001Good afternoon everyone. I'd like to take this opportunity on behalf of the board and our superintendent to welcome you to our meeting at uh this time that the record reflect that all board members are present. We're going to ask Mr. Benjamin Forest to lead us in our pledge and our moment of silence. Stand for the pledge of allegiance. Hand over our heart. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Before we u enter into our moment of silence, there are two individuals that we certainly want to uh recognize today, at least their families on the tragedy that happened in their u to them. Uh Miss Diane Joiner who was cafeteria manager at
002Welcome Middle School passed away and we want to remember them in our thoughts and in our prayers. and then Elisha Barrett, a North Pitt High School student who was uh killed in a car wreck. So, we want to keep those families in our prayers. Let us pray. Our heavenly father, so truly grateful and thankful to be able to come tonight to do the business of Pit County Schools. We thank you, oh Lord, for a committed school board who wants only for the best interest of our students here in Pit County. We thank you, oh Lord, for a congregation of members here tonight, this evening that represent our staff and our faculties, our administrations, our teachers, and the community in general that have come here this evening to be able to watch this board meet uh
003meeting with the freedom to be able to do that. What a blessing it is. We ask, oh God, this evening that whatever we do will be pleasing in thy sight and that we do it with unity and with harmony because you are not a God of chaos. We'll be careful to give you always the glory and the honor and the praise for it all for in Christ's name. Amen. >> Amen. >> Are there any adjustments to our agenda? >> Motion to approve. >> Move to approve. Second. >> It's been moved by Jennifer, second by Kelly. Any questions? All in favor of said motion, let it be known by the raising of the right hand. >> Motion carry. >> Spotlight on learning. Miss Beth. >> Good evening, Chair Trip, board members, Dr. ambassador and those that
004are here in person and those that are watching online. We have literally rolled out the red carpet tonight for an incredibly special group of individuals. We have all of our building principles administrators here tonight. October is National Principles Month, a time to honor and celebrate the incredible leaders who guide our schools with passion, compassion, vision, and dedication. Principles are more than administrators. They are mentors. They're advocates, problem solvers, and champions for every student and every staff member. Each day, they balance the demands of instructional leadership, student success, and community partnership, all while creating environments where learning thrives and people feel valued. to every principal across Pit County schools. And I wish you could see what I see right now. This beautiful sea of principles line the hallways. We thank them for their steadfast leadership, their
005resilience, and their heart for education. Their work inspires achievement, builds community, and truly shapes the future. So this month and always we celebrate our Pit County schools principles which are the heartbeat of our schools and the driving force behind student success. So tonight we're going to recognize them by district. So our wonderful board members can love on their schools, their school leaders um in their district. So we're going to start with district one which is with Miss Mby Maltzby and we're going to recognize JH Rose High School, Pit County Early College High School, Ridgewood Elementary, and South Greenville High School. This is our wonderful Dr. Jones, Deshawn Jenkins, Katie Swain, who is a new principal this year, and the wonderful Nietra Cook, who is also a new principal this year. And I love I'm Go
006ahead. I have to say something. I love these four. They are my district. I support them as much as I can. And I just want you to know we're so proud of you and I love you. I appreciate [Applause] Next we have the leaders for Lake Forest Elementary School, Mr. Perkins, Sadie Salter, Miss Kina Blackmore, and we also have at Pit Academy, Jar Cannon, and Mike Lutz. Thank you so much for what you guys do is amazing. I know we are we are small as far as amount of schools in our district but we huge population. So you guys do amazing things. [Applause] Chair Trip will come up and honor Belvore Elementary, Bethl School, North Pit High School, Northwest Elementary, Stoke School, and Welcome Middle. We have Miss Bell, Mr. Harris, Mr. Willis, Miss Ambrose,
007Miss Dra Ingram, and Dr. Keith Neil. >> Congratulations. Thank you. and Mr. Onalf of the board on behalf of all of North of the River, we thank you for the outstanding job you're doing with the school and your staff. We're very proud of you and we're looking for the same thing next year. We were going high. We got it now where people all across the south, the east, and the west are saying north of the >> river. Told me to get on the side. >> You didn't make it into the >> I didn't make it on the top. Ready? Two. [Applause] >> We have Mr. Eastwood and he's going to present the principles for district 4. We have Faulland School, Farmville Middle. They're getting be to be rowdy out there. Farmville Central High School, HB
008Sug, and Sandy Bundy. We have Mr. Brad Johnston, we have Alison Cington, Miss Denim, and we have Jeremiah Miller. >> Appreciate you. Thank you. On behalf of the board, Imp County Schools and parents of District 4, we are highly grateful of everything y'all do for all our schools. Very thankful that my kids have gone through grew up with Miss Denim, but they've gone through all the other schools and we wouldn't have it any other way. Love this report. [Applause] Next, we invite Dr. Jennifer Hudson up to recognize District 5. At Creekide, we have Miss Williams at WH Robinson. We have the wonderful Miss Roundtree. We have Dr. Sheena Kaitton at South Central High School and Dr. Norman McDuffy at AG Cox. Congratulations. So I go down here and thank you all hugs because you all
009give the personal touch every single day to everybody who walks your halls. You hug your children. You praise your teachers. And you leave your families to do this. You are there early in the morning until late at night. We cannot thank you enough. And I just want to just thank you for letting to be a part of your experience. We love you. So, thank you. >> Two. [Music] >> Congratulations. Vice Chair War Forbes will come up to recognize district six. At Griffin School, we have Miss Brick House. At at Aiden on Middle School, we have Harrison. At Aiden Elementary, we have Dr. Michael Casey. At Aiden Griffin High School, we have Dr. Manis. And at DH Conley High School, we have Mr. TJ Warl. We appreciate you. We thank you for all you do. As
010a Nobody knows what a principal goes through unless they are principal. You even think that okay I've been an assistant principal I know it all but when you get up there that top spot and you have to answer for everything the pressure that's on your should and we as board members we respect that and we thank you district C district that's right and we thank you for all that you do appcate [Applause] See, I made that. >> You get to sit up top all the time. >> That's right. [Applause] Next, Kelly Weaver will come up and recognize district 7. We have an EBA Cox, Sam Lee, >> where it's always a good day. >> That's right. Elmhurst Elementary, we have Megan Newman, who is our current principal of the year. We have Winter Green Intermediate
011and Winter Green Primary, Dr. Paul Brown. Y'all are three of my favorite people and I'm so grateful for you for what you do for not only how you lead your school but how you lead this district. Um we have a principal of the year, we have a principal of the year candidate. We have an incredible leader um who is making UVA so much fun. Um and I'm grateful that I get to see what you do as a parent and as a board member and as a community member. And I genuinely love you guys very much. So [Applause] We have Dr. Amanda Klein and she will recognize district 8. We have Eastern Elementary School, CMS Middle School, we have Innovation Early College High School and Wal Coats. This is Dr. Casey Hayyatt, Tracy Davenport, Ken Harris,
012and we have Ally Seter. >> On behalf of the district 8 families and students, thank you so much for your incredible leadership. We are so lucky to have all four of you. I'm going to cry, but I feel it deep in my heart. [Applause] It's incredible to see how much our board members love our principles. That is evident in each group. So, thank you for for all that you do for our schools and for our administrators. And last but not least, we have District 9. We have at Hope Middle School, Jennifer Johnson. We have at Chicago, um, oh my gosh, I I know this did not happen. Leslie Hayes, and we have at GR Witfield, Miss Bailey, and Kim Lucas at Polis. >> Well, let me just say this. They only give me three minutes
013to make my closing remark. Put a time Yeah, we did. >> I I will tell you that uh first of all, they saved the best for last, didn't it? >> And secondly, I want to tell you how much I really appreciate what y'all do. It's a special special, I say, calling from God. And and Miss Lucas, you and I have had conversations before about that. And uh you know I talked to her one time Leslie and uh she was even running after some of the kids down the road and later on I found out it was a race and she she came in last appreciate everything that you do outfield. The community appreciates what you do. You are you came from Chicago, came from a wonderful place and uh and you've given a a great
014commitment there at your Whitfield and we appreciate it. Leslie, I had a lady yesterday whose husband passed away and he was an FFA member at Chicago High School and still got the most pristine FFA jacket that you will ever see. and he wanted to know was there any way that we could weave that into the history of Chicago school and I said I knew the exact woman to talk to in fact I'm going to see her tomorrow night and Leslie you do a tremendous job your faculty and staff really really appreciate what you do uh good leaders surround themselves with good people and you do a wonderful job in doing that Miss Johnson we want to thank you for everything that you do middle school a long time ago. I had a first a second
015cousin that was on the board of education here. Um and he driving out in the country and he was trying to decide what we going to name Middle School and he turned around at Hope Whale Church and he said that's what we'll name it, Hope Middle School. And do you know what? You bring hope to that faculty, staff, the the the children, and also the parents there. And we appreciate everything that y'all do. Let's give them a round of applause. >> Thank you. [Applause] And I feel confident that our principal of the virtual academy is probably watching virtually. So this is for Beth Madigan. She is a wonderful virtual um academy principal. And so Beth, we love you as well. And thank you for all that you do to inspire not only in a building,
016but you inspire virtually every single day. >> Thank you. Let's give our principles another hand. >> We love our schools and we love our princip principles even more. At this time we have public expressions. This evening we have one individual uh two individuals and one group offering public expression. public expressions opportunity to share issues or concerns that are relevant to the business of the board. The board will listen to your comments respectively and our chair may offer some direction if our rules are not followed but board will not respond to your comments. Only speakers who've signed up for public expression may address the board. When a speaker's time expires, you must end your remarks and step away from the podium. If a speaker is not present when his or her name is called, the opportunity
017to speak will be considered waved. And during this uh time period, you may hear someone share a viewpoint with the board that you do not agree with. We do not censor speech by viewpoint. We do not permit our audience to express approval or disapproval for a viewpoint expressed. This time is for the individual speaking to address the full board. The board does not permit speakers to name a staff member or student when offering praise and criticism. We also do not permit comments that are ir irrelevant to our business which include attacks on individuals for something in their personal lives or discussion of board members, family members. Again, the board members will listen to your comments respectfully and our chair may offer some direction if our rules were not followed, but we will not respond to
018your comments. At this time, we will hear from our first speaker, and that's uh Trisha uh Workoff. You got three minutes. Good evening board members, chair, everyone in the audience. I am here tonight to extend to y'all an invitation. But first, I want to spend some of my time talking about a man. A man who until his passing was in the public eye. a popular man who was white, Republican, Christian, cisgender, heterosexual. He prayed and read the Bible daily. This man was one of the most influential men of his generation, and his words impacted millions of people, including myself. This man's name was Mr. Fred Rogers. Mr. Rogers had no room for hate in his heart. In fact, he wanted nothing more than to be our neighbor. There was a collective grief when he passed
019because we all mourned the loss of such genuine goodness from the world. Mr. Rogers enjoyed sharing stories about his life with others, often using them as a way to find common ground. I first heard one such story in the aftermath of 911 when I was a scared teenager trying to make sense of a suddenly topsyturvy world. He shared a story of when he was a child and he would see scary things on the news and feel afraid and his mother would tell him to look for the helpers because you would always find people helping. Looking for the helpers comforted me greatly during some of the most challenging times of my life because Mr. Rogers mother was right. You will always find people helping. Looking for the helpers gave me something to do. It gave me
020something to search for even in the most horrific unimaginable of circumstances. You'll see people helping. And because I saw people helping, it gave me the courage to keep on going. And as I was able to do that, I became someone that I wanted others to see helping to to hopefully give them courage to go to in these dark and challenging times. And so with that, I want to extend an invitation to everyone listening, but especially to everyone in the board that I'm addressing as we continue to live through these dark and scary times. Please join me in being a helper for others to look for and find. Please, you guys, be the helpers. I reserve my time. Okay, now we have uh Claudia Harris. Um, three minutes. >> She's not here. >> Not here. >>
021Okay. Now we have uh Miss Julie Andrews and you got five minutes. >> Julia Andrews Anderson. >> Thank you. When I come up here, the first thing I think of is truth. I'm not here to condemn. If someone takes anything I say as condemnation or takes a personal I guess we just have to reflect in ourselves and uh look at what how we think and we feel. We all have different opinions. We have all have different views on how we look at life. First, I want to thank uh with Moms for Liberty and parents. Want to thank the school board for the recent action taken to clean up our school library, specifically eliminating access to public libraries, removing some books and the ebooks also. That is a very very big move and I thank you
022for that. And also want to thank uh the school district for allowing moms for liberty through the nine 917 society providing over uh 2,000 uh constitutions for our eighth graders this September 17th. We all recognize it's a big step and we have to take correction and that um also that more effort is needed to be made to uh rid our libraries of some age inappropriate books. We understand that we can hide behind the opt out, but we don't have to use that. We have things like sexually explicit books, beastiality, photographic uh pictures of things our children shouldn't see and detailed verbiage of sex acts. Parents first and foremost are the leaders in this area. A school district must be transparent, not requiring the parent or guardian to learn about these inappropriate non-academic materials. um is
023completely backwards. We are essentially saying parents, catch me if you can. If you don't, then it makes these grotesque materials justified. Why aren't we simply saying to all parents, we want to do what's morally, ethically, and professionally correct. And all the materials that are rated 18 and older must be gone. Let us focus on getting back to basics. we can move forward and focus on the subjects that make a strong and effective young citizen. There's no purpose for sexually sexually explicit nor gender ideology in our schools. We are academic educators. In 2023, a former PIT employee, now with North Carolina DPI, purchased the nasty materials, as I see it, to indoctrinate, to brainwash. What other reason would there be? It serves no educational purpose. It takes a t's attention off of what the purpose they're
024in school. What if I or one of you, any one of you, decided to take one of those books, specifically rated four, and I can tell you what a four is because it's pretty gross. Explicit sexual nudity, organs, obscene references to sexual activities, intercourse of different types, and whatnot. And they're in our libraries. What if I decided and you along with me, we decided to go to a student that's next door, lives next door to us and um provide this book through the public library. Do you know that parent, if you're sitting down there reading or providing it to them, that parent has the legal right to call the cops and to press charges on me and you and we could potentially be charged and arrested? And also, if you if I am found guilty,
025what if I turn around later on and I decide I want to volunteer at the school? Are you going to use that conviction against me when you have that material in the school? We need to think about this because it's backwards and we need to get it right. All of us need to be the mature adult in the room and leave our personal ideologies and gender ideologies at the door. Which brings me to this Mo Green. I think you've probably all seen it, maybe not. He's the North Carolina DPI superintendent. Well, this month he's decided that he's going to take our tax dollars, make a video, and uh talk to the queer youth event via video. This is his priority while our reading and math scores are so down. Right. Anyway, I need to talk
026faster, but anyway, it's disgusting and it's an abomination and it needs to end and we need to speak out and this school board should speak out because we have poor scores here in this school district. Is this what you want your DPI doing? It has no business. We applaud any teachers and administrators whose mission is education focused, not ideology. Can we finally move forward toward eliminating this filth and stand steadfast in education? Thank you. >> Thank you again. We thank you for the public expressions and we we do not make comments about the public expressions uh during that time or during our remarks. At this time, we move to our consent items, our board meetings, the 2526 title one plan number three, four, and five. >> Motion to approve. >> So, second it. Moved by
027W, second by Mary. Any questions? All in favor, let it be known by the raising of the right hand. >> Closing remarks starting with our superintendent. >> Uh thank you, Mr. Chair, and good evening to everyone. First and foremost, I want to express my condolences again to uh the Joner family and Elijah Barrett's family. uh loss is never easy for any family and my thoughts and prayers and comfort go out to uh the family. Also, I want to thank the board as well as our county commissioners today uh for talking about our schools um our wonderful school district and the great things that are happening. Um you know, we were able to highlight some of our facility needs. Uh one thing that I was remiss about sharing was that we our scores were 38th in
028the state. um of 115 school districts to show that our school district is doing well and our teachers are top-notch and they are doing well. So, I'm incredibly grateful to the board and our county commissioners uh for their time uh today. Also, I want to thank our principles today. This month is National Principles Month and we'll be celebrating our principles all month long. Uh we look forward to celebrating the greatness that they bring to the table. um and for them digging in and doing the hard hard work that it takes to run a school um in a very complex district and uh society today. And so I want to publicly say thank you to our board members for loving on our principles um and showing them uh what it means to first and foremost have
029their back, to keep them encouraged um and to keep them lifted. So, I I want to just share that and I'm just thankful again for all 39 of our principles and educators that make things happen in our district. So, Mr. Chair, this concludes my comments. >> Thank you. We'll start with our board members and again be reminded that we have three minutes. If you go over, you were here together. All right. Starting with Bendy Far. >> Mr. Chairman, first of all, I want to thank you for a job exceedingly well done this evening. Uh you u were there and represented our board of education and our pit county schools so well as the chairman uh with our joint meeting that we had with the county commissioners. I thought that that was a very very well
030uh organized and well conducted meeting and a much needed one, Mr. Superintendent. And I hope that we can together work with our county commissioners in making more of those types of meetings available because the more they know about us and our needs and the more we know about them and their concerns and the issues that they have to go through, I think the better all together it will be in order to get the people's business done. >> So I uh I applaud applaud you. I applaud you and the entire board and staff, faculties and everything else that was involved in that. Uh I also want to commend our principles. Principles are the instructional leaders of our school and uh from them derive all of the other things that are either excellent or um that that
031we do excellently in schools or we do average in schools. And so many times we put a bar out there and we put the bar at average. But those principles that came in here this evening, they when they when they put the bar up, they put the bar up for excellent results. And uh from the superintendent on down through your staff and through the principles and the teachers that are involved with it, the results that we have seen on our scores are living proof that we are continuing to improve. And if I had had the opportunity to have said something that that meeting, I would have said this. There are so many school systems in eastern North Carolina in particular that probably have less students in their system than the private or the charter schools
032or the home schools in that county. But in Pit County, it's the exact opposite. We have 24,000 students and it continues to grow and it grows because you have a public that trust what we do here and I'm proud of that. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mary. >> Thank you, chairman. First of all, I'd like to give thanks thanks thanks again to the principal and a special thanks to doc uh Miss Swain, Miss Cook, Dr. Jones and to Mr. Jenkins. Uh again, I want to thank the audience. Thank you all for giving us a full house tonight. It's good to see our community supporting uh and looking and seeing what we do as a board to support our children, our staff, and our and our community. So, thank you for being here. I also like
033to thank uh Dr. Ler. Dr. Lester and your staff, you are amazing. Keep doing what you're doing. We were um Fischer, our chairman, had a ch and I had a chance to attend a conference this past week and it was so good to see Pit County looking good on that sheet. You all, we were shining. We was shining and I highlighted it and I let everybody look look where we are. And honey, they went, "What do you all do?" So, Dr. Lester, people are talking about us. We are doing an an amazing thing. So, to you and your staff, keep on climbing. We know we got work to do, but we're gonna get there. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mary. Amy, >> I want to just echo what been said by my fellow board members.
034Thank you so much for our principles and everything they do every day. As worth mentioning in the beginning, being a principal is a tough job and only a principal knows what they go through. So, I can't I can't say that I understand that. But having children, I just two is enough for me to go crazy. So I can't imagine having a whole school full of children, you know, at one time and they do very well and they know how to handle it. Um, so I'm very appreciative for everything that they do. Um, I also wanted to send my condolences out to the Joiner family and the Barrett families. Um, it's never a good thing to hear and we just hope that we can bring some peace to those families at this time. And I also
035wanted to thank our county commissioners for meeting with us today. Um, I do think that was a long time coming. We've been talking about meeting with them for several years since I've been on the board. And um it's good to finally see that happening because as Benji said, if they know our needs and we know their concerns and we can meet together and hopefully get some stuff done um because as they saw today, our needs are very very large. So we've got a lot of facilities that are aging and we've got to do something about that. So thank you. >> Thank you, Jess. >> All right. Uh, one thing I've learned in my short time here is that this position, it is political and it demands us to wear many hats. You have to learn
036which hat to put on in situations. Trying to figure out when to wear the parent hat, when to wear a board member hat, and so forth. You have to learn when to speak up, what to say, and also just as important, when to hold back. Something that I'm still trying to learn. I'm the type of person that leads with their heart and it has put me in tight spots in the past and will probably put me in tight spots in the future. I look back on this past year in the election and think to myself often, why did you vote for me? What made you as a community decide that I was the right one for this seat? I'd like to believe it was because you talked to me, met me, heard me at the
037public forums, and saw how deeply passionate I am about fighting for every child. I'm a firm believer that if you ask God for courage, he's not just going to give it to you. He's going to put you in situations to be courageous. If you ask him for patience, he's not just going to grant it. He's going to give you opportunities to be patient. And if you ask him to make you a leader, he's not going to give it to you. He's going to provide opportunities for you to lead. And I like I would like to believe that this is what this has been. In our house, we believe we don't believe or we raise we don't raise our children to see color. We don't believe in just one political party's beliefs. We don't see nor
038care if you're wealthy or not. We teach about karma, loving everybody, right and wrong, being helpful and not judgmental. You get what you put into this world, and you go to bed each night knowing that you tried to make the world just a little bit better. I take each and every day that way. I say and vote how I feel and think is right. I take the entirety of my community into thought when it comes down to our schools. I'm not going to get through it all, so I have to say that. Um, when issues come up, whether they involve classroom dynamics, teacher or student conduct, athletic situations, teacher admin situations, or outside of the school, or even possibly the home, it's too often the response to those are silence, redirection, quick fixes that avoid
039addressing the root cause, or just ignoring it, hoping it resolves itself, or the complaining parties just forget. These are not solutions. This is avoidance. When we prioritize convenience, comfort, and appearances over accountability, we're sending the wrong message. We're telling those reporting parties their voice doesn't matter. We're telling families, teachers, admin, students, public that want to speak up that it all is doing is causing disruption and interrupting the status quo. And it's giving off the vibe that accountability can be sidestepped or ignored. I want to skip some stuff. Um, sorry, I had to be at the next meeting. I am proud to be a board of education member each and every day. I'm proud to sit up here with this group of nine and the superintendent and the progress and path that I'm seeing that they
040want the PCS to go in. I appreciate each and every one of you that show up to the meetings that watch online and stay involved and what is going on with Pit County Schools. Uh thoughts and prayers to the families who have lost. Uh thank you to all the principles. Congratulations to all the principal of the year nominees and uh >> you made it all way. Thank you, Justin. Um, again, holding space for the Joiner and Barrett families. Um, also just want to recognize Beth Alers who always brings the sunshine to everything and has just this amazing way of making people feel appreciated and special. And when we can't pay people the worth sometimes, we can at least let them know how important they are to us. And so, we need to let you know
041that as well. And that goes for Carol. Um, I also just wanted to thank all of our principles. Um, and I also want to thank people in the audience and people who come to the microphone, it takes a lot of courage to speak your truth and whether we agree with each other or not. I think if we move from a position of love, then hopefully that's where we'll end up. So, just thank everybody for doing that. I did ask my principles to say some good stuff. So, I'm excited. Um, so Principal Williams, who's Creekide Elementary, said they have a dedicated staff with a 90% retention rate. They continued five percentage point increase in proficiency for two consecutive years with an increase in the overall report card grade. So, Pit County Schools is doing it and
042doing it right. We have high levels of parent engagement throughout the year. Leadership opportunities for students. SGA 15th year of the running club, gardening crew, etc. So, very, very proud of them. Um, Dr. McDuffy at AG Cox. He says he doesn't want to jinx it, but they're off to a smooth start for the year. We started 26 clubs Wednesday with 687 students. That is student involvement. They had an awesome AVID signing night um last Tuesday. The cafeteria was full of students and parents. They started an AGC podcast and they have a year-long dance class. Went to see Mottown last week at ECU. So, they are moving and shaking literally. Um then we had principal Roundtree who's at WH Robinson and I got to show to this and it was so special. They have Robinson reading
043roundtable curriculum night. Parents came in. They had an opportunity to engage in collective conversation with teachers about ways to increase reading skills and discuss best instructional practices and materials that were sent home. And it was just such a positive vibe and I was so blessed to be there. And then Dr. Kaitton um is South Central said that um this South Central hosted an AVID showcase on October 1st. It's the beginning of the national demonstration site process which is the reason for the showcase. The coaching cycle will take place over the course of the next three semesters with a tenative validation date of fall 2026. They were deemed an AVID schoolwide site based on their coaching and certification instrument in 2024. In addition, Dr. Dr. Kaitton was honored at AVID Summer Institute for being nominated as
044AVID Secondary Principal of the Year for their Global Achievement Awards. Um, South Central High School's Dr. Kaitton and her team member will be presenting at AVID National Conference at the National Conference Y County on the map in San Diego in December. >> Thank you, Kevin. >> I um, as you saw, I get choked up with principles. Um we are in the presence of greatness with the principles across Pit County. Um, >> and and you know, we can hear the things that we're doing from each other, have our directors come and share with us here at board meetings, but it's a whole other um, beautiful experience to see it. >> Um, when they invite you into the classrooms and not just into the pretty stuff, but into the challenges so that we're able to advocate for
045them um, and for the students. And um there are so many wonderful principles and I cannot wait to celebrate them next week at the principal um of the year banquet and also our wonderful assistant principles because without them our principles couldn't do all the work that they do um and we've got some incredible assistant principles um that I just >> they're they're really special. Um, I want to recognize custodian appreciation day as well, um, as important as our principles are, having a a clean, um, space for our students matters a lot. And they that is the, um, the work that doesn't get recognized and and it really impacts our educational environment for our students. So, thank you to all the custodians across the county and what you do for us um, every day. >> Um,
046I wanted to say also, Benji, I if I had had a chance to speak with the um with the dual with the county commissioners, I would have um just continue to celebrate our dual language programs. um they are beautiful and not just because our students are learning another language and their brains are like growing in different ways but the culture that our international teachers bring to our schools and not just in our dual language programs is incredible and I get I get goosebumps thinking about them as well because they have left their families and their comfort to come and serve our students and to bring c bring a different culture to them and it it matters um our students see it and know it. I can ask my first grader where Messi's from and he
047knows Argentina because his teacher's from Argentina. Um because we are not athletes at my house and we do not watch soccer. Um it's as long as everybody has fun. So um so those teachers, our international teachers are so um so important. I'm very excited about our new opportunities and to see what IB is going to look like across our district and and I wish we could have all of these opportunities in every single school. Um but we have something in every single school. And so I um I hope that our families come and see it. Um know that we care. And and I piggy back on Justin real quick as well. I want to lead from my heart. Sometimes that's not easy and it's it's hard and our kids and our teachers matter and um
048and I'm grateful to be on a board with some members who work the same way. So thank you. >> Amen. >> Um good evening everyone. Um, I also uh want to give my condolences to the Joiner and Barrett families. Um, it is so hard um to hear about these losses uh in our district. Um, I also want to give some shoutouts this week. So, for Wall Coats, uh, for the first time since 2015, Wall Coats exceeded growth and is no longer designated as a low performing school. I know we celebrated this before, but I'm going to say it again. Uh these amazing accomplishments are a testament to principal Davenport and the entire faculty and staff at Wall Coats. >> Moving on to CMFs. Go Bulldogs. Um EPS continues to celebrate its faculty and staff with
049monthly teacher appreciation lunches and they have some fun activities and treats coming up for the month of October. Students who check out books at the media center receive a Halloween treat this month and they are collecting candy donations for their annual Halloween grad bag fundraiser. So, lots of engagement of students and families. Uh, over at Eastern, uh, they continue to pack their schedule with engaging events that bring together faculty, staff, students, and their families. They just hosted Rock Your School, which is an event to inspire schools and teachers to help engage students, making them want to come to school and get their parents involved. So, everyone was in costume. They had themed classrooms and educational opportunities. Finally, last but not least, uh we have Innovation Early College High School. Uh in addition to their recent
050accomplishment of becoming Cognia STEM certified, they also have a brand new principal, uh Casey Hyatt, who is bringing her positive energy and passion for education to early college. So, that's all very exciting. Um I'm also grateful to the Pit County Commissioners for a very productive meeting. I know they heard a lot about how much money is needed, but uh it sounds like they're all on board with us. Uh and then finally, I'd love to give a shout out to our state superintendent uh for including all of our students uh and showing that all of our students matter in our district. And that's >> thank you. >> Uh again, I want to mention the Jonah family and the Barrett family. uh you know they're going through so much and you know right after something like this
051happens I know uh pastor at Freedom Baptist Church you know you're surrounded with a lot of people but what's so hard is as the days go on you find yourself alone thinking of the loss that your family has dealt with. So, we need to all really pray for these families and uh I'm sure we all pray and we keep we need to keep these two families in our prayers. Another thing in regards to National Principles Month, I've been in uh education 46 years. This is the first time I've seen principles come up to the board or come up to the central office like that and be presented plaques uh by the board members. So, that's a first. And I think we need to give the staff and everyone up here a round of applause for
052doing that. Um, but I think about as a principal, I remember when I was principal at Chicago, you know, everything seemed to be going fine and then we had 911 to take place. And folks, you just will never realize how much something that happened in New York affected the community and the inside of that school. And it just takes a strong administrator to be able to work through those things because you're dealing with so many uh outside decisions that parents are making. You have divisions in the the groups of people and you've got to be able to stand there and get these groups back together in spite of what's going on on uh what's being said on the news or what's being said uh worldwide. That has an impact. Every time these principles go to
053uh to their schools each morning, they do not know what they're going to face during that day. if they're going to face a bomb threat or they gonna face someone uh attacking the school. They you just don't know. And I think we got good principles who've got a good head on their shoulders and I think they've got wonderful hearts and souls to do what needs to be done for the uh students in P County and to help these parents feel safety when they send their kids to to school. I send four grandkids to school. I give them to the school system. You know that. That's right. >> And you know, I trust that school system and I think we all need to build it up. [Laughter] >> I was going to call it if you
054did. >> I know you were. >> Again, thank all of you for coming, being in our meeting tonight. Those who uh watched our meeting, I dare not sit here and try to go over everything that have been said. Again, we're very proud of our principles, our schools. Uh at the conference that Mary and I went to, we brag about Pit County. We bragged about our superintendent. We brag about our board. Each year, it seemed like they look forward to us coming so they will hear what we're doing in Pit County. And they're trying to pattern themselves >> after what we're doing here in Pit County. Thank you, Bendy, for those kind words about the meeting today. But I could not be the chair that I am without working with a good board. The board makes
055the chair and the superintendent looks good and I really appreciate working with this board. I want the parents pit county to know that both boards, county commissioners and the school board are very serious about the education of our our children. And I believe that with the cooperation that we have that we're going to work together to get what we need for all of our students. And I'm just proud to be in a county that puts the students first and not other agendas. And this is what I saw today that these two boards come together to put our schools first and not our own agendas. That is what it's going to take to continue uh making Pit County to be the best school in the east school district to attend. And I thank all the staff,
056the superintendent, and everybody that's working so well together to make that happen. You ought to applaud yourself for what you're doing to make Pit County stand out like it does. And we can only go up from here. >> That's right. >> That's my comments on tonight. Anything else? >> All right. >> Motion to adjourn. >> Mary's any any comment? >> Good night. >> All right. All in favor? Motion carries. We are