001e for for yes you got great hey thanks for the hookup e e e I'm calling this meeting to order it's Monday March 10th and uh this is the regular board session for uh the month of March at this time I'm requesting a motion for the approval of the agenda I'll entertain a motion I'll make a motion to approve the agenda I'll second okay have a motion by Mr shord a second by Mr Mr Baker for the approval of the agenda is there any further discussion from the board okay I'd also like to make everyone aware of the fact that Mr abery is feeling well under the weather and thank goodness he's not here because I've done had the flu one time this year and I sure don't want it again but he is live
002with us and Mr B uh uh Mr Barry Hill can he hear us okay and Mr Abernathy can you hear us yes I can hear you real clear thank you Mr chairman okay we're getting ready to vote on the approval of the agenda and at this time I'm asking for a vote on approval of the agenda and if you approve of the agenda signify by raising your right hand and Mr abery how do you vote I okay so that's a unanimous vote okay this time we will have an invocation I invite you all to join with us or engage in a moment of Silent reflection and I also like to add if if uh you want to you're also free to leave while we do this and at this time I'm asking Mr mcginness to
003uh lead us in our invocation our Lord God we bow our heads before you Lord God asking that you would bless the efforts of this board to direct the county to conduct the business of the county Lord and we just ask that you give us guidance and wisdom to do these things we ask Lord God for each of the teachers and students that you'd be with them and protect them throughout their school day that you'd help us to be the best education environment that we could possibly be and Lord that we would dispense for this business for the citizens of this County in a way that is appropriate that will make a lasting impact in the difference long after our kids go across the stage I pray this in the Christ's name and for his
004sake amen okay at this time uh it's always customary when they're available is to have our color presentation by the njrc and Mr Baker if you would I would like you to introduce him I'd like to stand for them because Master Chief is here with some of the sharpest Cadets that there is in the world they're a great example to us and and what we need young men and women like this in our country and uh at this time they will present the colors and then we'll have the The Pledge and then Master Chief cron will uh give us an update on some things that they have accomplished and things that's going to happen so at this time it's yours Young Mens [Music] hi I pledge Alle to the flag of the United States of
005America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all oh it's ready host Ready Cut host PR H H colors heart brought my crib mes board president board members distinguished guests folks from the county also my boss the principal U McDow High School distinguished guests uh everyone thank you for this brief moment in time Dr grd as well my apologies I SK you sir just a real quick review of what we've accomplished so far this year the njrotc rifle team completed the secretary of the Navy postal and our a team qualified for Navy Nationals that's kind of a big deal um then we went to our area qualifier and championship and we placed both second and third place and that allowed our B team to qualify
006for the Navy Nationals we traveled to the Navy Nationals recently in February where we achieved fource fourth place overall although fourth place doesn't sound like a win I want to describe that to you there are 4,000 schools in the JROTC program and of those 4,000 schools there were well over 400 competitors at the top of the nation uh competing at those Nationals and we placed fourth thank you within that that also allowed us an invitation to the all service Nationals so it's a joint service Army Navy Air Force Marines uh and Coast Guard which we will be traveling to shortly at the third week of this month to compete as well I I foresee will do rather well I don't want to say more than that because I don't want to jinx us but that's
007being held in Ohio and first sergeant Miley uh will lead that team up there for that competition our drill team this year uh competed in the area 8 qualifier where we won first place across the board with the exception of a second place academic finish so overall it was almost a clean sweep we almost got there but that's okay um and then we progressed onto the area championships where we placed second overall again among three states worth of uh competitors so that's North Carolina South Carolina and Tennessee we play second place overall uh unfortunately first place team only proceeds on to the Navy Nationals but again I know our Cadets were super proud and uh we hadn't achieved that for a little bit of time so we were we were proud that bring home a
008second place finish because it had been a little bit we also uh went on to uh an academic team we filled an an academic team this year we hadn't done that for quite a while um we did that and we went to the area 8 championships where the top 16 teams across those three states competed and uh there we made it to the Elite 8 and unfortunately we placed fifth so we didn't make it to the final four but again a great showing for our first time out in the while so I'm super proud of the cadets there as well and I'm I'm sure you are as well we also last week took the national academic the Navy National academic exam I'm sure we did well but we don't have the results yet when the
009results come I'm not shy of uh sharing that and that'll come up through principal Bennett because she's not shy either she's one of our great Champions and we appreciate that man our drone team uh due to the hurricane we did have some of our teams displaced from their normal competitions as I'm sure everyone in our community understands it was a tough time for everyone I know we also came together I'll brag about that in a minute uh but our own team was unable to compete because that's the right around the hurricane time was when those competitions kick off some states joined us and not being able to participate as well but having said that we actually have a sanctioned or pardon me an unsanctioned drill meet this Saturday at pisca high school where our teammate
010former teammate here at mcdal high school Chief Campbell is and he extended an invite because he's a team member and wanted to make sure we brought a drone team so we're doing that uh this coming Saturday we also had an orientering team uh go to RS Central super squad where we placed third uh that's Athletics academics and uh it's a Marine Corps course it's a little tough so we were pretty proud of third place our fourth place competitor was over 43 minutes behind us that's how well we solidified our third place we were 37 seconds from second place not that anyone's counting uh but because of those displaced events we uh it is should be on the agenda for tonight we do have a proposal that will help make up some of our um inability
011to compete that was impacted by the hurricane and we've requested that the board consider a lockin style event this will allow our Cadets that normally don't travel with our teams to also experience those unique U opportunities that we have when we do travel to these functions and so as a result of that we've asked the board for their consideration I have no doubt they'll consider it and if they have questions luckily somebody will be around to answer the questions additionally while I'm going down the list U we also have a um significant opportunity in front of us as well and U and I know we're all excited about it I know we are is that um at the toward the spring we're looking at we're compiling I'm not asking permission yet I'm just briefing it
012briefly we're looking at the potential of staying on uh night on a Navy ship and as such our Cadets um that will get the opportunity to participate in that will actually get a little bit of real shipboard life it's docked it doesn't move just to make sure everyone's aware but they will sleep in actual Navy birthing areas we'll actually cook for them Navy style and we'll also have some Navy PT for them and I know we'll show out and we'll do a great job there that being said um again that's all I have for the board again thank you for the time I appreciate it I wanted to be quick and thank you for the that supports us oh I almost forgot one last one little Miss McDow we just completed Little Miss McDow Saturday
013night uh we had a great time first time in a few years that and it's not about profit but we were able to not lose money so we were pretty happy about that and uh you should have seen it if you've not been to Little Miss mcdal I'd encourage you to go in the future years uh we had 11 phenomenal contestants they did a great job and um and then of course our former uh Miss McDow was there as well we a whole bunch of Community Support um but again we just completed that I'm super proud and I hope you guys are too thank you so much I appreciate it thank you at this time item number five on the agenda is superintendent remarks and I'll turn it over to Dr uh grit all right
014folks appreciate everybody being out there with us today um to to start this off I'm going to do things a little a little differently um i' had been working on a piece for the paper and I thought maybe it would be appropriate if I just read it tonight um given the folks that we've got in attendance I'm going to share this article with you um this is part of our note from school series and and I entitled it hard work pays off over the last couple of weeks our Titan athletes have been on a journey that will be talked about for generations to come kicking off the month Hayden Haynes brought home the gold medal from the state wrestling tournament a dream of his for the past four years those of us who know Hayden
015know that his Relentless work ethic determination and athletic ability or why he stood at top of the state for the 215 PB weight class 4 a another example of putting putting in the work this season's the men's Titans basketball team who made their way to the second round of the state playoffs in a loss to Julius Chambers arguably one of the most talented teams in the state despite our loss the Titans work ethics stood out as they held their own pushing the chambers team deep into the fourth quarter of the game losing is never easy especially when you put in the hours of work to reach a goal but the loss drives our hunger and pushes us toward to work even harder another shining example of working hard this year is a story of perseverance
016and endurance best told by the sellout crowds over the last several weeks as our undefeated lady Titans basketball team continue a storybook season in a quest for a State title our lady Titans displayed an Unstoppable work ethic and a tenacious defense that put fear into any teams watching our films hard work pays off this is a statement that I would argue is often heard in the homes of many of our students and it's evident in our community let's take this school year back to September the 27th 2024 when hurricane Helen devastated our County remember the teamwork compassion and perseverance we witnessed as every person that could help seemed to be actively doing their part to get us back on track work ethic defines the community and as we watched our student athletes this winter they
017embrac the drive and wore it like a badge of honor Ball Teams wrestlers njrc members band and other club members continuously displayed resilience and determination that would make anyone who is watching the momentum of this great season proud coach mccartha coach Davis and Coach Franklin held the bar high for our student athletes met them with compassion and cared for them to to a successful season the odds are stacked against after a hurricane I'm sure there were days when our student athletes didn't believe in themselves or had an off day but the inspiration of the community's perseverance and belief that they can overcome obstacles gave them a shining example of how to push forward and on Friday night March 7th for those in attendance we had the privilege of watching a team punch their ticket to
018the final four of the state playoffs as we passed the torch to the Next Generation I could not be more proud of how our Titans put the community on their backs and carried our community providing us with a step away from the responsibilities and Recovery cleanup providing a glimpse into the power of the game and Sport win or lose never giving up never quitting and pushing through is what has powered our great nation from its Inception and I'm I am here to tell you in McDow County we have students preparing every day to take leading roles and do great things in our future thank you for supporting all of our student athletes band member njrc members and clubs this year tonight we have some special things for you tonight tonight we have our Deca Club
019winners Hayden Hayes our wrestler state championship wrestler and our amazing Shake uh winners here to be recognized in addition I want to remind the board that the n njrc and we just heard will be vying for another National level competition at the end of the month tonight we also want to recognize the the marching band who delivered a stellar performance at the Blue Ridge Music performance uh on March 5th earning a rating of Excellence the second highest score you can receive it is a great time to be a Titan and I'm very proud of our our students and our student athletes we will get behind our when we get behind our students they will remind us that hard work does pay off thank you you continue on Sir number six is student recognitions all right
020at this time we'll begin our student recognitions all right we're going to start with our uh student recognitions this is Mr Hayden Haynes North Carolina High School Athletic Association 2025 State wrestling champion Hayden we're very proud of you I want to talk just a few minutes before you just stand right there in the middle like we made you do at the basketball game he he's kind of used to it at this point folks Hayden didn't give a single takedown um up during the uh state championship wrestling tournament um as a former wrestler that is that is a significant significant feed I'm very proud of you uh Hayden is also committed to wrestle at appalachin State I noticed he wore his block a he's trying to get some credit with me it's working so certainly appreciate
021it but we are so proud of you Hayden and I know that this your mom and dad here your coach here but if you look behind you Hayden we've got a few shirts here just recognizing uh recognizing this feat it's not every day that you bring home state championship we're very very proud of you congratulations [Applause] next we'll have our amazing Shake winners Miss Finley good evening it's always a pleasure to stand before you and recognize the great things that our students participate and win at um Carson McCannon and Sydney Stafford were chosen as our top two winners at this year's amazing Shake competition that was held on Friday February the 21st they experienced an intense day beginning with the first round called The Gauntlet in which they rotated through 30 two sessions having 60
022seconds to respond to each scenario in the second round called work the room the students had to greet professionals and Converse professionally in the third round the ethics round students had to respond to ethical questions with our superintendent Dr grit police officers sheriff's deputies and other McDow County Schools Employees in the last round the top four students worked a shift at McDow local a restaurant on Main Street they worked in the front and back of the house house the employees of McDow local chose the winners so we want to recognize Mr Carson beanan and Sydney Stafford Sydney is at a ball game I also want to recognize Miss Mindy Hutchins for coordinating this event every year and preparing the students so m these students and Mrs Hutchin will travel to the Ron Clark Academy in
023Atlanta Georgia March the 27th through 30th for the global competition next we will recognize our Deca winners they represented us well in Greensboro February the 27th through March the 1st six brought home Deca medals and two of them are advancing on to Internationals first biley moss and Raph fittex they were top qualifiers in the virtual business Talent these two will advance to the international competition in April in Orlando Florida second we will recognize Morgan Henley and Alysa Hil top role play Medal they received a top roll play medal for sports and entertainment marketing team decisionmaking third Smith Owens [Applause] top roleplay medal for sports and entertainment marketing and fourth Brady Tipper Brady had a top roll Play One Medal and top roll play two medal for sports and entertainment marketing our amazing advisers are Miss
024Heather Martin and Mr Todd Queen they put in countless hours to make sure that these students are [Applause] successful congratulations [Applause] and next up we have a few staff recognitions um this first one I'm when I I'm going to do you the same way I did Hayden so just come on up and stand in the center Miss rampy I know you love it one of our very own we're very proud of Miss rampy uh this is a board recognition for the 2025 NC asbo North Carol that's the North Carolina Association of school business officials emerging leader I'm going to tell you about Miss rampy and what that means uh Miss rampy joined McDow County Schools as the Chief Financial Officer in 2006 she's been an active member of nasbo since 2006 and currently serves as
025executive counsil as a region 8 representative she is also a graduate of the nasbo school business management Academy and certified School business director that's a mouthful I say that to say she keeps up with our finances uh she does an excellent job of that to the point that they have recognized her in the southeast of being one of the best in the Southeast it's Quite a feat as naso's emerging leader Suzanne will be will represent North Carolina and the Southeastern Association of school business officials emerging leadership program this opportunity will allow her to participate among 12 Southern States in developing innovative of ideas for professional development and strategic planning for public school finance and our Deca students who just stepped out uh this is what it looks like all grown up so congratulations Miss rampy
026[Applause] good evening Mr Frank Dr grit members of the board and members of our esteemed audience um I am Amy dle I'm Executive Director of Human Resources and I'm honored to be able to recognize our next two individuals um I will give credit where credit is due um but when Mr Marsh joined our team one thing that he brought up was about Employee of the Month our employees do such outstanding work and we do honor an IIA of the year we do honor a teacher of the year but our staff does good work throughout the year and through all different departments so we came up with guidelines for our employee of the month and so we will start having a certified and a classified um employee of the month that we will uh recognize at
027our board meetings and so our first employee employee of the month is our certified position and that's Miss Nikki Holland so miss Holland if you'll come on up here while I read about you so just to tell you a little bit about Miss Holland Miss Holland has been instrumental in supporting the full implementation of guiding principles from ncdpi for honors coursework she has provided five embedded PD session met with honors coursework teachers and helped them with the required template that documents spe specific artifacts of acceleration enrichment depth of complexity and extension she has also helped organize and facilitate a district level committee that reviews the sub the submitted templates and provides critical feedback and affirmations McDow County Schools will be able to attest with full confidence the honors level coursework at our high school thanks
028to the incredible leg work of Miss Nikki Holland on a personal note Miss Holland and I grew up together um and was one of my closest friends growing up and I can attest to her care and compassion for the students that she teaches each and every day when she was in the classroom and even now um as our AIG um specialist in the county all the hard work that she does and I personally could not be more proud of you miss Holland so congratulations [Applause] I could tell other stories but I won't miss Holland next up is our classified um employee of the month so School nutrition manager Angela Leon affectionately known as Miss Angie come on up Miss Angie consistently demonstrates unwavering dedication to the students and staff at Glennwood Elementary going above and
029beyond in every aspect of her role as a school nutrition professional one of Angela's most commemorable acts of service occurred during the hurricane recovery when she opened the Glenwood Elementary kitchen to serve emergency workers and Community shelters despite facing her own personal hardship having no power or water at home the self-process dry shampoo expert remained committed to providing meals to those in need her selfless and Devotion to her community during a crisis exemplify the exceptional character Angela's dedication to her job is obvious she and her team have achieved a remarkable High participation rate at Glennwood serving nearly the same number of breakfast meals in the hall as they do lunches in the cafeteria so far this school year Miss Angie and her dedicated staff have served almost 55,000 meals while maintaining a perfect sanitation score
030of 100 across the past nine inspections throughout all of these accolades she has strictly adhered to all federal and state regulations as required under the usda's national school lunch and breakfast programs Miss Angie has an outstanding attendance record rarely missing work and she hasn't taken a sick day in over three years she has been the assistant manager or manager at Glennwood Elementary for nearly six years previously managing at North Cove and working at West McDow Middle School her years of experience and Leadership have had a significant positive impact on her team School staff and the student she serves in addition to her daily responsibilities Miss Jor team go the extra mile to create a welcoming and festive environment for the students they decorate the cafeteria for every occasion Halloween Thanksgiving Christmas and more making it
031bright and cheerful Place Miss Angie strong worth e work ethic extends beyond the school walls she also works a separate part-time job logging an additional 24 hours a week including nights weekends and holidays this dedication is a test to her incredible work ethic Miss Angie is truly a joy to be around she always has a smile on her face a positive attitude and warm Spirit even on her toughest day she brings energy kindness and encouragement to those around her she has built strong relationships with both staff and students and her genuine care for others shines through everything she does I'd like to add to that that when I called Miss Angie to let her know I called her at work and um she busted out in tears and she said but it's my team and
032that's the that's the tale of someone who was truly humble and I could be more um thankful for you and it's a well-deserved honor Miss Angie congratulations [Applause] item number eight on the agenda is a report from our teacher representative Mr Joy Hill Mr Hill I want to say this I really missed you last month I I know you were under the weather and uh you're going to Roar forest for the lines and you're going to give a growl for the Bears and I have something here that if you would show that Leo Elementary s us I appreciate it that you do your present thank you sir I was not expecting to do a small episode of Call Of The Wild tonight but I will if that is what is required of me and I'm
033very glad to be back I promise you much happier here than I was there Hayden I was really hoping that she would get up and leave so I could say Hayden sit down and what you I love and while I'm up here I just want to say for the record I'm I'm Hayden's uh Senior English teacher and in addition to being an amazing athlete you could not ask for a better student who's not just smart Hayden don't you get all about this he possesses true intellectual curiosity and even among a lot of the smart kids that's a rare rare find and I I'm I'm gonna take a point of personal and applaud you [Applause] again you still got plenty of time to mess up all right all right don't forget that all right let's start
034with the uh lion's roar shall we with North Cove Elementary uh so uh here we see pictures of Joy to the Carolinas the Carolina Panthers and Coca-Cola Consolidated brought lots of joy and excitement to North Cove in December they also helped with some campus cleanup and made a whoa I'm hoping this is a not a typo a $40,000 donation to fund a brand new playground for North Coast students I guess I will be drinking Coke in the near future all right here we see our holiday bizaar the North Coast second annual holiday bazaar brought together families and Community for fun games Inflatables vendors food trucks and more and all proceeds benefited those in need in our community with the North Cove strong fund uh we have nce North Car Elementary Roar visits we brought the
035roar celebration r o a r roar celebration to our students families with our personalized Roar home visits students receiving the celebration visit uh embody our North Co Roar which stands for responsible on task awesome attitude and respectful and caring the students family received a yard sign recognizing their student we had bubble confetti a certificate and teachers and staff cheering each student as we celebrate as we celebrated together at their home here's I thought this was a typo too it's not North Cove welcome the this is the typo class of 2038 recently I'm going to say that again North Cove welcomed the class of 2038 recently I would like to say for the record that if I teach that class in Senior English something will have gone terribly terribly wrong Rising kindergarteners had the opportunity to
036sign their certificate of future North Cove Elementary kindergartner at our nce signing table Rising Kinders had the opportunity to ride the bus visit the kindergarten Wing listen to his story and participate in PE activities let's give a great big Roar for North Cove [Applause] Elementary to make sure that okay now let's hear from Neo a bearing CB so sweet all right so begin with after school clubs Mrs Wyatt and our PE teacher and Mrs grant our art music teacher host a variety of after school clubs throughout the school year so far we've had damer Club archery club and the jump rope Club I would imagine that those three things would make a deadly combination uh we are getting ready to start Bears on track uh which is a chorus A Chorus club and an art
037Club all right uh the kids heart challenge Neo's 21 years sponsoring the American Heart Association Neo's had 21 years supporting the American Heart Association this year they raised $1,964 the month ended with dress up days and an assembly to highlight the jump rope club and grade level dances on the 100th day of school we celebrated with many fun activities and a lot of grandmas and grandpas uh Winter Wonderland Nebo celebrated the holidays with its annual Winter Wonderland celebration Mr Mrs Claus made an appearance and handed out books to students the talent show winners Freya and Keaton represent excuse me Freya and Keaton represented Neo well in the C talet show Freya AKA Dolly and I do hope she's in the damer club as Dolly plays do we all know Freya AKA Dolly brought him second
038place in the elementary school division singing working nine to5 I wish that I had been there to see that all right Neo honored our veterans with a I'm sorry Nea honored our veterans with a program each grade level performed at patriotic song that they had learned in Mrs Grant's art and music class we had a great turnout from local veterans we have Els after school tutoring Nebo has after school tutoring Monday through Thursday through the Elis Grant they have two staff members on campus from the YMCA to support the after school program our SRO Jack G presents the T uh the Tims program to our fifth graders at the end of February the program is designed to inform students about the importance of safety and awareness surrounding bullying substance and physical abuse Nebo kicked off
039The One book one school on Monday uh March 3D this year everyone is reading dick King Smith's The Water Horse teachers started dropping hints on the title the week before with displays of the different scenes from the book families will read the story each night with uh uh with their children students will participate in Daily trivia and vocabulary acquisition families will also create projects that will be displayed at nebo's annual blooming Arts day and we have you pointed out brought to my attention a thank you oh wow okay Channel my in Elementary School teacher we have school board thank you for all you do for our County School students and staff love so this is a kind of bear hug the Neo [Applause] Bears Mr Hill I appreciate your u Way of presenting your program
040and uh I especially thank you uh that you put so much enthusiasm in our elementary schools they uh I wish they were here to see it in person thank you sir at this time item number nine on the agenda is request to address the uh board and do we have any ma'am okay and item number 10 on the agenda is unfinished business and uh we'll start off with our facilities update with Mr Chad Marsh and I'll you byee yes sir Mr Marsh I don't know what that says when they all clear out before you stand up here I'm not going to lie it we glad okay with that if anybody else wants to leave sir they can follow suit all right take it away Mr chair members of the board Dr grit and ladies and
041gentlemen attendance thank you for opportunity to come before the board again tonight we uh will focus on uh Old Fort sir and our updates there um as presented in the board packet I tried just to really talk about what has it's been done it's different uh but I'll but I'll also in speaking about all for I'll start out by talking about Pleasant Gardens as we have the Consortium of sorts there um since our last meeting our personnel and administrators members of the board as you well know uh toured spaces uh that was used by both uh schools several times since our meeting I was very much appreciated and I certainly know some of our uh some of our custodial staff and our lunchroom staff appreciate seeing folks there valuation of the wear uh from having
042nearly twice as many students of Faculty it uh of the actual building will be ongoing as we discuss and continue to make plans to uh for make remediation there we worked with our County Sheriff's Office we appreciate our law enforcement Partners to evaluate the morning traffic pattern as it has also doubled uh it's been a concern to ensure that we are working to be as flexible and I want to thank our uh faculty and staff from Old Fort and pleasant Gardens who jumped right up and said okay we'll show up early we'll open up the doors early we'll allow parents to drop their children off early so just another examples of our teachers stepping up and doing what's needed to be done to them we appreciate their efforts on to Old Fort um our HVAC
043systems as we discussed earlier um one of the things that we're doing just this week is I am meeting with a couple different engineering groups I've requested information from the original architect way back from from my time on the board when we had a discussion with um Holland and hamri out of Shelby to come up and work with us and bring an HVAC engineer as well as a structural engineer and a environmental engineer to come up and just give us a couple feelg Goods about what it is that we have on hand uh so again check the building check the soils and the sment around the building and then to do just an EQ uh test of what's inside and let us know how everything thing stands prior to allowing teachers and students back in
044the building uh bill for continues to work on carpet and I'll show you some pictures here just a little bit but um Garrett if you can just roll roll up a little bit so the top was the mud the bottom right hand corner was me taking a picture of the exact same space last week so this shows the progress has been made since then um some of the the flooring from the time that the board was in there you'll note that now uh the majority of the base has been put down and the flooring has been put down uh Garrett go on to the next slide please sir uh this shows uh again some of the classrooms but on down we'll show some of the paint work that's been done so walls our base trim
045has been laid in all the walls have been repainted I'm going to brag on my staff for a moment we they have used over 65 gallons of paint and repainting 22 classrooms and hallways leading from the main office to the media center go ahead Mr barill and you can see the some of the original artwork that was there that was all is vibrant no issues with that so we're going to leave it um and so you see the hallway now where the base trim goes down all way both sides of the hallway and this is the picture on the bottom is a picture of the front area and what you can see if you up against the doors is gone down Garrett is this so this is the front entryway this is carpet that has
046been covered so that the traffic coming in and out of the doors um has been covered so we can maintain that this piece of carpet that you're seeing has has not been covered because those doors remain locked so nobody's coming right in on top of that that's why that one's not covered and rest of them are um again the work on reshaping the creek bank and removing the debris on the exterior has been completed um again some of the removal of silt that had to be done by hand is ongoing and grass has been sewn I was talking with the principal this morning uh vord and and she was no in pal how she went there last week and saw some of the grass had been sewn of course of the wind our March winds
047didn't cooperate very well but uh we're going to make it uh continue to reso as much as we need to until we can get it to take and we'll go from there um and then finally had a discussion with our custodian um about some of the needs that he felt he might have there so we can go ahead and start planning for what was washed away because as the board remember the entire out building that was on the exterior is gone and so that included mowers and weed eaters and other equipment so that's that's no longer on the site so we'll work on contining to place those on down the line and so we can ensure that we have what we need to be successful so you can just scroll on some of those pictures
048this is out the back windows to show some of the work this is some of the pictures I was talking to you about from the back where you can see the playground equipment and the grass had been sewn it's been blown around also on the the note of the playground equipment you know from from my untrained eye uh it did not appear to be any structural damage present when I looked at it primarily when you look at things like um you're looking at you looking at structure you're looking at the foundational pieces and I didn't see anything but we'll get through that as we continue to pressure wash and peel back those subtle layers you can go ahead get it this just shows you how much work was done U there and you can see
049how everything's been graded and smoothed off but you know uh one of the questions that was asked of the one of the County Commissioners that was there was about access and so you can see just you know by virtue of the amount of water and the you know velocity that it flew down the back of the creek there that pushed off a lot of the natural growth that kept people from being able to access the creek so there is you know on the weekends if a family goes out or individuals are walking on the track there's EAS going to be certainly easier to get to um the opposite side of that is the teachers are going to have their hands full keeping little Chad out of the creek so we'll have to make sure we
050keep up with that as well but that's just boys and water right so we just have to keep up with that uh Garrett is there any more awesome okay uh and Sir that completes my update thank you Mr Marsh do we have any any board members have any questions for Mr Marsh Mr Marsh we appreciate you thank sir next up we've got Miss rampy she'll be giving us a financial update just a second all right tonight for our finance update today we're going to have three or four actually items one is our banking update basically that's just an update that we are in process to changing to First Bank uh we notified you a couple months ago of the decision to move from First Citizens to First Bank and we are in the process of
051that a couple of our schools are going to go um well actually they're part starting this month and then some of our accounts will go April 1 but they will all be moved by July 1 so we are starting that transition this is the report that's on the transparency page every month but it has more detail but just to give you an update we're about 67% through the year and this just shows you where we are uh with each pot of money for instance State we're at like 62 local 71% and if you look at the bottom the grand total will right at 67% so we are are tracking uh right on track there for the year and obviously as you see we get budget amendments and changes every every month basically but uh we
052are on track this is also on the transparency page this is the local school Finance study uh it's a little bit small on on the screen there but we do have that available if anybody wants to see there is a lot of information out there I just pulled some of the key points if you look at that you can see that our total uh revenue for the county uh the total real estate value for the county Pur student we're about 46 uh but if you look at total revenue per student we're at 63 and that's just a total local uh Revenue that the county has per student and that's the county not the school board but then we're going to look at that as far as local Appropriations per student and you can see that
053$1,787 per student and that's 61st um when you look at total local Appropriations per student we're at 76 and I don't know if you remember last year but we were right at 80 last year so we are making progress there um that changes every year as other counties change and how much they funding and we change that's a that's a moving Target but we are moving in the right direction there funding effort is basically looking at the total Appropriations that they have as a county and how much they are allocating to us and we're at 76 or 39 there uh all right the big thing we want to talk about tonight is our 2526 budget uh just to give you uh before we start talking about it we wanted to say that salaries and benefits
054make up about 81 to 85% depending on the year of our budget so every time we're looking at any changes in our budget most of the time it is going to impact some kind of salary uh you can see the breakout there and the blue on the left there is by purpose you can see most of our expenses are on instructional Services as well with 19% being that systemwide support that keeps instructional Services going our historical County funding you can see this current Year's funding in there the the county gave us an additional $289,000 for this year was which was 2.89% increase and you can see the history of our percentage increases there a couple key factors that we have this year one is uh I don't know if you guys remember but in the
055ADM that we have where we have a reduction we are paid in a rear so what we have currently this year is what we're funded on uh it helps us in planning we don't have those adjustments after the first two months of the school year so it does help uh stabilize the funding we are expecting 93 less students to be funded for 93 less this year uh for the 25 26 year and they for planning allotments we will not get those until mid-march and that will be for select allotments and then we will get the rest as the budget is approved so we based our budget on a 3% salary increase and a 5% benefit increase so to take you where we started the current year that we're in now we have budgeted to take
056$500,000 from fund balance to budget our uh to balance our budget the 93 students reduction is a state impact of about $393,000 with our retirement increase a 5% with a 3% raise that would affect us about 74,000 local health insurance would be about 32,000 and that 3% increase for just local employees only would be $21,000 so that's a $1.2 million hit if we did not make any changes with our allotment meeting meetings that we had with all principles last week we identified five positions to reduce through attrition that's $375,000 worth of savings we are looking at hope uh asking or requesting from the county a 3% increase which would be around $38,000 if we do that that leads us with taking right at $500,000 out of fund balance again this year to balance that budget
057and that is all of the details that I have for this but I answer any questions that you have and again this is very preliminary until we get uh planning allotments but this should be uh a close impact for our local budget I had one quick question um the numbers that you showed on student allotment is that saying that we are spending approximately $7,800 on each student per year average 4,200 I think it is you talking about this slide here here hold on this yes that is uh the $6,193 is how much the county generates in total revenue for everything per student obviously they don't give us 100% of their revenue because they have to fund everything else so actually that is um what they could give us if they give us 100% so then
058of that they give us about 29% of what they receive in the county so that $6,000 is their the County's total revenue that they get per student okay M Mr barell one of the things that Suzanne did mention is there's continuous improvement from from the county like we were at the number 80 last year we're up to 76 I think 61 before we were uh lower along the line so you're seeing both of those numbers Trend up as um partially because we've had some decline in ADM which is expected in rural areas and and also because our our county has funded us just a little bit more so thank you yes sir good question so Suzanne the 93 expected ADM going down and the 39347 that you saw up there second line reduction state impact
059so if you do the math there that's 4,230 basically is what you can expect right that's where I was in general yes and that is just on the state level uh we would have small impacts in other pots of money too but we took our main which would be your state position allotments but that is a general impact yes and can you tell and how you get to like the estimate of 93 fewer kids on that that is the actual number of students that we had this year compared to what we had last year so we actually went down 93 students but this year they funded us on the previous year and so we're going to see the impact of the 93 students that we're currently seeing in this 24 25 year we get funded
060on next year okay and that just helps us smooth that budget out it used to be that after the second month if we went down 93 kids they would all of a sudden reduce your funding by 393 $3,000 and that's hard to do once schools started uh and so this will this is a great impact and a great change for us to be able to know funding in the rears model is so much better for us so much better it allows us a little more solid footing um you know a 100 kid swing you could have and and lose a million bucks just like that so we're we're we're grateful for the state making that change and that's one of those if you have a chance to speak with your legislators let them know because
061that that matters to us that helps our schools have stable footing before you leave Mr Abernathy do you have any questions he's asleep Suzanne thank you thank you great as always and congratulations well deserved all right sir next up we have uh Mr Hughes he'll be doing an update on the calendars and that is um this is uh for Action tonight this is our second reading of the calendars and I think we've had a everybody's had a chance to look those over so Mr Hughes good evening members of the board Dr grd good to see you again this month I just want to hit each of the three calendars like we did last week just a couple of quick reminders uh I can't have any more than 185 days or 1025 hours uh 215 total
062working days for teachers in each one of these calendars meets these recommendations so you see the Eastfield calendar the first one up again July the 7th first day for teachers July the 10th first day for students and they hit their first nine weeks break in September on the 12th and they have their three three week break then coming back to us on October the 7th uh still got Veterans Day Thanksgiving all that thrown in there and then they will hit their three-week winter Christmas break on the 16th of December and hope you'll scroll down just to touch for me on that uh come back to us on the 6th just like just about every other uh calendar does as well uh you see Martin Luther King middle of January on the 19th and then we
063have work days and things and they end up in March where everybody spring break is going to start lining up with each calendar uh come back in April on the 7th and you can see they have three work days at the end everybody will end on the 5th they will uh and and the traditional calendar will pick up on the 5ifth and that's going to be your Eastfield calendar again it is a balanced calendar 45 days 15 45 days on 15 days off uh and the first one's out of the shoot for us uh in early July so that's our first calendar we'll look at uh Mai MEC next uh close behind what the calendar used to look like back in the day uh they will come in on the 4th of August pick up
064on the 7th with the kids you can see the the traditional days like like we always go through Labor Day um they end their first nine weeks about the 10th of uh October on the 45th day um you can see November again the same days in November that Eastfield has with the Veterans Day on the 11th and three days for Thanksgiving and they end up their first semester on the 19th of December uh coming back on the 6th of January um Mark Luther King again on the 19th they will have a PD Day in February where they will end their uh uh third nine weeks and then pick it up through uh April with spring break at the end of March uh 1 of April and in on the 21st of May several work days
065at the end again they'll be doing some retesting like Eastfield and all the other calendar as well during those work days so that's our Ma and MEC traditional calendar and we'll pick back up with the traditional calendar and starting on the 14th that's the first work day back and just a little something about about that uh when we were working with the calendars one of the question remember the number of days 215 one of the Committees questions was can we take that day on the 14th and and put a work day just in there somewhere just for example December the 1st answer is no because if you move that one day and put it within the calendar that put you starting your count of 215 on the 18th and if you go all the way
066to the end of year that's 214 days not 215 days the only place that that 14th can go is all the way at the end so we're still counting the 25 so that's just a little tidbit about uh that 14th so that is day one for everyone the PD days for the district are the 19th and the 20th of August again go a week off Labor Day and then we go the full month of September and all the way through October uh first nine weeks is going to end on the 24th we get into November again it's those same holidays that you've seen on all the other calendars 11th 26th 27th 28th you see the first semester ending December the no it is not the first semester ending sorry uh we start winter break on
067the 19th come back on the 6th with everyone else and then in January you see the days on the 19th and the 20th that is your first semester end so the first semester testing is going to happen 12th through the 16th of January then we pick up with second semester starting on the 21st PD day on the 13th the half days in March spring break picking up end of April or end of March 1 of April have another half day PD day on the 8th of February and you see that we end on the 5th just like everybody else and the four work days at the end where we will pick up with some extra testing and other things and uh that's pretty much what we have on the calendars and I would like uh
068your approval on those tonight or a motion for approval before we do that does anybody have any question questions for Mr Hughes Mr Hugh it may be more of an Amy question but uh not really for the calendar but as far as our teachers we give them sick days we give them personal days do we have any kind of mental health days that they're allowed nothing like that would in your sick yeah okay so it's not designated technically I just asking my daughter came from Chap and said she was taking a mental health they had a mental health day and I'm like I need one of those every day so the we the we teachers 3:00 every thank you app Mr Allison uh you've been on the calendar committee do you have anything that you'd
069like to add or share with the board I think this is going to work out the best we look at several different ways of doing it but I think this going to work out the best for everybody and they're still getting their their breaks like they always did at Christmas and is there anything else for Mr Hughes okay at this time I'll entertain a motion to accept the calendars as presented by Mr Hughes I'll make the motion we accept the calendar as present okay we have a motion by Mr subtles and a second by Mr Allison to accept the the 25 26 school calendars is there any further discussion concerning the calendars with no further discussion I'll entertain a vote and all those in favor of the motion signify by raising your right hand and
070Mr abery are you with us yeah I'm good I okay all right thank you sir thank you for your presence Mr Hughes I believe you're up next with the presentation for uh this is a something that the board had asked for had asked for a presentation on our physical education program uh that falls into uh Mr hughes's wheelhouse and in his Department area so he's going to be giving us an update on that deja vu all over again um just a quick update I don't have a presentation for it I've got a handout coming around just with a few things on it so that you you can see what's what's going on in the PE department and and how things work there uh based on last year's numbers uh students in grades K5 get 30
071minutes of moderate to vigorous EX size daily between 50 to 100 minutes based or with a PE certified PE teachers and now those numbers they depend on how the school schedule is set up if you've got more electives uh it would be a little bit less but everybody's going to get at least 50 uh at the secondary at 68 they all get 30 minutes of mod physical activity a day and around 200 minutes with a certified PE teacher so there's stuff going on in the PE area every single day uh with their kids uh some standards I just wanted to point these out to you so so that you could see them um there are four essential standards starting with motor skills movement Concepts Health rated Fitness and personal social responsibility those are what our
072p teachers teach on every single day um but there are also eight locomotor skills are walking running jumping hopping skipping Galloping sliding and leaping now if you want to get Miss hamy going ask her about the research for skipping and galloping and reading uh it is tied 100% to how well kids read with skipping and Galloping also moving across the midline do this I'm moving across the midline but there are some that do this and can't move across their midline huge that PE works on moving across the midline also has a basis in reading so just just that about your local motor Concepts there are five components of help related fitness there's body composition flexibility muscular strength muscular endurance and cardi cardiorespiratory endurance uh I was in oh I would say 11 PE classes over
073the last couple weeks saw every single one of those uh going on and five five fundamental manipulative skills throwing catching kicking striking and dribbling and so that's that's what goes on within our PE classes every day now something that I found interesting as the word Sports is not mentioned until the fourth grade and it says in the standards create movement and skill sequences commonly associated with various Sports and activities so you heard movement and skill sequences all going back up to that stuff that we just that you have a handout on ninth grade last year PE is required health and PE in the ninth grade from there you can go to Team Sports basketball football weightlifting all kinds of stuff that you can do from there but the last year p is required is ninth
074grade back in the day my day last year it was 10th grade I took it in the 10th grade and never took it again because I was playing a bunch of sports and doing stuff so ninth grade is the last year that it's required um Sports units they're done throughout the district every PE teacher said yeah I do all of this stuff within the unit we have our outdoor uh disc golf unit that we're doing disc golf remember what I just said about midline across the midline uh they have football they have basketball they have softball units they have baseball units they have soccer units that they all work on throughout the year it's just some basic skill building that goes on from kindergarten all the way through the ninth grade basic skill building um
075I was in a in a school and the guy told me he said all of his K2 stuff he starts off with five minutes of scramble and I was like what's five minutes of scramble and he said they we go and we do the basic local motor skills because listen to what it says in kindergarten for motor skills execute recognizable forms of the eight basic Lo locomotive skills recognizable list how it progresses to first grade execute recognizable forms of all eight locomotor skills in different Pathways levels or directions so you're moving different ways learning how to go left and right cross your midline skip second grade execute combinations of motor skills and manipulative skills so you can see how things progress as they go up and every every person I talked to over the past
076couple weeks says it's skill building and it builds on itself every year and you can see that right there um you know we think about a lot of small group work in the classroom and principles and teachers know that that be sitting there nodding their heads yeah we like to do small group work well we do small group work too you've got your own committees and things like that that you do small group work work with and all that is enhanced in PE because listen to it says in personal responsibility standard starting in fifth grade use cooperation and communication skills to achieve common goals I think we all have to do that listen to what it says in sixth grade use well-developed cooperation skills to accomplish group goals both in cooperative and competitive situations all
077of a sudden we've thrown in cooperative and competitive seventh grade contrast between appropriate and appropriate strategies so you're starting to get more and more into it every year that you go up eighth grade exemplify well-developed cooperation skills so we're not just using we're using well-developed and in the ninth grade select the most appropriate ways so it's huge folks the things that happen in a PE class teaching the kids to go every day in a class and we're developing personal skills along with it the things that are done there we got good people teaching this stuff good people and I mean that from the bottom of my heart um elementary PE teachers see their kids for six years they know every kid in the school as a eighth grade teacher I saw my kids for one
078Elementary they teach them they see them for six they know every kid in the school's name Middle School same way they see them for three sometimes it gets switched up depending on how things go with the grade levels but they see kids a lot and they know every kid's name and you want to talk about competitive we have PD and we do games oh my gosh you talk about in your face more smack talk than any pro football or basketball game I mean and Andrew you can talk to Scott about this because it it's really funny to watch they talk smack and they are in each other's face and they are all trying to win and it's really a lot of fun to watch you and then I'll say how you going to feel tomorrow
079I'm be real sore tomorrow so it it's it's a lot of fun with really good people teaching our kids and they're awesome and it's just an absolute pleasure to work with them so there's my five minutes maybe six uh if you have any questions I'll answer them to the best of my ability the the only one I have Mr Hughes is as far as at the secondary and high school levels are our teachers and our coaches certified Olympics certified USA certified nasf certified hold a certification I cannot answer that um I can I can find out uh I know they're all certified PE teachers oh I know so but as far as just yeah yeah just that we're having an increase of injuries going on uh you know in physical education and more so in
080athletics and we can blame it on natural grass and turf or basketball court this or that or whatever else but uh they're finding a lot kids are getting hurt in the waight room and so one of the things and I didn't know it because I was a PE teacher at the high school several years ago and I wasn't certified at that time right and uh so I had to get my certified coach in college and when I did it opened my eyes to some new methods of lifting that I wasn't aware of that would have helped me save some kids if I would have been at the high school level with their back it's probably why I can't get up in the morning either now but uh so just uh understand I don't know I'll
081find out okay all right thank you and and I'll I'll report back I'll I'll let Dr grit know and he can report out to you any further questions for Mr Hughes thank you for the welcome thank you y'all have a great rest of your evening thank you Mr Hughes up next we've got an exceptional Children's Program update from Dr Jennifer cman Dr crans we welcome you in your new role we're excited to have you and look forward to hearing from you tonight thank you um good evening Mr Frank Dr grit and members of the school board um and thank you for your time this evening I'm here to provide an update on the exceptional children's Department highlighting our key Focus areas and the progress that we've made this school year our team remains deeply committed
082to ensuring every student receives the support they need to thrive and we're excited to share our work with you so this slide is um is going to be a representation of a snapshot of our key Focus areas within the exceptional children's Department this year these five areas work together to support our overarching goal which is to provide every student with disabilities the opportunity to reach their full potential and so in a moment we're going to walk through each one of these so to get us started um I have a slide that's going to share some data um this data drives our work in the area of behavior support and services this data Compares students with disabilities to their non-disabled peers during the 23 24 school year through February 2024 to the current 25 26 school
083year through February 2025 um we've seen a decrease in total incidents from year to year and so this indicates a positive trend in the overall School climate um the total incidents involving EC students decrease from 539 to 58 a notable Improvement was the decrease in OSS days for EC students dropping from 472 and 2324 to 260 and 2526 this is a very large Improvement um this suggests that interventions and strategies implemented this year are proving effective in helping students in the learning environment we are also seeing differences in ISS days when looking at the EC students only totals while this number increased ISS is often used as an alternate to OSS which keeps students in the educational setting students are provided their EC Services while serving an ISS assignment these improvements are um are being
084seen as a result of the proactive strategies such as increased staff training collaboration between EC staff general education teachers and support Personnel the creation and implementation of individualized behavior intervention plans and completing functional Behavior Assessments in order to identify the root cause of a student's Behavior we are committed to providing a safe and supportive learning environment for all students and these data points um indicate that we're moving in the right direction this year we have contracted with a board certified Behavior Analysis it's called a bcba um who has already provided two professional development sessions for our staff sessions focused on better supporting students with autism and ADHD through aligned behavioral interventions and strategies additionally in cdpi um we have a consultant Heidi Calico from ncdpi who has provided individual teacher coaching and resources to our
085self-continuum teachers our EC Behavior support specialist Mr Eden is training staff to become registered Behavior technicians this training will enhance behavioral support skills improving student outcomes in classroom management additionally we are using resources from the teach autism program and a firm modules to provide teachers coaching and Mr Eden leads monthly professional development session with his next with with his next one being held on March 19th I am pleased to report that in our district we um recently achieved 100% compliance rate um on all folders pulled during our internal compliance audit um IEP compliance protects the rights of students with disabilities and ensures that they receive the appropriate support and services that they're entitled to um we are prioritizing training and IEP goal alignment through PRI thorough prior written notices present levels of academic performance documentation
086and transition planning while we understand that compliance is essential our focus is on ensuring that these practices are implemented effectively to maximize student learning we're working in the EC Department to strengthen our family engagement through proactive outreaches our successful Learning Station we had a a successful Learning Station held at the um matter event um which showcased EC teachers and instructional strategies we had teacher leaders on hand to answer questions especially regarding the transition services for students moving from grade level to grade level we're now exploring workshops technology and a parent advisory group to further enhance communication and ensure parents voices are Central to our decision making this year we have secured nearly $300,000 in grant funding including key Awards like the risk pool Grant and the PRC 029 behavioral um support Grant these grants significantly
087enhance resources and supports for our students simultaneously we're actively recruiting highly qualified staff for our open positions emphasizing the positive work environment and professional growth opportunities within McDow County Schools ensuring a strong and dedicated EC team a key Focus for us is building teacher leadership we want our teachers to be experts to support this we've created a digital library with proven teaching methods IEP um help and academic tools 15 of our own EC teachers have already added their expertise to this resource to make sure everyone knows about this resource we send out weekly EC newsletters it covers importance topics like IEP compliance oh I'm sorry I went too far um it focus it um covers important topics like IEP compliance behavior management teach ing strategies and answers common questions each newsletter also highlights something new
088from our digital library and the newsletter goes out to everyone in the district we believe that every teacher in McDow county is responsible for every student's success so that is why we're making these resources available to everyone so that every educator has the support that they need we're committed to improving Student Success Through targeted professional professional development um we ensure our teachers directly support we ensure that our trainings directly support the district strategic goals recently we've focused our on practical skills so our K8 EC teachers learn to enhance math instruction with frontloading in in the Eureka math program and our extended content teachers had a training focused on maintaining high quality instruction we're also working with all teachers to create strong IEP goals that are aligned with State Standards since the IEP since the goal
089of the IEP is to close the achievement Gap by providing students specially designed instruction by aligning our goals to State Standards we're able to ensure that our students are being provided academically and developmentally appropriate support and services for our high school students we're making sure that their IEP goals also prepare them for Life After High School whether that be college or a career and to close I want to emphasize that special education is a comprehensive system it's not just one program it's about personal Iz support from IEPs to behavioral strategies and it takes a dedicated team I'm incredibly I'm incredibly grateful to our EC Department their passion is truly inspiring in addition if you're wondering what you can do to further support us we ask the board to advocate for increased funding at the local
090state and federal level to Champion inclusive learning practices in our classrooms by remembering that EC is a service not a placement to celebrate our successes within within the community as well as within our schools and to stay informed on special education Trends your support ensures that we can continue to meet the needs of every student we are committed to continuous Improvement and collaboration to best serve our students so at this time I'm available to answer any questions please ask have this has been request for you guys and I hope you have some questions anybody yeah Mr cman I I had one I saw on there one of the slides said you're looking for a high school inclusion teacher there does that inclusion teacher go with them at every to every subject or no so we
091provide inclusion for math and reading and so the teacher goes in to the general education classroom and they work in a co- teing relationship with the regular ed teacher okay as far as sayfe physical education do we still we provide them inclusion with that group too I'm guessing in a physical education setting okay one thing we one thing we did at TC Robertson which I would like for you if you would look into it because in my classes I always had them bring the EC kids in they talk to me before it and we included them and it was actually my students great like honor and great day to be a part of that and I think it made the kids difference too so so if a child is in like an extended content classroom
092then the instructional assistance will go with them to PE okay and so they have people but if it's a student that's in like an inclusion setting that would be a student that's in general curriculum and so they just have an IEP to help support them in reading or math or writing um or sometimes behaviors okay and so their practice is what we call the least restrictive environment so it's just like immersed with their non-disabled peers as much as we can possibly do that without a person being with them okay as far as like say I wanted to go to Coach Smith's uh team sports class and take one of my kids I could take the kid down there just talk to coach Smith and include them that okay yes could you go over real quickly
093I was an EC teacher back in the early 90s and I at that time the paperwork was just unbelievable and everybody is wondering why it's so difficult to find teachers and I'll be very honest with you I've talked to several and it's just the paperwork and it's overwhelming have they modernized this at all in the past that it makes it a little bit more efficient for the teachers to work and not so much I mean just overwhelming in the paperwork department so one thing I can speak on is in our department our program Specialists have really stepped up in order to be able to support the EC teachers in that and so we've created a lot of guidance um and tried to take on more for us like for example we have some things that
094we're going to be able to take off of EC teachers plates for next school year in order to help support them um but being a former EC teacher I definitely am aware of the paperwork aspect um and so we're working really hard to individualize it while also providing the supports needed for the teachers um thank you so you're welcome it's also you know you think about it Mr bar so you bring up a good point um with the that some of our schools have a heavier uh concentration because of our specialized classes and you know a lot of the paperwork goes into that IEP and you have that IEP meeting so um those principles at those schools spend a lot more time in meetings and and our teachers in those schools do as well it's
095a there's a tremendous amount of more time uh that might be in in some of our schools thank you uh Mr Corman um this is not going to solve anything tonight um we're talking about legislative things and I I know that we really need that where you need to talk to legislators what bothers me is that if uh I would like to think if I had an AC child and he is he or she is placed in depending on their condition placed with other students when you talk to teachers and a teacher cries and says you know she has three EC students that uh she says I'm not trained for this she says I am working so hard they love them I I love our teachers I every teacher I've ever talked to they come
096across to me as they love these children and I'm a proponent for helping EC children it's my opinion and we won't solve it tonight that in many cases the EC children are not getting what they deserve and in the meantime when the teacher says that I'm spending so much time here with the EC children and she's crying she or he is crying because they have such a heart for them but the other 18 or 20 are falling behind when she's spending up to three hours a day you know trying to control and I think we're getting jipped that the EC children are being jipped I I would like if if I had an EC child I would hate to say that uh it is holding my child is holding others back while it's not getting
097what it deserves you know and I just like I said this is not going to be solved tonight we need more money we need legislative things to to these children need uh some some EC children and I'm not an expert in that but you know it could be in general population I've known several that did great you know but when they're violent and the teacher looks at you and says I've had my glasses broken I've been bitten I've been scratched I've been I said well who who paid for you glasses and they said well I did you know and uh you know glasses are not cheap there's just there's there's a big problem here to me and and then I understand and I've never met you but you're doing a great job everybody's bragging on
098you and I thank thank God for you uh and uh but you know that's my two cents I guess it's just it hurts me for the EC children and for the other children that are they're they're just not getting what they always what they need and some uh at what point do you have when you've got some even in elementary that are so violent and it's scaring the other kids and everything at what point do you help them by helping them and help the other kids by helping them to a safer place for themselves and when the other kids are are being scared you know because of this child and honestly I I I love the program I love the all the children but that's just a concern of mine and we need to we
099need to work and pray for I think for legislation to help all of them so thank you thank you for the job you're doing thank you I can if you want me to um so we complete um something called a functional Behavior assessment when a child displays behaviors that may not be typical of their non-disabled peers um and that evaluation is comprehensive and so we go in and we look at the anes of behavior we call it the ABCs um and so we look at what's what's starting um what the behavior is and we we Define it and then we identify like um approaches or things that we can do to help support them and then we complete a behavior intervention plan and so this year um we have Mr Eden our um program specialist
100for behavior and he has been fantastic with completing Behavior interventions and functional Behavior assessments and we've probably completed more functional Behavior assessments this year than we have in other years because the teachers are turning those in and we're able to be proactive so hopefully we'll see through time it's not perfect um but hopefully through time um once we continue you know that process that we'll see that that will decrease but we're committed to doing whatever we need to support all all the Learners whether they're you know disabled or non-disabled on those same lines what you're talking about and Mr Becker talking about do we know out of the 500 incidents how many were physic against teachers I don't know that okay what is the ratio or who is the funding coming from for our one-on-one
101or do you still have the one-on-one program um so for one-on ones we have something called a risp grant and a special State Reserve special circumstances grant that I can complete and so for a child to be able to for the state to fund that through that Grant they have there's a rubric and they have to be able to get at least eight points on that rubric and for the rubric it means that they have to need what they would need services like related Services Beyond speech services so OT PT uh visual Services hearing impairment um and then the state gives you you plug in all their information the state goes through the IEP they review it and then they say yes this child would receive funding and they'll give you a portion of funding
102for that is it very difficult to find one-on-one teachers now it's probably find any teacher depends on the situation I understand thank you I don't know if this is a question for for you or for Miss da but where are we with our um positions that were vacant in EC we have one EC teacher position at the high school which is an inclusion math position and then we have about five um EC instructional assistant positions that are some are at um Pleasant Gardens and then we have a couple at West Maran however we have had some vantastic subs that have come in to F those IA positions and we've been able to support them and get them the training that they would need um but they're veteran um and they've been in the classrooms and
103so they're very familiar um and a lot of them are retired like they were instructional assistants that then came back and as far as in the elementary schools logging their time with their specialist so if they're included into a typical Elementary uh classroom and say that the EC teacher doesn't show up for the two times you have a log showing that they haven't showed up for those two times we do so we have a service log it's how we complete and document all of the um services that we've provided and services that have missed and so if services are missed then we go back and provide those Services okay thank welcome anybody having further on the board uh M Dr cman I want to say this that this is very near and dear to the
104whole board U you're being here tonight and I hope that we see more of you uh we'd like updates along the way and uh because it is a it is a troubling concern for us and uh not trying to put you on the spot or anything but but we do appreciate the update and we look forward throughout the year for more I will create as many adorable presentations as you like I will also create you a flowchart if you would like one oh thank you thank you very much thank you Dr crans up next we've got our policy this is our first read for policy and we've got Miss Amy datle she'll be doing a presentation for you on that good evening um I do have an addendum to our policy Updates this evening uh
105we received an email from our attorneys um last week that they um have asked us to pull back six of our fall policies that were actually on your original update form so I have removed those um and I've got a new um reader digest version that I'm gonna ask Mr barkell if he doesn't care to pass around thank you as a result we did retract these from this policy update for the first read document once we receive guidance from our attorneys um and from our legal counsel we will update and um call our Co policy committee back to review those policies so I did talk with u Miss Helms this morning to let her know that we receive that and so the only change from this um form and the form you received in your
106uh board packet were those six policies so after you get a moment to look at that I will entertain any questions that you may have now I don't mean to talk while you're reading but if you can listen and read at the same time um all of our policies that are listed do have an explanation um that is to the right hand side most all of our policies are dictated by General statute and state legislation and so that is included on that rightand side of this form and just to kind of tell you about um how these policy updates get for us and for the general public is that the school North Carolina School Board Association comes out with policy updates and those updates are made based on a general statute um state law that
107is then disseminated to our Schoolboard attorneys who review those as well and then send us a recommendation um if it is a recommendation from our attorneys um then we meet uh with our policy committee which Miss Helms is our chairman um and we appreciate her hard work and other members of that we review these policies and then uh we bring them for first [Music] read okay do you have any further ma'am no sir okay I have further does anybody on the board have anything from Miss D thank you okay I was privileged and uh Miss benett she here now I think she left maybe okay uh Mr D it was brought to my attention and few more board members that our cell phone policy is really working well it's shown great improvements yes sir but
108we the reason they felt like that that policy was really working well was because everybody knew that they had the backing of the board yes and also uh central office as well there were two policies that were brought to my attention that they would love to for us to put the same emphasis on those and of course there the uh disrespect policy and the dress code policy so I want to announce here in the board and tell you that the McDow County School Board definitely stands behind teachers and all employees when they have to enforce especially the disrespect and the U dress code policies I just want to make that a point and for the word to get out that we will back them at whatever they need and if there anybody on the board
109would like to make a comment on that Mr Frank Mr chairman yes yes Mr I'm sorry I you know I don't mean this in an ugly way but um just to put emphasis on what you said it's what we expect of the staff it's not just that we back it we we expect and and want the administrators and teachers to to be confident that um on matters related to um discipline and disrespect um that that the board does back them and what surprised me and I think maybe a few others is the degree to which we heard that it matters that the school board um has this this strong backing and you know we sit there and I think we think well we're up here and it it really doesn't matter but what we heard
110is that it it made a difference with the cell phones when we put an emphasis behind it so I just say that thank you yeah and I would like to say with any rules too uh and this goes for you know our teachers and our Administration and everything else it's important with our rules too that we have consistency consistency up holding those rules with any rules if you don't have consistency you don't have rules so for example if somebody goes to Mr Allison's class and breaks the dress code and he's okay with it then comes to mind and I enforce it it doesn't do what we need to so getting enforcement across the board and getting consistency we'll back you 100% as long as you can show us that you're being consistent and I think
111that's all we ask for just be consistent with upholding the policies Miss D this is um I've been told by well numerous people that uh uh their children in high school that they're really afraid they they hold their fun bodily functions because they're afraid to go to the uh restroom you know some people can some guys and girls can just can just take it you know but I you know I for one is this board uh we would like to emphasize again that that we we back them and uh no child should be beaten down anywhere especially or in the bathroom or or anything and these these children I've been told that you know well there's bullies when I was around we had some bad ones and I've I've told them before you'll laugh I've
112told them I said I didn't know the Lord at that time I'd have killed you if I got away with it you know when I was a little kid they were bull there's always been bullies since Kane and Abel but uh these monkeys shouldn't be running the zoo and I don't know if anybody likes that or not but they the some of this bullying could be could be stopped and and if our teachers and and principes enforce and and and central office is Bored will enforce it I mean nobody has the right go around and make people make kids scared all the time and you will never stop it all I know that but we need to really we need need really need to work on it and and do everything know that we're doing
113everything we can and I think I think we are to a point but uh I just like to see us really bow up against it on the same lines I'd like to see us somehow to follow up when things like this happens with students who have videos of the things happening and how they're putting it on social media of the kid or the student or whatever else to me it should be just as punishable if you've got that on your phone and you're putting it out as you are if you were right there instigating the fight to go on itself um and that's a shame that kids are coming back from college and they've already got the video of things happening uh to kids in McDow County so I think it would be important for
114us to really follow through if you hear somebody's got it I don't know what the law says you'll have to ask Mr Campbell but I'd like for us to follow up on that sir I'd like to address that um that is something we absolutely are going to take seriously every single time um if if we have a situation of a student um who's videotaped something they're going to get to the bottom of it as as as best that they possibly can um and and that's one of those that um I agree um it is it is a punishable offense and it's treated at a a very serious level um without getting into specifics on it um I can assure you of some situations that have happened um that have have been addressed U both by
115uh School administration as well as law enforcement when it came to videoing uh an incident and that's where I would expect that It Go um because I I agree you know when when we do that that is another level of the bully um you know Mr Baker uh you you talk about a bully um and and we all we all may have dealt with it but we didn't deal with it in time of Technology um so it's added another layer for sure um and it's made the teachers jobs uh difficult again we go back to that cell phone policy and encouraging them to have those phones uh put up and you know at the at our Middle School level um they're up during the entire course of the day at the high school there's a
116little bit more of a privilege a little bit more of a flexibility to allow them to have them out um during the course changes and that may be something we need to look at as well um as we as we move further into this but uh just as a whole um I want to uh just just remind folks um we're seeing we're seeing uh progress in this area um and there's a number of reasons why I think you're seeing progress one uh we've opened the Summit Academy uh so we have a place for our students who are are misbehaving in a place for our students who are dealing with mental health issues um so I think that that has helped to be able to have a different envir for some of our kids in a
117smaller environment um but not everybody would have the opportunity to go um during during to The Summit Academy I mean some some offenses are just that serious um it may require that the only attendance that you would have at that point would be an after school program that we are also offering at this at the Summit Academy similar to what Mr Allison U mentioned last time about having those a the after school so some of those things that we've had um we're bringing some of those back um and I feel like our administrators are making Headway on this and it matters to have the support of the board so I appreciate and applaud you guys for stepping up for uh for our kids uh and and for our staff and we thank you Mr Frank
118would it be possible just to show more support just by giving a directive to the superintendent on the record um for him to carry out this for us I know we shouldn't do it in a motion but maybe just a directive what do you think about that I would like that does anybody have any objection of that I think it sends out a strong message thank you one more thing Miss D when when we send when Jonny gets suspended for five days for cursing his teacher and then he comes back and he's good for two or three weeks or U I assume I'm pretty sure this happens and he and he does it again it's five more days or maybe it's 10 days and then Mama comes in and she curses the teacher principal or
119whatever and says you've always had it in for my Johnny and she's in there cursing at what point do we we have any leeway to tell Mama you take that brat home he's out she's out or you know we've got five five 10 you know you can do virtual you can do maybe Summit maybe you know but they have it at Summit too but you know the same thing but at what point Dr grit do we you know we just get they they just keep getting the same thing and Mama comes in and curses and then I'm sure they've come up here and cursed y'all you know I mean what time at what point do you say that's enough I I think that's a valid a valid question uh the way that the discipline Matrix
120would work is in the first instance obviously it might be a three-day in school suspension or something to that level and then it progressively uh grows as just like anything else would um in the situation of a parent that's disrespectful using profanity in the school um typically what happens is the principal would ask them to stop um and then if they didn't ask them to stop we'd ask them to leave with our school resource officer um so it's not something we expect for folks to tolerate um when we do ask for someone to leave with school resource officer uh we have banned our parents um in the past from being able to uh come back on school grounds um and that's one of those that it becomes a school safety thing and we take that
121extremely serious um those letters flow from the principal uh to the parent and then that flows directly to me uh the band letters that I will send home uh are sent certified mail to the parents and it often includes uh our our includes us notifying folks including the uh Sheriff's Department in that situation or it could be Mary and PD depending on which uh school resource officer we've got um so we do have um measures in place to take care of our staff in that situation and I don't expect anybody to uh to to take a to take a cussing way and in in addition to that um what Dr grit shared as far as following the discipline Matrix if there is repeat offenders um that is um depending on how many times repeat that
122does lead to a disciplinary hearing to which I sit over that um with the principal um and the principal at our alternative school and assistant superintendent uh Miss Hami and so um if that is the case then that can be a placement in our alternative school until the end of the semester or whatever that the disciplinary team whatever is deemed necessary in that situation I don't know if we can we can do this or not uh Dr grp but um I'd like to see once they do go to the summon Academy it not just be a a vacation type spot for some of these kids um I took some real heat they gave me the ninth grade repeat class some some kids that could not pass physical education in three years and expected me to
123do something with them so I gave them vest and we picked up trash um so I took a little heat of that which I told them it was approved nothing was wrong uh with Helen here there's several places to pick up trash these days uh but it's amazing what picking up trash and just an idea if you continue this Behavior you'll be doing this often does to someone uh instead of just being there and having a vacation spot to go I I can assure you Mr subtles I've been over there um numerous times it is absolutely not a vacation um students are working anytime that you go in there I have never seen students not engage um whether that be oneon-one um with a teacher or that they are working diligently through the online platform
124um but it is anything other than okay a vacation good thanks another thing I want to just bring to the board's attention is some conversations that I've been having uh as of late with our Sheriff um Sheriff panan obviously very involved in our in in student dis particularly when it gets to uh when it reaches that level one of the things that we need support and this is important for us to say this to the board as well um there becomes a point in time when we need DJJ uh to be able to support us in some of these things and their hands are somewhat cuffed too with current laws right now um so that is a question for some of our legislators to uh to be able to support us in and um something
125uh Sher panan and I have been having some conversations as of late uh particularly um in in years past if a student committed a certain level of crime um then then they might be removed um and and incarcerated um at which point now um those incarcerations are fewer and fewer days um sometimes a violent offense is is three days uh they're back in the community not necessarily back in our school um but back in the community so I think there is an issue there that is that is uh growing for us in North Carolina Ina and it's probably getting some traction at this point um so as far as our board um to be able to continue to have those conversations and and folks we're talking about a very small percentage of our student population
126but it is an important percentage um and and it's something again I I commend the board for uh for uh bringing this topic up and and having this discussion thank you Dr grit I'd be remiss if I didn't weigh in to some extent uh I witnessed an event that happened at the high school and I think it was handled completely appropriately and I was actually pleasantly surprised to find out that about the time actually came forward with it it had already been handled um I think the big message the board wants to send is we're going to back up the teachers because what we're talking about students being bullied which should never occur teachers shouldn't feel like they have to come into the classroom um under the same circumstances and we're going to back them
127up uh and it begins with discipline because that is probably the majority of the line Shar of safety in the school uh is coming in there and being able to learn in an environment where we want to produce functional people that can come out and get the jobs and contribute back to society and not have to go through the fear and the intimidation and all of that and so definitely anything I can do and I think uh the board itself you know we're going to support um the way it's going and um thank you guys for stepping up and doing what you have done I know there's a lot that goes on that doesn't come out because of the nature of it but things are going in the right direction uh and I appreciate that
128so thank you can I ask one quick question sure if a particular student is admitted to the Summit Academy are they still allowed to participate in activities at the high school they should not be participating in uh sports activities or Club activities at the high school when they're um at the Summit Academy um so no ma'am and that's something we talk with the parents about when they that that is one of those that that just doesn't they can't go back and forth particularly if they've been involved in an incident um that would have been with another child um um they shouldn't be with that other child a lot of times uh they're going to have a uh an order in place by DJJ that would state that they couldn't be within you know a certain
129amount of area yes ma'am does anybody have anything further from m d thank you very much appreciate it and I want to say this I I I get the hint from the audience here we need to take a f minute break so we'll return at 8 it's hard to detect because e e e call is back in the order and uh Miss Ham's up next all right Miss hamy Miss Ham's goingon to give us information on the summer learning program plan this is the take two camp and Credit Recovery uh we she will be requesting action on this item this is something that we do uh every year this time of the year um so take it away Miss Hy good evening members of the board this is one of the exciting times I feel
130like I say that every time I get up here but I'm always excited to share so we're at that exciting point in planning this year's summer learning opportunities as part of our ongoing commitment to continuous Improvement I am pleased to propose the continuation of our summer learning program that we call take two this initiative is designed to provide essential support in reading and math for students who do not meet proficiency standards on the end of the year assessment to be eligible for take two Camp students who score a level two within five points of proficiency on the end of grade test will qualify to take to take and participate and take two the camp will serve a crit two critical purposes it will provide targeted Remediation in reading and math and help students strengthen their
131skills in these botal areas and it will also offer students an opportunity to retake the end of grade or end of course assessment we want to ensure that participation in take two is accessible and accommodating for all eligible students with by with your support and by and by providing free breakfast and lunch for all of our attendees we will also have bus transportation for those that at needed and participation is completely voluntary as students who choose not to participate will not be penalized and will be held harmless now let me outline the structure of the program to maximize comfort and familiarity each Camp will be held at the students home school this ensures that students can learn in an environment where they feel the most at ease for grades 312 we are proposing that on
132June the 9th from 8 until 11: that students will participate participate in ela remediation on June the 10th they will take the ELA test from 8 until 11: and then they will follow that up with math Remediation in the afternoon and then on the last day June the 11th they will take the math reading test beginning at 8 we also have a proposed agenda for credit recovery and retest for McDow high school and this program will run June the 16th through June the 22nd Monday through Thursday from 8 to 2:30 as you can imagine for Eastville Global Magnet School their timeline is just a little bit different as they're not on our traditional schedule on June the 9th the ELA remediation will take place and then um and then they will followed by the uh
133retest and then on June the 10th the math remediation will occur followed by the math test for our early colleges Mai and MEC remediation will be held May the 27th followed by retest on May the 28th with your approval to move forward we will need board approval to offer take two camp and credit recovery programs for the summer of 2025 are there any questions anybody have any questions for M handy we will entertain a motion to approve the summer learning program plan take two camp and Credit Recovery make a motion as read thank you I'll say okay okay we have a motion by Mr barkdale and we have a second by Mr Allison is there any further discussion on the take two camp and Credit Recovery with no further discussion all those in favor signify
134by raising your right hand Mr abery I okay that's unanimous thank thank you I appreciate y'all so much all right next next item are board reports and Mr subtles do you have anything for curriculum and instruction not at this time thank you sir thank you sir uh Mr barkdale with buildings and grounds I believe we will be addressing some issues later and we will be explaining that okay Mr shefford what about Finance M ramp's already done a wonderful job of taking care of that I anything think further to see you can buy her lunch yeah thank you m HS uh man they threw you a curve tonight what anything you want to say no nothing in addition to what Miss D's already reported Mr schuur I definitely appreciate your uh job over head start and
135I think they accepted you quite well as well do you have anything report yeah I would like to thank you for that opportunity I have really enjoyed my association with Head Start and they've been very uh warm and and informative and we had a uh great uh visit out there for a tour and an opportunity to ask any questions or to make sure we understand our annual uh program and and uh review and policy review and they made that uh very uh easy to do uh at our our our convenience uh and I appreciate that so much and appreciate the hospitality and look forward to Future visits thank you sir uh I understand Mr mcginness is going to speak on behalf of njrc um I'm just going to say very briefly that um our unit
136up at the high school they are wide open uh they're winning stuff left and right I got several events coming up uh they got really good leadership uh motivation we had the privilege of talking to them last week uh very proud of what they accomplished you saw some of the discipline here tonight for the cutter guard program um and U we're just going to get in and back them every way we can but uh they are definitely a unit to be proud of and for their competition look out because here they come that's all I got I got one thing that the community has been asking me is there any way that we can stream or watch on uh the television Wednesday night's basketball game Mr Mars you want to tell folks how to do
137that one time subcription for the month then cancel it can watch any North Carolina or any National High School contest where the individual school has a camera which is one of the wonderful things that we have done inal high school we have pixelot and H cameras that are installed and our staff just finished doing that for our Middle School to participate in that I can tell you that I have not personally verified that but I've been told to do so we can try yes sir okay Mr Mars do you have that app sir can we come over to your house and watch the game I might be W to say there is right there thank you Mr welcome there's what the app looks like your Android one thing that we might could think about doing
138I'm not sure I know it's not illegal uh because we did it at our college games you can do a Facebook live so anyone's at the game if you're on I'll be honest with you I don't mind doing it I'll be at the game we got our tickets so I'll just have my phone up Facebook page Facebook live to where you can actually watch the girls game that be great doing that so I don't mind doing just make sure it's not illegal before I do it cuz I'm on the school board it's only illegal once I don't know howy I know the school has done that in the regular games I don't know how nchsaa would look at it you know I can follow up with Q Tucker I'll call Q and ask her if
139there's a problem with that does anybody have anything else for the board okay item number 12 on the agenda is approval of the consent agenda and any item may be pulled from the consent agenda with the majority voted the board and discussed and voted on as a separate item if not I'll entertain a motion to uh approve the consent agenda presented I'll make a motion we approve the consent agenda second okay we have a motion by Mr Baker and a second by Mr mcginness to approve the consent agenda is there any discussion on the approval of the consent agenda all those in favor signify by raising your right hand I okay so that's a unanimous vote of nine and at this time uh I'll entertain a motion to go into Clos session I'll make that
140motion to go into Clos session Mr chairman second okay let me say this uh let me give the reasons that we're going in there uh under subsection A1 to prevent the disclosure of privileged or confidential student information pursuant to uh 20 USC 1232g fura and GS 115c 402e includes student discipline and student transfers releases under subsection A1 to prevent disclosure of privileged or confidential Personnel information pursuant to GS 115c 319-321 includes employee matters and under subsection a uh five to discuss the acquisition of real property and uh under subsection A5 to discuss the terms of a contract for employment includes discussing contract terms for new employees okay with that information presented is there any further discussion I'm going in Clos session from the board okay at this time uh if there's no further discussion all
141those in favor signify by raising your right hand and Mr abery I okay that's a unanimous vote at uh 8:14 p.m. yes uh Mr bark still I'm sorry I okay want to close session