2026-04-07 Board Meeting

001All right. Good afternoon. Good evening, everyone. It is Tuesday, April the 7th. And it's a little after 5:30, and we're going to call this regular meeting of the Wake County Board of Education to order. I would like to welcome those of you all who are watching at home, those of you all are here in person. The Wake County Board of Education meetings are conducted for the purpose of carrying out the official business of the Wake County Public School System. The public is cordially invited to attend board meetings and to observe the board as it conducts its official business. Persons who willfully interrupt, disrupt, or cause any disturbance at the 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

002any other disruptions. Disruptions by any person or persons of the public uh will be subject to action in accordance with General Statute 143-318. .17. We do have a quorum. We have six seven out of the eight out of the nine members here. So, with that, I'll invite everyone to stand so we can recite the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right. So, if everyone, board members, make sure you're logged in to Simbli so we can vote to approve our meeting agenda. So, I'll give folks a little bit of time. Yes. I Motion to approve the meeting agenda. >> Second. All right. So, there is a motion

003by Vice Chair Hershey. It has been seconded by Mr. Heredia. Any discussion? Hearing or seeing none, voting is now open and you all may record your vote. All right. Ms. Gordon, are you a yes? Are you a yes? Ms. Allen, can she's a yes, Ms. Allen. All right. Perfect. And our meeting agenda for tonight is approved. All right. So, we will start with our first information item, which will be the presentation of the superintendent's proposed budget. And that will be Dr. Taylor and welcome Mr. Nieder. Dr. Taylor. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Tonight, staff will present the superintendent's budget. This proposal reflects careful consideration >> Sorry, Dr. Taylor. Ms. Luton, can we up the volume for all the mics? Yes, I will. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Give them one second so they can Okay.

004I need it jazz band tonight. >> That's right. That's right. All right. Ms. Allen, if you Ms. Luton, Chief Luton, if you can give us thumbs up when all the volumes have been adjusted. Good? Okay. Thank you. All right. So, again, tonight staff will present the superintendent's budget. This proposal reflects careful consideration of the local financial landscape and what I believe to be a responsible ask from our commissioners who have been super advocates of the Wake County Public School System. Uh As staff will share, the financial landscape is vastly different from a few short years ago, and this local budget represents changes based on funding uncertainty, but as well, the successes that we've had that can impact the budget. An example is having fewer vacancies which reduced the availability of lapse salaries, thus reducing budget

005flexibility. Finally, I heard from the board regarding recommendations with special education and desire desire not to move forward with those changes. As a result, staff have been working to identify alternatives based on that directive. While the printing of this budget did not allow time to exclude those proposals, and they will be reflected in the document, this will not be a part of the budget and will not be reflected in the board's budget. After tonight's presentation, we will spend the next several weeks hearing from our constituents on on the budget, as well as working with staff and the board on the board's final budget. As a reminder to our public, the superintendent's budget is a recommendation to the Board of Education, and only the board submits a budget to county commissioners. Additionally, the budget process is

006a long process, and all decisions we make concerning a final budget will be impacted greatly by the state and federal budgets. To that end, a final district budget probably won't be available until the fall, as we normally do every year, after local, state, and federal funding has been allocated. And with that, I'll turn it to staff to go through the presentation. And Mr. Nader, if you could just use the mic so we can all hear you a little clearly. Um if we can turn the mics on in for the podium also. Thank you. Perfect. >> Okay. Better? That is perfect. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. And Good evening, Chair Swanson, members of the board, and Superintendent Taylor. Um see the slide deck is up. Tonight we'll present the Superintendent's proposed 2026-2027 proposed budget to

007you. Tonight's presentation is just for information purposes. Um and as a part of the presentation towards the end, we will go over next steps that the board will take throughout this budget development process that Dr. Taylor referred to. And before we start the presentation on the budget document, you all should have a budget document at your space. And as we speak, it should be posted online on the district's website for the public to see. Um I want to take us back 4 months to early December at the board's retreat where we gave you what we thought the budget might look like, the proposed budget. And with one exception and a little bit more granularity, what we shared with you in December is what is included in the proposed budget. Um We'll also share with you

008some potential risks because we always have to know what those are. Dr. Taylor referenced uncertainty that remains a big piece of the puzzle that we have to unravel and the only thing will do that is time. So, let me take you back to a couple slides from your December retreat where we gave you what we thought would be the landscape of the proposed budget, identified significant known issues and challenges, reviewed the potential for material uncertainties, and shared with you a timeline for the budget. In December as is now 4 months later, the state still does not have a comprehensive state budget for the current year or for next year. So, we have forecasted various revenues and funding for next year. There was no formal budget to base that upon. There have been There were in

009December and they're still out today decisions that the legislature made legislature made in some mini bills to give a step increase to teachers that are not still been fully funded by the state. Still true today. And membership changes and you'll see more detail about this in the budget document as we discuss the budget in coming meetings. But, student membership is changing and that will impact state funding because the state has gone on to funding in arrears which basically says, "How many students did you have last year and we're going to give you funding based upon that for next year." So, that's one of the pressures that we're facing. The state continues to have a challenge a a looming challenge where the current income tax structure both corporate and personal income tax structure even the state's

010office of management and budget has strong concerns about its capacity to fulfill the state's needs based upon income tax rate reductions. I don't know that that's going to have an impact directly on 2026-2027. But, if it doesn't, it's around the corner. The one change from December that was a bit of bright news in December, we shared with you concern about the status of federal funding for next year. It was highly uncertain. At this point, that has changed for the better, and we do believe that our federal funding for 2026-2027 will be aligned with this year's current funding. We shared with you we knew 4 months ago, and it's still true today, that Wake County government, their capacity to generate year-over-year revenue increases was diminishing. They had already forecast that, and those forecasts have now been

011adjusted downward a little bit lower even beyond what we knew in December. Wake County previously had projected revenue growth of 40 to 50 million. I think that number is maybe about half that now. And Wake County government is required to fund not just the Wake County public school system, but Wake Tech, and all the other responsibilities for the infrastructure within Wake County, including EMS, the sheriff's office, the library systems. They have a lot of responsibilities. We are just one of them. We have had the past 4 or 5 years $50 million-ish year-over-year county appropriation increases. That is not included in the superintendent's proposed budget. We've had some other pressure points that we shared again back in December, and they're baked into our current budget proposed budget. Dr. Taylor referenced this. Our vacancy rates have dropped.

012That's the good news. More of our positions are filled. That has been a result, I believe, of in greatly improved recruiting efforts, as well as over the past half dozen years, greatly improved in many cases, compensation levels. That again, we've been able to get into place through very large county appropriation increases. But that said, that puts fiscal pressure because what normally would have been lapse salaries simply do not exist today. We also shared in December, and it's baked into the proposed budget, that carryover refunds had been on a downward trajectory. We were tracking those. The two biggest carryover refunds are federal. One is Title I. The other is IDEA for special education funding. We knew those were on a downward path. And the total revenue available to the district available in any year includes the

013carryover amount and the new amount available. So when the carryover is shrinking, the amount available for total expenditure is also shrinking. So something has got to change. And we shared, and you'll see in the proposed budget, that similarly, it's another type of carryover fund, the unassigned fund balance, has been on a downward trajectory. And that can be used Board Policy directs that you can use up to 50% of an unassigned fund balance amount to balance a subsequent year's budget. But when that number is going down, 50% of it's going down. Um Few other pressure points that were shared back in December, and they're still listed today in the board's proposed or the superintendent's proposed budget as a risk. Continue to have concern about the CNS operation. If that operation cannot operate in the black, the

014operating budget will be required to be used to make up whatever difference it is. And so, between various decisions that have been made, rising food costs, and rising labor costs, they continue to dance on the cusp of not operating in the black. I believe Mr. Strickland will probably be before you at some point this spring with a proposed meal price increase. Recent years meal price increases have not fully covered the increased costs, and that's part of where we're at. So, with some of the lowest per pupil funding in the country, combined with a decade and a half of fiscal scrubbing, this budget is going to be a year of making some difficult fiscal decisions that require giving some things up or doing less. We also shared with you what additional funding request would probably be

015in the budget, and I think without exception, these are in the proposed budget. We have forecast that the state will legislate a 3% compensation increase. We had a similar estimate for the current year that hasn't come to fruition yet, and we don't think it will. We also have in the superintendent's proposed budget funding to continue providing our teachers with master's degree a 10% pay differential, which is something this board approved putting into place at least a half dozen years ago, because the state had stopped that probably around 2013. And I believe that's another reason that we've got really good staffing fill ratios and low vacancy ratios, our capacity to compete. The proposed budget from the superintendent includes an increased amount of pass-through. These are local funds that come in mostly through the county appropriation, and

016about 11% of those local funds go right back out the door to charter schools. So, part of the county appropriation that's in the superintendent's proposed budget, that increase, is not for the Wake County Board of Education. It's really for the charter schools in Wake County. We've got other lists up here. We've got a new school opening this year, that's included in the proposed budget. And I'm now going to jump into a few pages from the actual budget document you've got before you. Dr. Taylor read some excerpts, I think, from his message at the front end of the budget. I'd like to read three different excerpts to the board and let the public be aware. This year's budget arrives at a time of considerable uncertainty. The financial environment facing our school district is shaped by several

017factors beyond our control. I'll remind the board and the public that school boards in the state of North Carolina have no taxing authority and effectively no control over the revenue streams. At the same time, we are facing rising operational costs and ever-evolving federal and state uncertainties. Again, we have some good news. We feel pretty certain our federal funding for next year will be stable. And at the same time these uncertainties and rising costs, our community continues to expect and our our students continue to deserve the high level of educational opportunity that has long defined the Wake County Public School System. The budget includes targeted reductions and other operational adjustments designed to manage costs responsibly while preserving the core educational services that support teaching and learning. Yet, we recognize that every reduction affects our families, students,

018and the dedicated staff who serve them each and every day. And the last thing I'll share with you that is included in the superintendent's proposed budget and Dr. Taylor referenced it in his comments, based on timing, there is in the superintendent's proposed budget before you a reduction of some special education positions. And as Dr. Taylor referenced this evening and previously, those will be removed and alternatives will be presented. Alternative budget reductions will be presented to the board that will likely be at your very first work session on the budget. And again, I'll get into the timeline shortly. So, in the budget, again, we continue to be the only state in the nation without a budget. Um the General Assembly is expected to come back into short session on April 21st. State funding represents 55% of

019this projected operating budget, so it's a large amount. And we expect to see an estimated increase from the state of 44.3 million dollars. A large part of that is based upon estimating they will have a salary legislated salary increase and the state would cover the state employees. So the majority of that increase is based upon a projected, not certain, salary increase the state would legislate. Federal funding in the projected budget represents 7% of the overall operating budget. Um, we're estimated to have a decrease in federal funding of 27.5 million dollars and that is largely due to those reducing carryovers that we've shared with you. We are shifting special education funding expenditures and this is separate from what Dr. Taylor and I have referenced this afternoon that we'll come back with alternatives for, but we have

020requested local funding from the county to backfill for these lowering carryover amounts. And again, at your very first work session, we will present alternatives, alternative budget reductions, I will state though, to those that were included for the special education. Local revenues in the proposed budget support 38% of that total budget and of that 38%, 34% is the county appropriation. And again, I just note at the bottom of this slide that should child nutrition not operate in the black, that local funding will be required to backfill any such dollars and without asking the county or some other source for additional funding that we making require making other funding reductions to cover a portion of the child nutrition program. Dr. Taylor's proposal to the board, which in turn will ultimately become the board's proposal to the county

021commissioners, includes a request for a 25.3 million dollar increase in county appropriation. One of the things that increase will have to cover is the continuing shift of the portion of Wake County charter students to total Wake County charter and public school students. Anytime we get an increase in local funds, a piece of that has to go to the charters, but then when that ratio changes, the amount per student also goes up. The use of fund balance, and I touched on this back in the board retreat slides. Um as of June 30, 2025 was 37 million. Um the superintendent's proposed budget invest 18 and a half million towards this. That's 2.9 million and it's called 3 million dollars less than what is in the current year's budget. Again, putting further pressure overall. There is local funding

022also requested based upon a projected 3% legislated increase, and that includes 14 million dollars overall based on that 3% increase. Based on increased cost to continue provide master's pay differential to our teachers. The proposed budget includes a 1% increase to the certified staff or teacher salary supplement. It includes an increase so we can continue to provide the same level of service to our employees for their dental plan. It's a self-insured plan. There is no rate change for the employees, but to provide the same level of service to them requires more district funding. There also is an adjustment to the extra duty schedule. And then under legislative requirements, almost $12 million increase. The main two drivers there, the increased transfer to charter schools, and what we're projecting to be the employer matching rates for health insurance

023and retirement contributions. The state will pick up the portion for state-funded employees. We're required to pick up the portion for locally funded employees. We're opening one new school, Hilltop Needmore Road Elementary. Fulton Grove is adding the 11th grade this coming year, and Lake Myra Elementary is changing from track four to year round. All those will require an estimated $3.4 million to fund at current ratios. And as I remember mentioned earlier, student membership and the funding in arrears model is effectively a a $4.8 million decrease, decrease, which again, we either have to offset or cut something else. That's reflected in this budget. We have several items under what we call program continuity. That's where we're doing something in one year, we want to be able to continue doing it in a subsequent year, but the funding

024source for doing it in that subsequent year will no longer be available. We've got that for special education teachers, we've got that for magnet grants that are ending so we can continue to operate those magnet programs in those schools. We've got increasing property costs, about 1.6 million, and that includes some of the district's leases, also property insurance. Premium rates go up, and when we open a new school, that's more property to insure. And on this slide, you'll see some of the strategic budget reductions. You'll see additional recommendations at your first budget work session. But, to take out of our central office instructional service budget, $500,000, a change in how we allot literacy coaches to our elementary schools, $2.2 million, a transition to a digital parent-student handbook, $50,000 in savings, and a base budget reduction of

025transportation of 2 and 1/2 million. And we believe that can be implemented without impacting the services provided, and that was done based upon a multi-year review of their revenues versus expenditures. This shows you as a district, some of the same percents I shared with you of how the different funds come into the district. Again, the state is the lion's share. Local sources is next, and then federal at this point is only about 7%. And this next chart shows where the funds are going. 87% of that operating budget goes directly to the schools. An additional 4%, that orange slice, goes to facilities and operations. And I would posit that really goes to the schools because included in that are the utilities that pay for the utilities in all of our schools, are the maintenance and operations

026that support all of our schools. Included in that orange wedge are our yellow bus transportation systems and our contract transportation systems that transport our students to and from schools. And also in that orange wedge are child nutrition operations. And then you can see the other departments. And this shows on this slide a charter pass-through at 4%. That's 4% of the total operating budget, but charters receive their state funding and federal funding from the Department of Public Instruction, not through Wake County. So, when one looks at the amount that Wake County pays to charter schools, it's based on local funding. It represents 11% of our local funding. A few risks, there are several pages of potential risks. And the reason we put potential risks together is we don't live in a static world, things change, and

027there is uncertainty. Well, we've seen uncertainty through this presentation. What's the status of what the state may or may not do as far as having a budget for this year or next year. But, the three I highlight for you tonight, child nutrition, I've already mentioned that. Legislative requirements, if the benefit rates that the state legislature sets for retirement contributions and or health insurance contributions, if it's higher than what we projected, we will require more funding than what's included in the superintendent's proposed budget. Likewise, if the state were to legislate compensation increases beyond an average of 3%, that funding would not be included within the superintendent's proposal. And that would be required to be implemented, and something else would have to be cut. And then the final thing I'll share on this page, we've got a

028projected $5 million receipt of revenues in Medicaid reimbursements this spring, and another $5 million in the spring of 2027. We're not concerned about receiving those reimbursements, but we are concerned about when we will receive the reimbursements. Unlike many other funding streams, they're on a schedule, there is no schedule for these reimbursements. We'll list those simply at this point as potential risks. The structure of the actual budget document is the same as it has been in recent years. In fact, I'd say the only other than having new content, the only other major distinction is it's about 30-40 pages shorter, because there are no new funding requests in the document. The budget, as I said, is now posted on the website, so anyone in the public can look at it, they can download it, it's in PDF

029format. And as far as next steps, tomorrow night at, I believe, Holly Grove Middle School, there'll be a community input session, and then a week from tomorrow night on April 15th there'll be a second community input section. Following that up in 2 weeks, the board will have, based on our current schedule, something could change here. Um at your budget work session, staff will share alternative budget reduction recommendations alternative to those special education reductions that are in the superintendent's proposed budget. Staff will formally respond to board member questions that you submitted at your work session and those questions and staff responses are all also posted to the website for the public to see. And the board will then begin discussion and direction to staff after reviewing some of these reduction options about what types of changes

030they would like to see. Also on the 21st during your work session we are going to bring you the initial reports from the two studies that the board directed the superintendent and staff to conduct. The first was an organizational study and effectively what that was is look at the central support operation, look at the structure, is it adequately staffed, is it understaffed, is it overstaffed? And is the structure sound? And then the second study was take a look at the competitiveness of our salaries across the board. I believe we've got coordinated for the 21st. The group that did the organizational study will actually come to present. I don't know that we've been able to get the market compensation study people, but they will eventually come if we want them to. And these are still draft

031reports, but the content is more or less finalized. They're just getting some feedback from staff and making some minor corrections. And I believe Finance Committee Chair Haggerty has suggested that we continue to use, separate from the budget process, Finance Committee meetings to delve further into both these studies. Um I'll just say one or two things about these studies. The organizational study kind of reminds me of the definition of a consultant. Somebody who take the watch off your wrist and tell you what time it is. It concludes that we are very, very swimmingly and leanly staffed compared to other districts and other peer organizations. The draft market comp study had some good news in it. In some areas, functional areas like in schools, we are competitive with teachers. We've got things like masters pay differential. We've

032got a very competitive local salary supplement. In other areas in the schools, in more of the support roles, and in other areas in central office, like maybe even some of my shop, the financial support areas, and we know in the maintenance and operations areas, we are not competitive. So, you'll get a glimpse of that and we'll see more of that. The challenge with that though is, in order to do something with that and become more competitive, it will require a source of additional funding. And then on the 21st at your board meeting, you'll have a formal hearing. That'll be the third, effectively, public input session. As we have in the past, we'll ask board members as you have any questions about the budget to submit them to Terry Kimsey. Her email address is listed here.

033We'll respond formally to those questions in your budget work sessions, post them online, schedule to have budget work sessions either at work sessions, finance committees, or a combination thereof between now and when the final budget needs to be delivered to the county commissioners on May 15th. And with that, I just want to turn to Terry and say to her and her staff what a great job they've done working through probably 20 years the most uncertainty I've ever seen in a budget development process. Thank you. That concludes my presentation. Thank you, Mr. Neider, and to Ms. Kimsey and all that has been has done the work to move this budget forward. Um and also thanks to the superintendent for listening to the board and finding those additional adjustments so we did not um make with cuts

034to special education. And so um Ms. Kimsey's email has been there and board members, I've just asked if you could send your questions to Ms. Kimsey by Friday at this Friday, next Friday, so we can have those um in time for that budget work session. And to the public, the budget hearing will take place at 6:00 p.m. at Holly Grove Middle School from 6:00 to 7:30. So thank you um Mr. Neider and we look forward to this process and I will say this will be a a long but short process um so we can get our budget to the commissioners by the 15th of May. So we have some challenging work ahead of us, but that is what we are elected to do is to do the hard work and to do what is just

035and what is right. So thank you, Mr. Neider. Thank you. All right. So we will now turn to our public comment portion. Um we have no students or folks, but I'm going to read the script as it is. Um students will be heard first following the speakers who are commenting on tonight's agenda, and then speakers commenting on other topics. Only the person speaking at the podium will be able to stand. Uh again, all attendees that are not speaking are to remain seated. Concerns related to personnel issues or student matters may be addressed through our applicable WCPS personnel, the grievance policy, or any other applicable policy. The board welcomes all points of views, including criticisms directed at substantive ideas, actions, and or procedures. However, the board's public comment policy also requires that the order and decorum

036must be maintained. In the spirit of maintaining order and decorum, speakers are encouraged to address their concerns to the Board of Education, and must refrain from personal attacks, insults directed at board mem- at the board, individual board members, uh staff, members of the general public. All commentators are asked to remember that children are attending these meetings and or watching these meetings, and to keep your comments substantive and civil. Please remain at the podium during your speaking time. Any materials that you would wish to share, you may set it at the table that is sitting there out as you walk in, um and we will make sure that that gets to the board. Uh during public comment, you may speak up to 3 minutes. Please note that the microphones are adjustable, and when you begin to

037speak, the green light at the podium will illuminate. That will indicate that your time has begun. A yellow light will light up uh indicating with an audible tone when there are 30 seconds remaining of your time, and when your time is up, you will see a red light and you will hear another audible tone. Um when your time is up, the next speaker will be called to the podium. Speakers are asked to to respect the time limit and to speak no more than 3 minutes. So, we also will have I think our speakers will be listed. Yes, and you can see where you are. Um and so we will start with our first speaker. Please make sure that you state your name and we will go in the order that is projected on the screens.

038Oh, can you hear me all right? Yes, good evening. Hopefully thank you so much for letting me speak to you all today. Good evening, Chairman Swanson, Vice Chairman Hershey, Superintendent Taylor, Taylor, members of the members of the Wake County School Board, staff, advocates, and guests. My name is Irene Castro and I am a proud graduate of Wake County Public Schools. I attended WCPSS schools from second grade when I moved from Nevada in September of 2004 through my graduation in June 2015. I earned three bachelor's degrees in May 2019. I'm here today because I feel that it is my responsibility to speak about the proposed 18 million in cuts to special education including the loss of approximately 130 positions reported for next school year's budget. As a student who directly benefited from special education services in

039WCPSS, I can say firsthand to how essential those special education teachers and instructional assistants are. The special education instructional assistants and general education teachers are the ones who supported my IEP, helped me reach my goals to succeed academically. They didn't just prepare me for college, they prepared me for how we live in our complex world. Because of that support, I'm now preparing for to do an online master's degree in data science with a concentration in engineering and big data. My experience, like that of many students, was not always perfect. However, that support made a lasting impact on my life, one for which I will be forever grateful for. Attending public schools in Wake County gave me the opportunity to learn from different students of different back backgrounds and also gave me the opportunity to connect

040with people from those different backgrounds in so many ways. This is also why these proposed cuts in next school year's budget is very, very concerning to me. Eliminating 130 positions in these proposed cuts will not just affect staff, it will directly impact students, parents, and communities. Larger classroom sizes, fewer resources, and less individualized attention will make it harder for the students with IEPs and 504 plans to succeed. The students and families who will feel this the most are the ones who are under under privileged. This also reflects a broader issue. According to the North Carolina Tax and Budget and Budget and Tax Center, North Carolina continues to rank at the bottom nationally in public school funding and teacher pay. At a time when public school systems across the country are already strained due to federal

041cuts, and with the special budget still not passed by the North Carolina General Assembly, reducing support for special education will move us in the wrong direction. Teachers should not be expected to do more with less, and students should not have to lose critical support because of funding decisions. Plus, teachers should not have to work two jobs to make ends meet. I urge the board to reconsider these the real human impacts of these cuts because behind every dollar in this budget are students and families whose futures depend on these services. Thank you for your time and for your continued commitment to the students, teachers, and communities of Wake County. Thank you. And now we'll hear from our next speaker. Um good evening. I'm a parent of two public school students. Um my name is May Mitchell.

042I'm grateful that Wake County provides a forum for parent and professional input. And I want to thank the board members who have shown integrity by standing against proposed cuts that disproportionately impact our most vulnerable students. Across the district, student needs are increasing in both intensity and complexity, and the current staffing structures and caseloads are not sufficient to meet those needs consistently while also maintaining safe learning environments and supporting staff well-being. According to Wake NCAE, several areas need immediate attention. First, behavioral support capacity. Schools would benefit from at least one additional behavior support position per building. District-wide, approximately 200 behavior interventionists are needed to align staffing with documented student needs. Establishing school-based behavior response teams would strengthen prevention, consistency, and crisis response, and clear systems must exist to support staff with safety and de-escalation. Second, special

043education program infrastructure. Creating and funding special education program specialist or coordinator roles would improve compliance, IEP and 504 development and scheduling, and this would allow teachers to focus on instruction where their expertise is most needed. Third, staffing stability. Increasing sped incentive pay would help address persistent vacancies and improve retention. Stabilizing the sped transportation workforce is critical to student safety and access to education. And last, caseload management. Reducing sped caseload caps below state limits would allow for more effective, compliant, and responsive services. When needs exceed these caps, systems must exist to allocate staff rather than overburden educators. Addressing these issues supports not only students with disabilities, but also educators and staff. More effective, compliant, and responsive services um I'm sorry. They're foundational for inclusive and effective instruction. Which I think is the basis of public education.

044I do want to address Dr. Ning directly of comments made at the last session that came across as dismissive and disrespectful to families advocating for their families. I am a daughter of a Chinese immigrant and I would hope that you would recognize the moral and societal value of educating all students. James Baldwin, quote, "The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe. I'm beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this may be incapable of morality." End quote. I believe this principle must guide this board's decisions. And as we approach AAPI Heritage Month, I also hope there's recognition that many of the rights that we benefit from today were secured from the labor of black organizers and that equity requires both acknowledgement and action. Thank you for your time

045and consideration. Thank you. We'll now turn to our next speaker. The green light? You may begin. Hello. My name is Crystal Daves and I'll start by saying that I hate public speaking. So, if things weren't so dire, I wouldn't be here doing this. Um first, I'm the mother of a fourth grader and a first grader. Um I work in Wake County Public Schools as a one-on-one instructional assistant at Alston Ridge Elementary School, and I am a proud member of our union. As a parent, I've been very fortunate. My kids have never struggled with learning. So, my original view of the schools is like, "Hey, they're awesome, right? Everything is wonderful." Well, 2 years ago, I applied for my job with Wake County Public Schools. In my interview, I shared about how excited I was to

046continue my education and become a classroom teacher. However, as I've spent time in the school building, I've seen what these teachers deal with day in and day out, what their what their day is like, and I'm not so sure that that's what I want to do anymore. Um I When I look around our school, I see that teachers are doing their very best, but they're drowning in the workload, constantly running on empty, and they just simply don't have enough help. I have a buddy in fifth grade right now. I'd done push-ins with him last year and gotten to know him pretty well. I would sit next to him and support him with group work, and it was great. He would do his work and listen to the teacher because I was able to help redirect

047him and keep focus on his work, and he was on pace with his classmates. Unfortunately, things changed at the end of the year when two of our CCR teachers quit, and they haven't been replaced. One day this year, my current one-on-one student was absent, so I went upstairs to check on my buddy in fifth grade. When I spoke with his teacher, she had told me that he hadn't done any of his work all semester. That day, I sat with him and helped him draw a comic about a lesson's theme, reduce, reuse, and recycle. He did such a great job, and And was so much fun, and he was able to turn in his first and only assignment for the entire semester. I couldn't help but think that if I could just sit with him every

048day, he wouldn't be so far behind or discouraged. I always get so excited when I see him, but then I feel really bad as well because he's taken such a big step backwards this year, and I feel like I failed him. I see students in the same position in every single classroom. It's truly heartbreaking. I am a parent first, but I can say that I deeply care about all children. I want to be able to support them all, but as one person, I can only do so much. So, I stand here as a mother, a friend to all students, and as a Wake County Public School employee to urge you, our elected school board members, to ask the county commissions for what you know our students need. Thank you. Thank you. And we will now

049hear from our next speaker. I second Crystal's comment, the introverts are coming out to speak, and you know it's dire. My name is Elizabeth Marshack. I'm a teacher and parent at Lufkin Road Middle School. I've been a math teacher for 15 years, and it breaks my heart to announce that at the end of this school year, I'm walking away from teaching. I've reached my breaking point and feel as though my mental health cannot carry me through more time in the classroom. But tonight, I'm a math teacher, and I'd love to talk to you about numbers. A few weeks ago, an $18 million budget cut out of special education services was announced via email to an incomplete list of sped staff members. It's absolutely delusional to believe that the community would just accept that without putting

050up a fight. Wake County in North Carolina seem to have very interesting priorities when it comes to investing in education. Per the Education Law Center, North Carolina received an F in funding level, uh spending $5,600 less per student than the national average. It also received an F in funding effort, which takes the percentage of the state's gross domestic product into consideration, placing it dead last in the nation, 51st place. And yet, in spite of all those low numbers, it has been proposed to take more away from our most vulnerable population of students. Hearing $18 million of cuts and reductions of 130 staff members across an entire district can be hard for some to grasp. So, I wanted to put it in terms of an individual school. My school, a multi-track year-round middle school, would have

051gone from six special ed teachers to five, meaning less than two people supporting each grade. On the seventh-grade team where I serve, I asked my co-teacher for hard numbers, how her caseload would be changing from this year to the next. She currently has 14 students on her caseload, and next year, she will be starting with nearly 30 students over two tracks, with roughly the same number for the second person on our grade-level team. For individual students, we have a seventh-grader on our team who's currently reading and math skills are measured at kindergarten levels. He's in Essentials, which is crucial to delivering material in compliance with his IEP. In the smaller class, he's able to get individualized attention presented at a level he can understand. If he were a rising sixth-grader in our building, Essentials would

052not be an option. He would be thrown into an ICR classroom of 30 students, where he would notably not be performing at the same level of his peers and friends. Every student deserves a space a safe space to grow academically and personally. Wake County can afford to secure the funding necessary to stabilize our precarious sped departments and get our overwhelmed staff the support the support they deserve. Teachers are being asked to do what we're currently struggling to do with less. Support our schools. Every child deserves >> Thank you. So now we'll hear from our next speaker. Hi, my name is Sarah Shiflett. I've been a cross categorical resource teacher at Knightdale Elementary for 2 years and I'm currently getting my masters in special education at NC State. I'm here tonight to urge the school board

053to include Wake NCAE's seven improvements to address the special education crisis in your budget request to the county commissioner. As a CCR teacher, I have acutely felt the impact of the lack of behavioral staff at our schools. Countless times I've been working with a small group of students helping them with their literacy skills and I've had to leave to go help a student in crisis. Earlier this year, I had a student who had behavioral struggles and needed consistency. He has a hard time with transitions and specialist classes was always a challenge. One week last fall, he refused to go to specials for four days in a row. Specials were not a place that he felt regulated in and so I arranged for him to come to my classroom since his teachers were in planning. While

054I had him in that space, he was vastly dysregulated. I was trying to teach decoding and phonics while he was in the in the classroom having a really hard time. The students who I had pulled weren't learning, and so I ended up having to send them back as a result of that student needing more support. The student was at max resource and spending a few hours a day in the EBS classroom, but the teacher in that classroom was brand new, got overwhelmed, and ended up leaving before winter break this year. I knew this student needed full day EBS, and just when I had enough data and submitted that request, I found out that his parents had decided to transfer him to a private school for students with disabilities. I felt defeated. I respect the parents'

055decision to pull him out of out because we were not meeting his needs. Even still, I miss this student. It's really quiet. He wasn't very loud, but it's his absence is felt, and more resources and adequate support um might have led to this decision not having to be made. A few weeks ago, I was a part of a delegation of union workers who met with Dr. Taylor and Lisa Allred, and they shared that that and Miss Allred shared that she'd heard from district educators that staff are asking for more more staff support. They just want more training. I don't know who in the district she talked to about this, but I can tell you from my experience and what I hear from my co-workers is yes, training is important and definitely helpful, but it's not

056the solution to the crisis we're in right now. It's not going to stop the turnover. It's not going to decrease suspension rates. In fact, having more sped students in general education classes without the staffing support is not going to be helpful and lead to further student success. Our students deserve access to a public education that meets their needs and enables their learning and growth. That means funding more positions, maintaining programs that are working, like CCK and middle school essentials, and implementing incentive pay to help fill vacancies and maintain quality instructors. Thank you. Thank you. We will now hear from our next speaker. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Abby Johnston. Um I am the parent of Miles who is a current sophomore uh in Wake County Public School system. Uh I'm also the daughter

057of a public school superintendent. So, I understand these long board meetings. Um On the first day, my son uh was a participant in the CCK program in 2015. And on the first day of this program, Miles' teacher, Craig Servney, made a promise to our class of parents that every single student would be reading by the end of the year. And I want you guys to understand what Miles was like in that moment. He wasn't speaking. He wasn't potty trained. He was on a continuous 24-hour feeding tube. The idea of him reading, no less let alone speaking, was incomprehensible to his father and me. But by the end of the year, Mr. Servney kept his promise. Miles was reading. But Miles Mr. Servney didn't just teach Miles. He taught me. I remember saying to Mr. Servney

058one day, "Miles can't do that." And Mr. Servney said He smiled and said, "You forgot to include the word yet." Yet. One small word that replaced a ceiling with a horizon. I remember it changed my thinking. It changed and unleashed my power of what a growth mindset is supposed to be. The belief that where a child is today is not where they have to stay. That progress is always possible given the right support and the right teacher. Programs like CCK don't just teach children. They teach parents. That's why I'm heartbroken. I'm heartbroken about the proposed $18 million cuts in our special education program. Cuts that are going to eliminate 130 teacher positions, balloon caseloads, and programs like CCK. Critical programs like CCK. These aren't abstractions. These are children. These are families sitting exactly where mine

059was back in 2013, terrified and hopeful and trusting that the school system will show up for their kids. The federal government, since 2015-18, Wake County has cut the supportive special ed by 40%. My son and my family have paid the price. I no longer see optimism in teachers like I saw in Mr. Servati. Instead, I see weary, exhausted teachers being asked to do more with less. It's not the fault of the amazing teachers who choose to teach our children. >> so sorry that is your time. So sorry. Thank you. >> please, I'm telling you don't cut what can't be replaced. Don't cut what cannot be replaced. That is your time. Thank you. >> THANK YOU. GOOD EVENING. UH MY NAME IS VIRGINIA MCCOLLUM. Um I'm a resident of Morrisville, and my son is a student

060at Enloe. I'm here to speak in support of NCAE's budget petition and to urge you to fully fund our Wake County schools. My son has had a 504 ever since he entered Wake County as a fifth grader in 2021. And those accommodations along with the incredible supportive relationships he found with his teachers and school counselors have been crucial to his success. However, those relationships, which mean so much to a struggling kid, take time and mental bandwidth. As counselors and other sped staff have to juggle more duties, making do with fewer resources, and being expected to somehow do the work of multiple empty positions, they are forced to triage their time and attention. They're amazing people, but they're also burned out, overloaded, and demoralized. Nobody is getting the resources they need, which means students like my

061son fall through the cracks all together. Special education services are a lifeline to thousands of families in this county, and even children who aren't themselves involved in sped academic programs benefit from the stability and support they provide. An educator who is run ragged due to budget cuts has to pick her battles. One who is adequately supported can meaningfully meet the accommodations of an IEP. A counselor with a reasonable caseload can make life-changing connections with her students. Our Constitution mandates equal opportunities for all students, and sped is what makes that happen. Funding it is not optional. Our children deserve a fully funded education budget, not one that is siphoned off to public private schools or charters, not the bare minimum that you feel comfortable asking for. Regardless of what the board may expect to receive from

062the county, asking for less than 100% of our needed funding is a betrayal of the school communities who count on you to advocate for us. Partial funding that pulls from one department to cover another is not an answer or even a compromise. It's just robbing Peter to pay Paul and all of our kids deserve better. I urge you to support NCA's seven recommendations for sped and behavior support and to proactively advocate for our students with directly impact him. This is a real impact and he definitely depends on services daily. So, right now this is a future funding gap. It's not a current deficit. Um this will impact the classroom. IEPs may not change, but how they are delivered will definitely be impacted. For Sanford Creek, where two of my children go and where one of

063them is on an IEP, the current CCR allotment is 30 teachers and next year it will go to 22, which is a reduction of 25% more as a decrease. CCR teachers are responsible for case management, direct support, and IEP coordination. So, less staffing is going to have less capacity and that's going to impact every student, not just in special education. I can tell you that I have heart palpitations right now for my son who's a rising sixth grader. I don't have I haven't been through middle school yet with a child with on an IEP and as recent as yesterday, I was contacted through Talking Points that um this transition meeting is not going to happen until after after track out because this person is currently working through all the current annual IEPs and next they're

064going through preschool IEPs, and then, of course, there is no conference room availability or administrator's time. So, this is why we're not able to meet in May, and this is just the current caseload. This is not even looking at the impact with reduced capacity. So, there will be larger caseloads, less time per student, slower responses, and more teacher strain. And this is discouraging to me as a parent, but also all around. I love our school district. I love our teachers. We need to support them in every way that's possible, and we need to preserve services. It's not preserving services with this these budget cuts, it's diluting them. And how it's implemented is really important. Schools will have flexibility in how they implement their services. So, different staffing, there will be different capacity, and services will

065vary by school. The funding is going to be decreasing. There's not consistent access across, and what this actually is going to create is something that's not equitable. And as I last recall, this is a civil right, and all students deserve a free and public education. So, our special ed students should not be pressure valves. Budgets should reflect priorities, and this sends the wrong message about what's most important. >> Thank you, and that is your time. We'll now hear from our next speaker. And our next speaker is Sarah's not here. Okay. Um we'll now hear from Travis Howell. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Travis Howell. I'm the proud father of two amazing children with disabilities and we're part of the Wake County Public Schools community. I'm an Army combat veteran and a small business

066owner. My wife grew up here in Cary and graduated from Green Hope High School. I fell in love with North Carolina while stationed at Fort Bragg and after meeting my wife, I knew this is where I wanted to put in roots and raise our family. My career took us out of state for a few years, but the moment an opportunity to return arose, we moved back to Wake County because we believed in the schools here that they would have the resources and support our family needed to help our eldest who is autistic recover academically after setbacks made worse by the lack of support during COVID. My sixth grader will be deeply affected by the decision this board makes after today. She's the kind of kid who's falling through the cracks. She's a beat bubbly, a

067rule follower who who adores her teachers. Yet, she also lives with a learning disability we've not been able to fully address. We've watched her fall further behind because of ongoing gaps in funding and support over the last several years. This is an excerpt from my daughter's IEP, quote, "Her deficits in reading, writing, and math impact her ability to be successful in her general education setting. Even with significant scaffolding modifications and teacher support, she is often unable to demonstrate her understanding of grade level skills and concepts." End quote. Though she's a sixth grader, academically she's currently at a fourth grade level. The middle school essentials classes for reading, education, I'm sorry, reading, math, and ELA are her lifelines. Thanks to her outstanding special education teachers, she jumped an entire grade level in just 6 months. And

068as my daughter has transitioned to middle school, she's becoming painfully aware Sorry. She's becoming painfully aware of her differences and struggles to grasp sixth grade concepts in her mainstream classes. Most days she feels lost and overwhelmed, draining her self-confidence. This past fall she was diagnosed with OCD and her mental health has deteriorated as the academic strains outside her essentials classes have mounted. We've requested an additional aid in her mainstream classes, but the only support being offered is for her current teachers who already have 120 plus students to then take on additional responsibilities. Our teachers are stretched too thin to meaningfully modify lessons for kids like mine. My daughter's incredible special education teacher carries too many case loads and doesn't have enough support to stay on top of mainstream and elective courses. Teachers are too busy

069to follow IEPs. The system they're forced to work in is broken, so it's no wonder we're losing our best teachers to burn out. Families like ours are having to face a heart-wrenching choice we never imagined. Do we stay here in a community that we love and keep fighting for our kids' right to an equal education, or do we uproot our lives and move to another state that invests in its disabled students? I urge you to act. Please invest in the resources, the staffing, and the services that allow every child to learn throughout their elementary on. Thank you. And now we'll hear from OUR NEXT SPEAKER. IS BRIAN GANN IN THE ROOM? Brian Gann. All right. Hearing or not, well, not seeing him. If he's here, we'll go back to him at the end. We'll now

070turn to Christina Cole. Good evening, everyone. I'm Christina Cole, a proud product of North Carolina public schools and a special education teacher here in Wake County, currently serving as the Wake NCAE president. With the poorly written email and haphazardly um delivered email to sped staff 3 weeks ago, and then the specially called meeting, our petition demands have been lost in the sauce. We've been saying no cuts for weeks in response to the whispers of a restructure, but have been talking to decision makers, you all, for months about our proposed solutions to addressing the ongoing crisis in special education. Wake NCAE talked to thousands of workers who signed on to our petition over the last 5 months because the need for more staff, more pay, and more protections around working conditions is deeply and widely felt

071among all staff, not just special education staff. We have not and will not forget about the real solutions we're proposing to stabilize our special education programs. And after the specially called meeting 2 weeks ago, thanks to the leadership of this body, we're glad to hear that the district administration and school board are not willing to make cuts to special education in this budget request. However, let it be known that there have been small cuts to special education year after year, and any cuts, including and especially programmatic cuts to CCK and Essentials, will only exacerbate an already strained system past its limits. And though there's been a promise to maintain special education in this budget, it's clear there will be cuts elsewhere. Alternative budget reduction options will undoubtedly impact student learning conditions regardless of the department.

072If the district and school board decide to make preemptive cuts, that is a choice. It will be a choice to prioritize what's been said in closed-door meetings rather than making clear the urgent needs of our students and staff by asking for what we need. That's a choice to ignore thousands of staff, parents, and community members telling you what we need. I stand before you during yet another budget season urging you again to finalize a budget request to the commission that asks for adequate funding without cuts by another name or alternative budget reduction options. And I'll say to you in closing what we often hear from you all, let's take this fight to Jones Street on May Day. In Kids Over Corporations campaign demands the General Assembly put kids first by getting per pupil spending to

073the national average, by ending corporate tax breaks, and reclaiming our democracy for every North Carolinian. So, I'll leave you with a couple questions. Will you join us on May 1st on Halifax Mall shoulder to shoulder to tell legislators that this is the toughest budget season you've ever seen? Will you pass a resolution with stronger language adequately calling out the General Assembly's privatization scheme? Better than legislative agendas is action. Ask for what we need and join us on May 1. That's right. Thank you. We will We will now turn to our next speaker, which looks like it's Mr. Grant. Sorry, Daniel Grant King. All right. Can everyone hear me? Okay. Good evening, uh Chair Swanson, Vice Chair Hershey, Superintendent Taylor, fellow board members, and district staff. I am Daniel Grant King. Um I've been a proud

074educator of this system, um and I'm an educational advocate. And I stand before you today just to remind each of you, as has been stated many times and many ways, about the proposed budget cuts to special education. Now, I've said in many other, uh statements prior to, um my absence of being an educator with this school system, that we need not to forget our educators, students, and families. But, here we are talking about a $18 million budget cut, possible budget cuts, um in special education. And I want to remind you why it is important that we must not um have those cuts. As many know, we are 50th in the nation when it comes to educational funding. And once again, we are seeing left and right. And of course, district staff came before us last

075Tuesday, I believe, in a very special called meeting, reminding us of that possibility. And then, of course, within Easter weekend, we see the Supreme Court at the state level determined that after 770 days, so just imagine, they decide now to overturn the Leandro ruling. And so, as a result, if these cuts are imposed, that means that we are going to be looking at a deeper reduction, because let's not forget Leandro supports special education as well, amongst federal dollars, state dollars, and local Excuse me, and local dollars. So, my question to you, board members, is will you make sure that our classrooms are protected? Will you make sure that educators are supported? And will you make sure to continue the fight to make sure that students receive the education that they are entitled to? So, now,

076I want to remind us that public education is a right under the federal and state constitution. And it is not just law, it is a responsibility and most of all, it is justice because at the end of the day, we see that our students and families, they are the ones that suffer when these decisions are impacted. And let's not forget who this really affects. It affects children with IEPs, 504 plans, children who needs extra services outside of the school setting, and and children who depend on that consistency every single day from fellow educators and from fellow staff that assist them. And this is harmful and as despicable as to the proposed cuts that might be forthcoming. I do appreciate the clarity from district staff and many others that there will not be any cuts to

077special education, but what I fear is that the most vulnerable populations within the department might still have to be cut. And that is not acceptable. So, what I challenge this board to do is to continue advocating for our most vulnerable population, making sure that our educators have the tools necessary, and most of all, to join us in NCAE on Jones Street. Thank you so much. Thank you. We will now hear from our next speaker. Good evening. Hi, my name is Krista Wallingford. I live in Fuquay Varina, which is in District 2, represented by Christine Gordon. Uh my son attends Enloe High School, uh which is represented by Teshia Warris. Uh in addition to being a proud Enloe parent, I am also here today as a professor of Wake Tech Community College. I've been a faculty

078member for over 20 years, and during that time we have seen significant changes in our demographics. 20 years ago, the typical student was someone returning to college after a career disruption. This is no longer the case. Today, one major trend is the increase in younger students who are trying to save money and obtain an associate's degree before transferring to a four-year college. Another trend is the growing number of high school students taking college courses through the CCP Career and College Promise Program, which provides two pathways, college transfer and career technical training. This board has demonstrated a strong commitment to the CCP program. In fact, just 2 months ago, Wake Tech's president, uh Dr. Scott Scott Rawls, stood here before you as you reaffirmed that partnership. Of the 180 students that I teach, a significant portion

079are CCP students attending the high schools that you represent. Among them are students who are neuro divergent, including those with ADD, dyslexia, and autism. These students are legally entitled to accommodations in my courses. These accommodations need to be implemented through our DSS, Disability Support Services, which require proper documentation, much of which originates from high school special ed departments. Special ed serves a diversity of students with needs ranging from foundational life skills to college preparation. Cutting funding to special education would have a devastating impact. From early childhood education CCK programs through middle school interventions, these programs have measurable long-term benefits including improved college readiness. No one can argue that students in special education cannot achieve great success. Take for example California's Governor Newsom who has dyslexia and attended a local public school. His dyslexia is so

080severe that he avoids reading prepared speeches as it is difficult for him to read and speak simultaneously. Today he leads the fourth largest economy in the world. Imagine the potential leaders in our schools. These students deserve strong special ed resources not only because it is the right thing to do and not only because it is federally mandated but because your commitment to the CCP program depends on it. Without early support and intervention, students arrive in my class with less preparation if any preparation at all. Please align your actions with your commitments. Thank you. >> time and we'll hear from our next speaker. Hi, I'm new here. My name is Brian Grimes. I am new in this building I guess but I grew up here in Wake County and I went to school here. Um and

081uh Not a lot has changed apparently. Um I grew up in poor neighborhoods here. I grew up next to Mayview, next to Chavis Heights and I didn't have a hardly any choice in where I went to school. There wasn't any room for me in AG Uh uh when I was uh tested and and passed. And now uh I have a daughter and she's in kindergarten. And earlier this year she was evaluated for IEP and she's not quite there yet, but she's on the radar. And to hear this news about budget cuts um is just disheartening. We live in one of the richest counties in the nation. And we should never be discussing cuts. And yet, since I was a kid every year we're discussing cuts. For 30 years we're discussing cuts. We need to come

082out and go to John Street and deliver a strong message that we should not be talking about cuts anymore. Every year my taxes go up. Every year my property values go up. We pay more money to have funding go to school vouchers to to uh charter schools when and I know they're publicly funded, but it should public school is a gift. When um I was in ninth grade I was uh in a single parent home and my mom died in ninth grade. And I basically didn't have anything. I was an orphan. And you know who raised money to buy clothes for me to go to school? The teachers. The teachers raised almost a thousand dollars out of their own pockets. Money that they probably did not really have. Because every year we were underfunded. Even

083though we're one of the richest Wake We're in one of the richest counties in the country. Every year we don't have as competitive salaries. We're not actually spending as much money per student as we should. Thank you. Thank you. We will now hear from our next speaker. ALL RIGHT. IS Sandra Templeton in the room? Sandra in the room? If not, we'll go to our next speaker. Ms. Sims. Good evening, everyone. I'm coming before you again. And you probably will see my face again as I am continuing to fight for CCK. I even brought one of my former students who's in audience. I am so proud to be a CCK teacher. I'm proud that you discussed it last meeting. I'm just proud that you asked questions. And I hope that you continue to ask questions. Because

084the evidence is in that audience of what CCK can do. I proudly teach them. I'm core I'm certified to teach core. I have been in the educational system for 7 years. I even taught college. However, I do not understand how you would think getting rid of an essential program. This program allows kids to have a diagnostic year. If they push into kindergarten, how would they be retained? How many kids would be retained? That's the questions you should be asking. What impact would that bring? Another question which I have is that I was told that some of these kids are being successful in being pushed in to general ed. But my question was for me this year is that I have kids that who are extremely AU, but I have to pick because there's only four

085spots open. I have to pick which child needs to go. That's what I'm left with. Does this child go to general ed or should he be in AU? Or should this child go to AU or should I should not be left with that choice. That's the choice that I'm left with this year. So, the question is they put before you is that oh they're successful. I ask you the question the data. Really question and dig deep into that data and ask questions if this accurate. Someone proposed Did they talk to CCK's teachers during the meeting? No, they did not. They just told us that the program was gone. We'll have HR call you and we'll help you find a job. Think about these kids. Put these kids first. I would love for my kids to

086be successful. To see my kids every day to walk in that classroom makes me sad that this program is about to end. This opportunity for them is about to end. And yes, they do get push in. Yes, they get access to neurotypical students. Thank you, Ms. Sims. That is your time. Thank you. And now, here's our next speaker. Evening. My name is Daniela Warden, and I'm a Wake County parent of three, two of whom receive special ed services. I'm also a vice president of a middle school PTA and a special ed IA. My middle son, Nido, has been in multiple Wake County Public School special programs. He's gone from pre-K to CCK to EBS in elementary school to essentials in middle school, and now he's in the OCS program in his high school. It's been

087an incredible journey with the most wonderful and dedicated educators. He's made phenomenal progress, and I could not be prouder of him. I firmly believe that without these programs, he would not be where he is today, an A honor student with a 3.75 GPA. No lie, he should be poster child for these special programs that cuz he has done so phenomenal. On the other hand, my daughter, Rosa, has not had the opportunity to participate in these wonderful programs. Even though she's lagged behind farther than him academically, she masks her behavior better and so was not eligible for the same amazing programs that he was. Currently in middle school, she's getting phenomenal support in the essentials program. She's made great progress in math and ELA thanks to this program. Now, Wake County Public Schools wants to do

088away with the essentials and the pride of my daughter and her classmates have that extra support and boost of self-esteem that it has given her. If you place my daughter in a general education math and E next year, I promise you she will drown. And so will her classmates. And they will all shut down. Because they will think that they can't do it. We'll no longer see the awesome progress we're currently seeing. I've been working as a substitute in a special education IA for the last 5 years and I've been volunteering in the school system for the last 11. I know what happens. I see what goes on. I know how it works. I see firsthand the progress these kids make in these programs every single day. I don't see data points from some inconsequential

089standardized tests. I see the progress they make in their own time. And now you've put these programs on the chopping block. And try to tell me that these children will get the same amount of support without these programs because I know for a fact that it's impossible. I see how overwhelmed my co-workers are. I'm a firm believer in inclusion, but least restrictive environment doesn't always mean the general education classroom with support. Sometimes it means separate setting with support. So don't neglect our most vulnerable children. Keep these special education programs that help these children reach their full potential. Thank you. We'll turn to now hear from our next speaker. I'm a little taller. Good evening, everybody. My name is Tashika Williams. I'm the creator of a program called ABC for Teens. And I guess I was

090coming at the budget approach from a different angle, so it won't be aggressive. Um basically what I was suggesting is that Wake County approaches some of their social emotional learning programs from a universal standpoint instead of each school implementing this this SEL program or or this organization, why not have one so the budget could be less if it's just one flat budget across the board per school. So with the ABC for teens program, it is a social emotional learning program dealing with topics from A to Z. It's a 26-week program. A to Z as in A the first week would be talking about alone. It allows the kids and the staff actually to participate. It creates job opportunities for behavior health therapists and social workers. They use it as an internship program that they volunteer

091for to get their hours to complete school for their master's degree or bachelor's degree. And with that, they're meeting with the kids and they're discussing each topic. So the first 15 minutes they might talk about what makes you feel alone. What are the causes? What are the solutions? They do a self-check. In the last part they're doing art. So they might do peer-to-peer interviewing. They might get up and do public speaking in front of their peers. They might do art, literary work, poems, drawing. One kid drew himself in a corner balled up and said he felt like that because his parents divorced. So when he's at home he feels like he's just balled up in a corner even though it's not, you know, reality. So that was what I wanted to introduce is if we

092could do a SEL concept budget friendly for Wake County as a whole, universal. Just a thought and if you guys had any questions, I'll leave my information for you. Thank you for listening. Ms. Williams, Dr. Hill who is our chief academics officer will be reaching out to you regarding that. In fact, Dr. Hill is going to I'll you on the other side. All right. Thank you. Uh we will now turn to our next speaker. Welcome, Ms. Mackie. I'm shorter. Hi, my name is Kim Mackie. Um good evening, everybody. I am a proud Wake County employee of around 20 years. I also have a um a fifth and eighth grader, but I'm coping with them becoming middle and high school students as well. Um I've taught about 3,000 Wake County students um over the course of

093my career and would love to continue doing that. I'm well aware of all the harms that have been done at the state level and I'm trying to do what I can to lift that up as well. Um that includes doing a lot of math and pushing back on some of those false numbers. As a economics and personal finance teacher, I'm well aware of scarcity and budgets and things like that, but really what what brings me here is a miscalculation that I haven't really noticed from um this building um in about a decade. Um our Wake School Board and county commissioners weren't elected to do the president's bidding. They're elected by our community to support our students. Our community deserves the same respect and trust we bestow on you. When you need help, ask. And ask

094to confirm that you share our values. The district's initial choice to cut special education resources and especially its messaging of the inevitability of the cuts sorely underestimates both the need for these services as well as underestimating our community's commitment to maintaining them. This gross resignation and underestimation highlights a disappointing disconnect with knowing and trusting the community our district serves. That knowledge and trust must improve with discourse beyond central offices. That mistake has already been made. I ask our school board and will also ask our county commissioners not to repeat the mistake of resigning themselves to the bidding of state and national folks who unfortunately do not share our community's commitment to public school students. That's why we need you and you need us. Our local government should be a firewall to protect community priorities, not

095dry timber for fires set elsewhere. Let's focus on building that firewall together. Thank you. We will now hear from our next speaker. Caller, okay. Peace be upon you all. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Zainab Baloch. I am a former Wakefield High School graduate and a community organizer. First, I want to thank Miss Jennifer Job for her leadership during the work session in including both Jewish and Muslim holidays on the school calendar. And I want to acknowledge the board for putting forward a calendar that does include Eid. Yet it was concerning to learn that a board member had initially requested that the day that Eid be taken off the calendar. So, I just want to say that the that decision is taken it isn't taken lightly and I appreciate that you

096guys are committed to inclusion. I also want to know that Eid is currently a teacher work day, so I would encourage the board to explore in the future on changing that to an actual holiday as well as one of the concerns I heard was that teachers whose religious holidays are not acknowledged sometimes have to take PTO or their leave to celebrate those holidays. So, to also acknowledge that and to just say for Muslim students Eid is not optional. It is one of two Islamic holidays and it is one of the most important days of the year. It's a time of community, reflection, prayer, and students really should never have to make the choice of showing up for school or showing up for their faith. And as someone from the Wake County school system, I had

097to do that as a student. I had to advocate to be able to get off for my religious celebration because I had perfect attendance and I didn't want to mess that up and they told me you would mess it up if I took off a day for Eid. Eventually, I as an advocate fought that and I was able to keep my perfect attendance. But, I'm grateful and hopeful that future generations will not have to go through this struggle. Muslim students are the largest religious group after Christians and they're growing and big part of this district. And at a time when we are seeing rising hate and violence against Muslims globally, these kind of decisions are really meaningful because they send a message. They send a message that you belong here. They say that your identity

098matters. They say that you don't have to shrink who you are to succeed within this system. And but inclusion cannot be conditional or temporary. It has to be intentional and consistent because when we normalize the absence of a community, we normalize their exclusion. But, when we choose to recognize them, we choose dignity. So, the question is not whether Muslim students deserve to be seen. The question is whether we are willing to be the kind of district that sees them. And PS, please don't cut the budget for special education. And if we find money for war, we can find MONEY FOR SCHOOLS. AND WE WILL NOW TURN TO OUR FOURTH AGENDA, and that is Miss Lu Hobbs. Of course, now my computer decides to run out of battery. Um I'm Becky Hobbs. It's good to see

099you guys. Haven't spoken in a while. First of all, thank you. Uh there is no barrier. I'm glad to see that gone for the first time since the COVID era. But I'm actually here not related to the budget. Um just a question about curriculum. I've been looking into curriculum for high school um to do some planning for some of my kids, and I made a request public record request to get the syllabus overview for English language arts, um world history, and civics. And while they were they replied with the materials list, part of the reply kind of concerned me because it came back and I would read it verbatim but my computer died. Um is that the principal will has the the syllabus. And that's concerning because well, we have over 200 schools, and whatever

100grade level you're looking at, if the individual principal is the one responsible for developing the syllabus and the and the course materials, that means we have over 200 court you know, curriculums, which is very concerning. I mean, I'm I'm just trying to to do some planning for my kids. That's all I'm looking at is trying to figure out which schools to look at for magnet programs. So, was that appropriate because you are responsible to supply parents with the curriculum? So, I'm just what concerned that you know, did somebody not know when they responded back to me? Is there a disconnect somewhere in the back communication? Because I know that a person providing information for a public record request may not necessarily be the one with that specific information. Um I did email after that, reached

101out to four of the schools that we were considering for my for my child, and one of the principals was very kind enough to to respond back to me and did give me a syllabus, which is exactly what I was looking for. And I was reading over it. Um and I'm going to reach out to her for the questions that I have specifically. But just once again, I just wanted to bring to your attention that concern that there should be a specific curriculum consistent among school, whether regardless of what school you go to, whether it's Green Hope High School or Knightdale High School or East Wake High School, Athens, whatever, it should be consistent. That's all. Thank you. And I am looking for Ms. Luton to assist you with your FOIA request information. So if

102Ms. Luton might be in the control panel, and she will pop out. Oh, there's Ms. Luton. She'll meet you to discuss your uh FOIA request. So we will I will do a last call for Mr. Brian Grant and Ms. Sandra Temp- Templeton. All right. Well, while that's happening, board members, make sure you log back into Simply because that will conclude our public comment portion. And do do do do do do do do So now I will entertain a motion to approve tonight's consent agenda. Is there a motion? Vice Chair Hershey? Chair Swanson, motion to approve the consent agenda. So there is a motion to approve by Vice Chair Hershey. Is there a second? So came up the board members could see. >> Well, we don't have a second yet. So Thank you. All right. So

103there's a second by Ms. Gordon. All right. All right. So it's just Ms. Ali can reopen that and and All right. It's open now. All right. So it looks as if it is our consent agenda passes with the 7-1 vote. All right. And so now we will turn to our first action item which will come from our chief of staff. Uh chief of staff um with our counter sorry um Looks like there's some technical issues going on to my left. But as that's taking place uh we'll welcome Dr. Robinson and Ms. Anderson-Powell to present the 2026-2027 year-round instructional calendars as well as the 2026-2027 early college calendars. And I think we're all having technical issues. We can't open our assembly because the pop-up keeps flashing before us. Got you. Well, while that's taking place you

104all welcome and we'll figure out what's going on here. All right. Give us 1 second, Ms. Anderson Powell. Yes. All right. Yeah, it's it's happening to everybody. All right. So, give us a quick without objection, I'll entertain like a 5-minute recess so we can figure that out. >> Okay. Seeing no objection, we'll take a 5-minute recess to get this resolved. All right. Okay. So, I'm >> All right, it appears that All right, so it looks like we have could not resolve our technical issue, so we will just do our voting as is the old-fashioned way as Dr. Ing stated. Um, so there also may be an it may interfere with um I have a solution, yeah. Question, just don't log in and you can still access everything in assembly without the voting option. Yeah, that

105that works. We'll just have to project the um calendars and everything else because we will not be able to see the same. So, thank you, Ms. Anderson-Powell, for being flexible. So, we'll turn to the calendars. Thank you, thank you. So, I'm presenting this evening for your approval several calendars, um an updated 2026-2027 year-round multi-track calendar that removes the banked days from the end of the year, the 2026-2027 early college calendars for Wake STEM, the Wake Leadership Academies, and all of the early colleges that partner with Wake Tech. I'm also presenting the 2027-28 year-round multi-track, traditional version 6C, and modified calendars for your approval. And which one will we start with so they can Do you want to vote on them individually? >> Let's do it individually. Sure. So, do you want to Then let's start

106with the 26-27 multi-track year-round that is an update. Perfect. Yeah, I'm going to see if they can go ahead and Okay. Okay. So, the 26-27 multi-track year-round that is an update or that removes the bank days. Do you want to do that one individually? Sure. And then Yeah. Thank you. Okay. Do you need me to talk about it some more? Do you Do you have questions? Yeah. This is the same that was reduced earlier in the work session, not today, but the previous work session. Correct. That calendar comes from March 17th. The only one that's going to be different is that 27-28 traditional. Perfect. Okay. So, we'll I'll entertain a motion. Well, Mr. Chair, I would move that the board adopt the proposed multi-track year-round calendar presented by the Superintendent of Schools. All right. And

107this is the 26-27. That I just want to cuz then I'm going to talk 27-28. Okay. All right. So, there's a motion by Mr. Haggerty has been seconded by Vice Chair Hershey to adopt the 26-27 year-round multi-track calendar that says version 10 draft. Are there any discussions or concerns with this? All right. Hearing and seeing none, all those that are in favor of the adoption of this calendar, let it be known by the sign of I. I. Oppose? This calendar passes. Thank you. We'll go to the next one. >> Okay. So, would you like to do the three early college calendars together or individually? >> Let's do those together. Together? Okay. So, I present the three um '26-'27 early college calendars for your approval. All right. Is there a motion? Mr. Chair, I would move

108that we adopt the proposed early college calendar presented by Ms. Henderson. Correct. >> Second. All right. So, there is a motion by Mr. Haggerty and it's been seconded by Ms. Edmonds to adopt the three uh early colleges. Looks like calendar I was going to read them off, but it's it's already gone. That's fine. Any discussion regarding those calendars? All right. Hearing or seeing none, all those in favor of the motion, let it be known by the sign of I. I. Oppose, same sign. The eyes have it. That calendar has been adopted. All right. Thank you. Um so, next would be the '27-'28 um year-round multi-track calendar. I guess we can do these individually in case you have comments about the traditional. Um so, this is the '27-'28 multi-track year-round calendar draft I present for your

109approval. All right. Is there a motion to adopt the '27-'28 year-round multi-track calendar? So moved. All right. It's a motion by Mr. Haggerty. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Ms. Gordon. Any discussion or questions regarding this one? All right. Hearing or seeing none, all those in favor of the adoption of the calendar, let it be known by the sign of I. I. Oppose, same sign. The eyes have it. This calendar has been adopted. Thank you. Next calendar is the '27-'28 modified year-round calendar. Okay. That was presented on March 17th. No changes except the correction of putting the number seven on a Tuesday, not a Wednesday. So, is there a motion to adopt the modified calendar for the 27-28 academic school year. So moved. So motion by Mr. Herget. Is there a second? Second. Seconded.

110I'll give this one to Dr. Ing. All those in I see Um Mr. Ing, was Okay. Got you. Um all those in favor let it be known by the sign of I. I. Opposed, same sign. The the eyes have it. The calendar passes. Sorry. Was there I saw Dr. Council. Was there Okay. Just making sure that that works. All right, sorry. Um we'll go to the next Okay. Our last calendar for this evening is the 27-28 traditional calendar draft version 6C that you discussed at board work session this afternoon. I present this for approval. All right. Is there a motion to adopt the 27-28 traditional calendar? This one was version C. Six. 6C. >> Say that two times fast, why don't you? Is there a motion? So moved. So motion by Mr. Herget. Is there

111a second? Seconded by Ms. Caulfield. All any discussion? Ms. Edmonds. Very briefly, it was referenced tonight by one of our speakers that I was suggesting to move the May 5th. I simply misread the emails that came in. That was my error. I have no issue with recognizing that as a teacher work day. Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any other? Dr. Joe. I'm I'm going to be quick, I promise. Um So I'm I'm definitely in favor of this calendar and I'm glad we're looking at a calendar that um has work days for Yom Kippur and Eid. And I just think for the future it should go further. And as a religious minority, I know it's what it's like to have to sacrifice to honor my holidays. And when I was a teacher, I was

112told by vice superintendent, not Dr. Taylor, obviously, but that because I didn't have annual leave as a new teacher, I had to have I had to work a week weekend day to make up for taking off for Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. "Just come in on a Saturday," he said. Um not yeah, not really realizing that for many religions, not just mine, Saturday's the Sabbath. If Christian teachers don't have to make up hours for observing Christmas or Easter, Muslim teachers shouldn't have to make up hours for Eid and Jewish teachers shouldn't have to make up for Yom Kippur. And so, I just would like us to think about that for the future. Thank you, and that is why calendar flexibility will always be on our legislative agenda until we can get

113a legislative body that gives us the ability to start school that makes sense for us. So, hearing or seeing no more comments on this, any I feel like I'm at an auction. Um but the but the southern draw here. So, any other comments, questions regarding that? Hearing none, all those in favor of the motion, let it be known by the sign of I. I. Opposed, same sign. The eyes have it, the calendar has been adopted. Thank you. >> Thank you kindly. Thank you all. >> Ms. Anderson-Powell, and thank you to your committee that works on this. And if anyone wants to join the calendar committee, they can shoot you an email or send them an >> email. They can call the main desk and ask for the calendar girl, and I will I will send

114them information about when we meet. We meet virtually, so people should be able to access the meetings. So, if you're interested, please see email Ms. Tamani Anderson-Powell, who is not the calendar girl. Um if you're interested in joining. Thank you so much. >> very much. Thank you. Thank you. So, we will now turn to our next uh action item, which is coming from the facilities department. So, welcome Mr. Strickland, who's very excited about this topic, um and Mr. Cooney, uh as we talk about the 2027 20 fiscal year 2027 through 2023 CIP executive summary update. Mr. Strickland. Thank you, Chair Swanson. Earlier tonight at the work session, you all received an updated version of the CIP executive summary. As Chair Swanson said, for 2027 to 20 33, we made some modifications and discussed those and

115I'm bringing this to you all tonight for consideration and approval. Perfect. All right. Is there a motion to approve the 27 2033 CIP executive summary? All right. It's a motion by Dr. Job. Is that a second for you, Vice Chair Hershey? Seconded by Vice Chair Hershey. Any comments, questions, or discussion on this motion? Mr. Haggerty. Thank you, Chair Swanson. So, this CIP and this CIP process that's being brought to you tonight is the evolution of over a year's work and review where I believe our board has taken a much deeper look, a much more thoughtful look at this process than we have really at any other time in my tenure. I think that you know, staff is under a lot of pressure to make the numbers balance, but we hear all the time about priorities

116and priority needs. And this year with the proposal that's brought to us, I believe we're really seeing um, a responsive process. And I want to acknowledge this is only made possible not necessarily through staff listening and incorporating the suggestions and the direction from the board, but then staff being able to work with our county commission in a collaborative process to find out what is and is not possible. So, you have probably one of the most detailed road maps for where the district will be going in the next 7 years in front of you. And I think if you look at this document, you will see fingerprints in this document of very specific concerns that you may each have brought up individually that staff is addressing. So, I really believe this is a a new direction

117and I believe the changes here will address priorities that this board has expressed when in a month or two when we start getting into some of the work that our organizational studies and uh you know, uh competition or compensation studies look at, I think you'll see that the steps that we're taking now as part of this CIP will really help address items that will will will lift up all of our maintenance and operations and facilities um needs. Um it's it's a it's a good program and I recommend it to you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Vice Chair Hershey. Um can you just quickly review the changes that have been made over the last 2 weeks and and to emphasize where the money is being moved from and to? Certainly, I'll do that at a

118very high level. Essentially, we identified some funding in the uh cash-funded portion of the CIP and technology devices that total $5 million. We um took 2 million of that and added it into a new cash category for environmental and ADA work. Um the other $3 million we added to the uh security line item. And I mentioned at the work session that security is something that we'll be bidding here next 30 to 60 days. So, we felt like this was an opportunity to either get ahead of some things if we got some good pricing or cover some things if we didn't. So, those were the only minor changes that we made uh to the document. Thank you. I I just want to commend you and your staff on all the work you did in responding to

119the board. It's appreciated, for sure. A lot of people participated in this. I saw I didn't get a chance to ask you this before. I saw that a line item for trailers. Can you talk about what that money goes to? Um so, a variety of things mainly for relocation of mobile units uh throughout the district. As you know, this year we are um embarking on a plan to identify a good number of mobiles that we can either get rid of or relocate due to growth issues. So, that's part of that. And then some of that too was as we can is available for funding to renovate trailers. It doesn't go very far. Any other comments? Well, I also Okay, got you. I saw a hand. I'm Here's on the school >> Well, since we don't

120have the assembly, so just being mindful of all of my colleagues. I just want to thank, you know, Mr. Sirkin, you and your team. And also um to Mr. Haggerty for your leadership on pushing this the CIP and being intentional about reallocation of of limited dollars so we can address the needs and reminding us of of the importance of that. So, thank you um for that. And also to the vice chair who has worked diligently on this as chair of facilities. So, just thank grateful for all the work that's went into that and so, I believe there is a motion and there's been a second. So, all those in favor of the adoption, let it be known by the sign of I. I. Opposed, same signs. The eyes have it. It passes unanimously. Thank you,

121Chair Swartz. Next up is the resolution that goes along with that CIP approval to petition the Board of County Commissioners for bond referendum to provide the necessary funds for the purpose of paying for the cost of school facilities. And this is a requirement of our board to indicate that we desire funding for this later in the fall. Is there a motion to approve the resolution requesting and petitioning the Board of Wake County Board of Commissioners petitioning the Board of Commissioners for the County of Wake County, North Carolina to provide necessary funds for the purpose of paying the cost for school facilities? So moved. There is a motion by Ms. Edmonds. It's been seconded by Mr. Haggerty. Any questions or comments regarding or or discussion, rather? Ms. Caulfield? I just wanted to say I appreciate answering

122the questions and everything that we had in work session. My biggest concern was the checks and balances because we are asking for a serious amount of money in the bond. I know that we ask once every couple of years. I did hear those answers. Um the the the concern that I had and that I hear is that if we if the bond is going to rely on the revenues that come in, and I know this isn't Wake County, but where Wake County is asking for the money from the from the county, then they're counting on revenues. And we're hearing more and more that the state and county are having struggles with revenues, that we're all struggling, and this is the most difficult budget that we've had. So, knowing that that's a problem, my concern was

123just if they are not getting the revenues that they project, how that affects us as a taxpayer with the bonds. And I know some of this was answered, but I'm just saying cuz now we are in board in the board meeting and we are voting on it. This is my main concern is how it affects our taxpayers later on. Um I certainly can't answer for the county, but what I can share for you is that the county has an extensive debt model that they put together to determine the amount of money that they can comfortably fund with a bond referendum. They've done this every year since I've been here and we have worked with the dollar amounts within that debt model to determine the ask that that they feel like they can support. And so,

124based on what they feel like they can support with all the other needs and other bond referendums that may be on the agenda for this fall, this is how we arrived at the number that we got, the 800 plus million dollars. Um so, as far as the specifics of how the county does it, I I wouldn't be able to answer that, but we have worked hand-in-hand with him on the dollar amounts and we feel comfortable with that. Following let's call for votes. Um No, I I appreciate you answering that and again for more clarification and I just encourage anybody that is listening to please pay attention to the work session that we had earlier because you did answer a little bit more details there as well. And the only thing that I would ask and

125I know that this is something that comes later on is that we do have I understand that we get these charts, but they are very general for a lot of different projects and line items that we have and I think for transparency and accountability it would be great to have some kind of monthly report like Ms. Luton said that it might be on the website once they update that. I think it would be really helpful for transparency and accountability. And it also shows the public that look, we got this money. We asked for the bond, you approved it, and this is where your taxpayer dollars going. And we are now able to catch up on some of the things that we've been struggling for many years, even long before some of the people who are

126here on the board now. >> So, Mr. Strickland, if I I'm sorry. I have a question that If I may respond? I I think we're right in line and I'll let you go for it cuz I Okay, so two things. We are working on retooling our FD&C website page. That's one thing. The other thing that is is really important to note is that for the majority of these major projects, anything that's a new school or a major addition or renovation, you all see the information that goes in with that. We bring you for approval the schematic design of that. And so, I'm thinking most recently of maybe Athens Drive where we brought some things. You all had the opportunity to provide some input and feedback as to what we're planning on doing. We made some

127modifications. We share with you the budget information whether in budget or or not. So, at every step along the way when we're doing this major work, we do bring information to you all. If the If the desire is for us to maybe put together a more comprehensive plan with that, we can certainly look at that. As I shared, we are looking at updating our FD&C web page to provide some more clarity and transparency. Dr. Ray. Um thank you. Um and as part of the facilities committee, I I appreciate all that you guys have been doing and the um emphasis on existing schools and I just continue to urge you guys to to focus on the existing schools and and um, I know the best laid plans of mice and men, uh, you know that you

128have ideas of, you know, what you want to do, uh, but then, you know, these kind of unexpected things come up that require us to use, uh, resources elsewhere. So, in those cases I I would do appreciate if you are clear in describing, you know, what happened, why we need to, um, you know, move the funds from a originally laid project to somewhere else. So. Um, if I may add, um, we've had some spirited conversations in those prep meetings which have been really good. And keep in mind, uh, I mentioned the next facilities committee meeting which I think will be chock-full of of good information to share with you all on a variety of interesting subjects. Thank you. And I I think Dr. Eng hinted some of my comments. Uh, but Mr. Sugar, how often

129does the CIP come before the facilities committee? Because that's where the topic would be discussed, correct? Right. Um, the former chair a year or so ago asked for asked for a longer runway. We started in August of last year. Um, we we have been inclusive with many many groups to help formulate this. We started a long time ago. We've had some small group discussions with you all. Um, integral in all of this are our student growth projections of how we look at, you know, how we're growing and more importantly, or as importantly, where we are growing. And if you note, you know, we'll see, um, in the upcoming years that growth is is kind of in the eastern part of the county. So, it is a an involved process. We we on a regular basis.

130Um, keep in mind we have something here that many districts don't have and that's the core team where we meet with the county and and I've never been anywhere where that was in place, but it is certainly a a beneficial tool for us to come to a a great place with the CIP. So, very inclusive, uh, very, um, deliberate and I feel like we end up with a good product. Great. And those meetings, just like every meetings, are streamed live and they're published. So, there's your transparency. >> Well, the facilities meetings are, correct. Well, that's what I'm I'm just Yeah. You since we know it comes through the the CIP is discussed in the facilities meeting. The facilities meeting is a streamed live on YouTube just like this meeting is and every other meeting. And

131the documents are public. So, there's all of your transparency and accountability is the nine of us making these votes as I indicated in the um, work session. So, this bond is just one of two that the county will be discussing. The Wake Tech is going through a process. So, it's really up to the voters once we do our part of passing our resolution, laying out what our needs are, discussing the growth, taking care of our existing building that Dr. Ivey and I share a passion for that, um, and moving forward with that. And then it's up to the voters to decide yea or nay. Um, and these bonds are every four years as we learned the process with, um, Mr. Haggerty walking us through that at the work session. So, if there's no other comments

132or questions, I guess we will call I'll call for the vote and we can go forward and get this first step completed. So, all those in favor of the resolution, um, the approval of the resolution, let it be known by the sign of I. I. Opposed, same sign. The eyes have it and it passes unanimously. Thank you. Thank you. All right. So, we will now go to our information item and we'll start with our comments from our superintendent. Dr. Taylor? Uh thank you, Mr. Chair. Um I want to start out by um recognizing um what we know as the power of a teacher. Um and I want to send my condolences to uh the family of Mrs. Helen Dawkins Von Der who was my second grade teacher and my brother's fifth grade teacher. Uh and

133she passed today, so I do want uh to to recognize that uh as an educator, I do know and understand the power uh that a teacher brings each and every day when they dedicate so much of themselves to uh the lives of students. Uh I also want to reaffirm that uh I and my administration uh have heard from the board and we've heard from our community uh and we want to reaffirm um um the decisions that uh recommendations that will not be made in special education and that there is not uh an $18 million deficit. We are not firing 130 teachers. Um and that even when that recommendation was made, uh there was still uh an additional commitment of $7 million from local funds to support what we do in special education. Uh and that

134we still and will continue to offer the full breadth uh of the continuum of services. Uh and that I want our community to know that we uh serve our special education population with a budget of over $307 million and that does not include transportation. Uh I do recognize that uh regardless of what we do, uh teachers are asked to do more. Uh and that is something that um deeply concerns us all and we want to continue to reach out to our constituents and let them know uh that there is support that we need. Uh but regardless of of what may be expected of special education teachers, I do want to also recognize that uh, there is a responsibility of regular education teachers uh, in that we will not uh, deviate away from what we expect

135both special education and regular education teachers to do. Uh, that um, special education is a service and not a place. Uh, and I absolutely love the comment that a parent made tonight. Uh, that is uh, a student has not done done something yet. Uh, that is the expectation that I've always had of of our students that are in our special education program and I've seen and had the opportunity to see kids develop from kindergarten when people thought that they couldn't do something uh, until students that were in high school performing at a level that a lot of people could not imagine. And so, uh, board I do want you to know that administration hears you. Uh, not only with special education, uh, but you talked about the CIP and and gave us your feedback and

136I'd like to think that we responded accordingly. And so, we are listening. We are listening. Uh, and with that um, I'd like to take a moment to recognize four of our schools for an outstanding accomplishment connected to student well-being and school culture. Uh, Swift Creek Elementary, Holly Ridge Elementary, and Sanford Creek Elementary, and Herbert Akins Road Middle have each been named Green Shield schools by the Positivity Project. Uh, the Positivity Project is a national initiative focused on helping students build strong character, uh, develop positive relationships, and understand how their individual strengths contribute to a thriving school community. Uh, earning Green Shield status reflects a deep school-wide commitment um, to this work in areas such as classroom practice, student engagement, family partnerships, and leadership. Uh, what stands out most is how intentional intentionally these schools are

137creating environments where students feel seen, valued, and connected. Uh programs like the Positivity Project directly support goal five of our strategic plan, which centers on student well-being and ensuring all students develop the social emotional skills they need to succeed. Uh when students build self-awareness, strengthen relationships, and learn to make responsible decisions, we see benefits not just in behavior, but in academic growth as well. These schools are showing what's possible when character and relationships are prioritized every day in every classroom. So, we are grateful to the educators, staff, and school leaders for their commitment for this to this work and for creating school communities where every student has the opportunity to thrive. Our annual family engagement survey is now open and we're encouraging all families to take a few minutes to share their feedback between now

138and May 15th. Uh this anonymous survey will help us better understand what's working well and where we can improve the overall school experience. Questions focus on key areas like family engagement and school climate. And our goal this year is to hear from at least 45,000 families, ensuring we have a broad and representative input from across our district. Uh the survey directly aligns with goal six of our strategic plan, which calls for reducing barriers to engagement and strengthening a positive school climate for all families. It also reflects our commitment to eliminating disparities and ensuring every family feels welcome, heard, and supported. The survey is brief, anonymous, voluntary, and designed to respect families' time while still providing meaningful insight that helps us continue improving our schools. Principals will share the online survey with their families and it

139will also be available on our district website. Additional Additionally, paper copies will be made available for families at our Title 1 funded schools. We ask that each family member take the survey once for every school their children attend. So again, thank you in advance for helping us make our schools the best they can be. To close, I'd like to share a short video highlighting a special experience experience at Green Magnet Elementary. Students from Ecuador recently visited the Green community for a cultural exchange made possible with the support of Mafra Mendoza. Ms. Mendoza is a native of Ecuador who teaches Spanish at Green through the Participate Learning International Teaching Program. Students from two countries have met virtually with a number of times a number of times over the past 2 years, so they were excited to

140be able to meet face-to-face. During their visit, the Ecuadorian students shared their culture and learned alongside Green students building relationships and broadening perspectives. So take a look at this great video. So it's been unforgettable and amazing because after 2 years of virtual exchange with the students they finally meet in person. So we were talking with Ms. Zambrano, the teacher that come with the students, and we were like "It would be nice that some of the students come to our country to this country and get involved in this school community, you know?" And having them today here connecting with the students that's something that I would I would never forget because it's an experience that encourages them to continue doing more and connecting and they can be like global citizens having a a different perspective about

141how school works in our states. It's so important because they in this program have the opportunity to develop the skill. Especially not only speaking or you have the can write, can use the critical thinking part here because you have the opportunity to change with different culture or maybe I know different people. So they are not just listening to me, they are not reading any book, they are connecting directly with people by having this correlation. You know that is what exchange cultural exchange is all about. I feel so excited because I love to speak English and I have the opportunity to really experience I like to speak with many people from other countries. It's been a very great experience because I have talked with all the children that are from here and I have known all

142of their culture, how they have classes. I think that that made friends from other countries are a special opportunity because in my school there are not students from other countries. But here there are students from different countries such as Mexico, Canada, Australia and many others and it's a very special opportunity for me to know that other people is in our school from our country. I want to them to remember that Ecuador is a great country and if they want they can be successful. And those are my comments, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Dr. Taylor and we'll start with Uh, on my right with um, Ms. Caulfield. Thank you. Um, I wanted to say, is this working? I wanted to say our community input is very important and I appreciate our families emails, their phone calls, and

143coming to speak before us to share their insight. We hear the concerns about special education. The board has expressed their own concerns as well, and Dr. Taylor recognizes that we do not want to cut these the special education and it is not or it's not a priority for us to cut anything to special education. It's important for our families and our teachers to know that the special education services through IDEA is not being cut as Dr. Taylor has also uh, confirmed and shared again. Your special education needs are provided by law, but that being said, we do agree that our teachers need more, not less in the classrooms, and that is our priority and it has always been my priority serving on this board. I'm thankful for the families coming to speak about how our

144wonderful teachers are and also how our special education teachers have changed their lives. But we hear your words that teachers need more support. We have a lot of review to do over the next couple of weeks, a lot to discuss, and I encourage people to share their insight, not only for the budget, but your thoughts on the bond and the things that are also working very well. I appreciate the answers during our work session and we are and I know that we are struggling not only with staff to do maintenance, to do the work for the things that we need, but also the real needs that are very aged school structures have. Over 200 schools with a variety of ages, structures, and growth. A lot of these maintenance issues, if not most, had been building

145up even before some of us even began to serve on this board. But our families want their children in a safe and acceptable conditions and we find ourselves with a tremendous amount of repairs, needs, and projects. And without sufficient staff, as we have heard, and the unlimited needs that we have and limited funds that we have to do it all at once. I understand the needs. I understand the questions about transparency and accountability around spending and what and on what through our budget. With that being said, I look forward to hearing from our community and a reminder that as Mr. Neider had said, April 8th, 5th, and 21st will provide times for our community share to share with us directly. I wanted to also share that I had the opportunity continue and attending some of

146our school performances. And as always, so many of our teachers also attending and helping around the auditorium. Even after a long day, giant smiles, and enjoying with their families, showing how connected and involved they always are with our community. And to this day, they still remembered both of my boys even from elementary school. It just shows how dedicated our teachers are and that after all these years, it's much more than a job. Our children really are the heart of what we do, of what they do, and it shows in how they affect the lives of our children and it lasts a lifetime. And I'm glad to hear that some of the speakers that came up today talked about how impactful that was for our teachers and we appreciate and value everything that you do. Finally,

147District 1, our next board advisory meeting is on April 27th and it will be held at Neuse River Middle School. And that is all I have for comments. Thank you, Dr. A. Thank you. Um good evening. Um the our the District 3 BAC meeting uh will be held um at on Monday of April the 20th at 6:00 p.m. at Heritage High School. Our guest speaker will be John Honeycutt, the CTE director, and Mr. Brett Benton, the Central Regional Impact Manager for myfuture.nc. Ms. Honeycutt will be discussing the CTE programs that we offer um and Mr. Brenton will be discussing the progress of Wake County towards the goal of 2 million North Carolinians to hold a post-secondary degree or industry-valued credentials by 2030. Um dinner will be provided for our BAC um folks and at 5:30

148and the general public is welcome to attend the meeting at 6:00. Um I appreciate all the input from our last specially called meeting uh regarding special education funding. I would encourage everyone in this room to rewatch the meeting um and let me be clear, we as the board have already told Dr. Taylor that it is not okay to cut special education funding. I am committed to improving the state of special education and that includes full inclusion as much as possible and having the least restrictive environment if at all possible. But bear in mind that it is the least restriction, not no restriction. That means we still need to provide support to the students in compliance with their IEP. However, we cannot set them up on a path early in their um education on a road

149that limits their ability to reach the heights of their possibilities. So of course as a result of our commitment to special education, we will need to take a closer look at the budget proposal by Dr. Taylor today. I do want to ensure to the public that beyond all the noise that we may hear, my number one priority is to the children of Wake County and how we can go about educating them in these challenging times. And I know that here in this room and many who are listening are concerned about the Supreme Court decision on the Leandro case and what that means to public education moving forward. I believe that at the end of the day everyone uh believes that all children are entitled to a sound basic education. Now, it is up to all

150of us to petition to those who make the state budget on Jones Street to actually pass a budget. Again, I am at the service of the board to help advocate to those in General Assembly to ask for a greater public uh greater funding for public education and to revamp the formula for funding special education. I urge the public to contact their representatives um and in the House and the Senate to urge them to pass a budget that will be supportive of public education and which will ease some of the uncertainty that we are facing right now. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Ieng, and I echo those remarks. Ms. Gordon. Thank you. Um tonight I want to begin by celebrating a tremendous accomplishment within our district. Um you know, as a National Board Certified Teacher, um

151it is a very distinct and high honor and I was able to celebrate with the newly National Board Certified Teachers um this past week. Achieving this certification is no small feat. It's time for me to renew my certification. Um it reflects deep commitment, reflective practice, and and an unwavering belief in what's possible for students. We are grateful for your leadership in the classroom and beyond. And I also want to congratulate um the um students who were recognized in our district spotlight on students um and thank you again for your hard work and perseverance. Um I also want to extend my sincere gratitude to the educators and parents who have continued to reach out to us in recent weeks. Those who advocated passionately for maintaining CCK programming and preserving special education funding and 130 positions. Whether

152it is about budget cuts or protecting and honoring religious holidays on school calendars, your emails, your calls, your stories remind us of the profound impact these supports have on you as staff, your families, and the district students and families. Your advocacy matters, your truth-telling matters, and it is a testament to your advocacy truly informing our work. I will always say that being an educator is my biggest professional flex. Tonight, I want to reflect on a comment I heard from an educator colleague and to remind us as a board, she said, "An educator is is run ragged by budget cuts." I'm sorry. An educator who is run ragged by budget cuts has to pick her battles. But when in truth, she shouldn't have to fight at all just to meet the basic needs of students. And

153I want to commend my colleagues on this board and the leadership of our chairman, Chair Swanson, when faced with decisions that carried real consequences for our most vulnerable learners, this board showed up last week. I cannot tell you how many comments that I read online about how we truly came together and we backed our educators, our families, and our students. This board showed up together in solidarity to support reinstating funds for special education. I deeply believe I deeply appreciate your willingness to listen, reflect, and act with urgency. This is what it looks like when governance is rooted in both courage and compassion. And finally, I just will say tonight's recognitions and comments about the actions we've taken are reminders of what we can accomplish when we honor excellence and safeguard the resources that make that

154excellence possible. And I will see tomorrow I will see everyone tomorrow night at the budget committee um public hearing and on May 1st on Jones Street. Thank you, Ms. Gordon. We'll turn to Dr. Joe. All right, thank you. First, I want to wish a happy Passover to all who celebrate. Fortunately, the two Seders coincidentally fell during spring break this year, and I hope everyone had fulfilling ones. I look forward to, along with Mr. Strickland, meeting with the Olive Chapel Elementary School community tomorrow about facilities concerns. So, we I won't be at the budget meeting, unfortunately, but we I had the prior commitment to Olive Chapel. I also look forward to my next District 8 BAC meeting, which will be April 20th at Lufkin Road Middle, where we'll be we'll be talking about AI. I want

155to thank Holly Grove Elementary School for inviting me to to read for Read Across America month. Ms. Horvath's kindergarteners were the kindest and most inquisitive bunch, and they even invited me to join them for recess, which I totally did. I wish that the entire North Carolina legislature would come read to kindergarteners once a year, so they can see the incredible possibility and optimism they hold in their hands as they sit on the budget for the 280th day past the the deadline. I want to recognize and thank every person who showed up to speak tonight, whether inside at public comment or outside of the rally. I want you to know how much I appreciate each and every single voice, because I know that while we may not agree on how, we're all here because we believe

156in providing the best education possible for public school students of Wake County. So I have a little homework for you. I really encourage everyone who cares about the funding of our schools to read not only the superintendent's proposed budget, but also the materials that have been written about the Wake County's tax revenues for 2026, the North Carolina General Assembly House proposed budget, and the Senate proposed budget, and the federal government's contributions to special education. And before you ask how we can be asking for more money, but are still talking about making cuts, also take into consideration how much more you're spending on your household essentials this year, from utilities to food to insurance, and what you've had to cut back or cut out to make ends meet, and how your children's schools also have had

157the same increase in costs without matching increases in funding. These are the challenges we're facing in trying to keep public education where we are now. It's And that's not even where we want to be. So please keep coming to talk to us about what you'd like to see us do, but also talk to your county commissioners who have the ability to put the bond on the ballot and increase revenue, and talk to your legislators who need to pass a budget that funds public schools. This needs to be a conversation amongst everyone across the state. My last point is a change of subject, but no less important. Recently, a jury found Google and Meta liable for causing anxiety and depression in children who use social media. They awarded $6 million to a woman who used social

158media compulsively when she was young, and found that the apps Instagram and YouTube were deliberately designed to be addictive. Just one day before, another jury found Facebook liable to the tune of $375 million for not protecting young users from child predators. These two cases prove what is becoming more obvious every day. Our kids are suffering from social media use. Multiple studies have shown that social media use is linked to anxiety, depression, and body image issues, self-harm, and sleep deprivation. And the companies who profit from them are not going to protect our children. We have to do that. In the classroom, we have to be careful about introducing kids to apps like YouTube. We need to avoid linking YouTube to entertainment, and we need to avoid sharing content from social media apps. And at home, we

159have to keep kids off social media, and we have to monitor our teens' use of social media. We can't let the technology get ahead of us or shrug off learning about what our kids do online because we're technophobic. Our kids' health is depending on us. And I again, I hope to see everybody um who'd like to attend on April 20th um at 6:00 at Lovekin Road Middle School. Thank you. Ms. Edmonds. Thank you. So, um I've got lots of celebrations to lift up. Um I also um lift up the spotlight on students um at Felton Grove High School in particular because that's what included the District 5 schools. That was um a great, very positive experience. And I'm also grateful to Felton Grove and all the high schools that are doing this regional um uh

160pilot that we're trying. I went to Westlake Elementary um early morning carpool at 7:15 I think a week before last for carpool Casanova. If y'all don't know what that is, it is a whole lot of fun and it will lift your spirits. Um so, I appreciate them welcoming me there. I did attend uh both days of the Family Community Engagement Summit, not the full days, but um that was a great experience. I want to thank all the families that came out, all of the community partners that were there and participated. And I know a huge thank you to all of our staff um who put that together cuz I know but a a ton of work. Um, I just read today that Swift Creek Elementary raised um $10,600 for the American Heart Association. So, shout

161out to them and um they did it with a Jump Rope for Heart activity. Um, I also enjoyed celebrating the nationally board certified teachers. Uh, Wake County is number one in the country for the number of board certified teachers. And um we also celebrated the library at school librarians of the year finalists and the winner of that um distinction. And let's see. Oh, thank you to the staff who went above and beyond um after our our specially called meeting to follow up on our questions. We received some really um thoughtful and thorough um answers to our responses via email um but last week and and this week. And the last thing I'll say, I want to save budget comments for another evening, but I I cannot I can't not comment on the Leandro ruling of

162last week. Um, just the utter disgust and rage that I and so many of you feel over the perversion of legal precedent, the utter manipulation to bend over backwards to find a way to dismiss this 30-year-old case is is truly astounding to me. And um I don't know how those judge justices that voted that way sleep at night. Um, but I want to raise what I hope will come of this. Um, I want to share a very short story with you um There was a time in Wake County public schools where we had board leadership, a board majority. This would have been in that was taking this district in a very damaging, dangerous direction. And they were in power for one term. And what the actions that they took at that time resulted in a

163rise up of advocates and pro-public school supporters that we had not seen in decades. And so they only lasted one term. Now, yes, then we can talk about gerrymandering at the state level. There's many, many reasons that nothing's been done and we've not been able to vote people in power into the legislature that will actually show up and support public schools, a majority of them at least. But I'm hopeful that this ruling has ignited something in our local community here in Wake and statewide that will set precedent. And that we will really show up in a response that will make a difference in 2026. Thank you. Mr. Haggerty. Thank you. So when Ms. Edmonds deferred her budget comments, I think I'll just keep all mine focused on the budget given everything we've been presented with.

164We do have, as Ms. Gordon has said, the first public hearing coming up uh tomorrow. And we will have one next week and we will have the one here at our board meeting 2 weeks from now. And we will need public input. And to Ms. To Dr. Job's point, we really do encourage people to look at the materials and come informed. There is a lot in the budget booklet even if it is shorter than it has been in past years. Um I want to stress a couple of things. You can find this in the budget book yourself. You might have been able to take some of it away from the staff presentation. But the superintendent has proposed a 25.3 million dollar increase in county funding. That's a net increase. The budget also goes and looks

165at other areas for savings, one-time programs to cut. So to get to that 25.3, we are actually increasing spending in a number of important areas. About half, maybe a little more than half of that increase is all in the area of compensation for our teachers and our staff. And this is important. We're not hearing a lot of discussion about this. But in addition to providing funds for what we hope will be a 3% increase for our teacher pay from the state, we're also going back and in my mind remedying some some things we weren't able to do last year. Last year we did not provide the local supplement that we typically provide an increase. This year we're going back and adding to that. We weren't able to adjust with any sort of cost of living

166increase the money that we make available to teachers for the extra duty above and beyond their classroom duties that they put in day after day to benefit the education of our children. This budget puts over a million dollars back in to compensating teachers for that work. While more than half of that budget is to address important compensation, other budget pressures are things we're just simply legally obligated to do. Legislative mandates are about another $11 million. Some of those are for, you know, matching benefits for our staff, so they will benefit, but there issues that we don't have discretion over. Then there are, as you've heard, over a million dollars in additional costs above and beyond what we already pay for charter schools, increases to our leases, to our property insurance, and then the money it

167takes to open not just one new school, but also to expand growth high school by another grade. So, the expenses that we have, those net increases are really things that we have to have. In addition to do what we need to do for special education, you know, where we are going to have to look at where we can squeeze more money in this budget to do what is right, but then also being aware of the money that's available from the county. You know, the county has saved Wake County government has saved Wake County public schools. And let's just be clear about that. If you look at the spending the county has invested in our school system, and you look at what's been happening to school districts around this state, you don't have to go far

168to see the budget cuts that have taken place in other big counties and other smaller counties. We've seen Franklin County eliminate all of their librarians. We've seen over in Orange County in Chapel Hill, you know, talking about closing up to three schools. We've seen deficits in what was the same for Forsyth and Guilford and all of these other school systems. We've been able to avoid a lot of that pain thanks to the general support of Wake County, but in many ways they are like the goose that lays the golden egg. We've seen a legislature that as we remind you week in and week out has not provided adequate support for public education. By not providing adequate state dollars that pushes the the that pushes the demand back onto our local governments. And so our counties

169with limited revenue options raise our property taxes. Well, people complain about high property taxes so they go back to the state legislature. And now you have state legislators that are considering capping property taxes which are only going up because of many times the state's not meeting their state obligations. And they've talked about putting moratoriums on reevaluations. And they've talked about even cutting off the one valve that's out there in response to increased property taxes which are really going up because of the state's failure to meet its constitutional obligations hinted at by Ms. Edmonds and identified in the Leandro cases. So I want to give a shout out to those legislators that are willing to stand up that are looking at these issues that are willing to do things like try to close that tax loophole

170that was identified by the county commissioners when they were here and met with us jointly just a little while ago. Right? Where organizations are taking advantage of tax incentives that were created to fund low-cost and affordable housing and with like de minimus investment are getting a complete pass on their share of property taxes. And when they pay zero taxes without providing affordable housing or without providing a public benefit who do you think has to make up those lost revenues? It's all the rest of us. So, it's it's a tough situation that we're in. And I want us all to be aware and respectful of that. We want to work. We want to do the right things. You know, when a teacher like Ms. Sims comes in and talks about the CCK program and talks about

171being certified I know that we can't continue a program where the teachers are not certified. But hopefully there will be something we could do with those teachers who still are. And who are properly certified, right? But in order to do that, in order to fund that, we're going to have to be really creative. And so, I encourage all of you as the chair the chair suggested, do your homework. Go back through the budget. Send your questions to Ms. Kinsley. Look for areas where maybe we can do something differently, where we can do things more efficiently, more effectively. And let's let's stretch and do what we can to fund these important services. Thank you. Thank you. Vice Chair Hershey. Uh thank you, Chair Swanson. Um let me first start by saying our District 6 BAC meeting

172will be on the 20th April 20th at Brooks Elementary School from 12:00 to 1:00. We will be discussing the budget, of course, as well as um special education. Um I will be on Jones Street on May 1st. We heard the ask. I will certainly be there in red supporting our educators. It's the very least I can do. And we have a lot going on. I'm going to focus on special education and my concerns with how everything unfolded. Now, I was I want to commend NCAE for this with their proposals. They put out a vision of what the special education department should look like. It's their vision, but it's a vision. And I kind of wonder what what is our vision as a school system because we've heard about the regional model, but as I'm making

173budget decisions, I can't articulate what does a fully funded special education department look like in every school because I haven't been given that information. And I think in some ways when I'm making decisions about the budget, in some areas we lack a vision. We lack what does a fully funded if we got the average the another 5,000 per or whatever it is that we think makes will make Wake County Public Schools the best in the nation academically and supporting our teachers. What does that look like? We have a great document in the strategic plan, but that's our values and our principles and we relate things to it. And I feel like we're missing this piece. It's one reason why I've been pushing very hard for a 20-year facilities plan. So, as we're making decisions, we

174have a document to reference to see how we are building out our school system. So, I want to So, that was my big question. I want to touch on the CCK part too because as uh Ms. Edmonds referenced about our pilot program for spotlight, we have student I mean, we have educators who are dual certified, CCK and essentials. And so I'm not here to decide which one whether it's right to have CCK or not. But we have an opportunity as we are reevaluating what we're doing in special education to do pilots because we do have educators that are dual certified. If they keep their CCK and in one school because part of the problem is we don't have a bunch of dual certified if the other school cannot do CCK and now we have a

175comparison and we can see how it's impacting students whether one is better than the other because I hear the disagreement between central services and our educators. And there is a division there because we have not communicated well with our educators in this process. But it is not too late to to rectify that. So I would really encourage better communication as we are trying to build this out with our educators. And that includes and and we were made aware of it that there was a follow-up meeting with staff that was going to provide information to staff but it was during the school day. And we've got to have more times and I and we've got to let our educators know when those times will be when they can get a full update and ask their questions

176and make their suggestions and be involved in this process because our we have to learn from our mistakes and it was it was a mistake if the real the real problem would be if we do not learn anything from it. And when I ran a few years ago I will close with this. One of my One of the ways I felt as someone who was not on the inside was that here were central services and here here were the here were the schools. Here is Douglas Elementary School and it just felt a million miles away and you could feel not being a teacher or anything, you could tell there was a disconnect in some ways that you would hear it from teachers and educators in schools and we have to bridge that. We have to

177build bridges as has been said here before from Central Services directly to every single school we have and it's got to be, you know, to Ms. Gordon's point about how much we appreciate the input as board members, that has to be that same principle has to be felt from everyone in Central Services. They have to not only appreciate the input from our educators, but actively seek it out and we cannot accept anything less than that. Thank you, Chair Swanson. Thank you. So, I'll be brief because my remarks were on my computer, my laptop died and my charger's in the other room, so I will not go off the cuff with it, but I do want to start by saying happy National Assistant Principal Week to all of our APs and grateful for the work that

178they do daily to support our students, our teachers and our community. Also want to thank Dr. Burton and the Family Engagement Committee for an outstanding summit that was themed one neighborhood and so that was the theme throughout the speakers in the evening and so the work the work continues. But, grateful for the the the speaker who, you know, shared his why and why we do all the great things that we do and the road map and the challenges that we face ahead of us. And so, grateful for that. Also want to thank West Cary, no, East Cary Magnet Middle School. I'll get it together at some point. East Cary Magnet Middle School and Dr. Davis for hosting District 9's final last BAC meeting of the year and special thanks to Ms. Posey for providing an

179update on the road map for the budget and and to the PTA for hosting and providing dinner for the principals. Um I mean the budget comments have already you know, I I echo what I've heard from my colleagues. But I I do know that this will probably and I I think I've said this a couple of times and I'll reiterate this that I think we were forewarned by former superintendent Moore that this budget was going to be a tough budget. And as not just a Wake County thing, it's all over. Um And and so I I am mindful of the needs that we have and I'm also mindful of our duties to make those requests, but I also know that to the Mr. Haggerty's point that we're we're in dire needs of Jones Street to

180step up and so I hope this short session they will be able to pass a budget that meets the needs of all public school students. And that should be clear and and evident. And so I will join you Dr. Ieng and advocate as well and call my legislators and members of the delegation to hear the needs and also to put a picture with the needs. And I don't think any of us ran to get elected and to serve to make cuts, to get rid of programs or to reallocate funding elsewhere. But when the reality is facing us and we do not have the funding that we need, we are forced to make tough decisions. And so I'm committed to doing that tough work with each and every one of you all knowing that it will

181not be easy and also being mindful of the economy and and whatnot. So, this is this will be a tough I I I will say this will be one of the toughest budget that I will will pass knowing that it it it will be tough. And so, um we we have work ahead of us and I look forward to the folks attending the the uh public budget comments that will be taking place at Holly Grove and Roseville uh in the Roseville in Miss Carbell's district. Sorry, I cannot get the schools together. I'm just going to say they'll be out in District 1. So, you cannot say that we're not bringing these conversations throughout Wake County because we're being very intentional of that. So, thank you, Mr. Haggerty, for those suggestions and to continuing the public

182budgets outside of the headquarters. So, uh and if I neglected anything, please charge it to my head and not my heart because again, my laptop is dead. So, with that I will entertain a motion for us to return to close session for all the reasons that were stated on the agenda. So So, motion by Vice Chair Hershey has been seconded by Mr. Haggerty. All any discussion on the motion? Hearing or seeing none, all those in favor of the motion let it be known by the sign of I. I. Opposed? The eyes have it. We are now in closed session. >> Mhm.