2026-04-21 Board Meeting

001So we'll So we'll get started momentarily. We're going to let the So we'll get started within the next 2 minutes. We're going to give folks enough time as chairs are being pulled out for the overflow. Um we'll get started as soon as the room gets situated. All right, I'm going to read the Are you good and solid? All right, good evening everyone. It is 5:50. We are running a little behind, but I'm recalling the regular meeting of the Wake County Board of Education to order. I want to welcome those of you all that are seated here, those of you all that are watching online. Uh the Wake County Board of Education uh meetings are conducted for the purpose of carrying out the official business of the Wake County School System. The public is cordially invited

002uh to attend the board meeting to observe the board as it conducts its official business. Is there a way I can get a little more volume on this mic, please? Uh persons who willfully interrupt, disrupt, or cause disturbance at the official meeting may be directed to leave by the presiding officer. Members of the audience should show respect for the speakers by refraining from loud comments or any other disruptions. Disruptions by any person or persons of a public meeting will be subject to action in accordance with General Statute 143-318.17. We have all nine board members here are present, and I will ask that you all stand and join me as we recite the pledge. All right. So, I will now request a motion to approve tonight's meeting agenda. Is there a motion? All right, so I

003have a motion to approve by the vice chair. Is there a second? >> Seconded by Dr. Eng. Board members, please make sure that you log in to Simply. I'm sorry. Yes, sir. So, I was going to entertain that at our agenda as we get before we go to close session, asking for that motion. Um so, we'll get that once we get through our full agenda. No, thank you for that reminder. All right, so the approval [clears throat] of the minute agenda motions has already been laid at the table, and the voting should be on your screens. Dr. Eng, we're waiting on Thank you. Yes. You're against the motion? Dr. Eng, you're a yes? >> They're both >> Yes, Ms. Allen. All right, so our agenda has been approved unanimously. So, we will now turn to

004Sorry, I have more screen tabs open. All right. So, we will now turn to the public hearing of the Superintendent's proposed budget for the 2026-2027 um Uh during the public hearing for the Superintendent's proposed budgets, individuals will be able to speak up to 2 minutes instead of the 3 minutes. Um individuals will see a yellow light at the podium when there are 30 seconds remaining and a red light in addition to an audible tone that is normally heard at the normal meetings uh when your time is ended. And I hope I won't have to yell or get into the mic when your time is ended. And so, I think on the screens we'll be able to see the speakers' list. While that's getting pulled up, I will call the first one. Looks like our first

005speaker is Sarah Johnson. And we'll go in that particular order that is on the screen. >> Hello. Before I begin, I respectfully ask for your full attention free from phones and laptops. My name is Sarah Johnson. I'm a highly qualified veteran special education teacher at Willow Spring High School. I love my school. I love my students. I love teaching, and that's why I'm here tonight. I understand you do not have any control over teacher salaries or state benefits, but you do control teacher working conditions. And right now, those conditions are unsustainable. I've heard the district frame the decision not to cut $18 million from special education as a success. My students would call that a flex, but it's not a flex. It's a return to a baseline that was already inadequate. Special education teachers do

006not need less taken away. We need more added. Right now, I'm working two jobs in one position. Teaching and case managing are both full-time jobs. And yet, we are assigned to one position with caseload sizes that make fidelity nearly impossible. So, here's a logical reality. When caseloads are too high, errors increase. When errors increase, due process complaints increase. And when that happens, the district spends money reacting on legal fees, settlements, and corrective action rather than investing up front and doing what's right the first time. Underfunding special education is not saving money, it's delaying a larger bill. You may hear the counter argument that the county will not fund a larger request, that we must be realistic, that we should ask for what we can get. But, I would ask you this. Since when is advocating

007for students with disabilities about asking for what is comfortable instead of what is necessary? Your role is not to pre-negotiate against yourselves. Your role is to clearly and unapologetically state what our students need to receive a free and appropriate a free and appropriate public education. So, I'm here as a teacher and also an advocate. My workload directly impacts my students' progress. Please ask for what we need and not what we think we can get. Thank you. >> All right. We will now turn to our next speaker. >> Good evening. My name is Elliot Brody. I'm a school counselor at Baileywick Elementary. I'm a proud NCAE member. I've worked in Wake County for 13 years, first as a teacher and now as a counselor. Right now, I work at a school that serves 340 students. Even

008at this size, our sped department is at its limit. This past week, our sped department worked an additional 69 hours. Each of these pom-poms represents one of these additional hours. I spoke yesterday with one of our sped IAs, an immigrant from Hungary, deeply committed to this work. She supports K through three students pushing in and out with students all day. As an IA, she brings work home every day, progress monitoring and planning before she goes to bed. I asked if she knows how irreplaceable she is in her position. She shrugged and said, "Thank you." and told me it's not like this where I'm from. We have enough staff to support students. Her position was on the chopping block last week. RAP wrote a six-page summary for why she is vital to the success of our

009students. A pre-K developmentally delayed teacher couldn't come tonight because she has late cab duty. She arrives 90 minutes early just to be ready. Once students arrive, it's non-stop. She's new to Wake. IEP writing and documenting in eCats is no easy thing, and as expected, she needs intense support and coaching. But we don't have sped coordinators to support her in doing this work. That's just the tip of our iceberg, and Baileywick is feeling like the lucky ones this cutting, I mean, budget season. These pom-poms show how much neglect there is. What we could be doing instead to support new educators, what it takes to be a sped IA. Staff are stretched way too thin. Please do the right thing by students and include our sped solutions in your budget request now. >> [applause] >> All right.

010We'll now turn to our next speaker. >> Good evening. My name is Lisa Johnsick, and I'm an intervention teacher at Joyner Elementary. So, why am I speaking with you today instead of our CCR teacher, Krista Steen? Well, is she out enjoying a night with her family to celebrate a special birthday dinner? No. Is she getting her hair and her nails done? No. Is she enjoying some downtime or taking her dog for a walk or reading a good book? No, no, and no. Tonight, she is working to complete a functional behavior assessment for a behavior intervention plan, which depending on the needs of the child can take anywhere from three to five hours of outside of her contract time. >> [clears throat] >> I have talked to our entire sped department, which is four people at

011Joyner, and they are and collectively have worked 64 additional hours um of their outside of their contract time last week. Let me share Krista's feelings and frustrations with you right now. Imagine going to a job interview and being told that you're going to get paid for 40 hours of your contract time, but being asked to do 20 overtime hours unpaid. Well, that's the way it is, but I dare say you would probably pass on doing that job. Ask a sped teacher tonight to raise their hand whether crucial planning time or instructional time has been spent de-escalating a student in crisis. Ask them if they've had to lose their lunch time to build extra instructional time so that they can manage their fidelity to their students. The response to this? Work smarter, not harder. Use your

012time more wisely. Schedule creatively. Do these really sound like viable solutions? Special ed teachers are not asking for perks. They're not asking for bonuses. They are asking for your support to help our students with the greatest need. I urge you to to please support the NCAE's seven recommendations for sped behavior support your budget request. >> is your time. We'll now hear from our next speaker. >> [applause] >> Our next >> Good evening. My name is Teneal Sims. I'm a cross categorical kindergarten teacher at Fuquay Varina Elementary. I'm here today to urge Wake Board to include all of NCAE's seven solutions to their budget requests to the county commissioners. After speaking with my entire special education department at Fuquay Varina Elementary, we found that in just one week we collectively worked over 144 hours beyond our

013contracted time, giving up lunch, planning periods to meet our students' needs. This is a reality of our work driven by love and commitment to what we do what we do best for our children. I initially was relieved when I got the message that we would have no cuts to sped, but that relief was short-lived because after our last our last board meeting I received another email telling me that essentials at CCK are being cut because they're not considered essential. I want you to pause on the word and think about essential. For these students we serve, these programs and funding and support are essential. They are difference between access exclusion, between progress and regression, between feeling supported and feeling left behind. So I ask you, how are you defining essential? And who is has the authority

014to decide what our students and families need that are essential? Because from where I stand, these programs and requests are not optional but essential. They are life-changing for our students and families who depend on them. Your role as a school board member is to serve and be a representative of the community. Centering your Centering around student needs and representing the public interest in education, it is your job to ask for what student need. I urge you to join us in advocating for what our students need. These requests are not necessary steps to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our students and supporting our educators who we serve every day. So, please ask. Thank you. >> Thank you. We will now hear from our next speaker. [applause] >> Good evening. My name is Vivian

015Vail. I'm I'm a current special education teacher and a former special education IA at Broughton High School. Um Hello again. Um I'm here to urge the Board of Education to include uh NCAE seven recommendations for sped and behavior support in your budget request to the county commissioners. We cannot get the money that we do not ask for. And so, here's what I asked this week is uh to the rest of my department at Broughton, cumulatively in one in our standard week, how much are you working? And this uh draw represents an additional 200 205 and 1/2 hours from my department. Um we are incredibly dedicated workers. These pom-poms are only are the work that is related to special education and not all of the other things that we volunteer our time for um and support

016students with at our school. So, one of these pom-poms is lunches that are given up uh by an IA every week to administer testing. These are pom-poms for hours of calls uh to parents that are late in the evening because parents aren't available to speak to us during our planning periods. Um these are for extra morning duty for to supervise students who are arriving via cabs. We've been told that um by Dr. Taylor that he's not going to make cuts to special ed, but at Broughton we've already been told that we are losing two half-time sped positions as well as a half-time literacy coach. And these three individuals have, uh, without exaggeration, 92 100 years of teaching experience between the three of them. They are leaders in the school. They are trusted by students, staff,

017and families. And when these positions are cut, that extra casework is going to be spread on the rest of the sped department. We are already at our breaking point, and everyone in front of me should be saying thank you for every single one of these pom-poms that goes into this bucket. Instead, the board is saying, "This isn't enough. We need more." And I'm telling you we are already giving you all that we can. These cuts are unacceptable, and just a tiny property tax can generate the funding that we need to change thousands of lives for the better. >> Thank you. WE'LL NOW >> [cheering] [applause] >> WE'LL NOW HEAR FROM OUR NEXT SPEAKER, MS. JOYCE. >> HI, I'm Cecilia Joyce, a media specialist at Dillard Drive Magnet Elementary. I'm a proud member of my union,

018NCAE. At my school, I'm considered a specialist teacher. This means that I teach all the students in the school. There are some students with behavior issues. If we had a behavior support specialist, they could help the teachers and staff with strategies to help these students, and they could work one-on-one with the students to help them learn how to regulate their behavior, so teaching and learning could be more effective. This used to be a position in Wake County Public Schools. It was eliminated several years ago. Two of the biggest issues I've seen that affect all facets of special education is staffing and the overwhelming workload. This jar represents 161 hours outside the school day that eight of our special education teachers and I spent working on school work. Staffing cuts have fueled this. For example, at

019Dillard, there used to be three full-time CCR positions. The three teachers had time to collaborate, focus on student outcomes, and enrich their lessons. Now that we have only two CCR teachers, their days look very different. I'll talk a little bit about Ms. Peel, our CCR teacher a CCR teacher, and the teacher of the year at Dillard. The three teach I'm sorry. Um she is Ms. Peel is loved and admired at our school. Again, she's a teacher of the year. However, yesterday she told me that she didn't even have time to complete the teacher of the year activities that she was assigned because of her overwhelming workload. She arrives at our school 40 minutes before school starts and often doesn't leave until 7:30 in the evening. She spends countless hours at home working on IEPs. A

020sped coordinator could alleviate some of this time some of these time-consuming tasks involved in writing IEPs. The paperwork takes so much time that she feels unable to fully support her students with fidelity. But caseload numbers dictate the schedule. The bottom line is that the students are suffering and not getting what they need and deserve deserve and the teachers are burning out. >> Thank you. That is your time. We will now hear from our next speaker. >> [applause] >> Good evening. My name is Megan Yorkovich and I'm a CCR at Sycamore Creek Elementary School with a master's degree in special education. I'm here today to urge Wake County Board of Education to include NCAE's seven recommendations for sped and behavior support in your budget request to the county commissioners. I talked with members of our special

021education department and cumulatively in just one week among among five special ed teachers including pre-K and ECS, we worked an additional 38 hours. Each of these pom-poms represents one of those additional hours. My sped colleagues and I discussed the main reasons for these additional hours of work. Extra working hours came from paperwork demands, coming in early and staying late for IEP meetings, and little to no planning time for student services. Holding a master's degree in special education should feel like a professional achievement, yet I often feel under appreciated, under valued, and under compensated for my expertise. This personal strain is part of the larger crisis, especially North Carolina, where less than 9% of teaching graduates are entering special education. It is baffling that Wake County currently current strategies to resolve these issues seem to actively

022discourage educators rather than addressing the critical shortage. By failing to offer better support and pay, the county is making an already dire situation worse for both teachers and students. We cannot solve a staffing crisis by making the profession less sustainable for the educators that are currently in the classroom. Cuts are unacceptable, and sped funding is not a request, it's a need. We urge you to request the need for special education. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Thank you. We'll now hear turn to our next speaker. >> Hi. My name is Eka Hayes. I'm a social studies teacher at Knightdale High School, and I'm a proud NCAE member. I'm here today to urge the board to include NCAE's recommendations for sped and behavior support in your budget request to the county commissioners. Over the last week, my

023co-workers and I talked with all 17 special ed teachers at Knightdale High to ask them how many additional hours they've worked per week. Those 17 teachers average together about 15 extra hours per week. To do the math, that comes out to an additional 540 hours over the course of a school year for a single teacher and over 8,600 hours for the entire department. Now, I teach civic literacy, which is a required class to graduate. This means I get to work with a lot of kids with a lot of ability levels. In my fourth period class this spring, I have 10 kids with IEPs and two on EL plans. Social studies doesn't have ICR teachers, so it fell to me to deliver their specially designed instruction. I would not be able to provide these students the

024services they need without the help of my sped department and I know I'm far from the only gen ed teacher to do so. One of the cool things about civics is I get to teach students about things like the Board of Education and the local government. I explain to students that you can tell a lot about an elected official based on the areas they give funding to. My students are high schoolers now and I respect them enough to be honest with them when I can. Am I expected to look them in the eye and tell them that they don't deserve more? That in fact they deserve less? These budget cuts are frankly unacceptable. Let local government do their job and step in where the state falls short. I don't want to have to tell an

025already vulnerable population that their needs are not worth supporting. Thank you for your time. >> All right, we'll turn to our next speaker. >> [applause] >> Good [clears throat] evening. My name is Dennis Aberly. I'm a school psychologist at Panther Creek High School. I'm finishing year 35 with Wake County schools. I'm here today to urge the Wake County Board of Education to include NCAE seven recommendations for special ed and behavior support in your budget request to the county commissioners. We talked to our entire special education department at Panther Creek High School and cumulatively in just one week our special ed department worked an additional 130 hours. That would be if somebody was working 40 hours a week, that would be about three and a quarter positions. I've spoken to several teachers who need to work

026additional jobs. One, a young married mother of two is applying to Chick-fil-A with a master's degree in special education. Another teacher does coaching jobs as well as babysitting, again with a master's degree in special education. I'm aware that it's difficult to fill vacant positions as we had a vacancy at the end of last school year that didn't get filled until November. The lack of highly qualified applicants is becoming a very serious concern. The message to young people seems to be, as one of my colleagues previously said, uh to special ed is clear, "Don't do it. You'll be overworked and underpaid." Teacher morale is a high predictor of longevity on the job. These cuts will only make the situation worse by discour- discouraging veteran teachers as well as new teachers in the field. And people like

027me with 35 years of dedicated service will become a thing of the past. Our special ed staff are already stretched to the limits. >> [clears throat] >> So, I I only have a couple of seconds. So, please don't cut this these positions. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> WE'LL hear from our next speaker. And for those of you all that are entering, there are some seats to my left. Um So, yes. And the mics are adjustable. >> Thank you. My name is Kelsey Whitman. I am a fourth grade teacher at Wildwood Forest Magnet Elementary School. I'm here today to urge the Wake Board of Education to include NCAE's seven recommendations for sped and behavior support in your budget request to the county commissioners. We talked with our entire special education department at Wildwood

028and cumulatively in just one week our sped department worked on an addition or worked an additional 134 hours. Each of these pom-poms represents one of these additional hours. Our sped staff are already stretched to the limits. A few weeks ago Dr. Taylor said that he would not make cuts from special ed, but at my school we've been told we're losing half of a CCR position and since allotments have come out we've found out we're losing a counselor next year as well. A few professional development sessions do not equate to a specialized four-year degree, not to mention master's degrees or board certification. Cuts are unacceptable. Wake County can afford a 0.015 15,000ths of a percent property tax to secure the funding necessary to stabilize our precarious sped departments. Our community is willing to help where the

029state falls short and our kids deserve nothing less than our best effort to fund our schools. Thank you. >> [applause] >> ALL RIGHT, WE WILL NOW TURN TO OUR NEXT SPEAKER. >> Good evening. My name is Carly Jarvis. I'm an educator at Enloe High School and a proud Wake NCAE member. I'm here to urge this board to include NCAE's seven recommendations for special education and behavior support in your budget request. We are not asking for luxuries. We are asking for the structural integrity of our schools. We spoke this week with our sped department to quantify the invisible labor sustaining our programs. In just one week our staff worked a minimum of 188 additional hours. Each of these pom-poms represents one of those hours. Hours spent in IEP meetings long after the final bell. Teachers [clears

030throat] working through their only lunch break and specialists sacrificing their weekends to a mountain of paperwork. It is heartbreaking that the educators serving our students with the most significant needs are often the ones least able to go home and recharge to the be the best for our children. It is not just a sped issue. It is a school wide crisis. When vacancies go unfilled, behavior supports are absent. The impact ripples into every gen ed classroom. When a crisis occurs without a behavior specialist, a teacher must halt instruction for 30 students to ensure the safety of one. Without adequate support, the individualized attention every student deserves becomes a mathematical impossibility. We cannot provide a quality education for any student while the safety net for our most vulnerable is unraveling. Our students deserve to deserve more deserve

031more than just a seat in our classroom. They deserve to be truly seen, known, and supported. Likewise, our teachers deserve system that honors their humanity as deeply as it relies on their labor. I'm asking you tonight to protect the heart of our schools by prioritizing these recommendations, honoring the quiet tireless dedication of those who refuse to let our children fall through the cracks. I leave you with this to think about. A budget is more than a financial forecast. It is a moral confession. Thank you. >> All right. We'll hear from our next speaker. We'll now hear from our next speaker. >> I am Anita Ottey, an eighth grade teacher at Lufkin Road Middle School, and a proud NCAE member. I'm here today to urge the Wake County Board of Education to incorporate NCAE several recommendations

032for special education and behavioral support into your budget request to the county commissioners. Over the course of a few days, I was able to talk with our 17 special education teachers at Lufkin. Each of these pom-poms represents the total number of additional hours our special education teachers worked in one week. There are 93 pom-poms in this jar. Examples of how the hours were tallied, staying late or coming in early for IEP meetings, working through lunches, working on paperwork on the weekends, preparing and or modifying work for students to be successful. Our special education staff is already stretched to the limits. A few weeks ago, Dr. Taylor said that he would not make cuts from special education. Although my school is not losing positions, each special education teacher will lose one month of employment, which still

033constitutes a reduction. Additionally, the number of incoming sixth-grade special education students is expected to double. Reducing funding is not a viable option. Wake County has the capacity to implement a modest 0.015% property tax increase to help stabilize our special education departments. When state support falls short, our community can step up, and our students deserve nothing less than a strong commitment to fully funding their education. I look forward to seeing your commitment to this issue. Thank you for your attention and consideration. >> Thank you. We'll now hear from our next speaker. >> My name is Sam Blumstein, and I am a high school teacher here at Wake County. We talked with eight people in our special education department, and cumulative cumulatively in just one week, these people worked an additional 70 hours a week. We do

034this because we care. Teachers do not work because of the money. Because we believe every child deserves dignity, support, and the opportunity to grow. And nowhere is this devotion more visible than in our sped classrooms. Sped teachers are not just educators. They are advocates, problem-solvers, caregivers, and champions for students who need the most support. They show up every day with patience, compassion, and an unwavering belief in their students. In my first year teaching, there was a student with Down syndrome who I would see every morning. Without fail, he would walk up, grab me by the hand, say hi, and laugh. On a good day, he would even blow me a kiss. It was a small moment, just a few seconds, but it stayed with me. Because behind that moment was a network of support that

035made it possible for him to be there, to feel safe, connected, and to belong. We are not talking about numbers on a spreadsheet. We are talking about cutting the very supports that make moments like that possible. We are talking about taking away necessities from students who cannot afford to lose them. Because the reality is these students do not have a backup plan. If we reduce sped funding, we are removing essential supports that directly impact students' ability to learn, to communicate, and thrive. Wake County has an opportunity to lead, not just in academic achievement, but in compassion, equity, and commitment to every learner. I urge you to consider what kind of message these cuts send. Please include our sped solutions in your budget proposal. Thank [applause] you. >> All right. We'll go here for our next

036speaker. >> Good evening, Dr. Taylor, Chair Swanson, and board members. My name is Jessica Black, and I'm in my 12th year as a teacher at Creech Road Elementary School. I'm here today to urge the Wake Board of Education to include NCAE's seven recommendations for sped and behavior support in your budget request to the county commissioners. At Creech Road alone, our special education department of five teachers worked an additional 55 hours just in the past week. This means each teacher averaged over two hours of unpaid overtime work each day. Each of these pom-poms represents one of these additional hours. SPED teachers explained that working these additional hours was necessary to complete paperwork for IEPs and run the IEP meetings. Wake NCAE's proposal of adding SPED program coordinator positions and of reducing the SPED caseload cap would

037alleviate this burden. In addition, SPED teachers spent time supporting the behavior needs of SPED students in other settings. Wake NCAE's plan of adding behavior support personnel and behavior response teams would shift that responsibility away from CCR teachers. In the past three years, our SPED department has only been fully staffed for about three months, which has placed a huge burden on the rest of our department. Wake NCAE's solution of increasing the incentive pay by $200 a month for all SPED staff would improve this. A few weeks ago, Dr. Taylor said that he would not make any cuts from special education, but at my school we've been told that we're losing one CCR position. Failing to even ask the county commissioners for the necessary budget is unacceptable and would show a glaring lack of commitment to students

038and teachers. Our kids deserve a proposal that meets their needs, but so far you've neglected to even propose requesting that. >> We'll hear from OUR NEXT SPEAKER. >> [applause] >> GOOD EVENING. MY NAME IS MCKENZIE Cutler and I'm a second grade teacher at Powell Magnet Elementary School, a proud Wake NCAE member and a product of Wake County Public Schools. I am here to urge the board to include NCAE seven recommendations for SPED and behavior support in your budget request to the county commissioners. Based on conversations I had this week with our special education department, in just one week they worked a combined 45 additional hours. Each of these pom poms represents one additional hour. Their combined hours equate to the hours of an entire extra employee that doesn't exist. They are each working one and

039a half positions. Student needs are exceeding what is sustainable. Increasing case loads, rising behavioral needs, and constant compliance requirements are pushing them to their limits. They're staying late for IEP meetings, coming in early, working through lunch, and spending weekends completing additional paperwork because they are committed to their students' success. But commitment should not require constant overextension. Poe may only serve about 286 students, but expecting a handful of educators to meet such complex demands is not acceptable, and it is not equitable for students. Please ask for the funding required to recruit and retain qualified sped professionals. Because at the end of the day, budgets are not just numbers on the page. They are decisions about which students we are willing to fully support. Thank you. >> [applause] >> We'll hear from our next speaker. >> Hello.

040My name is John Loomis, and you'll notice that I am not a teacher. I'm a community member and a student alumni of Cary High School. All my friends who work at Cary High School wanted to be here tonight, but they couldn't. I'm willing to bet you can guess why. They're working their second job to make ends meet, or they're working night school. So, here I am on their behalf. I live with two teachers. One is an ESL teacher at Cary, the other is sped teacher at Enloe. What strikes me every single day is the love that they have for their job, and the love that they have for their students. The extra time, effort, energy they put in every single day, it astounds me. On one hand, it's honorable and it's inspirational. On the other

041hand, it's fully unacceptable the time that they put into their jobs that is not compensated. I sense the burnout in both of them. I see why in the last school year, 10% of teachers left the profession in North Carolina. The funding that we're looking for, it's not much. You've heard the number, 0.015% property tax increase. Some would consider it the bare minimum. Our community, our schools, our teachers deserve the resources to provide each and every one of their students. I'm willing to bet every single person in this room can immediately think of and name a teacher that inspired them, provided for them, or simply just cared for them. I'm glad that we've stopped discussing cutting funding for sped for now, but it's time we turn around and we talk about the shortcomings that we are

042facing currently. Why we need more funding. My friends connected with their colleagues last week at Cary High School, talked with the special education department. Cumulatively in just one week, their sped department worked additional 223 hours. It's about 11.7 hours per week per employee. Each of these pom-poms represents one of these additional hours. It's time we fund our schools. Thank you. >> [applause] >> We'll turn to OUR NEXT SPEAKER. >> HEY Y'ALL. MY NAME'S TREY AND I'm in my last year as a beginning teacher at Millbrook High School. Um as a general education teacher, I added a few of the hours in this jar that represents 113 hours um that my special education colleagues worked to support their students. I worked those hours by supporting my students with differentiation, by looking at assessment data, by attending

043IEP meetings, and by making sure that they had the education that they needed and that they deserved in my classroom. I wanted to also bring um the pom-poms that represent the hours worked at South Garner High School. Christine Marchant is a school teacher there where she teaches ECS, and she couldn't be here. Again, I'm sure you can guess why. Out of the three jobs that she works, this is the only one that refuses to pay her for all the hours that she puts in. This is the only one that requires her to go thankless for all the work that she does and not support her when she needs it most. Um she spends many, many hours working on the IEP meetings and 504s that she prepares for her students, along with the 7 hours that

044she spends with her students every day. She's a case manager, she's a teacher in her classroom, she eats lunch with her students, and has no time on her own from the moment she pulls in the parking lot until she leaves. As a single mom, it's hard to go home for her and sit with her kids with the all the stress that she deals with, and then go to her second or third job. Outside of her contracted hours, she does everything she can to support her students, but she often asks herself if she's failing. We know that she's not. Of course, she isn't. She could never fail. Um the only people who can fail are you all if you don't do what it takes to support her. >> [applause] >> All right, we'll turn to OUR

045NEXT SPEAKER. >> [applause] >> MY NAME IS LIZ HEWITT. I teach English at Leesville Road High School. I'm here today to urge the Board of Education to include NCAE's seven recommendations for sped and behavior support in your budget request. Among our special education department at LRHS, in 1 week they worked an additional 300 hours. Each of these pom-poms represents one of those hours. The The education crisis is often wrongfully pigeonholed as an issue that only impacts a small portion of students and educators and not as the all-encompassing issue it is. While this in itself is an absurd argument, as some of our most vulnerable students deserve quality education, the special education crisis fuels other issues and harms general as well as special education. One of those issues is the retention and hiring of new teachers.

046I'm a BT3. In my first year teaching, I taught a class with a student on an IP who was known for acting out, confronting authority, and trying to get removed from the classroom. I don't blame the student for this. It was clear his needs at school were not being met. I spent large amounts of times uh giving the student one-on-one instruction, de-escalating situations, and prioritizing his needs. Other students were not given as much time due to extra time spent on one student. Um if this didn't happen, he might cause a disruption and sidetrack learning for all students. Again, this was not his fault. He was not properly supported at our school. The end of the year he did not pass. I was then told by administration to pass the student anyways. I felt we were

047doing him a disservice. When I asked why, it I was told that we needed to push him along so he can join an alternative school because we can't support him here. Um this is a disservice to that student and it shows the critical state our special education is in as a county. Cuts are unacceptable and the underfunding that we are currently providing is unacceptable for our students and our community. Thank you for your time. >> [applause] >> Thank you. We'll now hear from OUR NEXT SPEAKER. >> GOOD EVENING. I'M LISA ASHWORTH, A teacher at Dillard Drive Magnet Middle School. I'm also a proud WEC CA member and a proud veteran and product of Wake County public schools. I'm here to urge the Wake Board of Education to include NCAE seven recommendations for sped and behavior

048support in your budget request. We talked with our entire sped department at Dillard and and in just one week they worked an additional 118 hours. To me, that's three full-time employees doing the work the extra work in one week. Here's what these hours look like in practice. An IEP meeting requires three to five hours of prep, data collection, documentation, coordination with teachers, admin, and families. Right now, they're also managing 30 to 40 transition meetings from elementary to middle as well as middle to high school. A sped teacher's responsibilities include managing behaviors, lesson planning, sharing data, progress monitoring, and opening new referrals. I have watched all of this work not being done during school hours. It has to be being done in the evening before school and on the weekends. Many teachers have shared to me

049that they come home at night and with their family without any energy to spend time with them, yet they still have a lot more work to do that evening. Two of our teachers recently admitted to me during the school year that they have experienced multiple stress-related illnesses. Clearly, our sped staff members are being stretched to the limits and are short are in our in crisis. We need our our staff and our students deserve real support, not chaos, burnout, turnover. Educators know what's needed: more staff, fair pay, respect, and manageable caseloads. Thank you. >> All right, Well, here's from our next speaker. >> [applause] >> GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE. UM MY NAME IS Laura Huntington. I'm an educator at Carver Elementary in Wendell, and I am proud to be here standing in front of all of you

050again advocating. Um we talked with our staff at Carver Elementary, and in just 1 week, our educators worked an additional 346 hours to support sped students. 346. That's the equivalent of nine full-time positions. This included things like coming early or staying late to work on paperwork or attend IEP meetings, having to work through lunch to attend IEP meetings, work on paperwork or attend to student behaviors, having to spend time working at home, having to stay late with students waiting on late special transportation vehicles, being pulled from normal duties to help with sped student behaviors, and IAs being pulled from their assigned classrooms to support in sped classrooms, and much more. Special education in Wake County is at a breaking point, and let's be honest, uh public education in all of North Carolina is at a

051breaking point. But this stress is especially evident in our most vulnerable populations and the educators who teach and take care of them. I'm referring, of course, to our sped students, workers, and all of their families. What's more, the effects ricochet out having a negative impact on all our students and WCPSS workers. And if we do nothing, it won't stop there. A well-educated population is essential to the well-being of any community. Our students are the future of Wake County communities. If they are not receiving the best education they deserve, and this means more than just the bare minimum required by law, then that puts every single member of our communities at risk. All that is to say, NCAE seven demands, the demands we met with many of you about before we knew about the cuts are

052as important as ever. Students and educators need more support, not less, not the same inadequate support, more. We are counting on you to be brave and give our students a voice, do the right thing, and ask for what they need. >> [applause] >> All right, we'll hear from our next speaker. >> My name is Sarah Shiflett. I'm a special ed resource teacher at Knightdale Elementary School, and I'm here today to urge the Wake County Board of Education to include NCAE's seven recommendations for sped and behavior support in your budget request. We talked with our entire special education department at Knightdale Elementary and cumu- cumulatively in just one week, our sped department worked an additional 251 hours. These additional hours in a week are equivalent to six additional positions working 40 hours a week. Our team

053discussed staying late for or coming in early for IEP meetings, working through lunches, and working on paperwork on the weekends to ensure our students are planned for and within compliance. We are burnt out and our students deserve us to be there for them 100% of the time. Our sped staff are already stretched to the limits. A few weeks ago, Dr. Taylor said that he would not make cuts for uh from special education, but at my school, we've been told we're losing at least one resource teacher position next year, which would be my position. My principal and I have been able to determine a flexible solution for next year, but the solution leaves students without the support they fully deserve. Cuts are unacceptable. Wake County can afford a zero a point zero one five percent property

054tax to secure the funding necessary to stabilize our precarious sped departments. Our community is willing to support where the state falls short, and our kids deserve nothing less than our best effort to fund our schools. Thank you. >> [applause] >> We'll turn to our next speaker. >> Hi. My name is Julice Norman, and I am a special education teacher at Olive Chapel Elementary School and a product of Wake County Public Schools. I am here today to urge the Wake Board of Education to include NC AE's seven recommendations for sped and behavior support in your budget request to the county commissioners. We talked with our entire special education department at Olive Chapel, and collectively in just 1 week, our sped department worked an additional 73 hours. I actually work about 20 hours around each week. In

055a single day, we manage challenging behaviors, attend meetings, and support teachers in problem-solving, all while carrying the responsibility of educating the next generation. Because these urgent needs take priority, we often sacrifice our planning periods and even our lunches just to keep up. That means critical work of writing IEPs and entering data doesn't just disappear. It gets pushed into our early mornings, late afternoons, and weekends. I have seen the toll this takes. I've witnessed breakdowns, tears, and overwhelming stress among dedicated professionals who give everything that they have to support their students. And yet, every day, we come back, we show up with a smile, ready to do it all over again because we believe in our children that we serve. We advocate, we teach, and we give more than just what is sustainable. Now, we are

056all in the business of supporting children. So, please support us, support them. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Thank you. All right, we'll turn to our next speaker. >> Hi. My name is Bethany, and I'm a speech therapist at Poe Elementary School. I'm here today to urge Thank you. Uh the Wake County Board of Education to include NCAE's seven recommendations for sped and behavior support in your budget request to county commissioners. Since last Thursday, I've talked with the special education department at our school that includes me and cumulatively in just 1 week, our small department has worked an additional 112 hours. As a member of the sped team at Poe, I know I knew that my hard working co-workers were pushed to the limit, but even I was surprised by what during some of these conversations.

057One of my co-workers came out of retirement to cover a special education class that did not have a teacher. She told me that while she is not even supposed to be working 40 hours a week, she worked 60 hours the previous week. 60. When I asked another sped co-worker, she lowered her head and said, "Ms. Bethany, I'm ashamed to tell you how many hours I worked last week." She had worked over 30 additional hours writing progress reports and preparing for IEP meetings. I said to her, "There are people who should be ashamed but you that you worked over 70 hours last week, but you are not one of them." In the face of all this, you all must know that any cuts are unacceptable. Our sped departments are balancing on the backs of our overworked

058and exhausted sped workers. Wake County can afford a 0.015% property tax to secure the funding necessary to stabilize our sped departments and prevent cuts to other student facing services. Our community is willing to help where the state falls short falls short, and our kids deserve nothing less than our best effort to fund our schools. Thank you. >> [applause] >> I will now turn to OUR NEXT SPEAKER. >> GOOD EVENING, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD. I'M ANNA Graham to PreK IA at Austin Ridge Elementary School. My jar represents five special education staff who collectively work on average 49 hours a week outside of contract hours. Most of those are because of IEP meetings and paperwork. Educators shared about having to sacrifice not just planning time, but also instructional student-facing time in order to complete enormous amounts of

059required paperwork, something that would be mitigated by one of our campaign priorities, the creation of support positions designed to decrease the paperwork burden on sped teachers. In this process I learned that we have only one speech and language pathologist for 80 students identified for speech services, and that does not include students currently in process. One of the most heartbreaking things about these conversations for me was the number of educators who have increasingly in the last 5 to 10 years had to make the devastating choice between whether we will sacrifice the quality of services we deliver to our highest need students or the quality of attention we can offer our own families. Even as we see Guilford, Durham, Asheville, Chatham, and others making May 1st an optional work day to allow staff the opportunity to demand

060our state legislature put kids over corporations, and even as we prepare to participate in a long-term effort targeting our state government, unfortunately, we know our kids can't wait for the state, which is why we are compelled to say that they need Wake County's help, and they need it now. Thank you. >> [applause] >> We'll turn to OUR NEXT SPEAKER. >> GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE. I'M Kristina Cole, special education teacher, currently the Wake NCAE president. There are two things I want to address tonight, both under the same banner, listen to workers. Workers have been telling stories, asking questions, and sharing clear proposals for months about what's needed in special ed and how to address those things through budget solutions. This evening's stunning visual demonstrates 3,346 hours of overtime, unpaid hours, or 83 staffing positions that we lack.

061These work hours represent before cuts. Listen to what workers are telling you is needed before your proposed budget reductions. And this only represents 24 schools. Imagine how many pom-poms would be here for the 203 schools in Wake County. We've heard in your joint sessions the county won't receive as much revenue as expected. And still, you have a responsibility to tell the truth about what our students need. You have the power to take action and at the very least ask the county to fund these sped solutions that we urgently need. Will you listen to workers and increase the ask to include our special ed proposals? And right now we're telling the state legislator to put kids first. And we're getting in motion and practicing the big kind of action it's going to take to move legislators

062on urgent issues like a state budget, Leandro, private school vouchers, and ending corporate tax breaks. We all know this will require an organized base of public school staff and allies taking action together. May 1st is a traditional work day, but workers at year-round schools and classified staff deserve the opportunity to advocate for their profession and their students. So show some real solidarity and make May 1st a work day so we can hit the streets without district admin, the calendar, or the school board standing in the way. Join us on Jones Street May 1st. THANK YOU. >> THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> ALL RIGHT. I UNDERSTAND THE EXCITEMENT, BUT WE still have to proceed with this this agenda. So, thank you for that and we'll turn to our next speaker. Is Ms. Robb in the room?

063What about Not seeing Ms. Robb, is Ms. Johnson in the room? Is Ms. Dodge Dodge in the room? >> Good evening, members of the board. My name is Jackie Dodge. I'm a Wake County parent with a kindergartner and another child who will soon enter public school. I understand that Wake County is currently discussing the budget and hearing a lot of opinions about it, of course, and whether to continue funding the one-to-one Chromebook model. I feel compelled to express my strong support for discontinuing this model, particularly at the elementary level, not only for a much-needed cost savings and reallocation of those needed funds, but for the well-being and academic success of our students. I want to be clear. I believe in technology education. Students should learn how to use computers and how to access safe and

064credible information, but I believe that instruction belongs in a computer lab or with limited shared devices, not as a daily individualized classroom presence. The evidence continues to mount that excessive screen exposure is harming children academically and mentally. Research finds that higher overall screen exposure is associated with lower performance in reading and math, as well as weaker executive functioning skills and attention spans. I've seen national reading standards adjusted downward and locally I'm beginning to hear troubling stories. Inappropriate images accessed in elementary classrooms, students watching more videos and reading less and frequently off task. While distraction has always existed, these devices are uniquely engaging and difficult for young children to regulate. While distraction sorry, Chromebooks are simply more compelling, more addictive than my Tamagotchi ever was and those still got banned from my elementary school. More fundamentally,

065I'm concerned about replacing foundational learning methods. Research consistently shows that students comprehend and retain information when reading better when reading on paper versus screens, especially with longer text. Even in kindergarten, during afternoon reading my child is given a choice between physical book and digital read-aloud. There are lots of evidence even in kindergarten. >> Thank you. That is your time. >> Thank you. >> All right. Uh we'll turn to our next speaker. It's >> Hi, my name's Emily Malpass. I have a fourth grader at Lynbrook Elementary and a sixth grader at Carroll Middle School. Um Last week our school hosted its largest family engagement event of the year on the hottest day of the year so far. The hundreds of families who attended the event experienced for just a couple of hours what our teachers and

066staff experience every day in many of our schools that I know you are all aware of, no AC in large areas of the building. We watch our principal constantly advocating for our school's needed repairs to be prioritized and we know that facilities management is working beyond capacity and under-resourced, too. I just want to draw a connection between this and what we've been hearing tonight. Imagine working all those pom-poms in 80 plus degree classrooms. None of those folks complained about the physical issues in their workplace that compound all the difficulties that they already face. Hot classrooms make it harder to de-escalate behaviors, more likely that they'll happen in the first place. They exacerbate those stress-related illnesses in our staff and are particularly unhealthy for individuals with disabilities and on medications. In addition to incorporating the NCAE's

067seven demands for special ed support, the county must double down on the repair of our school buildings' climate control infrastructure. That .015% property tax increase wouldn't be felt by many of Wake County's residents, but maybe it would get the attention of folks who are willing to ignore these issues to this point and might inspire people from outside this community to put pressure on the General Assembly to do its job, to put kids over corporations and course correct before it's too late. To the board and all those listening tonight, show up for those educators and our students and march with us on May 1st. Thank y'all. >> Thank you. We'll now hear from our next speaker. >> All right, good evening, uh Superintendent Taylor, Chair Swanson, Vice Chair Hershey Hershey, and fellow board members of district

068staff. I am Daniel Grant King, an educator, an educational advocate, and the chair of the North Carolina Educational Advocacy Committee. I am here tonight to remind us um about the proposed budget that is yet before us. As I've read the budget on page six, the budget shows that a 2.29 billion dollar operating budget with an 82% invested in people, teachers, and staff, and student support. And so, also on page eight of that budget, the report makes it clear that North Carolina ranks last and 50th in the national school funding effort and spends about $6,000 less per student than the national average. So, my question for each of us is, so when people come before you, fellow educators, parents, and community members, talking about the physical responsibility or tightening the belt, let's be honest of what

069that means. Think about that. Cuts means real consequences. And of course, uh district staff and Superintendent Taylor, in whom I've met with today, reminded me again that there won't be any cuts. But yet, here we are hearing from fellow educators and parents and community members talking already about the cuts that are underway for the next school year. So, I'm going to leave you with some reminders that the data clearly shows that these investments and cuts are so detrimental to our students' learning. So, I'm asking you to join NCAE and myself on May 1st, and most of all, do what's right by our students, educators, and families. Thank you. >> [applause] >> And now here from our next speaker. >> Hello. My name is Carrie Chesserino. I'm the proud mother of two Wiley Elementary students. I

070didn't grow up here, so understanding the school system and the budget has been quite the learning curve. But one thing is clear, the funding model is broken. 17 years ago, I left a dying city for one on the cusp of rapid growth. To me, Wake County meant opportunity. My husband, a Wake Tech graduate, built a successful electrical contracting business here. Given the development money pouring into this area, our kids ought to be enjoying a first-rate, fully funded education. But I volunteer at my kids' school nearly every week, and I see how overextended their teachers, administrators, and support staff are. As the Wiley PTA treasurer, I know firsthand the significant ways parent donations attempt to fill in the gaps. Any cut in any area is a breaking point and will dilute the services my twice exceptional

071children currently receive. I used to work at the State Archives, where I quickly learned what it's like to be directly impacted by the legislature's inability to pass a sustainable budget. In 2009, vital programs at the archives were threatened by deep cuts. In response, the division established the archives and records management fund, creating a flat fee on real estate transactions to support nearly all the division's operating expenses. In a time of reps across state government, the archives was spared. I mention this knowing that new fees and taxes are unpopular and difficult to establish. I get that, but the county commissioners must open up alternative revenue streams. Let's thwart the legislature's attempts to privatize our schools. Let's inspire. Let's make Wake County public schools the envy of the state and inspire North Carolinians to finally vote out

072the enemies of public education. Thank you. >> [applause] >> We'll now turn our next speaker. >> Hello. My name is Jennifer. And I am a proud parent of children that are in the school system here and a spouse of a teacher. Do you guys remember where you were in 2020 when all of a sudden we didn't know what was going to happen and our schools and everybody in the community shut down? Do you remember the feeling of staff not knowing what to do? Well, I want to tell you another time when I had that same feeling. It was 2 years ago and I was speaking on a regular basis up here to all of you guys. I had that similar reaction. It occurred when the state was proposing to have legislation to open up opportunity

073scholarships and vouchers to um to hundreds of thousands of dollars. And I felt it in the gut of my stomach because I knew that that was a threat to the funding to the children and opportunities here in Wake County. I have a a family that has neuro diverse children and special education was a struggle to be able to obtain. When you have a child that is thinking of of periodic tables in second grade, but yet can't bring a notebook together and can't do any of that stuff, those cuts really mean a difference. I think you guys need to understand that there are people that are going to fall through the cracks because of the funding cuts. A billion dollars has already been spent on opportunity scholarships that lack accountability and lack we don't even know.

074My ask of you is to start tracking and to identify when our children go into these scholarships. >> Thank you and that is your time. All right, we'll hear from our final speaker. >> Hi everyone. My name is Lindsey Pittman and I have a second grader at Lynn Road Elementary. After listening to everyone tonight, I feel more exhausted than I knew I had the capacity to feel. I'm a PTA parent and can tell you last week I was in the school supporting the staff from first bell to dismiss on Monday to Friday and almost 9:00 p.m. on Thursday. For school we had like a big I we invited everybody to our to our spring fling. Um and then on Saturday we had a campus clean-up. We formed a grants committee to to supplement the needs

075of our students that I mostly work on after my daughter goes to bed at night after I finish my own homework. >> [snorts] >> I want to give a shout-out to Althea Lewis at the grants department who's always very supportive of us. Um especially for someone who's not a grant writer, she's been fantastic. My hours are volunteer and I feel very aware that I'm functioning as a band-aid for our school because full-time parent volunteer hours and constantly applying for small grants could never be a sustainable long-term solution. I love our teachers and see them exhausted and feeling defeated and despite despite the working conditions they are showing up for our children with bright faces and open hearts. I understand that managing the budget is a very difficult process. I watch all the work sessions and

076see the effort to find solutions and I wouldn't want to be in your shoes. I can't be fired and I've got a lot of fight in me. Clearly a lot of us do here. Please let us parent advocates know how we can help you help our schools. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Thank you. And before we conclude the the budget hearing, I want to circle back to see if Lynn Robe or Rob is in the room or Mariana Johnson. >> Yes, I'm here. >> Okay, well, come forth. Thank you. >> Thanks for coming back to me. Um Mariana Johnson, I'm the the advocacy chair at Joyner Elementary. Um I think I have a similar message to to Lindsey. I just want to say thank you for the hard work. We at Joyner see you all

077as partners in trying to get as much money as possible into our public schools in working closely with the county to get to backfill as much as possible. Um I do just want to say that it is increasingly frustrating as a parent and an advocate to feel that we're kind of putting more and more into our schools in terms of hours, money where we can, into the foundation and the PTA, um and sort of faith in a system, and then every year we're sort of getting our allocation of of teachers cut back, and we're losing teachers sort of on attrition because they can get better, higher-paying jobs elsewhere. It's a just a tough feeling to kind of give more every year and get a little bit less. And so, I know short of sort of

078the state really fully funding the schools, that you're really limited in what you can do, but we do look to you for leadership and morale and sort of keeping us in the fight. And um just again, thank you and thanks for being our partners in this. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> Last call. I'm not going to do final call because that sounds like something that only 21 and up should be a part taking part taking in, but last call final call um for Ms. Rob. Not seeing, that will conclude our budget hearing uh uh, comments, and now we will turn to our public comment. Um, I am not going to read everything because we only have one and it's Ms. Lu Hobbs, so welcome and you will have 3 minutes versus the 2 minutes.

079>> Thank you so much. Um, I'm Becky Lu Hobbs as most of you know. Um, I sent an email to Dr. Taylor this morning. I do appreciate your response, but I know you all have a very busy Tuesday with everything on the agenda. You may not have seen what I have emailed, but I have been reviewing my county policies regarding, um, artificial intelligence. And while existing policies do address technology use and the internet, there's nothing that really does address artificial intelligence and the use of our of our student by our students. It's a very powerful tool, but it needs to have some clear guidelines put on it because there are many dangers of using it without those proper guidelines. Um, I know last week there was some news about some inappropriate pictures. We've seen other

080articles and things in the news regarding misuse of AI. Um, it's very urgent that we take a look at this because AI technology can generate, uh, misleading content. It can enable plagiarism and it really kind of challenges academic integrity. I think it has a use in education. Let me be clear with that. I'm not advocating for the removal of AI, but right now we have absolutely no guidelines on this very new, very, I don't know how to describe it, technology. I'd happily discuss it with you and I do look forward to your staff reaching out to me. We'd like to have a conversation. I emailed you guys some an article about it. Um, it's a very lengthy read. There's also, um, some resources on Mom's for Liberty website, which I also, um, gave you that

081link to to that as well and included a sample policy just to get the ball rolling. And you know, we are every count every school system is different. We need to figure out what's works for our students here. But just knowing how it can be abused, we need to take a look at it. And since I have another couple minutes here, I applaud the mom who came up and commented about the use of of the one-to-one Chromebook ratio. That is very dangerous to have a one-to-one ratio, especially in the kinder uh the kindergarten through fifth grade. Little children do not be need to be using computers. They need to be learning to write. They need to have paper to read. They need to have physical touch to help them read. My daughter was removed from

082the public school school school system because she needed that and I had to put her in a place that absolutely does not use any technology. And she's gone from being a great uh one and a half grades behind to being a grade ahead in 2 years of being outside of Wake County. I didn't want to remove her from Wake County. But you need to keep that in mind. What technology has its uses in the older grades. Need to have guidelines guidelines for it. But we need to really limit what's being used in our elementary age kids and that is also going to affect your budget by removing the technology, the support staff, and the programs that go with it. Thank you. >> Yep, you can give those to Attorney Malone. And that concludes uh public

083comments and do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do All right, so we'll now turn to our adoption of our consent agenda and while I wait for those motions, I'll give you all the time to log back into assembly so we can record the voting. Um but in the meantime, is there a motion to approve tonight's consent agenda? >> Motion to approve the consent agenda. >> All right. I have a motion by the vice chair. Is there Is there a second by Miss Ed- Miss Rice? All right. So, it has been moved and properly seconded, and the vote should appear on your screen. Perhaps maybe one board meeting I'll break out in a song to kill the time, but it won't be tonight. Perhaps it could be Lean

084on Me, Mr. Haggerty. All right. Ms. Allen, are we waiting on any more additional votes? >> I think we're waiting on several more. >> Okay. Yeah. Got to love technology. All right. So, it appears that our uh consent agenda passes with an 8 to 1. Uh, yeah, 8 to 1 with Ms. Caulfield being the lone no. Our consent agenda passes. So, we will now turn to uh, our first action item will be coming from the Chief Academics Department. So, I will welcome Dr. Hill. In a moment, we'll welcome Dr. Hill. I think they're really tempted me, Mr. Haggerty, to start breaking out with Lean on Me. Perfect. Okay, great. That could be some options. Great. >> I apologize for we were multitasking. >> All is well. So, welcome to the podium. >> Good evening. Chairman

085Swanson, Vice Chair Hershey, board members, and Dr. Taylor. We present to you tonight a board amendment to our Lexia contract, which will finance our LETRS professional learning for newly hired teachers that have not come from another North Carolina school district, as well as administrators, facilitators, intervention, and AIG staff as stated in Senate Bill 387. The funding for the LETRS Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling professional learning is provided by the state, and the training is directly aligned with the science of reading. The amendment, as outlined in the prefaces, is submitted for your approval. I'm able to answer any questions that you may have. >> Great. Thank you, and you did answer my question cuz I was wondering if this is a funded or unfunded mandate. And so, I have no questions, but is

086there a motion to approve the Lexia contract? So, motion by Ms. Edmonds, and it's been seconded by Ms. Rice. Are there any questions, comments, or discussion? All right. Hearing and seeing none, Ms. Allen, whenever you're ready, you can open up the voting. Thank you. >> I just want to thank you all from the academics department for bringing this forward and uh ensuring that our new teachers that are not North Carolina base gets to receive this, and this contract amendment passes unanimously. So, thank you all, and we'll continue the great work. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. So, we will now turn Uh we'll turn to our information items. Our first one comes from the superintendent. So, Dr. Taylor. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh I want to begin by thanking the teachers that

087appeared tonight and expressed their concerns regarding our budget. As always, my staff, the Board of Education, and I continue our advocacy on several levels to urge that our schools be properly funded. Uh with that, I want to be clear to all that are listening that the Board of Education has been clear on not reducing funding for special education. Uh I would ask that teachers speak with administrative staff both at their schools and central services regarding any decreases or increases to special education funding and positions. Changes are based on enrollment numbers and I and my staff have not made cuts to special education. I just want to be clear about that. I also want to applaud the board and my staff for doing the difficult work of reviewing our budget to identify the $10 million to

088ensure there are no cuts to special education. Uh additionally, I recognize the sacrifice of all staff including special education staff that work a tremendous amount of extra hours uh for the sake of children and we recognize that sacrifice and we do remain thankful. Uh on April 8th, I had the great honor to spend the day traveling um Wake County to surprise our 10 Teacher of the Year finalists. These were joyful moments that are served uh that also served as a great reminder of the strong teaching the strong teaching happening across our district. I'm proud to recognize these finalists. Uh Matin um um Ma- Mani, a seventh grade social studies teacher at Apex Friendship Middle, Sarah Cronin-Wetter, a course teacher at South Garner High School, Dr. Shayna Bar, a music teacher at Swift Creek Elementary, Claire

089Johnson, a kindergarten teacher at Washington Magnet Elementary, Kristen Myers, a seventh grade social studies teacher at Moore Square Magnet Middle, Nicole Diarachi, a sixth grade math teacher at Wendell Magnet Middle, Teresa Howard, a first grade teacher at Barton Pond Elementary, Emily Dunn, a cross-categorical resource teacher at Hortons Creek Elementary, uh Ahmed Benram, an ESL teacher at Reedy Creek Elementary, and Kristen Dinges, a third grade teacher at AB Combs Magnet Elementary. Each of these educators was nominated nominated and selected by their peers and has gone through a rigorous process that includes portfolios, observations, and interviews. What stood out in these visits was the strong connection these teachers have with their students and the positive cultures they have established in their classrooms. We're [snorts] looking forward to celebrating all of them again and announcing our teacher of

090the year at a special event on May 20th. And I know that it's going to be a difficult cast task for the committee that has to select the finalist. Any [clears throat] board members on that? >> One. We'll pray for you. Next, I'd like to recognize another outstanding educator, this time representing the important work of our instructional assistants. The Wake County Teacher Assistant Association has named Wafa Benrabhra as the 2026 Teacher Assistant of the Year. Mrs. Benrabhra is a kindergarten instructional assistant at Dillard Drive Magnet Elementary, where she makes a difference in ways both big and small every day. In addition to supporting her classroom, she leads the school share program to help address student food needs. Her principal, Dr. Dr. Roxanne Sykes, describes her as someone who is always willing to step up to

091support both student learning and school operations. She is deeply involved in her students' academic growth and helps create a classroom environment where they feel safe, supported, and ready to learn. As many of you know, I began my career in education as a teacher assistant, so I have firsthand appreciation for for what this work looks like on every single day. Instructional assistants are steady partners in the classroom. They support teachers and build relationships with students, paving the way for well-organized and effective learning environment. So, I'm grateful for Mrs. Benrabhry and all the instructional assistants across our district for the way they show up for students and staff every single day. Uh this week is National Volunteer Week, which gives us an important opportunity to recognize the many individuals who give their time to support our schools.

092Across Wake County, more than 50,000 volunteers are actively contributing to the success of our students and staff. You'll find them in classrooms, media centers, school offices, tutoring, mentoring, and helping with any number of tasks to help schools run more smoothly. Their time, consistency, and care help create stronger learning environments and more connected school communities. I also want to recognize our school-based volunteer coordinators who make this work possible by organizing, supporting, and welcoming volunteers into our schools. Volunteers personify core belief number six in our strategic plan, that a strong public school system depends on the support and partnership of our community. So, we're we're grateful for the role our volunteers play in helping us deliver on that shared vision for our students. Finally, I'd like to spread the word about School Lunch Hero Week, which will

093be which we will be celebrating all across our district next week. School communities are invited to join Child Nutrition Services staff in spirit week activities that highlight the creativity and teamwork they bring to work each and every day. Themes include Wacky Tacky Day and Storybook Character Day, culminating with School Lunch Hero Day on Friday. Schools are also encouraged to find simple ways to show appreciation, such as introducing cafeteria teams during announcements, creating gratitude walls, and encouraging students to share thank you notes and high fives. I urge all school staff and families to take part and find a way to recognize and thank these team members during the week. More information has been shared with schools and will be available on our website. And be sure to look for lots of fun social media post next

094week's next week. As we all know proper nutrition to nutrition directly supports student learning. So it's fitting that we all take the time to recognize these staff members as the heroes they are. And Mr. Chair that ends my comments. >> Thank you. All right, we will start with Ms. Rice for our board member comments. >> Well. Good evening everyone. Um I'm going to make my comments as brief as possible. I do want to start with saying thanks for um the enjoyment time of the Legan um committee that Superintendent Taylor put together. It was really a great meeting of community um of all the stakeholders um listening and cooperating together and wanting to see the best of what's going to happen for Legan. So thank you for that. Um I also too wanted to congratulate the

095um teacher assistant of the year. Had a great time there with Superintendent Taylor. Um and we laughed and enjoyed everyone and it was really a great time. Um I do want to make a brief statement to this before I read my comments completely. It's well that I know that um our Superintendent consistently says that that we are not making cuts. I do realize in the same heart that I'm hearing others speak that we may not be cutting teachers but we are having to decrease um funding in areas that will affect some levels of allotment with the principals. So I I I I think I hear people in community. I just want to put that input in for me is that yes, technically we are not doing a thing, but yes, indirectly a thing is kind

096of happening depending on how your principal moves in their allotment processes. And so I want to say as a board member, I for whatever principal that's listening, it is a tough decision. You are doing the best you can. I acknowledge that, but I am asking to as the best you can to preserve um people's um hours as we've heard the responses today in reference to hours. And so I just want to encourage everyone to do the best they can. And so on that note, as we continue our discussion about the budget, I want to center us on something um that cannot be reduced to numbers alone. And that is the emotional well-being of our staff, students, and families. We have heard from our community. We've heard from our We've heard the concerns, the frustrations, and

097the fatigue. And I want to be clear, our staff are not just asking for resources, they are asking to be seen, to be heard, and to be supported in meaningful ways. So the question before us is not just what can we fund, but how we will lead. It if we are not able to secure the votes headed needed for additional funding, then we must be bold enough to ask, how are we intentionally improving the daily working conditions of our staff right now? What are we removing from their plates? How are we protecting their time? How are we ensuring their well-being is not an afterthought, but priority? Because when we do not address the well-being of our educators, we risk their hardship showing up in the very spaces where our students need them the most. Equally

098important, we must strengthen how we engage our families. Parent engagement cannot be limited to events. It must be guided, intentional, and accessible. Families need to know who to call, how to advocate, and how to partner with us to support their children. If we want different outcomes, we must provide different supports. I also want to lift up the importance of student attendance. I would like to better understand what our student services team is doing to address chronic absenteeism, not just from a compliance standpoint, but from a wellness lens. What are the root causes? What are the interventions intervene How are we intervening early? And how are we partnering with families before students fall far behind? This is a moment This is our moment to be bold and to be a brave board. A board that does

099something different. A board that invest in a well-being of their leaders so that stress and burnout are not into unintentionally transferred to staff. A board that leads with both data and humanity. We have an opportunity to not just manage a system, but to transform the experiences within it. I will continue to advocate daily for our educators to have to have a sound mind, meaningful support, and working conditions that reflect the value they bring to our district because when our staff are well, our students thrive. And when our students thrive, our entire community is elevated. Why? So we can all have what? A positive and productive day. Chair. >> Thank you. Dr. Jew, will come around to this side of the table. >> All right. Excuse me. I'd like to start uh, with a huge congratulations

100to Tammy Waller, who's the media coordinator at Green Level High School for earning her North Carolina Environmental Education Certification. She was recognized by the North Carolina Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs for her three-day workshop for 300 AP students using the En-ROADS Climate Solutions Simulator. Her work's empowering these students to bring real-world solutions back to their own communities, and we're very proud of her. Thank you to all of Chapel Hill Elementary and Green Level High for hosting me at for tours recently. I was particularly struck by the student ambassadors both from the elementary school and the high school who led the way. Their insight and pride in their schools is truly impressive. It's always a highlight of this role to see our buildings through the eyes of the kids who filled them. On a

101more serious note, I want to thank the families and community members who attended the meeting at all of Chapel Hill Elementary last Wednesday regarding the cottage classrooms. I share your deep concerns about the safety and the state of those units. Please know I'm committed to transparency here. I'm following up on the progress of all of the testing and necessary repairs to ensure our students have the safe learning environment they deserve. And thank you to Megan Mausert and Charles Patton um from Central Services for presenting the WCPS AI Roadmap at my District 8 BAC meeting last night. I'm currently reviewing the feedback forms from the parents and principals who attended, and the insights are invaluable. We're in a period of rapid technology change technological change, and it's vital that we provide our students and staff with

102the resources and the guardrails to navigate AI responsibly. We have a lot to learn together, and this feedback is essential in shaping a policy that is both safe and forward-thinking. And finally, thank you to the sped teachers that came out tonight. I want to note that while teachers talked about the pom-poms they brought they brought in terms of extra hours they worked, those pom-poms also meant something else. Every pom-pom was a kid whose IEP was finalized so they got the accommodations they needed, a special activity that changed how kids who were struggling saw math, extra time for a child to take a biology test. During the presentation, a friend who's a special ed teacher in the district messaged me that her school just had to um cut a position, and the position was of a

103teacher who as she said, quote, "One of the best first year sped teacher she's ever met, intelligent, caring, and does the job with more fidelity than anyone she has ever known." She said the loss for our kids is unquantifiable. Now, that teacher has the option to go elsewhere, but she said that she probably won't um because she's she is tired of starting over. I believe we need to increase funding for special education in all of our classes. I also know that Wake County is at risk of having its property taxes capped, so it has even fewer funds to devote to our schools. That's just one of the reasons why I'll be at the why I'll be at the May 1st NCAE action at Jones Street starting at 10:00 a.m. I want to let every member

104of the WCPSS community who plans to join know how much I support you, and I look forward to hearing the voices that will be raised as the entire state of North Carolina's education community ask the legislature to put our kids over corporations. Thank you. >> All right. Uh Ms. Gordon. >> Thank you. I thought you had a pattern going. I thought we were It's all right. It's okay. >> [laughter] >> Um tonight, I want to begin by celebrating um one of the many pillars of our district, our educational um support professionals. Uh your work often happens behind the scenes, but its impacts but its impact is felt in every classroom, every small breakthrough a student makes, and in the daily rhythm that our in the daily rhythm that keeps our schools moving. You represent the

105excellence, the care, the professionalism [clears throat] of all of our instructional assistants, bus drivers, cafeteria staff, front office teams, custodians, and so many others who make teaching and learning possible. We are grateful for you. And so, with that, I would also like to send a congratulations to our instructional assistant of the year, Ms. Ben Rabba. Ben Rabba. I apologize for messing up your name if I did. Anyway, congratulations. We We appreciate you. This week is also National Volunteer Week, and I want to send a deep appreciation to every parent, guardian, community partner, and student who shows up for our schools um with your time, your energy, and your heart. Um I want to thank the educators and parents and supporters who came out again tonight to advocate for a budget that meets the real needs

106of our schools. Your courage, your clarity, your stories, your dedication make a difference. Um I was sitting here and I was writing down several several comments um that that were made tonight. Um but a couple I want to mention. Um someone stated, "You can tell a lot about a public official based on what they give funding to." >> [clears throat] >> Another said, "Commitment shouldn't require overextension." These words stay with me because they reflect what we hear every day. Our schools are carrying enormous responsibilities without the resources to match. Unfortunately, we were at this same place last year, and I think some of my colleagues were a little surprised by my vote. So, I want to restate a comment I had a year ago, but it's very relevant to our budget talks again this year.

107A broader budget strategy that feels more like surrender than leadership. I understand the relent- the relentless state and federal attacks on public education and I know our fight must continue at the legislative level, but we are not power powerless at the local level. Our role is to lead, to advocate, and to make choices that reflect our values and not just manage scarcity. We are constantly asking our educators and school staff to do more with less. It is happening at every level. At state, at federal, and now increasingly increasingly, unfortunately, at the local level. I recognize that this is not sustainable and it's not fair. So, I will be at the May 1st rally. Before I close, I want to remind our families that the Wake County Public School System Parent Survey is open until May

10815th and I want to encourage every family member to please fill that survey out. I cannot stress it enough. You should have gotten a hundred maybe not a hundred, several emails about your parent survey from your child's school and make sure that you if you have multiple children at multiple schools to fill it out for every school. Um your feedback truly matters. It shapes decisions. It shapes decisions. It elevates needs and it helps us understand where we must do better or rethink our approaches. Thank you. >> Thank you. Dr. E. >> Um thank you. Um good evening. Um last night District 3 had our last BAC meeting of the year at Heritage High School. Um I want to thank Principal Newhouse and the Heritage High School PTA for hosting the meeting. First, um we were

109grateful to have uh Ms. Joanne Honeycutt, our CTE director, who gave us an overview of what uh we offer um um to prepare our students to explore possible career paths after high school. Um then Mr. Brett Benton, the Central Regional Impact Manager for My Future NC, um was able to uh give us a progress report for Wake County on where we are making um the progress we're making towards reaching the goal of having 2 million North Carolinians uh hold either a secondary or post-secondary degree or in industry-valued credentials by uh year 2030. Um I wish I had the ac- the uh ability to access this kind of um um uh you know, services back when I was in high school. Um I I didn't I I had to kind of learn the hard way to

110figure out where I wanted um what I wanted to do with my life. Um and so this is a really uh good service that we provide. Um we had a uh thorough discussion today at our Finance Committee meeting uh discussing the uh revised budget. Um one thing that I it came across to me um so even though many of the items on the list that we had to kind of uh ponder on, um they all impact our mission to educate the children one way or the other. Um but I felt like that we as a board cannot um compromise on things that directly impact the children. Um so it's a difficult decision we all have to make um and so and we all kind of have to think outside the box in some of the

111things that um um the question and answer uh time that we had to kind of think about some of the other ideas. Um I think it was um um good to have that uh even just as a um a way of kind of starting the conversation for future um uh consideration. Um but right now we just cannot compromise the education of the students. Um, another thing that uh we can do as a community in response to the proposed budget reduction is an idea that chose wants and brought up um and that is um how we as a community can step up to bring more volunteers in the into the school. And I really appreciate some of the parents that came to speak today um talking about their um uh tirelessly um volunteering at the school

112basically all day um to help the teachers and help help the the the kids learn. So, I really do appreciate all that effort. And um I want to just also thank you thank everyone who came to this meeting uh and spoke up on to support special education. Um, I do appreciate all the hours that the teachers have spent for um their students. Um, that means time spent away from their family, time spent doing paperwork at night and on weekends. I certainly can relate to that um in my line of work. So, um the dedication you all demonstrated has not gone unnoticed. Um, and this message has to be passed on to our representatives in the General Assembly. And I know you you know on May 1st you guys are going to be doing that. Uh

113because they really ultimately they they hold the key to all of this. And as the General Assembly is reconvening today um they have to hear the outcry from the um the uh people of Wake County. And we will we will do our part to bring this to the attention of the legislative body on Jones Street in the coming weeks and months. So, uh thank you. That's all I have. >> Thank you, Dr. Miss Caulfield. >> Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> I'd like to share that we really appreciate our families that not only came out tonight, but also reaching out to us to share about what's important to them um and share their stories and what they want us to focus on. And I know that we are focusing on the classrooms and how the

114funds hit our craft classroom and we will remain um keeping that as a priority. Please know that we are reading every email that comes in and it is important to hear your perspective, to hear your stories and what what you stand for. But do know that we value every single teacher, instructional assistant, special education teacher, and every student. Um since our last meeting, I had the pleasure of meeting with a bunch of my schools actually in dear in in district one and I met some of our new principals, some of our old, and we even got to hear all the great things that were happening in district one such as our great performance from our orchestra at Knightdale High School, which we were able to experience here. They were practicing a theme from Superman from

115Superman and they were absolutely amazing. They were invited to perform outside the school and had performed around town and at Pieces of Gold and Stars in the East. Knightdale Theater Club also performed Bodyguard this month and it's always amazing to see the talent of our young students. I encourage everybody to go out and see even if your student is not in the play at the school, you would be shocked at the talent that our students have. Also, just to put in there when you buy the tickets to see the school, it does support our schools even more. We also shared an evening with Spotlight of students at Roseville High School. We were able to hear the great success stories of our students and at our local school in our district. I wanted to express for

116Jones Dairy Elementary School my deepest condolences to the family, friends, and staff of Principal Caroline Godwin. She was an incredible light and an influence at Jones Dairy Elementary School. I can say that even though she was only at Jones Dairy since last October, she has touched so many people and it really showed. The staff and everyone around her will feel the loss, but also the amazing light and inspiration that she spread around her. Her favorite color was yellow and it's very fitting. She was a bright light and a ray of sunshine from the very first time that you met her. She really showed how much of an impact all of our educators have on our children and in our community and I know that she will live on through Jones Dairy and their families. She

117will be really missed. Tonight a parent asked as an advocate how they can help our schools. This is wonderful to hear parents reaching out because it really does make a huge difference. Please reach out to your local school, whether your child is in the school or not, and ask them where you can volunteer. You sign up for a short process and once you're once you are an approved volunteer, you can help in our schools and feel free to reach out to me if you're having trouble doing so. I will help you navigate through that. Having our parents and other organizations collaborate on behalf of our students is such a huge important part of the success of our our students' education. It helps in so many ways. Our last Board Advisory meeting is at New River

118Middle School this coming Monday on April 27th. Meals will start at 5:30 and the meeting will start at 6:00 p.m. And that's all I have for tonight. >> Thank you. All right, we'll start with Ms. Edmonds. >> Um the last District 5 BAC meeting will be on Monday night, April 27th at 5:30 p.m. at Centennial Magnet Middle School. Um I say last one for for this school year. We'll have a follow-up discussion about the budget and we'll celebrate our child nutrition program and the staff who operate that vital service that supports our kids. It's been my practice this year at my BAC meetings to lift up things that we should celebrate about Wake County Public Schools as we are in a climate of you know, folks having lots of other options and so we're going

119to spotlight CNS. April is school library month celebrating 40 years. I want to thank and lift up our school librarians. These are professional educators who support student student core learning. Librarians in our schools have faced great challenges in recent years and it's important that we honor them and celebrate them all year long every day, every week, but happy school library month. Your work you and your work is appreciated. I want to offer my support to our county commissioners in the resolution that they passed I think it was last week unanimously in opposition to the state legislative scheme to control local government's ability to levy property taxes. It is critical that local governments maintain this right to fund public goods and services, not just for public schools, but also for emergency services, firefighters, police and EMS

120workers. These taxes fund public libraries, health and human services and more. Chair Haggerty said last meeting that Wake Commissioners have really saved WCPSS WCPSS in recent years as the state continues to race to the bottom in school funding and I feel that's true. I agree with him with that statement. Not satisfied with pushing more and more down to the county level while falling to 50th in the country in school funding, the state now wants to restrict counties choices in how they invest in their people and in their communities, including their local school districts. So, I want to clearly state my support of our colleagues at the county level. This is a hard time for us and for them. Thank you to all the public school advocates who were out at the General Assembly this morning

121on the first day of the legislative short session demanding lawmakers pass a state budget. As has been said before here in North Carolina, we are the only state in the country that does not have a state budget, which is appalling and should outrage every person in this state. It is causing real harm to students and educators who have not had a raise. The advocates that were there this morning demanded lawmakers not only pass a state budget, but prioritize funding for the needs laid out in the Leandro Comprehensive Plan. The court case may have been dismissed, but the General Assembly can decide at any time to fund the things that our schools need. They can decide that today. They can decide that this week. And if they choose not to, and they continue down this path

122of extreme tax cuts and prioritizing private school vouchers, advocates this morning sent a clear message that North Carolinians have had enough and we will remember this November. Today's rally at the General Assembly was one of many with more to come. Public Schools First in C and the North Carolina PTA hosted monthly gatherings outside the legislature earlier this year, January through April. We were up there that second Wednesday of every month. Today's event was hosted by several advocacy groups, including Every Child in C. And then on May 1st, advocates, as we all know, from across the state, from across the state, will march and rally with NCAE to demand lawmakers put kids over corporations. I will be there as well to demand better from those who are truly responsible for ensuring that all North Carolina children

123get a sound basic free public education. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Haggerty. >> Thank you, Chief Swanson. Um I had some mic issues. Um really I think a lot of what needs to be said has been said. I think between the board members and their comments tonight and comments from the public, I thought it was summed up really well by a speaker that this system is broken. And we've been struggling to operate a broken system for several years now. And I think all things considered, we've done a commendable job of that, but we can't escape the fact that the system is broken. We are paying professionals at all levels in our system less than they could make not only in the private sector, but in other school systems. We are asking them to put

124in far more hours than they would put in in a comparable job in the private sector. And we can only do this for so long before the system just breaks down. Now, we've heard some great advocacy opportunities. I hope people will take advantage of them. I hope people will contact legislators individually. Sometimes your own legislator might be a fantastic advocate. And so you need to contact the legislators who aren't necessarily the best advocates. And really build some momentum around this. Um you know, I I wonder sometimes how much the public really appreciates the situation that we're in. You know, I want to thank board members that came out to our public hearings on the budget. We had one in Holly Grove. We had one up in Wakefield. And the feedback we got was wonderful. It

125was heartfelt. It was um great to hear, but the people that came out could have sat around this table and we would have had an extra seat. You know, we're in a crisis with public education and sometimes I wonder if people are just too busy scrolling on their phones to pay attention to it. So, we're going to have to try to do something different. We're working to patch this boat before it sinks on us. We have a deadline of May 15th to pass a budget. We're going to have to rely, I think, on some you know, one-time short-term solutions that can get us there to where we need to be to reduce further cuts. But, we're going to have to look at systematic changes. We can't keep doing the same thing without enough resources and

126expect that it's going to get better. We might have to examine programs that are long-time programs and figure out how we can reconfigure them to make them better with new programs. Where are the priorities? We're hearing about all of these special education needs and the crisis we're in. You know, if we are going to elevate that and make that a priority, then we need to look at other areas that can feed and support those teachers in this work. Um I'm interested in a lot of the solutions that [clears throat] are being advocated. I don't know if we can include them in this budget, but we need to work toward them and work toward them in the long term. When we talk about new ideas, every little bit is going to help. You know that from

127our exercise today in the budget committee looking you know for millions of dollars looking for thousands of dollars trying to preserve as much as we can. We've talked to our county commission. They've talked about the the challenges they're facing. We know what they're experiencing with people exploiting tax all loopholes with declining property values even though it seems like our housing costs are going up the property tax collections are going down sales tax revenue is going down. We'll need to be innovative. We've talked to the county about other ways to generate revenue that can also support our schools like you know implementing bus arm cameras and school speed zone cameras which could help address all of those safety needs parents come to us about around our schools and at the same time help pay for some

128improvements at those very schools. And the thing is with a lot of those programs it's not going to get us out of the whole we're in but it's not going to cost the county and it's not going to cost the schools that much money to get them up after the initial implementation. We need to start planning those seeds now figuring out how we're going to keep this boat afloat because we're running out of duct tape and we've got a long way to go. Thank you Mr. Chair. Thank you Mr. Haggerty. Vice Chair Hershey. Thank you. To build on Mr. Haggerty's point I am going to continue to advocate that we develop a plan that demonstrates or shows what a fully funded what our vision as a as Wake County Public Schools what a fully funded

129school system looks like. That means what is a fully funded high school look like or a fully funded middle school look like. One of the comments that we received at the most recent budget meeting was a parent asking for information detailed information so they knew how to advocate and I get where she was coming from. Because we hear and CAE talk about it. And what is our plan if we get a pot of money? And I know some people might find it a stretch, but some things could change over the next couple of years. How are we going to invest that? Where is our plan to strengthen special education, to strengthen maintenance and operations cuz those are the two priorities that I would have. That's our HVAC and our our kids in special education. We

130need that plan and that And so and I want to address another point that we heard tonight and this is an answer I would love to get from staff at some point in the near future. We talk about you know, the comments were about special education and not cutting them and then multiple speakers said, "But at my school we're losing a position." Where are So what's happening with that position? Where is that funding going to? Is it being redirected into the school? I need to be able to answer that as a representative of district six schools and of the 200 plus schools that we have in Wake County public school system and I don't have that answer. And I think it's a very legitimate point being brought up. If we're not cutting special education, why

131am I hearing that schools are losing positions? And I know it's has to do with the essentials and a couple of licensing issues. Okay, so what what are we doing with that money? Is it staying in the school or not? That's an answer that I need to get. Um I want to lift up a couple of things from earlier today as well. The organizational study update that we got. We've been talking about this for two to three years in getting it and I am very excited to be getting this information finally. I know we are as a board collectively. We just got the preliminary high-level view today and it's it's going to tell us exactly what we thought, but it's from an independent group, so it's not us looking at ourselves. So, all the people

132out there that have their thoughts about central services and they're get they're going to hear from this group and we're going to have it so it is easily digestible for the public and it is going to show what we all thought, which is we are running very lean, leaner than comparable school in the country and Charlotte-Mecklenburg included. We also did a market pay study and we are going to be getting that in the next couple months and it is also going to show that in a couple places we initially are at we are competitive in our salaries, but in a lot of places we are not and we pay less than other school systems throughout the state and country. And I'm bringing this up because there's always around time of this assumption that Wake is

133top heavy and spending all this money and and can just trim all this fat in central services and that's why we got an independent study. And it's going to show the opposite of that. We cannot just keep cutting central services endlessly. And of course this is the plan of people like Phil Berger. They want us to be cutting. They want us fighting amongst ourselves and that's why they under constantly under fund. It's quite a legacy to to think that to be proud of underfunding public schools. I mean, what kind of legacy is that? It's kind of pathetic. Pardon my language, but not really. Um Now, let me turn to some happy notes. Uh I had a wonderful experience visiting Moore Square. Moore Square Middle School has a special relationship with the North Carolina Symphony. They

134often have performers that visit the school and this time they had the North Carolina Symphony conductor Carlos Miguel. I'm going to butcher his last name Prieto. This was like a little I was like a little kid in there because I got to ask a conductor all the questions I've always wanted to know and I got to watch him teach a a class and the kids were so engaged and you could see the progress. It was you know it was amazing. I'm still like about it. I know. I want to thank Brooks Elementary School for hosting our BAC. I want to thank the PTA for feeding everybody there yesterday. Naturally we talked about the budget and everything we heard today we heard yesterday as well. And then lastly and this is really cool for the district

135not for district six but I mean for Wake County Public Schools. Martin Middle School Choir was in Orlando Florida over the weekend. I'm going to read it. The Festival Disney one of the most competitive arts competitions in the country. An international chorus competition. And they were the best choir in this entire competition. They were they were awarded three superior scores of 100, one best in class and the first place gold trophy. Martin chorus was the highest scoring ensemble in the entire competition. >> [snorts] >> The this is from the principal and I want to congratulate their director Allison Thomas who is amazing and they do have an amazing program there. This was a quote from a judge. The ensemble skills and vocal production are more developed and mature than most exceptional high school ensembles I've

136heard in my many years as a conductor and educator. So, congratulations to Martin Middle School course. Um the performances are online on YouTube. They are amazing. And if we ever have to find musicians to come perform at a board meeting, that's one I would put on the list. Uh congratulations to them again, and that's the end of my comments. >> Thank you, and we'll be sure to add that to next year's uh month-long celebration for the arts. Um I just want to thank you, Ms. Caulfield, for letting our principal Goodwin. Um my prayers are with not only her family, but with the school family as well. Um I also would like to thank the Cary Elementary School community and principal Clyburn um for welcoming Senator Adcock and myself to visit during the Bring Your Legislator

137to School Day. Uh Senator Adcock and I had the honor and pleasure of visiting a fourth-grade classroom and one of the most engaging first-grade classrooms that I've I've seen. Um and and we closed that meeting with um sitting down with the school improvement co-processing co-process managers and instructional facilitators to kind of [snorts] dive a little bit more into their school improvement plan to look at some of those indicators and uh you know, thinking through um you know, what can communities do to help address some of these concerns. And so, um I I appreciate Senator Adcock for always being a great thought partner. Um whenever I have questions regarding uh you know, whatever's happening on Jones Street, we always meet at our coffee spot that if you're in Cary, you know that you can always find

138Senator Adcock at a Starbucks. Um and that's where we typically have our monthly bimonthly meetings. And so grateful for her participation. Um also I to thank the United Arts um for the Wake on Stage where you heard Mr. Hardy and I had kept alluding to Lean on Me, but we saw some of our local leaders, including our superintendent, present and perform that week um or that evening in in Fuquay. And so, our county commissioners and county manager performed a rendition of Lean on Me. And um we were tasked uh well, not we, but I think some other elected leaders may be uh tasked to do a performance. So, board members look out because I will not be singing. My running joke that night was I was Jermaine Jackson, the lesser famous, talented Jackson. Um and

139I still stick with that. So, we'll be the the WCPS ensemble. Um that's just a dig and I no dig at Mr. Jackson or the Jacksons, but that was just my running jokes. But, let me get back to my prepared remarks. And on a moment of I I'd like to take a moment of personal privilege to um address a a uh incident that occurred earlier this year. It's no secret that I uh received a speeding ticket in the school zone. And so, for that I want to take full responsibility for that, and I um see Councilwoman uh Craig in the audience, and when this moment was brought, when we received numerous of emails from the West Cary community, I immediately reached out to Councilwoman Craig to figure out what we could do that collaboration and

140advocate around that. And that advocacy works, and so I do want to thank that officer who did his job um to ensure to keeping our schools safe, and I have always been committed to uh making sure that school zones and students who walk to school are safe, and my commitment to that is is stronger now than ever. Um I've had conversations with many municipalities across Wake County to figure out what we can do to change human behavior as we go through those speed zones and I can assure you that I have learned my lesson and so if you are behind me, I'm going 10 miles under the speed limit and stopping so therefore those cars can see, you know, that kids are walking and so I again take full responsibility and thank that officer for

141doing their job and all of the officers that sits in our school zones to ensure that our kids are safe and so I I I know Miss Allen I had some conversations about what we'll be doing in Wake Forest community to take care of those speed zones and so I will say the mayors and council members I have spoken to are all excited to figure out how we can collaborate to change human behavior whether that means we are in addition to the lights, you know, having some paint on the roads that has some of the school logos as cars are entering through so change so they can see that this is a school community and so we will be tackling that all together and so that concludes all of my public comments and before we

142before I request a motion to return back to close session, I would like to entertain a motion to approve the HR recommendation as amended. >> I'd like to make a motion to approve the HR recommendations as amended. >> Perfect. So it's been moved and properly seconded. Any discussions? Hearing Hearing or seeing none, Miss Allen, when you're ready, you can open Perfect. The voting has been opened. >> [snorts] >> Yes. >> All right. All right. So, it appears that the HR recommendations as amended has been approved. Um and with that, I will entertain a motion for us to return back to closed session. >> By Chair Hershey. >> Uh Chair Swanson, motion to return to closed session for >> Great. So, it's been moved by >> reasons stated in the agenda. >> Got you. >> I

143just want to make sure that I did my job. >> Perfect. So, it's been a it's been a motion a motion to return back to closed session. It's been a dueling second. Um Dr. Job has seconded that motion. Any discussions? Hearing and seeing none, the voting will open. They will open now. >> [snorts] >> Um Ms. Edmonds and oh, it's >> Yes. >> All right. All right. The uh vote is unanimously unanimously. We are now back in closed session. Thank you all and have a great evening. >> Woohoo!