff during the summer, but it most likely is going to impact the February 27th and March 29th dates. Uh we don't see it as a concern or an issue as it will not impact the moving in and occupying the building and setting it up. Once they finalize it and it's been reviewed by everybody, I'll be updating the board what those revised dates are. the uh next slide budget. So at this point, even though on the timeline they're as I stated about 84% of the way along, their pay is at 61%. Uh so you can see that that's a good place. You don't ever want to see the pay ahead of the schedule. Um it is used
04267.7% of the contractor contingency for various activities, scope duplications, corrective work and things that have happened, 212% of the design contingency for errors and emissions in the project and the project still has gained money in the owner contingency about 32%. So in the beginning the contingencies these are the three categories that were identified to the board in the GMP contract was presented was just over 2.4 million remaining is about 1.2. However there's about 617,000 in pending that is under review and uh revisions that go on back and forth well until they're finally approved. Uh but if we take that into consideration, the project still has $636,000 remaining in contingency opportunity in there. And again, as I stated to the board, any contingencies that remain uh working with staff, we will come to you with options
043and opportunities to use those funds on things on the campus for continued improvement and providing instructional opportunities for the students. Next slide, please. So here are your categories that were identified in the GMP1 contract. Uh so again I just update these every month with any expenditures that have happened. Uh the ones that are highlighted uh indicate numbers that have changed from the previous month's update to you. So there's been a payment made to the general contractor uh with some contingency dispersements to the design team and for the commissioning agent activities at this time. On the far right again those are unencumbered funds that have not been committed. So we have funding remaining also in the project that have not been committed at this time. Uh I caution again on technology computer says $2.1 million, but
044as we know as we get closer to the end is when we uh procure some of the items we will be needing so they aren't already out of date by the time they get installed. So uh at this point everyone is uh felt and responded that the budget remains strong and healthy for the project. A lot of talking. I'm going to stop and answer any questions that any of you may have. >> Okay. Thank you, M. >> You're welcome. >> Next, we have a vacancy report. >> Madame Chair, board members, guests, good evening. I'm here tonight to present the vacancy report. I would like to first share that uh we in good standing with our district as far as our vacancies since 2022. Uh we have completed our reports for DPI. Um three of our
045schools hopefully after tonight will be 100% um filled. three of our schools, 11 schools will be at uh 97% or higher >> with their vacancies filled and then our high school um is at 86% field uh since 2021. Um so we are excited about to ensure that our um that we're moving forward with filling our vacancies uh to ensure that our students get a quality education uh every day. So with that said, our certified vacancies right now we have 36. Hopefully after tonight we'll go down to 32. Our classified 17 then hopefully we have three for tonight will be 14 will be a total of 46. But as you see we have a total of 53. But that's where we stand for our vacancy report. >> Thank you so much. >> At this time we
046have Oh, are there any questions? You can't even ask me like that. excited. Thank you for at this time it's our financial month today. >> Good evening. >> So today we will be looking at our multate analysis. Um and we are okay. So, we're basically where we're supposed to be at spending. Um, as you know that the majority of our funding goes to um employees to pay payroll. So, on there I would like to call attention to um PRC's 20, PRC 29, PRC 43 and 60 63 67. These are still in 85. These are still showing at zero. That's because they have not um dropped yet. So, we're and these are funds that we are expecting. They just not have not have not given them to us yet. Federal funds have not dropped yet. They
047are in the final stages of approving them. And October is the month that they normally start dropping. So, we have gotten two, I believe, but we're still waiting for the rest of them to drop. Um, our fund two is completely um, scheduled out because that's the funds that we get from the county commissioners. Fund eight is still being worked on because those that's the funds that contain that's our restricted funds that contains our grants that we received and those are restricted funds that we have to use for our students. But, um, like I said, instate state funds, which is state fund one, those are the ones that have zeros. Those are the ones that we're still waiting for. Um, they have not been released yet, but like I said, we are expecting them. These are
048funds that we are expecting. Are there any questions? Any questions? And thank you, M. At this time, we have the 24 25 school accountability data. Good evening. >> Good evening. >> So, I'm happy to be with you tonight to present the 2425 accountability results. Uh we will begin next slide, please. Uh just a quick review of how school performance grade components are reached. Uh 80% is achievement. That's a composite method. That is the sum of proficiency points earned by school and growth accounts for 20% and that is student expected growth relative to other students with the same grades, same test across the state. Next slide please. Our achievement indicators for elementary and middle school are reading, math, science, and English language learner progress. For high school, we have our EOCC courses, biology, English 2, math
0491 and three, the four-year cohort graduation rate, math course rigor, ACT, ACT work keys, and again English language learner progress. Next slide, please. Growth is determined, of course, elementary and middle school by reading, math, and science growth in fifth and eighth grade. and high school is determined by reading growth, English 2, math growth, math 1 and three. Uh please note though that science is not included for growth in the high school SPG. Next slide please. We'll move on into the next slide to take a look at our dis our district performance composite. Uh when you look at our district performance composite, you see here we have four years worth of data culminating in 2425 with an overall composite of 46.3. And this value represents the percent of students achieving proficiency on all EOG and EOCC's
050with level three, four or five. Next slide please. Uh we have celebrations of course that we want to celebrate when we look at composite scores. We have two schools who have increases and they're greater than five points percentage points and those are Sandy Grove Elementary with an increase of 5.4 percentage points and Mclofflin Elementary with a increase of 6.0 percentage points. That's awesome. >> Next slide, please. That is awesome. Most definitely is. Uh we also have some district performance highlights. We had an increase in ACT from 29.8 to 46.9% uh with minimum proficiency. A work keys increase at silver or better from 45.9% to 52.1%. We had an AWA increase. And just for clarification, AWA is the percentage of seniors who have either a minimum proficiency score on ACT or a silver or better on
051work keys. We had an increase in that from 46.2% to 46.8%. Our e progress increased quite a bit from 17.5% to 27.9%. And of course, we want to celebrate San Hoke Early College who had a cohort graduation rate greater than 95%. >> That would be a good time for you to clap. >> Okay, next slide, please. As we take a look at elementary and middle school results, if you'll move on to the next slide, you'll see on each of these slides that you have both the table and the graph representing the subjects for uh reading, math, and science for grades three through eight. Again, this is grade level proficiency for EOGS, which is level three, four or five. You will see that in reading three eight, we experienced the increase. We did have a slight
052decrease in math. Uh we also had a decrease in science. But I ask you to remember that this year was a new science test with new standards. So a decrease was seen across the state. Next slide, please. We have our elementary EOG comparisons. This is third through fifth grades reading, math, and science. Uh third grade reading uh did have a decline a bit of a decline, but fourth and fifth grade both increased. Uh third through fifth math all were equal or increased in percentile percentages and fifth grade science again we did have a decline but the new test. Moving on to middle school on the next slide we see the comparisons with reading, math and science. Again, sixth grade reading experienced to increase while seventh and eighth grade ma reading had a decline. Sixth grade
053math had an increase with seventh grade math and middle school math one experienced a decline. And then eighth grade science with a decline as well again with a new science test. We'll move on to high school results. And thank you. And when we look at our high school, we have our EOCC is what we're going to be begin with. Our EOCC subjects and you will see that we have uh a decline in biology, which again was a new test, and English. We have increases in both math one and math 3. Uh moving on to the next slide, additional high school measures. And when we look at the additional high school measures, of course, we're going to look at math course rigor. We had a very slight decline there. Then we are going to look at
054ACT work keys and again the Iowa measure. We had increases in all of those. I do want to bring attention to the fact though that for the 21 through 24 school years that the minimum ACT score was 19. With the 2425 school year, the UNCC systems dropped that to 17. All right. And moving right along, we have our high school cohort graduation rate. Again, you'll see four years worth of data here culminating with 2425 with 81.5%. The next thing I'd like to cover are lowerforming schools. Just uh briefly a reminder of what a low performing school is. It is a state designation. Uh low performing schools are identified annually. They are schools who have a performance grade of D or F and a school growth of met or not met. Moving on, in order for
055a school to ex exit low performing status, uh they are reviewed annually for exit, they must have a school performance grade of a C or better or a school performance grade of a D or F and exceed growth. Next slide, please. This will show you our in 23 24 we had five low performing schools and 2425 we were happy to see that two of those schools exited Hawkeye Elementary and Mclofflin Elementary and you'll see that we had two additional added Sandy Grove Middle and Scarlock Elementary which keeps us still at a total of five schools low performing. And if you'll move on to the next slide, we're going to take a look at school performance grades and growth status. And when we look at our elementary schools, we are going to see that in terms
056of school performance grade that five of our elementary schools had an increase, three had a decrease. And when we look at the growth status, one exceeded, four met, and three did not meet. Moving on to middle and high schools, we see here that we had three schools that had a an equal or increase in their school performance grade and we had three that had a decline. Uh we also see uh that we have one school who is progressing that is Turlington. That's an alternative school and they are ranked on an alternative model. And please keep in mind that there were 77 schools uh that chose option B for alternate schools. Only 18 of those got a progressing score and Turlington was one of them. >> Okay. And then we have uh with the other school
057performance grades, two exceeding and three not met. >> Thank you. I I have a question. I'm not sure if it's for you or Dr. uh Spels. Where are we with the school performance grade components? Um achievement being 80% and growth being um 20%. you know, have you heard anything about superintendent getting together and going up and lobbying or whatever we need to do to get 50/50 because it's just not to me fair >> with the change of a new state superintendent. Of course, that is being recalculated and looked at again. That is still something that is being considered. Uh they're still working on what the components of that will be. an agreement has not been reached at this time, but what is being proposed is to increase growth and to also add additional factors as
058well. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> You're so welcome. >> I want to thank you for actually putting this document together so that we can actually see uh more than just letters, but we can see the broken stuff. So, I commend you on and thank you. [Applause] At this time we have low performance school timeline. >> Uh good evening madam chair, vice chair, board members and Dr. Spelle. >> Okay. So I'm going to speak briefly low performing schools in our timeline. [Music] Okay. So, as uh Miss Hyde already presented, what is the definition of a low performance schools? Low performance schools are those that receive a school performance grade of D or F and a school growth score of met expected growth or not met expected growth as divine uh defined by general statute. And
059those are our five low performing schools. Our first step in this process, this is a new process, is that the superintendent had to complete a survey in regards to Hope County Schools, low performance schools. And uh we've he's already submitted completed and submitted his survey. Uh step two, our plans uh are to be submitted to our local school board. So on September the 24th, our uh schools uh presented their school improvement plans. Uh those uh five schools that we're speaking of tonight also talked about their low performing uh status and what their plan was to uh move their students forward. Uh next step is for our parents notice of low performing school status. So each school uh that the state board identified as low performance shall provide written notification to their parents and guardians of
060students attending that school within 30 days of the identification that includes the following information. How the superintendent and other central office administrators will work with the schools and monitor these uh schools progress. The letter has uh the letters have been written by the state of North Carolina. only thing that we had to do as a district is to put it on our letter head and then put what we're going to do specific for that school uh to move their students forward academically. Uh those letters will go out tomorrow. We waiting on our board meeting and now the letters are already ready in Spanish and in English to be sent home tomorrow for students also. Uh going back to that you'll have to go back. Um Dr. Ram sewer and Miss Hammonds have responded uh in
061NC Star, the platform that houses uh our school improvement plans uh to the uh principles on their school improvement plan. Uh you know how there are also assisting to monitor uh the school improvement plans with the uh uh principles. Uh school improvement plan is a living uh breathing document. It changes throughout the school year, right? As the school improvement teams meet monthly, the data is what's going to drive the conversation. So, the school improve improvement plan is always at the forefront. And so, as we have our NC check-in data, our benchmark testing uh they will uh the principles and their uh school improvement team will utilize that data to tweak or make any changes if they're not progressing towards their marks. Uh step three, within 30 days of its receipt of the plans, the local
062board shall vote to approve the plans, modify or reject the plans. Uh the plan should be made available to the public, including the personnel assigned to that school and the parents and guardians of the students who are assigned to the school and shall allow for written comments. Okay. Like I said, the uh school improvement plans were submitted to the board. Along with that submission, I did provide each of you a copy of the presentations that the schools presented and also uh access to NC star where you can log into the uh state u platform and also read uh you know take your time just read through uh in detail of the school improvement plan all the goals that they put in place the strategies and you can look at past data on what they've accomplished
063in previous years. Um, I will go live tomorrow. Even though the schools have already posted the school improvement plans on their website, I will also post those plans on the district's website along with a survey for the parents to be able to provide feedback on the school improvement plans. So if they go on the school's website, they'll see the school improvement plans, but they also have access to the guest code to go into NC Star and take a look at the uh total plan and any previous data from previous years. And so they will we will uh culminate that data uh through uh from the live uh link that I will provide where we will have that information. We can look at it as a district as to what the parents are saying uh in
064regards to uh their schools. Uh step four then the state board shall review the plans expeditiously and if appropriate may offer recommendations to modify the plan. They will provide their feedback also in NC star. Uh so the principles uh will get that information. and it will send them a message also send me a message in the superintendent that they have responded to the low performing schools uh school improvement plans. Okay, any questions? Any questions? >> No. >> Okay, thank you. Thank you. Next, we have the strategic plan. [Music] >> Good evening again. [Music] Okay. Um it is that time of the year for uh Hope County schools to begin to work on our five-year strategic plan. The one that is currently in place will end in June of this uh school year 2026. A five-year
065strategic plan uh for a school district is both a roadmap and communication tool. It sets priorities, align resources, and provides measurable goals that guide decision making. So the key components of a five-year strategic plan first you know it comprises the vision statement a clear aspirational description of what the district wants to achieve in five years. Also a part of that is the mission statement which defines the district's purpose and core work. Uh also in that document will be our core values and beliefs, our guiding principles that shape the district's culture. uh we will utilize our compreh uh comprehensive needs assessment data as we put our document together. That data is driven our data-driven analysis of student achievement gaps uh within our subgroups, staffing, facilities, technology, community demographics and finances is all encompassed in our comprehensive
066needs assessment to continue our uh strategic priorities and goals. And this is our broad focus areas for improvement that we will come up as a uh come uh put together as a district uh housed under that will be our objectives and the strategies that we're going to use uh to accomplish our goals and these are actionable approaches under each goal and then of course our performance measures and key indications and these are specific metrics that we will use to track our progress. uh this will be aligned to our state accountability and our district priorities. Uh number eight is our implementation plan, a timeline for each year with milestones. So as we uh uh complete our uh strategic plan, this is not a document that just sits on a shelf. This is just like the school's
067improvement plan. So every time we're in leadership in cabinet, this document should be referenced and we should be monitoring uh how we are doing to meet our strategic goals throughout the year. So this is a fiveyear plan. So for five years, we're trying to complete this. We can tweak it. If this is something's not working, when that data starts to roll in, that EOC, EOG data comes in each year as we look at our strategic plan and if we're not meeting our milestone, there's opportunity for us to change that. uh we uh monitoring and evaluation uh regular progress reporting like I said quarterly uh annually during our uh cabinet meetings leadership meetings with the uh uh leaders within the district uh to have a public dashboard uh update and for stakeholders to review. Again, the
068completed document will be housed on the district's website as it is now and every school will also house it on their uh school's web page so that parents community that we serve will have access to it and can review it at any time. Uh number 10, communication and community engagement. How the district will keep families, staff, and community informed and engaged in the plan's progress. Uh so this will be a compilation of hope county schools in the district. We will get input the board members you'll be a part of this process. Uh our community dis our parents and teachers administrators uh will all play a part in compiling this document this plan that will govern how we would do business for the next five years as a school district. Okay. So our guidelines this is
069what I would consider our norms. our non-negotiables as what's going to guide our work as we work on our strategic plan. We're going to align with the state and federal requirements. Uh that's EPI guidelines and federal ESA school improvement plans. Keep the language clear and accessible to families and community members. We will ensure that our goals and strategies are designed to benefit all students, staff, and the community. We will engage multiple stakeholders. Like I said, our board members, our teachers, district leaders, parents, students, community leaders, and businesses will have input into this five-year strategic plan. And we want to use our smart goals. Uh when we design goals to make uh to achieve our uh priorities, we want to make sure that they are specific, they're measurable, achievable, and relevant and time bound. Um so
070this is important in order to accomplish our goal that we're setting setting up. Thank you. Any questions? [Music] >> Thank you, Dr. M. At this time, we move to our action items. The first action item is the budget amendment. Did everybody have a chance to y'all have got any questions? >> Okay. Can I get a motion to approve the budget? >> You didn't do it's it's four. So we do all four items. Um, we can support. If y'all want to go one by one, we can. Is it the same? >> No, it's different. >> Are we going to do one by one? >> We're They're under one, >> right? Are you going to present the budget amendments to us? >> We actually have it um here, but if you want if you have questions about
071it, she can. I think it's >> Is there anything specific you want her to go over? >> Is there anything you'd like us to know? >> No, those are just the final budgets from fiscal year 25 year. >> Yes, ma'am. >> So, can I get a motion to approve the budget amendments? >> Madam Chair, >> yes. >> I move to approve these budget amendments. >> Second. >> Okay. The motion has been made to approve the budget amendments. It's been second. All in favor say I. >> Any opposers? Okay. Thank you. Second, we have school improvement plans, low performing schools, additional targeted support and improvement. >> Uh to be clearly Dr. Mloud, can you tell us what you >> Okay. On Thursday uh September the 25th um 2025 each school presented the school improvement plan uh
072which serves as a roadmap for achieving uh identified academic goals. Schools also shared how title one funds will be used to support improved student outcomes. Each plan is housed in NCAR a well-based tool that supports schools and districts in managing the continuous improvement process. NC Star enhances accountability by allowing the schools to monitor progress in real time and provides transparency for all stakeholders including staff, district leaders, schoolboard members, parents, and the community. Login information was submitted to all board members so you may have access and may review individual school improvement plans. At this time, I respectfully recommend and request that the board of education approve the submission of the school improvement plans targeted support and improvement plans and the low performing schools plans for the 2526 academic school year. >> Madam Chair, >> yes. >>
073I move to include school improvement plans, low performing school additional additional targeted support and improvement. >> Second plan. >> Okay. The motion has been made to approve the school improvement plans low performing schools additional targeted support and improvement. It's been second. All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposers? >> Okay. Thank you so much. At this time, can I get a motion to go into code session? >> Madam chair. Yes. I'm going to go into code session uh under the North Carolina district statues 143-318 11 to present to prevent the disclosure of confidential personnel and student matters to consider matters related to initial employment of individuals employees and to consult with the board's attorney to preserve the attorney client preparation. >> Second. >> Okay. The motion has been made to go into close session.
074It's been second. All in favor say I. I any opposers? Okay, thank you. We'll take a