2025-10-07 Board Meeting

001Apologies to everyone. We're just taking us a few minutes to get some more material uploaded to assembly so that it's available to the public. Once we get it up, we'll start our meeting. Thank you. Good afternoon everyone. Apologies for the late start. It is Tuesday, October 7th, 2025 at 5:45 p.m. and we are calling this regular meeting of the Wake County Board of Education to order. I welcome those of you that are watching via our live streaming and I want to welcome those that have come to out to join us in person tonight. Wake County Board of Education meetings are conducted for the purpose of carrying on the official business of the school system. The public is cordially invited to attend board meetings to observe the board as it conducts its official business. Persons who

002willfully interrupt, disrupt, or cause disturbances at an official board 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 other disruptions. Disruptions by any person or persons of a public meeting will be subject to action in accordance with general statute 1431817. In short, please be respectful of the other speakers. It takes a lot to come out here, stand up, and address the public on camera. So, please be polite. Thank you. All right. The first thing we'll do is um we do have a quorum. I do want to note um Miss Edmonds is unable to join us here tonight. Some of you may be aware of the passing of her father, um Mr. Elmer Franklin Smith Jr., who passed away.

003Miss Edmonds is of course dealing with those family issues, but will be rejoining us shortly. And everyone on the board sends their most heartfelt condolences to the Smith and Edmonds family. So with that, I will ask all of you that are able please stand as we recite the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance 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. Thank you everyone. As we do traditionally, the first item on our meeting agenda is consideration of the meeting agenda. And I understand we may have a uh potential amendment. At this time, the board would entertain any motions to amend the agenda. Miss Rice. >> Uh Mr. Chair, I make a motion

004to amend the agenda uh to have a conversation on our community engagement committee um to transition it from our central office into the community of Wake County. >> All right. Thank you, Miss Rice. And just for clarification, this would be to add the discussion as an action item as at the end of the action item agenda. >> I apologize. Yes. Yes. To add it as an action item. >> Just wanted to make sure. >> Yes. >> Thank you. All right. Is there a second? Is there a second to the motion? There's a second from Mr. Hershey. All in favor of amending the agenda as stated by Miss Rice, please say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? All right. So, the the agenda has been amended, but it still needs to be uh considered for adoption.

005All in favor of adopting the amended agenda. We need a motion. Is anyone >> Mr. Here I move that we adopt the amended agenda for tonight's meeting. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Swanson. >> Second. >> We have a second from Miss Rice. The motion from Vice Chair Swanson is to adopt the amended agenda. Second by Miss Rice. All in favor of the amended agenda, please say I. >> Any opposed? All right. The item has been added to our agenda. Thank you. All right. So next we will move to the next item on our amended agenda which is the public comment portion. Students will be first heard first but we do not have any students tonight. So then the remaining speakers will be heard based on first priority given to speakers speaking to topics on

006our agenda for which we have one and then all other offag agenda speakers will be heard in order of their signup. So we do have one on agenda speaker. We have 14 speakers commenting on other matters and we will go through them one by one. Um some of you have spoken many times before. You know the rules. For the rest of you who this may be your first time I want to make sure everyone is familiar with our process. So the first thing is that uh only the person speaking at the podium when they're called will be able to stand. Um, all other attendees that are not speaking are asked to remain seated while someone else is at the podium speaking. Concern related to personnel issues or confidential student matters may be addressed through applicable

007WCPSS personnel, the grievance policy, and other policies. So, if you have a matter that you've come out to address, please stand stay around after your comments and we can direct you to a member of our staff who may be able to assist you while you are here. The board welcomes all points of view including criticism directed at the substantive ideas, actions or procedures of the board. However, board's public comment policy also requires order order and decorum to be maintained. To that end, speakers are encouraged to address their comments to the board of education up here and must refrain from personal attacks or insults directed at other speakers at the board, individual board members, staff, or just other members of the general public who may not even be here. All commenters are commenters are asked to

008to remember that children often attend these meetings or watch the live streams, watch the recorded versions. So, please keep your comments substantive and civil. Please remain at the podium during your speaking time. If you have materials you wish to share with the board, either before you speak or after you speak, please bring them to our board attorney. Mr. Neil Ramy is serving as board attorney today. And if you do that either before or after your speech, it won't count against any of your time. All right. Um, during public comment, speaking of time, you may speak for up to three minutes. Please note that the microphones are adjustable. Get them at a comfortable level before you begin speaking. Once you begin speaking, the green light will light up. That'll show you that your signal that your

009time has started. Um, proceed with your remarks. When that light turns yellow, you'll hear an audible tone that will come through the speakers. That's your signal that you have 30 seconds left. So, finish your comments in those 30 seconds. When the light turns red, your time has expired and we will call up the next speaker. If you haven't finished your comments, but you like you have more to say, you can follow up with the board by email or by submitting something to Mr. Mr. Ramy in writing. Um, again, when your speaking time is up, we will call the next speaker. Speakers are asked to respect the time limit and speak for no more than three minutes. All right, so with that, we'll begin. Our first speaker tonight speaking on agenda is Kristen Wallingford speaking on

010policy 3210, parental inspection and objection. >> Good evening. Hi, my name is Kristen Wallingford. I live in Fugquway Verina which is in district 2 and my son is at Enllo which is in district 4. I would like to use my public comment time to express gratitude for the hardworking faculty and staff at Wake County Public Schools. Today I stand before you as a testament to the profound power of public education. My own journey being impacted by one small yet monumental gesture. In high school, I was a teenager that was kind of lost and felt isolated and apathetic, which I guess happens to a lot of teenagers. Then in 10th grade, one of my teachers pulled a book from her bookcase that lined half of her wall right below the window and she handed me the

011autobiography of Malcolm X. As a small town white teenager, I had no frame of reference for Malcolm X's experiences, but his story did not feel foreign. His unflinching courage in the face of oppression and his stand against racism spoke to me. It taught me that despite our different backgrounds, the threads that bind humans are far stronger than the experiences that separate us. Some may fear that reading changes people in some sort of dangerous material way. But just as reading a story about being transgender does not actually make the reader transgender, the reading of the autobiography of Malcolm X did not turn a white Catholic girl into a black devoutly Muslim man. Reading does have a transformative power, however, to shape our understanding, expand our empathy, and deepen our wisdom. It is at the very essence

012of education. So when I hear that a book, a book that brought an angsty teenager some inner peace, that this book could be objected to and be banished from our shelves, I have to ask, what are we so afraid of? Why are we afraid of differences and possible commonalities? And why are we afraid of empathy? The answers to books with perceived bad ideas is not fewer books. The answer is more books. The solution is always more stories, more data, and more information. I am forever grateful to my high school teacher. I am grateful that 35 years ago, a book was available to me, not because my tiny town was a bastion of woke liberal ideology, but because I went to a public school where teachers and librarians do what thousands of them do every day,

013educate. I'm grateful for our teachers and librarians at Wake County Public Schools and I respect the professionals that they are. Thank you. [Applause] Our next speaker will be Andrew Branch. My name is Andrew Branch. I don't want to add to the noise, but I hope you notice nationwide how a dis disproportionate number of people celebrating Charlie Kirk's death were public school teachers and professors. As you adjust your policies tonight for parental rights laws and look to f to fill a board vacancy, I hope you understand now why legislative actions have focused on taking power and funding from schools and giving them to parents. I don't like that we have such a low trust system, but we will protect our children. You will not teach a child to disassociate her identity from her body, that sexual

014fetishes are one's core identity, that some women have penises, that you can draw a square circle. Last board vacancy, you chose the person with the most union connections and that does not inspire trust when so much of the establishment couches ideological proitizing and scientific terms like social emotional learning. You want to restore trust. You have the opportunity opportunity to ask character questions of your next board member so you don't end up with the Virginia candidate who refers to his opponent and his wife as breeding little fascist fantasizing about their murders. Be warned, right-wing conspiracy theorists once accused candidate Barack Obama of being a foreignb born Muslim socialist. Today, a foreignb born Muslim communist on video using the phrase se is the means of production is set to become the mayor of New York City. Rather

015than being honest about our disagreements, we go around manipulating people with language. If you accuse people of being fascists and Nazis, you might get fascists and Nazis. And those terms are a big deal. Do not say you are against political violence when terms you use demand action. I hope to be an encouragement to Haley Rogers, whose mother was killed in Southport 10 days ago. She and our mutual friend have already used the opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to hundreds of people. She has shown by words and actions that only the gospel of Jesus Christ addresses bitterness while calling both victim and victimizer to repentance. The truth and repentance are truly inclusive. Repentance addresses both the LGBT lies told to children and those who taunt and abuse those children who identify that way.

016If God made us, he gets to identify us. He gets to define us, not our feelings. Every appliance has a label that says use as directed or risk serious injury. Your autonomy has consequences. And telling our children to create their own meaning leads to smoking piles of ash. And if Jesus did rise again from the dead in history, that has demands on your office on all of us. Investigate his claims in his word. His lordship is for your good. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Jane Miller. Will be followed by Linda Dextra. Mr. Remy. >> Hello, Dr. Taylor and board members. My name is Jane Miller. I'm the librarian at Fugqua Varina Elementary and I am a proud NCA member. I'm here to speak to you about session law 2025-84, particularly the

017section on library books. I and my colleagues have concerns about this law as well as the guidance Wake County schools have sent to staff to meet its requirements. The law says it is designed to protect students by providing ongoing public access through a searchable web-based catalog to the titles of any library books available at each school and also each school shall display its catalog on the homepage of its website. This law was not lobbyed for by parents. Parents are always welcome in our schools. They have always been able to have conversations with staff about the needs of their children. This law has been pushed by special interest groups who seek to ban books for all students. If it were a matter of informing parents, the law would allow us to post these lists on Infinite

018Campus or share them through email or talking points. This law has been written to make these lists available to the general public. Wake County has advised principles to create a Google sheet with a tab for each teacher's name. Many teachers are concerned about this recommendation. Attaching their names to a list of books available to the general public makes them vulnerable to rumors and attacks online. Many teachers have taken their entire book collections home rather than risk social media attacks. The first thing the county should do is advise principles to replace teachers names with room numbers. Parents can easily find their child's room number on Infinite Campus if they wish to know which books are in their child's class. We do not want teachers to remove all books from their classroom. That is not what is

019best for educating students. Please advise principles to remove staff names from public book cataloges. And if you will please read our letter on your own time. We are all here speaking tonight uh on those key points. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Linda Dexter followed by uh Mr. Dan Coleman. >> Good evening. I'm Linda Dextray. I'm a proud NC member and a librarian at Broton High School. I'm here to raise awareness of staff anxiety surrounding the implementation of House Bill 805. I understand that you, the board, don't have the ability to change the newly implemented law. However, I do ask that the board works as a team to assuage teachers fears and stress by supporting clear guidance that will protect teachers from the bad actors who lobbyed for this bill

020and who aimed to dismantle our public education system. I am hearing from staff members that they are afraid of inadvertently housing a bad book and therefore will strip down their literacy rich classrooms to avoid public persecution on social media from extremists who don't even have children in our district. They're disheartened that some parents will prevent their child from seeing the world outside their own little bubble. This will ultimately affect student literacy enrichment and discourage a student reading culture. This week happens to be National Band Books Week, which highlights the movement to bully and threaten school leadership into censoring policies that align with unpopular ideological preference. Censorship should never ever be casually normalized. Primarily, the timeline is unrealistic. In high school, we're fortunate to have student volunteers who can be trained to help teachers catalog their

021classroom libraries. But however, most schools do not have the additional time in their schedules to spend on this in my opinion ill- advised task. Our teachers times already impossibly tasked taxed with instructional time, planning, parent contacts, IEP meetings, committee meetings, supervision, duty, staff meetings, grading, student support, club activities, coaching, and I know I'm missing a few, and that's just in one day. to support and retain our teachers. We would like the board to extend the timeline to a more realistic one if you can. Uh perhaps the end of second quarter is the recommendation and identify the repercussions to teachers if they're unable to find the time and resources needed to complete this task by the current deadline. Clearly communicate any support for teachers who are attempting to complete yet another unfunded mandate and make the

022recommendation that the spreadsheets have room numbers rather than the teacher names. That way, parents who actually have students at school can find the teacher in Infinite Campus easily. Reflect on strategies for preventing more of this draconian legislation and more importantly standing up and speaking out in support of public education, which we know you do. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Dan Coleman, who will be followed by Becky Lou Hobbs. Good evening, members of Wake County Board of Education and Dr. Taylor, Superintendent, and others in attendance. My name is Daniel Coleman. I rise this evening to speak about Lian. Once a proud high school, now a proud middle school and the legacy of love, courage, and community the East Raleigh citizens demonstrated during the merger of Raleigh and Wake County schools. When integration and

023consolidation were underway, this community stepped forward with grace and faith. Ligan once serving a specific neighborhood became a bold experiment to reflect the diversity of Raleigh's broader population. It took courage from citizens, educators, and leaders alike to make this vision real. In doing so, this community sacrificed the chance to continue building upon the rich history of Lian High School, offering instead a foundation for unity. That selfless act alongside the leadership of the late Dr. Bob Bridges and other champions across the city and county helped the merger succeed to there. Today there is growing concern that the Lian building and its grounds may be relocated southward onto the lower terrain above the Walnut Creek storm water covers nearly 40t below its current elevation. I I don't know if urge is the right word, but I would

024hope that this board would consider allowing Raleigh Historic Development Commission, Preservation Raleigh, and other partners to study the site and its structures. Their work could help guide a thoughtful vision for Lian's future, one that honors the community sacrifice in the 70s and the school's symbolic role as a beacon on the hill. Let us keep Ligan standing tall as a visible reminder of faith, hope, and love for generations to come and not a new source of division. Before I close, I would just like to say I'm very interested in the community engagement piece that Miss Rice heads up. And I wish that we could work with her in working to to to uh answer the question of uh consider the Raleigh Historic Development Commission, Preservation Raleigh and other partners that we all could be partners together

025in achieving the goal that I have outlined here tonight. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration. Have I remember when your chair was darkhaired and skinny and I was darkhaired and skinny and boy, thank you very much. You have a very good memory, Mr. Coleman. All right. Next, we'll hear from Becky Lou Hobbs, followed by Michelle Wolson. >> The timer's not working. >> Is it still running? >> Uh, I mean, I timed mine. It's about two and a half minutes. So, >> okay. Yeah, his his his time might not have expired. They might need to reset it. I've been hearing the tone throughout the night. Um, >> okay. >> Do you want to >> Okay, >> we'll get you situated first. >> I appreciate it. Thanks. There's a liar when I need >> it. Wait for

026us. [Music] There's a loose wire. >> There's a lot of loose wires under here. I'll put my cell phone timer on if you want. >> Okay. So apparently with the computer system it is beeping and counting down. I don't know how we sync that. Um otherwise like you said we can count. I can time you from up here and give you signals. Um we'll give it just one more minute and then we'll let you go. I don't want to keep you here longer than needed, but I do want to make sure you have your fair time. >> I don't know that we're going to fix it. Should we do it manually? >> So Okay, here you go. Do you mind if I just keep the time up here? >> Not a problem. >> Okay, give

027me just a second. All right. I'll give you a signal when you have 30 seconds and I'll tell you when time expires. Is that right? >> Okay. >> All right. Whenever you're ready. Thank you. >> A couple years ago, the Southern Poverty Law Center placed Moms for Liberty of Wake County on its so-called hate map. They labeled us an anti-government extremist group. Why? because we dared to speak up. We demanded our kids to go back to school in person. We demanded transparency. We challenged sexually explicit materials available to children. We pushed back against a politically driven curriculum. All we wanted was for our children's schools to focus on academics, not political agendas. The SPLC hate map was not just an attack on us. It was an attack to intimidate parents everywhere. It was an attempt

028to silence parents. It was an attempt to assert parental rights. And unfortunately, the SPLC hate map influenced federal, state, and local agencies, local agencies such as the school board. It also influenced the media, media such as the news and observer, and also the teachers union, the NCI. But a few days ago, the director of the FBI, Kosh Patal, announced that the FBI has officially cut ties with the SPLC. He rejected their hate map as a partisan smear campaign that is unreliable and defamatory to mainstream Americans. And that's a powerful admission, an acknowledgement that the smear campaign against parents was built on politics, not truth. And this admission matters. For too long, parents have been treated by the school system as a threat to our own children. All we wanted was to safeguard our children's innocence

029and ensure they receive a solid academic education. Yet, our common sense was twisted into extremism. And the days of portraying parents as a threat to our children is over. So tonight, I want to make it clear. Moms for Liberty of Wake County is not going anywhere. We will continue to stand for truth. We will continue to stand for parental rights. We will continue to empower others. And we will continue to insist our schools put academics first. We will not be bullied nor intimidated. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is M O sorry is Michelle Wolfson who will be followed by Carol uh Gartrell. Sometimes I forget how short I am. Okay. Good evening members of the board. Dr. Taylor, Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Michelle Wolson and I

030am the librarian at Davis Drive Elementary School in Kerry. I and my colleagues have concerns about session law 202584 as well as the guidance Wake County schools have sent to staff to meet its requirements. Specifically, I want to address the current deadline for implementation of cataloging classroom libraries. The deadline is placing an unsustainable burden on teachers who are already keeping up with existing instructional, administrative, and student support demands. I am very fortunate to be in a school where we have a large and supportive group of parent volunteers who are volunteering their time. And for those teachers without volunteers, they're taking the time to do this after school, coming to me for advice, learning new apps, using scanners, talking with each other about best practices, and we're still not able to meet the deadline. Teachers are

031professionals who know about curriculum, literacy, children's needs across a broad spectrum. They have built up their libraries over the span of years and by spending their own money or collecting donations. And now because they are worried about following the law guidelines and deadlines, some are choosing to do away with their classroom libraries altogether. I know this from conversation with teachers, librarians across the county and the state and from reporting by the news and observer just yesterday with their article new NC law means teachers are providing fewer books for their students to read. Of course, the students, the children are what matter to all of us the most. Without more time, the unintended consequence is that students are losing access to books. books that support their learning, literacy, and the love of reading. What we're asking

032for, one of the things we're asking for, but one of them is a reasonable extension so that we can follow the guidelines without having to strip our classrooms of reading materials in the meantime. A rushed implementation means empty bookshelves, and that hurts our students the most. Thank you for considering this request. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Carol Gortrell who will be followed by Susan Book. >> Good evening. >> Superintendent Taylor, um, board chair Hagerty and other members. I am Carol Gartrail. I'm a Raleigh native. I'm a graduate of Shaw University, JW Lian Junior Senior High School, North Carolina State University for counseling. and I have been a counselor on both the college level as well as the last 12 years of my career were spent at Lever Road High School as a counselor.

033But my interest tonight is the preservation and history of our beloved John W. Lianigan High School. I know that there have been plans in the making, although we have been told the opposite. We have been attending meetings with the preservation uh committees to try to make certain that the plans that they are telling a few people about don't really come to pass. We were involved in a meeting on May 15th this year. Uh parents came in, some students were there and we got word of mouth at the last minute for the community to attend. So at that meeting, we were told by the developers and the architects that nothing was really planned and that this was a meeting to get feedback from the community and that there would be an additional community meeting held. But

034since that time, there have been two additional meetings held, but about three to four handpicked persons from the community were uh contacted to attend those two meetings. When I found out about the two meetings, they were written up in the Carolinian as you know the report. We've been told that the plan is not to tear down Lian. It is really to move the student body to maybe some mobile units down the hill while the renovations the renovations are taking place. And in a meeting just held last week on October 1st with the research and development committee of the historic preservation, we were talking to them about these plans and they reacted as if, you know, is that what they told you? They had plans to show the intent is to tear down the main campus

035and to rebuild down the hill that is right now an athletic field and to replace the front of the campus with an athletic field. In the meantime, they are also already constructing uh million dollar condos right across the street >> from that school. So, we're asking for uh support to try to preserve history that is continuing to be erased in the black community. >> Thank you, Miss Carter. Our next speaker is Susan Book, who will be followed by Richard Bridges. Hi, I'm Susan Book for Disability Awareness History Month. Um, and for the visually impaired, I'm a short white woman with short hair and glasses. I'm wearing gray and my shirt says reading can seriously damage your ignorance. Happy Band Books Week. My child once represented the less than 1% of students affected by restraint and

036seclusion. It caused immense trauma for my family and one that I'd like to help prevent other families from experiencing ever again. Please remember that the reason that staff started to take accurate data and care about this issue was not because of care, but because of parents and litigation. Sometimes lawsuits are a good thing. When finally finding time to watch last month's committee meeting, I was sad to see the over reliance on BCBAS. This all comes from applied behavior analysis or ABA. If you don't know, it's controversial within the autism community and has a deep problematic history with some parents like myself seeing it as causing more harm than help. There are other techniques, other practitioners, and other disability-led organizations out there that lean on real life autistic and disability experiences. We need a more diverse

037plan if you want to truly improve. What the restraint and seclusion data tells me as an advocate is that we need to look at the intersectionality of racism and abbleism. We need to carefully cross reference all of our data. by the way, when we give out district awards and nominations, too. We need to stop seeing these amazing children as a set of behaviors. But as human beings that aren't much different than us, yes, we need to give them skills, but more so, we need to adjust our way of thinking. We need to think beyond the classroom. We need systemic change. By the way, you can't build relationships if navigating this system is a black hole at the district level, especially when parents need help beyond a school level. We need someone to trust. If I'm

038being honest, as a high school parent who has navigated my way to this point, I still don't trust the system from my individual school to transportation. One final note on transportation. You all last year promised me to improve the parent transportation system. Not only have you failed to do that, but you've now made it completely relying on the data manager. It's gotten more tedious. You haven't bothered even communicate the differences between P school and the new system. Quite frankly, it's worse. Please help. Look, there is hope on the other side of trauma of all of this. But you all may need to talk to us, the families, how we made it through this far. >> And that's time. Thank you. >> All right. Our next speaker is coming up, Mr. Richard Brides. He'll be followed

039by Latina Colon. It's been 224 days since the chief of staff promised to look into how many times you locked my child into a room. I still don't have an answer. If you don't have this data, it means you're not following the law that you or the your own procedures. If you're not going to tell me, just tell me so I can stop asking. Now, on June 28th, 2024, when responding to an article about how the school system allowed a known child abuser to remain employed for 598 days, you released the following statement. Creating and maintaining a safe environment for our students is our utmost priority, and we recognize these efforts are essential to building trust with families of our students. The school system continuingly reviews and practices reviews its practices to consider how its

040processes and training can be improved to support this priority. Here we are roughly over a year later and I called a school red-handed physically abusing my child. Now, I recognize that the best you can offer is a shrug of your shoulders and say, "Hey, I can't say anything because it's legal issues, whatever." And I understand that I'm biased because it happened to my kid. So don't take my word for it. Let's look at what your investigators have said. I can show you in writing on your app where the vice principal failed to take immediate action. I can show you on your YouTube channel where the school investigators waited more than a month to open an investigation. The reason that was given to me is because the principal had closed it out. I can show you

041in writing where your investigators acknowledged that the principal inappropriately removed social media post I made and inappropriately released my information to the public. I still don't know who she gave my information to and I don't know what information she gave out. I can show you in writing where the principal waited 37 days to fill out an appropriate paperwork about uh filing a police report that she conveniently filled out that paperwork the day before your chief of security went to investigate. I can show you in writing where her story about writing that police report changed multiple times. And once again, and when you were confronted with the lack of evidence and lack of police report, it changed a fourth time. I can show you in writing where the principal's lie about that police report contributed to

042the Wake County's public school system senior director of safety and security to end their investigation into the matter. A coverup is defined as an attempt to prevent people from discovering the truth about a serious mistake or crime or as a concerted effort to keep an illegal or unethical or situation from being made public. There's simply no other way to look at the situation. The principal's actions delayed a police investigation, delayed a school investigation, contributed to a stalled investigation, and thwarted my attempts to make uh publicly warn other parents. You've had 16 months since the biggest black stain on this board in a decade. You still haven't changed the polic. Thank you. The next speaker is Latina Coloulston, followed by Brian Scott. >> She's at work. I came here to advate her. She's not going to

043make any Okay. Well, if I'm I'm afraid if you haven't signed up, you >> guys. >> Oh, you're the next one. Brian Scott. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Come on up. >> Yeah. You're on the list. Come on up. And so, um, after Brian Scott, we'll have, uh, Roto Ravi. >> Sorry, I misunderstood what you were saying. >> That's okay. Clear communication is very important. Um, my name is Brian Scott. Um, I have a company here in Raleigh. Most of my work's on the West Coast. I do like large disasters, natural floods, things like that. I didn't know I was going to be speaking today, so just pulled a few things. There's certain laws and things that we all procedures, means, and methods. There's there's a lot of politics to it, but it simply means if you're

044going to say something, follow up with it, right? That's just clear communication. So, people from this, and I haven't even gotten this far into it. I I actually had somebody make me a a PowerPoint because I found out I was me speaking a few minutes ago. But when somebody from your area comes up and says, "Hey, I have a clear communication problem." Right? And you say, "Hey, this is the means and made the means and methods and the protocol and the procedure the way we handle this method." Right? Well, once that's communicated to you, how many times does it need to be communicated to you? Because some people don't speak that way and they're not a fluent. They don't speak the way you speak and they speak how they came up, right? So, it's not

045fair to keep pushing something off. I actually spoke to there was one gentleman I don't I don't know names very well. It was Mr. Robinson's assistant. He's somebody that actually did take the correct action when it was I basically had to say, "Please arrest me." I really did. Came down here and I recorded the situation and I said, "Please arrest me." Right? The problem is I can afford to get arrested. Right? But a lot of people in your community, you're taking money from them. You're taking time from them. It's supposed to be clear communication. Sorry, this can be real quick. I took my child out of this public school system about 3 years ago, right? Got me an Annie. My tr my child travels with me simply because I had an attorney reach out to

046to y'all and say, "How did this happen?" You know, the answer I got back. It's not y'all. It's not It's not what it says on this paper. It's not about the best interest of the child. And that was from one of your attorneys, right? I'm going to do some more information. I I'm I'm I'm going to start putting myself here and I'm going to bring some people here, right? And we're going to figure out why this is going on and why you can't clear communication because the person I'm speaking for seems to just be a ghost. Maybe she's young black female. But whatever it is, it's it's got to be clear. That's that's really all I got to say. I I'll do some more stuff and send some paperwork later. I didn't really realize I

047was at work. I came here. I was actually at Shaw College today. But point is this has got to stop. It's got to stop. If you can't clearly communicate, it's part of the law. Y'all got to clearly communicate. Right. >> I understand there's different languages, different ways to speak and there's different ways to say different things. But if somebody's clearly coming up to you and you know it's wrong and you make a you make a decision to correct it and then there's no way to follow up, there's accountability there. There is. It's just it costs money to be accountable. I appreciate it. >> Thank you. All right, our next speaker is Rada Ravi, who's followed by Blake Childers. Is Rada here? All right, if Rada comes in before the end of the public comment period,

048we'll go back to Rada. Next up, Blake Childers, who'll be followed by Heather Verie. Is Blake here? All right. If Blake is not here, we'll move to Heather Verie. Is Heather here? All right. Well, that concludes our public comment period. Thank you very much. We'll proceed to the next item on our agenda, which is consideration of the items in our consent agenda. So, board members, you've had an opportunity to review the materials online. At this point, I would entertain any motions relevant to the consent agenda. >> A motion to adopt the consent agenda. >> We have a motion from Vice Chair Swanson to adopt the items on the consent agenda. >> We have a second for Mr. Hershey. All in favor of adoption of the items on the consent agenda, please say I. >> Is

049there anyone opposed? >> Nay. >> All right. I'm counting three, four, five, six. In favor, one opposed. Is that correct? All right, that's fine. All right, Miss Allen, do you have that? All right, so then the next act next item on our agenda is our action items. Um, the first sub item is our policy agenda. Hold on, we'll give it just one minute here while the room clears. All right. So, the first item on our action agenda is consideration of board policy 7405, teacher responsibilities and duties. And I see Dr. Crane here. Good evening, Dr. Crane. >> Good evening. Um, I am here I'm speaking in place of um Dr. Matillo um and presenting these two policies to you tonight. Um, so our first policy we're bringing for action tonight on first read is policy

0507405, teacher responsibilities and duties. This policy was previously migrated and is brought before you tonight with revisions. The blue text represents information presented and approved during policy committee and then based on that feedback from the policy committee, we added the revisions you see highlighted in yellow. This highlighted information was added to extend the considerations and restrictions offered to beginning teachers to include teachers with 27 plus years of experience. In blue text, we have added information to help clarify positions that may provide for additional compensation referencing policy 7602 SE extra duty program and the scope of the extra paid duties as distinguished from regular job duties. Per the board's request at the policy committee meeting. We have added language which is highlighted um for considerations and restrictions before assigning extra duties or non-instructional duties to teachers

051with 27 or greater years of experience. The recent revisions preserve the benefits and the rationale of the prior statutory protections that were provided to teachers was 27 plus years of experience related to restricting extracurricular duty assignments which was the board's desire and expressed clearly at our policy committee meeting in September. With that, we request the board's approval on the first reading of policy 7405, teacher responsibilities and duties. Thank you, Dr. Crane. Uh to begin discussion, I'd like to entertain a motion related to the policy. U motion to move first reading on policy 7405, teacher responsibility and duties. >> Thank you. And there I have a motion from Vice Chair Swanson, second from Miss Rice. All right. And we'll have uh we'll ask for any discussion. And so I was hate doing it from the chair's

052seat, but um Miss Edmonds isn't here tonight. Um but we had worked in policy for those who were unable to attend to add this additional language to the policy. What we found is that when we did the policy migration, um the policy migration changed our policy to track state statute. state statute had at one time required us to exempt teachers with 27 or year more years of experience from these um extra duties. And so then when the state schoolboard association puts out their model policies, they updated the policy to remove that requirement. However, Wake County as it did not update the policy after the statutory change continued to offer this benefit for years. So when we updated the policy, we removed that exemption and at the time there wasn't a lot of discussion about it.

053Most of our discussion was around the exemptions for our new teachers. Since that time, I've been contacted by many of our staff, many teachers who had 27 years more of experience and had really uh come to appreciate this benefit. And as we talked about in policy committee, you know, right now many of our senior teachers don't get the same benefits that they once did in terms of regular step increases, additional compensation. And so this was something we were able to provide to teachers um who'd reached a certain level of seniority, you know, not in lie of compensation, but without having that additional compensation, it was still a nice perk we could offer. And I don't think it was ever our intent to strip that away from our teachers or to take it away from them.

054Um, but that was the effect of our actions. And so working with staff, they've created a way to restore that benefit to our teachers in policy. And so I would like to urge all of you as as my colleagues to help us restore that benefit to our senior teachers by adopting this policy with the amended language that uh staff has created here. Is there any other questions or any discussion? All right, seeing no dis more discussion, we do have a motion that was properly moved and seconded. All in favor of adoption the amended policy 7405 on first reading, please say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> All right. Thank you, Dr. Crane. >> Sure. Thank you. >> Are you presenting our next policy as well? >> I am. >> All right. Please proceed. Policy

0557720, employee political campaign activities, is a new policy created by the North Carolina School Boards Association and is part of our policy migration project. The schoolboard association model policy language is black text. The blue text represents revisions that were made by staff and committee members um and reflect discussions that were held at policy committee meetings in August and September of 2022. And on September 23rd, 2025, we have added the word campaign throughout the policy to reflect the intended scope. The focus is that public funds and resources may not be used for political campaign activities and that these activities may not take place during work time or while employees are acting in their official capacity. Per the feedback provided at policy committee, we did add additional language to the last sentence to make sure that employees

056are responsible to refrain from endorsing or opposing a referendum, election, or a particular candidate for elective office with students in the classroom or when otherwise engaged in the instruction of students. That revision was approved by the committee uh at our last policy committee meeting which is why you don't see that in yellow but I wanted to highlight that as that is the language that we agreed to add to that last statement that last sentence there. >> All right. Thank you Dr. Crane. Just as before what I would do is I would ask the board um if we have a motion dispositive to the policy. >> Uh Mr. Chair, I move for the adoption of first reading for board policy 7720, employee political campaign activities for first reading. Second. >> All right. We have a motion

057from Vice Chair Swanson for adoption of the policy on first reading with the second from Miss Rice. Um again, what I'll do is serving the role of um deacto vice chair of policy that um there was um good discussion about this policy. Again, what we're attempting to do is to remove um you know, questions, vagaries about the policy and make it absolutely clear. The changes we're making does not change any previous policy. It basically sets out as the standard following state law regarding the use of public dollars for political campaigns. Um however just the term uh political activities seemed too broad too encompassing and captured more than simply campaign activities which is what the state law governs. And so we wanted to make very sure that everyone going into uh you know uh an election

058year next year had clear guidance about the law and then the WCPSS policies and expectations. Uh so that's a little bit of the history of the policy. Again, I thought we had good discussion of of it. Uh the committee seemed to all be in agreement. I think we had unanimous vote for the amendment that Dr. Crane had cited there just to provide additional discretion. Yeah, additional discretion or sorry, additional guidance on this. Um and so at this point, I'd open it up for discussion or any questions. Mr. Hershey, >> this is not a hill I'm going to die on, but why are we putting the entire policy in within the text of this policy? >> Is that the entirety of that policy? >> Yes. >> I'm just kind of looking for the relevance of stating

059that within the context and again we this is only first reading so we can >> if I had to um put forth a >> I believe uh Mr. Mr. Hershey, that language is there uh just to set the stage for what uh for for that paragraph which basically says employees should not purport to speak on behalf of the board or the school system. For context, it quotes from the policy that says that the chair and the superintendent are the designated spokespersons for the for the board and the school system. And that's just by way of explanation for why other employees should not speak on behalf of the district. >> A follow up? I I mean I get that, but I don't know why that is a part of this particular policy. That's a separate policy

060if you follow my point. Like that's already in policy. Staff should understand and know that this is about employee polit political campaign activities. But I'm happy to let that go. I just am not quite sure I understand, but we can discuss it later. >> Uh Vice Chair Swanson, did you have a point? I >> I was just going to say I thought it a support for >> that. Um you should not >> let's see >> I'm going to miss it. Never mind. >> Okay. >> Sorry. >> Vice Chair Swinson. >> So I understand what M uh Mr. she raised, but I do think it's important, you know, as a reminder because I don't think folks actually dig through our policies to understand, you know, what that looks like, nor board members may understand the policy.

061So, I I am fine with the language being here um from the policy, even maybe doing a hyperlink potentially um to redirect folks there, but I'm I'm fine with the language as it states just as written um in the current policy. But if we had to make a amendment, I would offer that if folks felt inclined, but if not, I'm okay with the language as is. >> Further thoughts or further discussion either on Mr. Hershey's issue or any other aspect of the policy. >> All right. Well, if there's no further discussion or debate, we'll put it to a vote. All in favor of adoption of policy 7720 on first reading, please say I. >> Any opposed? All right, the motion passes. Thank you, Dr. Crane. >> Thank you. >> All right. Um the next action

062item we have is an update on the district 8 vacancy to extend the applicant deadline and to um well the motion the motion is is simply an update on district 8 vacancy to extend the applicant deadline. Um Vice Chair Swanson, would you like to address this one? >> Sure, Mr. Chair. I make a motion that we extend the district 8 vacancy um deadline from dis from October 30th to November 14th at 4:59 p.m. um as indicated on the posting. So I that motion is just to extend time from nove from October 30th to uh November 14th. >> Second. Okay. Okay, we have a motion from Vice Chair Swanson to extend the deadline as indicated and a motion or a second from Mr. Hershey. So, uh, for discussion, just for the purposes of the public, this

063was something that came up in our work session. We discussed a lot of the details, but I'll leave it up to Mr. Swans, would you like to go into more specifics or >> Sure. I'll just repeat what was indicated in the work session due to the fact that we've had uh potential candidates not necessarily understanding the district. um the folks that reside in district 8. Um this would give folks an opportunity to double check number one if they actually live in district 8. Number two if folks are considering expanding the time would give folks more time to check their registration and or indicate if they're interested in serving. So that's um what the motion is and I would support it and ask my colleagues to do the same. >> Thank you. Vice Chair Swanson just

064uh you know talking about increasing the number of documents that can be used to help show doicile and then also allowing staff more time for verification um were other reasons that we baked in there to um extend that deadline and also to put more information up on the website to help guide people and um actually help deter help them determine whether or not they they live in the boundaries of the district which seem to be a source of confusion. All right. Any other discussion? Dr. A. >> Um, just want to clarify um the the having a spouse uh name on a document to verify um doicile. Is that in in of itself sufficient verification of doicile? or should there be supplemental material that that prove that they are actually indeed living together or married or

065what's whatever that so Dr. That's a great question and that's one of the reasons in work session where where we brought up two of the applicants who had provided documents that had a spouse's name on the address but not their own name. And that's why we asked if you know we were considering those applications to be incomplete and we're asking then whether the board wanted to uh ask the applicants to provide additional documentation to verify their doicile and residency. And so what we would do is based on the discussion in the work session, anyone who had submitted only a spouse's name, and again this is a common situation. I will disclose that in our family, I believe I'm on some utility bills, my wife's name is on other utility bills, just depending on who signed

066up for them at at the time that we had moved into our house. So, um, this will allow anyone who's only listed a spouse to provide other evidence that we could consider to help determine that residency. But to the root of your question, you know, if there are sufficient doubts that just the spouse's name alone shows residency, we want to make sure we have other documentation behind it for those situations like you described. Any other discussion? All right. At this point, we have a motion that was properly moved and seconded to extend the deadline to accept applications for the district 8 vacancy. All in favor say I. >> Any opposed? >> All right. The motion passes. All right. So now on our amended agenda, we have um an another item on the action item agenda.

067Board members, you should have received information, printed information in this green folders. This is relevant to scheduling an offsite meeting of the community engagement committee. And I believe we have added that information online for the public, which should be available to everybody in our assembly system that has all of our meeting announcements, agendas, and board materials. So, what I'd like to do is this motion was brought to us by the chair of the community engagement committee, uh, Miss Rice. And so, Miss Rice, um, this is on the agenda for discussion. So, what I'd like to do is entertain a motion for uh, your request. See if it has a second, and then we would go to discussion. I'd like to make a motion for the community engagement committee to be transitioned into the committee from

068central office boardroom. >> Second. >> All right. We have a motion from Miss Rice and a second from Miss Gordon. Now, it was a very short and succinct motion, but there could be a lot of details about that. Could you explain what this change would mean? >> Right. What this change would mean was keeping us in line with our um strategic plan with priority one uh where it's about family and community engagement. Um we want to give parents a a deeper opportunity to be engaged with what's going on with us at the board table. Um and in doing so, the best way to do that is to meet the community where they are. Um, oftentimes there are many families across our county, as large as it is with 12 municipalities, that they cannot always attend

069a committee meeting or board level meeting during the times that they are at work. And so, if we're going to be a committee, a a committee called community engagement, we want to be the actual action of what our title is. And so it is within that spirit that we are trying to transition the committee from the boardroom table and take it into various places and locations within the community so that parents can see that we are accessible. Um so that they can also hear what's going on in community across our county. Um, for instance, with this particular meeting that we will be having on next Tuesday, which will be our typical community engagement committee meeting, transition from the 100 p.m. time where most families are at work or probably taking a lunch break and can't

070come all the way to Carrie, depending on where they are, we would transition that meeting till 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. as if we would do with a community with a regular BAC meeting that we would have. And so with that particular meeting, we'll have community partners such as our Wake County libraries, um, neighbor to neighbor, um, better together community tour, um, and share about our spotlight on students update. And then as a spice to what we're doing by it being community, we would also have what we call a fireside chat where we would allow the public to send in questions that they may have for us um as a board and it would be facilitated by our two staff members um with the community engagement team. Um we are aware that all board members are

071not always able to attend our community engagement meeting um for various reasons. Um but we do have a committee of four that is on the community engagement team. And so we always welcome our other board members who want to participate in the community engagement team to join us. Um, but the whole purpose here is to be more transparent and to be more engaged within our community across the county because our district is so large. Thank you, Miss Rice. Uh, so now what I'd like to do is just we have Dr. Robinson and um, sorry, Dr. Alfred Keith. Um, here I was just thinking Dr. Leanne. Um, >> Dr. Keith here that could answer additional questions to supplement what Miss Rice has provided. Did you have an additional >> Yes, I did, chair. And just to

072start us out to show how committed we are to being engaged with families, we have chosen not to keep the meeting in a centralized place here in Kerry. We're talking about going all the way out to Roseville. So you're giving an opportunity for the families in the east who are typically not willing to come all the way this way unless they absolutely have to to have an opportunity to engage with some of their board members. >> Okay. Thank you. So uh questions or discussion from the board. Mr. Hershey. >> Uh two questions. I I we think in talking to Miss Allen, we have to make sure we have a quorum. Like I know I cannot be there. Um, and it's we have to make sure we have enough board members. I think I don't know

073who who said they can and cannot be there yet. Uh, and the other point after that, um, we can get to that, but I just want to make sure that we're providing we feel like we're providing the public enough time that you're going to have a good turnout. If you feel good with that, then that's fine with me. >> Okay. So, Mr. Mr. Hershey does raise a point about just the notice along adequate timing. Mr. Rice, would you like to respond? >> I I would I would like to notice per board policy. Our notice is within timely fashion um for the public to know we're giving we're giving a week's notice. It's not as if we're having a community event um where we want to provide. It's not like it's our community engagement summit in

074which we want to push it out months. What we're simply doing is moving ourselves from a space of being inclusive uh in um from a space of being in a bubble to being inclusive to community um to in reference to our quorum. Our quorum consists of and our attorney can correct me if I'm wrong. We have four members on the committee um which consists of myself as chair um vice chair um Hershey um um Miss Koffield and Miss Gordon um to meet the quorum we need three people to attend that meeting um or any meeting that we attend four we have four people on the committee and we have three people that's needed to create quorum is that correct right and so with doing so we would only need the quorum of three people as

075we would do even when we meet inside the space that would be consistent. Mr. Hershey says that he can't attend. I would hope that Miss Koffield can contend since it's in her district. I believe Miss Gordon is willing to attend and I'm willing to attend. So, currently as of the October 12th 14th meeting, we would have a quorum. >> Okay. Thank you, Miss Rice, Vice Chair Swanson, then Miss Cfield. So I have a couple of questions and I think I do thank you Miss Rice for lifting this up and I am all about you know moving and having an engaging community but my concern is through the process about this. Um we all were on executive last week which would have given us ample time to review this discuss and for the colleagues at the

076table to review this as well. Um, my thoughts on this are um, you know, looking at the items, the discussions are are all great, but I I I'm concerned about the spotlights on student updates because we as a board have not discussed or had enough time to really discuss what that looks like or to receive updates from from the the staff regarding that. Um, I'm also concerned about the fee that's associated with this. And as as we moved through different spaces, I chaired budget committee. We went through the community and found locations that did not have a charge. So, I I'm again about moving and having folks to engage in this, but I I'm concerned about the the fee associated with it, the amount of time that's given to the public, and the spotlight on

077student piece. I think before it's presented to the committee or the community, I think we as a board should have an opportunity to really engage with this. And then my final question is to the members of that committee, were they a breast that the meetings were being moved? >> All right. Before I go to Miss Cfield, Miss Rice, do you want to address any of those questions? >> I do. I would love to. Um the last meeting that we had for community engagement, we announced that we would be leaving the boardroom and the next meeting would be convened in community which is why our staff has been working on this so diligently and so hard. The other thing that I would like for us to be aware of at no other time in any other

078committee when we have chosen to transition or change a committee venue of where we're going as a board um for instance with facilities, we have numerous times chosen to change where we're going to be and it was not a public conversation. It was a conversation amongst um an email of what we were going to do in transition. This is, yes, I understand something that's new and unprecedented, but what I do believe that I'm recognizing is that I would love for community engagement committee to be met with the same um energy that we are meeting with other committees when we choose to change spaces and venues that whether we have to go off campus outside of central office to meet and to gather. And there are numerous times where everyone cannot attend which is understandable if

079we cannot. Um um the other piece with the cost that is something that I brought up with our staff to make sure that what we do is sustainable. It is understood this is one of these isolated incidents um of a minimal fee um in which we are doing um to utilize this particular space. But the other spaces that we have been looking at um has been in partnership with our schools or other government buildings and spaces that want to partner with us as a district. Um the last thing that I will um share and I think that u Mr. Swanson mentioned um again was public time. Um we are meeting the policy requirements for the public time. Um we are well beyond a 24- 48 hour time and again we may not get again this

080is not a engagement summit this is a board meeting of a committee in which we have and so we have had nu numerous talks about doing this transition and the final thing again that I will say I didn't want to I was I was losing my thought was the spotlight on students which we did discuss us in our community engagement in previous meetings we did discuss about it being regional. They're not doing and it's not a board discussion in which that was the spotlight on students has always been a community engagement endeavor with transitioning it to the community. And so the spotlight on students has always been presented to that committee to have discussions of what they were doing to transition it to the committee as a whole. And so I just want to clarify

081that that it's never been a board discussion in session. it's always been in committee which has always been at the community engagement committee to discuss the preparations of the transition into the spotlight on students going into the community. And so I think it's continued to be fitting that we continue to have that discussion on what Spotlight on Students will look like in the community engagement committee and then requesting to our chair to transition that committee report or information to our board so that we can have a discussion about it possibly at one of his work sessions. I hope that cleared up some things. >> All right. Thank you, Miss Cfield. >> Thank you. Um, I think actually the infield idea for our community engagement is perfect and I think it's great to do community engagement

082out in the community. Um, but that being said, um, I just wish that I would have known a little bit more in advance. One, I had my board advisory last week on Monday, so I I definitely could have announced to everybody there that we are having another meeting on Monday. I mean or in two weeks. So the other problem I have is that's kind of asking a lot since we meet four times a year and that is a lot to ask everybody to come out. But now we're announcing to the public that they're coming out again for another like board type of meeting so quickly. So I'm just concerned about our attendance especially being that it is in Roseville. Um I did not know that this was an option or I would have shared that.

083Um, so I think for me, um, I know that I'm looking at our calendar. It looks like we're cancelled in December, so we're not really having another one till possibly January. If we were going to do the infield, I think it's a great idea, but I would like for us to be able to consider doing the one in Roseville at the next one after that, so we have more time to get the public. And I think my my second question is how how fast can we get and how many blasts can we get out to the public if it was to remain for next week so that it's worth everybody's time that we can get enough people out there cuz I mean at this point I mean as a parent I know my calendar is

084completely booked so we might not have people that have put it on their calendar just knowing seven days in advance. So again, I think it's a great idea. I just think it might be rushed to get the outcome that we want up in Roseville. >> Thank you. Further discussion, further questions. I want to get around to some other people and we'll come back around. Miss Gordon, >> um I swear this thing always feels like it's just not working. Um I just want to lift up uh the the spirit in which board member Rice is doing this in. Um, I agree and I think we all agree that doing this in the community is needed. It's also something even before I was on this board was discussed and talked about and in plans and in motion.

085Um, I know if it is next week, I will be there. I will make myself available to make sure that I'm there. Um, and I just wanted to speak about, you know, we're talking about while I understand the concern around not having enough time, not having people there, um, would that even have made a difference if we kept it at 1:00 because we are still putting it at an inequitable time for for families um, for the community to come out. We're putting it in the middle of the day. that's not sufficient enough time as well. Um, I do agree that if not now, then when? If we do push it back, is that honestly going to get more people to come out? Is that going to change? Um, I don't know that it will. >>

086Thank you, Mr. Hershey. >> Um, I just want to say that I apologize. I misunderstood the intent. I was thinking you want you were doing it more as a like wanting a lot of people there versus a committee meeting. So, uh but I I only just saw it um a a little bit ago. Uh I actually agree also with Miss Gordon's point of if not now, when and it can also build and it can also go back to Roseville at some point in the future. So maybe just getting it started is the right thing and you know what regardless of the amount of people who are there it's still a committee meeting. >> Thank you Mr. Hershey. >> Dr. Ring, did you have a question? >> Um yeah, so I I agree with the uh

087the intent of um the having the meeting in the community. I think that's a great idea. Um, and I also, you know, agree with some other folks that I wish I had more notice of of this change um for the schedule. Um, my specific question is on the spotlight on students. I I'm still not quite clear of that. Is it a replacement of our spotlight on student that we have here in in this room or is this a um supplement or or what? I I'm I'm still trying to figure that out. Um uh because I mean I think um the spotlight on student is is something that the the parents or you know community can be very proud of. Um and and should draw a lot of people in. Um and I you know if

088it were in the same type of format as what we have here um then it would probably need more more than 20 minutes. So, I just wasn't wasn't sure what uh what that was meant for. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Ring. Um, so I see Miss Gordon wants to speak again, Miss Rice speak again, Miss Cfield speak again. So, um, let me jump in briefly with a couple of thoughts and then that way everyone will have an opportunity to respond or answer them before they go as well. Um, I want to address Dr. ing's comments or the questions about spotlight on students. So, spotlight on students historically has been around since before community engagement and it was something that was done here as a formal board meeting. It required all board members to attend.

089It required a quorum and it was held in addition to our meetings. The feedback we had been getting for some time was that this was sometimes inconvenient for parents having to get children fed, dressed through rush hour, get out here to carry from all parts of the county. and staff had recommended for some time some al developing an alternative where we would have these events back in the communities where the students lived either in their individual schools or regionally around the schools. And so that staff recommendation had languished for a while, but it was brought up again recently and we brought it up. We chose to bring it. It came up in community engagement as opposed to student achievement. But we had a good discussion. There were challenges that were addressed. And at the end

090of the committee, I believe the chair had said, "All right, go forth and make it happen." Now, since that time, at least as board chair, I've gotten different updates about the challenges of making that happen. Um, with several things that maybe we talked about in committee that staff had come back and said, well, may or may not work or recommendations that staff had that were, to be blunt, contrary to what the board had discussed in committee. And so again, the idea this this it's not that spotlight on students would somehow be replaced with the community engagement committee. To be clear, we're still talking about having a spotlight on students event. But if you but but the discussion from our previous committee, which was community engagement, was that we would pick up this staff idea of

091doing them out in the community rather than four board meetings. We might do four meetings around the district. Now, again, logistically, there are nine board members. You don't want a quorum. How do you define how do you divide things up? There's a lot of issues with how we might actually choose to do that. the way this has come up and the way recent discussions have have been held, it sounds like there is still a disconnect between what the committee had talked about, what individual board members might have heard or knew about, what staff had proposed. And so it sounded like we needed more discussion on this, whether that was in community engagement or work session, there needed to be some opportunity to bring this up again, at least if nothing else, to hear what the

092questions are. And so even with community engagement taking place next week, right 7 days from now, even if all of these answers could not be answered by staff, I wanted to see some disclosure or discussion of what those questions were. If the board had provided or the committee had provided some direction and staff had found that direction could not be followed, let's have an explanation. or if there were unforeseen challenges. So, the idea of having some discussion and to disclose these in the committee seemed like something that could be brought up before public discussion and then probably for action in a work session because for something as important as this, even though I would love for all board members to attend all committees all the time, I know the reality is is that we can't

093always do that. So we would probably have a a work session discussion and decision after the chance for community engagement to bring up the topic and hear these concerns. So I think just specifically to Dr. Ring's point, that's why this is back on that committee where it was last heard, >> but it needs some revision. Um, but I just wanted to set the table for what the expectations were around that meeting. Now, for this, we've talked for a while about moving different meetings out to the community, and we've had a lot of different ideas about this, and our community engagement committee discussed a lot of these ideas. Now, there was a discussion. Did we want to have committee meetings out there or did we want to have an actual board meeting out there? Did we

094want to have more substantive meetings? Because often times our comm committee meetings don't have a public agenda. They don't give people an opportunity to speak. And is it just inviting people to come and sit and watch us have a committee meeting or is there an opportunity for participation? Are there more opportunities for more public meetings or things that we've done in the past whether it was uh getting criteria for selecting a new board member or was it um a hearing on a budget or reassignment. So, we talked about different purposes for these meetings outside of the district beyond just the committee. Um, we've talked about different locations. There are some questions that I would have um that after I've done my piece, we'll we'll give staff an opportunity to talk about logistics in terms of

095streaming and you know, recordkeeping, how we do this. I do want to say that the idea of these meetings being held out in the community is something that we've had I think a general expression of support behind. The idea is just the logistics and you know I've been advised that we did not have everything we needed to have these meetings at this time this month out in the public. So, it is a surprise to see this come to me a week before, but I wanted to give an opportunity for the board to hear it and the board to discuss it because if we can overcome the obstacles and this is something that's been on our agenda, then if it's the will of the board, it's the will of the board and that's what we'll do.

096I'm concerned about the process and I'm concerned about getting conflicting information about our capacity to hold this event. And so that's something I'll discuss with the superintendent. Um but um again the history is this is something we have talked about. These details are a little new. Um I'd like to make sure that we can't have the event. I wanted the event to be successful rather than, you know, having it and not being ready. But if you feel that we're ready and we can do it, it's better to go ahead and have it and have that momentum. That's the discretion of the board. That's why we're putting this out here. So, I hope that provides a little bit of context. I hope that kind of level sets kind of like why it's here and why we're

097talking about it at the board table. And then I look forward to the rest of the discussion. So we'll come back around. Miss Rice, do you want to go next and we'll come back to Miss Cfield and Miss Gour. >> Okay. Um thank you chair um for those comments and and clarifying um for everyone. The one the only thing that I I want to say is is this um I do understand and I too um received confirmation of the information this afternoon. Um the other part I I want to say is I want us to remember as a board this is a committee meeting. It is not about participation because the public cannot speak at committee meetings to I think Miss Koffield's I just to clarify I don't I forgot who just who just mentioned

098it. The public doesn't speak in the committee meetings. Um, I think that this would be a great opportunity to pilot what it will look like for the board to finally decide to move itself into committee into community um, and what that and what that can possibly look like. And then I would also like for us if someone would or could let's define what this meeting success is. Let's define what is that success. I think the success of it is as being community engagement in my opinion is the fact that we move from a boardroom into the community. That's success to me um around this particular um situation. Success to me with spotlight on students would look like which we will have plenty of time a huge crowd of community in that region participating. And so

099I think that this would be be a great opportunity for the district to say not only I think I can I think I can but to move into know I know I can so that we can pilot it at least to see to figure out then what are the um gaps we need to fill. We piloted this with community engagement with all the things that you were saying. Where are we at with streaming and all these other things would be great opportunities for us to see what did we get right? What could we improve when we look at this being a spotlight on students event where parents and families would come and how would we be able to do that? So I think it's it's it's an opportunity. Um we can either seize the opportunity

100or we can continue to wait. community engagement will not meet according to the calendars that we received today and I I wasn't aware of until today that we weren't meeting in December. So, I just found that out myself today. Um, and hope we'll work as a district to do better with communicating. But, um, and so this wouldn't even happen this year. And if the board so chooses that it doesn't happen this year, as Miss Gordon say, then when will we do it? because we had months to prepare or for staff to look and to fill those gaps. And I believe, if I'm not mistaken, before Miss um uh Johnson Hoster left, these were the same questions that were raised and a whole plan was written out about how to do this. And so, here we

101are over a year later and we're still wanting to have questions around what we're going to do. And I know that sometimes change is fearful. But I can say as many professional people have said and many people of success when we say even do it in fear. Change is different. Change is fearful. But still do it in fear and you'll never know what you'll get. >> All right. Thank you. We'll go to Miss Cfield and then Miss Gordon and then was that a hand Dr. or we just waiting? All right. Then Dr. Ing and then Vice Chair Swanson. All right. >> Um, so I appreciate all that and I think the community engagement, I think we all agree, getting out in the field is is a great thing. Um, like it was mentioned before, communication.

102Um, I just don't know how we're going to get out to the people, even the families that are showing up for the students. Like, and that's what I asked in my last question. and I think it just got missed is how are we going to alert the families within the seven days? >> Miss Rice, do you want to respond? >> Sure. If I can if I can clarify again, this is a committee meeting. It is not a meeting for parents to speak. The same as it would be, as Miss Gordon said, if we kept it at 1:00 here at the board table, we would still not have parents talk. And I think that's the part we're get we're getting confused. The spotlight on students is an agenda item to have a deeper discussion on what

103Spotlight on Students will look like in community. And so I want to make sure that I'm clarifying it. Well, this is a committee meeting that we have every other month like any other committee. We're only asking to change the venue from the board from the com from the board um conference room into a commi community facility to match the title of community engagement. That's all we're doing. We're not changing anything. We're not doing um anything different than what we would normally do sitting in that conference room at 1:00 other than being in community. And if parents in that region or folks in that region are available, they're welcome to come and sit and listen to the to the work of the committee being played out, which could be a pilot for what it would look

104like as the board as a whole transitioning into community, which would be very different on a first or third Tuesday where public comments would be had and could increase the engagement. I hope I made sense. >> Thank you. Um, Miss Gordon. >> Yeah. Um, really quickly, I also want to just lift up the work that the staff has done to make this possible. Um, I think they have worked really hard, Dr. Robinson and Dr. Keith and the rest of the staff, and I don't want that to also get lost in the conversation. Um, that they have taken a directive and they have really worked hard to make it happen. >> Thank you, Miss Gordon. Dr. Yeah, thank you. Um, uh, you know, talking about change and, you know, I'm not afraid of of change. Um,

105I'm more afraid of failure. Um, and I feel like implementation of change. I'm all about logistics. I'm all about the this the process of of getting things to happen. And um, so I'm I'm just weary about the implementation at this point. Um and then talking about the uh fireside chat um and you mentioned that this is a committee meeting that the community will does not have the ability to speak. So what is the format of the fireside chat? >> Okay, Miss R. Or can we direct that one at staff? >> If you want to I can answer either way. >> Okay, answer. Let's let's give that one to Steph. >> Uh good afternoon board chairs, superintendent Taylor, and board members. So, when we were talking about the fireside chats, we were going to give all

106members of the community who came to the uh community engagement meeting the opportunity to ask questions or to receive feedback and engage with the board. And so, what it would look like, Dr. Dr. Leanne offer Keith and myself, we would facilitate those conversations in which people would be able to write down questions on index cards and we would go through the index cards to make sure that the questions are appropriate uh for the board and be able to give those questions at that particular time to allow members of the community to engage with the board. >> Dr. does that answer your question? All right. While you're up here, do any other board members have any questions for staff? >> All right. Thank you. >> Sure. Thank you. >> All right. Um I believe then Vice

107Chair Swanson. >> Thank you. And I I I agree with what my colleagues have said about moving committees out. We've all done it. But I I think for me when I look through this um agenda formatting, which again every committee has the ability to structure things the way they feel is best. I'm concerned about the video options if folks all of our committees are typically streamed live on YouTube or whatnot. And so we never streamed a committee on, you know, our social media platform. So I'm fine with it being recorded and posted later on YouTube. I just don't want it to be additional barriers for staff or whatnot. And and so th those are the concerns I have about that. And and I think lastly, um I lost my train of thought, so I guess

108it's best for me not to I I it's probably a sign that I don't need to say what I need to say. So I I just will say that I was under the impression just like you chair that this has been challenging to move the logistics and move but again I think it's all about how do we get information out to folks and how do we as board members dissect this raise our questions and not necessarily raising the questions as we're getting ready to vote. We typically do not move things from a work session and make a vote the same day. So I I just think for me it's the process um that I'm concerned about. But I do appreciate the work that has went into this. >> Thank you. So are there any other

109questions, any other discussion? Miss Russ, >> I do. Um, Mr. chair. I think for clarity point of clarity for me uh as as chair of community engagement committee um I was never informed at any time that when especially when we came together and all had a consensus that community engagement would move to the public. I was never informed at any time that that was something that we had to come to the entire board to get a vote on of whether or not where the where the meeting was going to be. I thought that we were just supposed to follow policy about informing the public in the policy time frame of where our committee meetings are going to be um in advanced notice for the public according to policy. um the same as we do with

110other committees. So um just as a point of order either now or another time to just share with me for clarification purposes just for information purposes um at at what point in time um should I have known or been told other than following board policy um where a committee meeting would actually be held? >> Yes, I'll address that right now. So generally just because a committee makes a decision about that it's not necessarily the committee's autonomy just to set venue or to set a new time. You know the the times for the committee the dates of the committee are all done um that is done by leadership by the chair at the beginning of the year working with the chairs to talk about what times are available when we have done special projects. I would

111disagree a little bit that we do this numerous times because in eight years that I've been on the board, it is very rare that we hold an actual committee meeting offsite. Sometimes we have had offsite activities, but it was very clear that they were not meeting. Most recently with facilities committee, we've gone out to different sites to tour them, but those were not committees. Those were activities where there was not a meeting. Board members were kept in smaller groups of about two or three members. So we didn't have a quorum and as a result we didn't have to go through the formalities of meeting notice, meeting minutes, having to stream or record the meetings. So there is a difference between a formal meeting and some of these other off-site activities. I don't believe that we've

112had an offsite committee meeting that I'm aware of since definitely prior to CO and maybe a year or two before that. So when we do schedule things, there are a lot of factors that come into play. We have to check against the master calendar. We do want to make sure that all board members, you know, do have notice if they can attend or if there is a shift because while you do, as you said, you only need the quorum, you do want to give everybody an opportunity to participate. So this is nothing that is, you know, if there's anything unusual about the discussion tonight, it's that rather than just going through leadership and making a decision about where this will be held that we brought it to the board table for a full discussion, which

113has allowed an opportunity for board members to ask questions and to involve more people in that process. So this isn't something that is being done only to community engagement where other people have some other rights or powers of responsibility. This is actually an accommodation being made for this meeting because of all of the work and the discussion that's been put into this and also because of the point that you raised about not having another opportunity to do this this year until December. So, in terms of a point of order, there's nothing out of order about doing this. This was actually an accommodation to uh meet your request that this is something we just got today in the, you know, in in the middle of the work session with no other notice or timing. And I

114want to be clear, this proposal to do this runs contrary to other information we had received from staff about our ability to do this in October. And so I'm very concerned about that. But I'm taking the information you have provided in good faith and the work that you have done on this and I want to give it a fair hearing for this board to decide. And so that's why we that's why we're here and that's why we're discussing it this way. It is different than simply leadership making a decision on it. But I wanted to honor and respect the time that had been put in and the other issues that you've identified. If that answers your question. I I think it does um to a degree. Um I think that it's fair to say that

115we all um receive what we received um in a manner that we would have liked to receive sooner. Um but nonetheless, we're here now. Uh and and we're handling it appropriately, I believe, as a as a board and as a team. And so with that said, whatever choice we make today, I'm hoping that all um eight of our board members are able to attend our community engagement meeting um on Tuesday, whether it be in community or in our conference room. >> All right. Thank you. All right. Is there any other discussion or are we ready for a vote on Miss Rice's motion? >> All right. Um would we like to do this by roll call or by voice vote? Chair, can I just ask one question before we move on to that? Um, do we

116have any other months that we are actually having committee or is it there's nothing decided for next year yet? So, it would be January before we would be able to revisit this. Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. All right. So, I'll take it as a voice vote and then if we have division, we'll come back around and do a roll call. All in favor of Miss Rice's motion to uh hold our community engagement committee offsite, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Okay. Um it sounded like a majority, but I I do want to get a roll call to confirm. We'll start. Miss Gordon >> I. >> Mr. Hershey. Dr. Ring. >> Uh chair will vote I. Mr. Swanson. >> Miss Cfield. Miss Rice. All right. So, that's a 43 in favor.

117All right. Then we will hold this off site. All right. Thank you. So, at this time, what we'll do is we will return to our meeting agenda. And our first item tonight are the superintendent's comments. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to start once again uh by congratulating our principal of the year and assistant principal of the year who were announced last week. Our 2526 Wake County principal of the year is Dr. Mariah Walker of Wake Young Women's Leadership Academy and our assistant principal of the year is Jose Espanol of South Garner High School. Uh Dr. Walker has devoted two decades to serving the Wake County students. Uh she currently leads the Wake Young Women's Leadership Academy and previously served as principal of Hillburn Academy and assistant principal at Pleasant Grove Elementary and Sanderson

118High School. She also serves as president of the Wake County Division of Principles and Assistant Principles where she continues to advocate for support uh for school leaders across our district. A proud NC State graduate, uh Dr. Dr. Walker holds multiple degrees in education, including a doctorate in educational administration and supervision. Uh early in her career, she founded Wise Women Inspiring Success in Each Other, a leadership program for underrepresented female students. At Wake Young Women's Leadership Academy, the state's only all girls public school, she continues her mission of empowering young women to achieve academic and personal success. Dr. Walker describes her purpose beautifully. Everyone's gifts and talents have to be cultivated and grown. If our kids, families, and community see the beacon of light coming from this school, then we've done a good job. Our assistant

119principal of the year, Jose Espanol, brings the same passion and commitment to South Garner High, where he has served since 2022 and previous roles at Enlow Magnet High and Leville Road High. A former visual arts teacher and a first generation English learner, he works intentionally to build trust and belonging among students, staff, and families. Mr. Espanol leads the CTE, world language, and ESL departments implementing datadriven strategies and support that have improved promotion rates for at risk ninth graders. Uh he was previously honored as our 201718 assistant principal of the year and now continues to give back as the facilitator in the assistant principal onboarding program mentoring new leaders across the district. Uh they said that he had two Super Bowl rings as principal assistant principal of the year. Uh both Dr. Walker and Mr. Espanol

120along with all of this year's finalists exemplify the best of the Wake County leadership. visionary, compassionate, and deeply committed to students and staff. So again, my congratulations to our winners and the finalist. Uh they're all welldeserved um nominees. Each October, the Wake County Public School System observes disability history and awareness month. This recognition helps students build understanding and respect uh for people with disabilities. Throughout the month, schools will take part in activities that encourage compassion, awareness, and unity. Students may create displays, artwork, or digital projects that highlight the contributions of people with disabilities. Teachers will also lead classroom conversations designed to spark empathy and deepen understanding. Many schools will share their celebrations on social media using the hashtag uh WCPSS kindergarten and inclusion, helping to spread messages of respect and belonging across the district. Uh

121thank you to our staff, students, and families for supporting this important work and for helping make every school a place where all students feel valued and respected. Uh next week is National School Lunch Week, and our child nutrition services team is celebrating with the theme taste the world. They planned an international menu for students to enjoy throughout the week. Students will have the chance to try new favorites such as tangerine chicken, quisa borea, chicken gyro, and tiki masala. Little tongue twister there. Uh, by popular demand, Friday will remain pizza day. I'm told we learned our lesson the hard way and we changed that from last year. So, we'll keep that going. Beyond fun and creativity, this celebration highlights the critical role nutrition plays in student learning and well-being. I want to thank our child nutrition

122services staff for their dedication, care, and enthus enthusiasm in making sure every student has access to healthy, delicious meals that fuel their success every day they're in school. Finally, this evening, September the 15th through October the 15th, is Hispanic Heritage Month, and many of our schools have found creative ways to promote understanding and appreciation for Hispanic history and culture. Uh so please take a look at this video to see how the students and staff at Panther Creek High School are observing Hispanic Heritage Month. >> Our vision here is to make sure that students have connections and uh culture is the main way to connect. We want to make sure that students aren't just learning a language, but they're also um connecting with cultures. And that's really the most meaningful piece of learning a language. So

123here at Panther Creek, we are doing a full month where we have announcements. We have the highlighted country of the day where students can learn about a different country. For example, today is Puerto Rico. And we'll be learning a little bit of of a dance and some music. So my group had Spain and we learned about the different foods and how what like their dances are and how like how their customs, how they greet people. And we actually had a lot of fun because we had three days working on it and then the fourth day we celebrated with the fiesta and we really loved it. >> Something I found interesting was that each each Spanish speaking country has its own variation in their type of traditions and cultures. Like for example, Guatemala, even when they

124speak a little Spanish, they mix a bit of ancient Mayan language into it. We're very blessed to have this global community right here in our own school where we have representation from every Spanish-sp speakaking country from multiple countries around the world. And we want students to be able to make comparisons and differentiations in their lives. And we also think that this is not just for them now, but it's for their futures, their futures of success to be able to be global citizens. So another thing that we did is we looked at Picasso drawings. I do want to continue learning about Picasso and really why he drew why he did like why he drew the specific ways that he drew. It's it's important to celebrate this because there are over 300 million Spanish speakers and we

125we should take our time to get to know them especially since we live so close to Spanish speaking countries. >> We want to keep going so we appreciate all all support for world languages here at Panther Creek High School. Uh we have a lot of fun things that we do um to help students uh you know develop their passion. So we appreciate any community support and um and Wake County support as well. So a lot of >> Good evening. Um last week I also had the privilege of attending the principal and assistant principal of the year awards ceremony. Um I want to congratulate all of the finalists uh this year and especially this year's winners uh principal Mariah Walker and the assistant principal Jose Espanol. um they were really inspirational and it was good to

126hear where they got the inspiration from. Um in the case of Principal Walker, she got her inspiration first and foremost from God and in her speech she gave top honors to to God and who gives her strength every day to do her job. Um she also talks about her English teacher who was so influential in her life and guided her all the way in her career path. Um, and as for Jose, Mr. Espanol, um, he drew strength from his community and cultural heritage, and I can certainly relate to him when he talks about being a proud child of an immigrant parents and having to learn English when he arrived in America. Um, he's a he's a great example of what a good public education can do to help people rise out of their Latin life.

127Uh so kudos to both of them and for all the principles and uh APS who work so hard every day to bring out the best in the children that they serve. Um I was uh out at Heritage High School last week um to meet up with Principal New House and the counseling staff there to hear their uh submission to the RAMP awards for 2026. Um RAMP refers to the recognized ASCA model program. Um, this is a national award uh from the American School Counselor Association that recognizes schools for having exemplary datadriven school counseling programs. And I really appreciate all that the school counselors do for their kids uh for the from the day that they first step into the door uh as a ninth grader all the way to when they walk across the stage

128to get their diploma. um that is just so vital in helping the children to keep um keep them engaged in school and to to look at what is possible for each one of them in their future beyond high school. So I wish them the best of luck in their uh ramp award submission. Um, in the spirit of uh, Constitution Week, we mentioned that last time at our last board meeting um, and celebrating our country's 250th birthday next year, I I will be including a constitution moment at every board meeting. Um, to give some due credit, um, I will mention that much of the content I got today was came from Prageru. um they have a wealth of information that people can access to learn about this great country. So um when the Americans won their

129war of independence, they had to decide what sort of government government to have. How can they ensure that the tyranny of the English king George III would not be replaced by their own form of tyranny? Some sought to establish an American monarchy with a better king, perhaps George Washington. Um, others thought that it should be a republic, a government of and by the people. The problem is historically republics like those in ancient Greece and Rome had always failed. And when they failed, they were replaced by a much worse form of tyranny. So might there be a way to structure the new government in a way that would withstand the worst of human nature? The founding fathers were thinking of this when they drafted the constitution in 1787. In it they divided the national government into

130three separate branches to prevent power from being concentrated in any one single branch. And it also deliberately limited the power of the national government. any powers that are not spelled out in the constitution for the federal government are reserved for the states. And to make it clear, they even enshrined this principle in the 10th amendment which says the powers not delegated to the United States by the constitution nor prohibited by it to the states or reserved to the states respectively or to the people. Still the framers of the constitution knew there was one more component necessary for the success of this new country. Citizens have to know the principles of their constitution and to value self-government and be willing to do the work necessary for its maint maintenance. An involved citizen citizenry would not easily

131yield to anyone who promised prosperity, security, or anything else at the price of liberty. James Madison once said, "Only a well-instructed people could be a permanently free people." That means everyone should be well educated about our constitutional liberties and responsibilities. I hope that everyone will spend the time this coming year to be a well-instructed people. So, more in constitution moments to come in the coming months. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Hershey. >> Um, thank you, board chair. I want to express my disappointment in Dr. Taylor and Dr. Ing for not mentioning the most important part of Dr. Walker being in district six as per the principal of the year. Um because we are moving the um community engagement meeting. Um I think it's likely that we're going to move the facility facilities meeting up

132to one. So it would be from 1 to 3. Everyone can get out of there and and we don't have to be driving through traffic. Um, I'd like to voice my support for what our librarians came to say today. Um, I know we received an email during the meeting uh that we can move we can switch I think two numbers and take their names off of that. I think that's a great suggestion as well as um given that the state law I don't believe specifies a time or a deadline that we can give them a bit more time. Um and so I would definitely support that as well. And lastly, uh I just, you know, as we hear public comments, I'm wondering how we might be able to discuss at a later time or um

133how we can get feedback from staff from some of the comments that we have concerns with like when we hear the librarians um and get a kind of a or any issues at schools where we can get feedback from staff without us each individually emailing staff to say, "Hey, can we hear about this?" Um, not something to be come up with in this moment, but just something that I would like to see us think about. >> Thank you, Mr. Hershey. Miss Gordon. >> Thank you. Um, I know I say this all the time, but I believe the very best part of my duties as a board member is staying close to what keeps me grounded in this important work. As a former classroom teacher and forever educator, I believe in showing up, being present in

134our schools to listen, learn, and stay connected. So, I had the pleasure of visiting a few schools last week where I asked the principles two questions. What is it that you want the rest of the board to know about our school? And what can I amplify? Advanced Elementary Principal Wood wanted me to make sure you all knew that the Panthers have the very best school in the whole district and spoke very highly of the commitment to of their commitment to community. At Rand Road Elementary, Principal Carrie described her school's culture by saying, "Every adult belongs to every student and every student belongs to every adult." That philosophy was evident in every interaction I saw. a true demonstration of a staff deeply committed to their students and to one another. And at Timber Drive Elementary, Principal

135Warren celebrates how the students and staff have made incredible strides moving out of low performance by being intentional about how they engage students and encourage attendance. Their story is a reminder that when we focus on relationships and belonging, academic growth naturally follows. I also had the pleasure of attending the school bond town hall hosted by Wake NCA with some of our county commissioners. I heard the stories and concerns of parents, educators, including teachers, safety assistants, and bus drivers about the need for urgent action to fund our schools and fix facility issues. A theme I heard from both the principles that I of schools that I visited and Wake NCA educators was the need for continued attention to our school facilities and HVAC systems. Their message was clear. Students and staff deserve to learn and work

136in environments that are safe, comfortable, and healthy. And I wholeheartedly share that belief. I look forward to visiting more schools in District 2 this Friday. So, Smith Elementary, Garner Magnet High, Vendor Springs, and East Garner Middle School. Get ready. I'm coming for my swag. Um, and I want to extend a huge congratulations to Dr. Mariah Walker and assistant principal Jose Espanol on their success as principal and assistant principal of the year. Um, Dr. Walker does not know this, but she and I during my time as a classroom teacher in Wake County, she and I came in um several environments together and I look up to her as a leader and I cannot say enough about Mr. Espanol's commitment to relationship building with students and that is evident in my own senior. Um and so I'm

137especially proud like Mr. Hershey said, no one no one said that Mr. Esanol is from district Yeah, district two. Um, so I'm extremely proud of the South Garner High School Titan family. Um, as I get to represent this school both as a parent and their board representative. And then finally, join us for my next board advisory council meeting on the evening of October the 16th at 6:00 p.m. at Garner Magnet High School. And come ready for something a little bit different. We're going to be hosting a policy pitch activity um where families and staff can share ideas and solutions around educator engagement and mental health supports. And so I look forward to seeing families, staff, and even students um to come out and share your insights and ideas as we work together to strengthen our

138schools. So it's going to look a little bit different where it's going to be more um participant uh driven um and so I look forward to it. Thank you, Miss Gordon. We'll come around the table to Mr. Remy. No, just kidding. To Miss Rice. >> Good evening. And I'll just first say thank everyone for our transition for our community engagement as we continue to focus as being a learning organization um of community leaders and advocates for school. Um I learned that from Dr. Taylor. But good evening everyone. Great things continue to happen in District 4. Over the past weeks, I've had the pleasure of visiting several schools and I want to extend a sincere thank you to River Oaks, Enlow, Lian, Fuller, and Wake Early College Health and Science for your warm welcomes. It was

139an honor to tour your campuses and witness engaged handson learning in action. Thank you also for the entire district 4 community for showing up in strong numbers at our recent um discussion on school safety. Um this was just last night and I'm telling you it was overflowing and a huge presence of student participation. So I was really excited about that. Um students, parents and staff were deeply involved um in the conversation and I appreciate um their commitment. A special thank you to Kendrick Scott, senior director of security, and Chrissy Sims um um of BS Smart um the co-lead for leading a lively, informative discussion. Um we also had a productive meeting regarding the Lian Project um which included a tour of West Milberg Middle School to explore how we might reimagine Lian's future while honoring

140its rich legacy. I want to ensure the Lincoln community that your voices will be heard with transparency and trust. We are committed to gathering a collective response and sharing it with the board to ensure decisions reflect the needs and values of our community. Um on October is mental health awareness month, a global initiative focused on raising awareness, reducing stigma, and promoting well-being. This week is mental health awareness um week um is mental health awareness week um and October the 10th marks the world mental health day. It al in alignment with priority two of our Wake County Public School strategic plan. I encourage everyone students, families, and staff to be intentional about your mental and emotional well-being. Many people are suffering in silence and um and may be unsure of where to turn for help. On

141a personal note, I want to share that I too faced emotional challenges following the heartbreaking loss of my son in May. With professional support and by nurturing my spiritual wellness, I have been able to heal and refocus. Now, um more ready than ever to serve your our community with compassion and strength. So, please take the time to create your personal well-being plan using the eight dimensions of wellness. It can guide you in both crisis and non-crisis situations. You can download a free guide created by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration at tshibarice.org/wwellness. So, remember, self-care is not selfish. It is essential. Take care of yourselves community so that you can continue to show up with purpose to have a positive and productive day. >> Thank you Miss Cfield. >> Thank you. As you

142have all been hearing this past week we celebrated the principal of the year awards Dr. Mariah Walker who is the principal of the wake young young woman's leadership. I had the pleasure of touring her school and seeing the great energy and how she leads and you could really see how she shines but also how she makes everyone around her shine and it reflected in her really touching words in her speech. I won't repeat some of the words because Dr. A had already mentioned some of them. Very welld deserved. Uh we also celebrated our vice principal of the year Jose Espanol if I'm saying that correct. um from South Southgarn High School who fostered teacher collaboration and interventions for atrisisk students as well as the CTE programs. Congratulations to all the semi- finalists and our winners.

143At our board advisory meeting last week, we spoke about safety as we entered this new school year and had our first board advisory meeting. And we also heard from the BS smart program um and we are sharing through our board advisory committee um the documentation that they uh the presentations that they provided to us so they can share that with the families. Tonight, I am sad to hear that we're losing our uh James Reynolds who does a great job in in assistsing our awesome Miss Allen. And I wanted to thank him from all of us here on the board for have done for all that he's done for us. The best of luck and we will miss him. So, I guess uh we're officially announcing the move for our normal committee engagement to evening to

144to the evening of next Tuesday in Roseville. Um I support us getting out into the community. I did vote no um just because as Dr. Robinson stated, it'll be a chance for questions and feedback. So I was assuming that was the point of the community engagement was to be in the community. Um only having a week for people to otherwise would have known that they might not have been able to attend because like you as you pointed out it's during the day um would have only been able to listen to it on YouTube later may have been able to reschedu this um to make it successful. So being nine districts, I feel my district will have to wait until next year um to take advantage of this opportunity. So it's the only reason why I

145did vote no um because I do feel that it is a really good opportunity for us to get out into the public, engage them, answer questions, get the feedback, and I hope that we do have as many families as possible and join us um and staff next Tuesday in Roseville at Arise Co-working Community at from 6:00 to 8. Um, and speaking of engagement and lifting up Dr. Ing's recognition of the Constitution Month, a North Carolina school board member, Mike Kubanick of Iridel County, he he dressed up in full costume as James Madison as the father of the Constitution and led mock constitution convention for the eighth grade history classes at one of their middle schools. The students were assigned roles and acted out activities, roles of other founding fathers. And I think it's a great

146idea and not that I'm going to uh challenge everybody to dress up in costume, but I thought it was a really great idea and he got everybody very engaged and I hope that we find continue to find way creative ways to celebrate our country across not only North Carolina but right here in Wake County. Thanks. >> Thank you, Miss Cfield, Vice Chair Swanson. >> Thank you, Chair. And um yes, good evening and um yeah, my comments should be relatively short. Um, I also want to congratulate our AP of the year, um, semi-finalist and our uh, AP of the year, Mr. Espanol. And I know he is of district 2, but Miss Gordon, I had the pleasure of working with him at Enllo when I was a teacher there. He was one of my APs. So,

147I can attest to the great work that Mr. Espanol has done because one thing that he did at Enllo was also value and build intentional relationships. So, congratulations to him and to Dr. Walker. Um, I also want to thank the Farmington Woods community for inviting me to join them at their back walk to school day, um, which takes place every month, every first Friday of the month. And so I was able to engage with students and listen to their, um, concerns and parents. And so tomorrow I will be joining uh, Laurel Park for their walk to school day. Um, I also wanted to thank Chief Luton who presented at uh last month at our board advisory committee meeting for district 9 as we um discussed the upcoming 60 50th anniversary of the district and that

148took place at West Kerry Middle School who's celebrating their 60th um anniversary this year. So, thanks to them for hosting us and being so gracious to their PTA for providing members of the BAC with dinner. So, thanks thanks to them for that. Um, I know last week we celebrated custodian appreciation day and so I want to lift up all of our custodians who do outstanding work going above and beyond their day-to-day uh duties to ensuring that students and teachers are learning in an environment that is clean and conducive to learning. So we not only just celebrate you last week but we celebrate you each and every day for the work that you do. Um, and I believe I am missing something, but if I forgot to announce something, please charge it to my head and

149not my heart. Um, so that concludes my remarks, Mr. Chair. >> Thank you, Vice Chair Swanson. So, I do want to echo the superintendent's comments and wish everyone a happy Hispanic Heritage Month. We had a wonderful son. I want to say for those of you who don't know, you know, we're getting used to not having one of our colleagues, former colleagues, Miss Mafy at the table. Please know that in her absence, we're working hard to try to take care of the concerns of District 8 residents. Those duties are being split between Vice Chair Swanson and myself. And I have to be honest, Vice Chair Swanson has really taken the lion share of a lot of those duties. But it has been busy in um district 8. We have opened Rex Road Elementary School. We have

150opened Pleasant Plains Elementary School. We have opened Felton Grove High School. And we will go just outside of that district to Miss Gordon's district to open our new Bowling Road Elementary School. These schools are open, but this is just the official ribbon cutting and celebration of those new schools and their communities. And it is wonderful to get out there, meet the families, meet the students that really are the pioneers that'll be setting the culture and the tradition and the history for those schools going forward. So, these have been some great celebrations. Uh for those of you who watched our work session today, you know that uh the board is continuing to work on AI issues. AI is also going to be the topic at the District 7 board advisory committee meeting which will be held

151tomorrow at Sycamore Creek High School at 6:00 p.m. So if you're interested in that and live in the District 7 area or outside that's fine. We welcome everybody come on in. Uh we will have a presentation trying to trying to encapsulate some of that work. Um I want to address a couple other things. I really want to thank the speakers that drove here today to speak about uh the Ligan High School renovation. In the history of Wake County, we have many schools that may not still be in the same location, but are still around and have a long history. We have some schools that have closed. One of we found out looking at our county history, one of the schools I attended, Crosby Garfield, has now has long since closed has become a county administration

152building, but at the time it had won awards for its architectural design and how innovative it was when it was first built as a Raleigh city school. As we begin our celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Wake County Public School System, the merger of Raleigh City Schools and Wake County Schools, I can really think of no better example, no exemplar better than John Lian High School, which became Lian Middle School during that transition. as a reminder of the history of this district. And it's a history we need to be very mindful mindful of because while we in our celebration of 50 years are celebrating unity and growth and increased prosperity in our region and educational attainment, we also need to be very cognizant of the history that got us to this point. And if

153you look at the history of John Lian High School and you see the inequities in this district between how one high school was treated and another high school was treated. If you look at how we have funded some schools historically, you know, this is our time to really have a reckoning and do the right thing. And as you know, growing up in Raleigh, going to Wake County schools, you know, having attended Crosby, which was right next to Ligan, having children that went to Ligan, working in the community, being involved with a redevelopment of of like our our Chavis Community Center and historic Chavis Park, hearing from people who were alums of the high school, proud alums to this day that still get together for their reunions to, as you heard, talk about how it's not

154just holding on to the past, but what about the future? How do we transform this legacy? Not just Lian High School was there, but Lian Middle School is here. I really want everyone to take those speakers comments to heart. I believe Mr. Coleman shared his remarks. They'll be made available to everybody. Um, we have, I believe, an obligation to honor and respect the history of our district and respect the history and tradition of that high school. And we must at the very least go to the same efforts of historical preservation for that school that we have for other high schools in our district. to do anything else is unfair, unequitable, and it simply perpetuates what we've been guilty of in the past. And I feel strongly about that. I also want to say that in

155my role as chair, I often have to speak for the district. Growing up here, seeing the benefits of our Wake County public schools, being a product of those schools, those are the schools that educate my kids. It can often be easy to be a cheerleader, to see the good, to talk about the good, to stand up to the criticism, to refute the critics. But I got to be honest, sometimes it's getting harder and harder to do that when in this role I am presented information that breaks public trust. And I don't want to air a lot of dirty laundry in the public, but you've seen me sit up here at this table and make apologies to the public for information that has been received by board members from staff that we have gone out to

156the public and shared with board me shared with the public in good reliance and in good faith only to find out that that information was not accurate are true and I have sat up here when no one else would take responsibility and accepted blame for that and that's leaving a bad taste in my mouth. It truly is. And when the public comes to us with a concern and we bring that concern to staff and we are given asurances that oh what you're hearing is not accurate or that is not the case or oh no there is never no plan that we would do this or do that and then to find out that's not the case. That just makes it really hard to continue to be a spokesperson and serve as a defender of the

157district when people come to us with this criticism. And I'm talking specifically where I have brought staff questions and concerns that the public has expressed about what we might do on a certain project or a certain area and been assured, oh no, there is no plan to do that. Only to find out, no, there might not have been a plan yet, but it's more like I feel like I'm being handled. When Mr. Bridges comes in here time and time and brings these concerns, documents what he has and we are reassur and we're given asurances that no no that's that's that's not entirely accurate. That's not the way it is. And yet he continues to come back and bring this information. It's hard to reconcile that. And when we are given information to the board about

158what we can and what we cannot do and that information changes, you know, ambushing us in the public, I got to have an explanation for that. Maybe I'm over Maybe I'm overthinking my role. Maybe I'm misunderstand my role. Maybe I misunderstand the role of the board members and what we should expect from staff in terms of communications. And if so, I'll admit to that. I've sat up here and I've accepted responsibility before. But if that's not the case, I think we need to do better. And that's my expectation. And so with that, I'll entertain any motion regarding close session at this time. Chair >> Herity, I move that we move into close session to consider confidential confidentiality personnel information protected under GS143-318.11 A6 and 115C-319. to consult with the board of education to preserve the

159attorney client privilege as provided in GS143-318.1183 and to consider confidential student information protected under GS15C 402 and the family education rights and privacy act 20 USC uh 1232G. >> We have a motion and a second. All in favor of moving to close session for the statutoily stated reasons, please say I. >> Any opposed? All right. Thank you.