001Thank you. All right. All right. Good evening everyone and welcome to regularly scheduled board meeting for the Jackson County Board of Education. At this time, would everybody please stand and take the pledge of allegiance? >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands, one nation under God. Liberty and justice for all. >> Please make for the national Hey, Gail, if you don't mind, would you please mute your phone? >> I'm sorry. Mute it. >> Yes. >> Oh, okay. Yeah. Sorry. >> Thank you all for that. Um, okay. After what? >> Approve. >> Okay. All right. Do I have a motion to approve tonight's agenda? >> I make a motion that we approve tonight's agenda. >> I'll second that. >> All in favor? >> All
002right. I think y'all have another song for us. It must Very good. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Very good. >> Thank you, Mr. Ly. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> While everybody's um exiting, I'd like to ask for Fairview's principal, Mr. Tim Curry, to come up and they can have some presentations about the school about the school. >> Really, I'm just excited that we had uh all of those wonderful students here to perform that presentation. That was very exciting that we had that much turnout. Thank you to all the families that showed up and really uh it's now time for our future city students to provide a presentation for you all. We're very excited. Are they ready to come up? >> Um I'll say it because I don't know that they are going to, but
003they were scheduled to go down to Raleigh for a presentation this weekend. It has been postponed for obvious reasons, but uh we're very excited to see how they do, hear how they do when they do get to present. So, thank you guys. >> Our city is called Bon Bombella. It's located in Weedless. Our theme this year was far table, which means reducing from arm to your uh one way we did this was using PDK which is a kind of plastic that infin the plastic being broken down into their base molecules with sulfuric acid which then engineers can rem that re that infinite group and there's no loss The other way that we reduced um part the other way we did part the table was um we created microarobic digesttors which take the bio which take
004the carbon dioxide out of bofuel and store it so that there is no excess carbon dioxide and keeps our plants around our plateau healthier so they don't have to absorb We also did we also created a hydrogen water rail which goes to different places and neighborhoods by disconnecting the cars instead of having one big train and each car has an assigned neighborhood. We also created a hyper for long distance travel that runs at about 700 miles an hour so that we can go further distances. Uh education for education we made uh test that would separate everybody um different students into different classes. um that would the test would um figure out how they think and it would then separate them into classes where they were surrounded by people think differently to help kids >> and
005that's about all we have for any questions about how it works. Thank you. [laughter] >> Appreciate it. >> So, thank you to Miss Crawford who leads this group. I appreciate very much um having them here. >> Excellent. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. >> This this group competed against other teams at Fairview and Smoky Mountain Eye also, right? >> Yes. So, we started with 14 teams at Fairview and we um competed in house and then we took it down to six and six teams from Fairview and six teams from SW competed and between both schools they actually were the top team. said it was a little above my head. >> They're pretty intelligent. >> They've worked really hard. They've done a lot of research. >> Very good. >> It's very impressive what they've done. Thank
006you. >> So, on to special recognitions. Dr. Eric, >> we have a few today and some have been held over a little bit. So, I just want to make sure that we're always having the opportunity to recognize our hardworking students and staff. So, the first one I'm going to have come up is Miss Becca Mulligan. So, Becca, and I'm going to give her the grace that as soon as she's finished, she's going to run out the door to the Smoky Mountain High School Pisga ball game and watch her child play basketball. It should be pretty close. So this evening I'm pleased to honor Becca Mulligan who is Colby Valley School's assistant principal. Becca has been selected as the 2026 North Carolina Outstanding Elementary Assistant principal of the year by NC Papa. This award serves as
007a way to recognize the dedication and success of assistant principles working in preK through 8 schools. Becca will serve as North Carolina's representative for the National Association of Elementary School Principles. So, this is a big deal, a really big deal. A as our outstanding assistant principal of the year, and they recognize outstanding elementary and middle school assistant principles who have demonstrated success in leadership, curriculum, and personalization. Becca and all state winners will be invited to attend the National Principal Conference in Orlando, Florida this July 13th through 15. At the conference, they will engage with school leaders from across the country, gain unique recognition before a national audience, and benefit from complete access to premier professional development. NESP is covering Becca's conference registration, and North Carolina Papa is covering her hotel and flight expenses. So, I
008hope you make it an extended vacation, too. Becca, in only her second year as an assistant principal, demonstrates an extraordinary commitment to students, families, and staff, as well as great skills and leadership. She drives buses many, many times a day and week, works with our special needs students, focuses on curriculum needs, and maintains excellent relationships with all. Becca, we are extremely proud of you and grateful for your leadership in Jackson County Public Schools. Here's my shameless plug. Becca drove four bus routes on Friday alone. We need bus drivers desperately to help Becca. All right. Next, we are going to have some teachers. If you've uh remembered for the last few months, we've been recognizing teachers who exceeded growth in their EVOS data. So, knowing that lots of things were happening in December. We spread this
009out over a couple of months, but these teachers are those that uh deserve recognition. So, tonight we're going to recognize our final group of teachers who exceeded growth in EVOS for the 2425 school year. Each year, the state of North Carolina provides information about student performance and teachers exhibiting growth. Teachers re receive a designation as met, did not meet, or exceeded growth. Each of the following teachers are the highest growth leaders in our district. We are grateful for their service and dedication to our students and we're glad that they stayed here with Jackson County Public Schools, which is the best school district around. So, please come forward for the remainder. Some of them couldn't be here, but Miss Deb Howser from Blige School was exceeded growth. And we have Alicia Brown. Alicia, come on up.
010This is not Alicia's first time up here as an exceeded growth teacher. So, I'm gonna have you stand right there in the middle. Alicia, Mr. Ray Crawford. >> Yes. >> So, this is the funny Mr. Crawford moved to a different grade level this past year and he um was so worried. He also taught some of the same students he had had before in sixth grade. And so not only did he do well, but he knocked it out of the park. So very, very proud. Next up from Smoky Mountain Elementary School, Tanya Puit. It's also not Tanya's first time being up here as well. and Miss Cheryl Sedra. >> Cheryl's been here many times, too. >> We had one other teacher who is not in attendance, and that's Mr. Craig Maroy from Smoky Mountain High School.
011So, these folks are the last of our exceeded growth, and we hope that next year or the current year that we're in where we're recognizing our numbers will continue to grow, but these are the top of the top of the teachers in Jackson County Public Schools. Congratulations. We set the bar here. Keep it there. [laughter] >> Thank you very much. >> No pressure. None whatsoever. Ray says, "All right. Next up, I would like to have a couple of students and I think one was unable to attend. So, I'm going to ask um that student's teacher to come up." So, this is a good transition time, too. If I can have Mave Len, if Mave was able. Oh, yes. Wonderful. Mave and Miss White if you would come up as well. And then Karimi from Blue
012Ridge Early College. And Miss Winston, if you would come, too. Thank you for coming. >> bye. >> You're very welcome. >> All right. These students are here this evening because if you can see the TV last month, I mentioned their names. They were the winners of the superintendent's Christmas card um selection. So I want to read a little bit about them and then make sure that they get a certificate. So, it's an annual tradition for superintendents across the state to send out a holiday card to their colleagues and local community members. Our office sends out a JCPS superintendent Christmas card to other superintendent, to all of the county commissioners, local businesses all in Jackson County, and other community supporters. The card artwork is created by students in JCPS who are selected by their art teacher.
013The theme this year was the joy of giving. Thus, you see the image on the screen. A winner for the front cover and inside cover is selected by central office staff that includes myself. I'm thrilled to announce that Jackson Community School senior Mave Lden was chosen for the front cover and sophomore Karemi Faria. Am I correct? Close enough. I want to say it right. Uh Karemi Faria from Blige Early College was selected from the inside cover. Can you show us the other image, please, Jaden? So, this one is Maves. Is that correct? And it was on the front cover, and I I just love it. It says, "Give what you can, take what you need." And then the inside cover is Karem's. And that definitely was a picture of the joy of giving. Karemi is
014a 10th grade student at Blue Ridge and Mave is a senior. Excuse me, you just finished in December. I forgot about that. So, um, these students really represent what we want our community to understand and see about not just our students, but the work of the art teachers that go along with that that make this happen. So, this is an annual tradition and we will continue. So, we're very proud of what you've done. >> Thank you. >> So, I have to know, Mave, what's next? >> College. Did y'all hear that? You have a choice yet? Probably Western. >> Awesome. Right in the backyard. >> It's convenient. It works. >> Harmy, a couple years away from college. >> Congratulations. >> I'm going to step out because I really want the art teachers with me. >> And
015now I'm going to get in the middle so I can be with Did y'all get a copy of the cards? I had extra ones. >> Our last recognition. Isn't it fun to have all the good stuff going on? Is new teacher for us, Miss Katie Wallace. So Katie, would you come on up? Yes, clap. You don't even know what you're cheering for yet, but absolutely clap. So, tonight we are recognizing one of Fairview's third grade teachers, Katie Wallace. In December, Katie was honored by Western Carolina University as an outstanding prospective teacher. So outstanding that she graduated in December and is ours. We snagged her really, really quickly. So, she is an outstanding no longer a prospective teacher, but she is one of ours. But I wanted to read you a little bit about this award,
016and this came directly from Dr. Kim Winter at Western Carolina. One of the most prestigious awards that WCU bestows on its teacher candidates is the outstanding prospective teacher award. These students have demonstrated a commitment to academic excellence and earned recommendations from their clinical educator, field and/or academic supervisor and seminar instructor during their internship. It is based on superior effective teaching skills, professionalism and commitment to the field of education, scholarship, interpersonal and communication skills, initiative and creativity. Those are great adjectives to describe her. WCU typically has 50 to 65 highly qualified final nominees and Katie was selected. So, we're really proud of you, Katie, and glad that you stayed right here in Jackson County Public School. So, congratulations. >> Well, I started congratul We don't usually have recognition so long. But that's a something to celebrate.
017Several things to celebrate. Jake, would you catch all the white hand? All right. Do I have a motion to approve the open session minutes of the regular meeting on December 16th? >> I make a motion that we approve the open session minutes from the December meeting. >> I second that motion. >> All in favor? >> Up next is Dr. Eric with the superintendent report. >> Good evening, chair and board members. The second semester of the year has begun and it has been real a really smooth start. I'm extremely proud of the students and staff who returned on a positive note and ready for challenging work and productive work. End of course tests and final exams occurred during the last week of school in December. The EOCC's results for the district are very very strong showing
018incredible progress in math and biology. Like I have to stop and pause. We're seeing plus nine numbers. And if you know what that means, you know it's good. Plus nine is extremely good in our math and biology. Though this is just a portion of the final numbers that will be calculated to determine a school's performance grade, these high school EOC scores are highly encouraging and a testament to the work our high school teachers and leaders are doing. One item to note is North Carolina Department of Public Instructions allowing retests in all grades three through eight in high school courses. Unlike previous years, these retest scores will now be calculated for growth and proficiency in the school's school performance grade. This, in my opinion, is a true gamecher for our students so that they can feel
019successful as they move into the next grade level and increase our school performance grades. If you'll notice, you'll see lots of goodies around here. January is board appreciation month and I would like to pay tribute to each of our board members. Chair Wes Jameson has served on the board for 10 years while vice chair Abigail Clayton has served for seven. Both Kim Moore and Dr. Dillard are in their fourth year while Gail Woody is serving in her second year. The work they do and the commitment to JCPS is often unseen beyond the board meetings. Chair Jameson regular regularly attends athletic events and volunteers in the concession stand. I think they've made that a family event actually. He also has been responsible for providing meals for teams. Vice Chair Clayton provides treats for school staff, volunteers
020at a number of our schools and also provides meals for athletic teams. Kim Moore is always willing to provide meals to leadership teams, visit schools often, and hosts meetings at her place of business. Gail Woody provides instruction in the literacy through art program and is active in FCA. Dr. Dillard serves on the Blige School Edition and frequently donates floral arrangements from her place of business business to the schools. I want to thank you all for what you do for JCPS and our principles are thanking you with lots of goodies that are provided here. In just two days, we'll have another meeting to bring together the board of education and the board of commissioners. This joint meeting is Thursday, January 22nd at 6 PM and will take place in the Burl building on the campus of
021SEC. We will be discussing the major building projects taking place. These include the Smoky Mountain High School athletic upgrades, Fairview Kitchen and Cafeteria, Blue Ridge Projects, the bus garage, and our new middle school, Smoky Mountain Middle School. I'm looking forward to this meeting and the discussion. Lastly, I invite everyone to attend the Smoky Mountain High School Field and Track Complex groundbreaking ceremony on Monday, February 9th at 1:30 p.m. This will be a great day for not just Smoky Mountain, but Jackson County Public Schools. And an added note, I know there's quite a buzz about the forecasted weather for this weekend and into next week. We currently have, just for everyone's knowledge, six banked inclement weather days at Blue Ridge and eight banked weather days down the mountain for the rest of the district. We will
022always air on the side of safety for our students and staff. So stay tuned for more information. As always, I want to thank our extraordinary staff and community for being as supportive as they are respectfully. >> Thank you, Dr. S. U. Up next, we got Christy Walker with the unudedited financial center. >> Audited financial statement for January 2026. The comparison data is also provided for last year. Is there any questions regarding this report? >> You are amazed by the bill. >> [gasps] >> Thank you. >> And now we're to public comment. Do you have any speakers for >> Yes, board chair. Um, we have two public speakers. Um, I'd like to read instructions first for the public comments during our board meeting. Each month during the the part of the regularly scheduled board meeting, time
023is set aside for citizens to address the board through public comment. Each speaker will receive three minutes to present comments. However, the public comment session will not exceed 30 minutes total except by majority vote of the board. A signup sheet is always available 30 minutes before the meeting begins for any individual or group to indicate their desire to address the board. During the public comment period, we will recognize speakers in the order in which they signed in. Substitute speakers will not be permitted and speakers may not donate any portion of their time to another speaker. If a speaker is unable to present all of his or her information within the specified time limit, the speaker may provide the board with the additional information in written form. If an unusually large number of people request to
024speak, a majority of the board may decide to reduce the time for each individual or to require the designation of a spokesperson for each group of persons supporting or opposing the same positions. At any time, the board may establish additional procedures to ensure that public comment sessions proceed in an efficient and orderly manner. Written public comments will be sent in advance of the board meeting and will be shared with the board during the meeting. All written public comments must be received by 4 p.m. the day prior to the board meeting to be included. Public comments are designed for the board school the school board to listen. The board will not engage in dialogue or answer questions and complaints about individual employees or students are prohibited. Our first speaker is Miss Deborah Smith. She would like
025to speak about school policy regarding ICE. Deborah, you have three minutes. >> Thank you. Because my comments involve some social problems and some criminal activity, I am not prepared to make my remarks with a child in the room. So, should I defer that until the next meeting? >> Um, I think you can do that or provide a written document, whichever you choose. I'll defer to >> Okay. I [clears throat] will come back next next week. Next month >> I can kick my child out. No problem. >> No child should be kicked out. >> He's fine. >> He probably don't want to be in here anyway. >> The clock The clock is running. Do I get a reset? >> Thank you. Let's restart. >> Thank you. >> Um I'm here because two meetings ago a young
026couple spoke and I wanted to add additional perspective to what they had to say. uh because I was taught when I was very young that there are two sides to every story and there may in fact be more. I do not think that there is a person in this room who does not care deeply about the health and safety of children. For years now the stats on fentanel deaths include many minors have dramatically increased. 2025 was the first year in many that the numbers have declined somewhat. But one death is too many. There has been much said in the media with claims and counter claims. So I am not going to claim as some have that 300,000 unaccompanied migrant children are unaccounted for. But some are unaccounted for and one is too many. I won't
027claim that 65,000 calls to a hotline set up for migrant miners in trouble or with questions went unanswered, but some calls did go unanswered and one is too many. Recently in Texas, ICE and DHS operation lightning bug recovered dozens of children who had been reported missing. In July of 2025 in California, 14 migrant children were rescued from were rescued by ICE from forced labor on a farm. In Nebraska in August of 2025, 27 victims were rescued by ICE officers from sex traffickers. 10 were under the age of 12. When ICE officers show up at a school, business, courthouse, or home, they have reason to believe and authorization to look for fentanel dealers, abused children, missing children, individuals who are human traffickers, violent offenders, or those who merely fail to show to up to appear in
028court. We, the public, do not know why they are there. We need to let them do their jobs. Children's health and safety and in some cases their lives are often at stake. Thank you. >> Nikki >> up next. >> Oh, we have one more speaker. >> Um Melissa Lewis would like to speak about the Jackson County Public Schools Education Foundation. >> I'm gonna let I'm Melissa Lewis. Most of you know who I am and I'm the executive director for Jackson County Public Schools Education Foundation. Um, that sounds like a big title, but I'm a volunteer. We our entire board is full of volunteers. And so what Laura, our chair for our board, is handing you is some information that I've gathered that we've been working on over the past couple years. Um, so first of
029all, the first little piece that you'll see is a little prom reminder. And on the back has all the information and you can pass that on to a friend or you can use it yourself to register to come to our event on February 27th and we'd love to see you all there. Um the second little piece of information is our impact. So these are a lot of numbers but I think this is huge. Um we didn't start fundraising until August of 2024 and we've raised $215,000. Um a lot of that is back in the schools. um through many grants, restricted um donations and all of that is kind of listed out here. We did a quick fast um hurricane Helen, you know, uh I guess fundraiser and we raised like $7,000 and every bit of
030that went back into the schools um for all different kinds of things and that and and and on that as well it'll say like you know we've got 32 students that were impacted and 91 families um or 91 family members. Um, we're also like open to hear about um, scholarships and any way that you feel like you could give back to Jackson County Public Schools because we're a 501c3. Um, we, as I tell most people, are kind of like your fundraising arm. You know, we're over here doing everything we possibly can to help enhance the experience that the kids have at Jackson County Public Schools. Um, so that that kind of just and I change this a lot because this is constantly moving these numbers and what we're doing. Um, then this next little tidbit
031here is just an overall generic who we are, what we're doing, our mission, and probably why I'm here, right? Um, but today specifically, I wanted to talk to you about participating in our prom and supporting us and what we're doing. um is on that last page. If you flip it over, I'm really proud of this and Laura and Angie and our whole board should be really proud of this. These are all of our sponsors for the prom. And what I would like to see personally, but I think our whole board would like to see is your support as well to show that you truly believe in what we're doing and we're going to keep doing it. I mean either way, but I want to see something from Jackson County Public Schools saying we love what
032they're doing. They're putting their money, every dollar back into the school system. And I just think the community would love to see that as well. Um, so that's really all I'm here to say other than I gave you a little pen because you guys have a lot of work to do this week. You have a really important conversation to have on Thursday and these pens will help maybe >> with that. >> So, no, I'm fine. And I can stay for questions or you can email me. I just wanted to make sure you had all this information in our in your hands. >> Yes. >> Awesome. I'm gonna give a plug for the prom. >> I think Abigail was there too. last year and and yeah, Woody was there, too. So, it was a lot of
033fun and we got a throwback. Jake was there, some 80s clothing. So, now we're going to 90s. So, hope y'all >> see another. >> Okay. Thank you. All right. Uh on to our action agenda. Up first, we have Christy Walker with budget amendments. I am here tonight seeking approval for amendment number three to our 2526 budget resolution. A copy of these amendments are included in your board packets. This amendment includes state, federal, and other specific revenue funds. If you have questions about this amendment, I'm happy to answer those at this time. I have a motion to approve budget amendments presented by Miss Walker. >> I make a motion that we approve budget amendment number three. >> I second that motion. >> All in favor? >> I >> thank you Christie. >> Thank you. >> Uh
034up next we have Andy Deal with Anderson Smith and White to present the external audit and financial statements. Good evening. Hope everyone's doing well. Um, my name is Andy Deal. I'm a partner with the accounting firm Anderson Smith and White. We're the auditors for uh Jackson County Schools. I'm here tonight to give a summary of the audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30th, 2025. So, last school year. Um, we basically focus on this PowerPoint presentation tonight. Um, in the PowerPoint, we've basically pulled out all the important pages from the 80page report. So, we don't have to flip through all 80 pages here and we can just uh focus on what's important. Is there any way we can change the slide? >> I think J. >> Um, so there are four audit reports
035in these financial statements. Um, this first one here is our report on the financial statements themselves, like the number portion of the financial statements. The other three audit reports all deal with compliance, like compliance with federal and state grants, and we'll talk about those later. Um, we're pleased to report that our first report here is an unmodified report. An unmodified report is the cleanest report you can get. The reason it's called unmodified, that means we didn't note anything like an audit finding that would cause us to modify our audit report. Um, an unm an unmodified report is the highest level of assurance we can issue on a set of financial statements. So, that's great news for the school district. Um, this next slide here, this is the uh balance sheet for the governmental funds. These
036next two slides are probably the most uh the two most important pages in the financial statements. Um this page here, the balance sheet, it's going to give you a snapshot of the financial condition of the school district as of June 30th, 2025. It's going to show you how much cash you have. It's going to show you how much fund balance you have. Um and one number I want to highlight, the first column, that's the general fund. If we look at the second number from the bottom, um, as of June 30th, 2025, we're reporting about $2.2 million in fund balance in the general fund. Um, if we flip over one more slide, uh, we can kind of put that number into perspective here. Uh, this statement here is the statement of revenues, expenditures, and changes in
037fund balance. You could call this an income statement or a profit and loss statement. It's going to give you a pretty detailed look at all the revenues and uh expenses for the school district. And this is going to include all your funds except for your child nutrition fund. The child nutrition fund has different accounting rules. Um so their financial statements have to be in a different format. And we'll go over those next. But um again, I want to focus on the first column here, the general fund. Um, so for the fiscal year ended June 30th, 2025, if you look at the third number from the bottom, we had a decrease in fund balance of $657,000. We started the year with 2.9 million in fund balance. We ended the year with about 2.3 million in fund
038balance. Um, most districts across the state lost fund balance during fiscal year 2025. Um, we had COVID relief funding that expired during 2025 and that really decreased our federal revenues. Um, and just, you know, the districts we work with across the state, most of them lost fund balance. The the good news is, um, the district still has 2.2 million in fund balance. So, you know, for a district your size, um, you know, there are districts out there that are bigger than you that have less fund balance than that. So, you know, we're in good shape. It could always be better. You could always have more fund balance. Um, your fund balance is basically like your contingency funds. If you get cuts from the state level, the federal level, that is what you have to fall
039back on. Um, just to put that number into perspective. Um, 2.3 million is what we have in fund balance. If you look at the second column, that's the state public school fund. That's your largest revenue source. If you had a 3% cut to your state revenues, that would be about $900,000. So, you can see just how a small 3% cut you could really eat into that 2.3 million of fund balance. >> All right. So, uh this next slide here, I mentioned earlier the child nutrition fund has different accounting rules. Um, due to those accounting rules, they have to put liabilities on their financial statements for the state pension plan, the state retirement health plan. Those are massive liabilities calculated by an actuary at the state level and just divided up amongst the school district pretty
040much based on size. Um, when you put those liabilities on their financial statements, it really muddies the water when you're trying to determine, okay, are they making money? Did they lose money? You know, how's it going financially? What I like to look at is uh the statement of cash flows, which is what we have here. Um if the program made cash, obviously that's good. If it lost cash, that's bad. So for the fiscal year ended uh 2025, we had if you look at the third number from the bottom, we had an increase in cash of $71,000. Now, keep in mind the the county basically gave the school nutrition fund $500,000 during the year. So without that $500,000, that would be the $71,000 would be a negative $400,000. Um we're seeing this pretty much statewide. Most
041school nutrition funds um you know, their revenues are flat down, their salary and wage costs are up, their retirement costs are up, food costs are up, and they're just really um we're seeing a just a big decrease in cash pretty much statewide. um you know uh this is just something we want to be aware of. If if you know we started the year with 230,000 in cash, ended with 300,000 in cash. If that gets to be negative cash, then that general fund fund balance that we just talked about has to bail that program out. Um so so nothing to be alarmed at yet, but just definitely something to to keep an eye on. We want to do what we can to um you know get that cash balance uh to to increase. Um next uh
042we have three audit reports in our compliance section. The first one is our report on internal control over compliance and internal control over financial reporting. We're pleased to report that's an unmodified report with no findings. Um, our second compliance report is our report on the district's compliance with the major federal programs. And again, that is an unmodified report with no findings. And our last audit report is on the district's compliance with the major state programs. And again, that is an unmodified report with no findings. So, um, all of our audit reports are the clean, uh, the cleanest report you can get with no audit findings. So, that's great news for the school district. Um, this just says we had no audit findings. Um, during our fiscal 2024 audit, we did have one finding. Uh, the
043district was over budget in the capital outlay fund. That finding has been corrected. Um, you know, no funds, no line items were over budget this year. So, that that finding has been corrected. Um just the next few slides here are just basically some uh charts and some graphs that show some financial trends for the past few years. Um this one here is just our total revenue. If you look at 2022, the green portion of the bar there, that's our federal revenues. Um so all those increases the past four years are pretty much the COVID relief funds, the stimulus funds that um really brought about the only increase we saw in funding for the past four years. So you can see where that kicked in. Um and here's our CO 19 related revenue for the past
044five years. Um you can see in 2021 it was about 2 million, 2022 7.5 million, 2023 3 million. uh 242 million and then 2025 it's expired. So anytime you lose that amount of money, you're going to feel that um that you know it's going to be hard not to lose some fund balance whenever you're losing uh that amount of revenue. Um here is just our fund balance for the past 10 years. Um if you want to focus on the um it's going to be like the aqua blue portion. That's our fund balance in the general fund. Um you can see just for the past 10 years we're we're really maintaining our fund balance. There hasn't been any big swings, any big decreases. So um that that's great news for the district that we've um kind
045of we we kind of grew the fund balance during the co years and it did decrease a little bit uh this year but that's um to be expected given the decrease in federal revenues. Um this last chart here, this is just the district's retirement contributions for the past seven years, I believe. Um the first column here is your is the district's pension contribution. The second column is your post-employment health care contribution. Keep in mind that's health insurance employees get when they retire. That does not include current health insurance. Um and then we've got our covered employees. So if you look at 2019, we have 509 covered employees and our retirement costs were 4.2 million. Now go forward six seven years and we go from 509 to 520 employees. So barely increased, but our retirement costs
046went from 4.2 million to 6.6 million. These retirement rates, nobody in this room has any control over these retirement rates. They're set by Raleigh. the district has to pay them, not only for state employees, but for pretty much all of your employees, federally funded employees, locally funded employees. Um, this is just one of the many reasons we're seeing districts across the state lose fund balance. Um, you know, just because the state increases your retirement rate, that doesn't mean you're getting more title one funding, more title 6b funding to cover that. Heck, even your state dollar a lotments, you know, they'll increase the rate, but they don't always increase your state dollar aotments. and and um you know just being frank where we're at right now when I say we every public school district in this
047state where we're at your federal revenues are decreasing your state revenues are at best flat but pretty much all your costs are going up salary rates are going up retirement rates are going up health insurance is going up utilities are going up you name it so you know the only thing we can do right now is either get more money from the county cut cost or use fund balance and and fund balance is only going to get you by for a year or two. You know, you're not going to be able to use that, you know, continually. Um, so just, you know, hate to be doom and gloom, but but want to be honest with with where we're at right now and and, you know, basically our revenues are going down and our costs are
048going up. So, we either got to, you know, get more money from the county or really make sure we're doing everything we can to control those costs. Um the last thing I have to to go over tonight um just um whenever we do a federal and state single audit, we ask for a ton of documentation. It's not just the finance department. It's pretty much districtwide. And pleased to report when uh working on the audit of Jackson County Schools, no matter how big of a list we give the district, we get the items, we get them in a timely manner. we can tell that they've looked at them before they give they've given it to us to um to make sure it's what we're asking for and it's correct and and um in short whenever we're
049not having to pull teeth to get our audit done, it just allows us to do a more effective uh better audit. Um so pleased to report we didn't have any difficulties um completing the audit and then also no audit findings. Um and that's all I have uh to go over. If anybody has any questions, please feel free to ask them. >> Mr. chair just >> do I have a motion to accept this audit? >> I make a motion that we accept the audit for the 2020 for 2025. >> Great. I take that motion. >> All in favor? >> Thank you, Andy. >> Yep. Thank y'all. Have a have a great night. >> You too. Thank you. >> All right. Up next on the agenda is Dr. airs with the 2026 2027 school calendar. >> All
050right, it's that time of year that um we're planning for the upcoming year and we're only halfway through. So, we're going to talk a little bit about uh adopting our calendar for the 26 27 school year. I I do want to just say this out loud. Um, a lot of districts are really moving to adopting calendars in coupled cycles like two years at a time for families planning a long range. So, I'm not prepared to do that today, but consider next year in January when we're having this conversation adopting a calendar for the next two years. So, just a thought to to plan. So, um, a review of the legislation. Um on the next slide is North Carolina mandates uh one of the few states that mandates when school can begin and when it can
051end. The mandated school start date is the uh no earlier than the Monday closest to August 25th and we cannot go beyond June the 11th. Um, the school calendar legislation has resulted in us being able to start school three years ago on August 28th, two years ago on August 26, and last year on August 25th, and that's if there is no weather waiver. Um, next slide. We do indeed live in the mountains and have uh gotten a weather waiver for the last 10 years. And so there is always a cycle a year or fall off and the next year will pop into the calendar as they review that and they look at that um calendar to see if that weather waiver to see if we've had eight or more inclement weather days. And in the
052past several years that has not been problematic for us here in the mountains. Um, so JCPS because of the weather waiver is permitted to begin school this coming year on August 17th for 2026. On the next slide, um, are things that our team would like to share with you and it's not anything new, but there are some barriers to that legislation that we have for the calendar. And so in the past three years, we you as a board have adopted what I've called a flexible or student centered calendar um because there were some barriers with that. And so the barriers with the legislative calendar means um the start date means that schools within the county um have really unevenly dist distributed um uh semester. So for elementary school kids, that doesn't seem like a big
053deal. But for high school teachers and students, they hate having a week plus difference in the calendar because that means they get more instructional time in one semester as opposed to the other. Um, and remind you that that data, just like we recognized for our our teachers at EVOS data, that makes a difference um when the semesters are so uneven. Also, with the calendar law that we have, it's really hard for our littles, and I'm going to have some headshakes, I'm sure, to start kindergarten, first, and second grade on a long full week. So, the last three years, we've adopted a calendar that began on a Wednesday. And we started our staggered kindergarten u with the littles, Wednesday, a third of them, Thursday, a third of them, and Friday, a third of them. Um the
054school calendar law would not allow for us to distribute devices to students um prior to the class uh the classes beginning at SEC. With a little context in that we have a lot of CCP classes now on the campus of Smoky Mountain High School as well as our Jackson County Early College and our Blueidge Early College campus. So, if we would not begin school until the first day that the community colleges do, our kids haven't had an opportunity to acclimate to the device, get those uses set up. Um, they use I don't know what they use anymore, Blackboard. Is that right? >> Moodle. Now, they've moved from Blackboard to Moodle. So, students um especially our freshmen have to jump in and figure that out really quickly if you're starting classes on the first day. So,
055as we have had a student centered calendar in the last three years, we've been able to distribute devices, allow students to become familiar with that and be ready for those classes to begin. On the next slide, I just wanted you to see who all was uh a participant and how we came about with the two calendar options you're going to see in just a moment. So, our team um always comes together in December and starts to look at some drafts. We created three drafts this year. um just the folks at the central office team. So in January, that very first week back from Christmas break, we invited all the people in so that we would have a good representation of staff from schools, principles, teachers, and other uh employees. One person that's really important are
056a couple people are Crystal Chastain is the payroll person. We want to make sure people get paid and that we are meeting um all the requirements for that. So we had most of our directors and people represented from our schools. So those three drafts after bringing in school personnel to review quickly became two because the third draft just got thrown out rather quickly as not being um viable really for students or staff and just not friendly to anybody. Um and so we were left with two drafts which you are going to see in just a moment. Um, our group really enjoyed u calendar A, option A, which I'm going to show you in just a moment. I collected feedback from principles. Um, we really worked hard to listen to our principles and our teachers. And
057one of the things you'll note in just a minute is in the past multiple years and maybe prior to my tenure, there were some days designated as parent conference days. especially our littles teachers, our K1 and two were begging for those days back. So you will see those in both of the calendars and that is a direct result of their request and need for parent conferences. Um so click on the next slide. Um this is just some feedback for these flexible student center calendars that we've had the last three years. Really positive with the comput uh from the community uh businesses families started school. The the third bullet is the one I hear the most. all the littles had a good easy week with starting the way they were. But the fourth bullet is probably
058the most pertinent um especially to our high school. We like being able to complete each the semester in the fall and take our EOCC's and final exams before the Christmas break and that still keeps our semester um more closely even that way. It is difficult and it has happened in this district district and many others for students to go away in December and come back after two and a half weeks and take an exam and remember all the content. Um all of our graduations take place before the Memorial Day holiday and then that reach to achieve camp that we will continue to have will be solely in um June leaving uh July available but that is an option in both calendar draft A and B. So, the next slide shows you um the two calendar
059options. I know the board has already been um emailed a copy of this. They're not vastly different. I will say that again. Calendar option A has us beginning school on August the 13th with a stagger. and then um has some days worked in for our uh parent teacher conference days as well as something a little different that we haven't done in the past. Um is in October on calendar A you will see that there's a bit of a I don't know if you can label it fall break but it's what SEC calls a fall break. So, we in both of our calendars were able to um couple those dates with SEC. That is really a problem for our SEC kids because we've never done this before is SEC um won't have classes and we will
060have classes or vice versa when we have other days off. So, calendar A has a um time in October, October 9th, 12th, and 13th, which makes for a long weekend, but that 13th is a required work day and is a parent conference day. If you um are quickly adding up the numbers, if you look at the semesters for first and second grading period, um that makes the semester quarter 1 and quarter two is 85 days. And then semester 2, which is quarter three and four, is 89 days. So there's less than a week difference in instructional days with calendar A. On the next slide is calendar B. In calendar B, uh the instructional days for semester 1 and two is six days. So a couple days more, but we also lose one of the fall
061break days in October that we didn't have that we did have in calendar A. So the semesters are uneven in both uh more uneven in option B than they are in option A. So I will say out loud the option A is what I call a student centered or flexible calendar and option B would be a legislated calendar. So, we have to make a decision this evening because our families love it when we make a decision in January and don't wait until March to uh adopt a calendar so they can plan for the upcoming year. So, I will pause and see if you have questions or or would want to hear a little bit of feedback that I received. Um, but I'll just wait and see. >> I mean, I think looking at the two
062definitely A is the best option. How many districts are going against the legislation on? >> So last year I think the number was somewhere around 18 to 20 um across the district. This year I know of several that have already adopted a student centered calendar um but everybody is not as early as we are. like I reached out to our neighbors around here. Um Graham Swain making Haywood Clay I forgot another one. Um Wayne County is working on their calendar right now and I'm not sure that the other ones have adopted a calendar yet. I know some across the Pedmont I think Cleveland and Lincoln Lincoln County have already adopted and they adopted a student center calendar as well. So that's a good question. >> Has the past been that way? >> Yes, we have
063done so for the three previous years. >> What is the potential consequences of adopting a calendar outside of the legis legislation? >> So there is always a consequence which which has been said from the state could be financial um which is basically the largest um leverage I guess you would say that they have. when we walked into this adoption with our group and with our principles um knowing that this was a student centered and not a legislated if for some reason something would happen in the past that we haven't received a consequence no one across the state has received a a consequence um however if that were to come about we would ask you as a I would ask you as a board to come back together and adopt calendar B if something were to
064occur prior to school starting so once school started charge there. You know, you can't go backwards at that point. So, the biggest part of that would be a financial repercussion. So, the legislation clearly says that they can withhold um salaries. I think it clearly says superintendent salary um and other director salary. That's a good question. Old commander Say again. >> I'm all for option A. >> I am too. >> So, at this time, do we have a motion to adopt draft option A for the 2627 school calendar? >> I make a motion that we adopt draft option A for the 2026 2027 calendar. And I second that motion. >> All in favor? >> I think it's me next with field trips. >> Field trips are next. >> So um the final action item is approval
065of field trips. So we have three this evening. So number one is Fairview Elementary School to Dollywood. Um that's an April 22nd single day trip but again out of state. U field trip two is seventh and eighth grade Dollywood on March 25th. And the third field trip is Smoky Mountain High School JOTC to Camp Davy Crockett and that is in Tennessee and that is actually after school is out. Um but it is out of state and requires your approval. So I ask your approval for all three of the field trips. I make a motion that we approve field trips one through three. Kim will only approve if she gets to go. So >> right here I shake that motion. >> Drop it. Jr. [laughter] >> David, I go to Dollywood. >> All right. At this
066time, we find it necessary to go into close session pursuant to general statute 14318.11 purchases under subsection A1 to prevent the disclosure of privileged or confidential personnel information pursuant to general statute 115C-319-321 and A3 to discuss matters protected by the attorney client privilege. We have a motion to go into close session. >> I make a motion that we go into close session. >> I second that motion. All in favor? >> I'm going to do a shout out. put some candy on her desk and I was like, [laughter] >> she's not going to get that for two and a half weeks. So, I gave Joe Kinslin and he was very happy about it. All right. No action was taken during close session. Dr. You have personnel items to recommend? >> I do. I ask um for
067approval of personnel action items employee recommendations 1 through 11, employee resignations 1 through eight, separation one, and non-staff and returning coach recommendations 1 through >> seven. >> I make a motion that we approve employee recommendations 1 through 11. Employee rec resignations 1 through eight. Employee separation one. Staff non- staff and returning coach recommendations 1 through seven. >> I second that motion. >> All in favor. >> And now I would um ask for approval for staff non staff and returning coach recommendation number eight. Oh, >> I'll make that motion. >> I second that motion. All in favor? >> All right. So, >> my mama, >> there will be a special called work session with the Jackson County Board of Commissioners this Thursday, January 22nd at 6 PM at the Burough Building on the campus of Southwestern
068Community College. And then our next regularly scheduled board meeting will be in February on February 24th at 6 PM at the board of education administrative office. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? >> I make a motion that we journ. >> A second. >> All in favor?