001e begin our uh monthly meeting March 11th and at this time uh we'll call the meeting to order and the first item on the agenda on the agenda is approval the agenda and we'll entertain a motion to approve the agenda so move second we have a motion by Mrs mumo mum to approve the agenda and Miss silver to Second it is there any further discussion all those in favor signify by raising your right hand and at this time as is customary uh in our board meeting we will take a moment of silence and we have a lot to be thankful for and a lot to pray for so at this time if you'll take a moment of silence we' appreciate it okay if I appreciate everything there uh appreciate everything personally at this time the
002mcdal NJ RC will do our colors for us and Dr grit there is a member here that you need to introduce when they finish to give she wants to tell about all their recent accomplishments and it's quite Qui an accomplishment so we'll turn it over to you c r this time thank you sir come again please join me in play flag United States of America stands God indivisible andice Ready Set color right face the color left B for one watch okay before I turn the floor to this net i' like you to just summarize what they've accomplished this year they started the Marksmanship season um in September December we started the tournament with about 8,000 teams competing mcdal made through a bunch of elimination rounds now we're one of 28 teams Nationwide left in that
003out of 8,000 going to Ohio next week [Applause] wow good evening L and gentlemen my name is Cadet P of third class Diner I would like to say thank you for your support that you have for us and we will present make high and JC next week at National Championship in Ohio so thank you so [Applause] much thank you Captain we wish you guys the best of luck all right folks all right I think we' got everybody in I'm going to uh ahead with my superintendent comments for the yes forgive me um everyone for being tardy I was running late for work anyway and then there was traffic and it was bad I sat there for 10 minutes so forgive me and then also I think maybe you've announced that Mr English is not going
004to join us this evening he had an issue as well so um sorry to the board sorry to everyone else thank you so much thank you so uh superintendent remarks I've got quite a few things and and keeping on the keeping on the positivity we've got a lot of great things going on and a lot of things to celebrate in our district so I think it's always important that we start off with those celebrations um this evening we'll celebrate those teachers you notice how full we are in the house we're celebrate those teachers that have achieved high growth bonuses as we celebrate those we must be reminded of the teachers who may not be in a field um in the state that recognizes growth and I know there's a number of those folks particularly in
005the elementary GR and then in some of those areas that aren't tested they they need some recognition as well but the state they recognize the growth piece that we'll be doing that tonight we also recognize our most recent accomplishments for our national board certified staff and we're excited to have those folks with us tonight and when you've got staff that are that are doing great things uh it's no wonder that you have six of our local students candidates who received the prestigious selection um from our local level uh to represent us at Governor's School of those six three of them were selected to participate in Governor's School and that is evangelene Thomas Kevin Rodriguez Ramirez those students are both at MEC and Elise Pritchard who is at mcdal high school we're very excited about those
006students going on to represent us we got a lot of a lot of things to be positive about we talked last time about our basketball teams we they hadn't played the games but um we knew that they were on a roll we had four basketball teams in the conference Championship games where all four teams or three of the four teams won titles that I don't know that that's ever happened before that was followed by a birth in the state playoffs for our men's and women's teams where our lady Titans advance to the second round in the state playoffs we're also proud and you just heard from our njrc team they're one of 28 in the nation and and technically they've already placed third in the nation in the naval portion of that so the one
007that they're going to next in Ohio next week that is an all service competition so we're excited for them and they'll represent the Navy as well as M County Schools our CTE programs have been busy earning earning numerous Regional titles so many so many that we'd have to have a list as long as we've got a teachers out there to go through those but those include the amazing Shake finals in Atlanta that'll be coming up not to mention our math and Regional science winners that were represent us in the state competition this spring they're all seeking state titles I can't see what kind of Hardware they bring back to us March Madness Mr subtles March Madness is not just about ACC basketball all right I think I think our kids are going to go out
008and bring some Hardware home in some of these events as well and I'm excited about it we'd like to welcome home Mr Spivey I know and the kids from Germany he's he's back there in the back he might he might be awake I think they spent 25 hours 26 hours yesterday in commute trying to get back to the States and we're glad that they're back with us they had a great trip that included a railway strike so you never know what you're going to run into so but fortunately they had Mr Spivey at the helm and he had planned for everything I don't know Mr spy did you plan for a railway strike well you made it seem like you did we appreciate it uh it's it's a great trip it's an honor to be
009able to have our kids go to Germany just like the kids come here during during the fall and we hope to continue that that going on so if you guys see Mr SP asleep back there just nudge him wake him up we just need to make sure he's with at the meeting with us um also want to recognize miss hamy and miss rampy for leading our team this one I'm really excited about in an Ellis that's a state level Grant U where they earned a million bucks for us so we're excited about that that money will be available to us beginning this year and that'll that'll help support our after schools programs as well as our upcoming and new alternative school for next year um and it'll it'll provide a couple of positions as well
010so we're grateful for that and uh we want to continue that as far as being able to earn more grants uh I say that when we found out we earned the Elise Grant or Ellis Grant there's a couple different ways you can say it so I'll just say both um but when we learned about that uh we were actually in a meeting to uh to apply for another Grant the one that we're applying for is a $15 million mental health Grant so there's no rest for the weary we found out we got one we're already applying for the next and we're really doing that because those federal covid dollars folks that we've that we've been so fortunate to have in our district as well as across the state those are beginning to wne and um
011you know come come fall we have to have those funds expended uh so I have really pushed our team to to be out there and trying to find uh other avenues to bring in funding for our school district they're burning the candle at both ends when I say that um I would be remiss if I didn't mention our CTE programs and Miss Finley and the amount of money that she's been able to bring in through CTE you're going to see a number of CTE teachers getting recognized here tonight there's no there's there's a reason why when you've got great leadership in those in those positions good things happen and we certainly have that as well as Miss MacArthur for receiving another $100,000 Grant so all that's came in in the past really about the past
012week so those those are those are all things to be positive about and all these grants and are funding we seeking directly tied to our strategic plan which was developed under the board's guidance and through the work of our principles and Leadership staff our teams work our teams work hard to stay focused on our goals and think creatively when seeking funding I'm proud of this work and great for our leadership and the teams on the executive cabinet thank you folks we've we've also heard that our friends at the community college are ready to move forward with that hire of a community college President which is exciting for us um that they obviously can't announce that yet because that has to go before the uh before their state board uh but in the coming weeks that
013should be announced for the community we're excited about that we're excited about continuing that partnership and to be completely honest with you that offers another opportunity for us to partner with with an outside agency uh to be able to earn some more Grant dollars so if if you haven't if you hadn't picked up on it March becomes a grant theme so that is really the time of the the time of the year it is also our kindergarten registration huge success this week numbers are up overall for this year we're excited about so that's always a positive and I know the board you guys look forward to hearing that our team is also working through an administrative Booker where our school level intact teams are working to review the books on hold as they begin to
014make recommendations to our district level Community team it is important to note that no one group will determine the outcome of this work as I have stated before we strive for a model to mirror the language from the US Supreme Court's 1984 Pico case where contemporary commun Community standard will drive the work as we begin to develop the county community administrative committees and review books we also need to seek the board support in developing policies that will allow parents to opt out of materials for children our team recognizes the work that will take some time and we know there can be a line in the sands on both sides of this argument I proud to be in a society where we can find a balance with our great nation's democracy which is a shining example
015of how to proce Ed with such issues we ask for patience in this administrative review as we seek ways to include our community in the Democratic process it's also important to remember that the work is over and above regular job duties for our staff and we recognize and appreciate the additional work that our staff are doing as part of this team finally tonight I want to recognize the challenge facing our district over the last weeks an instance such is the arrest of a counselor and a volleyball coach the level of betrayal that is involved is unfathomable our thoughts and prayers are with the victim and family this evening we strive to keep our students safe in all instances and when such when such atrocities occur we are left with unanswered questions and a great deal
016of healing we are grateful to our partners at the Sheriff's Office the state Bureau of Investigation for taking such Swift action Community I encourage you to pause to recognize that a child is involved which means we should show compassion kindness and reservation in our remarks thank you thank you Dr grit we appreciate that I'm gonna actually turn it right back on over to you and your team as we have a whole lot of Staff recognitions to do this evening we're very excited about this portion we know that our staff continues to work very very hard on their professional development to ensure that they're providing the best they can for our students so really grateful for that good evening uh members of the Board of Education Miss poo Dr grit and distinguished guests tonight's I'm honored
017to stand before you to recognize and celebrate some of our most valuable assets our teachers first and foremost I want to extend our sincer congratulations to those Educators who have recently obtained their national board certification this achievement is not nearly nearly a testament to their dedication and expertise but also a reflection of their commitment to Excellence in the field of education for those who may not be familiar national board certification is a voluntary Advanced teaching credential that surpasses State lure requirements it sets rigorous national standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be be and be capable of achieving the certification process administered by the national Board of Professional Teaching Standards entails candidates completing four components three portfolio entries submitted online along with a computer-based assessment conducted as a designated testing center now that sounds
018like that's just a couple journal entries that you put in no we're talking about constant reflection on teaching constant ref reflection on um students and students achievement it is a very inail and many times two to threee process the significance of national board certification can't be overstated it stands as the Pinnacle of professional certification in education commanding respect and recognition within the field yet its impact extends far beyond individual teachers it benefits students and schools alike by fostering the development retention and acknowledg of accomplished Educators national board certification plays a pivotal role in driving ongoing Improvement across our educational institutions Nationwide As We Gather tonight let us not only celebrate the achievements of our newly certified teachers but also affirm our Collective commitment to supporting and nurturing excellence in education together we can continue to
019empower our teachers Inspire our students and Elevate the standard of Education in our community please join me in recognizing and applauding the following teachers we have Miss Paige Gomez from West Maran Elementary [Applause] School Miss Anna Green from West Mar elementary [Applause] school Miss amberh from gloomwood elementary [Applause] school and Miss Amber LA from mcdal Early [Applause] College I can speak from personal experience with all three of these ladies as I had the honor of working with them as their principal um at both bloomwood Elementary and West Mar Elementary in this honor is greatly greatly deserved so congratulations [Applause] ladies I think I think too if I could just speak really quickly um again I know know all three of you guys really well and and uh as a classroom teacher I understand the commitment
020that it takes not only from you but also from your families just the amount of time that you had to work um to do this I tried for my national wars did not receive them so just extremely proud of you and just thankful for what you bring to our County what you bring to our kids and and just to see you three as colleagues I'm just really proud of y'all congratulations again like I said I get to stand before you today with great enthusiasm and pride to celebrate and reward excellence teaching as Educators we understand the pivotal role that teachers play in shaping the academic success of our students and today I get to present and recognize the remarkable achievements of our teachers first up we have our CTE bonus recognition so students can earn
021at least one industrial recognized credential in every CTE pathway at McDow High School achieving an industry recognized certification or credential ensures that students graduate from high school globally competitive for work and postsecondary education an industry recognized certification or credentials helps businesses save many hours of training because their new hire is already trained be confident that the credential holder has already learned a specific set of skills an industry recognized certification or credentials help students validate their knowledge and skill attainment Within industry recognized certification stand out in the field of job applicants and start at a higher salary level some credentials offer bonuses incentives for CTE teachers who provide instruction in a course at leads to students attainment of an industry certified certification or credential these MHS CTE teachers earn bonuses for the 23 22 23 school
022year by having students earn the following credentials first up we have Mr Clark Adams with Veterinary Medical application [Applause] certification Miss Angie Allison certified guest service [Applause] professional Mr Charles alry FEMA Emergency Management Institute and in and n CI 911 basic [Applause] Communications Mr Chad Brewer the national Center for construction Education and Research construction core and [Applause] masonry Miss Kristen Clark with accredited food protection manager safe plates she could not be here this evening Mr Charlie Davis for woodwor Career Alliance saw blade [Applause] certification Mr Paul Davis as entry level certification maintenance and light [Applause] repair Mr Chris Marsh national law enforcement certification and he is at Team court tonight Running part of his program so he cannot be with us but let's give him a round of [Applause] applause Mr Barry mcpeters FEMA Emergency
023Management [Applause] Institute Mr Wesley Minish Adobe Photoshop illustrator in in [Applause] design Mr Todd Queen customer service and sales certification he is coach softball tonight and is not here let's give him a round of [Applause] applause Mr Keith skull's AWS sense entry level welder program shielded metal arc welding and certified production technician and safety maintenance awareness and Manufacturing [Applause] processes Miss Stacy Shaw North Carolina an early childhood [Applause] credential Mr Daniel Smith Autodesk 3ds [Applause] Max thank you all so much for your hard work let's get a patron let's give them a big round of applause thank you all so [Applause] much one of my favorite things when I go to job fairs and teachers tell me they are CTE teachers then I get to brag that McDow County Schools is known not only state
024but nationally and so everybody's head kind of turns um to me so I I enjoy that and enjoy bragging on our programs and how hard our teachers work our second set of recognition is for our AP or advanced placement course teachers AP classes are taught at a rigorous level and help prepare students for college level courses students may earn college credit by taking and passing the AP test with a three four or five our AP teachers receive a bonus based on student performance in their class A teacher may earn $50 per students or up to $3500 per year the teachers listed below earned a bonus in the following classes I do not believe that any of our um AP course teachers could come this evening so I just like to read out their name and
025then at the end um they still deserve recognition even though they couldn't be here we have Miss Jolie Weaver with ap biology Miss Dusty Joseph beack with AP English Language Arts Seth hunt AP Literature Jennifer Gant AP Statistics Missy Redmond AP Government Victoria Hudson AP US History Stuart Massie AP US History and Julie grf with AP World History so let's give them a round of [Applause] applause last but certainly not least we want to recognize teachers in grades 3 through eight who received a growth bonus based on the 2223 school year the growth bonus recognizes teachers in third through eth grade reading and fourth through e8th grade math with whose growth index is in the top 25% of the state of North Carolina or and or the top 25% of McDow County schools in many
026grade levels within our district it was was easier to be the top 25% in the state of North Carolina versus the top 25% in our district which speaks highly of our teachers the following teachers are being recognized for the top growth in third grade reading Miss Tina Flynn top 25% in the state and the Lea yeah right right here there you go Miss Wendy Davis top 25 % in the state and 25% in the Lea Dana yelon top 25% in the state and stop top 25% in the Lea Michelle Revis top 25% in the state and top 25% in the [Applause] Lea Felicia Samy top 25% in the state top 25% in the Lea Miss Jennifer Sloan top 25% in the state and top 25% in the Lea Miss SLO can not be here this
027evening and then miss Heather sprous top 25% in the state and 25% the Lea next up we have our fourth through eth grade reading Miss Courtney putam Tau 25% in the state and top 25% in the [Applause] Lea Miss Lisa burles top 25% in the state and top 25% in the Lea and Miss burles can not be with us tonight Miss Jennifer Blake top 25% of the Lea and she's unable to be here as well miss Olivia Moore top 25% in the state and top 25% in the Lea Miss Barbara Dyer top 25% in the state and top 25% in the Lea and I will also add that Miss Dyer taught fourth and fifth grade reading and received actually four growth bonuses but the state only allows two uh per grade level so that is
028still a huge [Applause] [Music] accomplishment Miss Jessica major top 25% in the state and top 25% in the [Applause] Lea Deborah Freeman top 25% in the state and top 25% the [Applause] Lea Miss Alice in R out top 25% in the state and top 25% in the Lea she just got married Saturday so she is not here with us this evening now for our fourth through eth grade math we have um Katherine Paige Brown top 25% the state and top 25% in the Lea we have Miss Sarah rice top 25% in the state and top 25% in the Lea uh Miss Cheryl mby top 25% in the [Applause] state Miss Ashley H Tower top 25% in the Lea we have our very own McDow County Schools teacher of the year Miss Maryann basne top 25%
029in the [Applause] state Miss shanon chaen top 25% in the [Applause] Lea Miss Lori petite top 25% in the state and top 25% in the Lea she's unable to be with us we have Miss Taylor Stover top 25% in the state and top 25% in the [Applause] Lea Miss Holly Woody top 25% in the Lea Miss Jennifer carols top 25% in the state and top 25% in the Lea we have Miss Jessica major who is already up here for a bonus in Reading received top 25% in the Lea as [Applause] well Miss Allison R out also received both 25% um in the Lea and 25% in the state in both reading and math so that's a huge accomplishment in both in both areas next we have Miss Katie Carter top 25% in the state and
030top 25% of the Lea Miss Carter couldn't be here this evening we have Miss Christina pardon top 25% in the [Applause] state and last but certainly not least Miss Alicia Bernett she had the top 25% in the state and top 25% in our Lea and Miss Bernett cannot be with us this evening so let's give all of these folks a big round of applause so as Dr greed is getting everyone ready for a picture I just want to emphasize what a huge accomplishment that growth is I'm usually the loudest one in the room I'd like to um just kind of share with you about how difficult growth is growth is the measure from when students enter your classroom to when they they leave so regardless of where they're at at what you try to do
031is get a Year's worth of growth these folks standing in front of you exceeded that meaning that they did more than a Year's worth of growth for a significant amount if not for all of their students so what a huge accomplishment and we appreciate your dedication and hard [Applause] work thank you guys and before you leave the CTE teachers got gone before I had the opportunity to say but but I I want to just reiterate again good things are happening all day every day in every classroom in M County schools and this is just a small snippet of what goes on nobody knows that what you do but I I want you to understand how thankful our board is for the teaching staff that we have in mcdal County schools and I thank you so
032much for what you do for our kids because if we if you didn't do what you did for our kids none of us would need to be here so thank you once again for just for what you do I appreciate you thank you thank you [Applause] guys conratulations congratulations thank you if I could too I as there's we're just kind of transitioning I just want to point out the number of teachers that we see consistently year after year after year who hit that bonus level and hit that level of growth consistently for their Stu their students as well as the new teachers who are in and they're working very hard to do that another thing I wanted to point out is that those teachers that are standing here are only if correct me if I'm
033wrong but they're only third grade and above and um and so who gets kind of left out of this is our kindergarten our preschool kindergarten first and second grade teachers who really lay the foundational work for our third and fourth and beyond in order to succeed in the way that they are and to hit those High numbers and so I just want to publicly thank our kindergarten our first grade our second grade our prek teachers for all of the tremendous work that they put in every day that goes unnoticed unrecognized un bonused every year acknowledging the the hard work that they're doing and that we know that they're laying the foundation for these bonuses up here and so thank you to them I'm sorry that you don't we want to bring you up here too
034so thank you much absolutely a house without a strong Foundation can't stand and so definitely our prek kindergarten first and second grade teachers along with our special Area Teachers when you're talking about music and PE um and guidance all of that goes into U building that strong Foundation all the way through so we are very very thankful for the work that they do so you all get to stay with me for just a few more minutes while I get to recognize several of the things that I love to do the most and that's number one is recognize the teachers that work day in and day out um because when you um are a teacher it's a calling and it's a work of the heart and that's what I always see myself even as a district
035administrator really as a teacher that is my heart and so the second thing that I love to talk about most is teacher recruitment as well as um growing our own so I want to speak to you a not tonight about um our McDow County Schools homegrown program and I'm gonna ask Mr Garrett if he doesn't care to pull that presentation up please all right if not then I'm just going to go ahead and talk through this um that's okay I can go on the flly I don't need I don't need anything on the the screen I can talk this all night I won't I promise um so I want to talk with you about current opportunities that we have here in McDow County for Staffing so when I first um came into the profession 23
036years ago I know I don't look that old but I dye my hair um but I have been in for 23 years um finding a job as a teacher was very very difficult because there seem to be a ton of folks going into that field um since Co there's really been a struggle for those to go into um the teaching profession and I don't think it's just teaching in general that that's an issue for my husband's a lieutenant with the highway patrol they've had the same issue and as you talk to um companies and um through business throughout our community they will Express those same um type of concerns and so um we have to look at that and think what can we do to inspire and to um help to motivate folks to go
037into education and so I'm going to start with um some current opportunities that we have here in McDow County to help support folks within our own buildings um and within our community to go into education So currently right now McDow County schools has is in the teacher to TA pilot program so that means that anyone in our schools that is a teacher assistant if they are interested in going into teaching then there is a reimbursement program from the state of North Carolina that will reimburse them up to $4,600 um to towards tuition to go back to school MCD County Schools is in that pilot and actually this um year they allotted more money from the state of North Carolina so that allowed us to be able to offer that opportunity to more folks and right
038now we have seven people that are taking advantage of that um teacher to TA reimbursement for this upcoming year McDow County High School will be offering a teacher Cadet program um along with an apprenticeship program that will follow along with that so meaning that folks as a CTE course um students are able to take this teacher Cadet program and in their third semester are actually able to have a paid pre-apprenticeship program and so that's just some exciting news that is already in place and already started within our district another thing that I am very very proud of and I'm going to give Miss Alyssa kite um huge credit for this is that our beginning teacher support program and retention we currently have a 93% retention rate which over of average looking across the state is
039one of the highest now our goal is 95% in our strategic plan and we are working to accomplish that um but that's a great feat and we've had several folks tell us that have started teaching in different districts and have come to our district that if they had gotten support in their prior District then they would not have left so we are very fortunate that we have this type of support for our beginning teachers and teachers that are coming into the field that have never been um in a teacher program progr so that's very exciting the benefits of a homegrown program are number one sustained Workforce we can seek out what we um we can seek out those that are interested and we can um keep them in within our schools we can utilize Community
040Resources what we have right here at our fingertips we can do on the job training we have the ability to invest in our community and we can offer assistance for that oh good there we go awesome Garett I think we're on that slide with the Appalachian logo I want to point that out for us so what is a homegrown program well homegrown program is where we focus on the folks that are currently in our community and currently in our schools we are partner partnering with appalachin State University as well as mcdal Technical Community College to work through this program and the things that I'm getting ready to share are very very exciting so the program goals here is for MCD County School's homegrown teacher program expects to develop up to five um teachers per year
041through a partnership with McDow Tech and appalachin State University students who take advantage of this program will earn a teacher certificate from an accredited University in a very affordable fashion McDow County Schools expects to reduce the need to high teachers without a clear license and McDow County Schools also hopes to gain a diverse teaching staff to contribute to our schools for Generations So currently um Dr Grant and I were able to meet with appalachin State University and also McDow technical community community college to talk about what avenues that folks within our district whether they be students whether they be employees whether they be um someone that has moved here what Avenues do we have have to help them to support them in this program and so one um very um great um thing that we
042were shared that was shared with us was about the Aspire um agreement meaning that appalachin state and McDow Technical Community College have are working on an agreement so that any student that goes to mcdal Tech has an automatic accept acceptance to appalachin State University so that really helps to remove some of the barriers as far as when you're looking at applying to colleges that type of thing it takes that step out of the way we're also able at mcdal Tech they will be working on doing a two-year teacher program that will marry directly into the four-year teaching um program so it would be two years at McDow Tech and then an automatic two years at appalachin State University another um plus to this partnership is that they're going to offer programming in many different ways
043it can be on campus it can be at the Hickory campus or it can be online through the Hickory campus so this really allows for different um type of folks whether you're working a full-time job and you need to go pack only part-time they have a part-time program that can still help to earn that degree in that two years at mtech and two years at appalachin state so it's um really helps to meet the needs of a diverse group um of folks so eligibility to of the program what does that look like well students need to have completed a minimum of one year with McDow Technical Community College and an associates degree is preferred current employees are eligible to participate in the program and may do so without attendance to mdow Tech so that's not
044required but that's just a resource that's right at our back door that can be utilized um to be eligible for the College of Education with ASU um students must complete the designated pathway and we have all of that laid out for folks when they are looking at applying we are looking at um and I've got 10 written there but we're really trying to small start out a little bit smaller till we pick up a little bit of a speed with this and so we're really our goal is to do five students per year would be eligible for the program and then if we have more than that then what we would do is that we would go through an app we would go through an interview process and really try to um to work work
045with folks um to get into that program so we're we're very excited about that the eligibility for reimbursement is that um students must meet all four requirements listed below and they will receive a $500 to wish reimbursement for up to five semesters so that $500 can be used towards um tuition but it also could be used towards gas if you're traveling it could be used towards books so it's just an incentive um to help folks as they are pursuing this so students um shall be enrolled at the ASU College of Education they must maintain a 2.7 GPA and student shall student teach with McDow County Schools we would also have students sign an early contract agreeing to teach with McDow County schools for a minimum of three year three years um so if a student
046were to do that but did not follow through on that then they would have to pay that money back but as long as they followed through with that they stayed with in McDow County schools for those three years and they would be able to receive um and keep um the incentive so what are the benefits for students well the completion of associates degree with McDow Tech offers the first two years of college U for free to high school students so if you think about Early College they are already um coming out with their two-year degree they can choose to do that um through that program that is also available at mcdal high school um to be able to take those courses as well students may earn that tuition reimbursement of $500 per semester ASU students
047can remain at home and commute to campus and that saves a ton of money on student housing um returning home for student teaching offers students the opportunity to stay with family and reduce living costs um since student teaching does not pay um so that just Al is another benefit and the McDow County Schools um guarantees initial employment for McDow County teachers for signing an early contract and receive intuition reimbursement and then we have student loan forgiveness following five years of teaching and all Title One eligible schools which are we are a title one District so that would be something that would be offered to them as well so that was a whole lot of information um Dr grd um talked about um and I I was going to steal this idea but I'll give you
048credit Dr grit you know a ppine seems to go one way but what we want to see is a you shake pipeline so we want to see our students go to McDow Tech or go to another institution move into the College of AD and then come right straight back to us so that is what our goal is with our homegrown um program is to really support those in our district and really to remove barriers um and to make College possible for anyone who was interested and so we are thankful for McDow Tech we are thankful for our partnership with appalachin we do have partnership with Western Carolina University uh Mr subtles but um appalachin came and and met with us and was very excited about serving our community as well so we're we're very thankful
049are there questions for me or for Dr grit awesome no thank you this is very very exciting for our district and opportunities for our students particularly and parents that are out there if you're listening at all understand what that means is that your children have an opportunity to receive a tremendous amount of funding in order to get their education in teaching so that they can come on back home to you and and then serve our district and they've got jobs available so this is this is an exciting thing for us thank you so much for working on this absolutely thank you it it it is very exciting not only um for our our community but exciting for our students um to have um folks in their building that um are familiar with the community and
050and want to come back and that was my goal when I went off um to school is I wanted to come back and serve my community um coming from a a family of Educators um this is a calling and that's that's what we want we want people who want to make a difference and and serve our community so thank you very much Miss Miss D thank [Applause] you just want to add folks that um the the goal would be to be eligible for the program in the fall so we're working with our attorneys right now on Theus between apple a state and and us and um we we could have students that enter the College of Education in the fall and earn that tuition reimbursement in January so we're we're ready to go just as
051soon as um as soon as the students are in those classes great thank you so much good news miss basney a report from teacher representative teacher of the year if you will thank you so this month I get to recognize East mcdal Middle School so this one's super exciting for me lots of my students are highlighted in here and a lot of the great things happening at East first up we had a variety show last month um the next two slides are photos from that we had the dino band we had several acts from students and teachers we had um we had a wonderful turnouts this was a huge success we had raffle baskets that grade levels and departments created and we raffled those off and uh we had concessions we had a great time
052in a Full House the proceeds for some of the raffle baskets went towards one of our teachers who B who's battling cancer right now I listed some CTE and elective recognition and there's lots of great things happening I know we talked about the high school earlier but lots of great things in middle school as well miss Merritt has received a popcorn boards popcorn PEP Club Grant I really had to struggle with that one but this is for seventh grade students and they prepped all these popcorn bags they sent these home with families um I think this was right before Christmas and I have a couple pictures of them assembling and passing them out and it came home with some directions for uh popcorn to take home um I have a little bit about band these
053are three students that were from our all district that were able to go I'm sorry to our all district band at Western Carolina University they auditioned and attended at Western for this and one of my students is pictured they gave me a little bit of what what they do at this and it's a ton of work so I I'm I'm going to try really hard to not mess this up but they have to present a solo memorize six to seven scales and perform they site read a new piece of music and play it after roughly a minute of reviewing it when they're at Western they have five pieces of music to learn they get a few weeks to practice but then they jump in with a whole group people they have haven't met some they
054may know they may not um they work on new music for the days they're there and then they also have a concert at Western Carolina University I know Mr Wilson is here I hope that is close wonderful and they also got to see the Western Carolina Band program which is phenomenal up there um also I know you guys are going to hear from uh some other music areas in our chorus department but I wanted to touch on just a couple quick things with chorus we have m fry who's been at East and she has provided our our students with several Community performance opportunities in chorus and we also have a Junior triin Honor Society um so they also have to be involved in music but they are also required to maintain a b or above
055in core classes and an A in band or chorus they've had several opportunities to go out into the community with the mount Glory Festival they've gone to Autumn Care and a few other um retirement homes and Facilities they've had their spring and chorus concerts and fall concerts and then they also performed in the veteran State program the next couple slides are some of our winter sports we have our East and West cheerleaders collaborated for um one of the basketball games they had a blast with this and they were able to have a whole routine that they went through for one of the halftime shows we also have a few photos from our basketball games um one of our wrestlers made it pretty far with the um the regional wrestling and our basketball teams did wonderful
056we recently had student Le conferences they have been wonderful at East these were held last week for our spring session and parents were able to sign up whether they want their student to give their information go over um their progress their grades their successes or they could sit down with the teacher if they chose to or they could do both and we've had a great turnout with these parents and students both have enjoyed them we have started something new at East called first chapter Friday staff members from um around the building come to each home room and they read the first chapter of one of their favorite books to to whatever class that may be and this gets our students interested in books they may not pick on their own and it gives staff members
057a chance to come into classrooms and make connections with students and one of our board members has come to uh read I believe it was a sixth grade class um and came and read to one of our home rooms as well we are utilizing a program called PowerUp we also have several tutoring opportunities um the PowerUp program has has been a great start I I love data and I love digging into all the data that it's provided but teachers are a able to use this program with students track students progress look at the reading comprehension look at the progress they've made along the way with with those skills as well and look at lessons that they may need to create um materials provided to them through this so it's been a great Aid as far
058as reading comprehension goes our Science Olympiad teams competed at UNCA recently and they had a wonderful time our life skills and Discovery skills class will go um April 18th and they will participate with Rutherford County Special Olympics on that left picture they have gone to art class for the last several weeks they read rainbow fish and they designed their own fish they also had read Across America day yes last I'm sorry last week staff members were able to go and read to our classes in time slots throughout the morning and that was the best I was able to go in and read to them Friday morning and we had a great time next month I will highlight Glenwood Elementary and Neo Elementary thank you so much Miss B all right it looks like next we
059have celebrating music in our schools month Elementary and secondary students and Educators I not sure thank you Miss fry thank you so much absolutely so at this time I'm going to invite our Junior triin music Honor Society leadership to come up uh while we're doing this transition and at the same time if all of our singers in elementary and secondary education here in McDow County could come to the front and music lingo If part one could be on this side and part two on this side go ahead and start transitioning as I'm just kind of intro into this music in our schools month so thank you so much Dr grit the board Administration our principal Miss Tracy Woodman and all of the music educators that are in the county for allowing us for allowing us
060to put together this presentation uh and for allowing us to perform a uh a beautiful song for you this evening and we just have so much to celebrate I'm not going to spoil any of it I will let our student leadership come and speak here in just a moment after we transition see good evening and thank you for allowing us to speak this evening on behalf of the music programs in McDow County my name is Kaye Gonzalez and I am the McDow Middle School's Junior trium president I'm desain and I'm the secretary I'm Eric Holmes and I'm the treasurer we have chosen to present in March because it is in music in our school's month hello ladies and gentlemen I'm Ava effler I am a freshman at McDow high school so what is our long-term
061goal in light of the positive education programs music education programs in our County we as music students would like to request that as a long-term goal the students of McDow County be provided with certified music teachers in each Elementary School creating equal opportunities for each student to be positively impacted by music educations from grades K through 5ifth each of us speaking tonight has been impacted by music in a way that prepares us for future success and ultimately encourage us to finish what we have started here in McDow County um so for me the cool program has really had a huge impact on a career path that I believe I have chosen if it weren't for this wonderful program I would still wonder what do I want to do with the rest of my life but
062now I'm working toward a career in music therapy helping people mentally through the power of music thank [Applause] you this month we are advocating that each Elementary Middle School and High School of this County have equal opportunity to learn music in some fashion which will benefit more areas than just one for example Le our emotional our social emotional learning daily attendance communication skills and even our test scores are all impacted by music a study published in 2007 by Christopher Johnson professor of music music education and music therapy at the University of Kansas revealed that students in elementary schools with Superior mus music education programs scored around 22% higher in English and 20% higher in math scores on standardized tests compared to schools with lowquality music programs regardless of socioeconomic disparities among schools or school districts
06381.1% of students agree that their secondary music class makes them look forward to attending school every day please look take a few moments to review the results of these questions at this time students from West Maran Glenwood and Eastfield Elementary School East mcdal Middle School and McDow High School perform an Irish and English blessing blessing titled light of Grace [Music] the [Music] to [Music] sunshine [Music] to [Music] to the Sun [Music] for [Music] May the [Music] Sun [Music] [Applause] s that was beautiful yeah families and students as you guys are leaving just congratulations that was beautiful thank you so [Applause] much cly does got okay I think we're about settled back in um uh Miss Smith are there is there any correspondents for this evening okay thank you so then we're gon to shift into
064the request to address the board um in public comment uh we have six people who have submitted uh requests to address the board this evening and um I'm gonna I'm just going to put you in order here of the way that they came in um forgive me if I mispronounce your name please correct me I I I am happy to be corrected on that so the first who will go is um is Lynn Garrett if you'll just wait one second then Mr Patrick young then Robert it looks like cordal cordal thank you uh Gabriel Thompson will go fourth Miss Sarah Skinner will go fifth and then Neil Shunk shuny thank you uh we'll go six but before anyone comes on up I do have uh some rules and guidelines that we do uh adhere to
065here at the board um for the way that we handle public comment so I'm just going to read through this and I'm just going to ask all of you who uh I named off that this is your rules for the night and then I'll also tell you kind of the expectation from the board as well um public comment is a time for the board to hear from uh community members regarding issues related to the McDow County School District we ask that everyone this is Mr English he wrote this he uses the word folks so we ask that folks be mindful I'm not a folks kind of person personally but we ask that everyone is mindful that we encourage families of small children to attend our meetings and to watch and watch our meetings online and
066therefore we we do respect the rights of speakers to give us their viewpoint on any issues related to the schools however we do balance those rights with the rights of families of young children when it comes to public comment so we ask that speakers make their points without making any explicit comments it is not appropriate or permissible for teachers in our schools to read explicit material to young children and in doing so in public comment is not appropriate either in addition to public comment the public is welcome to send the board emails through the superintendent um as far as everyone else is concerned and every our speakers no speaker may be disruptive no personal attacks on board members or employees no explicit comments um anything that has to any complaints that has to do with
067students or staff needs to be addressed with the superintendent privately as that is confidential information um and as a reminder to the board and to everyone else based on our policy um 2310b so uh we do board as B board members will not respond to individuals who address the board except to request clarification of any point made by a presenter so you as presenters have an opportunity to speak and it is our responsibility as the board just to hear you out and not offer any public or any comment back and so we will go ahead and get started you have three minutes um Miss dle is our Andy Dandy fancy timer over there and so um Lynn Garrett you are welcome to go to the podium Adam chair we have to vote on that oh
068thank you so much I appreciate that um can I get a emotion thank you I'll make a motion that we entertain the speakers that we have listen to them I appreciate that thank you so I have a motion made by Mr Frank and a second by Mr shord all in favor if you will show by right hand thank you that's everyone all right thenar oh she's okay she is not here okay sounds good then we will go to Mr Patrick young Mr Patrick young thank you oh good I had done this in a long time so y'all bear with me as a retired band director for 16 years at mcell high school and currently a parent of a high school musician I'd like to truly thank the efforts of These Fine Young Musicians and their
069wonderful teachers who were asked um Young Musicians are wonderful teachers who were asked at the last minute to shorten their presentation down to five minutes du to the extensive agenda for tonight's meeting I hope everyone else presenting tonight was able to do the same they worked very hard the last couple of weeks to put together quality presentation and they did so and as musicians they were able to improvise and make it awesome and half the time that they were prepared for thank you students and teachers March is music in our school's month as they told you we need more music in our schools I retired from band directing in 2013 also taught the high school course for four years included the co times my wife was an Elementary music teacher at Old for for 23
070years and was both Middle School's course teacher for three years a terrible compromise where each school only had Chorus for one semester each year through the years when Jill was at Old for as a certified full-time music teacher we through the years we had up to five certified full-time music teachers in the other elementary schools as they retired or left McDow County schools for better paying jobs some were replaced some with split positions and in some cases they were not replaced at all music education seemed to not be a priority in the past I'd like to see that change we had a great turnout of that tonight Jill taught the students to love music and it showed I could always tell which kids had come from old for elementary and the other schools that had
071certified music teachers they had learned their Basics sooner and this translated into a higher level of achievement music teaches us all the skills that many programs in education are trying to do so artificially now teamwork leadership empathy Independence multiple learning styles work ethic to mention a few when a teacher gets a new roster of students and they see a ban or course student typically that teacher knows that they'll have a hardworking success-driven student and that will not be a behavior issue everyone knows the band or chorus kids are the best kids in school some of us were those in 16 years of high school band directing I had a 100% graduation rate of students that stayed in band many years at least two or three of the top 2% of students were banned kids if
072we want to see large successful m music programs at the high school level then we have to encourage and promote the programs at the elementary and middle school levels West should have a course teacher full-time students should not be deprived to Coral music they attend West nor should they have to split that time with another Arts course every Elementary SCH school should have a certified or qualified music teacher Co hurt us du to lack of specific instruction due to protocols our County adopted which eliminated band course at the middle schools that year we lost a huge portion of our music students we have to recover from this it is happening thanks to the wonderful teachers but slowly we need [Applause] more thank you so much Mr Young all right Mr Mr cordal my name is
073Robert Cordell I'm a father of a student in our Public School System I'm also a combat veteran of two deployments and almost a decade of service to our great nation of all the things I did in the Army I'm most proud of the time I spent helping to protect the girl school while deployed to Afghanistan I was periodically stationed in a guard Tower of a 240 Bravo machine gun overlooking the school the Taliban had previously outlawed the education of all females over the age of eight the penalty for disobeying that law was usually a gruesome execution watching how happy and thrilled those young girls were to go to school for the first time was the highlight of my time overseas I knew if I a second thought that I would lay my life down to
074protect those girls and their right to receive an education I've witnessed firsthand what atrocities Theocratic governments commits against their own citizens you may think that we're far off from needing an armed guard to ensure your girls young girls don't get murdered for trying to learn how to read but the erosion of our secular government and democracy as we know it doesn't happen overnight it begins with small seemingly innoc things like the Banning of books you can say that you're not Banning books but semantics aside that is exactly what is is going on even as some people in this room are too cowardly to admit it the now over 80 books that have been removed from our school libraries overwhelmingly deal with themes and issues faced by minority groups unlike the policies and practices of organizations
075like Christian Perspective Representatives who are at the Forefront of this book band the true fundamentals of Christianity and the teachings of Jesus Christ are antithetical to punching down on already marginalized children We should strive as individuals and as a community to be more compassionate empathetic in welcoming of all people as Jesus taught us I did not fight the Taliban and Al-Qaeda overseas to come home and watch as radical right-wing nationalists infect our community with their anti-American anti-democratic agendas our founding fathers knew that the separation of church and state was so fundamental to our democracy they place it in the very first line of the First Amendment furthermore if this board really cared about protecting our children from explicit and pornographic materials then this conversation would be about computers and cellones not about books I know
076a politician's usual remark to anyone who served is a thank you for your service that is not something I want to hear from any member of this board or anyone else that supports the Banning of books you don't get to Pander to those of us who served after you spit in the face of what we fought and died thank you thank you Mr Cal Miss Thompson hi I'm Gabrielle Thompson and I'm retired librarian with the state for 20 years and I'm here to talk about book Banning as well um I de that one of the most important things in our educational system is free access to books that um should be decided by a community and I'm talking about impact um teams that have Librarians teachers students parents all coming together to discuss this issue
077um I'm sure most of you have had a librarian help you before to either find information you needed or to uh find pleasure reading Librarians are know for being helpful kind and wanting to uh further education um there are many states Nationwide that are restricting books there are actually three states that are working on putting through criminal charges against Librarians if books are checked out in a library to a child that someone deems obscene okay one of those is West Virginia they have a $1,500 or500 people teacher shortage and it's one of the ones that's pushing this bill to um penalize criminally Librarians I won't go on to the others but actually I would highly recommend to everyone to look up on YouTube what happened in um bu South Carolina it became a huge issue
078over um I think it was 95 books that were banned CBS on 60 Minutes uh Scott py on March 3 did a whole report on it talking about what happened in that particular Community there was such an uprising that a hundred volunteers said they would read these books and in that amount of time they all voted on those 95 books only five were taken off the shelf so you have outside groups trying to take away individuals rights each child has its own maturity level its own intelligence level and it needs its parents involvement to pick what they can have as reading material if they object to something they can go to the Librarians in that school and say I don't want my child to be this or books without my permission that's the way to
079handle it in the school system not saying that we just pull books halfhazard and I thank you for letting me speak and I hope that you will listen to Librarians teachers parents and every thank you thank you Miss Thompson Miss Skinner good evening esteemed members of the school board and thank you for the opportunity to address you today in the spirit of our recent International women's day I'd like to talk for a moment about my mother a state prosecutor in South Carolina who played a pivotal role in my education due to the nature of her work which was been horrific she learned to talk to me about horrific things in an age appropriate way and one of the things that she did that I'm most grateful for was she taught me to talk about my
080body parts with correct words that protected me I had a friend and this is a story about a book that saved her life I had a friend whose family did not we did not talk to her about her body that way and for the adults in the room you can read between the lines she was horrifically attacked in a family member's home at the age of 12 at the age of 12 my friend did not tell her mother or father who loved her very much because these were taboo subjects in her home in high school in 2002 a book called The Lovely Bones was published The Lovely Bones dealt with the same horrific attack that my friend endured and because of that book she came to me and told me because I was comfortable with
081talking about my body and together we went to one of our teachers and because of our teachers that man is behind bars that is the power of a book to save not just her life but the life of other girls who were in that person's life or other children there is no age minimum on that kind of attack books our knowledge books are power and I would ask the board to us a list of books that have been pulled from the shelves and learning about the books that have been pulled I've learned about the pavement education project and I was horrified to see that The Lovely Bones was one of the books that has been targeted because of its graphic content I would also remind the board that obscenity has a legal definition the Pico
082case the Supreme Court Island Trees District versus Pico has been referenced several times and the conclusion of that case is that local school boards have a substantial role to play in the determination of school library content but their Authority must be exercised in a manner that comports with the Transcendent imperatives of the First Amendment and by further Federal cases we also know that obscenity is not done by part of a book but by looking at the book of as a whole The Lovely Bones as a whole allowed my friend to find healing and today she is also a state prosecutor where she protect other girls in this way thank [Applause] you thank you Miss Skinner uh Mr shunki you explained the rules for public input last time our chairman specifically stated speci language from not
083be tolerated he also request that individuals conduct yourselves in such a manner that your grandmother I believe these are good rules for writers just as profanity is not necessary to convey depth of emotion graphic sexual details are not necessary to convey romance excitement or evil commercially there are between half a million and a million books published every year if you include self-published that rises to three to four million so if you take a look at our Public Library we only have one out of a 100 English books published if you go to our M high school it's one out of a thousand so we should have the best books I believe the concern here is not Banning books so much as that we should select the best books for our students to read and eliminate
084the trash books are food for the brain and food for the soul just as we set food standards for our cafeteria we need stand standards for our school libraries I was introduced pornography in high school and I'm not proud to say it but it took me years to recover let us not intentionally wound our children I'd like to take and see here how many people are in general agreement by a show of hands how many parents here want their children want their daughter to take engage and Casual Sex have a couple of abortions you on drugs think we're going have anybody um you know are there any parents here that hope that are son or daughter will say I'm trans I'm gender fluid I'm sleeping around you know if we don't want to hear it
085we shouldn't encourage it by enticing entries in our schools I think that's important when we talk about books is it enticing one question should be addressed is who has been choosing to put pornographic books in our schools and why one of the typical actions of a pedophile is to break down inhibitions pedophiles often groom targets with sexualized material in order to normalize sex so do we have individuals who are trying to groom our children by North Carolina law every person 18 years age or older who knowingly disseminates to any minor under the age of 16 any material which he knows or reasonably should know to be OB seen is guilty of a felony now as parents and grandparents we'd expect law to be firm protection against pornography in schools unfortunately an exception was written to
086exempt schools I propose that our community standard reflect the basic laws against inanity without exception years ago you know liberals primarily Democrats said we need sex education in schools by and large we let them but over time these programs grew and more it has gotten so bad now some people can't even tell their gender by looking in their underwear panties it's time to stop the nonsense thank you Mr shuny I appreciate all of the comments that we've received today all right we will move on now to unfinished business believe Mr Brian Oliver will bring us a facilities update thank you Miss D good evening Madam Vice chair members of the board Dr grit School leaders honored guests thank you for being here tonight um I normally give you a pretty indepth update on facilities but
087tonight I'm going to keep it short the one thing I do want to share with you is that the upgrades to the McDow High School athletic facilities is more than halfway accomplished at this point and we have transitioned now from the home locker rooms to the visitor locker rooms and you saw some photos on Friday in Dr grip's update that that give you an indication of of where we're going at this time so the uh the effort thus far have made a huge difference in the facilities at MCD High School we're very thankful for that uh for our student athletes and our coaches but also for our physical education students who also use those same locker rooms so we're we're really happy that that those those improvements are moving forward um I do want to
088brief you specifically tonight that the lease for the alternative site which is um the property at 75 Crawford Street I think all of you received a copy of that lease in the update on Friday and it has been signed by the property owner and is now ready for Signature by the board chair Mr English and Dr grit so that it can be officiated so as soon as um that's accomplished then we will be able to begin uh the work that we need to do uh to get the facility ready to be occupied by staff and students and the goal obviously to have that ready by August we have an a motion made by Mr Frank to um approve the alternative school lease we have a second for that with a second from Mr settles and
089all in favor signed by right hand that's unanimous that passes thank you Mr Oliver thank you well good do you want stay up there and that's right thank you Mr Mr Frank I do appreciate you I do appreciate you letting me know I I I am I am not embarrassed I I admit that uh I am not an expert in Robert's Rules of Order and the way that we do this but Mr Frank is he's been doing this for a very very long time so I am publicly giving you permission to make sure that I'm doing this correctly and I ask that you would just go ahead and stop me when I've not so what I did miss is any public or any discussion and so if we need to back up for just a
090second is there anything that anybody does want to say if you do we'll kind of back it up a second but if not we'll just go ahead and allow the motion to carry as is okay thank you thank you I appreciate that thank you Dr yes I really just want to thank Mr Oliver behind the scenes work there there there was a tremendous amount of work that went into that project uh when we started down the road looking at the alternative school um I don't think we need realize we needed all the approval that we needed um including from the Department of Public construction all the way to the County Commission um and and up and including zoning from the city so um it's involved all the players and Mr you've done a fantastic job
091and Ronda silver really really looks after our school district and she she put together something that was good for us I think we need to publicly Rec recognize efforts absolutely the efforts that she put in in allowing us to get into that building I also want to thank Mr TRX and all of his work U providing us with information of all the work that needed to be accomplished and also a lot of back and forth with Mr Miss silver in discussion about the property and I also want to thank Mr John Henning from K Shatley put in a tremendous amount of work and it's still working on on the zoning issue so absolutely and our board I just appreciate you guys standing in there when we talked about being able to get an alternative school
092open I don't think any of us really knew how much time we were looking at but but but I said I think we're going to need a little bit of time I had no clue it was going to be this much but I just appreciate you guys uh working with us as well thank you sure thank you and as a board just to again state that this we heard from our team teachers and our staff last year who came to us and really communicated that there was a great need in our school because of some discipline issues and had really uh advocated for some alternative support and this was what we had come up with and so grateful for the superintendent and his team and all those that are involved in order to make this
093happen on behalf of the request of the board but ultimately at the request of our our teachers and uh in order to support what the work that's happening in the building so thank you so much okay next we're going to move to the adoption of the math curriculum this Crystal Hami like to come on up good evening Madam chair members of the board and Dr grit I stand before you on the behalf of our district curriculum and instruction team K8 School administrators to request your approval to adopt a new K8 math program this program program represents an exciting opportunity to transform our math instruction significantly and impact the academic success of our students we want to emphasize the importance of strong mathematical skills in our students educational Journey the administrative team has spent almost a
094year reviewing five math curriculums with input from teachers after careful review the team nared the choice down to two curriculums in all grade levels uh teachers review these curriculums a systemic rubric was used to evaluate all the mathematical components financially adopting this program requires an initial investment but it is important to recognize the long-term benefits and cost savings that can be realized by equipping our students with a strong mathematical skills early on we can mitigate the need for costly interventions and Remediation in the future tonight I am seeking approval for the district to spend up to $710,000 for a new K8 math curriculum the amount being requested is currently also being negotiated and is expected to be less than the amount we are requesting at this time I am requesting board action for approval to
095spend up to 70,000 for great mindes Eureka Square are there any questions question I'd like to go ahead and make a motion and then we can have discussion after um as chairman of the curriculum and instruction Committee of the board I would like to make a motion that we approve the K8 math curriculum Eureka Square by great minds publishing as presented uh it is recommended wholeheartly I Believe by our C instruction committee and gives the superintendent the authority to approve this purchase thank you we have a motion made by Miss silver for the approval of the adoption of the math curriculum can I get a second for that Miss Muma has a second we will go ahead and open it up to discussion and I'd just like to reiterate what Miss Hy shared this is
096a a huge investment but it's definitely something that we thought we saw through the Strategic plan that was presented to us that math is an area that we as a district have got to focus on and um in our curriculum instruction meeting we talked about the fact that it's almost like asking somebody to uh build a very productive garden and not give them any seeds give them no tools no Prime dirt or anything and expect results out of it and um it has been a significant amount of time and Miss Hami and I neither one could quite remember when we have as a county had a systematic uh math adoption and uh so I I think we had a good meeting with the curriculum instruction team that you know was able to to discuss this
097so thank you for that thank you all right any further discussion um so I'm on the committee and agree with the with the recommendation I think the Board needs to be clear that um and you correct me where I'm where I'm in error that the funds are initially being funded using Esra funds which might or will uh not uh be realized into the future and I asked the question of the superintendent after our meeting does this rise to the level of looking at competing programs and values and funding questions does this rise to the level of being a priority to the tune of $700,000 and he said that it did I think that ought to be acknowledged that a board May sit here and be faced with coming up with other funds to continue the
098program thank you any further discussion okay well it looks like we're ready so all in favor if you will display a show of hands by raising your right hand okay the motion carries thank you thank you Miss h and just to reiterate on that that question Mr AB that's a great question and um you know one of the things that I asked Miss hamy to do was to follow up with with the folks at DPI um to ensure that we could use our funding in our s in such a manner um and those uh materials that will be purchased are purchased in advance um so there would not be as much of a cost in the future that's that's the goal with this program and I have to say that I feel really good about
099the work that that team did and and honestly folks I'll just be completely honest without um without the eser funding I'm not sure we'd be able to adopt my so it's kind of a one-time deal to be able to go out and get that level without having to ask for a tremendous amount of money or potentially like we talked about earlier be able to pull in a grant so I I appreciate Miss hamy and her her efforts toh take care of us and and really I mean it's it's amazing to be able to pull in a language arts curriculum during this time frame um and and also a math adoption so your team your team did a great job thank you and the and the timing of it too is important because the user funding
100runs out and so thank you for being proactive on that before we lose that money thank you all right miss dle you have the fall 2023 policy updates yes ma'am so tonight is the final read of our fall policy updates um each of these policies as included in your packet are state required um from General statute updates um we did not have any questions or feedback at our first read I just wanted to follow up to see um prior to approving those if there were any additional questions I think we're good all right okay so we there is action requested that we approve the fall 2023 policy updates and so I will entertain a motion to approve those updates policy updates so move Miss Muma gives a Motion makes a motion all right um Miss
101it's a little nerve-wracking to be doing this when it was a last minute thing so here I'm forgetting everybody's name Miss Angela alen Helms makes the second on that so uh we will open it up to discussion anyone okay thank you all right everyone if we will if you will show a hands for approval for this motion and it carries thank you all right Mr Oliver love to hear from you again sir thank you Miss D thanks pal stra okay Madame Vice chair members of the board Dr grit School leaders again and honored guests thank you for being here tonight it gives me pleasure to speak to you again this time we talk about the school calendars that were um presented for the first reading at last month's meeting they've been on the website for
102the past month for consideration and discussion and um you were provided with all of the different calendars in your board packet um we had proposed what was called draft B in the first iteration of our calendars we also had a discussion and provided a different option for the traditional calendar and that was presented to to you as school recommendation schools recommendation not school schools and just you have the list of of how schools voted and that vote was seven to four of the 11 schools who are on the traditional calendar seven of those schools voted to go to the school's recommendation instead of draft B which was the proposed calendar the only change in that calendar was to move one of the work days that have been placed in August back to June to allow
103for additional time for remediation and retesting and other things that have to be taken care of at the end of the school year those things cannot begin until the student days have been completed so that's why that was important we can't start early and that's a big deal the again the only the only difference is that there were no there's no change in student days from the proposed calendar to the school's recommendation calendar um and I think there's also one other issue that Dr grit wanted to mention that we had been asked to consider uh by the Board of Elections yes yes there's a Tuesday in November that I think something's going on in most of America and we happen to have several schools that are polling sites um so the election board reached out
104to us to ask if we would consider U an alternative plan um or consider not having school that day and board what I what I would ask um for you to consider tonight is uh we have four schools that would be used as polling sites and those are Nebo North Co East Middle and Maran so those were the four sites that would be typically used in an election year given the presidential election um every four years when we have that we have we have typically not had school on that day however I I my my recommendation to you would be let's be a little creative this year because what we have what we have before you is a calendar that gets the majority of the student days as many student days as we can done
105before Christmas um so the students at the high school can then test before they go home for winter break uh with that said um I think it's pivotal that we don't miss a day of school and that in those four schools that I recommended or any other school that by emergency needs to be utilized for a polling place that we utilize a virtual option on that day I think that'll allow us to get the 80 days before Christmas which is a very tight calendar already and and and it's a way that uh offers offers a chance to make sure that we're still educating our students I will never tell you that a virtual day is a as good as a school day ever you won't hear that from me but I will tell you that
106in in a pinch it can be utilized um the high school of course will be face to face that day and that that is a pivotal pivotal day for them so that would be my recommendation is that uh you would approve our calendars as presented U knowing that uh the one day for elections would be needed to be remote for those those that involve polling sites so just the schools that are polling sites yes ma'am do you think that might create a little bit of confusion I think we can clarify that just to be completely honest with you um and it's not uncommon for us to have a water line break or power outage or or another reason that that is singular to a school um so we have enough time to communicate and certainly
107think that we could Advocate on part of what needs to take place at the high school but that's a great question yes any feedback from our teachers that would be handling that virtual day because we've come out of you know the co error so to speak M Mr subtle I can honestly say that I didn't ask that's something I I can do um as far as what I what I know we need to do is um try to go ahead and get a calendar that was ready for them but this kind of came up at the within the within this time frame of the month and I wanted to present my idea to you guys prior to reaching out understand I'm that guy ask his mom for permission even though I'm G probably do something
108out of courtesy sure sure um also Mr subtles what I understand is we had a record number of Voters come out for the primaries and we had over 6,000 voters that came out for the primaries alone which was fantastic um but what I learned is that for a couple of the schools that we do have the polling stations at that it was actually a bit disruptive for our students and so in order so in order we anticipate well over 10,000 voters will come out for this next for the general election that's been pretty consistent in our County for general elections and so we just want to make sure that our students are safe that the classroom um environment the school environment is not disrupted during that day um to accommodate our community as well to
109allow you know our our community come out and and vote sure I think our teaching staff is more concerned with the security of our kids and I think having those four campuses closed off that day because they're they're such professionals and they take care of their kids every day and I don't think that they would want just this influx of people if we have a solution and I think we have two months to prepare people for one day of virtual learning we we do and I mean the other option here if we're trying to present a calendar would be of course to to take that day off and I mean you know that's one of those we we could do that as well I mean that's traditionally what we've been but but ultimately that becomes
110a board's decision tonight and and and I would be fine with either way I think if we end up doing that we would need to adjust the calendar to add an additional student day so it would move the uh sixth that last day of school uh it would move that to um the ninth and then the final day would be on the 16th which is that's just outside of the we'd have to go back and find a day in the middle we'd have to find a day that's just outside I apologize for staing that it's outside of that window when you have to finish by the state so we'd have to find a day within the middle of the calendar to correct that Dr grit um do we is um East Middle a polling place
111it is so I mean in my thought I again I just think that's going to get a little bit confusing I'm not proposing be a day off but I I would think that just our middle schools and our elementaries all go virtual that day just for sake of not being confusing if you know what I'm saying and then keep our high school as a regular day because that's not a ping Place correct I mean I just I don't know why I just feel like this is going to get really confusing I still want it to be a virtual day I don't want it to be a free day but I think I don't know that's just my personal opinion that makes sense to me it it sounds to me like maybe that piece of this
112uh action requested might need a little bit more discussion uh or thought and so I'm wondering if it would be okay if we just go ahead and move forward with the proposed calendar as Mr Oliver presented it um and then that piece of it rather than adding to it right now that we maybe pull that that section off and then have a little bit more time to discuss that um is that does is that fair or do we are we comfortable just is going ahead with the recommendation to what's that okay how about this how about we make uh receive a motion to accept the proposed school calendar and then we can take a mo motion get a second and then if we need another moment to kind of discuss that virtual day then we
113can do that we'll take that time decide real quick if we're gonna if what we'll do with that and then we'll go ahead and we'll close the I would like to say something please ma'am yes uh the four schools you include e down Middle School is that correct yes sir and you know I think probably if you it could get a a situation where it could be confusing but the more we talk about the more confusing it'll get I think personally I think we ought to just go ahead and go with it and you got two months to or how however long to iron out all the problems and we're done with yes sir that's just my opinion does anyone want to disagree with Mr Frank's opinion okay then I'll take a motion that we
114accept the proposed uh school calendar 2024 2025 school calendar allowing the super if we could but if we could in the motion we want to say the school's preference calendar the school's preference calendar that's calendar that Dr G is Rec okay so I will uh entertain a motion that we accept the proposed preferenced calendar for the 2024 2025 school year I'll make a motion and we accept it thank you Mr settles can I get a second all right Mr shord Dr G I have had a couple of people ask the question um with that switch in that work day that that was going to be on a Thursday and a Friday at the beginning of the year um would there be a possibility so that our teaching staff well most of them will start being
115there the first of August anyway but could they possibly report on that Friday the 16th rather than coming to work on a Thursday and then being off on a Friday and then coming back to work on a Monday or is that something that they need to work out with their principal I think they' probably need to work that out individually with their principal that the the issue that we have there on that day is that is the last of the four day work weeks so on Friday the reason we selected Thursday is because that Friday technically we won't have our 12month employees in the building so custodian and different folks that tend to lock the buildings up but I would think that they could work that out individually yes ma'am okay any further discussion all
116right all in favor show of right hand that is almost unanimous okay so seven not n seven out of eight but the motion carries that's right so there's eight of us one minus one is seven so seven out of eight of us the motion carries thank you everyone I would Al at in closing thank you board but also thank you to all members of the committee it was a there was a lot of discussion back and forth a lot of follow on conversations and input from from the calendar committee representatives and principles and uh Miss silver thank you for your service on the calendar committee thank you all right thank you Mr Oliver well it's obvious I'm not great at this everyone so thank you for bearing with me this evening so we do have
117new business next uh the 2024 Summit learning learning program plan uh Miss hamy so I will be requesting board action tonight on our Summit Summer learning plan so we are at that exciting time of the year where we get to discuss this year's summer learning opportunities as part of our continuous model of improvement McDow County Schools would like to continue you offering summer learning options called take two Camp our camps will offer additional instruction in reading math science for students who do not meet the proficiency standard on the end of the year assessment eligible students for take two Camp will be students who score a level two but are within five points of proficiency on the end of grade test Camp attendance will provide students an opportunity for remediation and a second administration of the
118end of grade assessments attending students will receive breakfast and lunch at no cost to them or their families and bus transportation will be provided as needed to ensure that eligible students have the opportunity to attend participation in take two Camp is optional for all students and students will be held harmless if they choose not to participate we aimed for continuous Improvement in look for ways to better serve our students needs upon your approval we would like to schedule our camp at each elementary and middle school this will allow students to stay in their home schools where they feel comfortable with the staff and their location take two Camp will be scheduled for June the 10th through the 13th and at mdal high we will have credit recovery and it will be offered from June the
11917th through June 27th students participating in Credit Recovery can take the eoc's again following their Remediation in that in Credit Recovery in order to be able to offer this we must have the board's approval to offer take to camp and Credit Recovery to our students okay thank you Bo you saw that proposal in your packet and so I will take a motion to accept the proposed uh summer learning program plan all right's MOA is there a second all right Miss Helms alen Helms we're friends and I all right is there any discussion I got a question try how many typically do we have at the high school how many remediation students come for that the EOC we have a typical number SP you help me with that typical number that comes back I call it
120summer school but it's remediation retesting remediation okay and we're providing breakfast and lunch for those kids too my question is going to be with the remodeling of the cafeteria do we have a plan for that we will work around that absolutely given that opportunity okay that's just what I want to make sure okay I just want to make sure we so we do um most of the time Mr S I hope this helps answer the question most of the time we uh only open select kitchens in the summertime and we do cater in to various schools um since we're unable to staff all of the locations with staff and so that is a catering service that Mr Haynes and his staff does very well um and it's closely monitored to meet the guidelines and regulations
121yeah there no construction sites that's not good for anyone so make sure no one's absolutely that's that's a great question and one one thing I want to throw out too just for for everybody listening out there you know last year and we talked about this this morning we we we recovered 136 tests uh that were not passing to proficient and we talked about the the impact that that had on 136 students um because that's that situation where you may be a third grader and you didn't pass the test in third third grade and you didn't pass the test in fourth grade but when you pass that test even on the second attempt in the fifth grade the level of self-esteem that that gives you and confidence that that gives you going into Middle School is
122just it's critical um and then it it's it's really what's what's important there so I think it's great that we're able to offer that I hope we're always able to offer that is there any further discussion on the 2024 summer learning program plan no okay so we have a motion made by Miss Muma and a second by by Miss Angela alen Helms to approve the 2024 summer learning program plan and so we will go ahead and vote so all in favor all right that's a unanimous vote carries thank you Miss Hami thank you uh it looks like you're also going to present on the Asser monitoring report is that right absolutely I'm super excited to share the success of our wonderful leadership team our recent monitoring experience with the elementary Secondary School emergency relief or
123what we call Esser monitoring with the Department of Public Instruction was exceptionally positive the monitoring process was characterized uh by a positive experience overall by all who participated our team demonstrated thoroughness and commitment to the compliance process we submitted nearly 9,000 documents as part of our monitoring process showcasing our dedication to providing comprehensive information on the outstanding effort in response to covid-19 the program administrator for our ESS review was highly complimentary of our team's effort importantly the one thing you've been waiting for and I am proud to say is that there was no findings were identified during our monitoring process I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank our leadership team sitting here before you tonight for their hard work and dedication so if I've not said it already thank you all for
124a job well [Applause] done overall the mon ing experience reflects positively on our diligence and effectiven in managing our s program and funds and ensuring compliance as we all wish to do thank you for allowing me to share this opportunity with you thank you thank you Mrs Miss Hami Miss Hami okay all right we're going to shift into board reports um and if anyone has anything to share Mr Frank with budget or Finance anything this yes ma'am uh good news we're going to not have a meeting call meeting for this uh we had discussed that at our last meeting and thought we would thank goodness uh hats off to our finance officer who feels that we could probably do a better job of this in our work session so thank you very much we'll do
125that in April work session correct right right thank you so much ma'am all right sounds good buildings and grounds Mr sules yes we had a meeting earlier today with a group from NC State University and U how was it pronounced to us it was actually called it itee all right which uh and I have for what it stands for here somewhere but anyway the group helps us find in community uh our needs for the new schools if if they come up in the future uh possibly combining schools uh where our community is growing where it's uh depleting in certain areas so um all the knowledge that they have and the information is going to help us to make those decisions in the future to make sure we make the right decisions so we're exploring that
126and help they're going to provide a quote for their services to us to uh kind of explore that's something that we want to do so other than that Mr Oliver did a great job again with all the the upgrades to our school system and garbage drinks have done a great job too there so I know we're still cleaning out SE lines I no every time so thanks for doing that I know it's not a good job so Mr s uh if you don't mind being chaired uh our tennis coach John Wells is here let's find out how our tennis courts are doing they're brand new coach John I was looking up the record right now I saw you in there but how we doing with the tennis yes that's awesome that's great great news thanks
127for letting us know that and good luck to you the rest of the [Laughter] season on those beautiful new courts good thank you all right Miss silver curriculum and instruction do you have anything to update we're looking to purchase a math curriculum I think I think I heard about that todayst check uh there is nothing to add for personnel and policy we did just go ahead and approve the most recent policy updates and so I'll turn it back over I'm sure miss silver you've got some great things to say about Head Start always Dr Delany and her team um just love it I say it every month but it's my favorite part about the second Monday of every month um couple of Staffing updates if you know anyone that would be interested in an instructional
128assistant position at Head Start U we're doing three year olds that's a 10 month um position Early Head Start custodian position part-time but that would be 12 months and and as as always uh our our employees that were there left because someone offered them more money um to to take those positions um they're in the fourth year of a five-year Grant cycle uh and the 20 2024 2025 budget that they will have presented is 2,291 248 that includes salaries buildings and utilities um if you have not taken the opportunity to look through the packet that was presented that's in our consent agenda I encourage you to do that because if you want to see a team of people that working theirselves to death to educate our youngest and most vulnerable Learners uh it is our
129Head Start program and and I just cannot say enough good things I I got emotional today during our policy meeting because it is giving every kid in this County that qualifies to come to this program um a head start literally a head start um and I think some of us take for granted the families that we have and the families that we come from but the bulk of our kids do not come from the types of homes that we have and it levels the playing field so again if you hadn't had a chance to look at that one thing that that Dr Delany mentioned and I followed up with her later on um looking at our staff wages for our Head Start staff we are the lowest uh in staff comparability in our region and
130so I ask her to name some of the counties that we are regionally put together with to think about the fact that our are paid the lowest that is paid out of federal funds um the only thing that McDow County Schools pays for is 4% of Dr delany's salary but some of the counties that are in our region are waga cobwell Alexander Kataba Burke Avery Mitchell yansy Madison bunam pul Henderson Transylvania Swain Graham Cherokee clay and mon um so that looks at a large demographic base um but I think that that's something that we need to to to first of all put pressure on our um our federal representatives and our state representatives but also locally is we need help we need help to be able to be competitive um to keep people in these
131positions because we are again the lowest out of that that is from catela County West so that's it all right thank you so much okay board we're at the spot of approving the consent agenda as a reminder any item may be pulled from the consent agenda with agenda with the the majority of the vote of the board and discussed and voted on as a separate item um are there any items on this list for the approval of the consent agenda that anyone would like to pull and discuss separately all right then I will go ahead and take a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented I'll make the motion we approve it as all right Mr subtles makes a motion and Mr shord makes a second is there any discussion all right all in
132favor to approve the consent agenda that's a unanimous vote great all right so we need to head next into close session um and I will give the reasons why we're moving into Clos SE session um the the stated things that we're doing in Clos session tonight is we are addressing privileged or confidential student information uh there's disclosure of privileged or confidential person information also matters protected by the attorney client privilege uh to discuss the terms of a contract for employment and then to plan conduct or hear reports concerning investigations of alleged criminal misconduct and so those are the reasons why we are heading into closed session this evening I need to have a motion made in order for us to move in that way all right Miss Muma makes a motion all right Mr NY
133makes a second is there any discussion before we go can I sorry yes I just want to encourage y'all because I know there's a lot of videotaping of the chorus thing that went on tonight please share on social media in my time on the board that's one of the most moving things that I've ever seen uh I got chills cold chills um but it's just wonderful and uh so so share that please share that on social media I'd like to get it out there yes thank you so much agreed all right all in favor to move into close session unanimous vote thank you everyone for coming and thank you for bearing with me as I muddled through