001foreign [Music] stories [Music] thank you is it early tonight um foreign [Music] thank you [Music] um thank you um my question is the difference um control feelings um thank you again thank you very much [Music] thank you very much leadership um I just suggestions around here [Music] thank you I don't know anymore yeah it is is today um it's like mistakes breakdown s thank you very much thank you education foreign [Music] is ready thank you all right one two three four five six all right good evening it is Tuesday September 19th 2023 at 5 45 p.m and we are calling the regular meeting of the Wake County Board of Education to order I want to welcome those of you watching at home and those that are here in person Wake County Board of Education meetings
002are conducted for the purpose of carrying on the official business of the school system the public is cordially invited to attend board meetings to observe the board as it conducts its official business persons who willfully interrupt disrupt or cause disturbances at an official meeting may be directed to leave by the presiding officer members of the audience should show respect for the speakers by refraining from loud comments or other disruptions disruptions by any person or persons of a public meeting will be subject to action in accordance with North Carolina General statute 143-3 1817. we do have a few members who are not with us today but we do have a quorum and so at this point let's stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance foreign thank you everyone so at this point in our meeting we
003have our superintendent's comments and the superintendent update and this will be our last official superintendent update and comments by our beloved interim superintendent Dr Bridges Dr Bridges the floor is yours thank you Vice chair Hagerty and members of the board and attorney Malone just a few comments and and updates um September the 15th through October the 15th is National Hispanic Heritage Month a time for our students and staff to recognize and celebrate the histories cultures contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain Mexico the Caribbeans and Central and South America Hispanic students make up about 20 percent of our population and Hispanic heritage much provides an excellent opportunity to increase culture understanding and appreciation across our diverse school system is also attendance Awareness Month an opportunity to recognize the importance of our students being
004in school every day our schools working in concert with our social workers and other support service staff prioritize seeking out students when they have unexcused absences and ensure that we have an opportunity to provide the resources to make sure they're back in school and learning I also want to acknowledge the increase in academic proficiency and four-year graduation rate that you likely saw a couple of weeks ago in the paper our overall proficiency rate on state tests made another significant jump toward pre-pandemic levels in fact proficiency rates were higher than pre-dead pre-pandemic rates in certain subject areas including English too math three eighth grade math and fourth grade reading meanwhile our four-year graduation rate increased 89.9 percent that is particularly impressive when we consider students in the class of 2023 where ninth graders when the pandemic
005struck March of 2020. during the board's work session staff presented the draft the first draft of the 2024-2025 enrollment plan the information was presented so the board could provide feedback and we'll start developing draft two with the goal of having a final product by November 21st the board also received information on Staffing for the system the field rate for our teachers is 97 percent instructional assistance is 95 percent and bus drivers are 64 percent and that number is based on us needing 882 bus drivers to run an effective and efficient system as of July 1st we have hired 2152 teachers 309 instructional assistance and overall 3268 candidates have been employed thank you Mr thank you Dr Bridges start off our board comments tonight I want to start with some positive news Leesville Rhodes Ben Kolstad
006football coach was earlier this month the Deer Park water North Carolina High School football coach of the year so we're all very proud of coach colstad at Leesville Road some of you might know coach goldstead when he was a middle school coach out in eastern wake or when he coached at Sanderson or at Cary high school he took the pride to state championship game in 2019 and we've had a couple games canceled this year but it looks the team looks good and might contend this year too so congratulations to coach Kolstad on the Statewide recognition and good luck to the team also um Mr Hershey had talked about the ramp Awards and our school counselors at our last meeting and so I wanted to highlight Nancy Snyder's stavarakis a product of Wake County Public Schools
007by the way and Terry Armstrong counselors at Mills Park Elementary School they met the criteria to receive the North Carolina School counseling Diamond award and their school is also eligible for recognition as a ramp school so this is another great recognition we've been talking a lot about student services most recently in our student achievement meetings with chair Waters and I'm hoping that we can learn more about the important role some of these student support professionals play and I think this is also a good transition for an important item about other mental and social well-being professionals that I need to talk about that's a little more time sensitive so over the past two weeks I've had many parents from Lead Mine Road Elementary School reach out about the fourth grader who brought a loaded gun to
008school and as you would imagine this shook many members of the school Community families and staff and even though it was handled well by the staff regardless regarding diffusing the situation regarding communication with the families families are still shaken but they're reaching out they're offering constructive preventative Solutions and so I wanted to address some of those today I support the families and what they're advocating for and so I've wanted to use my time to Advocate how we might be able to move forward together from this first we know too many guns fall into the wrong hands we've had members of this board lift that issue up at many meetings now Miss Caulfield Dr Ring Miss Edmonds Miss Waters I think I've heard everyone raise this issue so you know we're all committed to doing what
009we can do you know if you own a firearm make sure that is it is safely secured Firearms are now the leading cause of death of injury related death for Children and Youth in this state gun thefts are on the rise securing Firearms is very important we need to continue to push that out to the community whether it's at PTA meetings whether it's a community meetings PTA meetings secure your fire alarm firearm with a lock or in a safe keep it secure prevent gun thefts especially from parked Vehicles we are seeing a rise in crime in parking lots it should be instinct to most folks to lock your door but we're busy sometimes we forget I would Advocate not storing the gun in your car but if you do please make sure to lock it
010and then finally make sure children and others can't access your fire alarms we have free gun locks that are available in our community from so many different sources again we've heard our board members talk about gun locks and safe storage you know we can get these distributed through a number of resources I'm a little bit spread out so I don't have my prop to show you but I brought one of the locks today I got it from projects Child Safe in coordination with local law enforcement our Wake County Sheriff's Department most of Municipal Police agencies they will make these locks Available to You heck most gum dealers and gun shops will make these locks available to you all you have to do is ask so again these are available in the community and we just
011need to keep pushing out safe storage but the idea the concern that's come to me most often from parents has been from Led from Lead Mine Road Elementary specifically has been the need for a full-time social worker at the school so there have been assignment changes at the school recently and Lead Mine Road now is Lead Mine Elementary is now a title one school and it shares a social worker with bailiwick Elementary which is also a title one school we know that the school district does not have adequate funding to put a social worker in every school and so we have to prioritize we have an Acuity model that looks at the needs of each school and allocates for these and every year since I've been on the board of education we've we've gotten inadequate
012funding from the state and we've gone to our County and every year the county has been able to provide us additional funds for counselors School nurses social workers psychologists but our ratios are still too low and I really think this incident is the perfect example of of why just providing one full-time social worker and at least every one of our Title One schools is a modest and a reasonable goal as we set our goals for next year's budget because this is a long-term solution where I can fix anything overnight if we look at this if we look at our schools if you keep that Equity lens in mind having this goal for providing the for prioritizing these social workers in the title one schools I think should be an important funding request and I hope
013that our staff and our new leadership is listening because I'd like to see us all get behind this it's a long-term solution we need one in the short term again I do want to thank the staff for how they've handled the solution both are our principal at Lead Mine Road Elementary her staff and the District staff I know that they've had crisis counselors available to staff some people have taken advantage of it some families may not know these are out there I want to make sure that continued access to care continues again I'd love to see if we could increase the availability of social workers in rotation at Lead Mine Road and other Title 1 schools at least in the interim until we can find the funding for permanent full-time social workers in these positions
014and again you know I'm just going to ask I'd like to ask everyone to reach out to State and County officials you know please let State officials know of these important ongoing needs more important I think than casino gambling but I'll just leave that out there you know let the state officials know these are important resources we need in our community and let our County officials know how appreciative we are that they have been able to provide incremental funding to slowly improve on these ratios and get us a little bit closer a little bit closer to those goals we shouldn't have to rely on Wake County to make to pay for these basic human services but we do and right now there are a Lifeline for many families in our community and so we need
015to say thank you and we need to make them know how important their investment in our schools really is right now so thank you at this time I'll turn it over to other board members for comments we'll start with Miss Waters uh thank you Vice chair Haggerty for lifting up those really important ways that we can all advocate for more social workers they are very important in our schools and also your remarks around gun safety so thank you for opening up in that manner very important and thank you also for acknowledging our amazing interim superintendent who I know is quite humble but has done an amazing job of serving as a very strong leader with a quiet humility and so really appreciate that honor of being able to work with him and sit beside him
016for the last several weeks and so I know he will be making impact in other areas across the country and state so but I will hope that we will continue to have the opportunity to interact because your wisdom in this side has been invaluable to us so thank you uh and I have had a wonderful time in District Four recently um and I wanted to say thank you to Dr Council who's the northeastern area superintendent she invited me out to visit two very special schools in district four um Phillips high school and Longview School those schools are really important and are designed to support our students in really unique ways who need I'm going to ditch a different setting and just want to lift up Phillips High School in principal gupton I really love being
017there it is a great goal for students who need a little bit more intentional support in a smaller environment and they really do a great job of making sure that all their students are seen heard and supported and so I'm so excited about all the things that are happening in the school community and one of the things that was really unique was their intentionality to make sure that all students are able to participate in clubs and so they have clubs designed throughout the day so that every student can be able to engage in those Club settings and so they also give a lot of attention to the input from the students and so just really I'm grateful for all that goes on at Phillips high school and then Longview school with principal Harris he has
018taken over as the leader in just over a year he has also brought his humble servant leadership style to the school community and the Educators in the building really love what they do and you can really fill it as you walk around the school community so those two schools are really special in doing incredible work and I also want to lift up our counselors again we've had some good presentations and good work around what is going on across the district and I was very fortunate to have been invited by Mr Chuck small of Enloe High School to learn about their work and the school counselors presented to me and allowed me to see some of the strategies that they have implemented to help support students particularly particularly around 9th grade promotion and so that is
019important work that is going on in the school Community there and so thank you to all the counselors at Enloe for that opportunity to engage and then I also had a chance to visit Riverbend Middle School they have a new principal um principal Michelle Bell she's not new to the district but is new to the school and we had a really good one-on-one time to talk a lot of times when I visit schools I typically tour but we sat down and had a great time just to get to know each other and her vision for the school and she is so positive in her disposition and keenly I'm committed to the academic success of the students in the building and so I really enjoyed getting to know her and I look forward to seeing great
020things from the school Community as the year goes on and lastly I want to give you a save the date for the district for BAC our first meeting will be on October the 26th and more details will be available soon but please put a hole on your calendar we'll have some important updates and it'll be a good opportunity for us to get together in District Four so thank you thank you Miss Waters next we'll go to miss Edmonds thank you and I also appreciate your comments about gun safety and safe storage thank you for that uh thank you to all of the staff and community members who came to my BAC last night we had a great discussion about Transportation our new visitor management system and the use of AI in schools thanks to Teresa
021Williams Kendrick Scott and Allison Reed who all came and presented on September 7th I was honored to represent the board at the State Board of Education stem Awards congratulations to Vernon Malone College and Career Academy Combs Elementary Reedy Creek Middle School Southeast Raleigh High School who all won awards and to James Austin a math teacher at Millbrook High School he was recognized as a finalist for the 2023 presidential award for excellence in Math and Science teaching on September 8th I was at Middle Creek Elementary for their picnic with a pal I was paired with a set of second grade twins brother and sister and we joined other groups and of family families and friends for a picnic lunch outside by the playground these children were kind and welcoming even though they'd never met me and
022warmed up to me rather quickly and we had a great time together talking about pets and what they were learning in school and we each had the school lunch all three of us been a long time since I had school lunch pizza but it was very good that same night I attended my first High School football game as a board member Athens versus Apex friendship Athens was not the Victor in that game but it was a perfect night for football and I was able to visit with several staff members and parents which was great finally I want to comment on what we expect to see in the state budget teachers may only see about a seven percent raise over the two years and we know that that's not enough Millions more taxpayer dollars per year
023will be diverted to private schools and these funding decisions are a choice it's a choice to invest in school privatization versus public education it is a choice to not comply with the Leandro ruling it is a choice to undervalue teachers and it is a choice to attack trans kids we the people have choices in who we elect to the state legislature those responsible for State funding for public education and policy so if we want a better budget a better state budget we must choose leaders that truly value public education and we're about a year away from having that opportunity thank you thank you Miss Edmonds next we'll hear from Dr ring thank you and I Echo the sentiments of Dr Bridges I really appreciate the kind of quick and sensitive responses you have made to
024a lot of the uh the the concerns that have been brought up to to me and to other board members as well so thank you last night the District 3 BAC had them met at Wakefield High School I would like to thank principal gazelle and the Wakefield High School PTA for hosting the meeting we heard from Joe McKenna assistant superintendent of special education services along with some of the senior staff members who gave us an overview of special education services and how they fit into our current strategic plan they were especially proud of the progress that they have made in providing job training opportunities in the com the community for students in the occupational course of study program as you know with covet things kind of got behind in a way in terms of finding
025those resources but they've really picked up again the goal is for them to be able to seek meaningful and gainful employment upon graduation right now their greatest challenge as with many of the Departments is filling the vacancies and special ed classrooms and in their situation the need for them is especially urgent because of the students need for more personalized attention and teaching um I think we all came away with a better appreciation of the important work that the teachers and the instructional assistants are doing um so if you or someone you know have the passion to teach uh and a big heart um I would con ask you to consider joining the special ed team and if you know of any company or organization that wishes to partner with wcpss to provide more job training
026opportunities for the OCS program please contact me and I can relay that message to the appropriate people um I want to remind everyone that this weekend is the centennial celebration for Millbrook Magnet High School the 100th anniversary celebration will kick off this Friday with a homecoming game at 7 pm there will be a special parade recognizing graduates from an alumni from past decades and then on Saturday September 23rd from 9 to 11 30 a.m there will be a special program recounting the school's history and its impact on the community and then to top it all off there will be a special dedication of Dana King way in honor of our beloved principal who made such an impact in the community and in the lives of the students and the staff that knew her finally this
027past Sunday was Constitution Day thank you for people who reminded me last time which commemorates the signing of the Constitution of the United States on September 17 1787. and as someone who immigrated here as a child and had to work to get my citizenship I had to learn what the Constitution and the Bill of Rights mean their purpose is to preserve our god-given rights in order to protect us from tyrannical control of any kind and as a parent I want to maintain my rights and my children's education and to raise them in a way consistent with my values I also want to make sure that my children don't take their freedoms for granted so I encourage you all to stay vigilant and to take an inventory of what this country and your freedoms mean to
028you as President Ronald Reagan once said freedom is never more than one generation away from Extinction we didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream it must be fought for protected and handed on for them to do the same or one day we will spend our Sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free thank you thank you Dr ring I see you going up to the mic there Mr Hershey you ready uh I am I actually typed out my comments for the first time um so first uh happy 919 day which is a thing in Raleigh um because it is September 19th uh quick uh no I know it was all over the internet today um so uh district 6
029will be having our first BAC meeting um October 2nd which happens to coincide with Dr Taylor's first full day so should he not have any plans that day uh we will be at Millbrook Elementary School we'll be discussing the new all kids ride program that I know is going to be in a few of our elementary schools for the first time this year and we'll be getting a safety and security update and that'll be from 12 to 1 at Millbrook Elementary school on October 2nd um I know it's just passed but I hope everyone that celebrated Rosh Hashanah has a good and sweet New Year and I hope everyone fasting coming up for Yom Kippur this next uh Sunday night to Monday night has a safe safe and easy fast um I'd like to thank
030the boys and girls club for inviting me to their breakfast of champions yesterday morning two shout outs to people recognized one is a Verner Malone graduate uh Romani who was honored and is now attending North Carolina a t another to cat red who started the gobbler run in Wake Forest she started that in 2006 and I took my wrestling team to participate in the early years so it was a pleasure to see her honored and I know a lot of students in our families up there enjoy that event every Thanksgiving Day last night I attended the North Carolina College of Education gen Z on teaching on the teaching profession event two of the students on the panel of five graduated from our schools Kaya Connor and Olivia for Lido I apologize if I mispronounce those
031names they were very impressive I want to highlight a couple of repeated themes that they had that the entire panel had and this is um as as somebody who coaches and officiates this is for all parents the desire to see the profession supported by parents was brought up multiple times and it was articulated quite well that the harm that recent state laws have on the ability of teachers to communicate and connect with students is a is a concern to the next generation of teachers um next a sarcastic thank you to the Atlantic Coast Conference the ACC uh for quite frankly screwing over our schools there are two North Carolina State football games coming up one on this Friday and then on the following Friday and you may ask why I'm bringing this up well Friday
032Night Football uh is a time for our fans and our parents to highlight uh and to see our players cheerleaders band members drill team members and our student trainers and as importantly these events help us fund they're very important to the athletic department it is going to take money out of our athletic departments as people go to the NC State game um these these Friday night games help athletic departments fund the entire entire year for our athletic programs this is common in high schools across the country as well as colleges the revenue generating sports are important so it does irritate me quite a bit that the ACC is stepping on our schools like this it also puts a strain on our officials as a as official um a lot of officials helped work the NC
033State game so it makes it tough to cover all the high school games that night and we do our best to do so in Wake County um two more items this is long for me I know uh last board meeting a question was asked about Flags in our schools and we received an email from Dr Bridges referencing our citizenship policy 3530 one item and I spoke with Vice chair Hagerty about this and it by the way it is National register to vote day that's where this is going um we may at one time have had more nonpartisan vote registering in our schools and I would encourage us to get back to that either in policy or in practice or both and to use either through non-partisan groups or and or peer-to-peer student-led groups I think
034if we are serious about talking about citizenship and all that comes with it getting our kids registered and informed to vote is really important lastly wrap this up I want to thank Dr Randy Bridges uh I appreciate our conversations I appreciate your the way you've communicated your advice I really took to heart that you said you know I I go to our schools all the time but you say get out into the to the community elsewhere and I hope that you've seen that I've done that over the last couple months and really taking that to heart and we'll continue to do that I appreciate your leadership and I'm grateful to have met you thank you thank you Mr Hershey we'll come back around this way Miss Caulfield thank you and I'd like to add to
035what you said Mr Hershey that also helps our students shine going to football it allows them to shine and allows our community to come together so it is I understand your scorn um first I want to say thank you I mean I want to say I'm really excited for our new superintendent Dr Taylor to start with us soon but I'm really sad that this is our last official board meeting with Dr Bridges it has really been an honor to serve on the board with you these last few months um it's only been three months but you've made a big impact on us while I found you to be very quiet in the beginning I realized that the mindfulness and the care that you took in talking and taking things into consideration understanding all the parts
036and then giving us some great feedback um then and things that we can consider are very important thank you for being with us this last few months and I do really hope you enjoy your golf and every once in a while give us a shout out um I want to thank you Chris for uh Mr Hagerty for addressing the gun safety um it is important to um note that most most of the incidents where the guns are involved in these cases do come from home it is a community effort to keep our children safe so please do your part um Mr Hagerty said it quite well so we don't need to address it anymore but please do pay attention to the resources that are available out there a few announcements September 20th from 10 a.m
037to 2 p.m Wendell is hosting a Whole Health Resource and family fun day at Wendell Community Center on West 3rd Street our first District board advisory committee is scheduled for October 2nd and we will be hosted by Roseville Middle School our next tea time or my next tea time will be October 25th at 40 41st North 41 North coffee Street sorry if I'm saying that wrong in Wendell and I'd love to hear from our community please come out and join me I will be there from 11 to 1. and I also wanted to acknowledge Hispanic Heritage Month um I know that's an important month to many of our families this week our County Commissioners recognize the importance of vape shops being near our schools I want to thank them for their efforts I've been working
038with our Mayors and town staff in district one on ordinances against new vape shops near our schools vaping and safety is of our around our children is very important to me it was reported in 2022 to 2023 that there was 1044 violations in our district a pretty significant increase from the year prior this includes several dozen times that fire departments get called out to our schools that's even just in one school vaping a health risk this is also disruptive not to mention the staff and resources required to answer these calls we continue to hear about difficulties that staff have with vaping in our schools being that close to schools makes it easier to obtain access the commissioner's plan to bring that new rule to vote next month so again thank you for teaming up with
039us on this starting May 25th of 1787 39 men went back and forth and ended with compromise of ideas to bring us the plan of house senate popular vote elections and electoral college and one of the most important documents in history the United States Constitution this past Sunday September 17th was Constitution Day and citizenship day the day commemorates the signing of our United States Constitution in Philadelphia Pennsylvania in 1787 and Dr Wing pointed out some great points about this important day so I will just leave it with his well-said words part of the policy I know is for us to have a flag in all of our classrooms and I am happy to say that well I went around for meet the teacher just kind of snuck a peek around and I happen to see
040a lot of flags standing so it made me feel really really good since we were not here for 9 11 I wanted to take a minute to recognize all the families friends and colleagues of all the many people affected by that chilling day on September 11th having been in New York and can still remember the fall Chris Fair and the very clear sky that day I had just arrived at work when my boss called us into the conference room and tuned into the news it was a day that I will never forget I just heard a student ask why do we talk about this every year so it's a great question history is an important part of who we are where we were and the Very things we learn from to encourage us like folklore's
041and generational stories passed down but also our scars that teach us where we do not want to be we learn from mistakes in hopes that we can keep us it will keep us the great country that America is September 11th was a day for our nation that stopped dead in their tracks it paused in grief but the very hurt that still scorns our families also made us pull together and become a very strong nation and for a while it was amazing families grew stronger neighbors bonded More Strangers reached out shortly after I was stuck in New York City during the blackout I'll admit I was very scared at first because the wounds were still fresh but once we knew we were safe the chilling the shuffling calmed the streets broke out with crowds laughing playing
042music and people in the streets nobody could go anywhere we were stuck so we had to stay there overnight so this was a night that New York City was glowing only by candlelight and so quiet with the street no Street and no air traffic around us stores handed out food and drinks people were sharing with each other the sound of guitars and patrols filled the streets I was stuck overnight that day on somebody's couch unable to go home with my own family but in awe of how people came together they United it was incredible to see the camaraderie I meant I mentioned the blackout because 911 changed people it hurt but it brought Americans together too I was a proud American that day and all the days that followed this is why we pause why
043we recognize 911 each and every year why we continue to pray for those brave souls and why we stand up for America why we need to stand together may we never forget thank you Miss Caulfield so Miss Johnson Hustler thank you um and thank you for recognizing 9 11 four short years later my daughter was born on 9 11 and this year on her birthday she actually got to be in New York City on her birthday on 9 11 and she can see from her room her dorm room the tower and it was beautifully lit up in red and blue as a reminder of the sacrifices of those that we lost but also for the many people who were in New York City that day who to your point still very much so are connected
044through tragedy but certainly also understand the need to celebrate the gifts of life that we all still can stand here and be grateful for each other as a country and so that was actually the first picture she sent me on her birthday was not all the work I went through to get her birthday stuff but the photo that she could see from her room of the memorial and Dee will remain a special day um also on um that day she turned 18 and so today is National voter registration day and I have to give a kudos to our schools who do a great job of ensuring our students who are 17 in our schools are registered to vote so the beautiful thing on 9 11 is her name also showed up in a North Carolina
045voter database just based on the work that was done in her high school and so again thanks to all the people in our schools who ensure that our students are indeed understanding and apart in recognizing their civic duty so the beauty is I was scrambling like oh I have to get you a form and she's like oh I did that in school it should show up um and it sure did on our birthday and so again thank you to the folks at our school who make that happen I'd also like to thank Mr Hagerty for bringing up gun safety it's something that we've talked about more than a little bit in I've read a piece right after the incident that you mentioned and someone wrote a beautiful piece noting that that um that when this
046happened I'm a gen xer and so a young adult the first school shooting we had and so many of us thought that was a one-off there was no way today that we would have thought that we'd be talking about this with the level of consistency concern and tire urgency and so like my colleagues we will continue to speak into the need for us to all note our role as a community of promoting gun safety promoting Community accountability and seeing this as our issue not an individual issue so thank you both for lifting that up um to to that end when we think about what happens in our schools and how we create School Community it's it continues to be for me again all these years later one of the best things of going in our
047schools and so I also was in our school one of our schools on 9 11 and to your point watching our students being taught about it recognizing it and acknowledging and this is the a few years ago I sat here talking about this and had a student for the first time it was the first student I heard ask the question of why we talk about it this year I felt a great sense of pride in listening to our students being able to reflect on why this was a day of importance to us so thank you to all of our Educators who and families who are investing in ensuring that our students know their history so on Saturday I learned I actually learned a piece of history that I did not have and I brought this
048pamphlet I forgot to give it to Miss Allen because she is the keeper both mentally but also physically of all of our history in Wake County Public Schools she has a rich knowledge if you don't know this about Miss Allen but I had the opportunity to learn about Dr Nicholas Franklin Roberts who actually has a building at Shaw University so I knew he was a stall a giant in education but what I did not note that he was the first African-American to be appointed to the Wake County wake School Board in 1897. and so one of the things that I said at the unveiling of the marker in his hometown a seaboard North Carolina was one it's history that I didn't know and two it was a reminder to me it was an educator who
049did all the work a history teacher from Nash County who did all the work to acknowledge Dr Roberts for his work and many of you will know Congressman Scott who is a member of Congress for Virginia it's his great grandfather so it was also amazing to see both the legacy of his political brownness because he also was an Alderman and the City of Raleigh but the way that that is continued in his family but there was also a large number of folks who were Educators as well in this family so one of the things that I think every one of us said who spoke at the commemoration on Saturday is this is why our history is important to both as Ms Caulfield noted to both ensure that we're aware of our scars and the things
050that we have toiled over but also of the successes and I personally I immediately you know sent this to everybody I knew like who knew in the 1900s that African-American was on a large City School Board like Wake County and so it was great to be with his family and the community to acknowledge that certainly I sit in this seat as the third African-American on our school board of emerge School District in 48 years the third black person to sit on this board so I certainly always knew that I stood on the shoulders of giants but this was an amazing reminder of the number of Giants and the Legacy that we do have and I also got to share that with my amazing friends Ann Garner which is a great lead-in to Chris Tuttle who
051is the media specialist our librarian as she still says which I also still say of South Garner High School who at the greatness of Garner which is an amazing event that the town of Garner our two high schools South Garner and Garner Magnet High School do she did the legacy of literacy for the town of Garner so all of our Garner schools were represented on The Chronicles of Garner which you may have heard me talk about and it's storytelling it's podcast is ensuring that our students are interviewing and talking and hearing orators in their Community learn about their history and so to that they've done a lot around literacy but they gave free books in partnership with wake up and read so they gave over a thousand books on Friday night before as many of
052you know Friday Night Lights is one of my favorites so before the Garner South Garner game and they give a little bowl away for the winner last year's South Dakota one this year congratulations Garner for winning the football game but it was a amazing to see on a Friday night where there was bouncy houses and music and icies that kids were literally coming over thumbing through the books and so that was for me a reminder that truly it is up to us to create the Legacy for our students and to continue to invest in their literacy so thank you to all the folks in Garner who made it possible the parade of Excellence all of the schools participated in and thank you to Mr Xavier Wallace McGraw who is also a Thomasville Bulldog like myself
053and his family was there so I got to meet some other Bulldogs over they were not at the Thomasville football game which generally Bulldogs are always in kushbooth Stadium on Friday night which is our stadium in Thomasville but they joined Xavier at South Garner because it truly is a Testament of the commitment of our Educators who show up not just for their schools but for their entire community so thanks to everyone who has invested there um along with Friday nights lights Willow Spring High School which I was not at their game because I was at the Garner game um but congratulations to Willow Spring High School this is their first senior class and they won their first conference game against Southeast Raleigh High School um so they're two and two but still very exciting because
054this is their first senior year and then I got to meet a freshman who's actually my daughter it's the world is so small you all it's my daughter's College roommate's brother was moved up yes who's moved up from JV at Willow Spring to Varsity on Friday night so again we are literally like at this point one degree of separation not Six Degrees of Separation so congratulations to Willow Spring High School and their first Conference win and I know that there'll be many more exciting to go and lastly um um so having sat here for a while I've clearly visited all my schools multiple times but I'd be remiss if I didn't speak to a new principal at North Garner and this is a story that I've heard from a few Educators in Wake County but
055this register is from a small town like myself and she started as a bus driver and is now the new Proud principal of North Garner Middle School and those are the stories that remind us of where you start is it where you finish and what a mighty story she has to share with her students and so it was great to be in the company and thank you Ms register she is not new to our district she serves very short time as an assistant principal at South Gardner high school but is now the new Proud principal of North Garner Middle School and her story is truly one that I think I could already see the changes happening in the building and I got to go into their very nice zendin which is also new I like
056to share all the things for our Educators who listen because I think they're probably only people who are listening there's a new thing that I saw over the lights that they're they created like a little Cloud silhouette over the lights to create their Zendaya where students can go for calming and there was a student in there doing her work and I asked her what she thought and she was like I wasn't having a good day but by the time I leave here by lunch I'll be having a good day so just a reminder of what seems to be small and insignificant to the people who do this every day is Monumental for our students and our family so thank you for the visit to North Garner and again congratulations Miss register thank you Mr Haggerty
057thank you Miss Johnson hosler so at this point on our agenda you all have seen the meeting agenda is there a motion at this time so moved we have a motion for adoption of the committee agenda is there a second by Miss Waters all in favor of approval of the meeting agenda say aye any opposed all right the agenda is approved and we move on so the next item on the agenda is the public comment portion before we begin we need to remind everyone of some common courtesies and some basic rules surrounding the public comment period now I'll read out the specified policy language we read at every meeting I know it just kind of speeds by at this point but I do want to speak just just a minute personally because if everyone follows
058the rules everyone will be given the opportunity to speak and that's important especially as you know we're celebrating Constitution Day standing up in front of everyone requires a lot of Courage it requires a lot of preparation and whether you agree or disagree with a speaker they and this forum need to be treated with respect so please no interruptions no booing no snickering I won't go through all the associated noises we've heard over some weeks and again even if someone gives a great speech if you cheer over them or if you talk over them then everyone can't hear them and that takes away from their time so please one speaker will be recognized at the podium at one time okay that's an important rule that's for safety only one person can stay at the podium unless
059we have a young student who's accompanied by a parent or a guardian or if you have someone who needs physical assistance please respect this process and again please do not please do not interrupt speakers or you will be asked to leave only the recognized speaker May comment and only during their allotted time other comments may not be directed at other speakers at other staff or at the board only those who are speaking in public comment a breach of decorum could lead to expulsion from the meeting thank you and now here's the canned language you've heard every meeting we now move on to the public comment period speakers commenting on items on the night's agenda will be heard before speakers commenting on other topics all other speakers will be heard in the order of sign up
060if the public comment portion of the agenda exceeds 30 minutes public policy states that the board chair reserves the right to conduct other board business before inviting the remaining speakers to the podium members of the public are welcome to offer comments or criticism directed at substantive ideas actions or procedures of the board and individual board members the laws and policies of North Carolina do provide that issues or concerns involving individual Personnel or individual student matters are confidential and therefore they're not appropriate for the public comment settings those offering comments to the board including students may discuss issues and matters of General concern concerns related to Personnel issues or student matters can be addressed through other applicable wcpss Personnel procedures the grievance policy other applicable policies in the interest of Manning civility in decorum speakers are
061encouraged to address their comments to the board of education and to refrain from personal attacks and insults directed at the board individual board members staff or members of the general public and again that includes everyone in this room tonight please remain at the podium during your speaking time any materials you wish to share with the board should be handed to board attorney Rod Malone either before or after your comments they will be entered into our official record of our meeting and they will be distributed to all board members during the public comment period you may speak up to three minutes please note the microphones are adjustable when the green light at the podium will illuminate showing that your three minutes has begun it will tick down a yellow light will light up when at an
062audible tone when they're 30 seconds left when the speaking time is up you will see a red light and you'll hear an audible tone your time will be finished please conclude please please conclude your statement speakers are asked to respect the time limit and speak no more than the three minutes you may choose to speak for less time and because that was about three pages my computer timed out and so I have to pull up the list I apologize to our first student uh Rowan I can't remember your last name so I need to look it up or if one of my board members can help me Rowan rustowitz Rowan rustowitz thank you please come up to the board and I'll have the next person ready by their time to speak thank you Roy I
063will never forget the looks my teachers gave me oh never mind actually I will forget for a moment ladies and gentlemen of the Wake County school board it pains me to be back here again fighting once again for my rights but I will keep fighting until I can freely be myself and exist peacefully as myself throughout the past years me and my peers well-being has been jeopardized countless times for no valid reason this summer in particular has seen an influx of legislature directly aimed at punishing transgender students well I doubt that you can do anything about the fact that I can no longer play on the store on the sports team of my choice or that I can get the affirming or that I can no longer get the affirming health care that I deserve
064I believe that you can do something to ensure the safety of me and my transgender peers within my schools I'm talking about sb49 a transphobic Bill disguised as a parental Bill of Rights appropriately nicknamed in North Carolina don't say gay bill this bill promotes forced outing of queer students Erasure of lgbtq plus topics and school curriculums and generally eliminates any safety and support that our teachers have to offer Governor Roy Cooper stated in his veto that this bill would scare teachers into Silence by injecting fear and uncertainty uncertainty into classrooms and he was right the people who pushed this bill have not seen the impact it has had on our classrooms sure teachers still try to foster a positive environment but this is overshadowed by the fact that they are scared of any repercussions I
065will never forget the looks my teachers gave me when they when I told them that I preferred the name Rowan something that was so simple just three months ago was now almost feared and every class period I was reminded that the lawmakers of my state cared more about whether or not I was a girl or a boy then about my safety and education my teachers told me every time that I would have to ask my parents for permission to change my name Maximilian would have to ask for permission to go by Max Madison couldn't go by Maddie and I couldn't go by Rowan it's very clear who the target of this bill was and I promise you it was not Joseph who goes by Joe but mandating parental permission the schools were no longer a
066safe space for us I was lucky enough to have been blessed with parents who support me enough to let me go by Rowan but a lot of my friends were not a lot of my friends were born with parents who would rather lose their child than support their child and with this law changing their name get got changing your name getting risk getting kicked out or even worse but by giving up our names we give up our freedom and Who We Are a name is one of the few things that we have just to ourselves my name is Rowan for the tree whose roots are deep ingrained in my culture and my father's name and homage to my family that I left behind when we immigrated here each name is a story and by allowing
067this bill to continue you are taking away not only my story but the story of my peers thank you thank you Rowan next up we have Charlie Pine Charlie Pine can I start okay I'm also here to talk about the SB 49 bill but specifically line A5 of section 115c-76.45 which states the governing body of a public school unit shall adopt procedures to notify a parent prior to any changes in the name or pronoun used for a student in school records or by school Personnel I'm talking about the misinterpretation of this line teachers are not required to get permission from a parent they're just supposed to notify them but in all of my periods when I asked to go by Charlie instead of my birth name I had to get a parent to sign a
068form except for my Law And Justice class because she actually read the law she only notified my parents of the name change and didn't have to get any signatures the permission aspect is putting more trans youth at danger because some parents won't kick their kids out because they're kids but they won't give permission if they're just notified it's okay for some people but even this is endangering the lives of many youth across the whole state not just this County having to be outed forcefully to your parents because of what a lawmaker says is not something that should anyone should have to go through it's like Rowan said it's very obvious who this bill was targeted at not not the people who want to use nicknames by teachers it's really scary being a trans youth even
069with supported supportive parents knowing that at any moment my rights could be taken away and I could get in I could get hurt for just wanting to use a different name um I feel like it should be more known that the many teachers are misinterpreting this law and thinking they have to get assigned permission slip when they do not because it is hurting our youth it just needs to be a notification like an email and I have told my teachers this and they still don't believe me so I think someone a higher up needs to tell them thank you Charlotte our next speaker is Candace laughinghouse Candace laughinghouse good evening well first thank you for this opportunity to be here this is my first time here also my daughter's first time actually being enrolled in
070Wake County Public Schools but really quickly I just found out about this meeting today but this is a urgency because I have I have three daughters um specifically I'm speaking of my oldest daughter that we are going back and forth for trying to place her in the proper math programs and it's clear from transcripts from the previous school and upon looking at the policies on school on excuse me classroom assignments that she should be placed somewhere that is fitting to the her academic advancement instead I'm being met from her principal and others that because the math class was called something else at a prior school that's actually local she was at the new school Montessori Center in Holly Springs and therefore she's being placed in a remedial for her math class and I don't know
071what to do but to come here I've reached out to board members because this is of urgency being this is a young African-American girl who is excelling in math and I've also chosen to stick with Wake County Public Schools even after she was accepted with scholarship to a school Ravenscroft and I had friends that said stick with the magnet schools and so I had faith in that but now it's just at a wall where I've been told that there's nothing that can be done despite what I've read is the policies that they can there's flexibility there's I've asked for um excuse me I've asked for evaluations and I'm just not getting anything further so I need some sort of resolution to this we're four weeks in and I do not feel that she should be
072penalized by a technicality and and nor should she have to experience a steamrolling by a policy that's not helping her because otherwise then this is one of the reasons why many parents like myself which I am not doing pull their children out into these charter schools and it's not supportive of her advancement and I'm having to deal with this three times so I would like some sort of knowledge on what I can do and not a continued back and forth with emails because it even took like 10 months for them to get in the schools that they were in now so thank you thank you in this laughinghouse if you'd like to remain after the public comment period we can find someone on staff who you can meet with here while you're at the district
073office thank you to help you with the session appreciate that thank you [Applause] next on our uh public comment list is uh Jenny Clayton is Miss Clayton here after Miss Clayton will be Nate branscome good evening I'm a teacher at Cary high school and a GSA Club advisor when we came back in August everyone at my school had questions about SB 49 what it meant how to comply and what to tell students and Families our consensus was to say as little as possible and that Silence has left room for anxiety to grow I hear students wondering you just did also whether school is a safe place for them they worry that any teachers who might hold personal anti-lgbtq sentiments will feel emboldened by this law to treat them badly they worry What legislation might be
074coming next the very existence of this law and the uncertainty surrounding it have cast a shadow over my campus it's been a distraction at best and caused extreme fear at worst these emotions are not good for teenagers whom we expect to focus on learning I've read the law and I don't envy you your task of interpreting it of filling its many gaps in language with local policy consistent with its spirit because the spirit of this law is a problem when I read it I didn't find anything positive nurturing or student first I do not see alignment between this law and Wake County values I'm a 16-year veteran teacher I'm national board certified I was a Wake County teacher of the year finalist last year so I feel comfortable in sharing with you my knowledge of
075best educational practices those practices are student first I've interacted with many lgbtq students both as a GSA advisor and as a classroom teacher I have never encouraged a student to keep their sexual orientation or gender identity a secret why because as someone who is gay I know that being out is good staying in the closet is stressful and being open reduces that stress but on the flip side I have never encouraged a student to share their identity with others before they were ready I have never outed a student here's what I do when a student comes out to me I ask questions and listen I might invite the student to imagine how coming out might go what they would say what the family would say and how they would feel afterward I let the student
076consider these things and make their own choices how do I know to do this I think of my professional code of ethics and standards the ones that talk about student safety about creating a welcoming and diverse learning environment the spirit of those standards guides me and I would encourage you to let it guide you as well as you implement policy the spirit of sb49 on the other hand troubles me very deeply thanks thank you Miss Clark next speaker is Nate branscome followed by Andrew branch thank you all for your time my name is Nate branscombe I am the chapter president for the 100 black men of Triangle East but before I get into that I will also share that I am the parent of two Wake County students one of which is I think same
077to you are earlier today through Enloe and one of the choirs that he participates in and then last time I was here my daughter who is a seventh grade at East Millbrook was awarded for making a video about bullying right um I will I'll also share real quickly that it's I'm a testament to how great Wake County Schools is because if you heard me sing and you saw me acting you would understand that it's not through me that they get any of their talents uh the 100 black men of triangles Saturday Academy is a transformational educational initiative that seeks to empower and uplift young black male students in the Triangle region of North Carolina the academy is a Testament of the organization's commitment to nurturing the potential of Youth providing them with the tools the
078knowledge necessary for success in academics and Beyond held every other Saturday during the school year this is where I should probably wear my glasses held every other Saturday during the school year we offer a comprehensive and holistic approach to education focusing not only on the traditional subject like mathematics and literacy but also on character development and life skills through engaging workshops mentoring programs and enrichment activities the academy strives to instill values such as leadership discipline and responsibility in its students at the core of Saturday Academy success is the dedicated group of mentors accomplished professionals and Community leaders from various Fields these mentors serve as role models and guides offering guidance and support to the students as they navigate the challenges of their educational Journey through personalized attention and a nurturing environment the academy aims to
079increase the academic achievement boost self-confidence and Foster a sense of pride in one's Heritage by investing in the education of young black students the 100 black men of Triangle East Academy is shaping their future for those individuals that want to contribute to society I will also share that as a member for the 100 black men these are some of the best guys that I spoke with in the Triangle they actually pay to volunteer to Mentor someone else's youth funds that go to providing a free Saturday Academy so that none of the youth have to pay and also for providing scholarships after they matriculate from high school these are Educators these are Financial professionals these are senior VPS they're some of the largest organizations the one thing that they all have in count in common is
080the willingness to take the time the little time they have out of their schedule to help someone else's child I'll also share that one of your previous members Keith Sutton was one of our members right I'm happy to share more about the program but I will also highlight that we have our first informational for youth in grades 6-12 this Saturday at NC State's campus and this is about red light so thank you thank you Mr bransco foreign next up is Andrew Branch followed by Mark Peterson good evening Mr branch I'm the dinner table guy from last time I commend my words from last time to you we need to stop gaslighting each other with euphemisms be frank and acknowledge the fundamental question at issue listen to this and play it back do my feelings tell
081me who I am or does who I am tell me how to interpret my feelings that's it Ponder the implications what if a depressed 13 year old girl uncomfortable with her body in the Newfound male gaze is just a depressed girl uncomfortable with her body in the Newfound male gaze this is zero sum SB 49 if it had failed the answer would still be no male and female are not negotiable and Wars have been fought over less if you type in a search engine the terms grooming his successor you'll see news stories about everything from CEOs to quarterbacks the term grooming does not inherently carry a pedophilic blood label the question is what are you encouraging what are you teaching children to be open to the very air kids breathe already teaches them to follow
082and indulge their feelings to discover who they are do wake employees in word or rainbow preach removing stigma normalizing certain self-expressions and exploration and euphemisms or explicitly progressives would teach a boy to grow up to be open to allowing other males to violate him and why are the gender stereotypes once scorned by feminists to now valorized gender is not separable from sex any more than a man becomes a woman when he washes the dishes or a woman a man when she climbs a ladder to change a light bulb misled parents of toddlers are now asking what their son's favorite color means and kids are asking if the normal discomfort of adolescent body changes actually means they're trans some questions do not need to be asked a penguin does not ask if it can fly it's
083not liberating to tell a penguin she can fly and have her spend years of her life trying that's not Liberation that's a kind of bondage the emperor has no clothes an awkward teenage boy with autism who likes pink and struggles to connect with male peers is normal Jesus Christ not me is the living judge who said to love your enemies he also quoted Genesis into Matthew 19 saying literally like this have you not read he who created them in the beginning made them male and female listen to all that he says and if you are here struggling with your identity I plead with you one day remember those who didn't lie to you thank you Mr Branch next up is Mark Peterson followed by John balog two weeks ago my comments to the board were
084interrupted by a man he protested the use of this sign I don't want anyone to miss the irony of a man trying to censor a link to a website that features books that he thinks we're trying to censor we're not trying to censor and we want them restricted sb49 is intended to restrict some of these books um the man wore a t-shirt with the word facts printed on it also ironic the pep website is loaded with facts there are over 100 book titles uh cited on the website that are by NC code described as harmful sexually explicit agent appropriate or gender ideology and distributed throughout the Wake County school system school this website also provides School location listings for each book as well as examples of graphic graphic images in the text as found in
085those books basically some of these books the content is so bad it's literally like you could take a book out of an adult bookstore and rewrite it for a graphic novel change the ages of the people engaged in the sex acts from adults to children and then so now it's okay in public schools that's where we are now over the half the books found on the list this website were published in the past decade during that time the rate of teen suicide has increased it's I think it's 70 percent higher the academic performance has decline during that same period currently the national rate of adults who identify as trans is five percent point five percent during the past 10 years that rate of teens identifying as trans has tripled it's 1.4 percent it's three times
086the national average of adults how does this happen well the range of books starts with a book like this worm loves worm this is a favorite among the uh you know the trans Story Hour um this book was read here in front of the school board here recently by a woman who you know admits that she has this type of literature in her house she has adult literature and it's accessible to the children but she's okay with that but she also has two trans children she's proving that grooming works thank you and I didn't want to interrupt your comments Mr Peterson but please if you can I understand defending your comments but if we could restrict referring to others and I'll ask the same thing I didn't mention any names you you know who I'm
087talking about because she read the book I did she also admits to having two trans children she has exceeded the national average tremendous well again I I did not want to interrupt your comments and so I appreciate your thoughts on it thank you if we could and I we're this is not a public debate hour and again as I stated at the beginning only those at the podium may speak and I understand the desire to speak and wanting to clear something up and we can talk about that after the conclusion of public comment okay I understand exactly where you're coming from and it is now time for uh Mr balog Mr Bala I apologize for the interruption if you need a minute feel free to take it and then you may begin your comments whenever
088you're ready so I get four minutes I appreciate the joke thank you Mr Baylin thank you for your time Cobb County Atlanta school district superintendent Chris Ragsdale was adamant during a Thursday board meeting this week that he would do his best to protect students from what he called pornographic material I as superintendent will not knowingly allow children in the Cobb County School District to access lewd vulgar sexually explicit obscene or pornographic material let me be clear anyone working in education who knowingly provides students with access to that material should not be in a position of educating other parents children this situation is about right and wrong good and evil there is no middle ground you are either in favor of providing inappropriate material to children or you're against it I assure you I am against
089it says Chris bureaucrats in North Carolina want to change the law which requires the teaching of abstinence-based sex health education the law specifically requires that abstinence from sexual activity outside of marriage be taught as an expected standard of behavior for all school-aged children draft one of those standards doesn't mention marriage at all rather the standards reflect the teaching of comprehensive sex education most is either written or endorsed by Planned Parenthood so what exactly is the goal here in Wake County sex at 16 14 12. let's address Planned Parenthood that's a oxymoron the international Planned Parenthood Federation ippf World Health Organization who and United Nations are advancing children's exposure to sexuality on two fronts promoting sex education that emphasizes teaching consent for sex and the portrayal of children and young people as sexual beings with sexual
090sexual rights the program instructs children's under 10 that sexual activity may be part of different types of relationships including dating marriage or commercial sex work among others I wish I was making this up the ippf organization offers K-5 education standards that say children have a right not to be touched and children should be prepared to say no when uncomfortable but by the sixth grade instead of teaching children to say no the term consent is used promoting the idea that it's acceptable to have sex with children who consent can't happen here I'm not making this up it's all easy to find I'd like to close so I'm going to do something different I'd like to close with a short prayer father God these are trying times before us is the education of our precious children a
091daunting task we have strayed from education into agendas we lift up Tyler Lindsay Chris samlin Tara Wing Monica Randy and Cheryl grant them your wisdom to make decisions that best protect your children give them clear guidance and a clear conscience thank you all thank you Mr balog next we have Dwayne Hansen Dwayne Hansen followed by Becky Lou Hobbs good evening Mr Hansen hello I'm representing a common sense parents Coalition in support of the new parents Bill of Rights bill known as sb49 it's now which is now in effect my wife taught school for 16 years and I substituted here in Wake County Public School System for 10 years we love and support 85 percent of the good hard-working teachers teaching the 3rs day after day the new law in the new law indirectly addresses five
092fatal flaws in transgenderism ideology that continues to be promoted in our schools flaw number one contrary to transgender ideology and rhetoric the design of the human body proves that there are only two genders Nature's design shows that humans can only produce male sperm and female eggs resulting in two distinct genders we are not built like worms this has been the case since the Stone Age flaw number two transgenderism must assume two fixed genders a kid must know what a boy and a girl are to recognize the transgender disorder and their fantasies there is a civil war among the community because if the t's get their way the alesgs and bees don't exist flaw number three changing biology instead of addressing the mind is not a rational solution or answer in other psychological dysphoria or disorder
093cases individuals are treated with therapy not cross-sex hormones or best inhalation or genital mutilation surgery we hope the one or two million dollars that you just contracted to third-party Health companies for therapy will prove and provide many positive returns for those troubled students we cannot change our DNA but we can change our thoughts and behavior when anorexics falsely think they are overweight we don't say hey you're right let me get you some liposuction no biological male has ever experienced being a biological female or vice versa it's only in their thoughts flaw number four sex is not assigned at Birth sex is discovered at Birth by doctors and nurses and there's no ambiguity in 99.9 percent of birth cases flaw number five there's no basis for transgender rights natural rights come from a higher authority not
094from Whimsical government declarations a small percentage of political activists teachers unions are really confused teens and activist librarians amputating healthy sex organs does not find support in natural law morality or common sense as school board members your sworn Duty and responsibilities to enforce the principle of rights law to protect our young grandkids from sexual harassment from groomers lurking in our schools unions ptas libraries and moms for porn groups none of you are trained doctors or psychiatrists as Grandparents we want our kids to be Scholars not sex experts thank you our next speaker is Becky Lou Hobbs followed by Nicole Baldridge Ms Lou Hobbs I wanted to thank you for the state cons or for the Constitution booklets that you provided last time actually that was Julie that provided them oh okay thank you but yes
095my name is Becky Lou Hobbs I'm a Wake County resident mom and now I'm Chapter Chair of moms for Liberty of Wake County a mom concerned about her rights as parents and the declining quality of our education provided to the children as you're aware we have a new law called the parents Bill of Rights I'm coming to ask again why have you not addressed it why do you continue to hide information from parents and why is there an assumption that parents are abusive why do you want to continue to expose young children to gender ideology and sexual activity all of these things and more are addressed in this new law it's common sense it codifies the fundamental rights of parents the school board's not the parent the superintendent's not the parent principals teachers social workers
096they're not the parent either stop the delay tactics and follow the law and there's something else some members have chosen to ignore and that was Constitution and citizenship day I was very pleased to hear a couple actually speak about it today according to Wake County policy and federal law it's required that this day be observed and commemorated but before tonight the board has never mentioned the Constitution and citizenship day and unfortunately following the board's leadership schools have done the same from the parents I've talked to in my own personal experience they've done a little more than just watch a video or fill out a worksheet just to check off the box and I'll remind you that 100 of the students live in America and benefit from the Constitution so despite what has been said as
097a precedence from the board in honor of Constitution and citizenship day moms for Liberty Wake County distributed 13 000 pocket constitutions to Middle Schools across a county across the county to give to eighth graders so they can have the Constitution and have it available to read and study read and study that brings me to the school progress reports there's been some attention and some praise for the progress but is it really praiseworthy although better than the previous year the average reading proficiencies for third through fifth graders was still at only about 60 percent so that means four out of ten third through fifth graders are not proficient at grade level results are similar for students entering Middle School so you don't understand sixty percent of failing grade right how can you be proud that 40
098percent of students cannot read at grade level how can these students continue to learn if they cannot read and how can they learn if they can't get to school some students are still having problems getting to school because of the bus situation so I ask you please obey the law get back to the basics stop wasting our children's education time on the latest social justice fad get back to focusing on Reading Writing Math Science History get back to providing our children the quality education that they deserve thank you next up Nicole baldrich followed by Jen labs good evening Miss Baldridge thank you so much for letting me speak my name is Nicole I stand here before you as a part of public school strong I have three children two of whom are currently in Wake
099County Schools one who's too young and she's in preschool I was a public school teacher for 14 years I left the education profession much to my dismay the year after the pandemic it was far too much the requirements the pay it was too much I literally could not support my family on the salary and I realized that is not on the board I know that Wake County Schools does everything that they can to find additional funding to pay teachers I want to talk about everything there's so many things but at one point I want to make well two one what is being proposed in the state budget is not a seven percent raise it is a seven percent raise on average over two years teachers like myself if I had stayed in education would not
100see a raise for the next 10 years for years 15 to years 25 there is zero increase in pay according to the budget and at all so from year 15 you're 16 you're 17 I would have the exact same pay that is why veteran teachers are leaving we cannot afford to stay in the profession we cannot afford to feed our families we cannot afford to send them to daycare we cannot stay trust me when I say this it hurts because I love teaching I love children and I want to be in those classrooms 14 years as a public school teacher 10 of them teaching in high school three in Wake County Schools I lived in California before then so I worked in Los Angeles Unified School District prior to moving to Wake County and I
101will say we were paid significantly more it was a huge pay cut to come here but I did it because I value education and I am here because I value education the other thing I want to talk about is I was a science teacher for the purposes of Science Education specifically focusing on sex education abstinence only programs do not work there is evidence lots of evidence that in States and counties that do only abstinence only programs teen right pregnancy rates are significantly higher teaching students that they have a right to say no that they can have access to contraceptives that sexual Assurance into diseases are real protects them knowledge is power if we don't give our students knowledge they can't make the right decisions they cannot protect themselves teaching students grade level appropriate how to
102say no is extremely important I appreciate it next up is Gen Labs followed by Colleen Miller hello my name is Jennifer I'm speaking to you as a mother a spouse of a teacher and a proud member of public school strong as we start the school year I wanted to say thank you for all the efforts of our public schools and staff to welcome students and families I observed yard signs intentional staff Spirit welcome events that took incredible time and efforts to pull off the first impression as a student walks into a classroom is so important it sets the stage for the school year what do you prefer to be called my middle name is Aaron it's androgynous you can have an Aaron as a boy or a girl so if I were called preferred to
103be called Aaron in the school would a school teacher risk being disciplined under the new legislation that's come about I worry because setting the stage really does require respect safety and a connection and that encourages children to really thrive in a school classroom and in our School classrooms right now we have high schools with teachers that have 30 to 40 students in each of their classes and they may have a planning period that they're asked to sub another school because teachers are out it's a big ask but if you're setting the stage for the school year and you have that many children and you're going down a list if you don't um if you don't notify a parent because of their parents Rights bill that is out there right now I just I worry about
104teachers I worry about an employee of the state who encourages coerces or attempts to withhold information to his or her parent may be subject to disciplinary action that's a big ask of these teachers that are being asked to do an awful lot right now just to set the stage to create a safe welcoming inviting environment where they can learn and thrive please have our school staff and teachers in mind when creating policies in response to this legislation my daughter brought home a permission slip in an elective that she is reading a great book selective I was a little sad I was thankful because of intrigue what she's going to be reading but I was a little sad thinking maybe that teacher made me sign that because she was worried about her job and what would
105happen please support our public schools and continue to to do everything we can thank you thank you our next speaker is Colleen Miller followed by weeda Watson and again before we start Miss Miller one person at the podium at a time please one person at the podium at the time uh thank you for allowing me to speak tonight I'm going to do something a little different I'm going to start out by reading from an obscene book that I found in public schools one of many and you can actually go to this website and you can read this book for yourself and I'm just a couple little excerpts the night seems endless and I'm very tired he has the lights on all of them it makes the room so hot I have to touch his penis
106and stroke it up and down he calls this jacking off sometimes he wants me to suck on it too I hate it so much it tastes disgusting I'm afraid the white stuff which is which he has said is called come we're getting my mouth sometimes when Phillip stays up for days and days and goes on a run which is drugs he talks about bringing Nancy in to party with us I do not like the sound of that at all how could I look at her the same way if I had to have sex with her too Philip also wants to watch his dog Caesar have sex with me he says a dog's penis is not as long as his and it wouldn't hurt me as bad pretty disgusting stuff that book is in several Wake
107County Schools as well as many others with the similar content I struggle to understand why any decent human being or person would insist on providing books such as this to children adults are meant to protect kids not expose them to materials that are harmful unfortunately Educators in our public schools are preying on innocent children with books and other materials that are sexually graphic depicting sex acts between children or between children and an adult this is a grooming technique used by pedophile and sex traffickers excuse me I have young grandchildren in a Raleigh school and want to protect them from the perversion being perpetrated on our Public Schools why do you continue to approve the purchase and dissemination of books that violate North North Carolina obscenity laws schools are also confusing children with the unscientific idea
108that gender is non-binary books about alternate genders have flooded our Public School libraries even at the kindergarten level the frequency of genital ambiguity or intersex are rare won the recent study reported one in two thousand to one in forty five hundred so why are schools confusing children and teaching them a fantasy they can that they can be any gender they choose and change at any time let me remind you gender and sexuality are not fluid Concepts please stop wasting valuable time and resources on harmful materials instructions that promote sexual activity and minors and gender Theory with depression anxiety and suicide in the young and all-time high we must commit to protecting them and let's provide the education they deserve so they can experience a fulfilling and productive life thank you thank you Miss Miller the
109next speaker is Wida Watson will be followed by Stacy Campbell good evening Miss Watson thank you I expressed my gratitude for your decision to await guidance from the North Carolina School boards Association before implementing the parents Bill of Rights I'm also pleased to learn that North Carolina State superintendent of Education Catherine Truitt agrees with this decision and has asked legislators to set the date it goes into effect as January the 1st in reviewing the news I found no consensus from reporters I heard him say that the law is expansive and vague to supporters who threatened lawsuits against teachers for example as a parent of a child in the North Carolina Public School System I'm concerned about the impact this law will have on my child's education I urge you to delay implementation until there is
110more time to study the potential impacts of the law I'm a teacher in the North Carolina School System I'm concerned about the impact this law will have on my ability to teach I urge you to delay implementation until there's more time to develop training for teachers and on the new requirements of the law the NC Values Coalition say they will monitor whether the schools comply with the requirement if not parents can file Grievances and sue if they feel the rights have been violated under the law delaying implementation only deprives parents of their legal rights to know what what's being taught to children in schools and to direct their mental and physical health for their children every school system has an attorney or contract on contract that can form their own interpretations of the law parents
111have the right to expect the school to comply with the law if School Employees won't comply with the law you're going to see some lawsuits filed by parents if the law will the law will hopefully get Rogue teachers from under wraps a policy in public schools that parents will not be notified if a child changes the name in which the students call by the school Personnel is to establish a system based on lies to parents parents are going to get a lot of notification from multiple teachers to ensure that teachers aren't putting themselves at risk of breaking the law by calling Allison alley without letting your parents know opponents to the law say it could lead to LBGTQ students being outed to parents who won't accept them do we want teachers to call 9-1-1 or
112call their parents first we know that the support of pro public school advocates including our state superintendent is welcomed we support your decision to deliver to be deliberate more than Hasty well-developed policies and procedures aligned with the law including professional development for employees and programs for parents in the community are necessary to improve Clarity consistency and integrity of implementation in closing student superintendents Truitt said she hopes an extension will be included when the general assembly releases its budget which is due expected which is expected this week the general assembly seems to be quite quick on deadlines aren't they thank you Miss Watson our next speaker is Stacy Campbell followed by Nathaniel Dibble is Miss Campbell here if Miss Campbell has stepped out we can return to her later we'll next hear from Nathaniel Dibble followed
113by Jeremy richer good evening good evening to the board it's nice seeing all you here again I want to start by first thanking those of you who have shown interest in the issues we brought up especially in regards to sb49 your concern is appreciated and I promise you we see it and we remember it last time we were all here I spoke about the horrendous impact that the don't say gay law would have on the youth in our schools I spoke about how students will be facing decreasing mental health increasing harassment and increasing uncertainty in their safety all amid an already existing Mental Health crisis I spoke about how as a result the board must take concrete action to protect them since that last meeting I've spoken with teachers in our Public School strong Circle
114and alarm Bells have been going off uh and been saying to me that I also need to be focusing on teachers as well because all these issues that I described that harm students also harm teachers just as much if not more we all saw how Pre-K teacher was treated last year chased out of the county they taught at simply for showing flashcards of a non-traditional family we're going to have that same exact thing happen again and again and again while some teachers are immediately complying with the new law out of fear of their jobs others would like to resist and continue making their classrooms an inclusive space to do this they're waiting for official guidance from the state and Wake County Boards of Education every day that they await guidance they feel the stress that
115comes with not knowing what's going to happen to them they don't know if they'll be fired they don't know if they'll be sued by a parent or a hate group their teaching licenses may even be at risk for all they know they don't know what consequences they will face and they don't know if they're going to face those alone or if they're going to face those with your support furthermore for our educators are actually a part of the queer Community they don't know if even them even existing in the classroom is violation of the new law are they allowed to have a picture of their same-sex or genderqueer partner on their desk or is that too sexy sexually explicit as well what about a small pride flag or a pronoun pin or literally any number
116of objects and symbols that represent their lived immutable if experiences the question is will they be persecuted for truthfully expressing who they are they don't know the answers to that and no matter how involved we may be we don't know the answers either I recognize that you guys also don't know the answers to some of those questions however it needs to be known that teachers are being forced into a mindset of confusion and paranoia we are inviting that to happen as long as teachers go without guidance you can disrupt that negative mindsets of our Educators and I ask you to please do so and since I also have time I also want to elevate some comments from my peers um specifically about how in inequal uh the policy is currently being implemented in our schools
117how it's not being implemented with students that wish to Go by different nicknames however is being implemented with trans students once again I say that this is a result of the confusion the intentional confusion that this law was supposed to cause and you guys can solve that by simply postponing the date of implementation or by offering guidance to say otherwise thank you Nathaniel next up is Jeremy Richard followed by Renee suckle good evening good evening um hi my name is Jeremy Richard I live in Raleigh and my kid goes to partnership she loves her school so much uh I I just came to say thank you to the school board art school in our neighborhood are really grateful for the hard work that you do we deeply appreciate uh you know it's not easy and
118our schools are really good there's ways they can be improved but we uh we deeply appreciate that the work that you're doing uh and um uh so I just wanted to say thank you School members and thank you Dr Bridges please keep doing what you're doing thank you and our concluding speaker and public comment tonight will be Renee suckle acknowledging that I have no intention of attacking anybody or even directly addressing the attack that was made upon me tonight may I please have 30 seconds of extra time to address the false claims that were made and my feelings on them unfortunately I can't give you that time based on the rules of public comment but I will hear those individually and we will talk about the issue okay further I will Begin by saying that
119I don't know the genders or the sexualities of all three of my children at this point that is their business it is their business to share it is not anybody else's business ever not including me to share what was spoken today of my children was a lie but to be very clear if they end up trans if they end up non-binary if they end up gay straight by or anywhere on the spectrum of gender expression or gender belief that is okay they're my children and I love them for who they are so the fact that I am pointing out the LIE has absolutely nothing to do with rejecting who they are and everything to do with pointing out that it is nobody's business but my child and it is absolutely not a strangers to share
120to make political points now on to what I was going to say I've been advocating at the general assembly since I since 2017 and the very first law that I fought about was one where I consistently went to legislators and said hey this law that you pass has this effect and they said gosh I didn't mean to do that I didn't know that was going to happen another enduring theme I see at the legislature is grandstanding where they will in order to make a point or to hurt a specific group of people they will lard a law with redundant or meaningless Provisions that will either indicate as in the case of seven uh s49 forgive me I'm not on my game tonight um well either redundantly list rights or restrictions that already exist or we'll
121have be vaguely written poorly written and have unexpected effects and later on they'll go back and say oops we didn't mean to do that and of course now we are seeing that the budget bill that was released just this afternoon includes Provisions accommodating the we didn't mean to do that Factor on s49 and in fact delays implementation of the law Vermont but what I want to talk about is the prohibition on sex education in grades K3 K4 you'll have to look it up I I my youngest child is in seventh grade I clearly remember their Elementary School years and I can say with absolute certainty that none of my children received any sex education at all in school still fifth grade because that's the existing law the provision of s49 that prohibits sexual instruction in
122grades K through four is redundant it's another one of those ridiculous Provisions stuffed into the law to lard it up to provide cover for the anti-trans Animus that really animated the law so I I know you have capable legal help but I would caution you against reading any new restrictions into that law when you implement it thank you thank you Miss seckel so after a long public comment period it's now 7 30. I'd like to take a five minute recess just to allow folks to clear out anyone who wants to take a break bathroom or biological break and then we'll resume with our agenda after that thank you foreign all right two minute warning two minute warning and then we'll resume mm-hmm and integrate it into other classes too but you know I mean if
123you can like because there's lesson plans that will develop things you know but yeah like around the Electoral College for work yeah yeah yeah all right one two three four five six oh nope they're not here Monica had to go to the airport one two three four all right everybody if you'll take your seats we'll continue with our meeting thank you everyone so at this point on our meeting agenda we have review and consideration of the items on the consent agenda as everyone had an opportunity to review the consent agenda and if so I'll entertain any motion so so moved we have a motion I believe for adoption of the items on the consent agenda for Mr Hershey yes sir second second from Miss Waters all in favor say aye aye any opposed all right
124then that was half of our meeting agenda next comes next comes our action items and we will have some action tonight we have two policies that we've spoken about before board policy 6327 students walking to and from school and board policy 65-60 our policy chair Ms Monica Johnson hosler had to leave for the airport um so and I don't believe her Vice chair is here so I will read out the main points as best I can at the appropriate time but I believe on this first policy we will hear from Dr crane from school for first read this policy was written and recommended by staff we made one revision as directed by the policy committee on August 29th the word solely was added in the second paragraph in blue font and you'll find it there
125other than that we have no further changes and we request the board's approval of the first reading of policy 6327 students walking to and from school for first read all right thank you Dr crane at this time if we have a mo if we have any appropriate motion we'll get the motion on the floor and then we can discuss and debate it does anyone have a motion at this time there's a motion to approve for Mr Hershey I heard a lot of seconds I think I heard a second third and fourth we'll give it to uh Dr Ing all right so the motion is adoption of the policy as recommended is there any debate or any questions about the policy Mr Hershey so one issue I want to bring up um and that I had
126sent to Dr crane um is about when we notify a parent or there's a recommendation by the principal that they should not be using a certain route and we notify the parent I would like to make sure through policy that we also notify the parent of that they are permitted to then write a letter or what their recourse is so we're keeping parents informed about what their options are after they receive a recommendation it's in paragraph four and they had already sent some language so I don't know if they want to just read it to see how everyone what everyone thinks language we consulted with Neil Ramey and his recommendation was that this is in the fourth paragraph probably about eight lines down begins with the school will notify parents guardians of this recommendation and
127their right to provide written direction to the school requiring release of the student to walk unaccompanied by responsible adult period following this notification to the parent Guardian the student will not be permitted to walk unaccompanied unless and until the parents Guardians provide written direction to the school requiring the release of the student to walk unaccompanied so essentially adds a we will tell you that we don't recommend this and we will also tell you that you may direct us to do that Mr Hershey have a follow-up no that was I was just going to clarify that that's what that was so apparent so we don't create a policy and then parents don't know what recourse they have that's right Miss Edmonds can you tell us why you don't recommend the change is that did I hear
128you correctly oh no we're fine with the change we heard Mr Hershey's concern and our attorneys recommended this language to address that concern I'm sorry I misheard you thanks sure all right and again we've had uh debate on the policy in two committees as well as the debate at the board table before the policy changes seem to I guess I would say ref reflect the conversations that we've had is there any other debate or any other questions about the policy at this time if not we have a motion on the table go ahead Mr Hershey so what we what we would do is we would adopt the policy as it's brought before us it's if you think of Congress it would be like the committee substitute for the previous policy we're voting and I took
129your motion to be voting for approval of the policy on the table if you have an additional change an amendment we would have to make that as a separate motion but if it's just what Dr crane has brought I believe we would pass the policy on which reading are we now on first reading is of the revised policy or the with the new included language I want to make sure everyone agrees that that is appropriate the current motion does not include the revised language so I'd like to make it um so I'd like to amend my motion but you can tell me how this what this process I would defer I'll defer to attorney Malone I believe he could just withdraw his motion and then well I mean the the easiest thing procedurally at this
130point would be to make a motion to amend your motion to accept the policy with the revision that was required if there's a second for that you vote to you know approve the amendment I think you'd vote to approve it as amended so so moved what we're at said is is there is there a second for Mr Hershey to amend his motion second Miss Edmonds has seconded all in favor of the um of the motion to amend the motion this is not a vote on the motion but just the amendment please say aye aye any opposed all right now Mr Hershey if you would like to restate the amended motion I believe we had had have had discussion but this will clarify what we're voting on uh make a motion to approve the um policy
131code 6327 students walking to and from school with the changes we approve tonight and is there a second from Miss Caulfield all right is there any further discussion on the amended policy 6327 that Dr crane has brought before us all right then all in favor of the motion please say aye any opposed all right the motion passes thank you Dr crane as a note we will include the changed language in a different color font on the second read it'll be for consent but you will be able to see those changes on the second read all right thank you Dr crane uh for our next policy 60 6560 disposal of surplus property on first reading we will turn to um David neader and his staff um Mr kneader are you handling this is Miss Wallace Miss
132Wallace all right Deborah Wallace will bring back to us policy 6560 disposal of surplus property also debated at our last meeting good evening tonight I'm bringing policy 6560 disposal a surplus property for first read this policy was written by the North Carolina School boards Association and is part of their policies to lead the school's manual revisions were made by staff and our attorneys when adopted this policy replaces two existing policies as noted in the precies we made one revision as directed by policy committee on August 29th the report required in the fourth paragraph in section A to be made annually tonight we request the board's approval of the first reading of policy 6560 disposal of surplus property all right then at this point do we have a motion to I guess at this point I
133would entertain a motion for board approval of policy 6560 on first reading so moved second motion from a sedman seconded by Miss Waters does anyone have any further questions or would like to discuss the policy the new version that Ms Wallace has brought before us well I'll just say I had questions about the policy I didn't think I would be sitting here trying to facilitate the debate um I don't want to Advocate too much from from this position but the questions I had about it I was able to speak with Miss Wallace and Mr kneader about it and it I don't feel that the changes in the policy would duplicate efforts which is what my concern was that they would produce be producing more reports greater volume of reports but this is a review that
134they're already doing anyway as part of their due diligence in terms of keeping track of property so I have no objections and i would support the motion as well and if there's no other comments um all in favor of the motion please signify by saying aye any opposed nay all right with that uh paulus the sorry uh policy 6560 has passed on first reading and I believe Mr Mullen will go to the consent agenda thank you okay at this point in our agenda we've reached closed session uh you've seen the statutory points to consider confidential Personnel information protected under General statute 143 through 1811 A6 and 115 C 319 and to consult with the Board of Education attorney and preserve the attorney client privileges provided 400 General statute 143 318 11 A3 due to current
135litigation Jewel Labs Incorporated Marketing sales practices and products liability litigation mauka at all and the Wake County Board of Education at all 22 CV 6170 all in favor of going into closed session at this time for or sorry do we have a motion to go into closed session for those stated reasons some moved motion from Miss water second from Miss Caulfield all in favor please say aye aye thank you we are now in closed session everyone all in favor