001All right, everyone. I'll ask you that you take your seats. We're going to go ahead and get started. Good afternoon. Good early, good evening. It is Tuesday, June 4th, 2025 at 5:33 p.m. and we are calling this regular meeting of the Wake County Board of Elections to order. I want to welcome those of you who are here watching at home. What did I call us? Y'all know it's it's the summer time. Things I'd like to take care of if we're going to play that role. Well, thank you, Miss Edmonds. Thank you for the correction. We are the Wake County Board of Education. And we are already a little punchy. I want to welcome those of you that are watching at home. Those of you who those of you who are here in person. Wake County
002Board of Education meetings, make sure I said that right, 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. That's better. Persons who willfully interrupt, disrupt, or cause disturbances at an official meeting may be directed to leave by the presiding officer. Members of the audience should show respect for the speakers tonight 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 143 31817. Uh you will notice we are a little short today, but we do have a quorum. Uh we do have six members, which is sufficient for us to proceed. And so at
003this time, I would ask all of you that are able to please stand as we recite our 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. So, uh, we will turn to our agenda and the first item on the agenda is consideration of the meeting agenda. I'll entertain a motion at this time. We have a motion for Mr. Hershey to adopt the meeting agenda. We have a second from Miss Rice. All in favor of adoption of the meeting agenda, please say I. I. Anyone opposed? All right, we will proceed with the agenda as published. The first item on tonight's agenda is an information item from
004our academic advancement team. The 2024 2025 Wake County school psychologist psychologist of the year recognition. And I believe let's see do we have I do we have is Michelle Woodson here who's presenting tonight? Michelle Woodson, Dr. Marius Pedford, Dr. Corus Thompson Drew. All right, please welcome to the stage without her walk up music, Miss Michelle Woodson. I'm just saying that they I wanted to do like enter the Sandman, but I couldn't get the rights. So, please forgive me. All right. Thank you, Miss W. Good evening. Thank you for your time this evening. And um we are excited to make sure that we are looking at the psych school psychologist of the year. Um it is Miss Dedra Martin is named the Wake County's 2025 school psychologist of the year. Miss Martin is in her 17th
005year as a school psychologist and um in her 15th year working in Wake County Public Schools. She currently serves at Forest Pines Elementary School in Wake Forest Middle School. at her school. She demonstrates leadership in a variety of ways. She is the behavioral health universal screening team lead. She coaches girls on the run and she serves as the student instructional support personnel acute crisis team lead. She is the member of the school improvement team working with administration, teachers, and student services personnel to analyze student data regarding academics and behavior. After analyzing the data, plans of action, for instance, after seeing an increase in anxiety with students, she and a school counselor jointly ran a small group uh using coping cat, the coping cat curriculum in response to an increase in discipline incidents and students demonstrating
006self-regulation challenges. She trained the staff in zones of regulation. To support parents, she created a weekly newsletter that provides evidence-based strategies and resources. Each month, the newsletter focuses on a different topic tailored to the behavioral health needs of students, equipping families with tools to support their children's development. For the district, she is the crisis team, a crisis team member, guiding school personnel through crisis response. At the state level, she has served on the North Carolina School Psychology Association for the last nine years and currently is the president of the association. We are incredibly lucky to have her in Wake County helping to support children of the Wake County Public School System. Thank you for what you do, Miss Martin. All right. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Miss Woodson. We appreciate it. Thank you. All
007right. Um, you know, board members, our school psychologists, as you know, are valuable members of our school teams. Um, I didn't know if any of you had any comments about the services. Otherwise, we'll just continue to extend our thanks and gratitude to our psychologists for all their great work. Anyone on the board? All right. If not, oh, go ahead, Miss Rice. Now, you know, I was not gonna let psychology move that easy. I have to extend extreme gratitude for our school psychologist um and the work that they do um the assessments that they take um and helping also I think that's very important teachers navigate how to best support students and academics with modifications um and things of that nature. And so I just really want to say thank you so very much. You are
008necessary. you are needed and continue the amazing work. Thank you, Miss Rice. And thank you again to our 2024 2025 Wake County School Psychologist of the Year. Our next item is a special recognition item under our chief of schools department. It is the naming of the Brotten Greenhouse. and we will welcome up new area superintendent Lacy Peekom, our central area superintendent. Good evening, Miss Pekkham. Good evening, Chair Hagerty and members of the board. I'm honored to be with you all tonight in recognition of an outstanding alumni of Brontton High School staff and a veteran of the Wake County teaching community. I would like to ask Brontton High School principal, Miss Janice Dilts, and um Miss Laura Woods, veteran of Brontton High School, to join me at the podium so that they can both be recognized.
009Also, I want to recognize before we begin um members of the Brotten High School staff and of Miss Woods family who are here to celebrate her and her accomplishments tonight as well. If you would like to stand and be recognized, thank you for being here tonight. We appreciate you all. I'm going to share just a little bit about Miss Woods and why we are seeking this recognition tonight. Um, Miss Laura Woods served 36 years at Broton High School, teaching biology until her retirement in June of 2023. Throughout her three decades of service at Brotton, she inspired countless students to pursue careers in biology, environmental science, and conservation. In addition to her efforts and leadership in the classroom, Miss Woods made exceptional contributions to both Brotton and the Wake County community through her commitment to science
010education and environmental stewardship. Miss Woods was the founder and faculty adviser for Broton's safe club, which stands for Student Action for the Environment. In her leadership of this club, she guided students in numerous sustainability initiatives that have had a lasting positive impact on both the school and broader community. Additionally, during her teaching career, she earned several accolades within the educational community, including the Wake Soil and Water Conservation District's Environmental Educator of the Year, as well as Bronten High School's teacher of the year during 1999 and 2000 school year, excuse me. In addition to the recognition of her impactful contributions, the school administration and staff at Brontton High School would like to name the school's greenhouse in her honor and is bringing that request to the board tonight during their consideration of action items. They feel
011like the greenhouse represents the perfect space to honor Miss Wood's educational legacy and inspire future generations of students to follow in her footsteps. And Dr. Taylor and district leadership gladly support this request and would like to bring it to the board for their consideration tonight. Uh before that action item, would you, Chair Hagerty, any members of the board have any additional comments or questions? Thank you, Miss Beckham. So, this is um wonderful recognition. We're excited to see the greenhouse go up and we're excited for the for the naming ceremony. Uh we will bring this to the board on the agenda for a vote as an action item. Um but before we do, while uh Principal Dilts and Miss Woods are here, are there any comments or any questions from board members? Dr. Ing. Thank you
012so much, Miss Woods. And as a biology major, um I truly uh uh appreciate your all your hard work over the years and and advocating and teaching and and making it fun, making it, you know, lively and and and um enjoyable for this for the students. So, Thank you, Dr. Ring. Any other comment? I know you're waiting on me because I went to Broton, didn't I? We we we got to take care of our alum. So, Mr. Rice, thank you so very much for your dedication, hard work. I believe you said 36 years. That mean I probably was there, but I just I don't know. I I hope I was good in um I don't quite remember who my biology teacher was because I was more of a reading and writing kind of kid versus
013math and science, but um we need you um and we commend the amazing work that you've done and so greatly appreciate um you being there even when I was there as a kid and I really appreciate all that you've done and um have great memories there. Good. Glad to hear that. Thank you. And of course, Principal Dilts and Miss Woods, we do um offer you the microphone if any of you have any comments yourselves. I just want to say thank you for this honor and thank you for the people that are still at Broton. Um Mrs. Dilts and and the administration and also some of the my fellow teachers from the science department that have put in all the paperwork to make this happen. um they talked about it at my retirement two years ago
014and um I've been waiting ever since. I'm very very excited and very very honored. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Woods. All right. If uh if we're ready, what we'll do, M. Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Hershey. Well, I didn't want to keep her waiting anymore and I wanted to make a motion if we're ready for that. Well, I was going to thank them and then I was going to go to the agenda item. She's been waiting. So, well, I do want to thank Principal Dilts and Miss Woods. You no longer have to stand at the podium if you do not want to. You may be seated and then we will go with um consideration of the action item. Thank you, Miss Pekum. All right. So, uh Mr. Hershey, you wanted to be recognized. Uh make a
015motion that we approve the naming um in honor of Miss Woods. We have a motion for Mr. Hershey for the naming of the Brotten Greenhouse for uh you know, for Miss Excuse me, for Miss Laura Woods. Do we have a second? Second. Um, there was a race there, but I did hear Miss Edmonds. So, we have a motion for Mr. Hershey, a a second for Miss Edmonds. Is there any other debate or any other comments from the board? If not, we'll move into an immediate vote on the naming of the Brotten Greenhouse. All in favor of naming of the Brotten Greenhouse after Miss Laura Woods, please say I. I. Any opposed? All right, it's done. Thank you, Miss Beckham. Thank you, Miss Woods and family. And so um again we do have the remainder of
016our meeting but we know that not the all of our agenda may not be of interest to the rest of you who are here as honores. If any of if anyone does need to leave now we understand but I would like if Miss Dedra Martin could stand so the board members could recognize Miss Dedra Martin if she's here. Okay. Okay. I just wanted to make sure if she was here that we had an opportunity to recognize her in person. Um, all right. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Woods. Thank you, Miss Woods family. And, uh, thank you everyone for our information items. Now, what we'll do is we'll transition to our public comment portion. Um, as you as many of you know, speakers commenting on items on tonight's agenda will be heard before speakers commenting on
017other topics. All other speakers will be heard in their order of signup. Let's see. Tonight we have uh two students who will be given priority and then we'll move to our single onaggenda speaker and then we have a couple of off agenda speakers. In the interest of maintaining civilian decorum, speakers are encouraged to address their comments to the board of education and must refrain from personal attacks and insults directed at other speakers, the board members and members of the general public and staff. Please remain at the podium during your speaking time. Any materials you wish to share should be handed to our board attorney, Mr. Malone, seated here at the end of the table either before or after your comments. And that way then it won't take away from your time that you have for
018your comment. during public comment. Speaking of time, you may speak for up to three minutes. The microphones at the podium are adjustable. So, please go ahead and and adjust them, get there comfortable, then once you begin to speak, that's when your time will start. Um the green light at the podium will illuminate to confirm that your time has started. Once you hear an audible tone and see the yellow light, that's your warning that you only have 30 seconds left remaining in your time. Then there will be a final tone and a red light, and that means that your time is up. and we will call the next speaker to the podium. Speakers are asked to respect the time limit and speak for no more than three minutes. So tonight uh we do have two speakers.
019The first speaker is Swam Shaw who'll be followed by Ponchul Eron and just one of you at the podium at a time please. Thank you Mr. Shaw. Good evening members of the Wake County Board of Education. My name is Ponchel Aaron and I'm a 17-year-old rising senior at Green Level High School. I'm here today with my close friend and co-founder Swam Shaw. Together last year, we co-founded the Global Scholars Alliance, a student-led 501c3 nonprofit organization registered to the IRS. Our organization is dedicated to three core goals. providing academic support to students across Wake County, ensuring that no child goes to school hungry, and maximizing nutritional standards in school cafeterias. Over the past 10 months, we've raised over $7,000 through grassroots efforts, community outreach, company grants, and volunteer-led tutoring. Through our work, we formed strong partnerships
020with the town of Kerry and the town of Apex. And we're immensely grateful for the support of local leaders such as Mayor Kerry Mayor Harold Weinbrret, Apex Mayor Jack Gilbert, and the WCPSS Child Nutrition Services Department. We have spent the past few months researching the need for tutors in Wake County. Through our research, we learned that Wake that the Wake County Public Library system offers a free two-way textbased tutoring service. However, after sending out surveys and gathering direct feedback at our own high schools, students across the county told us one thing. What they really need is interactive face-to-face academic support. Thus, we developed a solution, a low c a lowcost countywide virtual tutoring program led by highly qualified student volunteers. Our tutors are masters of their subjects with our SAT and competition math instructor, Sedar
021Chakapoli, scoring a 1,600, a perfect score on the SAT. And because our tutors are volunteering their time, 100% of the proceeds will go directly to the Wake County Angel Fund, helping cover the cost of school lunches and ensuring that no student has to go to school worrying about where their next meal will come from. In a conversation with board member Lindseay Mafy, we learned that it takes just $2 to sponsor one student meal. This made it clear every tutoring session becomes a direct opportunity to support the meals of our fellow students. Our mission is to fund 10,000 meals by the end of 2025. And right now, we can fund 3,500 meals. And in order to get to 10,000 meals, this tutoring program will take us there. This isn't just about academics. It's also about empowering
022families to support their child's learning while simultaneously giving back to our overall community. And beyond the financial impact, this program will help bridge any educational gaps present in Wake County by offering a centralized, reliable, and inclusive platform for students that provides face-to-face help. Instead of parents having to search through scattered tutoring services, we want to create a county-based program built for all WCPSS and also powered by WCPSS students. Thank you for your time. Now, I'll pass it off to Swine. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Iron. Uh, Mr. Shaw. Good evening. My name is Swam Sha and I'm proud to co-lead the Global Scholars Alliance along with Poncho. Additionally, I'm a rising senior at Emil Magnet High School. So, to build off what Poncho said, at my school, I've noticed a critical gap. There's no county-based
023interactive tutoring program that offers the kind of live and personalized support that many students need. We knew we could step in and make a broader impact. So that's exactly what our lowcost tutoring service does. It provides meaningful academic help and as Poncho said, because it's entirely volunteerran, every single dollar goes to the Wake County Angel Fund. This is so that it can help fund school meals. Each session doesn't just support one learner, it helps feed another. We're not just offering tutoring. We're offering a communitypowered solution that uplifts Wake County students both academically and nutritionally. As a local nonprofit, we are here to formally request a partnership with WCPSS to help expand this initiative. As Poncho said, we've raised over $7,000 so far through our own efforts. But now, we want to take this even further.
024We're proposing a partnership that allows us to collaborate with WCPS's marketing and communication channels to promote our tutoring services, raise awareness for the WCPS's Angel Fund, and engage more families in giving back. This gives parents a simple, powerful opportunity. Help your child learn and help another child eat. We've already built the foundation, but with your support, we can scale it even further and ensure that WCPSS students are supported in the classroom, in the cafeteria, and in their futures. Our mission is to feed futures one meal at a time. Thank you again for your time and for everything you do to support students across the district. Thank you, Mr. Shaw, and thank you, Mr. Eron. You know, normally we discourage applause because we're trying to keep the comments moving, but we do, I think, want to
025extend our applause to both of you for this initiative. Again, thank you both. And I know that your information um has been shared with our one of our academic officers, Mr. Drew Cook, who will be back in touch with you for more information. So, again, thank you for coming out and sharing that with us tonight. All right, we will um go to our on agenda speaker. We have Miss Janette Hill. If Miss Hill is here. Hi, good evening U. Chair Heaggerty, Dr. Taylor, and board members. My name is Janette Hill and I am an assistant principal at Apex High School. As a member of the School Meals for All North Carolina Coalition, I would love to be speaking to you about universal free meals for every student in our district. Our coalition believes that no
026child should go hungry and that every child in every public school in North Carolina should have access to breakfast and lunch at school at no cost to their families. Unfortunately, given local budget conditions, I am instead here to speak against meal price increases. I'm aware that staffing and food costs have risen significantly over the past few years and that we continue to have school meal debt at the end of each school year. And while I appreciate the need to find funds to cover these increased cost and meal debt, I do not think that raising the price of school meals is the way to go about it. As you may or may not be aware, anytime you raise the price of school meals, school meal participation rates go down. Listen to that again. School meal participation
027rates go down. With lower participation, raising the price of school meals may actually not increase revenue. In fact, revenue could remain flat or even sink below current levels. potential decreased revenue will put us even further from the target of our child nutrition program breaking even. Additionally, lower participation rates could be increasing the food insecurity of our students, which in turn leads to more discipline issues and lower student achievement. Instead of raising meal prices, I encourage you to seek alternate ways to lower cost and increase revenue. Two years ago, our school implemented a second chance breakfast program and increased our breakfast participation rate by over a 100%. This in turn increased the revenue that our school generated. I highly recommend expansion of the second chance breakfast program to more schools in the district as a means
028of increasing revenue. As a way to lower food cost over time, I suggest investing in getting our school agriculture programs GAAP certified, which would allow them to produce food that can be served in our school cafeterias. Not only could food costs go down, but the nutritional value of the food being served could go up. Additionally, I would suggest that our district partner with our local grocery stores, food companies, and restaurants to find innovative way to cut food cost. Two local grocery chains have headquarters in North Carolina, and North Carolina is home to a wide variety of food companies that produce nutritional food items that our students like to eat. Please consider alternate ways to support child nutrition that do not have the potential to lower participation and increase. Our next speaker is Miss Geraldine Alshami
029who'll be followed by Kaye Allred. This way or that way? Uh you if you have materials to pass out, please hand them to Mr. Malone. These are just uh some questions that I have since I haven't been able to get up with anybody. All right. Thank you, Miss House Shami. All right. Good evening board. Hope everybody's doing fine. It's good to see you, stranger. Good to see you. Questions. I just have some questions to ask. Oh, where my glasses? Can't ask them without the glasses. First of all, there was um 91,000 behavioral incidents in Wake County public schools in 204. But there seems to be no data for suspension, expulsion, and alternative placement for that same year. I want to know why and how I can get that data. Why does Wake County prefer to
030use suspension, expulsion, and criminal criminalization to address behavior problems rather than than the the approximately 16 behavioral health counselors that are sitting up in the district office with nothing to do and complaining they don't have nothing to do and that's what they're qualified. They are trained to do is behavioral health. And we are just crying out. Our children are crying out for behavioral health. Uh why do we continue continue to punish children for the manifestation of their disabilities? I've been seeing this for 35 years. We've been continuously uh punishing our children for this for their disabilities rather than giving them the support or providing the support with available resources. Why does these children with disabilities have to endure verbal abuse, emotional abuse by teachers, bullying, and it's not reported? That's been a problem for a
031long time. It's not just started. Um, it is reported when it is reported, nobody's hold accountable. uh when it ends up into a big whoop-dedoo and there's violence and there's whatever that's going on then usually the person that that is the victim is the one that gets the gets the uh punishment. So I want to know what that why that is why it continues to be this has been I've been doing this 50 years and I've been seeing it now 50 years so it's time to stop because we we are cycling these children into the school not the school to prison pipeline I I call it the homeschool prison cycle. So, how do you think that 85% of principles and 75% of teachers who say that they suffer with some type of mental illness that
032interferes with the way that they teach, how do you feel that it does not affect our children? How do you think that that does not pass down? And what are you doing to help those those teachers and those those folks get some mental health so our children can stop being beat the hell out of so they can stop being snatched around? Why? When we had felt and we were bringing the issues to you years ago, you said you didn't want you didn't want that. You didn't want that. You don't want to be told about things that was happening. So, children get to be abused for 64 months, 74 months, sometimes a year before anything is ever said. And when it is said, it is said when it hits the media. The leading cause of violence
033and crime among young children is rooted in ACEs. Do we understand how much we cause? Thank you, Miss Shane. Appreciate Finish reading it because I'm I'll be I'll be back next week. Thank you. All right. Our next speaker is Kaylee, who will be followed by Francis Winslow Horn. Hi, good evening. Good evening. How are you? Um, my name is Kaylee Alred and I have never done this before. So, if I am a little bit um unnowledgeable, then uh please give me grace. um as well as I hope that you can extend the same for me since I can since I know that you guys don't have um knowledge of my son and the experiences that I've had with him over the last several years. Um all that I ask is that you hear me out
034about what's my experience has been over the last couple of months. I moved here to Wake County um in May. I've been trying to get him services since April. Um, and I have not had any contact back in the last three months despite several several efforts to the school, Pleasant Grove Elementary School, to the EC teams, both preschool and elementary. and he is about to start kindergarten with a severe flight risk and um several needs that have not been addressed and there have been no IEP meetings so far to date despite several efforts. In fact, we've had some hostility with regards to the teams. And so what I ask from you today is that um even though I don't know uh what you guys are going through on a daily basis, even though I don't
035know what it's like for a teacher, for a school, or for um therapists, I would like some form of care for my son and for the future students within your care to keep them safe in their time of study and need. He starts school on July 7th, which is in eight school days, and he has yet to have care or even a plan in place. So, I am about to drop him off on a Monday morning and not know whether or not in the next 5 minutes he's going to run out of the room and make it through the hallway and run out of the building onto a busy road and get snatched, get hurt, get harmed. um because there is no time placed for him. I have heard through the grapevine that there is
036no transfer process in place and so that could be a potential reason as to why no one has reached out to me in the last um several weeks that they are waiting for transfer process to take place on July 1st. However, as his mom in the next few days, that that problem is not something that's been communicated to me and causes a great deal of stress and harm for me as his parent. And so, what I ask from you is maybe in the future for kindergarten students coming into your great county that I have heard so many incredible things about that you take that into consideration when communicating with them in the future about their care. Thank you, Miss Alred. And before you leave, uh, do you see standing here? This is Miss Lisa Alred.
037If you have all if you have time, just please meet up with her before you leave and she can help you with that information and hopefully get you the resources you need. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you. Our next speaker is Francis Winslow Horn who'll be followed by Joseph Deon. Okay. First of all, I would like to commend the board for making the cell phone policy last board meeting. I greatly, greatly appreciate it. We needed a change. I've been a substitute teacher in Wake County schools for about 20 years. I love the kids, but I see a big problem with policy changes and it trickling down. So, I see that a big problem in the school system is based on respect. So, the board, y'all make all these great policies on the cell
038phone, on the dress code, the food. I've got a couple of concerns about those. You make policies, but then the principles and the administrators and the teachers don't enforce them. So, when a parent reads a student handbook and they see that there's a dress code, but then they pick up their kids and they see how the kids are dressed, that's a problem. So, I looked at the dress code today and I was like I was thinking it was shoulder to mid thigh. They had to be covered. It's chest to mid thigh. So, at a high school I'm seeing a girl with a strapless thing. It's end of the school year. I don't say anything. But we need you can't you can dress in a certain way and you're going to be perceived in a certain
039way. We cannot help how people perceive other people. If you dress a certain way, you're going to be perceived as a certain way. We have to respect the differences in how people dress and how they act. But when the school board has a dress code and it's not enforced, there's a food policy. And I got really upset with after CO 19, I was really worried about the kids and I was one of the first subs. I went to school as soon as I could. I felt like the kids need needed me. I'm a very faithoriented person. Faith over fear. And I saw a lot of food wasted. I saw a lot of food. Oranges, bananas, apples just thrown away. Federal guidelines, federal guidelines. They had to get it, but they didn't want it and they
040threw it away. And administrators are like, well, there's all these policies and all these codes. And I'm like, you're not enforcing the dress code. You're not enforcing the cell phone policy. You're not enforcing there's another code, the food, the food code. You're not supposed to give candy and some some well educated people call it crap food, the chips and the stuff. If you're trying to teach, if you're a teacher in the classroom and you're trying to give instruction and students are munching on Doritos or chips or whatever, that's not conducive to a good learning environment. And then you have some teachers that give out food and some teachers that don't give out food. Then there becomes, well, that's the teacher who gives us coffee. There's teachers who give you coffee. They give you snack food.
041They have a sensory area, a tent in their room. Who's going to be the favorite teacher in that school? Who's going to be the teacher that no student's going to complain about? Who's going to be the teacher that the other teachers are going to be looking at and say, "Hey, we might need to up our game because that teacher, everybody likes her." Um, anyway, I just hope you enforce the rules. All right. Thank you. Our final speaker tonight is Joseph Deon. I commend Dr. Taylor for giving the keynote address to the Raleigh Father's Conference. He said that kids don't need us to be perfect. They just need us to show up. Indeed, there is an abundance of social science data that children do better when their father lives with them in the home or is
042at least strongly involved in their lives. Conversely, when the father is awol, kids more frequently do poorly in school, get involved in promiscuity, substance abuse, and eventually trouble with the law. Of course, these broad statements are not determinate for every child, but they do represent the statistics. The percentage of single parent households and out of wedlock births has increased dramatically for all ethnic and socioeconomic groups since the early 60s. Does anyone deny that the ill effects of this negative social trend have increased in public schools over time? Chronic absenteeism, poor academic performance, and disruptive behavior. Teachers and bus drivers tell us they are frequently disrespected and even cussed at. It amazes me that the board majority doesn't see that some of their policies undermine the objectives of that father's conference. For more than two years,
043people have objected to no avail to the books that ca contain explicit descriptions and illustrations of all kinds of sexual activity that you have stocked in libraries and even used in class. They know that this feeds a habit of lust, not romance, and will not lead to long-term relationships that will provide loving and stable homes for the next generation. Last year, I told you about Paul Cornley, MDPhD, who overcame terrible discrimination to become a highly respected civil rights leader in the field of public health. In 1972, he warned in his dissenting opinion on the presidential commission on population that if you gave instruction on contraceptives to teenagers, you would destroy the foundation of the family. You are now dealing with the consequences of decades of that. But you keep adding fuel to the fire in
044various ways. Thank you. Thank you. And that concludes our public comment period. We'll now according to our agenda, move on to our um uh our next information item, which are comments by our superintendent, Dr. Robert Taylor. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I appreciate the introduction. I do want to say good evening to everyone. Uh I wanted to start my uh by publicly uh thanking the Wake County Board of Commissioners for fully funding the board's budget request for our local dollars. Uh this partnership and investment in our schools is vital to our continued success uh and we sincerely thank them for their support particularly amid the financial uncertainty that all public school systems are facing at this time. I also want uh to thank our district staff particularly our budget team who work strategically to identify
045budget reductions that minimize the impact on students uh schools and classrooms. Uh we'll be hearing more about uh next steps later tonight as we discuss approving an interim budget and what lies ahead as we work towards a final budget. Uh but I didn't want to let a moment pass without personally acknowledging the support of our commissioners and the sound uh support of our finance team as well as the cooperation and understanding demonstrated by schoolbased staff. Uh because of their efforts, we are entering the new school year in a strong financial footing. Uh and on behalf of the students and families of Wake County, I offer my uh most heartfelt thanks. I particularly want to thank um our chair and our vice chair for the work that they've done on this budget. Uh it took a
046tremendous amount of effort from them to get this done and I I want you guys to know that did go uh notice. It wasn't unnoticed. Uh with this strong financial foundation in place, we are ready to take on uh this next school year which is just around the corner for our yearround schools. Uh so there is much work to look forward in 2526 including the opening of four new schools. Uh so in just a couple of weeks, two new uh yearround schools, Rex Road Elementary in Holly Springs and Pleasant Plains Elementary and Apex will open their doors to students for the very first time. Uh and and in August, two traditional calendar schools will do the same. That's Bowling Road Elementary in Fugquway Arena and Felton Grove High School in Apex. Uh these new campuses
047will allow us to better serve our growing communities and provide students with modern, welle equipped spaces for learning and discovery. So once again, we must thank the county commissioners and the voters of Wake County for consistently supporting our construction and our maintenance needs. So, as we look uh ahead with optimism to the next school year, I do want to take a moment to highlight just a few of the many accomplishments from the 24 24-25 school year that speak to the strength of our schools, our staff, uh and more particularly to the strength of our students. So, at the start of the school year, we were proud to announce that academic proficiency levels have nearly returned to prepandemic benchmarks and in some areas even exceeded them. Uh that is a tremendous testament to the hard work
048of our educators, our students, and our families. We know this is a collective effort. Our magnet programs continue to shine on the national level with 51 schools earning national merit awards and two of our schools, Milbrook and Lincoln Heights Magnet Elementary Schools being recognized as among the very best magnet schools in the country. Uh I always like to talk about our magnet schools and the awards that we receive. And when we attend the magnet school conference, uh they have three top awards. Uh we received two of the top three. Uh and I always uh compare that to uh the Oscars, top pitcher, uh top actor um and and top actress. Uh we received two of the three Oscars, which I think that's outstanding. Uh we also set a new district record for the number of
049schools earning Purple Star awards. Uh 21 of our schools were recognized for their outstanding support of military connected students and families, a distinction that reflects our district's firm commitment to meeting students and families where they are. Uh I particularly like to talk about our um uh Purple Star awards. Uh and I want everybody in this community to recognize uh the number of military connected students that are in Wake County. Now, we traditionally look at Fort Bragg and Cumberland County as that military community and Cumberland County has about 15,000 military connected students. We have about 11,000. And so, the impact that we have on our military is as great. And I do want to thank our schools that uh provide that service and that support. On that same note, 12 of our schools earned the prestigious
050RAMP award for implementing highly effective datadriven school counseling programs. Uh these awards reinforce the importance of our whole child approach to education and the essential role of our student services staff. Uh and in what is our ultimate metric of success as a district, well over 12,000 graduating uh seniors received their diplomas in the past week, setting them on their way to college and career success. So I want to emphasize that these graduates are not just a reflection of high schools. every educator, support staff member and administrator across all grade levels have played a role in their success. Uh so we are all part of that journey. Uh we have the opportunity as both the superintendent and board members uh to attend uh over 30 graduations and I can tell you that people ask me Dr.
051Taylor, how do you endure over 30 some odd graduations? And I think it was uh Mr. shared that when Monday uh we had seven 8:00 10:00 12:00 2:00 4:00 6:00 and 8:00 and I can tell you uh it was an absolute joy for the superintendent to be a part of that even though it was arduous and it was taxing but I recognize that that is uh my life's work that is our work to see those students metriculate across that stage And I can tell you uh that we will be at those meetings, those graduations every single year. So we want to applaud that. Uh so I want to close by sharing a video that captures the c uh that sentiment perfectly. Uh take a look at this video from Wake Forest Elementary which hosted a
052graduation ceremony for it fifth graders. Uh the event also featured Wake Forest Elementary alumni returning as graduating seniors to walk the halls one more time and inspire these young students to keep pushing towards the finish line. So check this out. Graduation season is a time to celebrate transitions all across the Wake County Public School System. For high schoolers, it allows them to celebrate moving on to college. And for fifth graders at Wake Forest Magnet Elementary School, a chance to celebrate moving on to middle school. I deeply say thank you to teachers and friends. I am so excited to go to middle school, but I will also miss the school and its staff. I have been here I have been a student here for 3 years and I have a lot of memories over the years.
053And to my amazing classmates, I hope you know that it's up to you to make middle school the best three years of your life. I had an amazing year. So, this is me saying goodbye. Goodbye to my wonderful teachers. Goodbye to my amazing, fun classmates. And and I want to give a large shout out to Mrs. Smith because she has done so much for the school and shaped it to where I'll never forget all those memories. I am so grateful for Mrs. Smith. Thank you all for coming to celebrate our final days in elementary school. This school was amazing and I love being a student here. Thank you. Isaiah Cruda. After the fifth graders walked across the stage to get their diplomas, it was time for the high school seniors to parade through the halls
054one more time. [Music] [Applause] It was really I remember my own fifth grade graduation and it's cool to see someone going through a different change of life at the same time that you are in like such different places. But I remember being in their place and graduating fifth grade and be like graduating high school so far away and now we're here. Um, I've obviously been in Wake County my entire life, but I will say the teachers in the county are do a very good job of making everyone feel heard and welcome and it was overall a great experience. Watching the high school girls walk across the stage gave fifth grader Eisley Murtha something to look forward to. Um, it was really cool. Um, and I someday want to come back and do that. For the
055future middle schoolers, the fifth grade promotion was the best day of their lives. [Applause] [Music] Mr. Chair, uh the reason why we do this work. Thank you. Thank you, Superintendent Taylor. We really appreciate that and the video montage. Um the next item on our agenda is consideration of the items on our consent agenda. Is there a motion, Mr. Hershey? So So move to approve the consent agenda. We we have a motion for Mr. Mr. Hershey to approve the items on the consent agenda. A second from Dr. Ing. All in favor of um approval of the items on the consent agenda, please say I. I. Any opposed? All right. The items on the consent agenda have been adopted. Thank you. We'll now move to our action items. The first action item we have tonight is from
056finance. This is the approval of the interim budget resolution for 2025 2026. And uh we will hear from Mr. David Neater. Welcome, Mr. Neater. Thank you. And good evening, Chair Hagerty, members of the board, and Superintendent Taylor. Um, on June 2nd at their meeting, uh, the Wake County Board of Commissioners approved the Wake County budget for the fiscal year. and the board of education's proposed budget, which had requested an increase in county appropriation of $40.3 million, was approved within what the county commissioners um voted on and approved within their budget. So, cutting to those two things, they effectively fully funded the board's request for this coming fiscal year. Um, as we shared with you during the budget development cycle and when you approved your proposed budget in early May that we would still be waiting
057for the state legislature even after the county had approved its budget um to see what the final state budget was. That was our projection. It still is the case. Um, and it's possible that final decisions made by the state for the budget, even though there is no funding gap between the board's proposed budget and the county appropriation, but it's possible that final state legislation could increase the needs for local funds and create a funding gap. We're going to have to wait and see. Um, this is your last scheduled board meeting before the end of the fiscal year. State statute does require boards of education in the state of North Carolina to have a balanced budget in place prior to the start of a new fiscal year. Um, and tonight what we are asking is for
058the board's consideration of approval of, and Superintendent Taylor said this a few minutes ago, an interim budget resolution. And let me take a couple minutes to explain what is an interim budget resolution. Um, it's a resolution that will allow the board and the school district to continue to pay salaries and other normal expenditures to maintain our operations. Unlike many other districts or most other districts in the state, we have a significant percentage of our schools that crank right back up after June 30th. I think I heard today the date was July 7th. Um, so just after the 4th of July holiday and by having an interim budget resolution in place, it allows two or three things to concurrently happen. One, comply with state statute to have a budget resolution in place. to continue to pay
059the ordinary expenses, but then three, provide the opportunity of time to wait until the state does finalize their budget. So we can come back to the board, we being staff and the superintendent with recommended adjustments that will reconcile the board's proposed budget to the Wake County budget, which we do know, and the final state budget, which we don't know. And during that same period of time, we would also bring back recommended salary schedules for the 2025 2026 year based upon whatever final state legislation is for compensation increases and then any other things beyond what was legislated that we would be recommended uh re recommending to the board. Um, so that's a little background on the interim budget resolution and I do want to read just so the board has it. Um the actual resolution that
060we're asking you to consider approval of be it resolved by the Wake County Board of Education that pursuant to North Carolina General Statute 115C-434, the Wake County Board of Education hereby authorizes the dispersements of such amounts as may be necessary to pay salaries and wages of employees of the Wake County Public School System, principal and interest for indebtedness. and all other usual ordinary expenses that may become due and payable during the interval between bringing beginning of the 2526 fiscal year and the adoption of the budget resolution for that year. such such expenditures to be chargeable to the proper budget funds hereafter adopted for the fiscal year and the board hereby appropriates from the proper funds such amounts as may be necessary for the dispersement authorized by this resolution. The interim budget resolution for fiscal year
0612526 will give the board and the superintendent the authority to operate based upon current known revenue projections for the current fiscal year pending final authorization from the general assembly and the county commissioners. Now therefore, be it resolved until such time as the board takes further action following the time the North Carolina Department of Instruction releases the 202526 state fund allotments and federal planning aotments and the county commissioners approved the county appropriation. That component has already been met. Um and um the Wake County Board of Education hereby approves the interim budget resolution in accordance with statute 115C 434. So with that, I'd be glad to answer any questions and would request that the board consider approval of a budget or interim budget resolution for the 2526 fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Neater. Mr. Hershey. Chair Hagerty.
062I make a motion that we approve the interim budget for the year. Thank you, Mr. Hershey. We have a motion for Mr. Hershey and a second for Miss Rice to approve the interim budget resolution authorizing interim appropriations and dispersements. Are there any questions for Mr. Neer for staff or any discussion about the interim budget resolution? I think Mr. er did a pretty good job of explaining the situation and its necessity. You know, again, originally when these laws were written, we had a very strict schedule for budgeting where the school systems would present their budgets by a date and the county would present their budgets by the date, all with the goal of a state budget being ready by July 1. And if we've had one in the last 30 years, it escapes my memory. I'm
063not going to blame them or blame my memory, but it I I cannot remember one. And so this will let us comply with the law until such time as the House and Senate do resolve their budget issues and do pass a budget. So at this time we have a motion to off to approve the interim budget resolution. Unless there is further comment or debate. All in favor of the resolution please say I. I. Are there any opposed? All right Mr. Need of the resolution passes. Thank you. Thank you. The next item, action item are the meal prices for the 2025 and 2026 school year. And we will welcome up Miss Tiffany Lawrence. Good evening, Miss Lawrence. Good evening, chair, other board members. Thank you for having me this evening. Um I'm here to um talk
064about the possibility increasing meal prices 25 cents for breakfast and 25 cents for lunch. um based off the presentation that we discussed in the previous two work sessions. Thank you, Miss Lawrence. So, every uh board members see the proposal. The proposal was shared in work session and we did have questions and discussion about the proposal and if I understand Miss Lawrence, you are seeking board approval for the proposal at this time. That's correct. Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you, Miss Rice. Um, I make a motion that we um accept the price increase for our school meal plan. Thank you, Miss Rice. We have a motion to accept the staff recommendation for the change in meal prices. Is there a second? Second. We have a second for Miss Edmonds. At this time, are there any comments or
065questions for Miss Lawrence? We'll start with Miss Rice and we'll work around. Um, I do have a comment. Um, first I would love to say Miss Lawrence has done an e excellent outstanding job actually with helping us better understand where we are around meal prices. Um, I shared in a work session. I get it. I understand. I'm a parent um that's raised four children in the Wake County Public School System, three at the same time being teenage boys. I get the um cost is important, but if I could encourage people who didn't get to see to go back to a previous work session and watch her presentation on helping us better understand that they are an enterprise organization. Um and so therefore they kind of have to stand alone. And so um we want to
066support you. Um, I know I particularly want to support you with marketing um, our student wellness and nutrition a little bit better. Um, so that families can all participate in it. Um, whether they can afford or not afford to pay that it's really about our student wellness um, around food nutrition services overall. So that's the reason behind me really supporting this is because we don't have it in our budget to do alone $4.6 $6 million to take care of all of the food. And so I encourage those who might hear us this evening that understand where we are that they will participate, continue. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you to all those that's participated in our angel fund over the years, how they continue to collaborate with you. Uh I encourage people to continue to
067do that. I love to hear our students that talk tonight understanding a problem and finding solutions that are innovative, right? And so I'm excited about that. I will say um I think I heard you might have to correct me if I'm wrong. I think I heard our meals about $4 um and50, not $2. So um I think that's important for families to know that we need that. So I just do want to say thank you for the great work that you've done with helping us um look at things differently um and moving forward. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Rice. We'll come around the table. I saw Miss Edmonds. Thank you. I have um several things, comments and a couple of questions. Um so, first let me say that none of us want to
068be doing this. I know you and I had a conversation on the phone um about that and um anyway, I know that no board member, including the ones that are not here this evening, want to increase these meal prices. Um, and so, you know, Miss Rice and I have made the motion and seconded it, but it it is um not because it's what we want to do. I feel like we are trapped in a scenario where it is an enterprise system and we have to find this money. A clarifying question that I think for myself but also might help the public. Do I understand correctly that we cannot just pay for the staff CNS staff out of another budget line item? It has to be from the revenue that CNS receives. When you say pay
069for the CNS staff, you mean like the workers who work in the kitchen a line item from like the district budget, right? I mean I and Mr. Neater, I'm happy for you to help. I'm sorry, Miss R. I don't want to put you on the spot, but um my understanding is is that this program has to self- sustain and self-fund. And I'm just trying to ask the question that even if we chose to say no, we're going to find this four, you know, I don't even know, is it 4.6 million? The 4.6 6 million was the cost. So that was related to feeding the students who currently eat right at no cost for breakfast and lunch. But the increase that we we need the total amount we couldn't pull it from some other source. Is
070that correct? Um even if we chose to let me clarify um going back to what just an enterprise program or fund is. It's not really a fund. It's a program by design. The intent is that the revenues for that program equal the expenditures for the program. So, it's self- sustaining over time. And it's not building up a surplus or a war chest, if you will. Although, it's desired to have a two-mon surplus. Um, not just desired, it's expected to have a two-month surplus, but not more than that. But as is the case now, it's down to less than a one-mon surplus and if trends continue likely to be down to no surplus without some type of increase. So that's the design of the program. Now getting to the crux, Miss Edmonds, of your question. Technically,
071other funds can be used to support an enterprise program. That's not the design. That's not the intent. And the repercussion or consequences of going down that path. It's it's not illegal to do that would be to use operating funds. It would have to be local operating funds. None of the state funds could be used for that purpose. None of our federal funds could be used really to sustain a CNS program. um would basically require budget adjustments and just as the board had to go through in the development of the board's proposed budget, make some very difficult decisions that Dr. Taylor referred to in his comments earlier this evening. The board will be put into a situation of having to make reductions possibly in the classroom. 90% of our operating budget goes to the schools. And
072so that operating budget either very directly or very indirectly supports our schools and our classrooms and our teachers and our students having impact on our capacity to do just that, but technically it's allowed. Thank you. And thank you um Miss Reynolds. So that is helpful for me to know next year because I'm very concerned that we will be right back in this exact same position next year. This is the fourth year in a row that we've been put in this position. Um and it just makes me ill. I know that I believe all of us uh believe in universal school meals that should be funded I believe at the federal level but in lie of that at the state level. And there is an organization called School Meals for AllNC that are working really hard
073toward that. Um, and they printed this off of their website today. They did a survey that shows 81% of North Carolinians support children receiving free school meals. So rather than do this and respond to the voters of North Carolina, the legislature, and this is for the good of the whole, um the legislature has prioritized private school vouchers. And so I'd like to share some numbers. We in our work session, you shared that just a sort of back of the envelope rough estimate to cover all children currently who eat school meals. So every whether or not they're paying for it or or getting the free and red in the free and reduced program, it would be about $4.6 million to cover them. Um all students rece, you know, that are eating a meal in one year.
074And this past school year, the 2425 school year, um Wake Christian Academy got $3.4 million in voucher money. That's taxpayer funded state dollars. North Raleigh Christian Academy got 4.3 million. Faily's campuses, they have eight campuses, they received $14.4 million this school year alone. Those are state dollars for one year. And again, we heard in our um work session today that it would cost about 4.6 million to cover the kids that are eating meals right now in one year. Um, another number I'll share with you is that the total voucher money received in Wake County just in this school year was over $56 million. So, that is a choice that our state lawmakers are making that rather than feed children and provide free school meals, we are providing taxpayer funded coupons to wealthy families to send
075their children to private school. We are funding private school tuition instead of feeding kids. That's a choice. And now we are sitting up here forced to make a choice to have one of the most expensive school meals in the state of North Carolina creeping up to $375 for lunch and $2 for breakfast. Um, and it's more at the high school level. And none of us want to be in this position. So, I call on all of us and everyone in the public to raise hell, quite frankly, that that we should be in the business of feeding kids and not funding these um school vouchers. And there there's so much more. We're we're sending our tax rate to zero. Um and that's estimated to cost the state about $900 million annually. That could go toward funding
076school meals in this state. Um, so we've got the wrong prior, they have the wrong priorities down on Jones Street in my opinion and and thus we sit here making this impossible decision tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Edmonds. Other comments, Mr. Hershey. Thank you. Question. Uh um so to piggyback on Miss Edmonds, I do want to point out that at the federal level, this has not been this is not a partisan issue as we've been raising rates under a Democratic administration and now under a Republican administration. And can you just I asked this in the uh prior meeting, but more people tend to watch this. The reimbursement rate for a meal that is co that um that is free is $4.54. And about 10 years ago it was what? About a little
077over $3. Yeah. So when people think about the need to pay staff and pay staff a living wage in Wake County. Oh, and that reminds me when they when they come up with the formula of how much to um reimburse, do they take into account uh what a living wages in a county? No, they do not. So, the reason I'm asking that and the reason I'm making a point of this is, you know, we live in a a county that sometimes our teachers can't afford to live in. It's it's hard for staff to live in. So we and previous boards have done their best to really raise the pay. And to connect it all, there's a national conversation around SNAP and Medicaid. And if you're not paying a living wage, more people are going to
078need those services. And here we are trying to pay a living wage. And I think we're the most expensive county in the state and one of the fastest growing in the entire nation. And it would not cost the federal government a whole lot to increase the reimbursement rate across the nation. I mean to uh kind of follow down Miss Edmond's path, we we are the current budget proposal at the federal level asks for about a trillion dollars in defense spending and it would cost you know a few billion dollars to feed every student across that's a trillion and a few billion to feed all of our students across the entire country. So, I just wanted to raise that um this could be covered easily by the federal government if making America healthy again was actually
079about health and making and and student health. Um, sorry I made that partisan, but it's frustrating because we don't want to be raising rates, but we are punished for because we are in Wake County and we have a higher cost of living. Um I will be supporting this uh as I have the last two years. Do we feel Oh, the one question I had the the assistant principal brought up and you brought it up as well as you raise fewer people buy. Do we have an estimate on or there percentages of how many fewer people we think based on historical trends would be buying? Like I don't have it off the top of my head. I could bring that back to you because we do have a estimate of the past for Wake County. But
080so looking at that though, we would still be increasing revenue with this ultimately. Yes. Ultimately, yes. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Hershey. Hershey, Miss Gordon, thank you. Um I I want to echo what the fellow board members have said. Um this is this is not um it doesn't come easy, but when I think about uh how we recently voted on the budget and in comparison um one of my questions was why are we not asking for exactly what we need? Um and so you have done that. Um and for that reason I can support that. Um because you are putting our top priority which are students at the top and in mind. Um but not just that because you are holding us accountable and you gave us clear direction on what you
081needed from us how you're holding your your staff accountable and how you're also taking direction from students. And so because of those reasons I can get behind it. However, I do want to say um I do I I am looking forward to engaging more around proactive planning around promotion and marketing um and bold advocacy so we can work toward free universal meals um eventually. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Gordon. Dr. Ing. Yes. I um thank you so much. Um I uh uh echo the others um in terms of the the idea of um supporting this. Um I I think that um the important thing for me is that um uh we understand increased participation um and marketing is going to be key and I I I I am encouraged by what you've been
082saying and your background and uh and your um drive to hold other people accountable. And so I'm I'm uh uh trusting that you will take on that challenge and to be able to um work on increasing you know the uh participation by providing a really attractive uh uh uh food uh options for our kids. So um so I will be voting yes. Thank you. Thank you Dr. Ring. So I think everyone else has had an opportunity to speak. I just want to conclude with some thoughts. And um you know, Mr. Lawrence, I really do want to thank you. You came here all the way up from Georgia to take a job with uh a lot of challenges. And we've asked a lot of you in the last couple weeks to put together information for the
083board to help us get our arms around this and understand it. And so I think you've heard from several board members their thanks and appreciation. I just want to make sure that was made very clear. Um, I also want to thank our board members because in one year's time, you have all helped step up and raise the importance and priority of this issue. I think oftentimes with all the other challenges we face in our public schools and in the classroom, school meals can often be an afterthought and you all made it clear that that would not be the case here in Wake County. You set um some pretty strong demands. I think that we needed to elevate this issue. we needed to look for solutions and look for priorities. Um, in that time, we have
084done some great things. The establishment of the district-wide angel fund and the partnerships we've made in the community, whether it's the wonderful programs we heard about today for Mr. Aaron and Mr. Shaw, the uh fund run that we went uh hosted by the BAPS Temple, and you'll hear more from those folks at our next meeting. Um, you know, a lot of the work that we've done with many of you going into our schools, talking with our CNS workers, talking with our students about the meals they like and what they'd see, and those of you that have met with members of our congressional delegation to talk to them about federal support for the school lunch program. I mean, you you've really invested work into this and I I do want to recap some of the issues.
085you've captured many of them about why this is important. And in order to provide these meals and in order to have a school lunch program, we have to take care of our workers, our CNS workers. And as Mr. Hershey said, and I won't I had a bunch of stuff on it. I won't repeat it, but but but the in in a nutshell, it is very expensive to live in Wake County. And many of our school staff, working school staff, can't afford to live anywhere close to the schools where they work. And more and more are finding it difficult to live in Wake County. We've seen data, you know, in in Western Wake County. Miss Mafy and Invese Swanson aren't here, but the three of us in our district, we looked at an situation where we
086looked at the number of rental units that were available for uh WCPSS custodian for a WCPSS um you know, CNS worker. And not only were there very few in Wake County, in some cases, there were none available within the town of Kerry at the time that we did that look. So, it is so important. And again, you know, I wish we could we we could pay a living wage. I don't even think we're there yet. I originally talked about trying to um keep our salaries competitive with the cost of living and it's not even getting it to meet that. It's just simply chasing those costs. So, with rising cost of living, with rising food costs, you know, we have to pay these workers what they need to survive or we'll lose them. And that became
087very clear during the pandemic when workers could work other jobs and make more money no matter how much they love the job. It's simply not enough to justify putting their family at a loss. You know, when when we needed to pay more and and that's that's what we're doing tonight. As was said, as Miss Gordon said, you know, Miss Lawrence told us, what do we need to do to make this work? and and this will get us to where we can afford the salaries we are paying now. And I do hope that we can continue to make progress on those salaries in addition to finding ways to sell more lunches that will bring more money into the program whether it's other sources of revenue that Miss Lawrence talked about where PTAs might have school functions
088where at our different athletic events we might need to sell, you know, food products through CNS. other ways that we might be able to, you know, raise more revenue. There are important things that Miss Rice talked about in our work session about helping families understand the benefits of child nutrition. We face a PR crisis, I think, every time there's a new Netflix documentary on school lunches, I just cringe wondering what it's going to say and how that's going to affect our school meals. And you know, the the documentary might be about a small rural district in West Virginia, but I hear Wake County parents talking about it and how it reflects negatively on their impressions of the nutritious meals that that we will serve here. So, I say all that just to say I want
089to acknowledge that this has not been easy, but I really appreciate all of the work you all have done to hold the board and the staff accountable for making progress on this important issue and we couldn't have done it if you had just simply let it go and treated it as an afterthought. So, thank you all. If there is no more, Miss Lawrence has been waiting patiently for a vote and I would like to call a vote on this motion on the motion that was made. All in favor of Miss Rice's motion, please say I. I. Any opposed? All right. Thank you, Miss Lawrence. Thank you. All right. Uh board, that concludes our action agenda for the evening. We will go to board comment and uh then after that, I'll entertain a motion for close
090session. Let me look around the table. Is anyone looking to kick us off tonight? Uh no one in particular. No one in particular. Mr. Hershey. I just want to congratulate our graduates and I hope that all of the people at Summer Swim right now are staying cool and healthy and hydrating because it is dangerous out there and we do have a lot of students that are at summer swim right now and that is it. Thank you, Mr. Hershey. Dr. Ring, you have any thoughts for us? Um yeah, I um wanted to congratulate all the the graduates this year and um I attended uh some of the graduations that are not in my district and one of the most memorable one was from the Mary Phillips High School. Um it was truly inspiring and I wish
091I had brought my Kleenex. Um, and these are uh this high school is for students that are just, you know, at risk of falling through the cracks. And um, and I I just wish there were more people who actually attended that high school uh, graduation to be able to hear the stories, including the class president who says that at the first day of school, you know, he he was his face down on the his phone and and just didn't have much uh hope for himself. And um and then all it took was just con this consistent tapping on the shoulder and and to and just to show him and all the other uh students in the in the school that that they care and and and uh they you know they had all these different
092stories of um what they're going to do and and how how how their lives have been changed. And so it was truly just a um you know uh remarkable graduation ceremony and I and um uh just um kudos to all the staff um the principal and APS and everyone who uh had a hand in uh changing uh those students lives. So thank you so much. Thank you Dr. Miss Evans. I don't have any board comments, but I need to apologize to Miss Lawrence because I was calling her Tiffany Reynolds, who you know, I think I do. Yes. Um, so that person does exist, but not her. So, but she's out of the room anyway. So, my apologies for calling Miss Lawrence the wrong name. Thank you, Miss Edmonds. Going around the table, Miss Rice. All
093right. Yes. Congratulations to all of the 2025 Wake County graduates. I am super proud of you. Um, I had an amazing time at the graduations that I was able to attend. However, I must say a special thank you to Bug Magnet Elementary for the invitation to their fifth grade promotion ceremony. Dr. Tiffany Scott leads with excellence and high expectations and it was great to see it in action. So, I really really really enjoyed that. Um, I do want to say um uh many of Oh, that's what it was. I do want to say that many of my board colleagues and I we were chatting um wondering which school was possibly going to do some boots on the ground song. And I must admit, it was great to see Bug to do it tactfully. Um, and
094it was um, fun to to watch the students of the Bugstep team um, participate in that particular song that's very popular in community. Um, I also want to uh, send a shout out to Carnage for receiving their RAM certification. Thank you for sending me that wonderful thank you letter um, and about your certification. and it was a pleasure to see how they increased student performance and success with the with the strategic things that they did within their ramp process. So last, what are we going to do? The eight dimensions of wellness. It is summer summer time. I'm not Will Smith, but um let the wellness begin. I want to leave you with a few thoughts this summer as you enjoy the sun. I want you to think about how your wellness influences your leadership style.
095Okay? So, I'm just going to share a reminder. Some may not know. You hear me choose a different dimension of wellness every week, but let me tell you what they all are really quickly. There is emotional wellness. And I want to define it for you as the ability to cope effectively with life's challenges and build healthy relationships. I want you to ask yourself the question, are you healing or hiding? I also want you to look at environmental wellness. Living a clean, safe and sustainable living in a clean, safe and sustainable environment. And I want you to ask yourself, is your space peaceful or full of chaos? And then there is financial wellness. Managing financial resources effectively for sustainability and security. Ask yourself this summer, are you managing your resources wisely or constantly stressed? And then
096there's intellectual wellness, expanding knowledge, creativity, and critical thinking. Are you growing or staying stagnant? And then there's occupational wellness, finding fulfillment in your work while maintaining balance. Woo chiefs, do you hear that? Are you fulfilled or just chlocking in or out? And then there is physical wellness. The ability to cope effectively with life's challenges and build healthy relationships. Are you caring for your temple or neglecting it? And then the last two, social wellness, maintaining healthy relationships and social connections. And the question I want you to ask yourself this summer is, do you have lifegiving relationships or draining ones? And finally, your spiritual wellness definition is finding meaning, purpose, and connection to values or beliefs. Ask yourself this summer, are you feeding your spirit or just existing? And so, those are the eight dimensions of wellness.
097And I want you to focus on those particular wellness areas of life so that you can enjoy a amazing summer and come back and be the best leader that you can be. Thank you, Miss Rice. Miss Gordon, thank you. Um, my last board comments honored our graduating seniors. Um, but tonight I especially want to recognize the parents, guardians, and families who stood beside them every step of the way. You've been the alarm clock. I know what that is. The late night tutor, the sideline cheerleader, the quiet encourager, and sometimes just the safe place to land after a tough day. I myself, I only have one more year before I have a graduating senior. Um, but this year, we even had one of our very own board members who was able to celebrate his graduate. So,
098I wanted to honor you tonight. So to every parent and caregiver, thank you. This milestone is yours too. We see you, we celebrate you, and we are grateful for the role you play in shaping the future. And finally, I want to wish a happy summer break to all of the traditional calendar and modified calendar teachers and my year round, my fellow yearround educators. It's coming. It's coming. Thank you, Miss Gordon. You're making me tear up a little bit. You know, I carry around this picture of my son at age three at my law school graduation who upon seeing me walk along the line with those graduates, ran out of his mother's arms, ran down the line, jumped up, and I had to carry him through the line. and our dean was did not, you know,
099did not miss a beat. Thanked me, shook his hand, and then handed me the diploma. And so memories like that are ones you keep for a long time, 15 years later, and I've still got that on my phone. So, um, and again, I I do want to thank you all for all of your work this summer, um, and the the the items that you've lifted up in your board comments. Please know that we are moving into our summer schedule. So, our next board meeting will be July 15th. That will be the same day as our board retreat. Um, so we will have a meeting that month, but it will be an abbreviated meeting. So, we will uh after a long day try to get everyone out as soon as as we can, but please just
100check your email for items that will be up on that retreat and then any other items that will be taking place between now and then, particularly regards to some of our hearings and other administrative duties. Um, if you are traveling this summer, please be safe. Um, a a couple other things I wanted to mention. Um, we say goodbye, we've had, as you know, several area superintendent that have retired recently. Um, we also said goodbye recently to Dr. Mark Savage. Dr. Savage got his start at uh, at least he was in Delaware before that. I don't count those years. But here in Wake County, he got started at the the Leville Road um elementary or Leville Road High School as a teacher before moving to AP roles at Sanderson um our Wakefield schools and then ultimately
101principal at those Wakefield Middle and high schools and uh Wakefield or sorry and Heritage High School oftentimes referred to as Mr. Eastern area. Dr. Savage put in a lot of great years for our school system and will be missed and so we want to congratulate him and thank him for his service and hope that he enjoys his retirement. U the graduation stories were amazing. Dr. You took my number one that I had. Uh the Mary Phillips graduation was just so inspiring. I know if you you know you heard Dr. Taylor talk about 30 plus graduations. I know many of you went to many of them and it can be a lot. six straight days dawn till way past dusk. And um you know if you get the time in future years to attend some of
102these smaller schools, the Mary Phillips one, uh the Long View graduation was again another amazing one. I know Miss Rice was there for that one. Uh the Vernon Malone graduation. uh if it works out in your schedule, please go in and support these graduates and just hear some of the wonderful and amazing stories that we have from these hardworking students. Uh in particular, I want to thank some members of our WCPSS staff, um Miss Linda Ramirez Carter, Mr. Brian Johnson, Miss Anna Jackson for all of their work making sure that these graduations, you know, came off well. Thank you to Mr. Scott and his team for keeping us all safe and orderly. Um, it was a long graduation season, but we have some amazing stories that came out of it. Um, with that, I have
103no other uh board comments. Well, Mr. Hershey, motion to return to close session. He read my mind. We have a motion to return to close session. We have a second from Miss Rice. All in favor of Mr. Hershey's motion that we return to close session, please say I. Any opposed? All right, we will convene in the other room. Thank you very much, everyone.