001e e e with me [Music] but I sort of messed up my knee and man it it pops a lot now and I don't know if it's a miniscus e all right good evening everyone Welcome to our meeting of the Wake County Board of public education tonight uh is Tuesday November the 12th it is 5:40 p.m. and we're going to call our meeting to order looking around the room I see we have a full contingent of board members today so we have established a quorum at this point what I'd like is everyone who is able please stand for the as we recite the Pledge of Allegiance Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and Justice all all
002right thank you we have a special meeting tonight in our proposed agenda with a public hearing on reassignment issues so at this point if board members have had a chance to review the agenda I'll entertain any motions so moved second we have a motion for Miss mfy and a second for Mr Swanson to adopt the meeting agenda all in favor of adoption of the meeting agenda signify by saying I I any opposed all right the meeting agenda has passed and so we will proceed to the public hearing portion of our meeting now when I say it's a special meeting we don't have a public hearing at every meeting we do have a public comment period at every meeting and the rules for public comment and public hearings are similar but there are some important differences
003we give speakers two minutes in the public hearing um we also have have a certain amount of time for public comment in total what we try to do is we try to give students particularly those on a school night priority speaking so we'll hear from our students first the students in the public hearing then we'll hear from residents as part of the public hearing when the public hearing is over we'll go to our public comment period and the same rules will apply we will have students speak before uh non-students for ma matters related to the agenda and matters that are off agenda because of the number of speakers tonight we will likely take a break after we've heard from our students during public comment to continue with our business agenda before concluding our public comment
004period but we do want to get all of our students heard first so they can get back home again so they can get back to school in the morning all right so then with that uh let me describe a few things um for for the public hearing we are speaking specifically tonight about the wcpss enrollment enrollment plan for 2526 only public comments pertaining to the enrollment proposal will be permitted during this time each speaker will be given two minutes to present remarks now when you come up to the podium you'll see a yellow light that will come on when you have about 30 seconds left on your time and you'll hear like a single tone you can keep going it's when you see the red light and you hear the tone again that your time
005has concluded would ask you to conclude your remarks because we're going to call the next speaker up um there's a little bit of language we have to recite at every meeting this is from state law the 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 per board policy 2310 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 speakers by refraining from loud comments or other disruptions disruptions by any person or persons at a public meeting will be subject to action in accordance with North Carolina
006General statute 143 31817 and for those who haven't watched our meetings before basically we want to ensure that everyone who's shown up tonight Who's come to speak will have an opportunity to speak and be heard and that those of you that are here in attendance can both see and hear the speaker so one person at the podium only one person at the podium or standing at a time when someone is speaking and please don't make comments even if it's an agreement or support just that could be louder than the speaker because the sessions are recorded and we want to hear everything every speaker has to say so with that we will begin our public hearing and we'll start with our students tonight we have one student who's come out to speak on the school reassignment
007proposal I have uh Caitlyn Trader is Caitlyn here oh I'm sorry she was I had her signed up on my list as a student well if there are no other students then we'll just make Miss Trader our first speaker in the public hearing she's outside okay okay what we can do is I do need to go to the next speaker but if she comes in I'll just add her back on at the end of the list all right so our next speaker is Jen O'Brien good evening good evening my name is Jenna Brian my husband and I live in the Jordan Point neighborhood in New Hill with our three young children our oldest is in first grade at Scotts rdge Elementary School the other two are in preschool and be aging into kindergarten soon the
008latest student enrollment proposal shifts our neighborhood to Pleasant Plains Elementary which is proposed to be a multirack year round school this change poses significant hardships for our family if we are mandated to transition to a year- round calendar my family will have school calendar mismatch for the next decade as our based Middle School is traditional this will result in less quality time for our family overall less quality time impacts our children's social and emotional needs the complexities of childhood development require stability consistency and family support a mismatch of school calendars will only add to the stress of our children as they grow navigate peer pressure academic demands and physical changes in addition to the Social and emotional impacts there are financial and career impacts too my husband and I both work full-time this change impacts
009child care and forces a multi-tier approach for our child care due to calendar mismatch this is expected to cost my family approximately $4,200 extra a year this we'll also double the number of days that I have to adjust my work schedule to transport my children to and from camps which is going to cause undue stress on my career and my husbands during the October 15th school board meeting it was stated that changes are not recommended for established schools due to the substantial impact of the affected communities my question is why is it acceptable to disrupt the established communities of Jordan Point Jordan manners and Woodbury which had been in place since 2015 and our neighbors up and down old US1 have been even longer why are our families being uprooted by this unnecessary and burdensome
010calendar change please reconsider the proposal for Pleasant Plains Elementary to be a year- round multitrack school thank you so much thank you our next speaker is Amanda cologne is Amanda here hey Amanda hello hey all right ready good evening um thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today on behalf of the families in the Woodberry Community I come to you not just as a parent but as someone deeply invested in the principles that have long- defined wake County's Public School System stability and proximity since moving to Woodburry in 2020 our neighborhood has been assigned to what will now be our fourth Elementary School balom Scotts Ridge Apex friendship and now Pleasant Plains frequent reassignments like this cause significant disruption in the lives of our children preventing them from building lasting relationships forming bonds
011with their teachers and feeling a sense of belonging with their school Community stability is a critical component of a child's educational and emotional well-being and we are losing it with the opening of Friendship Station Woodburry and Friendship Station are now connected making it quick and safe to reach Apex friendship elementary schools without using main roads this shortens our commute to just 5 minutes and strengthens Community connections excuse me in contrast Woodburry is more than 6 miles from Pleasant Plains Elementary with a commute along Old us one a road in urgent need of repair this route is often congested resulting in longer commute times that will deter families from participating in school activities and reduce Community involvement I understand that we live in a rapidly growing area and rezoning is a complex task however there are
012more reasonable and thoughtful Solutions available rather than moving communities like Woodberry yet again I urge you to consider assigning neighborhoods which are closer in proximity and those under construction nearing completion to Pleasant ples this change would better align with wake County's foundational values of stability and proximity our families are committed to being active involved members of our children's school but this proposed resoning makes it unnecessarily difficult I ask you to consider this hardship that it places on us and make the decision that reflect compassion common sense and commitment to building strong stable communities thank you thank you our next speaker is Madison Hester and madis will be followed by Jeff despen good evening I'm here because our neighborhood Woodberry is once again facing rezoning to Pleasant planes despite being rezoned to Apex friendship just three
013years ago I've submitted comments through every available Channel emailed my representative and emailed each of you individually and I have received zero responses I have to ask who is representing our children and addressing our concerns imagine what this is like for our kids what it would be like for your children many have already been rezoned twice some will have attended three different schools by third grade District staff acknowledges this disruption but other than calling it unfortunate there has been no plan to address stability for our students our neighborhood is fully established and one of the farthest away from the new school why are we who have already been moved multiple times in such such a short period being asked to move again wouldn't it be fair to prioritize new and developing neighborhoods where boundaries are
014still fluid our representative has only address concern for her neighborhood which was removed from resoning plans despite being closer to the new school where is the equity where is the support for all students not just those that sit closest to you District staff has stated there are no plans to reconsider our neighborhood placing the decision fully in your hands we are approaching the final Bo vote but let's be clear you the school board controls this timeline you have the authority to pause to reconsider and to make changes the decisions you make now will have real lasting impact on student lives instead of continuing to do the same thing year after year this is your chance to do something different you were elected to serve all students to ensure fair treatment and to create stability it
015is a time to find a solution to the problem rather than continuing to just treat the symptoms please stop just redrawing lines on a map and start addressing the real issues our CH students deserve more than a cycle of constant disruption they deserve representation from you their elected officials thank you our next speaker tonight will be Jeff despain and Jeff despain will be followed by Casey oir good evening good evening um W county is an incredibly large school district maintaining our schools is very difficult work I acknowledge and appreciate your public service thank you that being said I and my fellow Neighbors From the Pearson Farm and Ashley DS communities feel that we are being negatively impacted by the proposed enrollment plan my neighbors and I will present different points to you tonight to highlight
016those pain pain points many kids that attend Olive Chapel Elementary School walk to school most have to cross over either Kelly Road or Olive Chapel Road both are very busy roads especially at the time of drop off and pickup even with a crossing guard it's risky just last week I saw a man who nearly got hit by a car a few years ago Apex voters passed the streets and sidewalks bond which provided $9 million towards projects that provide a safe route to School part of that project included completing the sidewalk from Olive Chapel to Kelly Road Park which connects to the uh the Beaver Creek Greenway trail that connects to our neighborhood thanks to those taxpayer dollars our path to school is the safest among all neighborhoods to Olive Chapel Elementary and yet we're being
017moved to bacham the Pearson Farm and Ashley DS neighborhoods are not only original neighborhood members but Al the most Pro proximate neighborhoods to Olive Chapel Elementary School and yet we're being moved to bacham before we lived in Apex we lived in Durham one of the selling points for our neighborhood Pearson Farms was the proximity to Olive Chapel Elementary School we daydreamed about the opportunity to use the greenway Trail to drop off kids and pick them up from school but now we're being moved to bacham my friends no one gets excited to move into a neighborhood that has a walking trail to someone else's school we request trust that we respect our taxpayer dollars to make our route to school safe and retain the value of our homes this is just one of the many reasons
018that we like we would like Olive Chapel and respectfully request to not be reasoned all right thank you our next speaker is Casey o and uh Casey o will be followed by Dr Christopher English good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight I know many of us here are frustrated it feels like we've been having the same conversations for years but I ask you to listen with a fresh perspective you likely ran for the board to be a change maker for our students and I hope that is still your goal after all the deci divisiveness in our country can we at least agree on one thing the important the importance of keeping our communities together splitting kids across multiple schools has an emotional and social whole kids form bonds through consistency and
019shared experiences when they're constantly shuffled between schools they lose those connections take my neighborhood Woodberry for example we're the only neighborhood in the area that has been split across five schools Balcom Scott's Ridge Apex friendship and even for some Woods Creek and now we are being shifted Pleasant Plains how is that fair to our kids how can they form these lasting relationships when they're scattered across so many schools we pride ourselves as being a close-knit community yet we're still dealing with the Fallout from previous School transfers and separations I under I understand the importance of data and projections but those numbers don't capture the human cost my family's had a rough year we've gone through 10 surgeries and nine noon diagnosises between all three kids and we know firsthand that life can change in an
020instant so when decisions are made based on numbers alone please please remember behind those numbers are real families and children who face instability confusion and disruption this plan would force over 10 neighborhoods to switch from traditional to year round schools and yearr to traditional despite the fact that we are actually asking for the opposite yet this proposal to to home neighborhoods of sitting board members got the change they actually requested how can we trust this process is truly in the best interest of all of our children we we offered Alternatives and suggestions for the sake of our children I'm sorry your time has please reconsider this plan thank you next speaker is Dr Christopher English will'll be followed by Meg Gandalf good evening ready uh good evening everyone I'm here to follow up on my
021detailed letter that I sent you on October 24th which describes the favor that this board has has consistently shown other Apex uh neighborhoods at the expense of the students at in the Jordan Port neighborhood over the past few years and how this is continuing with the current reassignment plan over the years Wake County Public Schools has built three elementary schools in Apex within about a half a mile radius of each other uh this is great for the people who live in close proximity but really uh puts the imposition on other neighborhoods that are at the ex the end of the uh the the district uh for the students of Jordan Point uh currently uh they're assigned to the third closest elementary school which means they're picked up around 8:10 a.m. uh then they are dropped
022off about 45 minutes prior to the start of school in fact they routinely uh arrive at school before the doors even open to the school they then sit in school waiting around twiddling their thumbs for about 35 minutes uh then school starts at the end of the day it's the same thing another 35 to 45 minutes waiting around for their bus to do one route and then show up for the next this accounts to a total of about uh 32 extra days spent at school uh so how do you expect these children to perform when they they are going to the third closest School uh and this is just going to continue with the assignment to Pleasant Plains on top of the change over to the uh year round calendar and again as other people
023have said this is is is been totally in favor of our representative's neighborhood Who coincidentally has a husband sitting on the council all right thank you that is time all right our next speaker is Meg Gandalf and Meg will be followed by Bailey Butler hello um in the current version of the enrollment plan both Olive Chapel and bacham elementary schools are overc capacity in discussions with the principal at Olive Chapel while she indicated that she need needed to remain neutral she did acknowledge that we are small she's not wrong Pearson farms and Ashley DS make up barely 3% of the current student population at Olive Chapel earlier this week I sent all of you an email with alternative Solutions it is my hope that you will take those into consideration in the current enrollment plan
024Pearson farms and Ashley DS are dealing with calendar misalignment we are being moved from a yearr round Elementary School to a traditional elementary school and then to a year- round middle these are the base schools this will be a huge burden on families I have to juggle two schools with young children but this it's not just that um presently no bam students in The Proposal follow our community's feeder pattern through middle school or high school let me explain in the current enrollment plan More than 70% of bacham students will go to Apex middle and then 100% of those students will go on to high school together similarly 100% of Olive Chapel students will go to middle school and high school together but our kids and Pearson farms and Ashley Downs will not have that same
025consistent feeder pattern we will not see those bacham students again Student Assignment told us that um they will help students and families feel connected to their new communities but how can we feel connected to our new communities when no bam students are going to Fe to follow our P our feeder path again we make up barely 3% of the enrollment at o oce that's a negligible amount but the in and change that this will have on our students is huge thanks thank you our next speaker is Bailey Butler who'll be followed by Robert Trader good evening Miss Butler hi good evening um my name is Bailey Butler and I represent Pearson farms and Ashley Downs in the 2526 proposal oce will be at 19% capacity and balam will will be at will be raised to
026112 capacity both still projected to be overcrowded our community's students represent 3.2% of the OC oce population and if we move to bakam we represent 4.9% of the projected student population per the working session sess sorry excuse me per the working session um in October Student Assignment stated additional rment at oce is not feasible without compromising the learning environment yet our learning environment is going to be compromised no matter what um we're going to a school that's still overcrowded both Susan from student assignment and from the working session in October and Terry mfy from the Apex Town Council asked our community If Not Us Then Who per Terry mf's comments on Reddit and I quote what are you proposing to happen instead that Wake County Public School System moved to a different neighborhood if so
027which one why does your why does that make more sense in your neighborhood end quote to satisfy both Susan and Terry's comments here are some Alternatives Zone the newly developed neighborhoods to the Western Apex to Salem they are projected at 77% or Southern Apex to Scots Ridge they are project projected at 88% move oce's carry satellite campus to bacham they want to go to a closer school and that's half the distance from where they are right now expand Bam's borders uh keep sea Groves at bacham move Bassa who are oce to Pleasant Plains and to Terry second questions why does it make more sense in our neighborhood because we are 3.2% moving us does not help anything it it doesn't solve any of your issues in conclusion moving us is insignificant we're an insignificant population
028we're moving from one cap school to another cap school and our community this is detrimental to our community that we've worked so hard to build thank you pay our teachers more thank you Miss thank you Miss Butler we'll hear from uh Robert Trader and then uh Jason Schroeder sorry my uh there we go um good evening uh I'm also representing the uh uh concerns of Ashley DS and Pearson Farms regarding ol of Chapel Elementary and uh bacham um I'd like to I'd like to just say I have no confidence in the in the whatever methodology has been used to draw up these plans uh you guys talk a lot about you know all these pillars and stuff but we have asked for we've asked for an explanation to make it make sense and we never
029get it um when we complained last time and we got uh the feedback PDF that you guys gave us the address um the way that was addressed for uh our neighborhoods uh said that oh well we can't put keep you at Olive Chapel because you have to cross a high-speed Road and a major highway that is wrong we do not cross a highspeed road we do not cross any road we do not cross a major highway we cross on a bridge over a major highway you might as well say well it's dangerous because you're crossing over high voltage electric lines buried under the sidewalk you're crossing over natural gas lines what if one of your kids lights up a cigarette it's ridiculous the fact that we were rebutted with inaccurate fact not just inaccurate wrong
030facts means you're either lying or incompetent and I don't know which one is worse um so even if you don't change your minds this time I just hope that going forward we can have some real transparency not just not just asking questions and and so you're hearing us and you're you're taking us into consideration and then doing whatever you want anyway really really give us transparency into your processes please so that we can at least say okay these are the numbers that you said and this is why this absolutely empirically makes sense because right now we just you're just giving us Vibes all right thank you our next speaker is Jason schroer followed by Tanya Jeter good evening and thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak on this very important topic topic my
031name is Jason Shader I'm a father of three children who in the current proposed enrollment plan will be redistributed from Olive Chapel Elementary to bom Elementary this shift disproportionately impacts a small number of families in two relatively small and established neighborhoods Pearson farms and Ashley DS who have been part of the also relatively small oce community for nearly three decades a number of these concerns have been articulated in previous meetings in the petition that has been signed by hundreds of concerned community members and a great many thought exchange posts but there's one very important facet of this difficult problem these are all very important facets of this difficult problem but there's one critical component that I want to underscore tonight and I don't think has been fully examined these two neighborhoods have a predicament that's
032unique to us from every other neighborhood affected by this reassignment as the only neighborhoods moving to bacham from the current oce Community our children are likely to switch schools with few if any friends and then our Middle School and High School assignments are different from the rest of the Bamm student body so we're effectively isolating them twice this plan ensures that our children move to a school with no friends now and then have to do it again in middle school which is widely regarded as the most difficult social emotional time of our children's lives with so few schoolage children in these low density mature neighborhoods redistricting has minimal impact on your capacity plan but will take a significant toll on the emotional stability of our children I understand the difficulty of resoning and all the
033work that you did to put this plan together but in this instance we believe that the minimal capacity impact as was illustrated by several others tonight does not justify the disruption to our community and to our children we respectfully ask you to reconsider the reassignment of Pearson farms and Ashley DS thank you thank you our next speaker our next speaker is Tanya Jeter who will be followed by Christy hack good evening good evening I'm Tanya Jeter I live in Jordan point I have two children one is in the sixth grade uh goes to Friendship really nice five minutes away um and then the other one goes to Scotts Ridge Elementary for now um my request is for you guys to go back and pause pause this rezone take what the feedback that we're providing you
034and some of you know some other folks have provided some other options for resoning and spend more time on and come back to it um you know right now you know we're we're not at the close to school I wish we were my kid you know in the first grade is going to are getting on the bus like Chris said earlier in the first in the morning and then he's getting home close to 5:00 at night right and the traffic is not going to get better it's going to get worse you know Depot 499 is going to be humongous it's going to be tough it's going to take more time and and if we're talking about Transportation we're talking about resources you guys are spending more money on transportation and resources to move our kids
035from Jordan point and Woodberry all the way to Pleasant plaint so I mean I'd like to take that into account um I also want to you know if we're going to stay um it's not an option to move to friendship which I don't think it is I wish it was um I'm asking for a traditional calendar school year at least at Pleasant Plains I'm we're not get being given that option I don't know what we're going to do with a with our kids having so little time um you know of overlap I don't know what we're going to get on an all year round you know assignment and if you if you're saying well you can petition and go to another school well I can't because we don't have transportation right so the other schools
036are further away I need of all the people we need Transportation we're the furthest away so yeah I'm just asking you guys please to listen to us we're really passionate about this I'm also asking my District representative to do a better job at responding to our messages thank you our next speaker is Christy hack excuse me just a minute the next speaker is Christy hack but I just wanted to check has um Caitlyn Trader come back in okay so we're gonna put you back on the agenda after Miss hattic thank you okay go ahead thank you all right good evening um I'm from seagroves Farm probably arguably the smallest neighborhood being impacted by this redistricting I'm asking you to keep us at bacham everyone else doesn't want to come to bacham we want to stay
037leave us alone we're just a small group of I have a I have a group chat going right now there's nine families whopping nine families we have one bus stop in our neighborhood we are asking that you keep us at bacham but if you can't for whatever reason send us to Apex Elementary not Penny Road Penny Road is in carry where an apex address we want to be at Apex schools we can literally see the Apex Elementary bus stop from our kodac every other house on our street rains viw Lane probably has a 100 houses on it our little CAC goes to bakam the rest of rainview Lane goes to Apex Elementary so make it make sense why would we now go to Penny Road it might look like on a map that Penny Road
038would offer us some version of community because a neighborhood close to us goes there but we have no sense of community with that neighborhood it's uphill behind some tow houses our community is Apex we walk to downtown Apex we could walk to bacham we're commonly at Hunter Street Park which is a fun little playground near our elementary school we live right off of the old Raleigh um road that turns into Hunter Street it's where my kids go to preschool who are younger and I can just drive right down to Hunter Street don't take away our transportation if you want to offer us stability how am I supposed to say what my life's going be like 8 years from now I have a 2-year-old if I give up transportation for the sake of stability for my
039six-year-old I can't commit to that for the next eight years you're asking for an unreasonable um decision by those of us that are put in this position and it's such a small number of us leave us alone until you can put us at Apex Elementary leave us alone and oh speaking of that part of West McGregor they drive 15 minutes to Apex Elementary make that make sense send them to Penny Road thank you all right so our fin speaker for the public hearing will be um Caitlyn Trader I have some stuff for you guys this is a hard copy of the email we all sent you so now nobody can say you didn't get it you have it it's right there it's right there here we are again after months of sending emails making phone
040calls attending every single board meeting attending every single virtual session participating in every single thought exchange speaking to members of the community who have been dealing with reassignments like this since the 1990s y'all have had the same exact complaints same problems same issues for decades and yet we're still doing this the fact that you don't have an opportunity for community members who are affected by this to vote is absurd to me this impacts our families our kids our property values everything and yet we're at the mercy of people who clearly don't actually know our community which I understand weight countyy is huge but like my husband said the argument for moving us was that we walk across a highspeed road and a major highway no we don't I showed a video in the last meeting
041it is a sidewalk we do not touch 540 it is a regular siiz sidewalk I contacted the Department of Transportation and I have documents that say in all of their inspections the bridge is perfect no complaints the sidewalk is perfect there are no complaints there's nothing wrong with that road I have spoken to Representatives everywhere I could for every program that safe routes to school and they're like what do you mean you're that's safe the town approved millions of dollars to approve a road that only Ashley DS and Pearson Farms have access to that is a complete and utter waste of taxpayers dollars and I am sure that people who don't really know that this is happening because they don't have kids or their kids have moved on if they hear that that is a
042huge impact for everybody so I urge you I don't care if this is going to delay people signing up dis disapprove this uh proposal thank you and so and so that concludes the public hearing portion of the meeting the next item on our agenda is our public comment period of course you're welcome to stay through public comment and through the entirety of the meeting but if anyone has come just for the public hearing and would like to slip out we'll give you just a minute to do so thanks everyone good night all right everyone oh few more all right all right so now we'll move into the public comment portion of our meeting uh just as you heard before speakers commenting on items on tonight's agenda will be heard before people that are speaking on
043topics off the agenda and we will give our students the first opportunity to speak um again ground rules only the person speaking at the podium will be able to stand all other attendees that are not speaking are expected to remain seated concerns related to Personnel issues or student matters can be confidential and as such they're best addressed through wcpss Personnel policies the grievance policy and other applicable procedures if you have something that could be a confidential matter we do have staff here who will be able to assist you tonight uh so please consider that before revealing any confidential information during your public comment in the interest of maintaining civility deorum speakers are encouraged to address their comments to the Board of Education and must refrain from personal attacks and insults directed at the board individual
044board members staff and members of the general public please remain at the podium during your speaking time any materials you wish to hand to the board please give them to our board attorney Mr Rod Malone here at the end of the table either before your comment or after your comment and that way it also won't take up any of your time um speaking of time for public comment you may speak up to three minutes as I said before you'll see a green light it won't start until you begin speaking but then once you've started it will continue to go when you see the yellow light that's your that's your signal that you have about 30 seconds left after that you'll hear one audible tone don't let it distract you keep going when you hear the
045next audible tone and see the red light your time has concluded and you you you will you we will call the next speaker up to the podium again speakers are asked to respect the time limit and speak no more than three minutes all right so we will begin first tonight with our students speaking for uh comments or I guess any of any of our student speakers uh we'll start with Porter Bowman who'll be followed by uh neon batra good evening good evening my name is my name is Porter and I'm a senior at Sanderson high school I want to talk about a few things first there needs to be more discipline in the school system and so it should not be able to um disrupt class arrive late spit on teachers you need to expel
046more students when they do these things second you need to ban these pornographic books from the school system I have read some of the most horrific books in the school libraries and they're advertised at the front of the library um lastly you need to remove everything from sex education classes that use Planned Parenthood because a business that commits child sacrifice should not be near the school system thank you thank you Mr Bowman our next speaker is non batra who will be followed by Jerry cou is his name on here all right then we'll go to Jerry followed by uh Kitty po good evening good evening hello every everyone my name is Jerry Talia and I'm a junior at Eno High School Eno is a place I'm incredibly proud to be a student at enow is
047a Melting Pot of ideas cultures and perspectives that creates a sense of belonging for everyone who walks through its doors every day I see students from all different backgrounds laughing collaborating and building friendships that reach across boundaries we have more than 100 clubs a vast range of classes standard honors apib and dual enrollment opportuni that allow us to dive into whatever interests us most and the best part every one of these opportunities is available to all of us regardless of our of our economic status but despite how much we love our school there's a harsh reality we Face our public schools are underfunded this impacts every aspect of Our Lives instead of receiving more funds to support our public schools and improve infrastructure house spill 10 threatens to pull over $400 million from our already
048stretched budgets this Bill provides vouchers to private schools that only serve 15% of students in North Carolina and the average income of families using these vouchers is $260,000 they don't need this funding nearly as much as public school students do and many of those in Rural and low-income areas don't even have access to these private institutions Public Schools educate 85% of North Carolina students diverting funds from public schools means that students in counties without private schools lose out even more in these counties funds are desperately needed to fix aging buildings and hire enough teachers to give every child the education they deserve the state the state mandates that bus drivers be paid amly $15 per hour but thanks to the amazing W County Board and commissioner they are able to be paid much more I
049stand here today to speak up for public schools for my school and for students all across North Carolina Public Schools provide equal opportunities create inclusive communities and are essential to our future thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my story and stand up for the public schools that so many of us rely on thank you our next speaker our next speaker is K poell who will be followed by rywick alaali uh before I start I would just like to make sure that um the material I sent was uh received yes okay um if everyone could pull that up for me that'd be helpful so you could follow along with me give us just a second here of course all right this should be from Lisa Luton handout for Jana Verma speaking at the
050board meeting is that correct KY Pell okay no I sent it all right so we see we have documents for a green New Deal is that the presentation yeah is it a green into God book yep I think it's just been misattributed to a different speaker but if that's the correct materials then we do have your presentation yes so yes that's correct okay uh good evening everyone my name is ky Pell and I'm a student at Panther Creek High School fun fact if every school in the United States reduced its energy by 10% we'd save enough energy to power over 40,000 homes for an entire year I'm here with a sunrise movement because I believe way County Schools can be part of this impact starting with a green New Deal for our schools currently the
051district sustainability policy policy 1810 which is great very good in the right direction but it's not enough to address the environmental challenges we're facing it includes broad goals like managing resources and reducing waste but it lacks specific actions measurable targets or timeline for implementation without these it's difficult to hold anyone accountable or gauge the policy's actual impact on our environment furthermore the policy does not even mention climate change we all know that climate change is already affecting our community from extreme weather events to Rising temperatures ignoring this issue within a sustainability policy doesn't only undermine the urgency for taking environmental actions it also deprives students of the chance to develop climate literacy in today's world understanding climate change is essential and our schools should be preparing us for that reality if if we're serious about
052equipping students and staff to engage in sustainable practices we need a policy that goes Beyond Basics which we don't have right now policy 1810 lacks key components such as energy efficient Transportation options and standards for Sustainable Building Materials this is why fellow students and I are advocating for a green New Deal for w County Schools the green New Deal is a holistic approach to sustainability that incorporates climate education actionable sustainability practices and student involvement across the entire District unlike the vague promises in policy 1810 the green New Deal sets clear measurable targets for energy reduction waste minimization and Emissions it monitors and reports progress ensuring accountability the green New Deal addresses overlooked areas like I previously mentioned emissions from transportation and classroom operations and encourages student L initiatives by making sustainability a core part of
053our education system we're preparing students to carry environmental responsibilities beyond the classroom it's time for Wake County schools to move Beyond policy 1810 and commit to a more comprehensive Forward Thinking approach to sustainability to help clarify our vision we' provided a handout that outlines our specific demands and goals and you already have that in front of you so please take a look for a detailed breakdown of how we believe the green New Deal can transform our schools thank you for your time and for considering this essential step toward a sustainable future your time has expired thank you thank you all right I'm sorry it was showing up as red on the light yeah oh okay my apolog I it looked like it was read you had oh yeah oh can I go yes we'll we'll
054allow okay go ahead um if you would like to oh yeah it says 23 on 21 sorry it's just the reflection that I'm getting on your Chromebook is showing like a red light to me but everybody on the side sees the yellow oh sorry it's sorry about that it's all right okay so um if you would like to see any examples of school systems that have implemented the green New Deal a good example would be the older value School District they have implemented it so we can also take some uh precedents from them as well and there are many other school systems that have implemented it or schools so this would be a really great change for w County School Systems and it's a right direction into a maybe zero carbon emission footprint in the
055future thank you okay thank you and I apologize for that confusion about the time all right uh next up we have uh rywick Al alaali followed by Yana Verma hello and good evening everyone I want to tell you about 128 Clarendon Crescent Raleigh North Carolina this is the address of the amazing Eno High School what I love about Eno is you can do anything do you want to learn how to play an instrument you could join band or orchestra or piano or chorus do you want to learn about anatomy and possibly be a healthcare professional in the future you can join our medical bioscience Academy and have the opportunity to go job shadowing and toour hospitals do you want to speak up about how houseu 10 is siphoning $400 million from public schools and using
056it for vouchers for private schools you could join the PTSA like I did my name is rywick and I'm a freshman at Eno here to advocate for public school funding first I want to speak about 1425 Carnage Drive Raleigh North Carolina this is the address of where I spent three years on my acade academic career at Fred J Carnage Magnet Middle School for many of us students though it wasn't Carnage Middle School it was the place that had a gas leak causing the fire alarm to go off and 800 students needing to leave the place with the Box Elder bug infestation leading to classrooms being filled with bugs crawling and flying over us for three three straight weeks and the place where tiles from the ceiling fell on the hallway and burst into pieces which
057led even more bugs into the classroom some days it felt like Carnage Middle School was actual Carnage this is because our school like many other Public Schools aren't receiving the necessary funding they need considering that public schools serve 85% of students in North Carolina houseb 10 is essentially depriving most of our students from the resources they need to grow instead of giving important and valuable resources to Public Schools houseb 10 advocates for funding private schools and allowing discounts through vouchers for the wealthiest demographic these budget cuts are especially important today where so many rural schools in Appalachia have lost everything from the recent hurricane destruction some of these rural counties don't even have private schools and since many private schools don't offer Transportation these counties aren't getting any benefits we need to focus and fund
058public schools with both money and education resources we need to give teachers and anyone who helps St students competitive wages and we need to continue aiding schools harmed in the hurricane instead of House Bill 10 and calling for vouchers for private schools we need to be helping out the 85% of students that need our help in public schools if you won't help our schools who's going to be there to help Society in the future thank you for this opportunity to speak thank you our final student speaker is Jana Verma okay good evening everyone my name is Jana Verma and I'm also a student at Panther Creek High School and a member of the sunrise movement I've had the privilege of seeing what other districts have achieved through comprehensive sustainability policies for instance schools in Portland
059and Los Angeles are not only cutting down on energy use and waste but also actively involving student students in climate initiatives these programs equip young people with the tools and awareness to make a real impact starting now imagine if Wake County Schools took the same bold steps we could set concrete goals that give our schools Direction accountability and a purpose-driven path towards sustainability this isn't just about policies on paper it's about empowering a generation to respond to one of the greatest challenges we face tonight I invite you to join me in supporting a green New Deal for Wake County Schools I I also call on every candidate to sign a pledge to Champion this Movement by using their role to advocate for 100% clean energy in schools comprehensive climate education climate Disaster Response plans and
060sustainable practices that prioritize student and Community Health over fossil fuel profits let's make a green New Deal for weight County Schools a reality I urge you to lend your voice and support to this movement so we can create the kind of future we all want to see right here starting in our schools thank you thank you and that concludes our student speakers and so now uh with the number of speakers that we have we'll continue on with our business agenda at the conclusion of the business agenda but before we go go into close session we'll come back to conclude our public comment period so the next item on our agenda is our superintendent comments uh we'll hear from our superintendent Dr Robert Taylor thank you Mr chair uh this week is National School psychology week
061so I'd like to take a moment to thank the 119 psychologist and five lead psychologists who serve our students in Wake County Public Schools as we continue to expand the ways we support our students mental health it's important to recognize the outstanding work our school psychologists do every day to promote student well-being and academic achievement school psychologist support students ability to learn and teachers ability to teach teach they apply expertise in mental health learning and behavior to help children and youth succeed academically socially and emotionally they also consult with families teachers and other Educators to improve schoolwide practices and policiy school psychologists help children Thrive every day by celebrating their strengths and encouraging them to per persevere when things get tough and we know they always do please take time this week to show your
062appreciation for your school Psych Oles be sure to include the hashtag uh School site week on any social media post that you may make uh November is also homeless youth Awareness Month a time to bring attention to to child and youth homelessness every year more than 2.5 million young people experience homelessness in Wake County our district identified more than 5,500 students in transition last year and the numbers they continue to increase students in transitions face not only losing their home Community friends and routines they also may lose their sense of stability and safety that makes them more likely to suffer from Hunger chronic health issues and lower academic performance our mckin vento program ensures educational rights and protections for Children and Youth experiencing homelessness with the support of school social workers and other staff and
063community members students in transition get needed assistance to keep them engaged in school that assistance can be can include clothing school supplies meals paid field trips tutoring and transportation our work to support students and families experiencing homelessness underscores our commitment to doing everything we can to make sure all students have the chance to succeed more than that the the work of our mckin vento team our school social workers and others gives these students and families hope for a better future for that they deserve all of our things I can tell you that uh I've experienced uh uh children dealing with homelessness and the one thing that create stability for them is the school and so we're so proud of what mcken vento does and allows students to attend the school that is their school of
064record uh many of us call that the base School uh November is also National Native American Heritage Month a time to celebrate the Traditions languages and stories of native communities and ensure their Rich histories and contributions continue to thrive with each passing generation especially during the month of November schools are encouraged to find ways to increase understanding and appreciation for Native American history and culture we we will also host a Native American Heritage celebration on Tuesday November the 26 so please mark your calendars if you able to attend this event will be held at noon at the Wake County Public Schools Indian education center at 1:20 a Street in Garner it will include lunch as well as multiple performances and O other cultural celebrations you can register for the event at wcpss.net Native Native Heritage
0652024 we will share a video with more information about Native American heritage month at our next board meeting so we hope you're able to attend or at least watch it online if you're not here in person as we continue to strive towards excellence and Equity across our district is important that we recognize and celebrate the rich diversity of our student body cultural observances like Native American Heritage Month give us all the chance to deepen our knowledge of and appreciation for The Unique cultures and histories that make this community and this nation strong finally I'd like to wish a belated happy Veterans Day to all military veterans as you all know my wife and my eldest daughter are proud veterans so I do know first hand what it means to serve with pride and sacrifice uh
066to this great nation and I can tell you uh supporting my wife and my as a military spouse has been one of the greatest Pleasures in my life I'm glad to say that our school district prioritizes taking good care of our military connected students and their families all year round I'll tell you that we have over 10,000 military connected students in Wake County uh and I think we're fastly approaching our largest military Community which is uh the fort Liberty community so uh we're going to continue to grow those numbers uh this past year 18 of our schools received the purple star awards from the uh North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to earn this distinction schools must designate a staff person who serves as a point of contact for military families demonstrate an understanding of
067deployments and how they may impact a military connected child and conduct at least one schoolwide activity showing appreciation for military connected students and families also know we have many staff members who have served in the military it is commendable that they uh uh that they continue to pursue careers of service even after their military service ended making them inspiring role models for students last week uh we asked staff members to submit recognitions of their colleagues who have served in the military and we received dozens of submissions so we really do thank them for recognizing colleagues that have served at the military we'll be sharing those in our weekly Communications uh to our staff members I also have the opportunity on Friday to join 6 of our JTC students at this year's meet year Army day
068at Fort Liberty the annual event serves as a Hands-On career fair demonstrating the array of career opportunities within the military students met with soldiers participated in training exercises and got an up close look at military vehicles so we're going to take a look at a video in a moment I do want to end by saying that one of the things that we want to continue to do is make sure students who choose to serve in the military have the opportunity to do so uh currently um only three out of 10 students would actually qualify for military service there are a whole host of things that disqualify them and of those three maybe one chooses to actually serve uh so we want to do our part in making sure that everyone knows the benefits that the
069military offers and so with that I think we're going to pull up a video meet your army day is is just an opportunity uh for the the units here on Fort Liberty to sort of open their doors come out here uh display a lot of you know their equipment and soldiers more importantly to kind of just show our youth in particular here's who we are as an army we have about a little over 10,000 military connected stud but that's why it's important that we do all the stuff to engage our families and and their military service man I've been in JC for 4 years I started my freshman year we are deep onto that discipline just do what you got to do we just get to do a bunch of stuff that nobody ever does
070way we do it is we heal it first push it in and then we he uh apply pressure he's really teaching you like hey if they have a wound on like any appendant teaches you how to do a tourit like a real Medical Professional I feel like everybody should know that first aid the biggest thing I I would ask folks to consider is there are so many opportunities that exist within the Army right now I'm looking at the Navy and their nuclear engineering program this is your army right we work for them right we're here to defend their nation and really it's just a really amazing experience out here that concludes my comments Mr chair all right thank you Mr superintendent so um next we'll go to just my own comments the first first thing
071I would like to do is it's not our official welcome back but welcome back to all of you who've come back from the campaign Trail and it was a lot of hard work it was a lot of stress and that can be very very challenging so please do take some time for yourselves just nothing else to help your family members see you and get reaccustomed to who you are and what you look like um I want to mention some important dates we have coming up we did talk it was brought up before that our reassignment plan will is currently scheduled to come back for our meeting on November 26th okay um I also want to notice that is the same day as the Native American Heritage celebration in Garner so if you're planning on attending
072the celebration please make sure you do leave with sufficient time to make it back here to be here at on time for that meeting okay um we will have um like as Dr Taylor said uh video highlights of the celebration and we'll share those at a public meeting um you know just as a more formal recognition of this month um but I think in talking with staff we didn't want to celebrate the month before we had the celebration we wanted to be able to share the celebration and some of the things that were going on at our schools with all the board members and for the public to see I said this was not our official welcome back that will be December 3rd December 3rd will be our leadership meeting and that will be when
073we have our Oaths of office given and opportunity to celebrate with friends and family um and to set a course for the coming year it while I have congratulations for every for everyone there is one particular election result which is Bittersweet which is our vice chair monik miss Monica Johnson Hustler uh was not up for re-election to the school board her term does not expire until 2026 but Miss Johnson Hustler was selected by voters and a primary to be their candidate for state house and had a successful election and so even though her term won't quite conclude on the third um I do want to be able to bring to the rest of you um not only a moment to kind of celebrate Miss Johnson Vice chair Johnson Hustler's career in service to the board
074um but I also between now and then we'll bring to you a plan for how we'll go about uh searching and selecting a replacement for some of you this is a very familiar process we've had to do that most recently with our newest member Miss rice um but I will bring together a proposal for our consideration in a public meeting and I do want to set um an ambitious timetable just because I just like with District Four we want the voters the cons the the people of District 2 to not have long wait before they have another representative on the school board uh so please do mark your calendars for that uh also we've talked about a board retreat we've had scheduling problems trying to do things that overlap weekends a Friday and Saturday and
075so after discussions with our our leadership team here we decided to schedule a routine for what would be an already scheduled meeting so it should be clear on your calendar so we'll Begin The Retreat on Tuesday December 17th which would be our second December board meeting but it will continue the following day Wednesday December 18th and we will have a lot of important uh discussions there will be important information updates from the different Chiefs on our senior leadership team about different initiatives you've tasked them with over the year we'll talk about our budget we'll go through a similar budget exercise as we did in Our Last Retreat and we'll hear about other priorities that board members have brought and will be bringing back a special guest someone you all know Dr Randy Bridges so we're
076very excited for the retreat uh please do everything again by by setting the first day on the Tuesday the 17th there should be no excuse for missing the first day and I really hope you'll do everything possible to attend that second day when Dr Bridges will be here um many other wonderful things going on in our district right now but it's a long night we still have speakers left to go so I will yield my time to Vice chair Johnson hosler thank you very much and indeed it um is a Bittersweet moment as I wrap up my 11th year and thank you to my colleagues um and my constituents for allowing me to serve throughout the end of this year so officially I will resign from the board effective December 31st or 30th I think
077Miss Allen reminded me I should say um but um so so I will officially serve a full 11 years in it truly um has been an experience both heartfelt and certainly feel like we've moved the needle and I look forward to all the things that you all will continue to do and all the things that I will continue to do alongside you just at another table and another chair but with the exact same goals and that's our students and our families um as a priority so thank you for your kind words Mr chair and I'm and all of you who've uh reached out to provide those to me individually um and most importantly to my constituents which I do still get to serve many of them because part of the new house district it does
078include my Schoolboard district and people were very kind to me throughout the season um but as uh chair hackery said um I do look forward some of you um that have been around a long time um including the the public um that I'm looking forward to my end being with you all at our Retreat to share all of my infinite maybe wisdom or Lessons Learned or both um so thank you Mr chair and superintendent for agreeing to allow me to stay through that time um because you don't have a lot to say um but nonetheless I appreciate your support in me making that decision um and to the constituents of District 2 who I also shared that with um over the last six months that that was going to be my intention if elected um
079is to remain through the end of the year um which we also have a reassignment plan which district 2 is impacted so that is also was the initial priority for me to stay throughout the decision of this um assignment plan um that will be my last assignment plan so I won't carry that with me um to Jones Street um and then of course I have to shout out um because uh my other two colleagues who love our flag football team went with me at the beginning of the season because I was traveling so I'm glad to say two of those teams in my district are number one and two currently in the state um and I got to see them play last Monday um and that's South Garner and Willow Spring they were not playing
080other so that was even better um and thank you Garner Magnet High School which does not have a flag football team for allowing us um to use their facility so um congratulations to um all of the the young women and their coaches and families um and to the announcers which I don't think I've ever said but but many of the players had names like mine so parents kept screaming up to the S like that's not her name um so shout out to all the parents who consistently cheered and um helped the announcer start to correct the names um but these young women are true athletes and again I'm extremely proud um of Mr Co and his entire team for supporting this endeavor in our school district so I'd be remiss if I did not end
081on the note that it made me very proud to to be a school district to add that uh women's flag football um lastly I will say South Garner um was my first High School to open in my district in this board I now have two um additional and South Garner open in 2018 did not have their first graduation until Co and I share all that to say that um often times my colleagues share all and I do to the great things of our schools who've been around for a long time making their way to all the state finals and we are extremely excited as they are um that South Garner High School theater program um has finally made it to States and I've been to every play since they opened with only two grades which
082they were much smaller plays than they are now so they did Romeo and Juliet so I'm extremely proud and extend them and everyone who supported them which is the entire Community shows up for them so congratulations to South Garner High um and all the work that they put into achieving um the status that all high schools want to look forward to is going to States for both performing arts and our Sports so thank you Mr chair thank thank you Vice chair Johnson Hustler uh today we'll switch up the order Mr Swanson are you ready yes very switching things up this time I was prepared but I I uh want to say congratulations to my colleagues on their re-elections um I look forward to working with you all in this upcoming terms as we continue to
083level up and continue to move our district forward um to address the teaching and learning that takes place in our classrooms and supporting our families um I had the opportunity this weekend to um speak at the 100 black men triangle chapter uh with some students about the importance of Civic engagement and speaking with families about the importance of what school boards do and the decision and the Partnerships so I enjoyed those conversations I also wanted to give a shout out to uh Leah uh chre who also spoke to the students about the importance of debate and encouraging students to join the debate teams at their school so it was a really great conversation and some really great questions that were raised as well so our students are not only the future generation of today but
084of Tomorrow the future generation of now and tomorrow I was PR to say that do not make sense um the point I'm trying to make is their their voices are very important um lastly I just want to acknowledge the families that reached out regarding the incident that took place across the street from KY High I've had the opportunity to speak with families about our commitment to school safety in addition to having conversations with uh uh Cary Town councilwoman Michelle Craig uh and the chief of police to ensure that safety is uh all of our priority and so I want to acknow those emails and thanking those families for reaching out and you know this is a a a event that takes place often way too many than it often as many as it it takes
085place way too often um and this is a a problem that we can't solve our loan it's going to take our communities to come together to really address this important topic of uh school safety and making sure that that weapons do not belong in the hands of students on our campuses and so I look forward I'm committed to Leading whatever initiative that takes place and also looking forward to having those conversations with family so we can work in Partnership uh to address this so um to those families continue to Advocate and using your voice and I also just want to give a a shout out on thanks to principal Bryant for his commitment and um involvement in and ensuring that his school Community is safe so thank you so much that concludes my comments thank
086you we'll go to miss carfield thank you I just wanted to say thank you to all of our families and all our veterans that serve and protect our country and here in Wake County I do not think it's enough that we honor you just one time a year but did not want to let it go unsaid since our vet Veterans Day was yesterday but a special thank you to all of uh our veterans and to all their families for their special sacrifice and for serving our and protecting our country so so please be sure to thank a veteran for their service and sacrifice and also their families I know that each and every time my family sees a veteran and we thank them for their service they actually light up and and really appreciate the
087fact that somebody has recognized that so please be sure to do that um today we learned more about how Wake County students can learn about our RC programs so if you're interested please listen to our work session that we had earlier today they had a lot of good information there and it doesn't just talk about the program itself but it also talks about the opportunities and possibilities that could give families and students going forward some fun activities that we have coming up for families in district one is our talented high school students are performing at ndale high school they are performing Color Purple starting this Thursday and Heritage High School is also performing Shrek also starting on Thursday so their performances are Thursday Friday and Saturday be sure to take your family out and I'm
088I know that you're going to love it and that's it thank you Miss Coffield Miss rice good evening um it's been a full few weeks of school and District engagement since we met last first I want to start by saying thank you to the office of equity Affairs for a wonderful celebration for the Hispanic Heritage Month it was a great afternoon at milbrook high school it was also a Starlit Night at the stars of Education with wake Ed partnership it was an honor to attend and and honor Educators in community within Wake County particular Miss Rosa Gill a former Wake County Board member and my former ninth grade algebra educator uh I was Al I also attended the health and Innovations Roundtable at Southeast Raleigh YMCA and toward Southeast Raleigh Elementary School where we highlighted
089the strong school and community connections it was a proud moment to see local state and national leaders attend and learn how Southeast Raleigh is empowering education and elevating communities thank you also to Theta lamba Sigma gamarro um on the campus of NC State University that invited me to share about the role as a School Board of Education and voting um it was an honor to meet so many engaged young women yesterday we honored veterans in our country I want to say thank you to for your service and sacrifice you are honored and appreciated for your bravery I would like to I would like to thank this current board that appointed me to work as a team on behalf of the Wake students staff and Community it was a pleasure to serve alongside you to the
090community of District 4 to the 31,000 plus families that said t Sheba we want you as our representative hear my loud thanks thank you for electing and choosing me to serve our district for the next four years I'm excited about what we will do together let's start this New Journey on Monday December the 2nd at 6:30 p.m. at Riverbend middle school to learn about special education resources and services at our BAC meeting for District 4 I also would like to say thank you to the outstanding inlow students who presented today today about funding Public Schools I am happy to hear them speak um to speak up I hope they continue these impressive speeches to the general assembly to tell state legislators to fund their public schools with public dollars to my colleagues that openly support
091hb10 please hear the Stu our students concerns who are attending Wake County Public Schools with that said it is time for our eight Dimensions of Wellness tip because of recent loow low um local and National events emotional Wellness may vary today we will share two emotional Wellness tips to consider doing election periods as both local and national elections can stir various emotions one let's limit our news intake while staying informed is important constant exposure to news and debates can lead to emotional fatigue let specific times to check news updates ideal um from a reli um I'm sorry set specific times to check news updates ideal from I ideally from on reliable sources and avoid engaging with stressful content right before bed to protect your peace number two focus on positive actions elections often bring stress
092and uncertainty so focus on actions within your control this could include voting volunteering supporting a cause you care about or have constructive conversations engaging positively can Empower you and provide a sense of purpose doing uncertain times so remember it's okay to step back and prioritize your well-being use these tips to be good to yourself so that you can have a positive and productive day thank you thank you coming back around the table we'll hear from Mr Hershey uh two two quick things um just for uh What uh Vice chair Johnson hasser brought up regarding flag football I see that Wake County is one of the counties to submit a proposal to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association asking the board to sanction girls flag football as an official sport in North Carolina which would
093be fantastic uh the only other brief thing I'll say is for those that um come to speak about the reassignment plan and that uh email us uh whether or not you get a direct email from me at in a response I want you to know that I am reading everything that you are sending and and taking in everything you are saying so um I know sometimes it can feel like maybe people aren't listening but I assure you that I am and I believe my colleagues are as well that's all thank you Mr Hershey Dr ining good evening um congratulations to all of my fellow Schoolboard members mainly for surviving the busy election season um after many hours of greeting voters and running from voting site to voting site I'm glad that we can actually get
094back to um our regular schedule of of Schoolboard activities um first just an announcement uh about uh my uh upcoming baac meeting for District 3 it will be held uh next Monday November 18th at Wakefield Elementary and our guest speaker will be Charles Patton director of digital content and instruction who will be speaking on artificial intelligence and the implication in education and in our society um dinner will be served for the principles and the baac Reps beginning at 5:30 and the meeting will begin promptly at 6:00 and ending at 7 it is open to the public so you guys are welcome to to uh participate as well um in regard to the election last week um I can safely say that for everyone in Wake County we have reasons to celebrate victories and we have
095reasons to grieve bosses if you look at the election night as a whole including federal state and local elections there were some results that no one would have predicted it was very encouraging to see so many young people who came to the polling sites and waited in line to exercise their rights to vote for the very first time and I saw many people who brought along their friend or family member to make sure that they do their civic duty as well and I saw families that brought their young children with them and made it into a family event I am encouraged that this historic election gave parents the opportunity to show their children how our constitutional republic works that is what is so great about our system of government the record turnout all over the
096country and here in Wake County proves that our citizens are committed to a peaceful process for choosing our representatives to lead all of us in my prayers this past month more than anything more than praying for any particular person to win I prayed for peace in this country this will be my continued prayer in the coming months during the transition of leadership on the other hand I was rather dismayed at the negativity that was thrown around in TV commercials radio ads mailers social media and even yard signs that is something that I will not miss it is one thing to attack someone based on their position but it is another to name call without basis in truth it is easy to label someone as a fascist socialist or extremist and to use these shortcut labels
097to put all your worst fears on that person but is it based on reality my concern is that this trend towards hysteria and fear mongering is not good for our society and it's definitely not good for our the children who are watching us we have to be the adults in the room and show them that we make decisions based on facts not fears this kind of name calling even for the sake of an election is a form of bullying we often talk about how bad bullying is Let's Be an example for our children and not descend into bullying tactics ourselves so I look forward to what is coming uh in the coming months um with our new leadership in Washington DC and here in Raleigh in the famous a time for choosing speech from 1964
098President Reagan spoke very preent of what we are facing now you and I are told we must choose between a left and right but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right there is only an up or down up to man's age old dream the maximum of individual Freedom consistent with order or down to the ant Heap of totalitarianism the speech concludes with this you and I have a Rendevous with Destiny we will preserve our children this the last best hope of man on Earth or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of Darkness if we fail at least let our children and our children's children say of us we Justified our brief moment here we did all that we did all that could be
099done I am also reminded of the classic campaign ad from President Reagan in 1984 it's morning again in America regardless of your viewpoint on the results of the election a new chapter will be upon this country we all have a role in shaping our future and this is definitely not a time to be asleep thank you thank you well next we here from Miss Edmonds thank you um many thanks to the senior staff that presented to my BAC last month I got a lot of positive feedback and know that the members appreciated all the information my next BAC is scheduled for December 9th at Athens Drive High School and we will be discussing cell phone use in schools collecting feedback on what um our district should consider as we develop a policy for um next
100school year I had a nice visit with centennial's new principle and got to meet um got to greet families on a magnet tour of the school and I want to give a special plug that the magnet application period is still open it's open now going into January I also had um a great time over at Yates Mill Elementary for their Fun Run and on Friday I attended two Veterans Day Celebrations one at Westlake Elementary and one at Penny Road Elementary I've said it before but I'll say it again that the best part of this job is visiting our schools and being and celebrating our students and being in community with our teachers and our families with regard to the elections I have a special message to our trans students and I lift you up specifically
101because you were specifically targeted at the by candidates at the local state and federal level please know please know that there are members here at this board including myself and there are thousands of Staff members in this building and in your schools who care deeply about and are committed to your safety and your well-being period I cannot promise you um what's going to happen I can't promise that you won't continue to be targeted and bullied I don't know what lies ahead um with regard to our federal laws that will impact you directly your health your well-being and what I have no idea what will happen to your rights I know that you're scared I'm scared too but please know I and many others support you care about you and we won't give up doing everything
102we can everything within our power to advocate for you and your rights what Lynn Edmonds is doing I am working on um a a state wide effort to protect lgbtq plus students in our schools there used to be an organization in North Carolina called um safe schools in SE and they're not no longer in existence but um I and some parents in our system of trans students are working on um something new so if anybody that hears me is interested in joining that effort please be in touch with me thank you thank you Miss thank you miss Edmund and we'll conclude our board member comments with Miss mafy thank you I'd like to start by uh thanking our families for continuing to speak on the proposed assignment plan um I'm not going to accuse Mr
103Hershey is steal in my line but we do read every email um and so thank you um I do want to ensure that you know those conversations are there I think I talk with Miss pulum at least once a week about the assignment plan um sometimes more um either in her office or on the phone or over a Google meet um and it's just part of the nature of reassignment um I want to thank the uh humsub Community um last year I was able to be a judge on their youth Achievement Award this year I did not have the time because because these kids are incredible and do amazing things um but I want to highlight one student uh who's a freshman at Eno High School who uh I sent to Chief budah with our
104technology office because he created a company that helps students understand how AI can be used in education as a middle schooler so given the fact that that's something that our district is talking about I figured who better to talk to than someone who's already doing the work so um and I also want to thank our um CTE and business Community for another school to volunteer career celebration um it looks at our schools and the folks that are a part of the business Alliance for every high school and recognizes the volunteer time they put in in order to help students understand what careers look like in the future um we had a new format this year where our CTE students were actually in the breakfast buffet area so that we could see what about 10 of
105our high schools um I think one Middle School participated and what they're doing uh whether it's building Rockets whether it's the FFA Community uh whether it's construction management um it was really incredible to see the work that was being done in our schools and always hearing it from our students um being an incredible incredible piece and so many thanks to Joanne Honeycut and her team for lifting that up this year as it was sometimes not easy to get to McKim Center at 7:30 in the morning um but that made it well worth it so thank you all right thank you Miss mafy and that concludes our board comments for this meeting returning to our agenda the next thing that we have is our consent agenda if everyone has had an opportunity to review the items
106on the consent agenda I'll entertain a motion at this time so moved second so I believe we have a motion to approve the consent agenda from Mr Swanson a second from Miss mfy all in favor of adoption of the items on the consent agenda signify by saying I I any opposed all right we'll turn to our brief but important action agenda we have two two items tonight both policies uh first board policy 2016 6315 7435 drivers and then we will also have uh what I think is is this the last of the leave policies our parental leave policy 7525 we welcome Dr matillo assisted by Dr crane thank you chair Hagerty members of the board superintendent Taylor um today we are bringing two policies for first read um both our drivers and our parental leave
107policy um I'll start with drivers um for first reading once adopted this policy would update policy 6315 and add the policy in both the 5,000 and 7,000 sections of the manual Staff first presented this revised policy during the September policy committee meeting um based on the board's feedback primarily around section c which was volunt teers and Coaches Driving students and private vehicles and section D employees driving students in private vehicles in extraordinary circumstances staff worked on addressing the concerns and the feedback from the board um we consulted with risk management our finance officer County athletic director and principles and presented the new proposed policy during the October meeting um board was aligned around that language um and that's mostly the policy or all the policy that I'm bringing to you tonight um briefly in sections
108A and B you'll see the red text shows the changes that staff presented at the September policy committee meeting again you supported those sections mostly um during that September meeting most of the discussion in the last policy committee was around section c and d so you'll see the blue text there shows staff's additions um and then the red text shows additional changes that were brought during that October 29th meeting based on your feedback um you again were supporting reportive and aligned in during the October policy committee meeting so don't have a whole lot to go over but wanted to present that tonight to you um for approval of first reading again that's policy um 5060 5016 6315 and 7435 drivers chair hery I move approval of board policy 516 6315 7435 driver's first reading we
109have a motion for approval of uh board policy 7435 is there second thank you are there any questions about the policy or any discussion chairy not chair committee chairman I just as Dr muello stated I want to um thank Mr Bell and Miss posy for their flexibility uh Mr kofer um and principles for sharing the reality of our situation and I want to highlight our own board member and Coach Sam Hershey for uh sharing what it's like in those after hours for our students when it's hard to get a hold of families and just making sure that our policies are not just that they're an accurate reflection of what we are able to do in this school system so thank you thank you further comments or further questions I'd like to Echo Miss mf's comments
110I really appreciate the work that staff did listening to the board and hearing the concerns that we had you know as representatives of the public school system I think one thing that's very important for us is that we have to appreciate and value all of the enrichment activities that take place for our students for Education that comes outside of the classroom whether these are you know the the important lessons of of like fellowship and competition that come for our athletic events the educational events where our students go to you know local museums or government buildings to the governor's mansion to the legislature or just you know in the Arts with being able to give a public performance at a local like church or Civic club or a shopping center you know these are all things
111that often require outside Transportation oftentimes don't you know might rely on parent Transportation volunteer transportation and I think with the changes in policy this this really reflects that we want to get to the how we can allow these things to happen as opposed to just being afraid of well something bad could happen there could be an issue of liability instead if these are important to us if families and parents and Educators think these are important activities how can we make it happen and so I really appreciate you know you your staff also want to acknowledge not just just Dr crane but uh Kendra Hill who put a lot of work into this in some of her last work here for us at the district recently so just just a heartfelt thank you on that I
112really appreciate it yeah and we we appreciate all your feedback I mean I'll be honest we we try to bring you a policy that could get out of policy Committee in one read um but when we don't it's because you all have really good feedback and we usually end up with a better policy because of it so we do appreciate the feedback and the opportunity to improve it thank you if there are no other comments will proceed to a vote all in favor of adoption of board policy 2016 6315 7435 on first reading signify by saying I I any opposed all right it's been adopted and we'll go to Second reading uh the final policy is board policy 7525 parental parental leave great and this is a new way County policy for us and one
113of the benefits of this is we try to take multiple policies that address parental leave and combine into one so I think this will be an accessible um readable policy and an important one for our employees um we presented this at the October policy committee meeting again you were um aligned around the language during the committee meeting just a quick review the policy does include the states paid parentally which is new within the last couple years and they've continued to kind of modify and tweak um so we've been able to include um those modifications it also includes some of our existing policies around not non-paid parental leave and the ways that employees can use their own acred leave um during that non-paid time and then lastly just the the parental involvement leave um which was
114a standalone so um brings all of that into one uh parental leave policy for our employees so tonight we're requesting the board's approval of that policy 7525 for Parental leave thank you Dr Mill is there a motion so moved we have a motion for adoption from Miss mafy is there a second second and we have a second from Miss Edmonds is there any discussion are there any questions Miss mafy I just want to highlight um you know we had a a robust discussion on this um especially you know recognizing that the state is finally offering paid parental leave for families um but recognizing that if a parent were to have a CH two children within a 12-month period um that the second child would not be covered under that paid parental leave but would need
115donated leave from colleagues Etc um and so while this is a new piece that we welcome we hope that the state will continue to look at this um and recognize that every kid is is special in needs and their parents and unpaid parental leave is not a lot so um just lifting that up as that was a big part of the discussion thank thank you Miss mafy and that was an important part of our policy discussion you know not just the circumstances of biological birth within that period but also for adoption and families that might be fostering or bringing other children into their family that way as well so I really appreciated all the board members who raise those issues um is there any other discussion or any questions about the policy all right if
116not I'll call for a vote all in favor of adoption of policy 7525 parental leave on first reading signify by saying I I any opposed all right thank you Dr matilla it's past first reading we'll go to second okay everyone at this point we will return to our public comment all remaining public comments are off agenda I will spare you reading the Preamble again uh I'm keeping my fingers crossed and we will turn to our first speaker will be Maggie F who will be followed by Julie page I just have a new um hi everyone uh before I get into my remarks I wanted to say that um I know some folks don't like a fact check but I think I need to issue a correction we are representative democracy and the right-wing Rebrand of
117our government that I hear here from moms for Liberty and now from some of our board members is not okay and it's why our kids need to take apus history and the other amazing history courses that we offer at our Public Schools um I have two children in public schools and I'm speaking this evening to thank our incumbent board members for being willing to continue to serve and offer their time and expertise in the service of Wake County Public Schools we appreciate all that you do especially in the face of efforts by certain groups to manufacture controversies about things like school spirit day of all things um I know most of our incumbents support fully funding our schools and this is clearly something that resonated with voters County and Statewide one incumbent here is on
118the record in suppor of vouchers diverting public funds to unaccountable private schools that race was contested and was extremely close so the message to the board is clear we don't want vouchers I hope that the whole board will see our recent elections from a pro-public school and public education Governor to a pro public education superintendent of Public Instruction to the majority of our board here in Wake County as a mandate to continue to pursue increased pay for our teachers more support for mental health support for Early Childhood programs and more support for our infrastructure as you heard from some of our students earlier voters have made their needs clear we need to improve our Public Schools before we divert money to private ones how to spill 10 includes hundreds of millions of dollars of public
119money which would go to parents of any income level for private schools that do not have have to accept all students and notably discriminate against students with disabilities non-Christian students the majority of schools receiving voucher funds our Christian schools and lgbtqia plus students the bill is up for veto override on the 19th and I urge the board to continue to Advocate um against this bill NC voters don't want this bill more importantly North Carolina students don't want this bill as we've just heard I've given you a little article from Teen Vogue about students in Kentucky who organized to help defeat that States voucher legislation their accomplishment and passion is amazing and I think you'll see no less from students here in North Carolina as they realize their own education and opportunities are on the line
120thank you so much our next speaker is Julie page who'll be followed by Jonathan Clayton I wasn't going to speak tonight but here I am so here we go um hi everyone um as you all know we had an election last week uh most people have mixed reactions to the results I know that I do um I am however very excited to soon be unburdened by what has been no more weaponization of the government against parents no more worries of critical race Theory no more gender ideology and queer Theory goodbye Dei no girl boys in girl Sports locker rooms and bathrooms no more cons compelled speech hello First Amendment Universal school choice we will finally have common sense back in education I am here for it and I cannot wait uh I want to address
121some of the hateful rhetoric demeanor and ey roles that come from some members of this board it is rude it is uncalled for unacceptable highly unprofessional for elected officials Mr Hershey calling moms for Liberty a hate group is not only false and slanderous it is completely irresponsible and can incite actual acts of hate Upon Us Mr Swanson rolling your eyes turning around in your chair and sometimes leaving the room is childish and it's time to grow up is it too much to ask all of you to behave appropriately during Schoolboard meetings please start acting like the adults in the room that you are supposed to be um I don't often do this but I'm going to do this uh to end I do want to give a compliment since y'all never hear anything good from
122me um Willow Springs Elementary had a Veterans Day breakfast and clap out parade last this past Friday um I asked if my family could participate um because it was for my grandfather who served in World War II um I didn't know if I should be there or not because I know we have active duty um military family Ser you know in the school system but they said yes I could and so it was very moving I cried believe that or not um but I held a picture of my granddaddy in his uniform from back then from his service days when he was drafted for World War II um and my son was there and my husband was there and I see all of the students and all of the teachers um lining the halls of
123the school waving flags clapping Smiles on their faces saying thank you was actually very very moving um with Proud To Be An American in the background so I want to say um it had a profound impact on me and I'm very grateful to Lauren Garrett the school counselor who put all of that together uh my family appreciated it very much thank you thank you our next speaker is Jonathan Clayton who'll be followed by Loretta Humphrey good evening Mr Clayton good evening my name is Jonathan Clayton and I'm a resident of the town of Wake Forest exactly one week ago today it was election day in our nation and we now know what kind of future America chose and board members since the United States of America Is Now unburdened by what has been we can
124now be burdened for what can be as we head into the year 2025 for this Wake County Public School Board I therefore have three proposals to move into the next year making real progress in how and what students are learning these three proposals will be taking politics out of the classroom one two a reversal of the Biden administration's Title 9 rewrite and three an honest conversation about the realities of the deficiencies in the Wake County Public School System first it is long past time for this board to listen to the pleading of conservatives and remove politics for from the classroom we have constantly been told that we are not offering solutions to help kids learn yet our answer has never changed no more politics in the classroom so that the folks Fus is on true
125learning this means returning to a focus on ensuring that children can read write do math understand history and experience science in 2025 removing politics from the classroom to focus on academics is the best strategy possible to make our schools better second it is also long past time to reverse this board's policy that accepted the Biden administration's rewrite of Title 9 that was passed back in July the reality is that changes coming in the federal governments and this will likely include returning to the common sense that title 9 established back in 1972 this school board must reverse the disastrous precedent that was set in July and Champion the reality of the gender binary and sex specific private spaces in our schools again changes coming quickly from the federal government on this so this school board should
126anticipate this change by removing the policy that started this in the first place and third and finally it is very much long Pas time for an honest conversation amongst the members members of this school board and the public in Wake County about the deficiencies in our school system we must have accountability concerning learning loss lack of proficiency in reading and math and the failure of our school system to properly educate students while we do have many great teachers in our County our school system is failing to give them what they need to educate students well this is why an honest conversation about the state of the Wake County Public School System is so critical going into 2025 in closing I urge you the Wake County Public School Board to heed my words and seek positive
127changes for the students in your care remove politics from the classroom focus on academics and have a much needed conversation about the deficiencies of our school system and how to address them I pray that God will grant favor to our schools in 2025 and that our students will begin to learn and be educated well for the life that he has for them thank you and God bless the Wake County Public School System our next speaker is Loretta Humphrey who'll be followed by uh Tara pachki hi I spoke with Mr Malone and he said that I had to ask Mr Hagerty if I could do this um I am you guys have opened the door in regards to this um election and I wanted to personally give this to Mr in that's just give it to
128you can either give it to Mr Malone or as soon as we're done with comment we'll let you hand it to Dr ring if you want to take a picture throw it over there we'll we'll let you give it to him right after okay all right thank you so much and with that being said I've got probably a few seconds left um I think what we need to focus on is why are we losing 72,000 children I heard a lot of parents up here you know and they're upset about a lot of things so you know when um Mr Hershey said you hadn't got an email from me yet well I think part of their anxiety might be got your email get back to you um we we just need to treat these parents a
129little bit better or 72,000 is going to turn into like maybe uh 180,000 90,000 just just pay attention to your people is all I want to say I heard them pleading with you I don't know what you're solution is going to be good luck to you good luck to them thank you sir for running I appreciate you very much thank you and again miss humph we will after public comment we'll go into public we'll go into our close session but we will have a moment there just so if you want to uh deliver your gift you can okay all right thank you all right uh Tara great job pronouncing my name I'm doing my best thank you just really quickly uh you will be followed by Becky lops thank you good evening okay I'm Tara
130podos I've never been to a school board meeting before I had no idea it was such a thrilling way to spend a Tuesday night I have five children uh two have graduated from Friendship Apex friendship and I have three currently at Apex friendship and I just wanted to speak briefly about cell phones in school and I wasn't aware Miss Coffield that U there was this meeting coming up so I'd love to learn more about that and participate um so I love research I do research for work and I do research as my hobby as well and in the last year I've been looking into technology in schools and the impacts on education learning um social emotional health and just the overall impact it's having on our kids and what I've really enjoyed is trying to
131like pull the politics and the fear out of the issue and focus just on the facts and for the last two days knowing I was coming here to speak on this I just was going through books and articles and trying to find the best bits and around 3:00 this afternoon it kind of coalescent to just three points that I hope you all will consider that are based in science when we look at this issue and the first one is that we know for a fact that cell phones social media are unquestionably addictive we know in schools that they are deeply distracting even when in your bag in your pocket upside down on your desk and we know that when you have a classroom of kids that have access to cell phones on their body in
132their bag that the least impacted kid in the room sees a 10% reduction in their ability to um understand content to master content and to recall content and that's the least impacted kid in the room we also know for a fact that the the more you are struggling academically the more you are underperforming already the greater this disparity will be when you bring technology into the equation so I think when you discuss it you're going to hear a lot from parents coming from a place of fear because they've at this point when their kids are in high school they've always been tracking their kids they've always been able able to reach their kids and they're going to have concerns that are based in fear and they're not going to be based in fact their fears
133will not reflect the reality but we know that the real fear of how these devices are impacting our children's day-to-day learning their ability to engage in deep thought their ability to read long form content and come to understand question and analyze information in the way we need our future citizens to do is impacted every day so I just ask you to please come to the science and if you can return to just three facts have them be that we know they're addictive we know they're distracting and we know they hurt the kids who need the help the most the most that is all thank you very much thank you our next speaker will be Becky L hops who'll be followed by Diane Chandler hello I'm Becky as you guys know Mom Chapter Chair of moms
134for Liberty in Wake County gosh very interesting meeting tonight a lot going on um first of all Dr Wing Dr winging thank you for opening comments I really appreciate those it really resounded with me but there's lot of misinformation out there um just one thing I will correct um Benjamin um the glare at the Constitutional Convention um Benjamin Franklin was quoted saying what after asked what kind of um government he said a republic if you can keep it and of course we pledge allegiance to the Republic I don't know why that is such a big debate but there is a slight difference in between a republic and a democracy but this board has a long history of both current members some current members and many past members really ignoring the public I see that and
135how you seem to be ignoring these families from Apex anybody who disagrees with your policies um many of you have walked out some of you have called us names and I'm kind of wondering do you guys readed your own policies I mean you guys talk about bullying like you know you're trying to do something about it but here you are you're being a bully many of you and when kids speak up in school what do you do you don't protect the child if they disagree with your what what you want for your agenda you punish the child and they had to say one of my children when I asked them when they graduated or left Elementary School what did they learn and he said he learned that if he stood up for himself that he'd
136be punished this is what he learned from Wake County because nothing was ever done about the bullying from him I have my theories I have no proof trust me if I knew then what I know now I would have had the proof proof so be thankful for that but you need to take a deep look inside of you guys millions of people voted for a change of direction for this country just because there's a bunch of people here that disagree with that disagree with you doesn't mean that you can't learn to talk to people and treat people with respect some of you do some of you don't our next speaker is Diane Chandler who will be followed by our final speaker of the night Marie Dexter hello good evening I am a single mom of
137two weing Elementary School students I am a PTA board member and yes I am a proud member of mom for living it is Despicable that some of the board members were allowed to call us a hate group and I'm going to speak about it it's not okay to say it's okay for them to say because they were talking about a group because as a board member they should be held to higher standard because they were elected to serve all of their Cons with done a include parents and students of moms for Liberty to get it together my second topic I am also the face of someone who would have been the reciproc my T weing A recipient of q1 opportunity scholarships for this year the only re why my kids are not are still in
138mying is due to a custody issue let me tell you why I want to leave W car my children are smart kids they are bored to Tears in their school good school nothing against school I'm acting school I know you P the but they are bored to C and they're in AIG they are Ina but they are not getting the education that they deserve beyond that it is not okay that I had to keep my third and fifth graders about the Electoral College and presidential election year I care if I'm not they didn't learn by school how and in my fi gr year in the last couple years we have had indoctrination in what they have talked in a book he read socialism whereing as just help your neighbor out help find out this year
139they wrar a book and talk about Universal human rights one of them we go right to life which would you find a beginning at Birth coning are religiously then they talk about the right to move on Country come on now everybody can get right to a country okay you ination is there I'm also in a homeschooling groups because I get homeschooled for a year and let me tell you every day people wanting to leave W count to get it together it's not about the you going to lose your money in your way your union aniet you thank you m Chandler our final speaker is Marie Dexter and she did leave all right well concludes our public comment period so at this time um I think we'll take a brief recess and then do we well
140before that I guess we need a motion because we didn't go into Clos session this time so make a motion we go into Clos session for the reason stated on the agenda second we have a motion for Miss mfy to go into close session for the reason stating the meeting agenda uh second from Mr Swanson all in favor I all any opposed all right we'll take a brief recess um while we get assembled over and then we'll uh begin Clos session thank you everyone that